The thing that spoke to me had the face of a dead god but used the voice of my father. I had known to expect this. It was a by-product of the bonding ritual that gave a semblance of life back to this former deity. Not that any of the gods ever truly died,…

"which flavor cheese?"

"the yellow one."

.................................

So by now we all know that there’s no logical explanation why honeybees can fly, weight and wings and stuff, it shouldn’t be possible, but bees fly anyway. Perhaps bees are magical creatures, then. And the drop in bees’ quantity is alarming to the wizardi…

Story is marked as mature

Prunella turned from her novel and rolled her eyes in copious disgust.

I don't know how I made it through what came next. The next days were a blur of pain, both physical and emotional, and fever dreams, in the rare moments when I slept.

My first task was to split the figure of my father in half, carefully using the tools o…

I held that piece of flesh up before me, bitter distaste filling my mouth. If what my father and I had done before had been blasphemy, this was surely something far worse, to desecrate the body of a god in such a way.

And yet it was necessary. This war b…

"Okay, so... Yeah. We've got this." Captain Gaia looked us over. "Hero Corps, let's..."

"Uh, question." Even I couldn't believe I had spoken up, never mind that I had just interrupted Captain Gaia!

He stared at me for a moment. "Is this going to tak…

"I don't know what to do." That's what I hear

So many times. I say this constantly.

Yet what I mean, I cannot say for sure--

I only know I'm lost, it's hard to see

.

The purpose in my life; it's hard to feel

What's best to do--what I need most in life

And…

The floorboards creaked with my passage, threatening to collapse, but the key is to be sure and confident - uncertainty is infectious, and many a man has died by his own hesitation. My boots did not pause until I reached my destination - Building Grachkin…

When we find each component,

We become So that not water, no flame or air or quake could not break us down.

This is how you make sure you love who you are and you stand within your power.

When you know you are:

Powerful

Solemn

Courageous

Determined

Stand …

“You seem off,

Is everything okay?”

“Yea I’m fine,

I just need to pray.”

“Are you sure?

I’m here to talk...”

“Yes, uh, of course..

There’s no need to balk.”

...

I should be worried....right?

I shouldn’t just let them be.

Because it’s the middle of the…

I just want to run away now

Not even truly angry anymore

Just exhausted and hurt

There's been wounds on both sides, yes

But not once was I malicious

Or intentionally hurtful to you

I tried so hard to be

The person you needed.

Well.

The one you said you ne…

What is the point of prayer?

We ask god to make things a certain way that have been what they are all along.

Please don't let it be cancer

Please let it be mold and not a dangerous building toxin

It's not like god miraculously changes it from what it is…

They fought on. Orthael gave ground again and again, knowing that he could not - would not - strike her. She threw him a dangerously open slice, daring him to show her that Fire destroyed without meaning or mercy. But that was not the case. He caught her …

Nine-year-old Timothy Lane sits on the edge of his bed trying not to look at his closet. The room is dark, but that yawning portal is darker and more terrifying to Timothy than anything else. He twists his hands in his lap, trying to find the courage to w…

I can see the stars, but I don't have the fuel.

My trajectory is set, but I'm gazing off to the side.

I'm going somewhere, but not where I'm looking.

The possibilities are limitless, but my choices finite.

I started too early, and I'll be too late.

W…

Dear Dairy,

Today was an awesome day! !

You know that carton of pickles in the back of our fridge, the one on the roof? Well I was gnawing on the wrapper this morning when I finally broke through the plastic frieze packaging and got a mouthful of brine. …

I kept my hands to myself and hurried on. I had a reasonably generous timeframe to get what I needed from Case 39 and leave before the window of opportunity closed.

"Sam, is that you?"

I started quite considerably. I had seen other case-seekers today on…

The elevator doors opened. Pandora stepped onto the 52nd floor of the Pouthena Building. Pulling her shawl closer, she gingerly set out for Row 31, her cane tapping a slow staccato on the marble tile as she walked. She had all the time in the world.

Care…

Well the new pickles of the litter got along great with me, we played tag and price and code and dead and then we all bundled up in our garters and gilt and glit and flit and kilt and were in the bin of shipping in a nonce.

The dear improprietor of me got…

Tap tap tap tap tap tap.

The pink girl darted across the rooftop, jumping gaps and dodging arrows, crystals, rocks, and all manner of magical projectiles.

"Talu, wait up!" The little weasel-like creature followed after her, much slower on its short litt…

Malika looked to the holy man.

"What say you, Reliath?" she asked. "Why didn't the greater dead destroy us, as Morduth suggests?"

Orthael thought for several long moments. "I cannot say for sure," he replied. "But perhaps, while the creature is more g…

What would it be like to break into a hundred different worlds? A thousand? Would he ever get used to it, the way you get used to the routines of a new job? Ray looked at the device he held in his hand. Abruptly, he tossed it up, sending it spinning end o…

I'm trying to care less about what other people think of me: trying not to perpetually perform for an imagined audience, trying to forget all the invisible eyes on me.

4am in the dark lair of my study, two locked doors between my face and the world...

…