It is strange that something so simple as a string, so small and delicate, could make a bad day good.

It felt like, as I gazed down at it, that it was the only thing in life I could control.

I also felt like the string was a microcosm for the universe t…

The rain poured hard. The thunder boomed and the lightening flashed.

It was all very violent seeming.

The small chipmunk cowered in her little nest.

She had hoped the rain would let up and the thunder and lightening would cease, but at some point she k…

Two more yards until freedom, two more yards and this past year would be worth all the pain and humiliation.

I could feel the burn in my knees as I stood up. It wasn't anything that I hadn't felt before but this time I knew that the amount of give my kne…

Fiona always wore socks that went half way up her legs. I remembered that about her.

It was a common theme to her look and as the fashion of stockings progressed so did she.

Sometimes it looked like galaxies climbing up her calves and I adored it for re…

Fear is a man, which made things a lot more complicated.

Deuce was only half sure that he could beat the Lance Rigaud on the quick draw and he knew they were dead even on the ability to hit the intended target.

The guns of the era were not the most accu…

All roads lead to Glenwick Lane.

They led there because of her. The only women in Ireland I ever truly loved.

I never thought she loved me though. At least not as truly.

I spent wakeful night with my mind on her, comforted only by the Guinness in my gl…

The legion is probably on its way here so we should be getting a move on or a broken space ship will be the least of our problems.

The aliens had made their purpose clear upon first contact and they were not happy with our showing up unannounced despite …

The wind flowed around the street seeking a place safe from the elements, not realizing it was one.

It didn't want to disturb life on the Nepali street in which it currently existed.

It had seen so many things in its vast life. It had existed as long as…

There's a dog outside.

I didn't used to think much of him. Just thought he was a fluffy companion.

That didn't turn out to be entirely true though.

He also had... well, powers.

He had the face of a very learned Buddhist monk, I always used to joke to …

He winds his way through the chaos, trying to avoid bumping into anyone. Such a thing is nigh impossible here. But it hardly bothers him. Here, anonymity is paramount.

Finally, he reaches a dark corner where two grey men sit. He sits across from them, a…

I would like to suggest and invite people to intentionally give this a try, especially as Ficlatte is so well suited to this.

I (anyone though, but I'll give it a try myself) write the beginning of the story, and tag another Ficlatte person to continue it…

unravel me without delay

with batting thread and macrame

my mental health's unmade today

and rapidly I start to fray

.

the stomach acids eat at me

my eyes lose focus and can’t see

my skin is sloughing off so free

cascades of wellness one two three

.

today…

The process had begun.

She knew better than to play in the Rhoka woods. There were evil things there. Magic of the worst kind.

It'd been many years since the town rose up against the evil Lord Bahlo but while he was gone, his curse remained in Rhoka.

S…

Jovie wiped the blood from her upper lip. She was pretty sure it was hers and not her opponent's but in the rush of adrenaline she didn't feel pain. That would definitely be coming later though.

It was a quick one. She got her bell rung a couple times, t…

The wastes are not empty. They are bleak, harsh, even dangerous, but people make a living out here. Some say an inferior race lives like animals. This proved untrue, becoming my saving grace.

I encountered a band of hunters. They were wary, but led me ba…

The mark was a sign of sin. Every person was born with it on the back of one hand. Through generations of living, a book was conceived to describe what actions caused the mark to fade, and which caused it to darken.

The holiest became priests who held the…

"I think I've reached my breaking point" he said, though nobody was there to listen save for a few dust bunnies under his bed.

He had been lying there for at least four hours just sort of staring at the ceiling of his motel room. It wasn't a grimy motel,…

"Chick Fight" was the name of the organization (and that term is used very loosely) that Jovie had found to make a few quick bucks so she could continue to do things like eating and sleeping in a place with a roof and such. She wasn't crazy about the name…

Things like "i-mutations" and "syntax" rushed through Brad's head as he stared at the etchings of the most ancient examples of Kalovay.

He took a deep breath and tried a new approach. Only a few words were known to the world to be true translations from …

She came to him in a dream, like she always did. She was assigned to him and the dream state was the quickest avenue of communication between realms. She didn't usually have any sort of proper message for him, she was just there to, essentially, comfort h…

"Kalovay, Kalovay..." Brad muttered to himself over and over as if it was an activity that would help the process of decoding the language.

He had mastered many dead languages in graduate school. It was something of a specialty of his, but he was never t…

He reluctantly tapped at the keyboard with his fingers. They had taught him in school how to type properly, but he wasn't sure if he was executing it the way his teachers in 6th grade had intended. It did, however, get the job done.

He didn't want to del…

"Why don't you write about me?" she exclaimed as if it were that easy.

It wasn't. She was the personification of the proverbial "one that got away" and his heart still ached for her even after all the years that had passed since that night in the park on…

The Waityu hunter gathered his primitive gear and headed out, searching for bugs.

Bugs might not seem like big game, but the Waityu are small, mouse-like creatures that walk on two feet and the bugs in the area can get to be as large as they are.

He spr…

She lifted her hands up in a fashion that would make her prepared for the fight ahead. Her hands were heavily taped. No gloves for this one though. Not the underground fights. Those were a little more "anything goes" than the scene she was used to. She wa…