Orthael kissed the symbol and took a deep breath, feeling the power of his god like a warm wash of water. The exhalation is a release: a surrender of all that comprises him, an acknowledgement of his weakness and an acceptance of strength that is not his …

Malika paced steadily deeper into the woods, sword out to the side. Pale blue flames, barely visible, licked along the blade's length. Near the base, just above the hilt, the only space not utterly consumed by rust, was etched a single word. Truth. It was…

And when my time comes for a nat'ral death,

Some future era of our shared, shamed land,

I hope and firmly plan that I shall be

Already gone and, I hope, barely missed.

At best, of course, I'd be received by God,

But as it's likely that I'll break His rule…

Speed is not a problem for most people. For them, it's a very simple thing: displacement over time, a measure of movement. For me and a handful of others, it's a slippery thing. Those last few percentage points before we kiss the one inviolable barrier in…

The man strode rather than walked into the forest. He had the mass of his Church behind him, and so he had nothing to fear. The creatures of the night howled and cried to each other, but he was unmoved. His defenses were stalwart, and any attack would bre…

The little girl entered the forest, armed with nothing but her courage, her grim determination, and the rusty sword strapped to her back. There were monsters in those woods - she could hear their howls, their cries to one another - but she was not afraid.…

INVEST your time in righting wrongs

Inflicted by the greedy throngs

INVENT a scheme to give love power

To rail and batter down the Tower

A HEATER warms me from the cold

But THEATER could break their mold

The HEATHER sways in fields untilled

Where mem'ries…

BILLOWS buffet 'gainst the wall

The water roils below the fall

BELLOWS blow & stoke the flames

That burn R faces, scorch R names:

FELLOWS lost, as I suppose

2 time and friends. They decompose

FOLLOWS logic 2 its end

But on its math I can't depend

FURROWS …

The church is decorated with flowers;

Purple ones, of course.

Family and friends are seated on both sides of the aisle.

A white dress flows around her as she walks.

She approaches the front of the church and takes his hands in hers.

Then she looks up at h…

"Shh, don't cry Elise!"

Little 6 year old hands reached through the slats of a crib and patted 12 month old Elise who had awakened from her nap.

The door opened, startling the little boy, and he quickly pulled his hands back.

"Byron!" snapped the nurse…

"Autumn now," Grandma spat, rocking in the tired oak chair. A graying cat sat in her lap, wide eyed.

Sure enough, the trees had become rusty red.

Grandma's children affirmed her assessment with a grunt. They were rooted here by obligation only, and pass…

Lying in bed in the dark last night, I cried.

I cried and I thanked God for you because you saved me.

You saved me from myself and from the world.

The world is cruel and so am I.

I watched in horror as the smoke billowed high. I followed the plume to the leaping flames high above the roof. Flames and smoke poured from every window, every door. I fell to my knees.

The flames were put out, the firemen left, the sooty timbers were …

"You need to leave. Now."

He was pissed. I'm sure my laughing at what he said didn't help.

"Excuse me?" I asked. "I need to leave? This is my house, you son of a bitch!" I wasn't any happier about the situation than he was.

He actually had the go…

Swaying slightly in his tracks, Oedipus gazed upward. Haggard, unkempt, exhausted, the former king once again stood before the Sphinx; led by gods or by instinct, the two were together.

"Hail, desert mystery," he called bravely, wavering on his staff. "We…

I seized my single chance ere it could flee,

Amazed I'd been accepted. And before

A year had passed, as hasty as could be,

I fled my homeland, fam'ly, failures, more...

-

I was convinced that all the blessed roots

That tied me to my happy past had rotted;…

But graduation seemed a new beginning:

A different major to enrich my mind,

Fresh challenges and contests for the winning,

A one-bedroom apartment (hard to find).

-

Ah! Living on my own, my shy moon waxed,

While self-esteem soon waned, a fleeting dream.

W…

The doctor stood at the center of the Operating Theatre, examining his surgical instruments. Beside him, the body of a young man with fair hair and milky skin lay draped in a white sheet. The doctor looked briefly at the body before looking up at the in…

It hasn't been so easy, shifting from

Our college days, our ev'ry hour together,

And sharing all our thoughts; to then become

A lone alumnus, sister without brother

-

Like Wordsworth, stranded in a city German,

I was adrift, in hostile land, alone.

Beset …

There's no one else who's helped me know my self,

My heart, without dissembling or disguise.

You showed me how; I put fears on the shelf,

And viewed myself with sympathetic eyes.

-

That was a boon beyond all former gifts!

I'd never guessed that I'd had …

The thing about it is that it's unpredictable. Some days you feel good, and some days you don't. Some days you feel like cooking a three course meal and staying up all night baking cookies. Other days it's all you can do to survive the work day. You c…

I'd like to call and ask if you'd stop by.

It's been too long! We really should catch up,

But ev'ry time we visit, I get shy;

I'd like to change that. Come, and fill a cup.

-

Whenever we're together, it's the same:

It seems no time has passed. Our friends…

It started when she finally felt good enough to go on a date with a new guy. It was a nice evening and she felt alive again. When she looked at her phone after returning home, there was a text from him. "Why are you going on dates? You shouldn't be go…

Ada stood on the surface of the moon and stared back at her home planet. Perimeter drones circled overhead, filling the air with the constant hum of their engines.

Over a year had passed since the relocations began. No signs were forthcoming that they …

"What?"

"Look, how can I make it any clearer? You died and we had to save you another way."

"Oh no. No, no, this isn't what I -"

A hazardous internal state has been detected and the image has been shut down to prevent further damage.

I sighed and to…