[To continue your story, please visit this page: https://ficlatte.com/stories/41129]

My hand was burnt on the kettle

Just as it began to boil

My hand was bitten by a dog

I’d always thought was loyal.

I stepped on glass in my bare feet

Where it was safe before

You said, “I’m always here for you;”

Then you walked out the door.

Depressing the dull brass handle with a thumb, it gives a satisfying click and the heavy red door pushes inward toward me. I step with bare feet onto the cold floor, staring right and left at all the white pillars, then the diamond tiles. I run a hand alo…

In the dead of night,

She packed her bags,

Off to far away she went,

Without a sound - she's gone.

Hopped on her bike,

Which she rode for many year,

Old, tired, used and a bit wobbly,

On her way in a sea of stars in a dark sky.

She went for hours withou…

We traveled like that for some time. Talking. Sharing. Laughing. It was always a joy to travel with you, and it was no less so this time.

And as we walked, we noticed the ground beneath our feet begin to slant ever so slightly downward.

The thing about…

I whip my jeep faster around the turn than I should. I get a little impatient, but when I pull in and see his car, that head of tangled hair bent over a book, his recognition and heartfelt grin, I can't help myself. He makes my heart beat, dark and dashin…

Somber mind,

Endless nights,

When will end,

I’m losing sight -

Breaking away,

From the chains,

Never thought I could,

But here I am.

Emotionless,

Distraught,

Hopeless...

Does it get better,

Or does it get worse?

Stuck in this house,

Stuck in this bed..…

I hung up the phone, tears on my cheeks. Sniffling to get control of them, I knew who I had to call next.

"Miss Ann? This is Marie, Elizabeth's sister."

"Do you want me to get her for you?"

"No, Miss Ann, she's going to need some time off. I'm coming t…

When a human silhouette appeared in a doorway to their left, Newkirk was quick to react. He raised an arm and gathered a firebolt to throw -

Osterley gently but very firmly pushed his arm down.

"Silvertown, I presume."

Lowering the lengthy shape of a B…

I was picked for the interview. Of all the applications I imagined were stacked in some in-box tray, mine was one that was chosen.

The realistic part of me said it was because I had filled in every box and attached a resumé. I knew that companies often s…

Feeling the moon approach, Stella tried to hurry her steps, but it was not easy; the barbed fence just past the water's bank sometimes was too close to the water, so she had to klinkerstep between the river and the bank; movement was inhibited, clumsy.

Th…

The sky is amazing. So many stars. A view you will never see living your whole life in a city. I must be a hundred kilometres or more from the nearest town of any size. The night of the new moon, too, means a view that too few people in this world ever ge…

I turned to Prunella, hand covering the mouthpiece, and whispered, "Should I?"

Night clings to the forest like a shroud. The darkness is nearly absolute, the silhouettes of the trees only just a hair's-breadth deeper black.

The sounds of life are everywhere, however. The chirps of insects and the calls of nocturnal predators. Th…

Story is marked as mature

Disrespectful

Apathetic

Noisy

Tough

Evil

-

Decent

Astute

Notable

Thoughtful

Effective

-

Lazy

Insipid

Zero

Bum

Embarrasing

Timid

Homely

-

Lovely

Interested

Zealous

Bright

Energetic

Tolerant

Humble

He winds his way through the chaos, trying to avoid bumping into anyone. Such a thing is nigh impossible here. But it hardly bothers him. Here, anonymity is paramount.

Finally, he reaches a dark corner where two grey men sit. He sits across from them, a…

Trissa walked through the pouring rain. She was getting soaked, but it was hard to care.

She stepped under an overhang, finally taking a moment to relax. She unzipped her jacket, and carefully removed the poor broken mess inside. Her heart was in so many …

Sleep steadily slips from my aching eyelids

desperate for one more hour of escape

of reflection

of processing the pounds of pressure I'm currently cracking

under waters,

rapids, and riptides hidden in the depths of a "simple request for information regard…

"This is my garden, now," explained Sarah, gesturing expansively at the tiny fenced area. "Mommy said so," she continued, pointing back towards the ivy-covered house set back across the pasture, in a stand of trees.

Gus, her equally-young companion, sh…

The cyan girl struggled to no avail. "Please don't, I didn't do anything to you!"

"I told you it's not personal." She raised her scythe into the air to strike, before being blasted off by lilac energy.

The cyan girl immediately scrambled to another ro…

Now ain't that a curious sight.

Therin watched the fire from the alley. His eyes used to heavy darkness, he easily spotted the young half-elf, soot barely visible againt his dusky grey skin. Pulling his collar about his face, he pursued the boy.

A…

There's nothing I would rather see

Than your smile as you walk to me

There's nothing that I'd rather do

Than have the guts to run to you

There's nothing I would rather say

Than "I love you; don't go away"

There's nothing in my future left

I've got no cour…

I sat alone on the beach, skipping stones into the inky black water. The sun had long since gone, leaving the stars alone to try to light the night. A cold breeze blew, forcing me to shiver for warmth.

If anyone was here, they would've advised I go insid…

For the first time in a long time, I feel like myself. Of course, this does have its pros and cons.

On the pro side, I'm actually social. I can actually engage people in conversation. Conversations that I honestly care about. And about anything! Music, h…