May 2012
1 post
7 tags
Wishes
Bang.
The crowd began their nightly oohs and ahhs. They stared at the spectacle before them — a fairytale castle basked in firework flashes. Music crescendoed with the booms, and they held their breaths, drawing in the magic.
Literally.
Though few of us know it, Roy thought and extended his palm to catch the invisible magic motes falling from the sky.
“We’ll make a wish,” the song blared, “and...
April 2012
12 posts
6 tags
Trespass
The old man chanted like an eastern snake charmer, and the barbed wire rose from the ground. It swayed, undulated, then struck. It bit, piercing clear through Jeremy’s larynx.
“That’ll shut yer screamin’.”
More barbed wire coiled itself tight around Jeremy’s body, pinning him to the post. It shredded his flesh in a hundred places.
“Ye’ll die eventually, maybe a week. Then I’ll chop ye up, coat...
8 tags
+2 to Endurance
The avalanche nearly toppled Khandar Steelmane from his ledge. Even an 18 barely made the saving throw.
His companion, Faye Cloakswood, helped him to his feet and cast Minor Healing on him.
One by one, they braved the Trials of the Godsmount—30,000 vertical feet of sheer cliffs, ice dragons, and countless other horrors from a capricious Dungeon Master.
Many times, Khandar thought they’d die....
9 tags
Outlier
“We will be with you,” the mother duck says to the duckling.
At least, that’s what I imagine it says. I watch as the duckling drifts away from its family.
A loner. Different. Special.
I hear the barbecue behind me. What will my mother say? What will my family think when I tell them I’m taking a vow of silence and traveling the world? Being the Starbucks-guzzling, IPad-toting herd they are,...
8 tags
Splat
“Whee! I feel so alive!” whooped the daredevil drop and leaped over the edge. Splat.
“Oh my God, get me out of here!” screamed the hydrophobic drop and flung himself over the edge. Splat.
“Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore splat thou Romeo?” bequeathed the star-crossed drop and swooned over the edge. Splat.
“I splat, therefore I am,” mused the philosopher drop and—assuming he existed at all—went over...
9 tags
The Quill is Mightier than the Sword
Quillius Porcupine sat writing a book in his tower. He was just inking up one of his quills, freshly grown from his back, when an intruder burst in through the door.
It was Algebreus Alligator, the local mathematician and village troublemaker. He held a sword.
“Now I can prove it!” Algebreus cackled. He turned his head and opened his mouth toward the blade, making a <. “The sword is greater...
10 tags
The Tattooist
Eloni showed Xin the right side of his chest. “An otter, for my son. Tua loved to swim, and to talk. So quick at both.”
He pointed to the left side of his chest, over his heart. “A dolphin, for my wife. Kali was so smart it hurt. And beautiful, graceful—until you killed her.”
Finally, the center of his chest. “A shark, for me. I died the day you killed my family.”
He unsheathed a long, serrated...
6 tags
The Tunnel of Misfortune
The Darkness chased me. I walked under a ladder to slow it. Broke a mirror to give it pause. Bought a black cat simply to set it up to cross my path. That really confounded it.
I’m cursed, you see. Doomed to be hunted by Darkness every Friday the 13th.
Finally, I reached the tunnel. It’s a ghoul-infested hell, but it was worth enough bad luck to ward off the Darkness until midnight.
The...
7 tags
Slurp
You take a sip of the cherry slushy. Slurp. Delicious. You take another.
Huh. Must have hit a warm spot. The next sips become warmer and you notice something.
It doesn’t taste like cherry anymore.
And your mouth is glued to the straw.
You see movement in the cup. A crystalline, bloody face stares back at you, smiling, and winks.
You stand and try to scream, try to tear away, try to stop the...
9 tags
Mikey's Writing Homework
Hi my name is Mikey and when I was in first grade there was a girl named Kayla. She was real good at reading and I was good at math.
We played at recess and she was my reading buddy. She helped me read better. I guess she was pretty.
Kayla always had pink bandaids on her arms. She said the shots hurt.
One day she wasn’t at school and she wasn’t there that whole week. I asked Miss Jameson and...
9 tags
Life, Disturbed
(Based off a photo from Friday Fictioneers)
Dawn forced back the musings of the night. Morning misted up, the exhalation of the Earth.
I shivered on the stream’s bank. It seemed simple here. Everything made sense.
Beside me, two trees dipped branches thirstily into their reflections.
“Good God, Margaret, the water this morning is to die for.”
My mouth dropped in amazement. The voice just...
9 tags
Long Day at the Office
Hiroko flicked crimson droplets from his blade. They splattered, macabre ink blots on the calligraphic stone.
He surveyed the carnage. The Sentinels lay hacked, bloody, cold. A scene of black and white and scarlet.
Hiroko was a Sentinel. Once.
His rampage through the Citadel effectively ended his tenure with them. Making it official, he dipped his calligraphy brush into the wound of his former...
