“All purchases are nonrefundable,” John recited as he processed the timeshadow application. “If you wish to proceed, sign your name on the pad.” The young man, Quentin according to his application, did so. “Follow me.” John led Quentin down the hallway to Prep Room 5. Quentin was 19; John had…
Henry knocked and entered at Alice’s voice. She was usually a neat young woman, but today the bed sheets were in disarray, the drawers of her dresser hung open, and the contents of the bookshelf were spread across every surface. “Don’t you say anything,” she said sharply as he shut…
On County Road 7, about three miles south of Clearwater, on the right side of the road just past 1000 East, there is a barn. To be accurate, it is no longer quite a barn. The roof collapsed long ago. Two of the walls have fallen in. Mostly it is…
The crystal blade waited for him. Andros did not know if this were dream or reality. He climbed the steps of the platform. The sword emitted a faint glow, the only light in the cavern except for a gray haze as if the moon looked in through a window far,…
They came not in ships but in beams of light. Creatures of many eyes, their forms wavered insubstantial before us. They did not speak but when one of their eyes, a film of colored photons, a mere hologram projected across the expanse of space, touched us, we saw–landscapes and constellations,…
“Does everyone have an axe?” It was not a question Tony had expected to hear when he agreed to visit his fiancee’s aunt and uncle over the weekend. Last time he had held an axe was at a Renaissance Festival. “I think I have another in the garage,” said Joy’s…
Jordon inserted the key into the lock. “This is kinda disappointing, actually,” he said, opening the door for his girlfriend. “The fingerprint scanner won’t be changed over to my until next week.” It was dark inside, and all the windows were tinted. “Aleya,” he said, “turn on the lights.” The…
Dennis Darling, dressed in full business attire, sat at the corner table of Old Joe’s. It was a quaint little coffee shop with more patrons than table space. Quaint, in this case, also meant fashionably dilapidated. The local photos on the wall were badly faded, the paint chipped, and Dennis’s…
I am blinded by uncounted lightless days, by a half mile of stone, by walls that do not yield and cannot listen. My wide open eyes have absorbed darkness until I dream black and wake and know no change. When food comes, scraps, I hear nothing or I hear their…
“It looks like a video compilation of epic fails.” “It’s not that–” “No, seriously, dude, it’s like something out of a 80s kids’ movie. There’s no way it’s flying.” Michael shook his head, bemused. His friend’s insults didn’t bother him. He’d been saying the same thing for weeks. “Does that…
The nymph returns. I see her bare, dirt-smeared feet as she flits away. Her eyes peer at me through the bushes. They are wild, fiery eyes. My work calls, but I think to catch her, moving slowly, tentatively. She runs, howling with laughter, her lanky form slipping through some crack…
She was weeping, and he could not bear her weeping. Royal Advisor Antony Sculton loved the Queen dearly, having sacrificed decades in raising and training and guiding her. Nothing–not his grey hairs or failing body or lonely existence–made him feel as helpless as when the Queen cried. He stood just…