A lone, dark skeleton walked the Scald. The surface was made of standing waves the color of burnt cinnamon, cooked enough to stop from flowing, but not enough to blacken. The crust floated over an ocean of churning magma like a patella cut from its tendons. The skeleton thought it was supposed to have a… Continue reading The Scald
Category: Other Fiction
The Body
"We're here to collect," said the short guy with the pinched rodent face, widow's peak, and black bomber jacket with the cuffs rolled up. Fleur shifted in her high back upholstered leather chair behind an oak desk that was reinforced with steel plating and carbon fiber to catch bullets when the need inevitably came, and… Continue reading The Body
Antisocial Network
Neha sat down at her terminal and tried to clear her mind before she started. She held a paper cup of black tea up to her nose with both hands and inhaled its floral aroma long and deep. Her eyes closed, and she tried to lose focus, lose herself in a temporary void. The clock… Continue reading Antisocial Network
Chasing Madness
This was a place where sanity had been abandoned. Arun stood at the doorway of Guy's office with only the last of the evening's rays from the hallway window to guide him, but even in the gloaming it was obvious things were well out of hand. The room had no windows, and when he tried… Continue reading Chasing Madness
The Highway
"It's alright. We'll take the Highway." Alexa's eyes widened like twin full moons, large and desolate. "We can go around." Her voice was small against the wind. Joel waved his arm at the wasteland before them, still smoldering and stinking sourly of burnt outgassing. "It goes on like this all the way to the coast."… Continue reading The Highway
Right on Schedule
Lena sat up gasping and reflexively covering her heart with one hand. She swallowed bitter bile, and with it her temporary confusion. It had only been a dream. No. Not only a dream—she was slipping into lucidity—a terrible memory from a lifetime ago. She had been twelve. Her smile was crooked and her bangs were… Continue reading Right on Schedule
No Safe Haven
"What was that thing?" Becca asked, her breathlessness preventing the sobs she knew were coming. "Who cares? We need to get out of here, now." Grant pulled at her elbow and before she knew it her legs were flying beneath her as she swatted away brambles and damp leafy branches in the sickly light of… Continue reading No Safe Haven
Overcast With a Chance of Murder
Claire walked to the courtyard through the late afternoon mist. The grayness was oppressive and the light rain seemed to hang in the still air. She drew into her red pea coat like a brightly colored shell. The uneven cobblestones led to a Greek-looking statue of a man with a flowing beard leaning against an… Continue reading Overcast With a Chance of Murder
Late Night Walks
When I was in college, I used to take these late night walks around town. I might leave at one or two in the morning. It didn't matter if it was a sweltering summer night, when the muggy air pressed back against every step and the night was still—the freshman not yet moved in—or if… Continue reading Late Night Walks
An Elegy to Youth
Before she'd even made it off the front porch, Greta was lost in thought. She didn't hear the cruel taunting of the crows or smell the impending rain on the horizon, coming to melt the last patches of spring snow from the hillsides. The grass clawed at her boots and blue jeans, leaving imprints like… Continue reading An Elegy to Youth
Warmup Pages 