We weren't ready for the aliens, but should have been.

They first got our attention with a series of six X-ray bursts out beyond the orbit of Neptune, one for each of their massive ships. Each was so bright, it took hours to tell that this wasn't a comet…

"Would you like to be a magical girl?"

The ad popped up on her screen for the third time. "Why won't you bug off?" she asked, clicking the ad blocker to attempt to block it again.

"Please wait. I need your help," pleaded the cute little mascot on the ad.

…

Anxiety cripples

Even the strongest brain.

Anxiety says “go back in the house.

You are never going to be good enough.

What if you fall?

What if you pass out?”

What ifs an endless stream.

.

Here I am,

My feet pounding the ground

Trying to be louder than t…

I hadn't talked to Fireboy in forever, but he owed me a favor. He still understood my signal—and still kept his old jogging routine. The false rock I planted the USB drive in was moved back, indicating he was on board. So now I stood outside the oxygen ba…

The faintly glowing creature approached the girl sitting at her desk, frustratedly typing away on her keyboard. It leapt lightly onto the corner, peering at her work.

It sat, curling a dainty tail round itself, watching as she continued typing, jumbled me…

There once was a girl,

Who loved her family,

To the depths of the ocean,

And to the top of the height mountains.

Content she was not,

In her life at the foot of a mountain,

And in a house at beachside,

Her heart longed for more.

Seclusion was not in h…

Liavrea was a bad student.

While her teachers were explaining the intricacies of Elven Woodsinging, the history of the High Forest, or the finer points of high culture, the young Vysoren girl heard only the song of the birds, the low roar of the wind, …

My Roller Coaster Buddy,

The man who’d “bomb” my hair,

A man of integrity, kind and fair.

Who loved to tease,

Who was silly and always had fun,

Everyone has a favorite memory of “Brother Murphy”.

To everyone he would meet,

He’d give them a …

So it's all about the first line here, as in many other forms of writing. Use it, in a narrative-type scene, to either set the scene or establish reader interest. A good trick is to start with dialogue, as it immediately and naturally brings questions - t…

Ms. Nolan, my English teacher, asked me to stay after class.

It'd been 30 days since David died.

She smirked, "What were you reading under your desk? I just have to know what book has captured your attention so fully." Some teachers would say that with…

I sit up, clutching at my chest. Christ, it hurts! The last thing I remember is... What is the last thing?

I was at the cabin. Gina and I were arguing. What did I do this time? Think, dammit!

She had a gun. She screamed and cried. I remember that much, …

"You can do it!" Maggie screamed with feline enthusiasm. The others lined up behind me as I faced the door and the challenge ahead.

"What if I fail?" I asked, looking back. "What if I let all of you down?"

"We believe in you!" Pod cheered.

Chirell adjuste…

"What happens now?" asked Woost.

"Nothing," said the faerie, landing on the pillow next to the infant's head. "Now we wait. And make plans. And hope for the best. Nothing can happen until the child comes of age, anyway, not now that she is bonded and sea…

At some point the redolent scent of moisture reached our noses, clinging to the air around us. Soon, it became apparent why.

We reached a section of tunnel that was damp and cool, moist with condensation that itself brown and foul-smelling. We avoided to…

And yet, nothing is ever new.

..............................

I never knew what happened to them. I never remembered it when it happened. Sometimes I didn't even remember how I got there.

I could only figure it must be my fault. I was the only person left standing.

Left alive.

I was always unharmed, so I could o…

"Why don't you write about me?" she exclaimed as if it were that easy.

It wasn't. She was the personification of the proverbial "one that got away" and his heart still ached for her even after all the years that had passed since that night in the park on…

When the moment came to reveal his finished product, he felt trepidation. It was time to face the reality. For better or worse, it was his alone. He had sat there by himself grunting and sweating until he was completely tapped out. His muscles quivered, s…

Of all the hazards Astarlane had dealt with in the past, psychotropics were by far the worst. Raiders, toxics, traps - those, she felt, were honest dangers.

But the psychotropics weren't like that. They used you - used your inner demons against you. It …

They open the steel-walled box which contains the data. It's a red plastic object the rough size of a brick and shape of a Lego, with grey cable ports on the underside. One of them flips the drive upside-down in a single, fluid, motion that takes a fracti…

My snow is grey and never white

It glows and slowly drifts from sight

I watch it fall and breathe the scent

And never wondered where it went

My fog is thin and never fills

It floats and swirls where e'er it wills

I watch the clouds and trace the streams

…

9:30PM

The house is silent and dark except for the light above the couch. I sit with a book, trying to disappear into its world so my dreams will be more full of fantasy and less full of reality.

10:30PM

I yawn. My arms and legs weigh a million tons, my …

Damion stands at the edge of the woods, just inside the treeline. His attention is focused on the house 35 yards away, the house that is surrounded by a teeming mass of the living dead. He hears screams from inside, cries for help from the poor souls trap…

The echo of my boots attracted the silent judgment of every deluded man in the Hall. Under their disapproving gaze, I was glad to be wearing armor. Well judgment could go both ways and while the Order held temporal power, I was now a peer to a different k…

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