You can feel the heat rising up the stairwell as you go down to the landing. With trepidation, you turn to face the first floor's back hallway, and it is quite a sight. The floor itself seems to be on fire! What's more, it seems to be following a pattern,…

I hopped over a pair of the ash-filled streams, so contaminated that the clear water of my childhood had become an opaque gray. The air wasn't much better but it was getting clearer. The sun behind the smoky sky was still such an angry red that I could fe…

Story is marked as mature

There is a light that comes past my window early in the morning. It's not that bright, certainly not bright enough to wake me from a deep sleep. Unfortunately my dreams have been troubled lately and worse yet, broken by urgent calls of nature that treat m…

Funerals are odd ducks, aren't they? I mean they bring out the oddness in people. And odd people. Probably ducks too. I mean if the burying place is near a pond it's likely to attract its fair share of ducks, wouldn't you say? Like ponds and ducks, funera…

“Do you have a wallet?”

I looked at the girl without comprehension, my mind focused on the fact that I no longer had a name, just this infinite hollow blank where my name used to be. I felt naked. Undefined. Like something vital had been stripped away.

…

Story is marked as mature

The two sides met, one coming from stone huts and arbitrary rules, the other from ravaged forests, a smoky sky, and angry rivers thick with debris. Male and female stood together on both sides, shifting nervously. A meeting this size was unprecedented. Ma…

I don't ever want to stop talking to you.

I have trust issues because I love you.

Love requires trust.

Trust that I can't have.

Therefore Love is false.

False love hurts. It wounds, it stabs in the back.

Therefore I have to cushion myself. I have to…

Simon Krapper whimpered from his cross. He was still alive. Eyes bleary from pain, from tears, from the sun, blinked and did not see. He was beyond that. Sweat rolled off his body but still he shivered.

Willum pressed a damp sponge to the crucified man's…

The wind picked up around me, growing denser as smoke from the burning city below infused it. Particulates filled the air with enough irritants to give my lungs a tickle without quite forcing me to cough. I worried about long-term exposure but the activit…

Darnell unclipped his laser torch and used the butt to tap on the door. He didn't hear anything. Pressing his helmet against it, he tried again. There was a hollow tonk tonk tonk but no answering sound.

He radioed Bach. “Been knocking and no answer, an…

“I saw you dock. Nasty looking black eye. That rock you towed in do that to you?” Captain Umski asked, rubbing at his own eyes.

Captain Torrance sipped his rye. “Yup, fly ball out of left field.”

“Really? Sensor malfunction?”

“Ship A.I. says no.”

“You…

“Status report! Helmsman, full stop.” Captain Torrance held on to his chair for stability waiting for the ship to rock again. The collision alert continued to blare. “What the hell hit us?”

“Aye aye, Captain, full stop.” The helmsman called.

Officer Cru…

Two people had gone down in the attack by that white dog-like thing which had driven the five of us deeper into the caves.

The wild barking had ceased and we used the reprieve to catch our breath. Slinging my backpack around and I reached in to get a bot…

The Future beckons, claws held wide.

I stumble forward, terrified.

The line etched in the granite floor's

A precipice; a fool ignores

Such limits to one's path but once:

"THE END" to Stories of a Dunce.

The Yearly Creature's gaze holds mine

I shamble ne…

"When I first got here, I didn't think as to how. I only knew one thing." She blushes, which only serves to highlight those dimples I so adore. "I had to find you."

"And once you found me?" I ask.

"Things went... quickly from that point." She shrugs. "I…

And back to being perplexed. "You don't have a name?"

"Nope." She says that one word as though it should be painfully obvious. "Because the players can name their companions individually, the developers only gave me a place holder. And [ExComp1] doesn'…

I step into the living area, and the first thing I hear is, "Oh, good! They fit you. I had to guess your size."

That's the first time I realize I'm wearing new clothes. "Um... Thank you?"

She smiles, but it's a sad smile. "I guess the attitude is unders…

A question comes to mind. "How did you find me, by the way?" I'm not sure how much of the question is genuine interest, and how much is to distract me from her revelations about me. What she tells me next has me utterly fascinated, though.

"The security …

"Before I say anything," she whispers, "how blunt can I be without you hating me?"

I don't think anything could surprise me any more than I already had been, so I say, "Say what you need to say. It's okay."

She turns to me, and, after a brief pause, tel…

"Attached to one... Wait... You mean me?" I'm not always the brightest crayon in the box. This is one of those times.

She rolls her eyes. "No, I mean Tommy Douglas, 8th grade gamer from Tulsa. Yes, you, dummy!" Again, that laugh that, despite the utterly…

She tenses, starts to pull away, then relaxes. I'm still holding the towel around her injured hand, but I feel her left hand on the back of my neck. I must be doing something right.

Suddenly, there's a soft, warm breeze. We pull back. "What the hell was …

"Hold on. You're not human?" Something about how I say it causes her to pull back. She lowers her head, allowing her long hair to fall forward, hiding her face from me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." I reach out for her, and she draws back even more.

Sh…

It takes a moment to realize what is happening, and then I just let myself sink into it. I close my eyes, and let everything else fall away. I let my other senses take the driver's seat. The warm, smooth skin of her hands on my face. The taste of cherry l…