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,…

Story is marked as mature

"which flavor cheese?"

"the yellow one."

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

So by now we all know that there’s no logical explanation why bumblebees 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 wizard…

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

"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 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…

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…

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've been straining to stretch my smile

clenching my cheeks along with my teeth

as sweat soaks my smooth armpits

and my straight spine begins to spasm

-

exhausting myself to keep my comfortable life

of useless meetings and endless paperwork

as I content…

You've been my faithful companion for so long I can't imagine.....

Not feeling

your sticky sweetness in my mouth

your crooked teeth grazing my ear

your constant whispers

and sweaty skin

always accompanied by a shiver racing down my spine

-

To cup my heav…

I finished the last line with a flourish, dropping the quill back into its pot and shuffling the pages together. Tucking my chair under the table, I made my way to Katy while weaving past pot handles and trays that dangled and protruded over various surfa…

There's a joy in anticipation, you know? In already composing the email response you're hoping for before you even open your laptop at the diner?

I've sent off hundreds of pieces for publication before. My poems and essays and shorts are scattered ac…

I've got a monster in my chest

A sad one

Like the evil Eeyore that hides underneath your comforter at night when the room is too hot and your skin is too cold and everything is too much and not enough and you're certain that you're dying inside of your sk…

Challenge the limits you set for yourself

When you were too tired to predict the consequences

Examine the desperation behind daily darkness

A poisonous buildup within a practice of working through lunch

And the costly decision to pay for drinks instead of…

I had been there working on the same sentence for an hour when she slid into the booth across from me.

Her smile commanded my attention like I was a ship lost in a storm and she the guide light from a light house. Delightfully, I could see a garden of wh…

Story is marked as mature

Liz Redmont needed a new start.

She decided this, while staring down the donut-shaped puddle at the bottom of her coffee mug.

It had been less than two weeks, since Emily had broken her heart. A week since she'd moved out, leaving Liz behind in an apar…

"The limes? I thought we were going to try this batch with oranges."

"Oh... right. Sorry."

"Focus, Mitt! We can't afford to make mistakes."

He couldn't help but flick a glance up at her, just as she did the same. A silent exchange, completely deniable …

Looking both over her shoulders and glasses, she raised her penciled eyebrows.

Katharine Espin Tarnath III let the door slam and dropped her bag to head upstairs. She slipped off the heavy black ceremonial robes - how anyone was supposed to wear these in the heat of summer, she didn't know - and pulled a long T-shirt over her head i…

"Hey, Mitt."

Lost in my recollections of our initial experiments, I was startled when she broke into my thoughts.

"Mitt. You there?"

"Just finishing this sentence. Is something wrong, Katy?"

I looked up when she didn't respond. She sat opposite me at …

Katy fought down the urge to blush, taking amber-coloured jar and directing a spoon to coat the pastries. Mitaran took the tray with a light-hearted bow and spun it on one finger, firing up the underside in a dance of blue flames with his other hand. Pale…

"I hope this is worth it."

I finished the last rune on the page and looked up at Katy. Like the other Necromancy undergrads she wore traditional-looking heavy black dress robes. Unlike the pasty-faced teenagers of her year, though, she made it look good…