Joy put the demitasse down a little too hard, slopping foam across the table top. Too much time spent seething, and now the espresso had grown cold. Damn the bosses. Rein herself in, indeed. Power equals responsibility, et cetera, ad… Continue Reading
In a dark hollow in an ancient wood, the sound of a little girl’s disconsolate wails echoed. The softer tones of a consoling adult led her away, down a bright path to the safety of a parked car and, later,… Continue Reading
They call me The Sentient Sword, but I prefer Bill. I was forged in the Fires of Timmy the Shimmy Smith. They call him that because his swords are always a little wobbly. I am no exception. However, I’m proud… Continue Reading
Reynard limped along the leafy path, his wounded hind leg folded up. This was a part of the forest he traveled rarely, but from the splashing up ahead he knew his destination was near. Pressing through a flowery thicket, he… Continue Reading
At first glance, there was darkness. Impermeable silence. Motionlessness. For the spectators, only a feeling existed… a pulsation within and without: rapt submergence. Then loud chaos clanged and tinged, settling into a single bang of a gong. Alas, illumination. Clouds… Continue Reading
Lil ‘Pea’ Adrian swung and missed. Piggy The Catcher snorted in derision. Pea ignored him and spit a seed in the wind, but to Pig it was a shot across the bow. Pig loved baseball, but hated messes, especially small… Continue Reading
After sex, instead of cuddles, Amy asked for the cat. Lulu protested that they just did this yesterday, but Amy was insistent. So Lulu went to the bathroom, crouched down on the rug, and changed. The thing about shapeshifting was… Continue Reading
The forest gave a sigh of relief — Paul Bunyan lay sleeping his final rest, his last tree felled. The funeral was almost as large as the legend himself and took place over several days. The will was read and… Continue Reading
The taxi driver pulls up to a crumbling brick apartment building in Brooklyn Heights and I think to myself that surely a being as menacing as Krampus must have a greater reward than a fourth-floor walk-up without a river view.… Continue Reading
Despite their differences, the two wizards had always agreed that the mushroom soup at Ko’s was a superior dish amid a wasteland of mediocre suburban cuisine. It contained seven distinct species of exotic fungi in a clear, fragrant broth speckled… Continue Reading