Short Story

“On my way Bronnie.” Comes her answer almost immediately. Tonight we would soar above the clouds, just for the enjoyment of it. Our massive wings could take us great distances with little effort, and

Once the shadows cross over, Zoe hops off the steps, nearly tumbling him to the side, and greets the sleep-deprived friends of hers with a waving hand and gushing hello’s and hi’s. To her credit, they only mumble half-hearted responses and hesitant

“Don’t you know Thessalia? The sentries spoted a ship! You have to get ready for battle!” Chloe said.

Knowing you have a mate gives you a strange type of high. You know you'll never be able to hold him, or love him or even admire him from afar without getting slander from the whole pack and yet, you still somehow find yourself hoping that maybe this is the moment when you finally break out of the prison of an isolated life.

constantly picked flies out of my milk pail and had to be careful that one wouldn’t land in my opened mouth. I once killed a fly by smashing it between my lips. I became desensitized to the tingling of their legs dashing up and down my skin. Maybe that’s how I built up an immune system that tolerated germs and made me less susceptible to getting sick. Like how a child would hold out a finger for a butterfly to land on, I would do that same with my hundreds of fly friends. The continuous buzzing sound of the flies throughout the farm almost became therapeutic to me.

Lucius does not remember whose arms are carrying him, or whose shoulder his head lays against. He does not remember how he ended up here, in these arms. He does not remember where he is. Everything in his brain is chilled syrup.

He watches as she shivers like a leaf and keeps her smirk under shuddering lips.

“Make them believe you, that’s all I can tell you,” he responded sharply before rounding on his heel and striding back down the hall. Presumably already headed to the train.

When they entered the ballroom area, the room moved around them like clockwork. Fathers and daughters swirling in synchronization around the center that sat the little orchestra playing a haunting tune. The girl’s dresses flounced out, as their heads were thrown back, eyes closed. The guys of the pair moved to the left, narrowly avoiding some of the spinning couples to come into contact with the most stereotypical male bar room, he had ever seen. Cigar smoke layered over head as fathers and sons took generous sips of whisky and chuckled with their ironically flamboyant hand gestures. The boy seemed to shrink under the atmosphere, and felt a claustrophobic nausea as he made his way closer and closer to the bar. The man working behind it

“Well then follow me, let’s trek through this tunnel and get to where we need fast.”

It’s exactly 8 ante meridiem eastern time when I open the glass door, with those pastel flyers repainted by the sun and torn by time. For the eight hundred and thirty fifth time that familiar gust of wind greets me as it always does, well except for that one time on Tuesday, July 7th 2015 when the power went out all over town. I walked the eight and three-quarters steps it took to reach the milky white counter with its 9,867 black specks. That was exactly sixty-nine times as many as the visible freckles John had while he was in his uniform. I’ve had orgasmic dreams about the number of sprinkles of melanin scattered across his fair skin that his uniform kept from my sight. I’d started to count the thirty-nine freckles on the back of his

“I will not beg to some glorified canary,” the man hisses and then spits on Selison. Immediately Selison’s people rise to their feet and grab hold of their weapons

“Hello there.” The man’s voice is silky as he smiles at Mary. Upon hearing him speak, Mary lets out a loud shriek. Everyone lurches awake and sees what has Mary so startled. Selison leaps forward and extends his talons.

Right before they break off, Larisharah shouts over to Mary. “You got that one. I’ll take this one over here. Don’t die or else Selison won’t let me hear the end of it.”

“Ok, nope there is nothing un- Ariana states then looks at herself. “Um…. Samuel help please I'm disappearing!” Samuel turns around and looks