The first was wooden and splintery. Brittle. Damn thing would fall over at the slightest gust of wind. It wouldn't hold itself up, much less an entire fence.

This one, though... this one was made of metal. Stainless steel. It was solid -- and heavy. …

Regrets, I've had a few.

I love a bit of Sinatra, and this line from My Way comes to mind right now. I have had some regrets in life, and regret is the emotion that floods my mind right now.

By some bizarre happenings that I still barely comprehend, it …

Let’s get messy;

Let’s run around

In places we’ve never experienced before;

Get lost in delirious abandon.

Let’s get wet;

Let’s find a lake

And jump in, shoes and all,

Let’s share towels and shoes and body heat;

Let’s dive off cliffs

Watching the Earth r…

"Wait. Excuse me, what? What do you mean I can't go back?"

The gate stood resolute and impenetrable. I tried to rattle its bars, but it didn't so much as tremble at my efforts.

I had seen the notices, read the warnings, but who could accept that their hom…

The veil waited, carefully spread over a chair back. All of the dressing room photos had been taken, the bridesmaids and her mother had taken their places, and the bride had a few moments to herself.

The mirror reflected her perfect form, the perfect dre…

That day had been bleaker than most. The smog cloud over head was especially dense, and I needed the headlights on my bike even at midday.

Recently, it had been getting easier coping with his absence. Yes, although I hate to admit it, it seemed like the…

Malika danced. Creatures emerged from the darkness all around her, and she whirled among them. Her steps were light, quick. She never remained still, never allowed the beasts to reach her. She was driven by need, fueled by the sword's own desire.

Blood …

She has the aesthetic of long skirts and crop tops. She wears black hats and black eye liner. She reads books by candlelight.

She keeps herbs in mason jars and poured tea on paper to age it. Her counters are covered in Babies Breath and cat hair.

She d…

He saw that fake look of self assurance on her face, and it reminded him of a mosquito. People, like mosquitoes, rise out of the warm fluids, and their lives are just what they did in between feeding and reproducing. Here she was, with the life span of …

Come one, come all, and welcome to Ficlatté. The site is organised much like Ficly was, so things should be mostly familiar.

Please, come on in and make yourself at home.

What is the point of prayer?

We ask god to make things a certain way that have been what they are all along.

Please don't let it be cancer

Please let it be mold and not a dangerous building toxin

It's not like god miraculously changes it from what it is…

My ring grew ice cold. I hid it under my leg. I wasn't sure if it would glow in the dark theater, but I wasn't about to chance it.

I leaned towards my boyfriend, laying my head on his shoulder until the ring warmed up. He knew I had it and what it meant,…

I grabbed our wagon, pushing it over to where my father stood, forever carven in wood. Carefully, I tipped him into the wagon, the bent steel post in his upraised fist clanging against the sides. Then I wheeled him to our workshop behind the house.

I had…

I've got a monster in my chest

A sad one

Like the evil Eeyore that hides underneath your comforter at night when the room is too hot and your skin is too cold and everything is too much and not enough and you're certain that you're dying inside of your sk…

Orthael was not entirely surprised when the first creature stepped out from behind a tree, not far ahead. It had once been a man, but grossly elongated arms led to a soft rustling from knuckles dragged along the forest floor. A few others joined it, all-t…

Malika brought Morduth up so it pointed at the newcomer. Blue flame flared up bright and tall along the blade's length, spilling over the hilt and onto her hand and wrist. She didn't notice. All her attention was on this man of the cloth standing before h…

"Orthael!" she spat. "Protector of life, servant of the All-Consumer." Her voice dripped disdain. "Summoned by a local parish, no doubt." Orthael nodded. "To protect us." He nodded again.

"Well, holy man, where were you when my village was destroyed …

Doom fell from the sky that next day. At least, that's where we assumed it came from. There were mutterings in that cloudless expanse -- and rumors of mutterings. We had listened to them all that night and assumed they were the last breaths of the god-t…

The third post, well... the third post didn't actually exist. Not in any way that mattered. It was an idea, if you will -- a concept, a metaphor. It was a lynchpin of belief. It was, of course, all hot air and bluster and metaphor, a puff of wind as insub…

The elevator doors opened. Pandora stepped onto the 52nd floor of the Pouthena Building. Pulling her shawl closer, she gingerly set out for Row 31, her cane tapping a slow staccato on the marble tile as she walked. She had all the time in the world.

Care…

Each spadeful of dirt opened the earth a little further. It never seemed like much but it added up bit by bit. It always felt like it took forever. Patrick had lost count in the eighties at least three times. His mind was slow now. He supposed this kind o…

I don't want to change anything, don't get me wrong. The more time passes, the more I see how it couldn't have worked. The more I see how much I would've suffered for you. Because I loved you and I love you and I would take so much pain for you just beca…

I think that all my friends must be astronauts...

They sure do love their space.

Oswald hated cases like this. Common break-ins, unstable shoot-em ups in the living room; panic killings. Nothing interesting about them. The killer would hopefully succumb to their conscience and spare themselves the ordeal of the guilt.

The floorboards…

Grosser looked away. Averting his eyes didn't help. It didn't stop Marnie from flinging his accusations at poor Julia. The woman had seemed near a breakdown after the expedition's second night.

“Where did it go? What did you do with it? Cause I'm damn s…