The energy-opaque bubble triggered to protect us from the primary plasma and secondary thermobaric shockwaves from the orbital strike, the same hazards raising the projected casualty rate in the concourse to around ninety-five percent.

I reached into th…

"You need to leave. Now."

He was pissed. I'm sure my laughing at what he said didn't help.

"Excuse me?" I asked. "I need to leave? This is my house, you son of a bitch!" I wasn't any happier about the situation than he was.

He actually had the go…

ROBERT. He was hardly a scoundrel, as you seem to suppose,

But a man of distinction and charm.

From his pale, curving lips to his aquiline nose,

All his features made pulses run warm.

In his elegant home, in his opulent clothing,

He had sumptuous taste a…

I awoke to soft light in the hallway outside my room. Soft greenness pulsed faintly about chest high, far below where the hallway light was mounted. The ebb and flow of it's intensity gave it a kind of bobbing motion.

There was no sign of the sun outside…

The thing about it is that it's unpredictable. Some days you feel good, and some days you don't. Some days you feel like cooking a three course meal and staying up all night baking cookies. Other days it's all you can do to survive the work day. You c…

You want love and presents and sweets

Swords of imagination

and Me to appreciate your deeds

All these I can do if you just come with me

My sky-castle is proof against the pain

with warm hugs and stair slides when it rains

fire-warmed chocolate, and the b…

Ada stood on the surface of the moon and stared back at her home planet. Perimeter drones circled overhead, filling the air with the constant hum of their engines.

Over a year had passed since the relocations began. No signs were forthcoming that they …

"What?"

"Look, how can I make it any clearer? You died and we had to save you another way."

"Oh no. No, no, this isn't what I -"

A hazardous internal state has been detected and the image has been shut down to prevent further damage.

I sighed and to…

The stairs lead upstairs and down, but if you want to get out of here, down would probably be a better idea.

Klaxons. Klaxons everywhere. Truly this was it.

The building convulsed. It wasn't supposed to be like this. We were supposed to fight back, to win against all odds. Where was the indomitable human spirit now? Running for their lives. Nothing had prepared…

My heart's been touched by many a gentle word

Of kindness and acceptance. Gentle folks

Have hastened to my aid, all undeterred

When I've had trouble; they've been strong as oaks

When I've been both exhausted, frail, and grieving.

To all my patient pals…

The Northway came to one of the huge flowing ramps that took foot traffic across different levels and the Assistant Governor stepped up, the checkpoints waving him through.

They were into the upper levels now, the Northway noticeably cleaner and better…

Tea with honey and lemon

A steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup

A cough as I choke down some cold syrup

A warm blanket with an equally warm cat atop it

The remote's within reach

An excuse to be lazy and watch tv

You know, being sick is kind of nice

Besi…

Tory drew a line in the sand that covered the table. What a filthy restaurant. Don't go.

"It's like this, Connie," she began. And then she continued. "Like this." she went on, adding nothing to the sentence that had gone before. "Just listen to this," she…

The last of the movers maneuvers the hand truck with the last of the boxes through the front door. I close the door behind him. Through the living room window, I watch as the movers finish loading their truck and drive off. For the first time in a long wh…

Chains, heavy ones from the sound of it, rattled in the basement, undercut by heavy snuffling. I didn't want to go down there but it was the one place we hadn't checked. My imagination conjured horrible beasts and wicked demons in that awful place.

Behin…

Each person of sound mind is fully responsible for their actions at all times. What then defines a sound mind? Is it the--

A gentle knock of metal on metal broke my concentration. Charles stood on the other side of the bars, telescoping baton in hand.

…

I found myself momentarily unable to move. This was not a sensation I had experienced before, and it startled me in a way that I am still unable to fully articulate.

My faculties rebooted. Clarity, Zeiss-ground crystalline, instantaneously regained. Secon…

The snapchat photos flew past. My friend Drew transformed from adorable young man to fierce woman one snap at a time. He posed with several dresses. I was thankful he didn't do the duckface.

How easy is it to transform yourself? In a matter of hours he w…

Hi there, I think, I THINK, that I've got all the bits of "Burning Question" in place now. If you find any places where there seems to be an option but there's no sequel or link showing, please let me know at that page's comments, or here. Thank you!

I fo…

She moved through the crowd deliberately, puddles overflowing around the soles of her boots as she took each step, water streaking behind her in long broken lines. Compared to the hurried activity of the people around her, she looked like she was moving i…

Story is marked as mature

It had all been a fantasy, a fever dream of sorts, the kind that lasts for a year. I had truly believed he could love me back the way I loved him.

First, the straw man, or men, of which there were many. I'd convinced myself that his little girlfriend wa…

Parents are experts at passive aggressive behavior. Take my job, for example. I deal with students.

One such parent is actually a grandparent. The grandmother does not approve of who the mother is dating, so she refuses to babysit the student, nor the st…

In Retrospect

I should have shut my mouth

I should have stopped before

the truth slipped out

In Retrospect

it did nothing to heal me

I'm still broken inside

only now you are, too

In Retrospect

Maybe you aren't broken

Your flaw is that you ignore my

rant…