Newkirk and Beckton appeared in a cascading flash and swirl of short-lived white particles as if teleporting in from an immaterial snowstorm. They were surrounded by a thick fog that stirred in a somewhat turgid manner, as if just a touch heavier than the…

The sea and sky have been entwined all day,

Both a pale granite grey.

A flat calm - clouds in the ripples and ripples in the clouds.

Now it's dark, and the distant ship lights look like stars.

I'd write you a song

And trust me I've tried

But it never works out for me

How do I write something I don't get

~

You're rocket fuel in my veins

You're dead weight on my mind

You're a strange new beat

Seems I've got two left feet

~

Sucks to be me

But look…

The Office of Strategic Assets was responsible for a number of things: planetary deuterium stockpiles, mothballed military bases, and reserve nuclear weapons.

We'd all been shocked three years ago when the order came down to unseal one of the black sites…

"Oh, there you are!" her booted feet clacked audibly across the shaded concrete. "I bought you a coffee."

The beverage slid roughly across the metal mesh tabletop. I eyed it warily. "I don't drink coffee."

"I know, but I do, and I figured once you warmed …

Story is marked as mature

People think that all ghosts are bad, but they are wrong.

Growing up, I lived in an apartment next to an old woman named Miss Betty. She kept a rocking chair on the stoop and on warm evenings I would sit outside with her and play checkers. She smoked h…

It wasn't a gate.

Those were the bars of a cage - that house, my prison.

Could I not open it? Of course I could.

Could I just leave? Any time.

Could I break free?

Could I break free?

What is freedom? Nothing but a pair of wornout boots.

There I sto…

The lantern was burning low, putting an orange-gold cast on the cabin. Ryle was pouring us a drink of a very fine twenty-year Presagian whiskey. It was his one indulgence; many a night did we spend far from civilisation sipping on the finest drinks availa…

Isn't it funny how things you do in your youth come back to bite you? What is it the New Agers call it?

Karma! That's it.

Like when you're a teenager, and you hit-and-run someone's car. Then, as an adult, some kid slams into the new car you just bought,…

"Hero. Hope for us all."

Funny. She didn't feel much like one anymore. Nor did she have any hope for herself.

Not after everything she'd done.

"Not your fault."

But it was. Like a lie of omission, it was her fault for inaction.

"Uncontrollable. Dange…

This week I was cast as the Evil Sorceress in an opera- I’m a man (biologically), mind you- but I always thought myself more the heroine. After all, my magic is of Light. Even when my song is the dimmest firefly, I still glimmer along, dancing luminescenc…

In the dark, the falling snow outside looked like ash. The flurries that spun around the ruddy polluted glass of the oil lamps became the warm colors of a shattered rainbow. They didn't have the inner brilliance of fireflies or the sinister playfulness of…

Just one more choice and destiny is yours. The universe whispered like she might hear.

When Kimber emerged from the employee lounge she was wearing her apron stocked with straws, stirrers and napkins. She got too many looks with her hair down, but bett…

I love you

But I want you to hate me

For loving you

.

I hate me

And I want you to love me

For loving you

.

I hate you

For not loving me

When I love you

.

I love me

For not hating you

When I love you

.

I love you

Even if you love another

And don't love me…

He came in with a haunted look in his eyes. A fine suit hung from his frame, slightly threadbare but still lending an air of battered elegance. His gaze caught on the shelves full of jars, clinking gently against each other despite the utter absence of an…

Remember that mask?

Maybe you started wearing it for protection.

You wanted to fit in.

You were afraid that people wouldn't accept you.

You wouldn't accept you.

.

At first you only wear it when you have to,

Like armor before heading off to battle.

A short…

Old Tory Adore may not seem like much now, but let me tell you, back in the day, Tory was a woman to reckon with. When she trod the streets of Fentriss, New Jersey, brother, you could hear people scurryin' away. Her frogskin boots jingled remorselessly as…

Power hummed through Rahmi's veins. Each pull of the thread brought a fresh surge of energy that threatened to break her concentration.

This time, she told herself. This time, she would not fail. This time, she swore it, and she would swear it again and a…

Heading to Starbucks for some writing, I turned on to Fernando Valley Road. It was one of those four lane roads where the city speed limit is upped to fifty. Across the median, I saw an old man on foot. Behind him a blue van sat defeated on the shoulder. …

Behind the counter, a serious faced Jin watched them while he used his apron to wipe his hands. She needed to finish her business here before he called a street team to investigate. She didn't want to tangle with them. The violent thugs thinly disguised a…

"It's such a shame, really." Cordelia untied the collar of her blouse so her 7 year-old could suckle. No matter how bad things got, ladies would always find time to gossip.

"We mustn't judge, Cordy. It's not her fault." Thin and frail Maude pursed her li…

The two live units continued fire, systematically dismantling, disabling and/or dismembering every possible threat in the concourse. As this included every person, sentinel, bodyguard and drone, this was a task that took several seconds.

It was a shame t…

King Cynric looked down on the three men kneeling before him. "Arran, former head of my father's guard." Arran looked up, his expression showing open contempt for the man before him.

"You and your co-conspirators are guilty of the murder of my father, yo…

Story is marked as mature