Some things should happen only in the dark, when the world still sleeps and dreams innocent dreams. It has always been this way and always will be—and you would have it no other way, because you are one of the few who thrive during the time when the sun has not yet risen, when the lamplighters are not even awake.
Silas yelled through the bars, “I told you they weren't no DTs. The boy’s spewing flames!” The young carnie sat in the opposite corner of the cell, both hands covering his mouth. “I ain't the one swiggin’ Sterno.” Silas threw down the blanket. “Put me in with the murderer. I'll be safer there.”
We were heading to Grampa and Gramma Kellan’s place for the holidays. Gramma would slip us some hard candy before Grampa took us back with him to “earn our keep” by sweeping, picking up tools, or playing around in the barn while he finished his work. “Don't touch it,” he'd warn us. “No time today for the Moon.”
The fairies were only supposed to come for “naughty children.” They didn’t, however, see fit to exclude entirely age-appropriate expressions of toddler frustration from their definition. Marsha’s fate had been sealed with the very first “No fair!” of the day.
Yuki took another sip of hot buttered rum. She stared at Gerald, the man she’d chosen for this portion of her life. Her eyes wandered from the man sitting next to her, to a different gentleman across the room. The man sat alone staring at the fire.
Maria Purificación Jerónimo, B. Eng., dry spat at the bright point centered on her singleship’s main screen. The offset of the methane spectral lines confirmed this was the Earther starship braking ass-backwards on its fusion drive. The incoming squad of mercenaries was spoiling for a fight with her Alpha Centauri home, riding their engine’s blue flame like one ginormous ignited fart.
During the initial descent towards the reef, my guide from Dive Sirena™ -- who has asked me to call her Fabiana -- is slightly impatient, only a twitch at the tip of her fin giving away her mood. She wants to get to the good stuff, the bright coral reef that lies beneath the crystal clarity of the Caribbean.
A full trashcan sat in the dark just outside my alternate-dimension self's office. Housekeeping came by every morning, so obviously this lucky “me” was still employed here, working during the daylight hours. I was the unlucky me who was stuck prowling dark hallways at 2 am on a Tuesday...
Louis walks the barren city street, a near-freezing wind blowing. He looks up at the sky, so late afternoon blue he has to squint, and even then the beauty hurts. He glances sideways and checks the number above the door of an abandoned store. Six-six-nine. Four more blocks to go.
I climb toward the asymptote at the top of the universe, leaving dead centuries in my wake, gaining mass. Clovis says this is like growing in spirit as one approaches God. He says I will experience God soon, but right now I feel alone and terrified...