“Daniel, take that out of your mouth.”

“He can’t help it, you know.”

“I know, but I don’t have to like it. It’s not proper.”

Darius stared in disgust at the newest member of the family for another few seconds, then sighed and turned back to his conversation. He was comfortable here in his velvet lined chair, a warm drink filling the goblet on the ( Read more... )

The dual blades tear through the fabric of the old crone’s ragged clothes and pierce her frail body underneath. A muffled grunt escapes her lips as she tilts her head and peers ahead unfocused, not meeting the eyes of her attacker. Her scowl turns inwards as she lets out a low-pitched hiss, showing off a partial row of broken jagged teeth. Then she ( Read more... )

Karl bit into his protein bar and chewed slowly, trying to keep any sound to a minimum. Behind him, his bunkmates snored softly at different speeds, like the wipers on a school bus. In front of him, a small monitor flickered to life, its dark blue background partially illuminating his face. Below him, the moonlit Earth slowly turned on its axis. Or ( Read more... )

“Is there any way I’m gonna get out of this with honor and dignity?”

Perhaps not. But we are not Wash and Zoe. We have to think for ourself.

“I can't think of anything original.  I'm only good in support.”

Neither are we Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Stop spinning coins. Trust in who we are.

“Nothing else matters.”

Nice. However, we are not James ( Read more... )

“That’s the last one right there. Then we’re done.”

Blake looked down at the legalese that covered the page in small print. A million words reviewed a thousand times by a hundred attorneys in order to make sure that there were no mistakes, no omissions, no recourse. His hand trembled as he scrawled in the space that said “Patient Signature” at the ( Read more... )