The rent was due on Monday, and she had one-hundred and forty-two dollars to her name. That was in cash; she and Jonas had emptied their bank account on a whim, agreeing that to hold their remaining funds in their hands would make the situation feel less dire, somehow. In the slanted light of their apartment, they passed the bills back and forth, ( Read more... )

In the LJ Idol Polls!

It's me vs. kickthehobbit, a lovely and talented writer.

I want to stay in the game. I'm pretty sure she does, too. So in the interest of good sportsmanship, I'm going to ask that you read the both of us, if you haven't already, and then vote as honestly as you can.

Here's my entry.

And here is hers.Then go to the polls linked above ( Read more... )

1.

It happened when his elder brother Nick dragged him out to go frog catching by the river, pulling him by the hand until their boots were tromping through cold mud. Only a thin layer of trees separated the riverside from their backyard, the rushing water muffling the sounds of traffic, but it was enough to make him feel far from home. He peered ( Read more... )

The Bedlamite sits in the dark.

They barely move, barely speak; it is their compromise for existing in a world of noise. The door is locked against noise. There’s no tolerating the stutter and fuzz, no enduring the swell of beating drums.

The dark was not by choice, but it serves their purpose of non-stimulation well.

( Read more... )

“Now watch closely, everyone. I’m going to show you how to kill a god.” -Lady Eboshi.

Black, white, black, white, red.

I spit. More red.

“There’s a sink for that,” Melody says.

So there is, but I won’t lift my head to see it. My head is aching. I’d rather stare at the tile floor, the monotony of the black, white, black, white.

Red.

“Oh, for ( Read more... )

“I can see you there, watching me.

Yeah, hi.

I figured you might show.

( Read more... )

Of her patient’s life before she came under her care, Dr. Premika Singh knew only this:

Allison Parker was a quiet, pretty eighteen-year-old when something inside her broke. Mrs. Parker said it began with general nervousness, while Mr. Parker believed it started with crying spells. The Parkers considered themselves good parents, and rational ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

He dreamt, as always, of slender fingers, and the smiling, boyish face of a friend ( Read more... )

“Wake up,” said the demon at the end of her bed. “I’ve got to tell you the rules. If you don’t know the rules, you could be trapped here for all eternity.”

Well, she thought. That sounds quite serious. And sat up.

Some of her skin didn’t come up with her, sloughing off where it and the fibers of the mattress had stuck together. She had to jerk ( Read more... )