Stand-alone short stories in various genres including fantasy, sci-fi, speculative, horror, humor, and drama.
Zen and the Art of Organization
Maybe in my next life I’ll be reincarnated as someone that can keep a fucking room straight for more than a day.
Grease Fire
There’s a certain amount of training you can probably skip if you’re screwing the manager.
The Longest Long Weekend
Shaun and Honey have had Geo for four days and if they don’t lose him soon they’re going to kill him.
I Will Return Your Memories
Imagine you’re holding the thing you want in your hands, but you still can’t have it.
The Language of Flowers
In the Victorian era, flowers could be used to send a message. Any message you liked.
Geo’s Head
Geo doesn’t know where he is or what happened or who these people. But he knows he has to escape.
Climbing Samsara
Betsy has climbed everything else worth climbing in the world. All that’s left is the mysterious Samsara.
Magic Circle
Elijah was sure a maker of magic must live in some dark, secluded place. The edge of the city, where the rows of houses snap into ever-marching prairie. Some small forest or collection of trees, dark and gloomy from thick branches even in the middle of the day. Perhaps somewhere in the city, but under…
Bad Boy Meets Good Girl
“I’m a bad boy,” he said, looking away into the distance. “You should stay away from me. I’m no good for you.” “Oh. Okay, then,” she said, and began walking off. Startled, he practically jogged after her, grabbing her arm. “Wait, where are you going?” “You said I should stay away from you,” she answered,…
I Remember the Radio
We weren’t supposed to be out there. Hell, we weren’t supposed to be anywhere. Shunted out of polite society for reasons I still don’t fully understand, even to this day. Whatever happened, Mama and Pappy didn’t feel inclined to share it with little kid me or adult me or no version of me whatsoever. They…
Eileen
Jackie didn’t like it. He was new in town. Had been trying to get in with the good teams for months. Only been even a little successful for a couple of weeks. So he wasn’t going to say anything and ruin what little progress he’d made. But still. Jackie didn’t like it. He was sitting…
Three Ghosts on Christmas Eve
Keith got woken up at exactly midnight by some sound or another in his bedroom and he was immediately up, standing next to the bed, the baseball bat he kept underneath already in his hands. “Don’t be afraid!” said a voice. “For I am the ghost-” Keith swung the baseball bat in the direction of…
Through a Portal
“It could be worse.” It was Felix’s favorite thing to say. And he said it a lot. What was even weirder was, he seemed to always mean it. Like the time the two of them had been chased through four separate towns by palace guards. At first they had been on horses, at least, but…
ABL: Always Be Looting
Aspen Village spread out before them. The same collection of wood and thatch homes, pubs, shops, and little people yelling at each other that they had seen over and over and over on their journey. This one was important. The horde was coming. On their backs. The entire way across the Panaplor Fields and through…
Nature, Nurture
The Bloodiest Girls’ Night “Absolutely not.” It’s what Shaun had said to Honey, roughly an hour ago. Specifically, they were absolutely not taking the hunter back to the apartment they were technically, sort-of, not really renting from a dead woman named Shirley Hagle. Strictly speaking Shirley was still renting the apartment from the Happy Homes…
The Bloodiest Girls’ Night
Outside the Sundae Fundae The thing about vampires and vampire hunters is they both believed themselves to be better hunters than they were. The vampires were first, walking down the street in a raucous and outrageously dressed group of four. Women out on a girl’s night, looking to make bad decisions. Except all of their…
Scenes From the Worst Wedding You’ve Ever Been To
The Vows “…you will always be my best friend.” Holly dabbed at her eyes as they welled up with her tears. She wasn’t particularly close with her cousin, actually hadn’t seen Theresa in close to ten years, and didn’t know she was capable of writing something so simple and yet so moving. I’m no good…
Crossing the River
There were more willows behind the first one, seven in all, all grouped together in a little culvert carved out of the riverbank. While the water raced in the middle of the river, here just a few inches of it sailed in leisure. One tree stood deeper in the river than the others, the water…
Sally and Slick Eddie
When she pulled the van back in front of the big house the lights were still on, even though it was almost one in the morning. It would be Eddie in there waiting for her, she just knew it. Eddie wasn’t really as bad as she made herself out to be, but Sally’d rather discuss…
The Neighbor’s House is Haunted
It was the sort of dream that wasn’t any sort of way in any particular direction. Soft, out of focus scenes played one after the other, no rhyme, no reason, nothing too scary, nothing too pleasant. The sort of dreams you forget about before you’ve even woken up. Dave still didn’t appreciate being torn from…
Little Used Genres You Should Write In
HopePunk All you need is a dire situation that encompasses everything and a main character that will not give up. Hope is not gentle and soft, it is not a gelatinous mold wiggling on the table and waiting to either melt or be smashed. Hope is strong. Hope is terrifying. Hope is nothing more than…
Hazel Brings a Gift to Juniper
Sometimes, the problems you’re looking to escape follow you to your safe place. Sometimes, the problems you didn’t even know you had do, too.
Outside the Sundae Fundae
Sometimes a perfectly rational conversation about chocolate gets derailed by morons and more morons.
What is in a Name
For all major life events, it is considered obscenely rude for royalty to not invite every important dignitary. So rude, in fact, the consequences may be life or death.
Sir Alfred Quick, Knight Errant
Let me tell you a joke: What is the best day for performing knightly duties? Answer: Any day that ends in ‘y.’ Ho ho!
Video Journal of a Mad Woman, Entry 7
Anyone who tells you you can’t science your way out of every bad situation simply isn’t trying hard enough.
Video Journal of a Mad Woman: Entries 2, 3, 4
In any experiment, there will always be trial and error. And sacrifice.
Ghost Train
Once the automobile industry managed to quash the growing public transportation system, all trains had to be viewed through a suspicious lens.
Stupid Rich Asshole Went Shopping
The whole world was against him thanks to a conspiracy and definitely not because he hadn’t paid his taxes in…ever.
A Different Sort of Smarts
You don’t have to be smart all the ways, as long as you find someone else who’s smart in the ways you’re not.
A Cat in the Morning
Remember to close your windows at night, and certainly do not leave out any fish.
Not Hunkered Down
They say sometimes all you can do is bend over and kiss your ass goodbye, but Tiny’s not sure tonight’s that night.
Help, I’m Trapped on Vampire TikTok!
The all mighty algorithm knows what you want better than you do.
Love Across the Universes, Part Two
There’s the usual level of internet dating crazy, and then there’s…whatever this is.
Love Across the Universes
Internet dating is the worst. The best you can hope for is they out themselves as crazy before the bill comes.
Ready for Anything
Carl Vance was ready for the end of the world. What he wasn’t ready for was whatever any of this shit is.
The World Thins
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a never-ending series of variants and waves.
The Righteous
For everyone who keeps asking, ‘well, what are these women who support this going to do when THEY need an abortion?’ like it’s some sort of Gotcha: this is what they will continue doing.
The Founding Fathers
After decades of arguments about what America’s Founding Fathers would actually want for America, scientists did the impossible and brought them back. Here are some highlights from their interviews.
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