Rebecca, distressed, started ripping up the seams she had just completed, her mouth pursed and disapproving. "No, that'll never do," she fussed. "The edges aren't matching up and it just looks so sloppy. I'll just have to redo that whole stretch. Hand me …

There was something about his eyes. Not dreamy or wistful. Not deep and romantic, or glassy and vacant. Not even something about the color, an unremarkable gray. It was hard to put your finger on, the thing about his eyes.

They were...oh, bother. Pe…

The larger man seemed to immediately forget about me, going back to waving the knife at the smaller one, so I deemed it suitable to have my swallow. Sally at the sandwich place really did wonders with salmon and king prawns, I reflected, wincing as the sm…

Every night is the same.

The sun descends below the horizon, leaving the sky a desolate black. From within the village, the cries of the frightened form a chorus that pleads for light. They are waiting for the gondolier.

He is not as swift as he was …

It was the captain.

"Captain. What a pleasant surprise."

"Quite so. There is a communication for you, monsieur. My communications officer tells me that it is addressed to your good self."

"Thank you, Captain."

"Monsieur."

"Yes?"

"You are not going t…

My eyes narrowed. A tell, which I self-consciously tried to hide behind a quick flip of my hair.

"As I communicated to Navy Systems Command, shakedown trials are tentatively scheduled to start in three months' time. Please -"

"Ms Sayre, I do hate to rep…

How sullen is eternity! It sits sulky through the years,

Softly murmuring of boredom to a crowd of heedless ears.

Satisfaction needs a structure. Stories must begin and end.

In between, we need a climax, where we lose or gain a friend.

Life is not some mi…

The battery of sensors in the hood of the police car tracked the signal, the shining beacon of radio waves emanating from the van. It plotted the location onto a GPS map in the dashboard.

Meanwhile, a small army of police waited behind the barricade. Near…

Veron Gerrick scrolled through the palace alerts looking for anything that demanded his personal attention. Much of his staff had been inherited from his mother and their loyalty had transferred to him when he had assumed the position of High Lord. They w…

Smoky morning eyes made the light blur,

but I knew where I was.

I was home.

I woke just before she left,

just before she came to gently shake me

to tell me goodbye and

that she loved me

and that she'd be back in the evening.

The holes in my socks and ne…

"Your Majesty, let me help you out of this predicament!" I begged the Queen, who just a few months ago had been sitting on a throne of gold and ink. To see her now, scarred and gasping for air, lying in a heap on the prison floor was almost too much for m…

The festival passed by absent either girl's presence, as neither felt particularly festive. When the time came for Taka to return to her studies, she did so eagerly, searching for any distraction from the painful fissure in her heart.

When her own gempuk…

As the finely honed edge of his opponent's weapon sliced the air where his head had been a mere fraction of a second previously, he would have sworn to the gods that the blade sang, not with anger but joy. Stinging above his left eye told him that the bla…

My face must have said more than my silence because she added quickly, “It's not a church or anything crazy like that. I might be a little old fashioned but I know right from right. It's more of a social. We meet at the Autumn Garden Theatre. You know the…

We talked every night. We wrote letters. The distance never diminished our love for each other. We had it all figured out.

I flew out to see you on Valentine's day. You baked me a cake for my birthday. We had Thanksgiving dinner with your family. …

Story is marked as mature

The hallway wasn't long enough to break into a full run and Lenn barely registered the pictures of strangers that lined both walls as he went by. Guided by the only light coming out of one of the three doorways at the end of the hall, he felt like the cap…

The Growth has covered the entire coastline for as long as we could tell, and it grew out onto the ocean in some places. Some kind of toxic organism, killed five of ours. No safe landing anywhere.

It had been too long. Rations were dwindling, the crew sta…

Provoking dreams, you’re welcome at my door

To enter, and to make yourself at home

The myriad uses of this ballroom floor

Can serve each purpose, rather like a tome

Of tales and poems, redolent of dreams.

Oh, we can dance there, never doubt it’s true!

Bu…

She mourned him. Not even the real him. She mourned the loss of the fantasy she'd made of him.

In her dreams he said all the right things, had all the right moves, shared the same jokes, had the cutest smile and softest touch. She happily stayed in bed …

I stare at the picture a few seconds longer. Anyone else would just think it's another ghetto teen couple in cheap Hawaiin garb in the middle of a dirty city.

A grin spreads across my face. She's hideous in her coconut bra and grass skirt.

He's lost all…

Liz' thoughts were interrupted by a flash of fire and a dragon's roar.

Across the small park, a winged beast, its crimson scales glittering in the midmorning sunlight, loomed over a trio of fantastical figures standing knee-deep in the sea of swirling gr…

There's dust gathering on the bed frame

Interspaced with gaps left by careless and infrequent touches

A chair piled high with jackets worn but once

or crumpled on a cold floor

Sheets collect long hair on the left side

unwashed dishes pile on the right

T…

Malika barked a derisive laugh. "If by 'grounded' you mean, did it feel more real than the lesser deathless we cut down? Then yes. Yes, it did." She reached up and pointedly rubbed at her shoulder again, even though the ache was barely there. "I don't kno…

Bundled up against the autumn chill, Liz wandered the city streets, alone with her thoughts.

Stopping to let a train of delivery-bots cross the sidewalk, she glanced around, noticing again just how empty the streets and walkways were on a Saturday mornin…