A tear runs down my nose and falls from the tip before I can reach up to wipe it away. I blink, looking upward in hopes that it will forestall more tears. The first drops right into the mixture I’m stirring on my stove. No matter. Such a small amount of salt and water shouldn’t … Continue reading Not Gone Yet
Category: Ecco
The Coven
“He will be here soon,” Ama said. She tried to remain calm. I remember that. But her voice had that slight quaver she gets when she’s anxious and excited, and her hands shook with a tremble greater than that inspired by her age as she set out the wine and fruit. My mother took my … Continue reading The Coven
Grandfather’s Farm
If he sat upright in his bed and turned to the side, Aric could see, out of his bedroom window, a good portion of the land that belonged to his grandparents. He knew, from when his grandfather spoke about their past, that the amount of land they had owned had once been much smaller. Over … Continue reading Grandfather’s Farm
Calman’s Bandwood
Calman’s Bandwood, known colloquially as the Coin Tree, is a species of tree grown exclusively in the country of Ansland. That second name, by which the vast majority of people know it, comes from the fact that its wood is used to mint money in Ansland and in its neighboring countries. Calman’s Bandwood is a … Continue reading Calman’s Bandwood
Abandon
He knew, even back when the first vestiges of his plan had begun to form in his head, that his students would not approve of his actions this night. Even Evran, whose willingness to push the boundaries of acceptability had led Colomb to end his apprenticeship, would have found his actions questionable. Normal people would … Continue reading Abandon
Witch-Fungus
It strikes me how a person can be told a thing, and listen to that thing, and believe they have internalized it, all without actually learning that thing. There is a major difference, I think, between knowing something as a fact, and having learned it; between recognizing that something is true and having it become … Continue reading Witch-Fungus
The Right Words
I apologize for the fact that this does not continue Shadows, but I wanted to let this idea free from my mind before it escaped me. For a time, Ytha felt only the joyful bliss of love. Den looked at her with his eyes full of something she had never expected to experience, but it was what … Continue reading The Right Words
How Do You Know?
“Did we do the right thing?” Telal asks He has no real reason to visit me, other than to ask her that question. I haven’t seen him at all for the past week. I suspect he has been avoiding me. I certainly haven’t sought him out. He has no reason to be awake this early, … Continue reading How Do You Know?
The Sewers
This immediately follows Toward the City. I originally meant to publish it the next day, but somehow I managed to forget. I have no cloth to cover my face, and Garth doesn’t provide me with one. The smell is unpleasant, to say the least. I bring my hood around my face and breath through that. … Continue reading The Sewers
Toward the City
I see the city growing in the distance long before we reach it. I see it from high above, first, a growing, irregular shape in the distance, solidifying as the haze caused by daylight slowly peels back as we move toward it. At first, I do not know it for what it is. I think … Continue reading Toward the City
Daydreams 