Story is marked as mature

Hurrying to the bathroom, I felt like I was going to burst. I prayed that no one was in it and reached for the handle. It was open. I locked it and rushed to the toilet, dropping my pants as I did so.

I had to bending down to raise the seat up. My face…

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…

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…

I was wishing for October today:

Summer heat in the crooks of my arms;

On my cheeks and my neck,

And the weight of long evenings heavy

In my hammering head.

I longed for the cool of the Autumn time,

For the turning leaves and their crispness

Beneath my b…

The two fighters were clumsy. They didn't know that before but they knew it now. Winning a fight was something they'd both taken for granted. With size and power on their side, they hadn't bothered to learn finesse. Mastering a fighting style took time an…

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…

"And on that day, I will be here to turn you back. This truce will stand, this war is over, whether you wish it or not." I approached the god-post and jammed my blade into the wood just below the loathsome face that peered back at me.

"You are releas…

Story is marked as mature

Story is marked as mature

"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…

"More on the rise of red algae and what that means for the apocalypse at 6, but first; Why should parents be watching their pediatricians closer than they watch the presidential election?"

Steve threw his half-eaten biscuit at the TV, "Oh for Chr---, J…

"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…

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…

The man was always watching. Bryant almost couldn't leave his cubicle as he always felt those eyes on him.

It started the very day the man was hired. Bryant was asked to show him around the building.

"So, is this your first job in the big city?"

The ma…

You reach the landing for the second floor. The fire is building up higher. If you stay here, it'll surely reach you soon. But you're not a fool!

You go into the hallway just outside the landing.

Sun up, tools down for the day, it was a good time for a walk through the oaks. A learned man might sink down with a book, but a man of little learning who needs to settle his thoughts must leave that job to nature.

He took a leak against a tree. The st…

I drink wine from cereal bowls.

...........................

She had a flicker of sadness as her ship pulled away from Lorentz Station.

She didn't pay it much mind though as the adventure ahead was far greater than anything she could have imagined: A posting on the USS Elena Pitjeva. It was the first Orion class s…

the church-turing thesis is inescapable.

any system with the right set of properties is, in principle, a computer.

most don't compute anything useful. uncountable decimal-prefix-unknown-illions of accidental turing machines, embodied in the matter and ene…

I do believe the time has come to hope

I'd love it if my friend came back at last.

If I am wrong I'll wash my mouth with soap,

And banish expectation to the past,

But still, if I could nourish once again

The happiness that once was his and mine,

Wi…

Tenever didn't hesitate as muzzle flare lit up the surrounding trees. He threw a hand straight forward over the barrel of his weapon, his mind searching for familiar strands of reality to pluck at. His fist opened and a flash of prismatic light erupted in…

I was surrounded. The priests stood before me, frowning. The crowd packed tightly behind the wall of guards. My family's faces had aged without grace and their hatred of me had only fermented with time.

I drew a breath and felt the sun hot on my skin.

"I …

"So, I heard you were in town?"

He could practically hear Mike Green's intense grin over the phone. In college, she had been his best friend. Shortly thereafter, they had parted ways - Gonçalves to Freetalk, Green to some analytics firm bound by sheafs of…