“I'm tired.” she said.

Her words sent a jolt of recognition through me. Not just the words and their flat tone, but the familiar darkness they masked. It was so easy to rely on exhaustion as a crutch because it was so easy to be exhausted these days. Any…

There are no sensory nerves in your brain; you cannot see, feel, smell, hear, or taste anything that goes on there. By the time you first became aware of the Story, it had already insinuated its tentacles throughout your brain and it was far too late for …

"L-- Lori said--"

Layla sighed. "She was wrong. There is at least one known survior. I can only help if you will allow me to, though, Miss Richards."

"Don't think I really--"

"Believe that? You've seen me kill a monster in a single strike and yet you d…

Layla marched through the snow, creating deep footprints. She despised this girl. Or-- she did. Everything she did was intentional-- there was no curse forcing her to act. But she was Rosa's friend. Rosa saw something in her. Risked her life for her.

S…

She was one of those monster people Ruta had heard of. She'd never actually seen one. She prepared an arrow and let it fly, but the small girl easily dodged.

Ruta shot several more arrows, but the girl dodged them, too. "Just let me hit you, you stupid th…

There's no experience quite like it.

The rush of being free...

...

She'd done it. She'd actually done it. That lingering pressure in the back of her mind-- gone. She didn't have to worry about the fight being worth it anymore, because it was.

...

Ri…

Story is marked as mature

Ruta stepped through the portal and onto one of the scattered little islands. Her golden hair, clothes, and tiara all shimmered with each movement she made. She summoned a golden bow, and pulled back the string, and a golden arrow appeared.

She let it fly…

It was his need that broke me. I knew what it was like to be in a position where there was no other options than to ask for help even if I didn't take it. For him to be here now, asking me for help, it spoke of powerful desperation. In it, I could see a…

Story is marked as mature

Story is marked as mature

“Today is Thursday? Are you certain?” The blue of her eyes that I had always associated with the clear warmth of the long gone sun-filled skies of my youth turned cold and penetrating. Having gone through similar confusion moments ago, I couldn't fault he…

Yellow flakes spiraled down from above to settle on the city like the ash of some great holocaust. The yellowness that filled the air wasn't the pure color of a sunflower but rather a corrupted yellow like rancid butter. Near the ground, the dancing motes…

The city seemed endless when it was empty. Half of it, maybe more, was filled with unused treasures that lay moldering in growing mounds of dust. Long streets stayed dark, no longer powered now that no one was left to keep the electrical grids up and runn…

Our only warning was the earth crying out in a great grinding noise that swallowed all other sounds, a yawn of some half-asleep cyclopean giant angry at being awoken. The ground shifted and we clawed at each other to stay upright.

Amidst a roiling cloud …

Ethan walked away from the makeshift camp of encircled cars, leaving the forty or so people relying on him behind. He could feel his responsibility for them as a tightness in his shoulders. He didn't like it but it was a burden he had taken upon himself.

…

Walking by the general store, Juana Sanchez caught sight of her reflection in a barrel of rain water and stopped. She couldn't resist taking a better look after the day she'd had. The bullring had been especially brutal today despite the autumn weather. W…

Gone was the demure scion of the Burns house that I had known. In her place stood a crazed woman, nattering at nothing I could see though I could sense cold, electrical malignance blanketing the air above us. The motions of her body and limbs were stiff a…

There is a dark stain on my family that has been passed down through at least ten generations. It seems to affect men and women equally but no more than one in any given generation though we all seem to carry it. I can trace our weakness through four gene…

“Not quite evil mother-in-law material but not fun either, I imagine.” I switched back to a happier subject. “When's your next performance, exactly?”

“Next Wednesday—a week from tomorrow.”

I blinked at the assertion that tomorrow was Wednesday. Such a s…

Story is marked as mature

“Is this a day time or a night time thing?” I asked.

“Nights exclusively which is why I can go. Ralph and Grandma Jean stay in and watch the baby.”

“They don't come with you? Wait a minute, what baby?”

“My sister's kid.”

“Jesus, there's a fourth perso…

Sometimes I forget that home has a scent

A comforting reminder of a familiar space, habits, and expectations

It’s unexpected

The pain of it’s absence

Especially knowing how transitional my locations will be

Without it I am less

On my journey to become …

Unregistered college graduates drink through a discussion on the possibility of fewer student loans

-

Overworked parents scoff at the idea of paternity leave and cheaper child care

-

A dusty ballot woolgathers at the bottom of stack of medical bills

-

Why…

It wasn't funny anymore. The first few times, maybe, but it had been several hours now and there was nothing remotely humorous about it. He wasn't yet ready to give up, though.

He reread the note, searching for some tiny scrap of useful information. He h…