(Temporarily taken down as it is part of a school assignment, I'll put it back later)

Dark nights often lead to dreamlands.

<->÷<•>~<=>÷<•>~<->÷<•>~<=>÷<•>~<->

There is a kind of self loathing that exists beyond the burn of violent hatred and far from spineless apathy, that rests solidly on what can only be described as having become despicable in my own eyes.

It is one of the worst sensations I have ever experi…

Captain's log, ship's day 8482

I, Fleance Conor Norton, hereby assume command of the generation ship Hope. Let the record state that Captain Kettering performed his duties with dignity and honor, and willingly surrendered himself to the recyclers. Ther…

Everything seemed to happen at once. Stella lived at two speeds simultaneously. In what felt like it should have taken only a second or two, the moon sprang upon her back and spread out like an effulgent tarpaulin, pressing her skin into the pricking fenc…

Months went by,

Since she left the only way of life she's ever known,

Simple life, hard life, workers' life,

City life she now knows.

Spruced up her wardrobe,

With 15 hour works days,

Not much better than before,

But the energy here- it keeps here alive.

…

Today, I was hit with a ton of bricks. Killed me outright... stone dead.

I never even saw it coming. I was just walking along with a friend, talking about something trivial just to make conversation. Then, suddenly... right out of the blue, wham!

So wha…

Old walls, sunk deep into the earth, slick with moisture and trimmed in dripping weblike vines, rose well above toward a sky of flat white. Two halls of this kind met, creating a cross of light overhead. The floor was long lost beneath brackish brown wate…

“In the event of a gravitational storm, please return to your seat and buckle your restraints as demonstrated by the hologram in front of you. In the case of decompression..”

I tuned out the flight attendant. I'd taken this trip many times recently as bo…

I think I've figured it out.

Why I've been so blazé about work. It's not that the students need a break and they've shut down for the rest of the year. It's me. I'm not trying to be a super teacher these last few weeks. Not days, no, weeks.

I'm the o…

It is night now, and moonlight pours through the one open window in the room. The moon outside is full, the light it casts bright and rich. Almost the moonbeam reaches the table. Almost it reaches the box. The moment he has been waiting for has very nearl…

Story is marked as mature

There aren't many frogs out and about now, being late autumn and all. By this point, most have already burrowed into the mud to hibernate for the winter. As the ground around them grows colder, their bodies will eventually freeze into solid blocks of ice …

Ruta stepped through the portal and onto one of the scattered little islands. Her golden hair, clothes, and tiara all shimmered with each movement she made. She summoned a golden bow, and pulled back the string, and a golden arrow appeared.

She let it fly…

"Give back my magic!" Ruta called. She forced herself to get up.

"Oh, no. I won't. I'd much rather keep this. Look at how lovely it is!" She twirled.

Ruta attempted to catch her, and the girl bounced away.

"Let's try out these new powers, shall we?" She…

He lifted his head, unscrewed the top of the whiskey and took a big swig of it, holding it in his mouth for a moment to savor the taste that only good whiskey can provide before swallowing it in an attempt to make the girl disappear.

"I'm not going anywh…

"You drink too much" she said to him. "Or not enough. I guess it depends on what you are going for."

"I'm going for the 'forgetting my misery'" he said with a sigh.

"What you need to do is write more. Especially if you are drinking. All the great writin…

Porcelina stood on the shore, her bare feet covered in sea foam. A soft breeze rolled across the ocean, carrying a whisper over the waves.

"It's time to come home." The voice said.

"But I'm not ready." Porcelina said, "There's still so much to see."

F…

Story is marked as mature

Pandemics have wreaked havoc throughout human history. In the 14th century the bubonic plague, or “Black Death”, killed an estimated 30-60% of Europe’s population. Close to one hundred million people died of the disease. According to the Italian poet B…

She wasn't the prettiest girl that he knew, or even the kindest. She plied her razor tongue on the "stick insects" and "puffed up princesses" that he had crushed on and asked out and been dumped by. But she had a sharp and hard morality that left her appa…

I shall read. I shall watch and listen.

I’ll dance as much as I can.

I’d like to be the one you can come back to relax with, sometimes, after you’ve danced yourself into ecstasy, and you want a change of pace. I know dancing isn’t done only with the bo…

Sometimes I forget that home has a scent

A comforting reminder of a familiar space, habits, and expectations

It’s unexpected

The pain of it’s absence

Especially knowing how transitional my locations will be

Without it I am less

On my journey to become …

The old men say that singing the fidjeri makes one go blind, but what can I do? I am al naham on a pearl ship and it is my job to sing while stronger men risk their lives diving beneath the surface of the coastal waters. The hours are long and the days …

The fat man moved suddenly, standing up and ducking forward to release her hold while throwing his unfinished noodles over his shoulder. Even as the contents of the bowl splattered against her chest, her hand closed reflexively, no longer on his neck but …