"I don't want to do this, just for the record," Janos says. His voice is whiny but not without cause.

"Don't be such a crybaby," Tharsten replies. "It just a simple prank."

"It's wrong," Janos says. "You'd hate it if someone pulled this stunt on you, an…

It's difficult to grow up. Shoot, it's difficult to even figure out what that means. I suspect that the act of growing up is rooted in pain. Pain that is unfair, unique to you, callous, and solely your responsibility. From the white-hot shard of ice whose…

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

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…

But I've no strength, no courage! If I must

Continue living, tread the steeper way,

Climb crises--impulse might o'erride dread; just

An instant could decide things either way.

.

It's the heart; the best part. I saved it for you.

I protected it, made sure it stayed whole and as innocent and full of light as possible. I used it only to build you up, to raise you from the darkness. I used it to praise you and to welcome you with op…

Story is marked as mature

The pile of rejects on the end of my desk grew with a haste I wasn't quite expecting. This was the first I looked down to see that sometime through the day it spilled down to the floor under my feet. Of course picking it all up meant I sat reading them ag…

The fire rain came again last night, driving holes in the already pitted metal over our heads. Cossa and Sandry caught some splash drops with their faces and woke with permanent tears. Fire rain burned but everyone in our holding catches what they can to …

Email:

I want you to know my feelings in detail, so I type them into a single message that may be long, but at least I have provided good communication of my wants and needs.

Texting:

I return your communication sometimes with a similarly long winded mes…

(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…

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…

She saw him across the crowded party basement. Her heart swelled with euphoria. Her eyes sparkled. She was overly exuberant, but her friends thought she'd caught the party fever. They had no idea of her secret passion for the boy lurking in the corner.

W…

I had a dream

Of a familiar face.

An acquaintance? A friend?

I searched for what I knew.

The face gave nothing away.

The friend said nothing.

.

At first, I pleaded,

Then I shouted.

I tried to reach out,

I couldn’t move.

.

The closer I looked

The more that…

If I were to tell you, my darling friend,

That I think that I'm falling for you,

Would you feel I'd been lying? Would our friendship end?

What would you say; what would you do?

Well, I know well I shouldn't, I know in my place

I must only be strict…

Boldly I fear, oh so boldly I stride,

For I dare to be frightened! I shan't be denied!

There are others who cower but meet with bad ends;

There are mothers with power, het up with a lens,

But the timid who bluster are rare, dear my friends.

I will strike…

The knock came just after midnight. I’d been laying in bed listening to this old 80s band called the Cure when I heard it. A soft tapping, so faint that I almost missed it. Then it came again, louder and more insistent.

I rolled out of bed and saw a b…

"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…

I don't get you. I don't get me.

I should give up, as you can see.

Thanks for the friendship; thanks a lot.

I'm here, where ev'ry day's too hot.

.

Don't follow me! Don't hold me back.

My kindness changes to attack.

Please save yourself while you still…

Story is marked as mature

Their little faces crumbled from surprise and delight to tearful and shock. This large thing crashed their party, stealing their gifts and eating their cake.

He sat back, grinning maliciously over his multiple chins. The children's large eyes swam with…

The room, if you can call it that, for it was enormous, easily the largest single chamber I'd seen down here in the dark, was a nightmare landscape of chaos. I had to shake my head and blink my eyes several times to try to rid myself of the vertigo it i…

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,…

I twiddled my mustache. Simply because I had a mustache which was very twiddle-able. It curled in a way that laughed at gravity, without wax of any kind and no roustabout would be able to ever knock it askew.

I toweled the sweat from my brow like so many…

Faster than I could react, she pulled something from her apron and pushed it into my hands.

"Please, stay safe. I couldn't... if you..."

This wasn't what I had expected. Still trying to catch up to the present, I looked down at the object she had given …