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 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…

Story is marked as mature

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

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 said nothing to the god, merely turned my back to it and stepped to the golden post from which the spectre of death continued to emanate. The fleshing blade was still in my hand, and using the curved tip of that sanctified steel, I drew the point along …

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…

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. …

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…

We used to believe things when I was a kid; I'm only 17, but that's plenty old enough now. We used to believe we would live forever, and things would would work themselves out. We used to believe this was our planet.

The year is 2040, and now we know…

There was a big thunderstorm in the night, starting at around 00.00. I thought the lightning was the brightest I'd ever seen - like it was day for a second.

I turned off all the lights, pulled up the blinds, opened the window and just watched for a whil…

In Retrospect

I should have shut my mouth

I should have stopped before

the truth slipped out

In Retrospect

it did nothing to heal me

I'm still broken inside

only now you are, too

In Retrospect

Maybe you aren't broken

Your flaw is that you ignore my

rant…

The Classy Lady parks itself in a synchronous orbit above the asteroid Berger-Behregen before waking and decanting the crew. The ship locates and contacts the telemetry beacon planted in the surface of the rock while the members of the crew shake off th…

"Do you two maggots have something to say to the whole toon?" Drill Seargent Norris yelled up into the faces of the new recruits.

"No Drill Seargent!" they barked back.

"Get on your faces and push, and I want to hear some conversation, or everybody will p…

I grabbed our wagon, pushing it over to where my father stood, forever carven in wood. Carefully, I tipped him into the wagon, the bent steel post in his upraised fist clanging against the sides. Then I wheeled him to our workshop behind the house.

I had…

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 …

I carried my father's post on my left shoulder as I walked back to the front of the property. I took care to avoid the golden post, though I knew it would not harm me. It was merely an omen, a message from the gods, but it was better not to tempt fate. In…

That day had been bleaker than most. The smog cloud over head was especially dense, and I needed the headlights on my bike even at midday.

Recently, it had been getting easier coping with his absence. Yes, although I hate to admit it, it seemed like the…

Of all the applicants, there was something about Lena that she couldn't shake off. Her short black hair, smooth tan skin, and deep coffee-colored eyes looked straight into your soul. She dressed informally, mostly in black, and wore a purple gem necklace …

Your moving on, choosing someone who was not me, hurt like a white hot knife to my gut.

At first I denied the pain, startled that I meant so little to you. I tried to ask you to show or tell me that I meant more.

You said that I meant just enough.

Th…

I start thinking. Video game names are cliche, for the most part, appropriate though it may be. And, as much as it may fit the situation, sci-fi and fantasy names are also out. It just bugs me when people name their kids after movie characters.

We sit in…

"Swift..easy," <kapow> "Dead."

The spotter located the next target and started, "Swift..easy," <kapow> "dead!"

A crisp cadet followed by an older officer called the sniper and spotter to attention," Platoon Guide Chapman and Assistant P. G. Gutierrez?"

Th…

As I sat on the train to Atlanta, my mind was full of doubt. Not too long ago, this very train had taken him out of my life. Would I ever be able to find him again? What was I going to do in Atlanta? I wouldn't make a good recruit, but I didn't have any s…