Juliet stopped running. She had no idea where she was. The GPS navigation system in her head was gone, almost. It was like her head could only store so much information, whereas before she had uploaded everything to the Skyy, the United Corp's cloud servi…

The chubby bellied brown pup kept climbing out of its cardboard box cage. I watched from across the street as the woman selling the puppies would continuously put the pup back in the box only to have it flop out again.

The pup was smart. It knew that it …

Raf had always been a quick thinker. By my count it was not quite ten seconds before klaxons and warning lights went off.

"Lieutenant?"

I made a show of looking back and forth to waste a few seconds. Raised my handheld and blinked a few commands erroneo…

Summer. It was hot. It was sticky. It was gross. It was also the happiest time of my life. Despite the fact that I was currently melting into the faux leather seats of my father's land yacht of an automobile as it puttered down a forested road in what fel…

The moment was bright and golden, like summer sunlight. We pulled off caps, wiping foreheads and setting wooden bats aside to sit down. There was the popping of bottle caps, toasts declared, bottles raised. We chatted animatedly, full of vigour at our suc…

Twin-twin explosions sounded close beside us, explosive charges sending the secondary airtight hatch slamming closed. The three-ton heavy vehicle took a step back on automatic stabilisers while the air pressure equalised, then set us gently down.

I check…

The dream begins with baroque-era music written about the planets. Supposedly the music was written to describe their orbits or something. One piece had an expected couple of notes at the end omitted so people could go out and observe, and had a note expl…

The makeshift hospital room was stark. I gazed down at him, waiting for him to wake. There were surprisingly few wires connected. I bent over him to disconnect them. His eyes fluttered open and met mine. He began to stir.

"Don't move too fast."

"I.. I f…

As I tromp through the woods in Lincoln, I can smell the deep green and hear the crackle of burnt red pine needles. I can barely make out the path anymore. It's been decades since my last visit. I remember the taste of the frigid bottle of grape soda I al…

The grass is soft, tenderly kissing my feet

The air is sweet, warmly caressing my arms

Birds laugh and sing of bliss

Here I am, on my own

The sky is a brilliant blue and crystal clear

Rolling hills of multicolors stretch all around

Miles and miles pass b…

Come on girl

put on that happy face

the one

with the smile

that shows

all your teeth.

Come on girl

put on that happy face

pretend for the world

your not breaking down again.

Cover up the sounds

of that avalanche

of shattered heart

pieces.

Cover up the man…

A hush descended, unnatural and foreboding. Those with firsthand experience or a larger degree of common sense stayed down, while the unwisely curious were transfixed by the sight of Newkirk stepping out into the road.

Or rather, they watched a wizard st…

Newkirk cast a critical glance over Yorck. She had changed a great deal in the years since they had parted ways. Dark blonde hair, which had once been tied back in a messy ponytail, was now gathered in a low braid on one side. A hood partly covered her fa…

Watching from a distance, Cornflap studied the perplexed deerling, not even a yearling yet. With their many years of experience, Rnfl was no nearer an understanding of what had happened than the fawn, but they felt sure that the sphere from a few installm…

There's a creature that lives somewhere between my ribs. Small, wild, a lover of the moon. Shaped like a lily and glowing like the warmth of a single lit match.

It was born when we met. A spark amongst tinder.

It stumbled onto its feet like a newborn la…

Devynne had broken up with Carl a few weeks back, and had decided to rearrange her furniture. Startled, she stared at the fork. Her surprise quickly turned to rage. She wasn't going to clean up a single more fucking mess that that asshole made!

Devynne g…

The day, like the night, was cold and dark. After breakfast, I took two mugs of steaming coffee out to the bridge and shared one with the officer on bridge watch. Thick cloud gathered threateningly in the skies above us, and the barometer was still fallin…

And then one day, the door to my rib cage slammed shut with a reverberating clang that made everything inside freeze. The creature's light shifted, like a candle on the brink of being extinguished due to a violent windstorm.

The creature began to starve.…

There was a few times when the lights would flare up again, the embers would be stirred by a passing breeze. But nothing lasted. And the creature began to accept its cruel fate and give up hope. It grew dim and thin and it laid down on the floor to die wi…

Time went on and the creature grew stronger and more brazen and it reveled in the delicacies of its new life with sweet nothings being offered as ambrosia and subtle flirtations the drink of choice.

It danced on top of my racing heart, playing the drums…

Struggling with a new sense of purpose, Tam struggled to attain a precarious upright stance. She had no notion if she could talk with them, and she had no voice to use now. She doubted she could even communicate with the tiny turtles. Instead, she took a …

Silvertown led the way into the darkened construction hall. Electronic components, vacuum tubes, and the occasional scrawl of developmental magic were everywhere in the open space - lying across drafting tables and workbenches alike.

Osterley tried to ig…

Beckton frowned at this, but rather than making eye contact with Silvertown checked his weapon.

"What do we know about the message?"

"Very little. Director Ackerson knew more. He's meant to be in his office."

No-one needed to say what had likely happen…

I watched the message go out and switched into a wider communications view, scrolling through the new options afforded by military-grade clearance. One of them was Nyquist's command channel.

"Loading dock secure. Commencing fuel and munitions load."

"OPs…

Silvertown caught Newkirk staring and winked at the same moment Osterley coughed pointedly.

"Perivale took fire in the town. Newkirk engaged and destroyed Moritz. We're here for Bleecker, and Yorck if it comes to that."

Silvertown pressed her lips toget…