Warning; This is a piece of fiction that has been written in a ridiculously short amount of time. Therefore, there are likely errors and mistakes, so read at your own risk. (~_^)

The clouds released just enough moisture to dampen the cement and make it slick, while cars inched by caught in the snails pace traffic that lead downtown. As soon as the ( Read more... )

[This is a stand alone story, written in response to the San Francisco Chronicle article, "Condo left to aid S.F. homeless," 2/2/2012.]The slim blue house stood in the middle of a long row of houses, each hugging the next with no space between. The blue house saw the girl walking down the street, scuffing her unlaced shoes against the sidewalk, and ( Read more... )

Ms. Howard leaned forward and fixed the girl who sat on the other side of the desk with her best don’t-you-mess-around-with-me glare. Ms. Howard has been working as Social Worker for over ten years, and knew it did no good to get angry with the kids that came through her office -- no matter how they behaved -- but you sure as hell had to be firm ( Read more... )

1. MouseAt eight years old, Fay sits on her papa’s knee and is fascinated by the mouse sleeping on his lip. She watches the way its soft brown fur ripples when he breathes and twitches when he smiles. It occurs to her that there should not be a mouse on her papa’s lip, that the mouse should have a nice comfy hole, padded with straw, to sleep in. So ( Read more... )

The sun hung low, nearly kissing the horizon. Shadows stretched out long and skinny across the dirt road and the surrounding green fields. Even in the growing dusk, the air was hot and humid. Fay marched along, striking out her bare feet with playful heel-to-toe purpose and swinging her shoes by their laces ( Read more... )

The chair in front of me scraps back along the tile floor and is immediately filled by an elfin-looking woman with a head electric blue hair falling in a multitude of long braids over her shoulders. I watch her from over the top of my book and glance around the coffee shop to see if anyone noticed that a stranger just joined my table. She kicks off ( Read more... )