Stories
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Forever
“I fell in love with a person of surpassing beauty. Talented in the visual and lyrical arts, I could live forever looking at bits of soul put to canvas or printed page. We made a pretty picture together, and I understood what people meant when th...
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Garden of Riches
I was sent to live behind monastery walls when I was five. At first I hated it, sullen and resentful that I should be locked away when my brothers were free in the wider world. Years later I received a vision. Our Lady kissed my palms and bid me make t...
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Vows
For you, it’s e’er, “I do.” _____________________________________________________________
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Just Around the Corner
All I had to do was poke my head around and I would see her, walking away. Her steps would be purposeful, elegant, possessed of a subtle sway that drew the eye. I had watched her walk in front of me for many years, and I knew each frame of her stride i...
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Vacuum
“For a time, I fancied myself an artist. I made things, and held them up to be fawned over. I demanded to know how much others loved what I had created and sought them out, shoving my creations into their attention. Instead I received silence. No...
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Bandroi an Cogadh
Years ago I participated in a shared world, fan fiction story. My character was a priestess of an Irish war goddess, a Bandroi an Cogadh (ban-DREE an CO-geh), and she wore a tattoo of triple ravens upon her back. They were proof that she had been accep...
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Finders Keepers
I would have left both of them in the alley if not for the Finder. Nasty emotional scavengers that follow me from city to city. I loath them for many reasons, not the least of which is that I cannot touch them. I will have to move on soon, before they ...
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Free Will
I release the rapist, letting him slump to the ground, sleeping peacefully. Former rapist, I should say, for he has been Rewired. From the mouth of the alley I hear a gasp and look up. There’s a woman, pretty behind exhaustion and a black eye. Sh...
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Uh...Eyeah...
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Simple Gods
My people have simple gods. The doctors think my gods are weak and primitive. They smirk when I answer their questions. One day they ask me about the god I worship most. It’s a strange question, but I try to answer honestly. I am a warrior, so I ...
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Through the Gateway
Hop’syth raised her greater arms asking for quiet and attention, her lesser arms clasped together indicating that she was making no demands. As the group settled into a circle around the bonfire, she arranged the coils of her tail more comfortabl...
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Junkie
Jehova stared down at His garden, ignoring the inarticulate anger of His wife, Annath. “What did you just say?” She asked, struggling to remain calm. “I AM THAT I AM” He intoned, enjoying the way the humans in His garden shivere...
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Pale Blue Dot
The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Ille listened to the rich, warm voice talk about something called the Viking mission. She wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but she loved the voice as it talked about Earth. The file was fr...
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Into Myth
It was the day I gave up that I found the old woman at the crossroads. I gave her the last of my coin, she gave me a tarnished pendant strung on a piece of old leather and sent me south. When I reached the mountains, there was a young woman waiting out...
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Lights in the Distance
I lit the candle and pushed it into the river’s current, straightening as I watched it float toward the sea. It was for my beloved, taken from me last summer by raiders. I had already lit ones for my Father and Mother, gone these long years. The ...
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Feats of Strength
Lithic stared out the window of the airship, watching the night pass by and didn’t move when Ferrum leaned against the wall next to her. “Are you ok?” he asked, feeling foolish. He wasn’t really good at talking to the others, hi...
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On the Outside
When I reached the mountains I encountered the city of Communion. A simple, beautiful city wrapped in a deep, secret filled silence. I was met by a woman whose voice was husky with disuse. She was the Speaker to the Outside, the only one who could stil...
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Promises of Ganesha
I remember the day Hope died. She was twenty years old, going to college, had a decent job, a man who loved her, and friends and family who supported her. So why is she the only one of me who ended her own life? I’ve been repressed, enslaved, con...
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Sister's Lament
Strialis stepped into the machine room, intent on her task of remembering Nology’s invention. As her eyes slid over each visible inch, she brushed her fingers against the cool metal and gained an instinctual understanding of the machine’s i...
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Three Words
It had taken only three words to destroy the world. We created you. I stared at my lover, wondering what was real…did that word even have any meaning anymore? I hung my head, fighting to breathe until a gentle hand rested against my cheek. Her ey...
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Through the Ages
“We need the word,” Ferrum said. “Where are we supposed to get it?” Lurgy asked, her eyes wide as she looked at her large, younger brother. Ferrum frowned, rubbing his forehead in thought. “Spherule said he knew where the ...
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In the Blood
The first drummer started with a heartbeat, tha thump, tha thump, tha thump. I felt it invade my bones, inviting, demanding that I move. Easy steps at first to find balance and harmony with the other dancers. A new, deep rhythm gripped my hips and I sw...
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Offering
Awe, as great and terrible as he had ever felt, filled him as the Elder God rose from the rip in reality. A bone deep trembling gripped him, even as horror and joy fought for dominance within. It had worked! All his long months of planning, manipulatin...
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Sacrifice
Blood drips off silver under the moon. This I offer to you.
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Prayer
The temple was cool enough to make Solia shiver beneath the thin petitioner’s robe, though it was nerves that made her hands shake as she lit the offering incense. Breathing in the fragrant smoke, she meditated until gentle hands pulled her uprig...
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Again
“Do it again.” The voice was harsh, rough with the edges of anger and disappointment. I struggled not to shiver, my muscles protesting their mistreatment. A heaviness ebbed through me as I reached out, my fingers brushing the cool metal of ...
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To Reach, To Touch IV
The Collector frowned, but pulled the disc from the recorder without responding. Before he left he turned back and said, “He has earned three days rest. Use them well.” Cassy curled her lip, but didn’t look up until she heard the lock...
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To Reach, To Touch III
Just as she reached the edge of sanity herself, he threw his hands apart then brought them back together with a resounding crack. His head snapped back and she grabbed him with gentle hands before he could fall to the floor. Now it was time for her gif...
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To Reach, To Touch II
He Touched. The well of creativity that was his gift and curse opened between them, starting as a point of light, growing until it encompassed them both and filled the room. It shifted, sliding and fighting to escape the bounds that she represented. Wi...
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To Reach, To Touch I
“You need me,” she said, looking down at him. He was tired, more than that, exhausted, drained almost past his limits. “Cassy…” he said, the beginning of the old argument in her name. “No, don’t push me away. W...
