Story is marked as mature

In the microfiction format you have the luxury that characters need not be as complex as in longer forms. Those that appear can be crafted to serve a purpose, and this gives you much finer control over your scene - you know what and who is going in, and y…

Rain poured down in thick sheets, dense enough to severely limit visibility. I couldn't see the enemy troops--not a single soldier, tanks, or mech--but I knew they were out there ever since my radar and communications equipment stopped chattering. The sto…

"Which couple will brave the journey?" the gypsy matriarch asked her captive audience. She had bespoken a spell and sand rose like smoke and drifted towards me and the one that I wished was my partner.

The spell was listening to my heart, but if I let it…

The ceiling of Stormcrow's base shattered. She glared up at her nemesis.

"So-Lar!" she yelled. "What..."

"Where is she?" the hero bellowed. "Where is Jane?"

"You dare..." She stopped, confused. "Jane's missing?"

In a flash, So-Lar was face-to-face wit…

Although the night was clear and cloud free, the streets were dark. A summer wind brought a refreshing coolness off the ocean and I stopped my midnight wanderings to lean against a building, letting the air wash over me. It was sweeter than expected, almo…

Leland slumped looking at his hands. He could still hear each of the sour notes that they had drawn forth from the baby grand piano, the horrid music--no it wasn't music but noise!--hanging around, permeating the air like the stench of vinegar. What a tra…

"I used to be madly in love with you, but you pushed me hard away."

"No! When did I do that? I never pushed you away."

"The day you said to me that you would never try to steal me away from my family."

"I wouldn't. Family is important."

"But that was the …

Messenger dings again, the three inside the bubble becoming a four.

She wants to talk and still I don't want to bother her. Because I love her and I know she doesn't love me. She's reaching out for the first time in years. I don't want to fail her but wh…

Sound echoed through the winding passages of the fissure, ultimately coming from a great cavern where naked men danced in a circle. Ringing them, women beat drums and if not drums, their thighs or the walls.

There was only one light, a fearful red tongue…

I eventually settle down. I'm not sure exactly when she got it, but she's suddenly wiping my face with a warm, damp cloth. It feels good. After a few minutes, she stops. "Are you going to be okay?"

I take a deep breathe. "Yeah. Yeah, actually. I think I …

When my sister was explaining the futility of my expectations

Her favorite line was, "You keep trying to use logic and reason to explain the world."

-

The echoes of my angry thoughts spun between my ear drums

"How dare you hurt me?!"

"How dare someone hur…

I am a dead man walking. That's not a metaphor, not a promise of a future event the way you usually think of it. I really am dead -- and have been for some time now.

I walk the streets of this city. I pass by people on the sidewalk, and they instinctivel…

“Are you ready yet?”

Mark's voice sounded thin and petulant through the door. Irritated, Gemma closed her eyes and shook her head. No she wasn't ready. Every beauty technique had failed her. The dress she had bought for this vacation was all wrong.The bl…

"So, how do you know she was lying to you?"

Eric sighed. "Because that's all she does!" He yelled.

Thomas looked at him. "That's an exaggeration, but what about this particular time makes you so sure?"

Eric took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.…

She wore a smile, and not much else. "Glad to see your dress code is still... relaxed," Eric said. "You look good. 20 years has changed you. For the better."

Elena's smile widened. "Why, thank you, Eric. I didn't expect compli..."

"Especially," he inter…

There's a new super-villain in town, Dark Cloak. Their face is never seen, but they seem powerful and definitely malicious; their most notable characteristic is a deep, black, flowing cloak or cape that serves Dark Cloak's many sinister purposes.

This eb…

"Why can't I remember the trip here? Never mind deciding to come here?"

"I don't know?" Her head snaps up. "I didn't drug you or anything, if that's what you're thinking!"

"No!" I have a sudden need to make sure she knows I don't think that. "I don'…

But then I hear a tiny sound

That stirs my mem’ry, brings me ‘round

To former joys. I used to know.

“Dear Anna? hi, I’ve missed you so!”

And I once more do hear that voice

I’ve loved so long, and I rejoice,

I’d never thought to hear them more,

Outside …

“I'll have the files brought here. You can sleep in the ah guest room at the of the hall. I hope that you'll excuse me, we rise early here, and being up late is quite taxing for a man in my condition.” Doctor Francis smiled coldly before adding, “I don't …

Mornington did not need to close his eyes. Rather, there was a superposition of that which would be over that which merely was. Descending under erratic control, he fumbled with infinite possibility and finite perception. His exhalations slowed, turned to…

We traveled again, the tunnel growing narrower and wider at sporadic intervals. At times we were able to walk side-by-side. At others we were forced to move one behind the other, and when we did, we each took turns leading the way forward. When you led yo…

I've decided to picture a bright future

Where I recapture the brilliance of my youth

And retain the wisdom of my mistakes

Where I have a partner who I trust

To love me through thin and thick

Where I'm healthy and happy

Of course

Because I'm bored with m…

The hut was stifling. Sweat dripped down my back. Still the natives paraded their woes before me like peasants before a King. At least I was in the shade and still alive. The cannibals on this island eat anything that is not useful, or more useful as food…

I studied the table as though the words had been written there instead of spoken and left hanging in the air.