When you departed, love, you'd been afflicted

And mute so long. My strength and hope had flagged.

I felt myself alone, exhausted, ragged,

But then there came a blessing unpredicted.

-

I'd thought my love was dying, nearly gone,

And never to return, once …

I'm torn, my dear. I don't know what to do.

I wish you were alive, that you'd respond

To guide me, as before--but you're beyond

Such interactions now; still, I seek you.

-

Just hear me, please. I lack all peace of mind.

It shuffled off just after you with…

The cell was small and stone. Although the occupant was a thin woman, her presence filled the room to overflowing. I could feel it in the hallway. I set my chair down just out of arms reach from the thick iron bars, removed my hat and sat down. I smoothed…

I wish I could tell them how beautiful the funeral was. The things everyone said were so touching. Even Aunt Agnes, though I know she was full of shit, talked sweetly about her "beloved nephew" (that she hadn't spoken to since I was 5).

I wish I could te…

I was alone and confused, my mind and body numb, suspended in darkness. Memories were fragile and tenuous, like cobwebs dissolving at the slightest touch. Panic rose in my chest, and I groped blindly, for something, anything in the oppressive blackness.

…

I laugh in their faces as they flip the switch once more, their faces becoming even more desperate and confused. Thousands of volts course through my body, yet though my clothing begins to char and smoke, the pain never comes. This is not their first atte…

She wakes up in the morning and can't go back to sleep. She attempts to move her blue frost bitten hands through the snow that surrounds her. With shallow breaths she takes drags of the cold air in, her lungs aching with each inhalation.

She wonders, i…

Detective Hawk reached a gloved hand to the light switch. In the moment before the room was bathed in light, she braced herself for a scene of unknowable atrocity. It was not difficult to kill a muse, they are quite delicate, but at times the results can …

Sad, I picture myself cutting the sugary crust with my stainless steel fork. When it cracked apart there'd be a sharp sound of metal against porcelain. The crust, dark brown seeping to deep red, is softer, gooey, nearby.

There is a ring of pineapple again…

“In the event of a gravitational storm, please return to your seat and buckle your restraints as demonstrated by the hologram in front of you. In the case of decompression..”

I tuned out the flight attendant. I'd taken this trip many times recently as bo…

It's a horrible thing, to be jealous of a dead person. You can't get angry at them. You can't even say anything bad about them. Our parents will always remember David as the honor student, as the star athlete, as the altar boy, as the perfect son.

A…

"Whatever happened to that 20 minutes of decluttering thing you used to do?"

"I gave it up when you signed me up for hot yoga. The class time overlaps with decluttering by 15 minutes, and who can get anything done in 5 minutes?"

"Very funny." She moved…

The cell door slammed open. Kerr looked up, and locked eyes with his brother. "Gierard," he growled, contemptuously.

Gierard's voice, by comparison, gave no indication of any emotion at all. "When I ascended to the throne..." he began.

"Usurped!" Kerr…

Story is marked as mature

I don't sleep with the lights off, anymore.

A little over a year ago, I worked as night security at a psychiatric institute. There was one guy who would freak out if the lights were off. On nights when I was on my own doing a walk-around, I would stop by…

Isn't it funny how things you do in your youth come back to bite you? What is it the New Agers call it?

Karma! That's it.

Like when you're a teenager, and you hit-and-run someone's car. Then, as an adult, some kid slams into the new car you just bought,…

Story is marked as mature

I watch the paramedics work. They’re trying so hard. I can’t see who they’re working on, but they’re determined.

I try to recall what happened. Everything flashes by in a blur. The party. Taking the keys from Tom. Driving him home.

We started arguing. I…