“Have you heard the army is coming?” The mouseman began to panic. He grabbed the woven grass hat on his head and squatted down, ready to sprint back to his cart and his family.

“No, have you?”

“I did spy a patrolmouse. He was headed for the perimeter. Had…

Sasha. Man, I'd completely wrecked her night. Go figure.

I pounded the steering wheel, trying to block out the iciness of the ring, the horror of Jessamine's eyes, the shame and frustration of ruining my sister's life. This was my fault--all of it.

A p…

How does this story start? It starts with the thought that my stories rarely lie down in the page in an effective way right from the start, that the story often goes through significant revisions until I find the right beginning. Just as this paragraph …

Nothing happened.

She called out for help. For a voice. For a friend. For a sign. Something to tell her not to die. She screamed and begged and pleaded and bargained.

The breeze brought her a letter, floated down to her feet as echoing angry f…

And three heartbeats later she was back.

"Impossible," I breathed, my voice barely audible. This shouldn't be happening. She was so weak. She shouldn't have been able to resist my attempts to banish her. And yet...

She was here. Again. In defiance, it s…

It wasn't possible. I put the block in the Vena Cava of Chakra No. 4. There should have been no energy-body link for her to be there.

I knelt beside her and arranged her body in Vitruvian fashion. She needed a scan. I lowered my hands over her until they…

The tone sounded for break. I slumped into a chair with my coffee. Sipping it as it cooled, I noticed that I was not joined by any coworkers. Was there a staff meeting?

The door opened. I watched with interest, but it was only the postman.

"This needs a…

The yellow moon suspended here

Above my head

Creates a glare & quite a blare

To shred my ear

-Irregular, unwelcome year,

Why must you barge

Into my straining life to spread

Alarm & fear?

-I cow'r and shiver as I wait;

The scimitar

Of sharp'ning moon grins…

Mom left for work. Sienna rode her bike to band practice. Me alone, left to read my book, do the dishes, then call on the neighbor boy to play.

Ha. Any other day, I'd be happy to boss Jeremy around in a game of pretend until he got bored and started hit…

It is possible to ever escape one's past life?

A question to which Jean Abelard had always known the answer but to which, as the elevator bore him relentlessly to the 15th floor of the Hôtel Pèlerins, he replied once more.

Never. Liar, thief. Murderer.…

Sadie rolled her eyes at the wizard's theatrics, depositing her assault rifle on the table before slumping into a chair. This had been a nice house once, presumably housing a hard-working and respectable family. Now the upper floor had been partially blow…

Being held was a new experience for Ares and he didn't like it much. At some deep level, he understood that he was supposed to like it but he didn't. He squirmed.

When his mother held him to her breast, he understood that he was supposed to suckle. Inste…

I knew what the endgame amounted to. What I didn't know was precisely when the endgame was going to begin.

The first arrived when I was unconscious. When I came to, I finished off my canteen and tossed it aside; a ruffle of feathers on the other side ale…

"Annabelle, please, help. I need something, anything, from you right now."

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking. Muses get writer's block too, you know."

"I don't think I've ever in the history of the world heard that. It kinda defeats the purpose of your existe…

Malika was silent for a time, regathering her composure. She was embarrassed by her reaction, especially in front of this man. Finally, she nodded solemnly.

"The Archbishop is gone, as you presume, holy man," she said, "as is everyone else I ever knew. T…

Deep night air swirled visibly in departing tendrils of fog as I ghosted along the rooftops. Each footfall was light, as soft as a bird landing, and only the moon could see the smile that twisted my face as I ran. Muted bells chimed the midnight hour from…

Bombs.

.

.

.

Rain.

.

.

.

Down.

.

.

.

Trembling, we breathe.

.

.

.

It is a moment of pure Zen, true transcendence. It is not something I plan, or expect, but it is not something I resist, either. One moment I am sitting in my personal, mobile zen-do, sitting zazen in meditation. The next I feel myself lifting off the gro…

Really, when you look at the shards of mirror on the floor, you see yourself returned, only when there was one, there is now many. It's foolhardy to assume such a collectivism as a denouncing of individuality; the whole is greater than the sum of its part…

Egg shells feel like feathers - softly, gently ground beneath behemoth tongues. Leviathan laughter echoes.

Abstract butterflies take the brunt, wings turning to kaleidoscope dust in the nuclear wind.

Eyes see strangely through scorched sclera, strands o…

Not quite white

or gray

or blue

.

The moon is a muse

Mainstay

Voodoo

.

A means to an end

risque

preview

.

Beating hearts, abuse

love sway

untrue

.

The moon, impassive

midway

withdrew

.

Left lovers lost

cold day

tears few

.

Returned to mock

hearsay

statue

…

Lost

Standing alone.

Surrounded by people,

A familiar feeling.

Not supposed to feel alone,

Not supposed to want to leave.

Everyone tells her how to be.

.

And one day

She decided to not pretend anymore.

The real ones stayed,

The fakers, the directors left.…

Of all the applicants, there was something about Lena that she couldn't shake off. Her short black hair, smooth tan skin, and deep coffee-colored eyes looked straight into your soul. She dressed informally, mostly in black, and wore a purple gem necklace …

Shrapnel pounded the heavy workbench and zinged its way overhead. Beckton popped up to assess the situation and saw something standing in the wreckage of the doors. Humanoid but not human, easily eight feet tall, wreathed in the colours of dying embers. T…

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…