We welcome all eighty-seven triathlon teams, from our amazingly frisky first-timers to our stalwart hundred-year veterans, from the Appalling Apparitions to the Zealous Vipers, let’s all give a cheer! Despite several heartfelt petitions, we still only allow three witches or… Continue Reading → Continue reading at the publisher's website.

Thickening fog rolls in as we turn off the highway and head down the twisty rural road, our shortcut home. Michael presses hard on the gas, anxious to close the final distance. I sigh and squeeze his hand, imagining what… Continue Reading → Continue reading at the publisher's website.

I hang. Unpicked. Ripe yet unselected. Folded into forgotten branches that were once green, I too, have morphed, turning ripe over sunshine-filled months, metamorphosing into edible juice, a fully fledged blackberry. Wearing my best damson-rich jacket, I beam resplendently, yet,… Continue Reading → Continue reading at the publisher's website.

She’s wearing her favourite berry-red dress for the occasion. Manages not to soil it, which is a miracle. She catches her reflection in the dining room window and smiles. Outside, the sky looks like it’s been set on fire. Red… Continue Reading → Continue reading at the publisher's website.

As discussed, Harald Bluetooth eviscerates me with his broadsword. I collapse, cloud-watching until the battle ends – which will be in fifteen minutes; we do three of these per hour. Sadly, the corpse next to mine is Sven Forkbeard. Why… Continue Reading → Continue reading at the publisher's website.

Dr. Alison Starr is sobbing behind the pod-bay door of the latrine. She must be brushing her teeth. “Smile bright—” It’s back. The VEIN-9 — or Volumetric Emotive Interface Network, version 9 — has been playing a thirty-second toothpaste ad… Continue Reading → Continue reading at the publisher's website.

It was hot but August heat was different and the only thing that helped was laying by the pool. There was a pool in my mother’s apartment complex, one of those slabs with no lifeguard and green water bordered by… Continue Reading → Continue reading at the publisher's website.

This is the story of a man and a maid,who each by their nature was very dismayed.For in truth neither was quite right in the head,but let’s take our time, for there’s much to be said. The man wandered the… Continue Reading → Continue reading at the publisher's website.