Things which are damaged never really get repaired. Jasmina meditates on this as her husband speaks, knowing that what he broke between them will never heal. He struck her. That is enough, for her, to consider their relationship damaged beyond repair. She doesn’t really listen to him. His words don’t matter, because she’ll never forget … Continue reading Broken
Tag: short web fiction
Pressure
“Focus. You can do it.” The course lay before him, illuminated brighter and whiter than day by the spotlights surrounding it. He could barely see the audience, though light fell upon them, too, since the cameras filmed them when the runners weren’t in action. All he could see was the course, and that should have … Continue reading Pressure
In Life
“You’re different now.” “No I’m not. I’m better.” “Better is different, though. You’re proving my point.” “Better is a good thing.” “Betterness is subjective.” “You don’t think I’ve gotten better?” “I... I don’t know.” “You’ve never liked when things change.” “I guess that’s true.” “It is true. You’ve always hated change. You have to learn … Continue reading In Life
Blame
Camden has been playing Duel! for five years. He’s spent time on each one of the characters. Whenever they release a new character, he spends hours learning them, so that he can say that he knows how to play all of the characters to at least some degree of proficiency. That knowledge helps him play … Continue reading Blame
What Was Lost
There was once a dragon who loved beautiful things. As a youngling, in his first years of life, he loved to collect stones. He liked smooth river stones the best, polished by years of water and sand, because he liked the way they shone in the light, especially when they were wet. He kept them … Continue reading What Was Lost
Eating
She hungered, and so she ate. At first, she ate only that which was laid before her, presented as a meal. For a time, this sated her, yet as is the way with hunger and desire, she could not be sated forever. As the days and years passed the meals given to her came to … Continue reading Eating
Good
There are things in the world that you know exist but which you never expect to see in your own life. Some of these things are mundane, like packaging errors that end up giving you an extra of something you ordered online. Some of these things are horrific, like leftover explosives from a war before … Continue reading Good
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
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
Daydreams 