Agent Osterley took a kneeling position with a clear view on the enemy combatant she assumed as Yorck - who certainly looked the part, firing off pyromatic spells with vigour.

With care, she reached into the front pocket of her apron and withdrew a large…

Roger had been in the cradle of the marula tree's branches for three days.

Those three days hadn't been comfortable. His body had been signalling him for the past day that it would be better off on solid ground. For now, that was unthinkable.

Nutritio…

Meditation didn't come naturally to him. Far too often, unwanted sensations and thoughts invaded his sense of peace, solidly anchoring him in the world that he was trying to escape for just a few brief moments. Something as simple as a mosquito buzzing ag…

If anything happens between you and me,

To bring us together, I hope it will be

Fulfilling and comforting: both equally

For I feel you are where I belong.

I hope there is friendship, exuberant, lasting

I hope there are hugs, for too long I’ve been fasti…

Well, I was very anxious today, all day, ever since about this time last night, which is 10:30 PM. I have a lot to talk about; one thing at a time, I guess.

I was brave today, after spending most of the day scared and blaming myself for a Grievous Life C…

You walk up to the large picture window. You can see the big clock from here. The time reads 11:45. It's dark; nobody is out there, which is rather surprising, considering that the smoke is visible from the window where you are. Your feet feel hot and you…

Twenty minutes later, Snifty leaned back against his bar and wiped his brow against the bar rag. The Turvey had never had so many patrons as there were here today. None of them knew anyone else, but they were all here for the same thing: The Tweaking. In …

Screams, hundreds of them, howled in waves. Sometimes they joined together in choral unison, almost like a hymn, sometimes in overlapping layers clashing to be heard. It was as if the tortured voices from every hospital and from every war zone that had ev…

You were so sure I'd wronged you, you'd made me believe

It was surely my fault; but then, how?


All the pages grew soggy and limp with the turning;


There were so many leads, but they all left me burning,


But the smoke didn't spell out an answer; well, n…

His ragged breath jagged on, each with an untimed pause preceding it. He stared down at the pulpy mess that had been his best dancer and most skilled voice actor. He didn't seem to understand what he was looking at. Then his eyes glazed over and he starte…

A sudden and violent attack of nausea hit Osterley without warning, almost doubling her over, and by the time she had recovered she was interrupted by the arrival of Private Carson and another soldier with a medic's armband.

"Sarge... ma'am. You all righ…

Operations came in the night. They gathered up those who were gaining entry to the caldera and led us through the giant steel doors. The tunnel was dark and dimly lit by torches. The pair of uniformed men at the rear of the procession snuffed out the torc…

I watched as a deep, dark, gulf widened between two people leaning against the same Honda Civic. Papers had been served, the process of divorce started. It wasn't too late to stop but it was too late to stop without consequences. My sister's whole body wa…

The whipcrack sound of a bullet flying past brought Osterley out of her metathaumaturgical musing. She ran forward, tugging Newkirk with her, and they made their way together to an alleyway between their building and the next. A small cluster of green-uni…

The god finally found its voice, and not to my surprise, there was a quaver to it. "What are you?" it asked. "You are less than expected, yet more than you seem. The power you hold does not compare even to the simplest Alderman, and yet you are fluent i…

"You are not a man at all, are you?" I heard the god ask behind me. "Nor a god. You are both less -- and more."

Suddenly the weight of everything that had happened fell upon me. The burden weighed heavily on my head, on my shoulders, and I felt immensely…

"Then the two will become one..."

is what they say,

Now, love has won -

Insecurities and distrust is frayed.

Today you vow to God above,

To honor, to respect,

but most of all: to Love -

then never have anything else to regret.

Your Bride - the radiance,…

“Yes, it is but passage through the Dark Kingdoms is always expensive, friend. Guaranteed safety is precious. Few people can be trusted and even fewer have established the necessary oases of safety. Out of all the smugglers that claim to be able to make t…

I reread the unfamiliar name slowly. “Thomas Tinsley.” Repeating it three more times, accenting it differently, trying to find a cadence that sounded familiar. It never did. The face next to the name looked even less so if that was possible. Tan-ish skin.…

Thanks to a bright sun and a wide cloudless sky, the afternoon was warm with nothing but the echo of a breeze to prevent it from getting too hot. That just goes to show that monsters weren't caged by night. They can show up at any time, even a day as nic…

"Here it gors. Me and my cogs was moffing along the murky part of the Long Tews, minding our own business-grifts, we was. When all of a sudden these two 'barians spilled outta a drunkard's den. Real strangers, they was, and really going at it, faces like …

Daryl scrubbed at his skin wishing it were lighter. White would be good but no amount of bleach would make it look natural. Lighter skin could him safe passage in and out of Louisiana as long as no one looked too closely, which they would. Paranoia fueled…

Three of us rode north in my 2002 Camry. Sometimes it felt too small, but having recently been in a Volvo from the eighties, I was forced to concede that cars had gotten a lot roomier since the time of ALF. Wil and David (never Dave) didn't feel the same …

I feel like I am a single cell in some great dying beast. It thrashes and the earth bleeds thickly, feverish and broken. It's so obvious but no one pays attention. I have to wonder that if I am a cell in this thing, could the right cell save such a massiv…

Rita dragged herself out of bed, and staggered into the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face, and winced slightly. She washed it a little more gently, before tossing off her clothes, and examining herself in the full-length mirror. Gashes, bruise…