Some days are just the rise and fall of the sun. Others form you. You remember those, sometimes start to finish. I don’t remember what I had for breakfast that morning—probably Lucky Charms, the ultimate favorite of my eight-year-old self—but I remember the lizard. Black with yellow speckles and a rich blue tail, turned over… Continue reading Song of the Cuckoo Bird
Tag: short story
Queen of the Forest: A Short Story
In the Forest of Artemis, a kingdom unto itself where the stag prince wore a wide fan of creamy prongs as his crown and usurper wolves were the sole cause of unrest, a baby cried. Hares perked their ears and the birds grew silent, the foreign sound quickening their hearts. In the recess of a… Continue reading Queen of the Forest: A Short Story
The Scarlet Warriors (Part 2): A Short Story
Continued from Part 1 … Scarlett ran. Never in her six years as a hunter had she run from a fight, but as the ground began to shake beneath her feet to the thundering beat of hundred shifting legs moving in time, terror won out over training. Her cloak fanned behind her, and her hood slipped off.… Continue reading The Scarlet Warriors (Part 2): A Short Story
The Scarlet Warriors (Part 1): A Short Story
(AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the third installment in my Order of Perseus series. All three can stand on their own, but if you’d like, you can read Scarlett’s story here and Taiyō’s here. In “Scarlet Warriors,” the two characters come together.) Cappuccino-sipping patrons looked up from froth-lined mugs and craned their necks to see through crowded bodies… Continue reading The Scarlet Warriors (Part 1): A Short Story
The Puppet Master: A Short Story
A cool breeze stirred the red drapes of the Fielding home—a sign that October 31st, 2002, would be the first real chilly night in small-town Tennessee since April. Freddy Fielding pulled the throw blanket closer around him on the couch, remote in one hand. At the sound of the doorbell, he flew to the foyer.… Continue reading The Puppet Master: A Short Story
A Drain on the Neighborhood: A Short Story
My Dearest Friend, Phillipe, I hope this letter finds you in good health, you old egg. I myself have been under siege of late. But of course, that is what happens when you are forged from a different mold, as are you and I. The feeble-minded still inherit the earth, and they try to feast… Continue reading A Drain on the Neighborhood: A Short Story
We Are But Echoes: A Short Story
The primary choice of transportation entertainment for most malls is a choo-choo train. The Riverbend Galleria had a trolley. Bright red. Green roof. Thin black track embedded in the marble tile floor. Riverbend Galleria painted on the side in yellow. It didn’t chugga-chugga; it clicked like a card threaded through bicycle spokes. It didn’t blow… Continue reading We Are But Echoes: A Short Story
Specimen: Unknown — A Short Story
Scarlett edged further down the roof on her belly, dark blue cloak drawn over her head. The police circled the body like buzzards with fresh carrion. Scarlett felt sick to her stomach. She had been so close this time. A glimpse of a dark cape, clawed hands, strange four-toed footprints. She’d only lost the trail… Continue reading Specimen: Unknown — A Short Story
Tasty Traits: A Short Story
Millie roughly brushed away a tear with her fist and rose from the dirty tile floor of the C-wing hallway. Her back was pressed against the janitor’s closet, tucked back between locker rows, so that if a teacher looked down the crowded, noisy hall they wouldn’t see her or hear Ben’s threats. Ben was a… Continue reading Tasty Traits: A Short Story