Seeing the shuffling man across the street gave him pause. The man didn’t appear a threat, or even put any interest towards him. As the man shuffled, Jensen noticed the man slid his left foot slowly behind his right, barely lifting it out of the dust. He dragged a world of misfortune forward, the heaviness […]
It is not that the fish was particularly bright. It once tried to eat a single krill double its size, after all, thinking it was a somehow tiny squid. It’s not even a carnivore. But instinct told it to move to the left a half second before the barracuda blasted through the same spot. The […]
In the light of the morning he could see it. Hovering quietly just behind the barbs of the corner bushes, it held its place. The silence left an odd feeling in his stomach. This close to the road he should hear people driving by, mere yards behind the shape in the bushes. He should feel […]
Dread was the start of the Show. Intricately dark and spun with old horrors invigorated, the Chorus heralded the beginning of what once was and what would be again. The patrons shrank, the audience reeled, the Ushers left speechless and torn. Companies of extras flowed around a finite point in an infinite darkness. The player […]
Why, it’s the oil, they cry, explaining their war of sorrows. We need it for our wholeness, something all of us borrows. They started it anyway, we only wanted what’s ours. We wanted to Run! Run! Run! and for that we needed great cars. Who cares if someone was hurt they aren’t of our cares. […]
He picked himself off the ground for the second time in as many hours. He could never get used to being thrown down in the dirt, or punched in the gut, or locked in a chest, no matter how many times it happened. He stood up, his vantage point rising while his emotions fell further. […]
We dream of lofty things that we dare not try. We cry for others when we dare not feel it ourselves. We judge those who weep without care of those who are watching. We can not be among those who are willing to give so much while we simply chain ourselves to the dirty ground […]
He picked the book up out of the puddle, shaking the excess muck off the cover. He didn’t see who dropped it. Despite the wet alley and rude treatment, the outside of the book’s pages didn’t seem too damp. The book had a fake leather strap keeping it closed, and he slowly worked the knot […]
Why try to crawl, when all we want is for you to run? Why do you run, when you cannot escape? Why do you climb, when you must fall? Why do you try to lead, when you are forced to follow? We are those enjoying the chase. We are those that watch the followers. We […]
She fumbles first by protest, through forgiveness, and on to sacrifice. She bellows of history and life, of future and death, and still cannot see that she will never change the outcome. Defeat was assured the moment she answered with that one word, a whisper in the hurricane of darkness. “Yes,” she had said. “Yes, […]
She sat staring out of the car window, looking for answers. Birds fluttered around in the many trees. The light breeze pushed the weeds and flowers back and forth. Nature was alive and waiting to hear from her. But she knew she would not hear what she wanted. Come with us, the small birds called. […]
Run away from the light, little one, for there is no good there. Run into the darkness, small friend, and find a world of love. Run into the dancing sea, for there you will find the home you crave. Run away, run away, Runaway from home. Find us waiting in the dark waters, only for […]
Day in, day out, she walks through her life looking for those moments where she can feel alive again. Her world seems sparse and unforgiving. There are no colorful treks, no lasting impressions of the world around her. There is only the perceived gray cloud around all, a soft blur reminding her of how her […]
Light falls on a nation of apathetic usurpers. They wait, impatient at progress and violent in their speech. Tailored with despair at the way things have gone for them. Virulent the destruction laden in their tongues of hatred. They wait and talk of the means to destroy those unlike them. Seething in dark shadows swept […]
The tumultuous nature of the Common Stratobulgaris is explained most easily through its sense of smell. As it flies, the pattern of sensitive cells in the olfactory chambers alter in peculiar patterns. Sometimes random, sometimes ordered, every change leads to a different focus. A sweet smell could immediately shift to foul, and the Stratobulgaris spends […]
She holds the ribbon as if it was a delicate feather. The ribbon sways to and fro as she releases each length of it quickly gently pushing her fingers back together before it all flies away. Steadily the ribbon’s path grows longer and longer held in place by the prickly branches. She walks silently through […]
Wrought of pain and unforgiving time, the woman stood at the altar. No suffering of hate No bruising of weak egos would drive her from her course. She placed the battered egg on the broken crown, crimson falling off the shell and on to the crown’s golden shimmer. Bathed in the warm light of broken […]
“Sir, please don’t throw rocks into the water.” Marcus looked up the slope at the ranger, and decided against revealing the truth. “Sorry officer,” Marcus replied, “I just wanted to see the big splash.” “It just scares the fish away from this spot,” the ranger said. “A lot of folks like to swing by this […]
I yearn for the days of old.I look to the hillsfor adventure and glory. I look to the seasto fight the good fight.To dash to and frofighting my waythrough the day. I look to the desertsbarreling fiercelyon my strong steed.Breaking through thelines of the weary enemy. I see my chance!I push forward,my sword swingingback […]
We lived in our quiet homeand ate of our good bounty,until the walls fell. They were built to last forever. But forever is just a word, meaningless in the dark. We fought against the darkness that invaded. We were strong together. Divided, it was still stronger. It came for our children, turning them into […]
The wind knows of sorrows long past.Ancient souls long forgotten,yearning to rise again. Cries are heard through distant valleys, of the coming of the lost ones. Storms rise and fall on the voices of the old, the feeble, the few who remember of old. When in times before, the cliffs turned black with their […]
“He just scratches the walls, day and night”, Conner said. “His nails came off weeks ago. We bandage them, but he keeps scratching until they’re broken through again.” Dr. Manheim peered through the small window in the door, watching James run his fingers back on forth on the far wall. Long tendrils of blood […]
They had said he never listened, and someday he’d learn his lesson. They told him not to go into the old Hill mansion. They told him not to touch the stain on the floor in the abandoned library. He kept wrenching back and forth, trying desperately to pull his fingers from the stain. It […]
Strapped with duct tape to an old rusty table, Mark could only see the musty ceiling. He tried to speak, but his mouth was gapingly taped open. He could only grunt like an animal. “Sorry chief, I don’t speak ‘grunty’,” Josh snickered, coming into Mark’s view. “You’re pretty agitated, you might want to calm […]
He was getting angry, though he knew he shouldn’t let her get to him. For the sixty third time this month June had said no to his advances, and she went quickly to sleep. He watched her now as she slept, the top of one foot sneaking out from under the covers. He turned […]
