Aidra played gently with the necklace she was wearing. A beautiful, raspberry-colored gem made up most of the pendant, held in place by ornately woven strands of silver, a small ring connecting it to a thin silver chain. The boy who'd given it to her said…

"Fine." I said, throwing a hand up. "But I hope you know you're late for work now."

I blinked from physical to energy vision. Her body dissociated into colorful veins, except for the block which was a searing white. Everything looked proper, but the glar…

Sonia hesitated, glancing around. Every single person in the small shop was looking down, or away, or busy.

Go, they said silently. We must know!

She dusted off her apron, wiped her hands and followed him out into the street. There was a moment of …

At first it had caused surprise and alarm; now it was simply part of the normal flow of life. At around midday, two trucks full of guards would materialise in the square. Quietly and efficiently, they would fan out with their weapons drawn.

After the fir…

He wastes no time. Already the moonlight has crept across the box, and if he misses this opportunity, it will be weeks before another presents itself.

He slips his tongue between his teeth -- and bites down, hard, severing the flesh. He takes the torn ti…

"So, my intrepid friend. I think I'm quite ready for another adventure. Care to follow me once more down the rabbit hole?" Phoebe asked her friend across the table. She watched over the rim of her glass as Casey downed her fourth ale of the night.

Casey …

The rain trickles lightly down your umbrella

Your steps in perfect sync with the beats of my heart

Ah what a scene

Your perfect figure against this dismal landscape

Grey concrete pillars and abandoned stores

The depression of recession still apparent

Yet…

Coffee collects on the tongue. Fingers press the tired eyes; their hand slides over the nose and onto the cheek. Digits extend over one eye, the other eye opens.

Attempting to Establish Connection to Remote System

A swallow. Status grids; motionless, …

Same city, different station.

Enter Nick Llewellyn, coming into stage right at about thirty klicks an hour. He's looking at his hands, and turning over in them a sheet of pink paper.

He's been fired. Specifically, he's just been laid off from his job, wor…

“This place looks like it got puked on, Viv.” I chuckle to myself, putting on my sunglasses so I can take a better look at the rotting lumps of detritus that once was a city.

I can imagine Viv’s smart aleck comeback about not hurting the city’s feelings…

Complicated and stressful,

Every day is more than you can handle.

They show on your face,

All the thoughts you've come to hate.

Like a disease with no cure,

Controlling everything you do.

When the days end

And the dark descends,

You settle into your refu…

A few heads turned to look at her. She ignored them, focussing on Nick. "Put this on," she said, handing him an identical suit.

"What the hell?"

"We don't have much time. Quickly!"

He looked at the hazmat suit, dropped it, and ran to the front of the bus.…

Story is marked as mature

The sky over the city was still pitch-black, even at five in the morning, with forty-five minutes to sunup and a clear sky. They made their way to a parking garage downtown, a few blocks from the scaffold-ridden visage of the Megaspire, with forged securi…

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…

Home was so close. Dahlia stumbled down the overgrown path. Lights from nearby houses dripped through the leaves of birch trees and cast eery shadows on the ground, scattered as it was with shards of glass and discarded fast food wrappers. She slurred the…

The lantern swung indolently from its fixture, casting skulking shadows around the stone cell. The only sound was the steady drip, drip of water between the stonework, falling gently onto the figure strewn out on the cold lockup floor. The woman bore mark…

An adolescent boy, nude but for a spotlessly white loincloth. Great feathered wings sprout from his shoulder blades, so perfectly clean and glorious that anyone who saw them would be instantly blinded. But of course there are none who can.

He stands in t…

Story is marked as mature

I dreamt you cried for me.

"Night, Larry," called the shift manager. Larry was the last to leave. He pulled off his white cook's hat as he pulled on his long duster coat. Turning the collar up he dissolved into the crowd heading toward the subway all intent on getting home to a hot…

The cabin boy, now Master of the Ship, walked alone

stepping over the glass-eyed corpses of meat and bone,

men who had once been, the only fathers he'd ever known.

He cried for his own loss and the light-lost souls forever gone.

The ship shuddered and cr…

The ship heaved high, breaking through the waves,

the dark hell of night's clouds and the sea's spray

Stars cloaked by a devil's veil were hidden away

and the once mighty captain was lost and afraid

The crew revolted pledging their wails to the winds,

pa…

He gazes up from his desk

At the pencil-slanted rain

A myriad little stories

Creeping down his window pane

As his hand fondles his pen

Potential from within

He wonders what to write

What they will think of him

Too many to catch

With his flimsy net

Ideas w…

"Excuse me, little boy." Tommy jumped at the sound. He thought he was alone in the backyard. He turned around, seeing a large, heavy set old man behind him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," the old man said, smiling.

Tommy looked over his shou…