We had no neighbors. That was by design. Dad didn't like people. I didn't much care for them myself. So it was our livestock that died first. Dad hadn't even had a chance to step off the porch with that second post before the cows started keeling over. Th…

Matthews woke up, head flat against his desk, arm curled around a bottle of apricot brandy. It was the scream of the work whistle that did it.

Moving nothing but a shaking hand, as if it were the spider-hourglass emblem of his Ministry of Spies badge, he…

Grosser looked away. Averting his eyes didn't help. It didn't stop Marnie from flinging his accusations at poor Julia. The woman had seemed near a breakdown after the expedition's second night.

“Where did it go? What did you do with it? Cause I'm damn s…

He is a tiny man. Under four feet tiny. Balding pate. Small eyes. Round, tortoiseshell glasses. Tattered brown suit. Nothing to look at, certainly, not that anyone is looking.

He glides through the crowd, clearing a path without word or gesture. People m…

The story first appeared in an issue of National Geographic. It chronicled a journey taken in the 1970s by a small band of backpackers. While travelling through the woods of southeast Alaska the group stumbled onto a ghost town.

The community appeare…

I can feel it happening again.

It's been a while...

Of all the worlds - I've lost count - that have truly captured my soul, only two stand above the rest.

One is a world of masks, the other is a world of monsters.

The rest, whether created by others or my…

"I ask you again," Malika said. "Who be you, and how be it you come to be here, just at this very moment? Be you a final test, holy man or not, to confirm my resolve, to baptize me in the fire of purification against the forces of Ashmar?" She could feel …

Captain Iremond paced the length of the bridge. He knew it wasn’t good for the crew’s morale but he couldn’t stop himself. Today he was in charge for the first time. He’d be a fool if he wasn’t nervous. Even if everything went to plan, men were going to d…

I can see the stars, but I don't have the fuel.

My trajectory is set, but I'm gazing off to the side.

I'm going somewhere, but not where I'm looking.

The possibilities are limitless, but my choices finite.

I started too early, and I'll be too late.

W…

Story is marked as mature

The forest lay in perfect stillness around her, the bodies of the beasts she had slain strewn haphazardly all about. She stood, head tilted forward, listening for the next attack. It never came. She held the sword aloft, the blue raging flames towering ov…

The man strode rather than walked into the forest. He had the mass of his Church behind him, and so he had nothing to fear. The creatures of the night howled and cried to each other, but he was unmoved. His defenses were stalwart, and any attack would bre…

Crush fresh melancholy with a pestle dusted with self doubt until a paste forms. If paste is too watery, add more self doubt until desired consistency.

In a small bowl, whisk your favorite sad melodies vinaigrette with two handfuls of uninterrupted time.…

The little girl entered the forest, armed with nothing but her courage, her grim determination, and the rusty sword strapped to her back. There were monsters in those woods - she could hear their howls, their cries to one another - but she was not afraid.…

I carried my father's post on my left shoulder as I walked back to the front of the property. I took care to avoid the golden post, though I knew it would not harm me. It was merely an omen, a message from the gods, but it was better not to tempt fate. In…

Story is marked as mature

Well, I know the site has been having some issues. I may be able to try poking the person who manages it directly (Ethel, to the best of my knowledge), and see if they know what's going on. People have been having all sorts of issues. Namely, with sequels…

"I can't get back to the tunnels. We have to find a place to crash." Hard Drive said when the top sealed over the convertible. He made a few hard turns, zig zagging through town to try and lose the last drone. It crashed into the side of a building with a…

It's one of those mornings--an anything-is-better-than-pretending-to-sleep-while-I-actually-just-worry sort of morning.

It's the third morning of its kind this week. I'll be into work two hours early. Again.

I've flipped through the radio stations, a…

"Hey," came a less than confident voice, "How about you stop, or else...you know...the fighting, and stuff."

Three surly thugs looked from their would be victim, a timid businessman, to see a lone figure clad in impossible armor standing under the street…

I'm trying to care less about what other people think of me: trying not to perpetually perform for an imagined audience, trying to forget all the invisible eyes on me.

4am in the dark lair of my study, two locked doors between my face and the world...

…

She reappeared in another part of the library, a dank room smelling of moldering wood and fungus. The furniture here was in disrepair, rotten through and falling apart. She loved it.

She settled onto a pile of termite-eaten wood that may once have been a…

Onwards and forwards, path guided by faith, Orthael strode on. He did not see where his feet fell, he did not know where the end of his journey lay, he did not drive the weapon that tugged him onwards on its lethal dance. The golden light at the tip of th…

"Not who you were expecting?"

The snake dropped from the branch, out of view before emerging mere heartbeats later - as a wolf. Its cold yellow eyes weighed heavily on Rahmi's neck.

"I doubt there are any other shape-shifters here, so I'd wager you are e…

The guard in front of the incubator chamber checked Alan's ID carefully, moving it to see the holograms dance. Mother as always hired the best. For herself.

“Sorry for your loss,” the guard said.

“She'll be back soon,” Alan replied, staring at the seedp…