She glanced back at the hidden bottle, the touch of gloss at the lip where the liquid glistened from her recent swig. She looked back at her reflection in the art hanging on the wall, purchased when her artist’s idealist naïveté made her believe she could, someday, produce better. Life was catching up to her, consequences barreling towards her, and she knew the charade was too hard to believe, the...

The bed shifts subtly and Kaylie groans. Ryan is already sitting on the edge of the bed as she pulls him back towards the mattress in silent request.

Too few kisses later, he rises again and this time succeeds in leaving the bed and reaching into his dresser. Kaylie watches him get ready for work and her mind wanders, thinking about their relationship.

“Do you remember when we first met?” She ...

I left the coffee on.

It’s my only thought as I lay there, near bits of debris and shattered glass. My face is wet, from tears or blood or the rain creating a hazardous roadway, I don’t know.

You never guess what you’ll think as your last thoughts arrive. You’ll never expect this will be your last morning. Your last cup of coffee. But even if you knew, what would you say?

Would you snooze you...

“Watch your left,” I mutter under my breath as Griggory expertly disarms an opponent with his signature move. The young man looks at his fallen sword with disbelief and concedes the sparring match.

Griggory, captain of the guard, may be the best swordsman in my father’s staff, but he is predictable. If the new one had paid attention to the previous sparring match, he would’ve noticed the small f...