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: Web Fiction
The Mask, Continued
After The Mask received some positive feedback, I decided to give it a continuation. Enjoy. She is dissatisfied. She has been for years, but previously, it has been a sort of comfortable dissatisfaction: unpleasant, yet familiar, and therefore less uncomfortable than perhaps it should have been. Her life up to this point has been bland and flavorless. … Continue reading The Mask, Continued
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
The Cairn in the Woods
My grandmother had beautiful hair. It grew in full, thick, and luscious up until the day she passed away. In the daylight, it gleamed with its own solid radiance, pure white in contrast to the sun’s golden hue. At night, under the stars and the moon, it glimmered with coruscating points of light ranging from … Continue reading The Cairn in the Woods
Questions
Lana appreciates her happiness. She knows most people like to be happy, but sometimes she doesn’t feel like they truly realize the extent to which happiness is important in life. She watches her friends pursue other things so actively that she wonders whether happiness actually matters to them at all. She worries that they won’t … Continue reading Questions
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
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
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
Daydreams 