This day had always seemed so distant. It wasn’t that she thought it would never come. She likes to think of herself as a realist. She knows that time continues to march on heedless of her desires and reservations. Still, within the confines of her mind, it seems like it was only last week that … Continue reading Another Way
Category: Short Story
On the Couch
It started in a way that might have been an accident. We were sitting on opposite sides of the couch, watching anime together on Netflix. Conner was curled tight around the pillow on the right side, his feet pulled up onto the couch. I was lounging on the other side, head resting on my hand, … Continue reading On the Couch
The Mountain Town
See Torna: Introduction for the first part of this story. We knew, from our debriefing, that the mission would be one of collection. Loyal servants of the Empress had written to the gendarmerie to complain that one of the town’s mine, a primary source of income for them and an important resource for the Final … Continue reading The Mountain Town
Torna: Introduction
See also: The Sword, The Birth of a Blade, The Park at Night, and Father, Son, and Sword for more excerpts from the same world. Today's entry was intended to be done in one go, but I ran out of time. Expect to see it completed tomorrow (unless it grows out of control, which experience tells me might happen). I … Continue reading Torna: Introduction
Her Child’s Body
She knew, when he was born, that he was Powered. They’d scanned her baby as soon as they’d pulled him from her womb out of the cut in her stomach, and that little white wand had lit up with a green light. Her child was a Class-1 Powered. They had taken him off and had … Continue reading Her Child’s Body
The Hands
The hands are asleep. I pray silently to myself that they will remain that way, but I try to stifle my worry that they will not. If they sense it, they will awaken. I breath in through my nose and out through my mouth, schooling my mind to calmness. I have taken a risk, coming … Continue reading The Hands
Wart
She had a wart on her back that she hated, because she thought it was ugly, and she thought having something as a part of her made her ugly, as well. It was a small, brown, bulbous wart, out of sight except when she observed it in the mirror, and barely noticeable to others. At … Continue reading Wart
Better
You think you know yourself. You think that, among other people in the world, you are the foremost authority on you. It makes sense, right? There’s nobody else that can get inside your mind, to feel and hear and see your thoughts in the way that you can. Nobody perceives the world quite like you … Continue reading Better
The White Mask
I wasn’t the type of person who went to many parties in college. If I had to guess, I probably went to only one a week, or maybe every two weeks, depending on my mood. I just didn’t really like the atmosphere. The loud music, the alcohol, the smell of pot and sweat — it … Continue reading The White Mask
Becoming, Part XIV
Becoming, Part XIII I once thought that I was invincible. I think you can see how I arrived at that conclusion. After all, nothing in the span of my years had ever presented a true threat to me: not my siblings, not animals I encountered in the woods, and not humans, who I had once … Continue reading Becoming, Part XIV
Daydreams 