Fantasy
The Brothers' Tales
The bright, setting sun beats down the last of its warm rays onto the farm. The grass and dirt are ripped, as a beast drags the bodies of monsters to a large shed. Two young women open the doors for the beast to stow the ghastly corpses away. Another young woman is petting a fearful bull. A terrifying battle has just been won and others remain. The sullen looks of those involved tell that story all too well. The beast throws the monsters' bodies into the shed and shuts the doors behind him. "You okay, Adam," one woman asks the beast. Adam nods, "yes, Anabelle. How are you feeling?" "A little shaky. A little nervous, but I'll be fine," Ana says unsure of herself and their future, "how are you holding up, Allie?" The other woman at the shed was quiet as she was lost in her thoughts. "Allie," Ana tries to snap her friend out of it. She comes to, "there was a wrecked motorcycle in the shed. I could make out the plate. It was Tom's," she thinks of a missing friend and looks to the bar, "could he be one of the animals, too?" Adam and Ana looked to each other. They didn't know how to respond. If he had not been killed, then it was a certainty that he was an animal within the barn, if not the bull itself. Allie went towards the bull to see if it was him. Maybe he could speak again, she thought. "Hey, uh. Thanks again for the save. Do you have a name? Is it Tom," Allie inquired. Though the bull regained some of its humanity from the transformation, speaking proved difficult. It instead shook its head, no. Allie sighed and slumped. Tom could be any one of the animals there, she thought. It, however, did not stop her resolve. She marched to the barn and questioned every animal there, to no avail. Some blankly stared. Others skittered off. The third young woman, Pearl, led the bull back to the barn, "here. We'll try to figure this out. We'll try to get everyone here and out there back to normal. I promise. Just stay here until we do, okay?" The bull nodded and went to its pen. Allie also felt reassured by Pearl's words. She was young, but her words carried weight to Allie. Simple and nothing dramatically flashy, but authentic and with conviction. "Allie. Pearl," Ana called to them from outside the barn. They walked out to find Ana with Adam, beckoning them. "Let's head in for the night. It's getting dark," Adam leads them to the house, "we'll come up with our next move. Then we should rest for the night." "Good idea. It's been quite the day," Allie exclaims. Pearl's expression shrinks with the thought of the events. Allie notices, puts her hand on her shoulder and smirks. Giving her the same reassurance Pearl gave her just moments ago, though unspoken. They head inside to plan and rest.
By Adam Franco5 years ago in Fiction
Green Sky Blues
A green light tore through the ceiling as the group moved through the vast, stone complex. The key was hidden inside one of the stone pillars, and they were desperate to reach it before the moon was full. "Jackson, you ready?" Anya called out, the leader of the group. She was tall, black, a long ponytail over a black combat uniform accentuating her commanding yet alluring appearance.
By William Bundy5 years ago in Fiction
The Liaison
Claire — for that’s what she said her name was — had been staying with Jack seven days when the village began to talk. He should have been grateful: had it not been for the power outages and the chaotic state of the roads, the rumors in Raven’s Cove would have started far sooner.
By Lori Lamothe5 years ago in Fiction
Burdens of the Dead
A whisper broke the silence. Shane sighed. His heart dropped, and dread flooded him. This is how it always starts. A whisper. They knew what he was, and that he could hear them. Once communication was established, they could push through. A whisper became a stage whisper, became a small voice, until it was like they were standing right next to him. Which, of course, they were.
By Christopher Kelly5 years ago in Fiction
Adelaide's Gold
Adelaide ran through her backyard, laughing in half panic and half excitement at avoiding her mother’s call from inside their home. The clouds hadn’t fully cleared from the earlier rain, but the sunlight that peeked through turned the five year old’s hair a flaming red as she sprinted towards the trees clustered at the back of the property. Her white dress – the one her mother specifically asked her not to wear that morning because of the mud that would inevitably stain it – billowed behind her as her feet grew slick and mud stuck between her toes.
By Rebecca Evans5 years ago in Fiction
The Dead Woman
At first he thought she was an ordinary woman. Well, an ordinary dead woman anyways. Jack had been slowly making his way toward the beach at the end of his street, attempting to compile a record of the damage the ice storm had wrought. It was sunny out but cold, far too cold to write, so he was speaking into his digital recorder as he walked. The damage was stunning — overnight Raven’s Cove had been encased in an inch-thick coating of ice.
By Lori Lamothe5 years ago in Fiction
Selfless Sir Samuel and the Spirit's Secret
Multicolored leaves crunched beneath Sir Samuel’s shoes as he walked along the edge of the southern forest. He held his brand new sword in his hand (it was merely a stick he’d picked up from the ground) and gave it a few playful swings as he strolled. The sun dipped low on the horizon behind him, casting his shadow a good distance ahead.
By Joshua R. Leuthold5 years ago in Fiction
The Wanderer Returns
They had many names for him. Heathen. Trickster. Even witch. Woodwal didn't mind though. He even leaned into it a little, wearing a long black cloak and hood, and encouraging any of the stories he heard that entertained him. Some he started himself.
By David McClenaghan5 years ago in Fiction
Sleep
Princess Briar Rose smiles menacingly at me. She leans against the sitting room window. I can just make out the distant glow of Little John's burning orchard in the night sky behind her. The view out the window becomes increasingly obscured by the enchanted thorny hedge growing outside.
By Deanna Grey5 years ago in Fiction
The Devil's table
The Devil sat at one end of the table. His son, Lucan, squirmed uncomfortably in the chair opposite him, and Sophia found herself in the middle glancing from one to the other. The situation cemented her belief that a bullet had in fact lodged itself into her brain matter, and all of this was just a coma-induced hallucination, experienced from the lonely confines of a hospital bed. It also told her she was more messed up than she thought if this is where her mind chose to take her! But, she went along with it. After all, Dinner with the Devil, what could possibly go wrong?
By sylvana lee-jones5 years ago in Fiction
