Everything is ready. Pen. Paper. Hot cocoa mug. The light is just right. Chair is good with the right amount of pillows. All the housework is done for the week. No distractions. I can finally do what I've been planning to do all day. Sit my ass down and write.

Desi, my cat, jumps up onto the desk. She needs a good scratch before I can start.

Okay, now I'm ready.

I lift my pen and stare at the p...

The soles of her boots crunched against the bones beneath. White and scraped or licked clean the bones littered the ground, as well as the ornament nestled in her red curls.

"Your crown is made of the people's bones and hunger," the lord to her left said.

"None will dare to defy you now," another said. "There's no strength left in them. You've vanquished them all."

"You've supported me through ...

Like every day for the past five years I woke up to look into the eyes of my least favorite person. A slow groan escaped me, as it did every day.

Putting on an awful flower dress, it chafed in places dresses shouldn't be able to chafe, I ate the rest of last week's bread. In a few days I would be able to start on this week's bread.

The government had outlawed happiness, and for good reason, and ...

'Noooooo,' ripped from my lungs. The wind claimed the sound before it reached my ears.

The ground was so far below me. So very far below.

It came closer though.

Closer and closer.

At a very rapid pace.

This was not awesome.

I screamed again.

Whose idea was this again?

Stupid bet with my kid.

I'm never making another bet ever again.

Little shapes are becoming visible on the ground. My eye...

Born from the spring of life

Raised through times of prosperity

Joy and laughter the common music

A happy time

Wrecked by the wheels of war

Broken by the battlefields

Blood, ashes and pale bones

A time to fall

Captured by despair

Heroes far away

Alone and lonesome

A time to endure

To rise again

What a dream that would be

Sorrow's rivers run deep

Not a time to build

The tide ebbs

The tide rises...

"Hello, I'm Yellow," the fish blubbed.

I startled. Did the fish just speak? I mean, I always knew fish could speak, I just never thought one would bother to speak with me.

Leaning close, I pressed my hands, face, and most importantly, my nose up against the aquarium window.

"Hello," I said. "My name is Pia."

"Very nice to meet you Pia," said the fish.

"Is your name really Yellow?"

"Yes, as i...

Something loud and big has crashed onto the top of my home. The ceiling almost caved in. And thunderous steps reveberate down from the surface.

I'm pretty certain the aliens have arrived. Well I'm holed up in my home underground, and that's where I'll stay. Right till the end of my days likely. The crash caused both exits to cave. No one can complain about me being a hermit now....

Bailey barked. She barked at me.

'Shh,' I said, holding my hands out. She had never barked at me before.

I crouched low, making myself as non-threatheing as possible.

A low growl emerged from her throat.

'Shh,' I repeated. 'It's okay girl.'

I'd dealt with a bank robbery and a fire so far today, and then on my way to change, I'd noticed Bailey. Out on the street and alone.

She was supposed t...

My brother is missing. Usually he's always there in the back of my head, ready with a snarky comment or prepared to take over when I get bored.

After he took control yesterday, he whispered of being followed. I didn't believe him, he's prone to imagine things. And yet, his whisper of us being shadowed, followed me into our dreams.

At lunch I looked sideways at everyone, quickly shovelling the f...

Weak light

For so long

Weak light is all there was

Sometimes darker

Sometimes lighter

Then the earthquake happened

It squeezed and it squeezed

It took so long

It pained me but I did not cry

And the light changed

So much light

Blinding

So much space

Vastness

No confines of comfort

I look but I can't see

The world is blurred

I do not move

But I am moved

Softness and warmth

I blink

And then I see

...