As discussed, Harald Bluetooth eviscerates me with his broadsword. I collapse, cloud-watching until the battle ends – which will be in fifteen minutes; we do three of these per hour. Sadly, the corpse next to mine is Sven Forkbeard. Why… Continue Reading
This is the story of a man and a maid,who each by their nature was very dismayed.For in truth neither was quite right in the head,but let’s take our time, for there’s much to be said. The man wandered the… Continue Reading
The Halloween bonfire had died down enough to approach. Catriona stopped prattling on about engagement and marriage and turned to Will. She was holding two chestnuts in her hand. “We place them on the fire and how they burn tells… Continue Reading
In the forest, where the stones are jagged as teeth and the moss hangs wet off the peeling tree branches, there lived a witch. She loved children, meaning she found them cute, and occasionally interesting to talk to, but mostly… Continue Reading
Arthur sometimes hated the house. As a widower of 17 years, to him the place still felt empty without Janene, and in the dark even a bit creepy. He had become familiar with the nail pops, creaks, wind whistles, and… Continue Reading
No matter how many people I met here, none of them had faces. Probably I should have listened to my mom, who always told me to draw them. I never did. She said, “Jimmy, if you don’t draw their faces,… Continue Reading
The sparrow in the filing cabinet had been dead three days, maybe four. Marianne could tell by the way its feet had curled, the dim gloss still caught in its eye. She set down her cleaning kit and crouched, her… Continue Reading
Mira took her medicine in the dark. The jar was smooth and cold, the label hand-written in faint ink: B17 — Immuno-Restorative. Below that, smaller: Apricot kernel extract. Natural therapy. Unregistered. The lid creaked open. One seed in the morning.… Continue Reading
My son, Tommy, chomped down the toffee apple with the unthinking greed of a child who’d never learnt control. His cheeks puffed out sticky with sugar and caramel, the glaze catching the carnival lights like a fragile shell. Lopsided on… Continue Reading
There is a place in the New Forest where a festival is held. Once a year, celebrations bloom, banners unfurl, music drifts, and the scent of roasting sugar thickens the air. No one can tell you where The Gathering is… Continue Reading