She turns to face her assailant, who stares her down mere steps away in the alley, smug expression fixed on his face.

"You," she says, a puzzled tone to her voice. "You're a Bearer?" His response is to spread his arms wide and grin even wider, as if to s…

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You reach the landing for the second floor. The fire is building up higher. If you stay here, it'll surely reach you soon. But you're not a fool!

You go into the hallway just outside the landing.

[To continue, please go here: https://ficlatte.com/stories/41133]

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Though there is no air moving, I feel a cold wind stirring my fur and wonder what these splinters of glass used to be when they were whole, and who had done them this cruelty, this injury, this wounding.

I grieve; I falter.

It's obvious to me that this wa…

There in my hands is the same material as before...as one piece. A minor miracle of restoration has happened, and I cannot say why. Perhaps there is power, a power of empathy, that has worked its will through me.

Could this happen again?

It happened agai…

the kafka

the kafka

free trial today

And george and tom E(l)liot

know what to say

when dickens and dickinson

mix verse with prose

and JS and CPE

both decompose

we whittle

we whistle

we toil and we spin

it all gets so morbid

the deeper we’re in

so throw of…

"We'll be ready by morning," Byron heard the voice tell the man who held him captive.

The man replied, "Very good. Beatrice!"

Byron heard the quick footfalls of the man's wife, always eager to please. "Yes, dear?"

"Take Mr. Curts to the shuttle. He wil…

Lia is, in a word, adorable.

A short wood elf girl, falling just short of 5', posessesed of a slight stature, her hair a deep red, interspersed with feathers of brown and white. Her face is soft, but scarred, and her purple-green eyes, filled with wonder…

My eyes looked up from the photograph in my hand. It was of a picnic, the last place we were all together. I was standing in the park, looking at the exact location, a grassy spot beside the pond with the fountain under a tall oak that leaned a bit too fa…

You turn your head and see that Mr Burton has pulled professor Gundersen to his feet, not too gently, and moved him down the hallway towards the front of the building. The fire spread from the burning books into the puddle where Gunderson had been sprawli…

The night was not kind. While I did not generally consider myself prone to excessive introspection, the thought of the mysterious Miss Fiamma brought back a number of vivid memories and sharp regrets.

It had been a clash of interest, with the small amoun…

From the wreckage I pulled the largest bits to form a low wall around me. Their form, size, and hardness gave them function for my needs. I wasn't sure what I was keeping out, I only knew I had to keep me IN.

I was unsafe. I was leaking all over a radioa…

Into the breach

Dear buddys, yup!

Or with our dead

The wall fill up.

In peace it’s groovy

To be chill

But when war blasts

Set guns to kill

Like tigers, rawr

And act so mad

Shoot like a cannon

Go fight them, lad!

Just set your teeth

Stretch nostrils wid…

Fijit was a teenager. And an orphan. And hadn't exactly been hanging out with the good crowd.

She was kicked out of the orphanage last week and hadn't seen any of her "running mates" since. Once you are out of the protection of the nuns, you are on your …

Form #1054B, It was too early for form #1054B.

I took a sip of my coffee. It was black. Not because I took it that way, but because someone had taken the last of those little individual creamer cups. Also, nobody had refilled the sugar over the weekend e…

CHORUS:

And it all will come down to Duluth,

Where they first shot me down in my youth.

Yes, my friend, in the end, when it happens again,

I will say my goodbyes to Duluth.

.

One more time!

.

Well it always comes down to Duluth,

Just the place for the…

I could see better before; I recall that night clearly.

.

I was clean, intact, as night fell. I think you were, too.

It was easier to make things out then, the contrast was stark

And I did not notice the nurse turn sick and pale at my innocence

.

A stone …

I felt like my heart was on fire whenever I saw her. Like a tentacle of hot flame wrapped around the ventricles and tried to choke the life out of me but not in a bad way, if you can imagine such a thing being a pleasant experience.

It was just love. OK,…

He was amazing. I could sit and listen and follow along as his brain churned out the most complex ideas and insightful revelations.

I pretended not to trace the lines of this body with my eyes, memorizing them so my dreams would be more accurate. I turne…

It's largely a shame

That the ones who have what is needed

Just don't like to share.

-

Those who have the needs, on the other hand,

Cannot receive, though they often,

Out of compassion, do give what they can.

-

There is no shame to be found

Nor no pity e…

My heart has just burst

With a pain most exquisite-

Jumping on blisters

^

O I am weary!

My thoughts are eroding fast

Let them sluice away,

<

For they've disguised me.

Please wash away, scales from eyes,

And show me myself

>

How I've missed the truth

I sca…

No response. I tuned onto a higher channel to try and get him by his call sign and was hit by a solid blast: calm military voices all, but coming in a rate beyond belief.

"Minotaur, Sphinx. Group with Griffon, Medusa and Enfield Two. Get yourself over to…

"This damsel in distress had two heroes and she brought them both home." I explained.

"Was she Mormon??" a very puzzled Amanda asked. She was my closest female friend and I hoped she could follow this plot.

"The Mormons gave up that polygamy thing long …