Popular stories

  • Departure

    "Take care of her, Woost," said the faerie, lifting off from the pillow and flitting to the window. "She's important in ways only she will be able to understand."

    "I will be the very air she breathes," the elemental promised.

    "I know you will." And then…

    Posted 10 years ago
  • War of the Worlds

    Special Report: Use of Coffee Authorised

    Casualties are high in the sixth day of heavy fighting here on the desk. Coalition leaders have confirmed that tactical coffee strikes will be used to halt the advance of procrastination forces that remain a thr…

    Posted 11 years ago
  • Happy Fall

    The calendar says today is the first day of fall. The pumpkin candle in my office says that leaves will soon turn orange and red. Pumpkins will be carved. Sweaters will be worn. The temperature will drop. The world will become cozy once more.

    But as…

    Posted 9 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
  • As The Wind Rolls In

    A storm is approaching

    it’s on the horizon

    so cover your eyes now

    and consume your poison

    The harsh winds are blowing

    the clouds are rolling in

    the good Lord turns his back

    as you commit your sins

    Run from your problems

    run so far away

    it makes …

    Posted 11 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
  • Blank Pages

    The blank page stares at me. I have to write something. Anything! I promised myself that I would do it. Maybe someday the things I write will be coherent again. For now, they're just something to make sure I hold myself to my promise to write again.

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Classy Lady: The Business at Hand

    "Telemetry from the probe has been parsed and analyzed, Captain," Lady responds. The ship's voice is a soothing alto, designed to accommodate for the crew as they recover. "The data has already been uploaded to your stations and synced with your datapad…

    Posted 8 years ago
  • Lost in the Crowd, One of Many

    One of the nameless faces in the endless sea of nobodies caught my eye.

    Must be nice, I subvocalised. Neural implants in my speech centre picked up the message and squeezed it through a short-range encrypted radio burst.

    What, being one of them? cam…

    Posted 11 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
  • Rap Scallion, Verse 1

    Story is marked as mature

    Posted 10 years ago
  • Three Word Prompt: f14 POETRY Student: Flow, Slow, Blow

    A storm is coming. Hear the cold wind blow

    What else approaches me with ill intent?

    A fear is growing in me, fast, although

    I cannot understand the fury's bent.

    The fright builds quickly, but my mind is slow

    To grasp its meaning, fighting through a h…

    Posted 11 years ago
  • Rain

    It's been raining for two days straight, and I'm afraid to go out. I've seen what those torrents do to people who venture outside. Cascades of water sweep down the street, and the rain itself is dangerous as hell. I have cabin fever. We all do. But those …

    Posted 6 years ago
  • The Last Time

    No more the bleary wake to chimes, the racing heart, the fight for time

    No more the early morning smile, the secret kiss, the frozen tile

    No more the bitter triumph felt at closing of all business dealt

    No more the daylight tryst or walk, or waiting for a…

    Posted 11 years ago
  • My Life's Work

    I've been straining to stretch my smile

    clenching my cheeks along with my teeth

    as sweat soaks my smooth armpits

    and my straight spine begins to spasm

    -

    exhausting myself to keep my comfortable life

    of useless meetings and endless paperwork

    as I content…

    Posted 8 years ago
  • Anticipation

    There's a joy in anticipation, you know? In already composing the email response you're hoping for before you even open your laptop at the diner?

    I've sent off hundreds of pieces for publication before. My poems and essays and shorts are scattered ac…

    Posted 8 years ago
  • Smothered

    Anthony fingered the thick woolen blanket that nearly suffocated him with stuffy heat. The fabric was rough, well-worn from use by his grandmother who had passed it down to his mother. Now it was his.

    It was foolish to be wrapped in wool during the hotte…

    Posted 10 years ago
  • A Minute in My Mind

    A

    Apple

    (Sounds like) Orangutan

    Monkey

    Apes?

    Jeff Corwin

    Celebrities

    Cooking stars

    Chopped

    Guillotine

    Execution

    French Revolution

    Armies

    Three musketeers

    Movie

    Disney

    Mickey

    Goofy

    Pluto

    Planet

    Dwarf planet

    Cognizant planet

    Bullied planet

    Unstable planet

    D…

    Posted 11 years ago
  • Blood

    Pulsing with the knowledge of our bodies

    and power of majesties coursing around every corner,

    fragrant and blue-green-red and warm resided in us all.

    I can't help but imagine

    some vampyric figure picking his teeth

    with capillary tubes,

    the very same ones …

    Posted 10 years ago
  • Slice of a Hard Spring

    It's late and a thin, wispy fog has settled atop the streets. I don't know when it happened. Last I remembered, the sun was mid-set in a darkening sky. Now every street ended in a gray void. Did the fog creep in, floating like some otherworldly horror, or…

    Posted 8 years ago
  • Heart on the Line 9.26.14

    The night I laid out my heart,

    turned my life outside down,

    Our relationship had a new start...

    Best of friends for so many years,

    been through so much together,

    at some point, my heart - it interfered.

    Patiently - you listened,

    as I talked for hours,

    I…

    Posted 11 years ago
  • Validation

    Story is marked as mature

    Posted 11 years ago
  • The Observer

    I watch the paramedics work. They’re trying so hard. I can’t see who they’re working on, but they’re determined.

    I try to recall what happened. Everything flashes by in a blur. The party. Taking the keys from Tom. Driving him home.

    We started arguing. I…

    Posted 11 years ago
  • Fin

    There's no experience quite like it.

    The rush of being free...

    ...

    She'd done it. She'd actually done it. That lingering pressure in the back of her mind-- gone. She didn't have to worry about the fight being worth it anymore, because it was.

    ...

    Ri…

    Posted 6 years ago
  • The Eternity of Pain

    She had first seen him in the ruins in Berlin, trailing Sadie's point man. His power, dimmed in the course of day, still cast hard shadows outside her position. She dropped down silently behind him in an explosion of magic, the ordinary stillness of the w…

    Posted 10 years ago