Mother grabbed the pad from my hands, tucking graying strands behind her ear. “No, Widre. They failed, and we’re left to pick up the pieces.”
Halloween in Space
I hated the holiday. Even on earth it had never been my favorite. The onset of darkness. The turning from warmth to cold. There was distance about the holiday which too many ignored in their fevered pitch to become this character of that.
Writerly Dragon
I looked between the scrap of paper, the only thing handy when I’d answered the call, and the townhouse. This was the place, but something was off. I glanced up the rows of houses to my right and left. Same architecture. Same design. But no basement doors on any other, and no basement windows anywhere.
Mythical Eggshells
“I thought the point of the expedition was to get rich.” The grumbled accusation was followed by a high pitched “Erp!” Ciyla glanced back to see Hune struggling with the remains of a web. Her latest assistant twisted as if battling an invisible ghost, nose curled in a snarl of distaste.
Blazing a Path
The iron lay heavy about her wrists as she shifted her hands on the table they’d shackled her to. How long ago had that been? Hours? A day? She’d hummed softly to himself passing the meaningless time.
Phoenix Ghost
“I’m immortal!” The outcry rankled Ryany’s nerves. Drawing her eyes together she glanced at the annoying creature. Hopping along the spectral branches leaves trails red-gray fire in its wake.
Frankenstein Gryphon
Light flashed. She shifted, half of her trying to rise while pulled backward. Life and death lay each direction and she could agree of which.
“I knew it.” A hand touched her head, running over… No. That was wrong. No, right. She shuddered torn further by the touch, both seeking and loathing the ridged cord of her…
Mechanical Pegasus
The battle for Delus 88 raged on, and Ealrith served the front line. Wings spread, he soared above the green, little more than the settlements worth and toward ash and stone. A wave of smoke struck him, glazing over his sensors for a moment until his servos burned the soot away.
Sun & Moon
Miressi wanted to ride the winds far from the council chamber. To feel the rushing air whispering anything was possible, instead of stale air of the chamber’s denial of anything beyond tradition.
Robot Painter
The gray cement was marred, and GRR629 was on the case.
In fact, it was its one thousandth, two hundred and thirty ninth day on the job. Gears whirling, it connected the nozzle in its arm to the full paint compartment. Its mission was simple: return the wall to uniformity.