I wonder if I'm unwanted. Am I the problem? I've always tried to make things better but I feel like I'm trying to keep the heart beating on a dying Clydesdale. Substitute any other majestic animal you want. For me the Clydesdale carries mass and dignity i…

Story is marked as mature

Three strangers crouched around a small fire, warming their hands. Despite that earlier two of them had come to the third's aid, they were keenly aware they weren't friends but momentary allies; strangers linked by their strangeness. None of them were su…

The heavily-rusted sign over the garage read "HAL'S AUTO REPAIR", and the address above the front door, which read "462", was missing bottom half of the 2. Spraypaint coated the lower half of the decaying brickwork on the ground floor wall.

Hard Drive ho…

After lunch we had recess. As we exited the doors, most excitedly bolting for the best kickball and the honor of choosing their teams, a small group of boys hung back behind me. I was walking, not running.

The yard teacher had stepped into the middle of …

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…

I read until the words swam before my eyes. I found myself spinning the promise ring I kept on a chain around my neck. Dayne, where are you? I prayed. Please, be safe.

"Find anything useful?" Harlan leaned around a freestanding shelf, awakening me fr…

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…

I looked up at the sky & saw a belt of densely packed stars banded across the blackness of night. The galaxy they represented felt so far away, though deep inside i logically knew that i was a part of it.

I wondered where exactly I fit in, though & the a…

Beckton was waving a pair of troopers up to a delivery van that was missing most of its roof when he saw Osterley leap out from behind it and hare off up the street.

"What's that girl doing, sir?"

"That girl is Agent Osterley, Private Grouse. With me,…

"And how will you do that?"

"It is a particular truth about secrets, Astarlane -"

"Please stop calling me that."

"- Astarlane, is that when you stop and look in just the right place, they betray themselves."

He stopped, and looked around. Just like th…

Looking both over her shoulders and glasses, she raised her penciled eyebrows.

Tom looked around, but did not see anyone.

The voice said "Tom, enter the building in front of you and walk upstairs and to apartment 509." Tom did so.

"There is a large cardboard box sitting right before the apartment door", continued the voice. "I wa…

Candle scent and fire warms

Blankets soft and cheerful talk

Sweetened words and loving arms

Safe indoors from winter's walk

Eyes grow heavy

Sleep's embrace

Lulls us to another place...

...

Wake

alone

to muffled snores

House has gone to bed

All asleep b…

No one intends to get addicted. At least that's what they say. The manufacturer says that it is an unintended consequence over which they have no control. They encourage prospective gamers to “play the game responsibly”. They even include the phone nu…

They'll hear

The pounding heart inside

My chest

Always beating

Never rest

And my breathing

Hoarse and gasping

Terror rasping

From my throat

Fire burning

In my face

From what she wrote

They'll see it flare

They'll see it there

And I, betrayed

Can't hide a…

“This is what you don't see.” Janine unpaused the recording and upped the contrast and tint until everything on the screen became spiky darkness.

Before I could say anything to contradict her, she pushed a button and bright colors appeared next to my he…

He sat in his car, parked in front of a small white house in Podunk, Florida. He had never been here before but he had been assured by the clerk at the sole convenience store on the edge of town that this was the house occupied by the woman who had just w…

I want to stop feeling.

As much as I have become aware that humans are not machines, that there is an element to our existence that exceeds simple mechanical repetition, I have never more wanted to embrace the cold hard unfeeling metal and soulless drive …

Osterley approached Newkirk as he placed a sheet of waxed canvas on the floor and unscrewed the cap from a small metal cylinder. She didn't say anything, but smoothed out her skirts and knelt down with him.

The wizard handed her the canister, which she …

The spell took them to a much larger, high-ceilinged room. Beckton could instantly see that they had travelled some distance - they had left a cloudless day for a blustery one, and the air was charged with a stormy potential.

Further along from the circl…

Story is marked as mature

When he turned 100, the town wanted to honor his war effort and asked him what he wanted. “I want to see my Betty again” was his reply. With an outpouring of love, the statue of the woman in her young wartime years was built, just as he remembered her. Un…

Newkirk understood all too well. Everyone who had any sort of relevant experience pre-war had become drawn into that grand project, just as he was now being drawn to this one. Any successful continuing insight into the enemy's strategic decision-making wo…

The wizard was shaken out of his reverie by Ellesmere, who led them into a large room filled with teleprinters. The rapid-fire rattle of inked metal on paper was everywhere, though it faded a little as they made their way over to a large map table further…