Short Story Chapter 1

As they looked around Adam saw a couple rollercoasters that haven't looked like they have been used for a while now. Greg went back in to the hall of mirrors. He was walking in from where they came in. He saw that carnival ride. It was lit up and it was about to close. "Yes! I have found the way out of here. I can't believe I haven't checked here before." Greg thought to himself.

Hinton, an amiable tobacco planter in Virginia, inspected the mill infrequently and trusted him to make an honest trade. There was no way to forecast when loggers would arrive, depending on the weather and the wind and water currents so Matthew remained available year-round. He was tall, burley with bushy, red hair, and freckles that almost connected into a solidly tan face. People never forgot him because his freckles were such an assortment of colors, red, brown, tan, beige, pink, auburn, rust, black, and orange. He entertained visitors with stories of animals and men fighting themselves and each other along with spine-tingling stories about ghosts and Indians that intimidated the settlers. If they were true, it did not matter.

Lifty huffed, snuffing his cough back into his throat as he chucked Petunia into his bedroom.

James and Crocco walked off the front porch and jogged towards the cider mill. William walked to his office on the second floor. He turned on his computer and prayed for the satellite uplink to connect him to the internet. William fist-pumped under his desk when the connection opened and a young woman’s face appeared on the screen.

Tom stood on the ridge. He looked down at his changing hands. He thought about his new assistant. He took her picture out of his pocket and looked at it. He raised his head and howled at the moon. His head jerked to the side.

“This is it,” Theron said, leaning against the holotable. Everything had been powered down and packed up. All that was left was to pile onto their ships and go their separate ways. Theron had a shuttle standing by, a simple, one-manned vessel to deliver him to his mother’s command ship.

With the new pain came a renewed fear of his earlier brutality. At once, his train of thought collapsed, his grip on the attacking vessel snapping. Time resumed again. A beam of bright white energy leapt from the front of the Peacemaker and shot towards the planet. Tom smiled. The change seemed imperceptible. However, at this distance, it was enough.

“The next moment they were in the shed, walking past the long line of stalls, when suddenly Nelly heard her father cry out: We've got him, sheriff! Block the door!”

Mike didn't look like he was watching. His face was stiff as he glared toward the fringe of

From the moment George rolled up in the car next to him, John knew that this night wasn’t going to end well for him.

Running down the hallways that Tyler would never walk again I screamed at the top of my lungs. My head pounds and tears roll down my porcelain skin. Why did he have to go? He knew how lost I was before he got here. No, I have a purpose now. Get Lana home safely.

“Well then, are you going to keep talking about Kanohal or are you going to give me your location?” Sabra asked.

A sudden explosion, waves of sound and shifting ground caused both Lystra and Gyn to drop to the ground in fear of debris. Lystra stood as soon as the explosion dissipated. Running towards the sound of fire, she soon saw a crowd surrounding the Phoenix. Grabbing one of the extinguishers near a pile of supplies, Lystra pulled the tab and threw it into the flames. Smoke engulfed the entire area immediately, and made easy access to the ship as Lystra skirted around the crowd of humans and Tareelians alike.

The mass of information became tiring and Tom's thoughts wandered to the rift technology. Suddenly, the screen

“What are they doing?” Phoenix spun to meet his eye to which he just shook his head sadly.