I could hear her calling me back, using her alluring tone. When I didn't follow, she began calling me names. Every man in the entire place suddenly felt compelled to shout and call me names. Through the phone, Sasha could hear the deep rumbles of the men.…

The elevator stopped. Between floors. The doors remained firmly shut. Gregor groaned. He pushed the help button, but nothing happened.

"Are you here for the convention?" asked a smiling man in a lime green chef's uniform.

"No," growled Gregor.

"Seems w…

The transition from mundane to extraordinary was mind-numbingly quick, that day. I was storing a recoilless hammer back in an equipment box and when Fuel Tank 3 exploded in a blinding flash.

Before my conscious brain could process what this meant, my mam…

Astarlane was strangely calm. Yes, single combat almost never lasted more than a handful of seconds; yes, any mistake that she made now would almost certainly cost her life. And yet, as she pressed her attack, she allowed herself a grim smile. This one wa…

Winters here are not bitterly cold, just barren. The acid rainy season drives everyone underground as the leaves melt off the trees. Harvest was good, we will survive until the leaves sprout again, but the council meets every day to craft more rules.

The…

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…

Unapologetically together,

seeming like we're teeming with

something you'll never know.

Seeping with tingly feeling,

I am not ashamed.

Sometimes almost instinctually

jealous.

Green and calloused...

your face.

Are you sick?

You should be ashamed.

Others' h…

She took to the baby. Held it, rocked it, cooed at it. I gave her the supplies I had, but they would only last a week. I told her that the baby had to go to the hospital inside the caldera. I told her it was temporary, but I knew she'd make it permanent.

…

"Who are you?" she asked after several moments of silence.

"N-" I realized I didn't have to keep going by that name. I had a chance to tell someone something different. What I'd been thinking was... "Tourmaline. My name is Tourmaline."

A few more tense mo…

I bury him in a shoebox at 4:15. I scrape at the ground in the shadow of the fire escape with the spoon I'd saved for this purpose. I excavate, chunks of dirt piling. I crush each between my thumb and forefinger in a burst of dust. At this hour, this st…

(This was written under the influence of two bottles of wine and a complete disregard for grammar)

There is a belief that, if you look close enough at the bark of trees, you'll see yourself in the grooves.

You, who are made of flesh and blood and mushy…

A barista pulled levers on a machine that belched steam, grinded a few gears, and jiggled menacingly. If it wasn't bolted to the floor, the ancient contraption would surely take off through the roof.

"Caramel Frappé with a side of coconut oil!" barked th…

Each Robin has a red breast, dripping blood,


And ev'ry beaten heart, a bony cage,


And still we sing and bathe ourselves in mud;

From heart to fingers, ink still stains the page.

The pump has sprung a leak for you to read:


A farewell note to say it's n…

I watched you burn.

I watched as your multi-hued plumage singed and reduced to grey, dead ash.

I watched powerlessly as your skin, flesh and bone blistered, seared and charred. Before long, a pile of soot and slag was all that remained where you had bee…

The smoke merchants pace along the streets of the Market. The cowls of their grey cloaks are pulled up over their heads, obscuring their features. Everyone who comes to the Market maintains a level of anonymity, but the smoke merchants even more so. The p…

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…

Yellow: the safety, a thing I can touch

White: it will burn, but not yet, as such

Orange: and glowing, inhale and beware

Grey: the remainder, exhaled into air

Despite the term safety, safety glass still stings when shards of it hit you. I wished I had my duster to protect me, but it was in a crate labeled with my name and new inmate number. Before the last bits had rained down on the floor, a familiar voice boo…

Alcohol.

Water.

Lime.

Salt.

The mixture looked like diluted blood.

It tasted like flat soda mixed with antiseptic.

It burned.

Every chewed fingernail, every crack in those dry lips, the bloodshot eyes, the sleep deprived mind, all burned.

He was split be…

"Well met, Gulmar of the Eldergreens. My name is Sadie, and in different times we were the III Section of Darkfall's Moonriders. We travel east to fulfil the last wishes of our late commander, and are grateful for your timely assistance."

The towering or…

To understand why Mike Green had begun to scream, one must merely look at the events of a few seconds earlier.

Then, an old man had sat in a windowless van, ensconced in soundproofing, and raised a small radio to his lips. "Begin," he declared tonelessly,…

Story is marked as mature

I don't think I answered her, but she figured out all the same. Both dead. She held me tightly, trying her best to comfort me. I remember her meeting up with the others, faintly. Those who escaped the attack. I can't say I remember the rest very well, but…

"Chick Fight" was the name of the organization (and that term is used very loosely) that Jovie had found to make a few quick bucks so she could continue to do things like eating and sleeping in a place with a roof and such. She wasn't crazy about the name…

The process had begun.

She knew better than to play in the Rhoka woods. There were evil things there. Magic of the worst kind.

It'd been many years since the town rose up against the evil Lord Bahlo but while he was gone, his curse remained in Rhoka.

S…