"Sweet girl, you've started your Moon Tides," the kind old woman told me, her dark hand holding too tightly to mine. "I know you're frightened, but it's cause for celebration! I've drawn a bath, dear. Get yourself cleaned up."

Wordlessly, pink with shame…

No invitations went out, none that I sent or saw anyway, but as the summer waned, travelers began trickling in. They stopped by with reasons to suit the individual: curiosity, rest, even for a cup of tea. They stopped and then they were gone. Each time my…

As water flowed, it washed me all away:

The elements that made me what I am;

My hopes and visions, first. Behind them swam

Awareness, leaking ’til there’s no today

My pride in my accomplishments went next;

My puns, non-sequiturs–my treasured words.

Rel…

It was dark and I was trying unsuccessfully to sleep on the couch. Painting materials were littered across my bedroom with tarps covering the bed and the floor. Muscles ached, sore in unfamiliar ways.

In the dining room, the sliding glass door to the bac…

I sit up, clutching at my chest. Christ, it hurts! The last thing I remember is... What is the last thing?

I was at the cabin. Gina and I were arguing. What did I do this time? Think, dammit!

She had a gun. She screamed and cried. I remember that much, …

Each person of sound mind is fully responsible for their actions at all times. What then defines a sound mind? Is it the--

A gentle knock of metal on metal broke my concentration. Charles stood on the other side of the bars, telescoping baton in hand.

…

You want love and presents and sweets

Swords of imagination

and Me to appreciate your deeds

All these I can do if you just come with me

My sky-castle is proof against the pain

with warm hugs and stair slides when it rains

fire-warmed chocolate, and the b…

I bet this never happens to Tony Stark.

It should have been a routine update. Nothing unusual at all beyond a quick data import of the latest Crimestat data they've compiled from the previous week. Happens every Monday like clockwork and almost always b…

This week I was cast as the Evil Sorceress in an opera- I’m a man (biologically), mind you- but I always thought myself more the heroine. After all, my magic is of Light. Even when my song is the dimmest firefly, I still glimmer along, dancing luminescenc…

Story is marked as mature

The opium was strong and heady. It bore me on a tremendously vast, dark, wave and I felt a relaxing lassitude swim through me. If I died here, my life would be complete. The ache in me, that part that had been missing, was now filled to overflowing and I …

I pricked my finger for the third time and cursed myself for signing up for autonomy class. It sounded perfect for a nerdy guy who didn't know anything beyond his books. Want to learn life skills? Try Autonomy. Learn how to change a tire, patch your own c…

The house was still half-built, half-destroyed. It had never been completed and for every few hours of work I put into repairing it, it seemed like something new broke, or nature won another victory. Yesterday, a long brick wall that lined the dining hall…

“When we walk, we put one foot in front of the other. Each step forward we take is one that matters. If you are able to advance a yard, a foot, even an inch, then congratulations, you're still alive and doing us proud. Holding the line is good and it has…

You don't run from police, not even drones. They also do a comprehensive body scan, so I had no choice but to stash the chip with Acrylic's memory. Faking tying my shoe, I furiously dug a little hole with the key and buried both in the sandy soil beside t…

Story is marked as mature

The wind gusted right at that moment, as if to punctuate Al's words.

Tsering broke the silence. "Obaku and Hyakujo."

"A, I doubt there are five hundred mes running around," I replied, "and B, I am not a fox. And come to think of it, why are you bringi…

The point of this post is to give readers a reference to this series.

The final installment on Ficly was "Fire in the Hole (Superhero Black Hole, Pt. 137)": http://ficly.com/stories/38151

Alternatively, you can read from the beginning, in which case go …

City Park East Recycle Bin 256 was like most of the other recycle bins: Green, rusted, and operated by a control panel set into a lockbox on the side of the device. It ran on a principle similar to a vacuum dumpster, except that it preserved its contents …

The key was engraved with MEMENTO.

"Undelete. What could he mean by that?" I asked the room in general. Hard Drive, looking depressed, did not answer. He was waiting for confirmation that Scroll and Locke were in fact compromised in our last mission. He'd…

"What does 'MEMENTO Undelete 256 City Park East' mean?" I asked Acrylic, holding the paper in front of him.

He rocked in his chair. My heart broke to see him tied to it, but we couldn't risk him panicking or breaking free before we restored his memory. "…

The alley wasn't completely dark behind the Chinese Restaurant where a brick wall faced me. Rudy.

I began the translation program.

"Hello, Rudy."

"Bonsoir, Elsha"

"Please let me in. S'il vous plaît laissez-moi entrer."

"Mot de passe?"

"I don't have a pa…

I hadn't talked to Fireboy in forever, but he owed me a favor. He still understood my signal—and still kept his old jogging routine. The false rock I planted the USB drive in was moved back, indicating he was on board. So now I stood outside the oxygen ba…

“Ghosts are all emotion, all the time. I don't know what keeps their form intact but they might be beings of pure emotion. There isn't a way to really measure them yet. And due to the nature of most deaths, they operate under pain, rage, and sadness. I'm …

"Fetus said we could reboot his memories," I said sadly staring off in the direction of her body.

"If we can find his backups!" C:\ declared.

"I've never been to Acrylic's hideout," Hard Drive confessed.

"I have." I said quietly.

"Good! Start there!" C:\ …