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…

Nine-year-old Timothy Lane sits on the edge of his bed trying not to look at his closet. The room is dark, but that yawning portal is darker and more terrifying to Timothy than anything else. He twists his hands in his lap, trying to find the courage to w…

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…

"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 did not bow her head. So far as she was concerned, faith had failed her. Her eyes had been on the holy man, his vestments - tattered as they were - and on the implements of his office. And so she saw the candle of Varenniel puff out of its own ac…

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…

There's a little girl that peeks her head out the doors. For a second she almost looked like Viv and I bite my tongue from calling out to her. A woman joins the girl and she looks like she's yelling to someone behind her.

I hear teeth gnashing behind me …

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…

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 …

Richard stood at the stern of the ship, looking longingly back toward England. He had really hoped to extend his tour of the continent but the untimely death of his father dictated otherwise. His memories of the rough eastward crossing a scant month earli…

Abandoning my sandwich yet again, I dialed 911. "Sir? Are you okay?" I emerged from behind the counter as the operator picked up. "911, what's your emergency?"

"I need an ambulance at Rotten Tomato's souvenir shop on Presley."

"What is the nature of the…

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…

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

…

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 …

Story is marked as mature

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…

They took their passages out. Secret subterranean extensions in the parking garage led them into the storm drain system, then up the drainpipe, down the fire escape, across the building, and safely conveyed them to their vehicles a few blocks away.

They …

There was a still silence. Orthael exhaled with a still patience, keeping Varenniel's presence with the same careful grip he used with Judgement: firm yet loose, secure without being crushing. It was exhilarating, to wield power that was beyond men.

Eno…

Bombs.

.

.

.

Rain.

.

.

.

Down.

.

.

.

Trembling, we breathe.

.

.

.

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.…

The tinkle of the bell as Felicity entered the shop was a warning alarm to her sisters.

"God, I hope she doesn't touch anything." Viciously said her sister, Valerie.

"I'm even surprised she showed up," Venus said, violently ripping apart duct tape to repa…

The rippling shockwaves and blinding detonations battering at their senses were in turn briefly overcome by the new and incredible din of piston engines starting up somewhere above. Mornington riffled through his knowledge of the Navy's carriers: this had…

Yindia collected people. She couldn't help it; she was a goddess. Her beauty and reverent nature inspired humans of all walks of life to fall into awe with her. People brought her gifts, offerings of anything from flowers and handmade jewelry to foods and…

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…