A slow, miserable rain was always falling in the tunnels at the bottom of the Blackwood mine, seeping down through the layers of stone and dirt. The air smelled like old vegetables, and was so moist and so miserably warm that it gathered like steam wherever Biscuit looked.
            Spotlights hung like Christmas decorations from the tunnel's ( Read more... )

The alarm shrieked at me for the third time this morning.  Unlike the previous two, I reach for the switch to turn it off rather than hit the snooze button.  I fight with the idea that I can sneak another five minutes of sleep in by counting backward from 300, then dismiss it knowing that if I tried to make that happen I'd sleep back through until ( Read more... )

    The Dwarvonian spy from the downtown bus was tied to a large rocking chair in the center of Donaldson's toy store, windows shuttered and door locked. Next to the chair was a pile of Ragged Ann and Andy dolls, the former occupants ( Read more... )

"Mexican?" Levi offered.
Jody shook her head violently.  "You know how bad Santeria made me feel last time we went!"  Even in the dim light of the car, Levi thought Jody's pale skin seemed to blanch.  "Christ, I spent the next two days never more than three steps from the bathroom."  She turned the wheel, going left onto Stark.  Stopped at the next ( Read more... )

            Her laugh broke the silence.
            A full half hour had passed without Unocello dry heaving over the toilet. Her jaw felt dislocated. Her chest and her guts ached. She used the last of her energy to stand in the middle of the apartment. Standing seemed like the best thing she could do. Standing made her feel like a real elf, ( Read more... )

Biscuit stood at opening end of a short valley freshly carved out of the hillside, leaving behind mounds of stones, dirt and mountain-sized machinery. It was also now a parking lot, or rather, a place where a lot of cars were parked haphazardly. Beyond, further into the valley, there were rows of trailers that served as offices and beyond even that ( Read more... )

Author's note: I recognize I'm ending this in a different place than were I started.  I think if I took this where it felt like it should go, it would turn into a whole chapter.  I just took the prompt, started the chapter and ended the scene where I thought I needed to.  For all I know, I may revisit this later.

Her laugh broke the silence.

For the ( Read more... )

"The hell is this horseshit?"

Chuck had never been taught the concept of an "inside voice" as a child.  Consequently everyone in the department knew what he thought on any topic, whether engaged in conversation with him directly or trying to work despite the loudness in a cube four rows away.  I had already been in the office a while, and seen what ( Read more... )

A million tiny stinging pinches on the tip of each finger. That was Santa's waking thought, the sensation of feeling returning to his fingertips, followed by the ache around his wrists, but he couldn't move his arms to ease the pressure. His arms were tied behind his back. Also, he couldn't see.
            Not Santa's best morning. His breath was ( Read more... )

     And the Angels

“And the angels, all pallid and wan, uprising, unveiling, affirm, That the play is the tragedy ‘Man,’ and its hero the Conqueror worm.” - a verse that kept repeating in his thoughts when the news came. He did not remember where it came from or any other verses that surrounded it, though he had a dreadful feeling it was the ( Read more... )