The Weight of Quietus
Though I outlive even the trees, who will tell you that I am eternal and unchanging as the sun, I have not been here forever. I was once a child as all creatures were, are, or will be. It is a past as foreign to…
Shorts
Short Stories
Dear Diary
Dear Diary, That’s how she always started. Dear Diary. As if she was talking to me. As if I could hear her. She’d always follow it with How was your day? Every day was better when she wrote to me. I should have told her that. Her days were…
Reflection
I spit a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink and smiled at the mirror. My reflection smiled back—a big, toothy grin. I ran my tongue over my clean teeth, then put the toothbrush away and headed out. For the first time in a long while,…
Cold-blooded Murder
May held the gun to June’s head. An itch deep beneath her skin begged her to pull the trigger, to end it right here and now. But she had to do it right or it would all be for nothing. “Any last words?” She smirked.…
Uninvited Guest
“Where do you suppose it goes?” “Down, probably.” Holly pulled off her necklace and removed beads until she had a handful. Those were safely tucked into the pocket of her dress. One more tug and she removed the scuffed ruby which dangled from the center.…
Sticks and Stones
Once, not that long ago, the nomads had thrived. Food—both grown and animal—had been abundant. One of the hunters, Bheka’s eldest brother, had managed to make alcohol from the potatoes. They celebrated the birth of little Lwazi who would grow up to be the most…
Outlaws
Little whiskers poked out of a hole in the wall. The pink nose attached twitched for a moment. Then a fat, brown body scurried out into the storage closet. Squik sat up on her haunches and motioned toward the hole. “C’mon, Whiskers.” She stuck her nose…
Asking For It
Two teen girls—Kema and Layla—sat on the edge of a wishing well. A fountain of water trickled out of a dragon’s mouth and back down into the well. Light flickered over the quarters at the bottom of the well, giving a clear blue sheen to…
The White Rind Township
“So,” Curtis said, brushing a wisp of straw from his father’s best coat. “What about this one?” Rose looked up from the trousers she had been stuffing with straw, and wrinkled her nose in brief thought. “He’s a parson,” she said. “Smith, I think. Smith’s…