It’s going to be ok. Everything is going to be ok. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but it will be. Listen. Where are you? Are you in the city? Hear the small sounds, the people sounds, the birds and the wind and the cars. They don’t have to mean anything. They just exist. Remember. … More Something Calming

Nothing, save sunlight, had touched this land in a millennium. Animals, even the insects and worms, had yet to repopulate this far south. With no food to draw them, the migratory birds had changed their routes; when marine life strayed too close, they soon joined the decomposing wall of flesh that was still sinking to … More Red Ashes

Tay was… well, heavenly. It wasn’t usually this good. Usually there was a distant part, a separation, a wall that observed and jotted down every detail. But Tay’s scent, sweat and dirt and lavender soap, made xem more real. Xir calloused hands, arthritic from a young age, were gentle if not agile, and unmistakable to … More Slipskin

The Hunters were out in full force this evening, each eyeing the other suspiciously, each certain they, and only they, were destined to catch the Beast. If one were to mistake them for a group, one would have to conclude they were hopelessly disorganized. Once the fall equinox had come and gone, their competitions ramped … More The roots run deeper

What lonesome work, this. People all around, never speaking, acknowledging, noticing, moving. Animals trapped in an instant, the world’s spin ceasing for as long as the mind held. It hadn’t felt like this in the beginning. In the beginning it was party tricks and pranks. You remember the first time you did it on purpose … More Saves Nine

“So, Lanique…” Dr. G kept as calm and friendly a face as possible. Easier to do than for most people; working with kids diagnosed with conduct disorder with callous and unemotional traits, as the current moniker was, had lent the good doctor a near-impenetrable facade of good will. “Tell me about this friend you’ve drawn.” … More Even the Callous and Unemotional Need Friends

Checkout line 8. The cashier, Dahlia, had been on the register allfuckingday. Picked up one from lazy Sarah, what an asshole, she didn’t even need the job, because her parents paid for everything she needed. At least it was more money. Dahlia needed that shit. Rent had taken an unexpected leap upwards after D’Angelo left. … More Cracked Eggs

Dr. Chukwukpee Obioma sat with the Nigerian delegation, across from a soft-bodied slug-like alien with muscular manipulators protruding from where Dr. Obioma was almost certain the central organs were housed. Small nubs scattered across the body would extend and contract; these, he knew, were the external sensory organs (CT scans provided by the aliens had … More Evolution Revealed- Xenobiologists Shocked!