Twenty minutes into the role-playing exercise, Marco flipped, tearing off the mask, hurling it onto the floor, and grinding it under his heel in one fluid movement. “I don’t want to be a mouse,” he said to Delaney. “You always… Continue Reading
My wife sleeps peacefully beside me. I lie awake, while a recurring nightmare involving a schoolyard bully dissolves like a movie fadeout. I’m far too old to suffer anxiety over being bullied as a boy, but long suppressed memories find… Continue Reading
December, 1963 The Etch A Sketch nearly passed through Martin’s hands without a second glance, but his neighbor jabbed him with an elbow. Martin froze at the image of the starburst drawn in grey plastic. “It’s Aaron,” his neighbor, Sanjeet,… Continue Reading
Dimitri tolerated the crown. It was too sparkly, and the duct tape itched his stone scalp, but he put up with it because the new homeowners were young. “Just Married.” Right now, everything was the first: first house, first lawn,… Continue Reading
“It’s cold in here. You should light a fire.” Sara shivered, hoping for a cuddle. “Not until that chimney’s swept.” Joe was always so practical, but a date stripping wallpaper wasn’t what she’d had in mind. “How many layers of… Continue Reading
Roaring on a mighty flame stack, the rocket ship Conquest descended through the atmosphere to the surface of planet Alpha-1. Bulbous-bodied, tri-finned, and gleaming, the interstellar colony ship was breath-taking — which was part of the Big Idea. Camera drones… Continue Reading
Robert Murdoch stood awkwardly at attention in the manager’s office of Predator Pensions. Robert’s boss, Mr Penrose, had not offered him a seat, which he viewed as a bad omen. As for Mr Penrose, he was standing with his back… Continue Reading
“I don’t understand why you’re worried, Meg. She’s eating okay.” “Yes, but it’s the effort. I can’t keep up. Last week it was squiggly foods. That wasn’t so bad. I got curly fries and spaghetti and I made squiggly-looking sausage… Continue Reading
York, 1589 The door to The White Rose tavern flew open. Burbage, the aspiring actor, hurried inside in a flurry of snow, his cloak pulled tightly about him. His eyes searched the dimly lit hostelry, seeking out his friend, the Moorish playwright… Continue Reading
Pulling the brightly painted Land Rover to a halt, Faroon the Fearless turned to his trusty sidekick. “Check the Sat-Nav again, Bob.” With a sigh, Bob the Vaguely Amusing examined the mechanism. It had been especially enchanted by the good… Continue Reading