The kender looks like an elf mated with a squirrel. This result is a constantly fidgeting concoction with red-tinged fur covered pudgy cheeks and a tendency to steal- everything. The one thankful absence is a tail. Even without Arnold wishes, again, he could just kill the manic creature and be done with it. The reason …
Complete Effort
When does reality breakdown? For Kristen it's when he turns the living room ceiling fan off. Normal activity. Get up from couch at bequest of oldman. Reach normal adult male hand out to the switch. Grasp and twist and yet when the fan should stop the room begins to spin. Kristen would vomit but what …
Kharmic GooGoo
A brief moment, a thought, a connection to something that was promised to be gone and your chance at redemption vanishes. Feel it? Good. You now know you came from another place, a when. With this sudden intrusion, the warm post-birth glow you were feeling should be fading and you'll note the arms of your …
The Illusion of Comfort
The pass is black with shadows. A bitter wind eats at the exposed skin of the brother and sister as they push through. They trudge through ice-crusted snow that breaks with each step plunging their legs knee-deep into the powder. Their homespun breeches and leather ankle booties do nothing to ward off the cold. Marine …
Out West
The remnants of the fort are five or six black ashy posts sticking stubbornly out of the rocky snow-covered ground. Twenty of the dead face the setting sun. They sit a cook fire. Staring mindlessly into the leaping flames, something bubbles. It doesn’t smell good. Nearby, meat rots. Gerald climbs the small rise, loose stones …
Somewhere Else
Location set. *** The sun shines bright. The day is warm. The breeze comforting and filled with the flavors of late summer. Maybe noon at a table in the middle of a grassy yard sounds harsh, but summer was ending and its a perfect place to collect a little sun, spend time with new friends, …
Looking for Someplace Better
A suicidal Thomas Scanlen scrapes a bit more rock from the initials he works into the soft moss covered stone. Next to his giant T.S. is an ancient bit of writing that could be Latin and next to it a bit of Celt. Satisfied he turns and faces the roar of water behind him. They say it …
First Sarge
At one time he was powerful with muscle and strength. He wore stripes on his collar and soldiers cowered when he walked by. Now that is all gone, he is a mere shadow of his former self. A man with disappointments and a life almost done. He has a place he likes. A bench on …
On a Battlefield
Elizabeth is dead. There was no other thing this could be. She remembers what was. The moment past. She was in the heat of battle, thrusting her sword through the abdomen of a hookman and the next she was bathed in this white light. The smell of death and blood soaked sod, the excrement of …
What’s Up With Ceres
"Damn it Bob, why didn't you flip the power switch? Now they keep sending that satellite around to focus on us." "Phill please, there are two hundred thousand workers here trying to get a job done. By the time they send anyone to look, our mission will be over anyway. I'm too busy to lose …