8 tags
The Cycle
Little Sister tiptoes across the slick stream stones, balancing the water basket. Careful, I want to say. Mustn’t slip and break your head. Not yet.
She looks up. “Hello?” Her child eyes almost see me.
The cold planet cycles.
Little Sister ages, finds comfort in conformity. Marries a buffalo hunter. Has children. Balances the water basket on her graying head.
Sometimes she talks to “Earth...
March 2012
11 posts
6 tags
Rust
(Based off a photo from Friday Fictioneers) I caressed the heap of metal. Just an object—a tiny nothing on a rotating sphere of nothing, floating in the nothingness of space. Yet it meant something. It represented you, humanity.
My digits came away with the red-brown of iron oxide, and I felt remorse.
I’m sorry. About what my people did to you. That you’re gone now, your only legacy a rusted...
9 tags
A Morning without Coffee
Images of the night before flitted through Zack’s mind. Running, fire, blood. Zombies had attacked his hometown.
A dream? Zack thought. Apparently I need some coffee.
He poured himself his morning salvation and drank. The liquid trickled out of his mouth before he could swallow it. Wow. I really am tired.
He raised his other hand to wipe his face. But it wasn’t there. He looked down at a stump...
8 tags
Black and White
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Chen watched through the window in the back room, smiling. Neil was such a jokester.
Chen flipped a few switches and depressed a comm button.
“That you, Chen?” Neil said.
“Yes. You now have two hours of radio silence. Commence Operation Black and White. Plant the shoots.”
“Of course. Armstrong out.”
Chen took off his face. A panda’s...
7 tags
Does it have Eyes?
The question held suspended in the air, like a gallows-hung corpse.
“Does it have eyes, father?” the blind girl repeated.
“No, child,” a raspy voice cooed. “I plucked them out. Now it is eyeless like us.”
“Maybe if it can’t see me and I can’t see it, then it’s okay?”
“It’s okay. All is darkness here.”
She heard the metallic groan of the door opening. The shrill terror of a woman’s screams...
8 tags
Let there be...Coffee
He basked in the soft-heated glow of the Fountain. It was magnificent, all flowing silver and emblazoned scrollwork. He floated toward it and gave his breath away to the silky aroma that greeted Him.
Beautiful, He thought to Himself and leaned over the edge. The Fountain’s liquid—the essence of life—was dark, warm, and caffeinated.
God woke up.
And smelled the coffee brewing on His table. Good...
6 tags
The Tyrant's Choice
His advisers insisted that putting down the rebellion was the right choice. For the good of the kingdom.
Yet the Tyrant stared at the decree—missing only his signature—with sleepless eyes. His chambers were empty save him and the 10,000 souls that awaited a legislated oblivion. They danced like demons on the razor-edge of his crimson quill.
Finally, with the resignation of a dead man, the Tyrant...
8 tags
At Death's Door
The doorbell rang. Death grunted, his afternoon soaps interrupted, and stalked to the door.
A boyscout stood on his porch.
“Hi, Mr. Mortimer. Want to buy some popcorn? It’s going to my brother Johnny’s leukemia fund.”
Oh. This family.
“Sure, Andrew. And, you want to know a secret?”
Little Andrew nodded.
“Johnny will pull through and live a long life. But…your family will go though a sudden...
7 tags
Heartbreak
Deidra was terrified. Bound to a cold metal chair in a blindingly bright room. Isaac loomed over her.
“You broke up with me over the phone, Dee,” he said, raising a wicked-looking scalpel.
“I’m sorry! Please let me go!”
“Would you give me your heart?”
“Yes! We can get back together. Just don’t hurt me!”
Isaac shook his head, as if regretful. “No, Dee. I don’t want your love anymore. I want...
6 tags
The Phoenix Dancer
My girlfriend wrapped me a warm embrace after her show. Her dark island skin sizzled against my own.
“That was hot, Kenna,” I said.
“Haha. That joke never gets old.” She lanced me with her inferno-flecked gaze.
“Well it’s true! The tourists especially loved your flame-dance act, wondering how you weren’t burned. Seriously, you were on fire tonight.”
Kenna hefted a bag of coins—tips—in her...
6 tags
A Dream Postponed
The amphitheater erupted around him.
“Jimmy! Jimmy!”
He devoured the moment, his fingers dancing electric across the strings. The crowd, lights, music. They belonged to him—the rock star. The band faded and Jimmy launched into his signature, thunderous solo.
But—something was wrong.
Jimmy slumped down onto the stage. He thumbed the frets, frowning.
“Oh Jimmy.” A soft voice.
He looked up from...
6 tags
Night Falls at the Local Grocery
The warrior spun in a mad dance of death, cutting down anything that came within reach of his curved blade. Swarms of enemies advanced, but he held firm. He was a true samurai. A guardian of the code of Bushido.
He was a potato.
Samurai Spud chopped through the evil vegetables. He beheaded broccoli, juiced tomatoes, and peeled carrots until they retreated before his fury. One enemy remained—a...
