Marcos massaged his temple with a thick thumb. "Good party last night."

I offered him some of my Water Plus. "You never know which one will be your last."

He didn't grimace or laugh, just nodded as he accepted my canteen. He knew the stakes. We all did.…

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…

It feels like hatching.

Closing my eyes and letting the words flow from my fingers like they once did is terrifying, but some part of me is starving and certain that the alternative means death. My creativity is at stake.

I'm answering the call of a 9-…

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

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…

Suspects entered the building at 10:19. We arrived twelve minutes later...

"It's locked!", said Matt Quyen as he gingerly tried the office doors.

"Move away from the glass," said the team leader, "We're going to smash it." The squad backed up as the cap…

HOW FITTING TO BLEED HERE

TO COME HERE IN DRUNKEN STUPOR

ONLY THE FINEST OF INK TO

NARRATE THIS PATHETIC STORY

~

So this is my story? Fine then. It starts here.

A young man sits cross-legged with elbows on his knees, hunched over a tiny lined book…

He knew it was coming for some time, but was not expecting the email when it arrived in the inbox the previous night. Once he found out, he let the idea sink in for a day, then fully faced it in conversation with his older brother, who is cautiously hopef…

Roll, Roll, ROLL down the hill

'how far along are we?' Asked a small voice in his cart.

'about a mile.' The farmer answers.

Oh no! a road block!

'Just where do you think you're going in such a hurry,' Says the guard.

'Escaping the city! The army is coming…

If only, if only, the broken mom cries

You chose to look up and not text while you drive

My shattered bones ache, but my heart always screams

My time with my daughter now locked in my dreams

-

Beware the invincible, foolish, and young

Their mistakes are s…

Story is marked as mature

I can't stop feeling her face.

Not seeing, feeling. We were so close so often that the shape of her face against mine took on more meaning. The impression derails me during work hours, plagues me at night.

Today I couldn't handle that memory, so I picked …

"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…

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…

There were things we worshiped before the new gods. Things of the dirt. Things of the dark. Things that moved and swarmed and crawled in the spaces beneath our feet. We feared them, even as they ignored us. To them, we were the worms. And less than worm…

Story is marked as mature

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 am so mad right now. So freaking flipping wawbsqeeaqs-ing MAD. Laughably mad. Like, I want to scream-and-punch-something mad.

And the best part is I can't tell anyone. How the heck is that even remotely fair? And I really want to curse cuz I'm so mad. …

Younger me was a stronger me, I think. There is a determination, I have always suspected, to convince oneself that the passage of time has given at least as much as it has taken away - youth for wisdom, for example. Naivete for experience, perhaps.

But i…

Cerian was silent while the coach spun silently towards the dock structures. She was pale and expressionless, and watched me carefully as I wiped off the knife.

"So this is who you are, now."

I sensed the many layers to this not-quite-statement, and hes…

My high school art room seems a bit different. I'm not sure if it's just me or if the kilns aren't in the proper place.

I've got something in front of me that I'm supposed to eat. It sort of looks like a thing of Dunkaroos where you dip something into so…

I'm spiraling. Spiraling down.

I don't know what is at the bottom and I don't care.

I relax into the current trying to hold me up. I close my eyes and feel weightless as long as I ignore the sting of rushing air on my skin and the strain of fabric pull…

The door bell rang. Again. God damned kids, he thought. Nothing better to do than disturb descent people and beg for candy.

He stomped to the door, and, just before opening it, put on his most pleasant face. The one he usually reserved for suckers...…

Story is marked as mature