Popular stories

  • Flamelit Silence

    Despite the situation, Orthael exhaled in deep relief. This, now, was a question that he had heard before. From widows, from parents, from orphans - even, on dark nights, from himself.

    "Oh, swordmaiden. The Flame has always been with you. Through all tha…

    Posted 5 years ago
  • Corners

    I drag a finger along a wall as I walk around the room. I can feel the grainy surface of drywall and paint. Approaching the corner, my fingertips lift off the surface slightly, pulling further away as I draw closer to the junction of the adjoining wall.

    Posted 8 years ago
  • Winter's Wards

    Shy child in tatters

    Winter's ward

    Too weak and cold

    To lift her sword

    How hast thou come here?

    Stumble toward

    My outstretched arms, dear waif!

    .

    Sweet sprite of whimsy!

    Tumbling round

    The fairy circles

    On the ground,

    Be'est fille or faery,

    Thou hast foun…

    Posted 8 years ago
  • Class M

    There are no new planets

    Any more than there are new kinds of people

    .

    These planets around Trappist-1

    Have been there, perhaps waiting for someone

    .

    To notice them, to be excited, rewarded in their hopes

    That they would somehow exist

    .

    In the great dark …

    Posted 8 years ago
  • Higher Thoughts

    Judgement was diverted from its biographical investigation by the unfamiliar presence of old magic. Perhaps that was not an accurate description, for the weapon was sure that it had been familiar once, and that in that time the magic had not been old at a…

    Posted 6 years ago
  • Gunfire: The Partnership

    Ryle was a powerful force, to say the least. He provided an impetus, an undeniable single-minded focus on the task at hand that defied setbacks, distractions and complications. He would have been a superb operator in any scenario.

    What I brought to the p…

    Posted 10 years ago
  • Up Above

    Story is marked as mature

    Posted 10 years ago
  • Lucky bloody you

    Well turns out it wasn't no cop anyhow, it was my uncle bloff and he just wanted me to sign the christmas cards, like who ever heard of an avunclular member of my extended family wanting me to sign off on a christmas card in feburary? Sure wasn't normal, …

    Posted 8 years ago
  • I Might Let You Read It One Day

    Thing is, this piece I'm writing, bares my entire soul. It involves you and me and all that we love and hold dear. It's told from my perspective, one that I think you need to hear.

    But if I let you read it, I am crucifying myself. The sacrifice it entai…

    Posted 8 years ago
  • horizon fading

    As I lie comfortable in my cosy yellow-orange bed I listen Anna and little angel are downstairs

    chatting and giggling, laughing and playing, generally having fun I just lie here sandwiched between my silky duvet and bed melting my worries away. F…

    Posted 8 years ago
  • 002 C

    Story is marked as mature

    Posted 8 years ago
  • The Sick Woman

    I hurry back home with the other half of the loaf. I need to get home before the screaming starts and the nosy neighbours start asking questions again. She is asleep on the stained red velvet settee. She has been asleep for the whole day. Her breath is sh…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • The Darkness (2/2)

    Well, it's hard to stay chipper, to keep up my hope.

    Such dark thoughts crowd my mind in a throng!

    As bad news piles like snowdrifts upon the steep slope,

    I don't think the descent will take long...

    .

    As a child, full of life, I had power to spare

    Ah, wha…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • The Ploy Ends Successfully

    I acted without thought, and It was not at full power; my death matters not.

    Posted 10 years ago
  • Offline Fic'ing

    <html>

    <head>

    <style>

    .editor { zoom: 250%; width: 100%; }

    .editor .counter, .editor .ficlet { border-width: 1px; border-color: black; }

    .editor .info, .editor .ficlet { width: 100%; }

    .editor .ficlet:focus { outline: none; }

    .editor .co…

    Posted 7 years ago
  • Underground Bethlehem

    Burrowing tenderly with my hands, I could but adore this beast that had summoned me.

    Posted 10 years ago
  • A Whisper in the Ear

    I spoke to her in direct neural interface. A text or audio message might have sufficed, but there could be no mistakes today, no misunderstandings. I refused to analyse my motivations further.

    The link pushed dark chunks of conceptual meaning between our…

    Posted 10 years ago
  • The Kranken-Bruder's Tale

    There was a prince, and one princess;

    She was an angelle, he a mess.

    The prince called out for his man-maid

    To clean the room. The lemonade

    They drank was sweet. The fine chefette

    Had used ten lemons; then she'd set

    The sugar from her sugar binne

    The pinq…

    Posted 7 years ago
  • Use this to key in student grades after logging in

    It's time to write, to start the rite

    It's time to key in grades tonight,

    For if I'm late, procrastinate,

    They'll thump the ones who hesitate.

    And so again I fetch my pen

    The red one I use now and then

    To do my chores and give out scores

    And toss them out…

    Posted 7 years ago
  • Fighting Medusa's Cousin, or Something

    All was dark in his field of vision, but he could not open his eyes. This creature was akin to Medusa and would turn him to goo if he looked at her. Something flared outside his eyelids, creating a red glow to his left. He smelled the sulfur of a struck m…

    Posted 6 years ago
  • Sleep Trials

    October 14

    Day five that Brent has woken up ravenous and exhausted. Officially it's day five. It's been at least five days since I noticed a pattern and decided to track it's course. I'm not surprised that he's exhausted. He told me about his dreams and …

    Posted 6 years ago
  • Just Do It

    I kept looking at my cell phone, but it lay silent and black. Let her make the first move. It was always me before, texting, finding the right ice-breaker comment or picture to share. It was a show of love, but it was beginning to feel one-sided. Was I a …

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Nothing

    I watched in horror as the smoke billowed high. I followed the plume to the leaping flames high above the roof. Flames and smoke poured from every window, every door. I fell to my knees.

    The flames were put out, the firemen left, the sooty timbers were …

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Scorpion

    Brass tinkled on the workshop floor. Beckton closed the bolt again, but didn't pop up for another shot immediately. Flame had caught on the solid wood of the workbench, and the heat haze and smoke made it hard to see - only compounded by runes on the unde…

    Posted 7 years ago
  • Duty and Death

    Orthael had seen more than enough of the Dead for one lifetime by the time he had left the paladins for the quiet contemplation of a vicarage. It had been a blessing and joy to focus his mind anew on the sacred duties of sermon and visitation.

    For a mom…

    Posted 6 years ago