I twiddled my mustache. Simply because I had a mustache which was very twiddle-able. It curled in a way that laughed at gravity, without wax of any kind and no roustabout would be able to ever knock it askew.

I toweled the sweat from my brow like so many…

"I have a surprise for you..." Edgar said, trailing off as he rushed around the laboratory pushing buttons and pulling levers, this fulfilling the purposes of those particular object.

Renee gave a dramatic sigh that carried an annoyance that burned with …

"Do you two maggots have something to say to the whole toon?" Drill Seargent Norris yelled up into the faces of the new recruits.

"No Drill Seargent!" they barked back.

"Get on your faces and push, and I want to hear some conversation, or everybody will p…

She rolls over, the first rays of sunshine dawning in the room. There were flowers in the corner. Simple, blue things. The tye-die in the curtains sent 3, 4, Who knew how many colors blasting over the wall. Art.

She rolls over onto him. In those colors a…

Story is marked as mature

It's largely a shame

That the ones who have what is needed

Just don't like to share.

-

Those who have the needs, on the other hand,

Cannot receive, though they often,

Out of compassion, do give what they can.

-

There is no shame to be found

Nor no pity e…

My heart has just burst

With a pain most exquisite-

Jumping on blisters

^

O I am weary!

My thoughts are eroding fast

Let them sluice away,

<

For they've disguised me.

Please wash away, scales from eyes,

And show me myself

>

How I've missed the truth

I sca…

That day had been bleaker than most. The smog cloud over head was especially dense, and I needed the headlights on my bike even at midday.

Recently, it had been getting easier coping with his absence. Yes, although I hate to admit it, it seemed like the…

Story is marked as mature

"Mayfield? Let's have the suits, and a weapon for the lieutenant please."

"That's not necessary, there are suits -"

Nyquist's other guard appeared from nowhere, passing me a dense package that was far heavier than fabric. Seeing my reaction, he comm'd o…

My heart exploded today

With a pain most exquisite

Like acne under digital pressure

>

Kathy von Carey

Hung on the lamppost

Bucking and swaying

Then slipping again

.

Leaping to snatch it

She grasped the loose wires

Bucking and swaying

Collapsing in pain

.

Children be cautious

In all of your playtime

There’s fun, but there’s danger

So mind h…

I coast along without a plan into the foyer where the little rags grow

Into the Toyota's lobby of the small pliant crinkles who gather like dust mites on holiday

.

Past the spoons

With a prescribed purpose I found in the drawer of chests.

Can the healing …

I laid on top of my bed, replaying the train station good-bye over and over in my head. It had been a month since he left. He was probably through basic training and beginning his specialization. I rolled over and reached under the bed to pull out a box o…

I clung to the IDEA of him for so long, that when it seemed my dream was coming true, it really wasn’t. He was finally here where I could see and hear, and yet things weren’t exactly the way I wanted it to be. I could not touch him.

At first, I was happ…

No response. I tuned onto a higher channel to try and get him by his call sign and was hit by a solid blast: calm military voices all, but coming in a rate beyond belief.

"Minotaur, Sphinx. Group with Griffon, Medusa and Enfield Two. Get yourself over to…

Twin-twin explosions sounded close beside us, explosive charges sending the secondary airtight hatch slamming closed. The three-ton heavy vehicle took a step back on automatic stabilisers while the air pressure equalised, then set us gently down.

I check…

Story is marked as mature

If leeches had fuzzy bubblegum pink bodies, big anime eyes, and a dazzling smile full of ferocious pin-sized teeth... They'd be named after you.

You are drilling into my shoulders and chest as you stare back up at me with tears in your eyes like it's my …

Crush fresh melancholy with a pestle dusted with self doubt until a paste forms. If paste is too watery, add more self doubt until desired consistency.

In a small bowl, whisk your favorite sad melodies vinaigrette with two handfuls of uninterrupted time.…

a slurry jet of words, propelled by fear

of you, and what you'll think of me, erupts

from deep within my mind. step back, stand clear!

do not get splashed; this vitriol corrupts,

.

as i can witness. wildly i o'erflow!

acidic sentiments cannot be trapt

wit…

The trooper held his burn. I could feel him tapping sideways to keep up with the boarding tunnel continuing to flex, all while the delta-vee kept piling up. My inner ear, confused, suggested that we were flying up out of a well, with the ship below and t…

The makeshift hospital room was stark. I gazed down at him, waiting for him to wake. There were surprisingly few wires connected. I bent over him to disconnect them. His eyes fluttered open and met mine. He began to stir.

"Don't move too fast."

"I.. I f…

"Sophie Claire, my darling, you were always bereft of deliverance," he said, as he took the last drag off her cigarette before extinguishing the remaining embers of redemption. She tittered at his cheekiness. "Always a Tybalt!" Just be satisfied!" she wh…

He saw that fake look of self assurance on her face, and it reminded him of a mosquito. People, like mosquitoes, rise out of the warm fluids, and their lives are just what they did in between feeding and reproducing. Here she was, with the life span of …