Story is marked as mature

Stella trundled along the brook's edge, gazing behind her all the while when she could. The moon, the MOON! It was always there behind her, even when the brook changed directions like an eager puppy on its first trip to the park after a water-drinking con…

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.

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 medics found Minla unconscious next to a shattered vase, a small pool of water and a bouquet of exotic-looking flowers. One of them, taking pity, picked up the flowers as they loaded her up into the ambulance.

The attending doctor took the toxicology…

She was waiting for me the next morning, sitting at my table with a bowl of hot porridge and a packed bag. A small bag, I thought. Either she was leaving it all behind, or there was little to leave behind anyway. I rather suspected the latter.

My pastry …

My 15-year-old son hugged me yesterday

My teenage daughter begged me for a bedtime story

My husband and I started sleeping in the same room

-

I've lost my racist grandmother's ashes and my tax reports

the dress that made me look fat

I have no dishes to cl…

Story is marked as mature

The Water Seller stood on the steps of the palace after every meal. Her arms itched, the sand dust like a second skin, caked on to keep her safe from the three suns' heat. She shifted from her right to left foot and dipped her rag back into the bowl.

Th…

The time of feasting had ended. I watched my father untie from the other floating homes around us. Joyfully, my sister waved her teddy bear's arm to all the neighbors, young and old, as they also untied and pulled their anchors up. My mother stowed the ro…

Ryle inclined his head, eyes flicking left.

Kill them, he was saying. I'll take the left.

I had no choice. We drew our revolvers and split up.

They entered the chapel from the great wooden doors. We waited until they were fully inside, the better t…

Story is marked as mature

Klaxons. Klaxons everywhere. Truly this was it.

It was the dead of night, of course. They never attacked during the day. That was too obvious, and we'd see them coming a mile away -- on a cloudless day. (And even on overcast days, they always mysteriousl…

"what are taxes"

"DNA is vital"

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

"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…

“You have the wrong man.” he said, slowly putting the bowl down and setting his hands flat against the counter.

“You don't recognize my voice? Maybe I can jog your memory. How about these words: no, don't, stop, please, you're hurting me!” She echoed her…

Grafham Road; left into Cable Street.

The sun was sinking. The flow of people on the street ebbed as people sought warmth and the company of their families.

Tessa drifted onward, the sound of cracking pavement filling her head with every step she took. …

I changed in the years of my exile, and though no one in the streets recognized me beneath the beard and rough clothes, I had found my home with little effort. Heavy leather gloves with large stitching were the only reason I made it inside the gates. Ever…

It's amazing how the seasons seem to cycle through my life.

For a moment there is comfort, and a second later, strife.

There is warmth, and then I'm frozen; rain is followed by a drought.

Briefly I contain my feelings, till they blow the ceiling out.

Fir…

Oh god. I hope it's not me they're talking to. If they think I got cut by one of the Ferals, then I'm sunk. They'll kill me on the spot if they have any common sense.

"It's just a scratch, Bel." I hear a woman's shaky response and then before I realize i…

Out in the garden on a sunny day surrounded by flowers I sat. The aroma of roses and climbing clematis didn't blot out the smell of my own shampoo. The hum of bees busily gathering nectar an undertone to the bird song announcing their territories and call…

At last Malika leaned away from the stranger, shrugging off his embrace like a cloak. She wanted her pain, needed it in order to do what must be done. She reached down and plucked Morduth from the ground where it had fallen.

Mistress, are you alright?…

The Lesser Dead in all their varieties watched as the swordmaiden passed, followed a moment later by the holy man, now made impotent by their master. They allowed both to escape unscathed. Indeed many still held the swordmaiden in fear, for the way she ha…

Malika shivered. The events of the night still weighed heavily upon her, and it was difficult to wrap her mind around the loss of her village, the fight with the Lycanders, the destruction of the lesser deathless, and the conflict with the greater deathle…

"My tongue may be twisted but I'll tell you no lies

Surely that's plain from the look in my eyes?

You're not making a deal with the Devil himself

Take a look around, inspect every shelf!

There must be something that catches your fancy

Go on, don…