"Orthael!" she spat. "Protector of life, servant of the All-Consumer." Her voice dripped disdain. "Summoned by a local parish, no doubt." Orthael nodded. "To protect us." He nodded again.

"Well, holy man, where were you when my village was destroyed …

Malika brought Morduth up so it pointed at the newcomer. Blue flame flared up bright and tall along the blade's length, spilling over the hilt and onto her hand and wrist. She didn't notice. All her attention was on this man of the cloth standing before h…

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…

The first was wooden and splintery. Brittle. Damn thing would fall over at the slightest gust of wind. It wouldn't hold itself up, much less an entire fence.

This one, though... this one was made of metal. Stainless steel. It was solid -- and heavy. …

My ring grew ice cold. I hid it under my leg. I wasn't sure if it would glow in the dark theater, but I wasn't about to chance it.

I leaned towards my boyfriend, laying my head on his shoulder until the ring warmed up. He knew I had it and what it meant,…

Well, I know the site has been having some issues. I may be able to try poking the person who manages it directly (Ethel, to the best of my knowledge), and see if they know what's going on. People have been having all sorts of issues. Namely, with sequels…

He saw that fake look of self assurance on her face, and it reminded him of a mosquito. People, like mosquitoes, rise out of the warm fluids, and their lives are just what they did in between feeding and reproducing. Here she was, with the life span of …

Come one, come all, and welcome to Ficlatté. The site is organised much like Ficly was, so things should be mostly familiar.

Please, come on in and make yourself at home.

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…

Regrets, I've had a few.

I love a bit of Sinatra, and this line from My Way comes to mind right now. I have had some regrets in life, and regret is the emotion that floods my mind right now.

By some bizarre happenings that I still barely comprehend, it …

The veil waited, carefully spread over a chair back. All of the dressing room photos had been taken, the bridesmaids and her mother had taken their places, and the bride had a few moments to herself.

The mirror reflected her perfect form, the perfect dre…

Please move along, he said, as he climbed over the fence. It is easy to think that what he was doing was untoward, after all, on the other side of the fence was a pride of hungry lions.

She has the aesthetic of long skirts and crop tops. She wears black hats and black eye liner. She reads books by candlelight.

She keeps herbs in mason jars and poured tea on paper to age it. Her counters are covered in Babies Breath and cat hair.

She d…

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…

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…

She heaved, great, gasping, shuddering sobs, still clutching the sword in her hand. Her tears that fell on the blade glistened and glowed blue, etching fine, dark lines into the metal as they traveled along it. She was oblivious of the carnage she had lef…

Orthael was not entirely surprised when the first creature stepped out from behind a tree, not far ahead. It had once been a man, but grossly elongated arms led to a soft rustling from knuckles dragged along the forest floor. A few others joined it, all-t…

Jeremy knelt, his breath catching at the beauty. This find was proving to be an even greater treasure than he'd ever imagined. Using a tiny brush, he dusted up and down the length of the axe. Once this was polished up, it would outshine every other piece …

Doom fell from the sky that next day. At least, that's where we assumed it came from. There were mutterings in that cloudless expanse -- and rumors of mutterings. We had listened to them all that night and assumed they were the last breaths of the god-t…

I don't want to change anything, don't get me wrong. The more time passes, the more I see how it couldn't have worked. The more I see how much I would've suffered for you. Because I loved you and I love you and I would take so much pain for you just beca…

The third post, well... the third post didn't actually exist. Not in any way that mattered. It was an idea, if you will -- a concept, a metaphor. It was a lynchpin of belief. It was, of course, all hot air and bluster and metaphor, a puff of wind as insub…

I think that all my friends must be astronauts...

They sure do love their space.

"I ask you again," Malika said. "Who be you, and how be it you come to be here, just at this very moment? Be you a final test, holy man or not, to confirm my resolve, to baptize me in the fire of purification against the forces of Ashmar?" She could feel …

You sometimes lost your way, but when you make it to a place like this, arriving without knowing how and why you arrived, you know you're not lost anymore. The air has an inimitable quality to itself, seemingly contained with the light of a day beginning …

“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…