There was no way Lenn could bring himself to stuff the cat into his backpack. Not only would it be uncomfortable, he didn't think it would be safe either. Unzipping his windbreaker, he docked the cat into the the crook of his arm. Then he slowly rezipped …

His shoes and pants were soaked. Cold, they stuck to clung to him like a heavy second skin. As he turned the corner, he stepped down into water that swallowed his shoe up past his ankle before he touched the sidewalk. Somehow it felt colder than his feel …

The wind gusted this way and that, sweeping the rain away before slamming it back at Lenn in huge wet slaps. His poncho scudded away from his numb fingers and nearly strangled him until he forced it back under control.

He walked uphill toward the commerc…

Someone screamed. Lenn paused for a moment. It was difficult to tell with the whine of the siren and the constant roar of the rain but he thought that whoever had screamed was only a block or two away. The urge to go see what was going on, and to help if …

Max paced the room. His encounter with the doctor hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped and he was keyed up and on edge.

Soft moans from outside caused him to slow down and peek past a heavy curtain to the Asylum's grounds. Wind played the trees like harp st…

Well, me and Barmy were there at the dump, watching the truck unload and trying to see if there were any keepers among the maggots. There's usually something we can salvage among the dross.

There were several items of interest to be found. We eyeballed …

As Max watched the doctor retrieve the metal crutches and struggled to push himself erect, he was struck by the man's utter strangeness. Everything from the utterly hairless head, to the intense blue eyes that conveyed a sinister omniscience, to the painf…

I don't think you understand what it feels like to miss someone the way I miss you.

When I want to call, or text, or communicate, I am struck mute. Words fail me as my heart aches, knowing that you are so near and yet so far. I could send a simple smiley…

Tonight will be the last night that the village of Los Santos sits by and lets the devil of the forest take anymore of our livestock.

We banded together against the creature.

What creature? We didn't know. Something was out there though. Something vicio…

"This is a Han-kyu, a small bow, that does't require too much strength to use effectively, but consequently is not as powerful." Kabura explained, holding out the shortbow, "This will satisfy your martial training, without you needing to pick up a heavy s…

I hate running. The thought wasn't mine. Or at least it wasn't solely mine. The walls in my mind dividing the three of us were the thinnest of paper screens and unless we were very careful, even the lightest thought bled through. Careful didn't apply to…

It is strange that something so simple as a string, so small and delicate, could make a bad day good.

It felt like, as I gazed down at it, that it was the only thing in life I could control.

I also felt like the string was a microcosm for the universe t…

Charlie made it clear every single day that I was the center of his universe. Life without Charlie would be like falling into a bottomless pit and never seeing the sun; despair and loneliness.

Then there was Evan. We'd been best friends before Charlie, b…

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

The mirror didn't hold anything back. Even when it was steamed over, my bulbous shadow watched in silent judgment.

I tried to avoid his eyes but I took up enough of the mirror that I couldn't hide my pear shaped vulnerability. The admittedly minor amount…

We climbed to the top of Memorial Hill. I didn't think too much of the flag flapping above us. My mind was totally on Nataxia. Her hand glowed inside mine, warm against the Autumn night.

Stone benches ringed the flowerbed and the block of bronze emblazon…

Malika reflected back on her battle with the deathless. The lesser of the creatures she was able to cut a wide swath of destruction through, banishing them back to Ashmar with ease. The greater deathless - a Gorgon, according to Morduth - that one still t…

“That was a warning shot, d-bee. Try anything funny and there won't be enough left of you worth burying.”

Burning trees cast the area in a sinister play of crimson against the night's shadows. The rippling light twisted the soldiers into gross parodies o…

I don’t want to be a hypocrite

Who gives theories as mentors

In place of the action I crave

But I’m scared

Of changing my routine

Doing some thing different right now

In this moment

-

I make good plans

Dream of perfect happy futures

Decide all the steps I…

Olivia hits the ground with a sickening crunch, but she barely feels it. Her vision is swimming, her ears ringing, and it takes her a moment to realize she's landed left hip on the pavement, her arms supporting her upper torso. Her jaw throbs with a dull …

“Your dad doesn't want you hanging around here.” Me, I added silently.

A woman leaned over a white rail, pointing at choppy waves and shouted Shark.

Margot placed her palms on my kitchen counter and danced back and forth. “Yeah, I know. I don't see wh…

Story is marked as mature

As I turned right at the old adobe building, Carmen's voice piped up from the back seat. "Grandma, where are you going?"

I was surprised that she had noticed. Usually her head was bowed over her phone, oblivious to the world around her.

"The Iron Skille…

Their steps quietly echoed back at them off the hard surfaces that surrounded them. Tenever flipped his spell to wide area indirect illumination and clicked his pistol-mounted flashlight on, throwing a single beam far ahead of them.

Their guide moved for…

My hand was cold like a fish. Both were almost numb from the autumn wind blowing as we walked down the sidewalk that night.

It was the first time we had been alone in... well, ever, come to think of it. Every time we had been together before, we had had …