Every year, a little bit more of their island disappeared into the sea. Maybe the foundations sank away. Maybe the water level rose. They did not seek the cause. They saw only the consequences: what they had long called home shrank and dwindled with the passage of time. Their children said, “We are scared. The … Continue reading Islands
Grown
Beneath the branches of the apple tree, with the sunlight streaming down in golden ribbons and the roots knuckling into my back through the soft grass, I think, When did the tree grow? I remember it, small, just a few leaves on the end of a twig. I remember it, taller, up to my shoulder … Continue reading Grown
Loop, Part 3
Loop, Part 1 Loop, Part 2 When Jake revived, he noticed two things: First, he stood in a completely different part of town. Second, he held another note in his hand. Telline: 3 Ora: 2 Ryse: 1 Mikael: 1 Celia: 0 Bastian: 0 Naleya: 0 Staff of Asrai: 0 Jake: 0 A score. Well, that … Continue reading Loop, Part 3
Loop, Part 2
Trapped, Part 1 Loop, Part 1 When Jake brought his attention back to the rooftop, he found that another had joined him. Someone Jake didn’t recognize. He blinked. It felt like cycles upon cycles had passed since he had seen someone new. The newcomer hovered above the ground, his feet hanging downward, relaxed. For a … Continue reading Loop, Part 2
Loop, Part 1
This story will make more sense to those who have read Trapped, Part 1, Trapped, Part 2, and Trapped, Part 3. Jake came into awareness. He blinked. As with every other time, it felt as though he had been asleep for months; or, no, more like he just hadn’t existed for a while. He didn’t feel groggy or … Continue reading Loop, Part 1
Becoming, Part II
Part I To say simply that I knew Telan would be disingenuous, at least when taking the normal connotations of that statement under full consideration. I came to know a great many humans, and other sapient beings, once I began to walk among them in my guise. I didn’t know Telan as one might a … Continue reading Becoming, Part II
The Second Monster
Kain fell through the air. Buildings streamed past on either side of him as he zig-zagged in arcs over the street, constantly shifting what down meant for him so that he fell toward a building on one side of the street or another. Below him, people fled along the street in the opposite direction. Traffic … Continue reading The Second Monster
Wishes
Amesha looked incredulously from the being hovering before her down to the tarnished ring from which it had, apparently, sprung. “Did you really come out of this ring?” “I did,” the genie said. A genie! Amesha shook her head. She would never have believed this were happening if it weren’t, well, happening. She had always … Continue reading Wishes
Grades
Craig sat in a wooden chair at the kitchen table. In front of him, in the middle of the table, crackers and cubes of cheese sat in a white bowl, ready for Eva to snack on when she got back from school. From his vantage point, Craig could see the front door. Soon, it would … Continue reading Grades
Boulders
He pushed against the boulder, but he could not move it. No matter how hard he tried to, no matter how much strength he put behind it, the boulder remained with him everywhere he went, with him, yet unmoving. Someone came into his life. He asked Someone, “Can you help me move this boulder? I … Continue reading Boulders
Daydreams 