Afterwards, when I was next aware, everything was dark. I had my eyes closed, but couldn’t seem to open them.
[more...]

From a distance, all looks well. Peaceful, serene. The ship floats, its sails unfurled, ready to depart.
[more...]

The flight had been a long one. My legs and back were sore, and complained when I put my bag down to use the sink. The restroom was relatively busy, and I’d had to wait for a sink to become free.
[more...]

He didn’t like it. The work, whatever it truly was, had dragged, and now they were stuck there a third night.
[more...]

“Have I mentioned that I love you?”
[more...]

Technology. What does that mean? We think of it as meaning electronics, computers, but it means all our tools. Including the latest gadgetry, yes, but also the simplest things, like clubs and knives.
[more...]

When Saeka was but a girl-sorceress, she learned the art of walking between worlds. She would go wherever her fancy took her, driving her teachers to distraction. Only the most powerful among them could follow, and tracking her was a major undertaking. So she wandered the uncounted worlds, indulging her curiosity and avoiding tedious classes.
[more...]

“Burnt her out, have you?”
So spoke the eponymous proprietor of Mr. Dreyson’s Shop, a small and rotund man..
[more...]

I would be stammering, if I could say something. My mind feels blank, and nothing emerges from my lips.
[more...]

“Joshua—”
“What are you doing, barging in here? You can’t do that, how did you get past the—”
“Come on, they know who I am, and I told them it was an emergency. It is an emergency!”
[more...]

First, there is breath. Breathing must be easy and deep. Anticipation must not intefere with steady respiration.
[more...]

It started with the cats. Two cats, on his way home one night. He’d always been good with cats, and stopped to say hello to these two. But they wouldn’t come near him.
[more...]

I saw her when we were at the gates. Her auburn hair caught my eye, and I fell in love. I looked away when the Marine Captain fired into the air. The crowd moved back, afraid. But we all remembered: plague. And surged forward once again.
[more...]

As I sit on my throne, I think of my Queen. My ex-Queen, now gone, gone but alive but not forgotten.

I think of my Queen.
[more...]

“You need us,” said the djinn, “To realize the world you want.”
“But what’s in it for you?”
“The fulfillment of our function. We exist to serve.”
[more...]

I had loved Saura all my life.
[more...]

The viscous remains oozed between my fingers. Already, it was beginning to disappear, passably similar to rapid evaporation.
[more...]

The man walked slowly along the road. He was naked, and his bare feet were swollen and blistered. He was still bleeding slightly, his wounds not completely healed.
[more...]

My hand moves along the surface, drifting on the foam, seeking where foam becomes water. Foamlets swirl tinily around the grooves that make up my fingerprint.
[more...]

It doesn’t look like a palace. It is a network of interconnected villas. A sense of peace permeates throughout. The mountainside it is built on is sparsely forested, and gets only light snow in the winter.
[more...]

His eyes snapped open. He was sitting down, slowly rotating. He was strapped into a chair at an amusement park, chintzy music echoing around him.
[more...]