Fantasy
An Amber Night
Jim Prescott sat alone at the bar, staring into his glass, nearly drained of the rich, amber liquid. He picked it up, swirled it around momentarily, then drained it. He motioned to the bartender for another. He sat waiting, wanting nothing more than to drown out his thoughts and feelings. He wanted to escape. Though the dive was plenty full of other patrons for a Wednesday, Jim felt isolated, alone. This was good, he thought to himself, this was right. He should be alone, cast out to sea, and stranded on an island made of sand whose grains were his mistakes. He chuckled at that, nearly guffawed in fact, thinking about how the island would be boulders instead of the fine sand you’d expect amidst turbulent seas.
By Anthony Criswell5 years ago in Fiction
Heart Strikes Ten
My feet firmly situated where Kelsa left me, I took in my surroundings. The small room was bathed in flaxen sunlight, as if filtered by a massive tree. The small sky lamps allowed the light in, but not the heat. The slight breeze from the wall aerators cooled my damp skin. Not like the aerators in our muddy huts, when they functioned properly. Those only blew the insulting scorched air. I still couldn’t shift my stunned limbs. Eyes drifting to a corner, a raised pallet nestled between the wall and a table holding a lantern and a small quarto. It was a portrait of comfort. Following the wall beyond the table, I see an opening leading to another area.
By LENORA QUARTO5 years ago in Fiction
Fire Soul Part 6
Taelryx Entombed, crippled, and powerless in the dark, Taelryx kept its eye fixed on that tiny flame. As it became accustomed to this new situation, it could see that it was just a candle. Rather small, the mottled wax did not take the shape of a stick, just a formless pile. Barely enough fuel to keep the fire burning. Taelryx wondered who lit it, and why.
By Jacob Montanez5 years ago in Fiction
The Special Light
Terry’s favorite was always macaroni and cheese, but only the Kraft Deluxe brand with the dinosaur shapes. He could eat that golden goodness three times a day. His parents, however, felt he needed more balanced nutrition. For most other children, the introduction of new foods is slow but usually successful. Eva and Greg tried everything they could to entice him to try a carrot, but he just gave it to his brother.
By Barb Dukeman5 years ago in Fiction
The Red beanie
THE RED BEANIE I sat in the bay window drawing on the glass. "you should go outside Caleb." I looked at my mother in her wheelchair with her legs missing. "Blake always loved when it was winter, Sarah did too, not as much as Blake but she knew Basketball season was coming." my mom rolled herself over. "we live in Canada, they had to get used to the weather, one way or another, unlike you who was born here." I looked out the window to see the snow on the basketball net in our drive way, at this time my brother would have gotten his hockey nets out, but the nets and his hockey bag stayed in the garage untouched for four years. his hockey bag had to have been a village of spiders by now. "it's kind of ironic don't you think? Blake and Sarah dying in a fire when they loved the winter so much." I heard my mom say, I replied. "not to mention Dad literally lost his shit after the accident." My mom rolled her eyes and said. "he couldn't understand what was going on, Blake and Sarah were two thirds of his world." I looked out the window, staring at the snow falling. my mom left rolling herself out of my room. Four years ago Blake and Sarah went to a hockey game with me and my family, after the game we were going home but the arena caught on fire and it spread quickly, like someone had poured gasoline everywhere, my family ran for an exit but we all got split up, I was split up from my father, mother and Blake.
By Kathy Colbert5 years ago in Fiction
When Time Stood Still
Cassandra was young for a wizard. At 27 years old, she was the youngest wizard tutor for hundreds of miles. Some would call her a witch, but a name like that carried such a stigma. Witchcraft is an incredibly misunderstood form of magic. Thanks a lot, Salem.
By Robert Raymond5 years ago in Fiction
Slor and Jarine
The day started like many others, a bright, clear blue sky, a few white puffy clouds lazily floating across the sky, with Slor sitting on the porch in his old rocking chair enjoying his morning coffee. It was about 7 am and Slor was thinking about what he had to do next around his farm. He had been up and working since before the sun came up, he had already put some hay in each of the horse’s stalls, gathered the eggs from the chickens so his wife, Jarine, could make breakfast, and milked the cows. He was now relaxing, staying out of Jarine’s way in the kitchen, she always just yells at him to get out of “her kitchen” anyways, so he normally tries to stay out of the way but always tries to steal a piece of bacon on his way out of the kitchen as Jarine smacks his hand with a spatula. Life was good for Slor as he smiled and rocked slowly awaiting Jarine’s call for breakfast.
By Clay Wilkinson5 years ago in Fiction
The Northern Wars
OLENOR, AHGLOR Autumn, 1E78 Niko planted seeds in a series of clumps after the first frost of Winter in early Spring with the help of his father, Robin. Each of the fifteen cannabis patches they planted consisted of between five to ten clumps of anywhere from twenty to fifty sprouting plants. They would check their crop later in the Summer for males, uprooting them where they would pollinate the crop if left unchecked. Once the males were all removed from the ground and disposed of, there were fifteen patches and a good number of clumps with anywhere from seven to forty plants, though the reduction of males had significantly lowered the amount of crops in some clumps more than others. Of all the weed that they had in the hilly woodlands of their home, it was all doing exceptionally well and the stalks were all thick with bud. They would harvest several kilograms from their plants, Robin told his maturing son- the excess of which they would take to the elves in Autumn. Once again Niko excitedly pleaded with his father to let him make the trip to Aenor that year, and Robin told him that they would see.
By Kelson Hayes5 years ago in Fiction
The Northern Wars
“Move it along peasants.” one of the soldiers shouted as he pushed another tribal down the line. The morning had been rather hectic at the border checkpoint as it always was on the days they shipped their prisoners to the capitol. The loading of the prisoners had gone off without a hitch and the soldiers opened up the borders the following day- everything continued on as per the new norm in the imperial-occupied town. Ahglorian fur traders were lined up on both sides of the border, either to travel into Legion to sell their fur or to return home with their pockets full of fully-taxable gold, waiting to declare themselves at the checkpoint. Occasionally smugglers were found and their illegal contents were confiscated to be sent to the capitol as evidence against them on trial before the King, and sometimes a ruffian would be apprehended, usually some young thief or tribal who got too cocky before the Imperial Legionaries.
By Kelson Hayes5 years ago in Fiction
My New Job
On our anniversary, my husband and I went to London on a ‘date.’ We had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the River Thames and then went on to the London Aquarium. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and there was just a slight breeze. Too nice to be inside but I love the Ocean so we stuck to our original plan and went in. Luckily, the kids were at school so we could leisurely walk around an almost empty Aquarium. It had changed since our last visit and there were three new attractions --- the Seahorses, the Rays and the Shark walkthrough. We followed the one way system and walked into the Seahorse section. It was beautiful! Different colours, sizes and species of Seahorses and the research was so interesting to read. Next was the Rays section, their beautiful faces shining through the clean glass. Then we moved onto the Shark walkthrough, which was pretty amazing! Hammerhead sharks and White-tip sharks swam all around us as we just stood and watched. I hadn’t realized just how much I love the Ocean with its endless variety of sea-creatures. Looking around, I noticed this one shark (was it a White-tip shark?) who was just there, looking at me. We looked into each other's eyes and I heard the shark say: “Enjoy your dream tonight.” At first I thought my husband had spoken to me but then I heard the same thing from two other different sharks. Now we had drunk some wine with lunch so I thought that I must have had three glasses instead of the usual two. Sharks don’t talk or so I thought.
By Ruth Elizabeth Stiff5 years ago in Fiction
