The end of the world, or more precisely the end of human civilisation as we know it, didn’t come with apocalyptic suddenness and all-consuming hellfire. It approached us far more insidiously. This is how it happened. I had always been… Continue Reading
Stella took a deep breath of crisp autumn air and thought about how little Halloween had changed in the neighborhood where she grew up. Bands of costumed children roamed the streets as the last of the natural light faded. The… Continue Reading
You’re securing the doors and windows while I field-strip the Winchester. Live long enough after the world ends and survival becomes a tired old routine. You sleep while I keep watch, I vomit as quietly as I can while you… Continue Reading
Listen, children, and hear the tale of Bramblewood and how it came to change seasons by the hours of the day. There was in the 2nd Century Edgar IV, the King of Pennsylvania, a vain and childless ruler who claimed… Continue Reading
Arthur’s mouth felt like he bit into a jalapeno when his phone buzzed. It was his dentist. “That bastard better not be trying to cancel my appointment,” he muttered. The light turned green, the car in back of him beeped,… Continue Reading
The kid across the courtyard was driving me mad. He kept playing the same annoying ragtime song over and over every day since quarantine began. I’d tried ignoring it, but it didn’t work — I couldn’t even hear myself think… Continue Reading
“Wow, it really is you,” the little girl’s expression was almost comical, “you look just like you do in the movies!” Princess Nella chuckled. “Yes, fair maiden. It is I, the real Princess Nella, and I just adore your gown!”… Continue Reading
How could anyone sleep through that? He sounded like an asthmatic chainsaw. The sound wasn’t the worst of it, though. It was those gaps, when the sound ceased, where she hoped that maybe, just maybe he’d stopped — snoring, breathing.… Continue Reading
Behind me, hundreds of papers rustle like the wall is trying to shed its skin. Rain and snow have reduced the pigments on the pages to a neutral gray blob of featureless faces. The names are no more than bleeding… Continue Reading
I step into the comfort of the ancient woods. I push deeper into their tangled darkness. I need to be lost, to be far away from the world, my home, my family. Somewhere I cannot be found, somewhere I can… Continue Reading