Stories

The bear stood on its hind legs and roared. Its fur was matted and tangled, brown with hints of orange, and one of its ears was mostly gone. Gray eyes and long sharp teeth. Rancid breath wafted over me, and I pinched my nose. I was pretty sure it wa…

The Dean of Admissions took off his spectacles and polished them on his dappled lower shoulder. “You will be the first man to attend Chiron Classical University, you know.” “I used ‘man’ in the inclusive meaning of the word.” The Dean’s rear hooves …

Sister Alice was glad of the rain. A steady patter of raindrops displayed a landscape to her sensitive ears and helped her find a path. Without hesitation, her feet followed a line of paving stones across mossy grass inside the courtyard. via Pocket

The sun is just bellying up above the skyline and light filters through the world. I turn Star away from the Deadlands, where there aren’t any trees or shrubs and the sun has scorched the ground into big puzzle pieces. via Pocket

When David got to work that morning, he discovered a large shell on his desk holding down errant pieces of paper. He smiled. His coworkers were always razzing him about how messy his desk was and now, it seemed, someone had taken it upon themselves …

Ada had heard that tone before, the horror of a newly assigned doctor witnessing the Leak for the first time. She waited for the novice’s breath to settle. via Pocket

Early on the morning of her seventieth birthday, Magden coiled the rope that moments before had tethered her canal boat to a mooring post, and said, to no-one, “How I ache!” The plan of the day’s cruise was clear in her mind, and would start with a …

The sand slithered as if it were alive. Leos knew it was the wind, tugging rivulets of dust in its wake like whipping snakes, but even so. The land here was bad, hostile. They should never have come. via Pocket

It’s strange. The school isn’t like I imaged it would be at all. I figured it would look more like in the movies, with long hallways of lockers and posters that say things like: ‘reading is fun’ or have quotes by famous people I’ve never heard of. B…

A perfunctory stare hovers above the counter of Sharpington Coffers, a small antique store on the south side of Picadilly Circus. The owner of the stare, one Mr. via Pocket

If Lucy could cry, she would, but she is frozen in stillness by her unnatural sleep. via Pocket

“But lousy sailors. Very well, notify the Board of the Admiralty to use the proceeds from selling apples to initiate their rowboat program. By order of his majesty, et cetera, et cetera. And put my Privy Seal on it.” via Pocket

That was Theodora Yates for you: always jumping to conclusions, bless her heart, and that conclusion most often of all. But there was no talking her out of it once she’d made up her mind, so I said, without bothering to ask any questions, “Then we m…

When I was fourteen, my mother sent me off for the summer to my Opa’s farm. The idea was to get out of Canada, see a little bit of the world, and learn a bit of German while my brain was yet plastic. via Pocket

Among the infinite forms which the natural world delivers us, none is more fascinating, more truly wonderful, than that incomprehensibly complicated movement referred to, in its entirety, as ‘human life’. via Pocket

One Divided by Eternity – Filip Wiltgren – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2waDYk5

When the Fata first found me, I was very small, and I had lost my voice. Nevertheless, she took me in, and proved both kind and cruel thereafter. I used to gesture pleas, begging for the return of my voice. But she never seemed to understand why I w…

Kevin’s dad drove the huge water truck out the town gate every Wednesday morning. The brake lights glowed bright red when the truck stopped and the guards opened the gate. The lights dimmed, then disappeared as the truck rolled out beyond the town’s…

“That’s the worst thing about the end of the world,” Elsie said, staring mournfully into a teacup that had long ago been licked clean of every last drop of Tetleys and soggy crumb of custard cream. “Routines go straight out the window. via Pocket

The Questioning Bell – Jason Baltazar – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2PfXjcz

What Have You Done to be Happy Today – Kimberly Kaufman – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2MjQLfg

Shadows on Glass – Jamie Lackey – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2nJIr9B

Peter Carlson held the gurgling two-month-old infant with one hand, while the other dug through a dresser drawer. “Bwa! Bah!” gurgled the baby. via Pocket

HOPper – Charlotte H. Lee – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2L2Zug7

The Circe Test – Nora Mulligan – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2PlZ2x4

BetaU – T. B. McKenzie – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2MzbrPq

An Aftertaste of Earth – Pauline Yates – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2L1Earf

Oven Game – Paul A. Hamilton – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2MDalT7

The howls of the gore-hounds filled the night air. Vanda stopped to catch her breath. Sounds echoed off the trees, throwing noises at her from odd angles. Her pursuers were close. When they caught her it would be the end. via Pocket

Renewal – Michael Gardner – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2vSq5b8