Ten, nine, eight… 

She counts aloud. Eyes snapped shut with her face pressed against a wooden pillar. She pulls back a moment and flecks of white paint fall from her forehead. The spot itches and she scrubs the rest of the paint away with the palm of her hand. 

Seven, six…

Sneaking a peak over the railing, the front yard is visibly littered with things that don’t belong; an overturned couch, a ...

He purses his full lips, and holding the leveled book near, blows. 

You watch the fine limestone dust disperse in trails of smoke-like powder that dance in the flickering candlelight. It trails down to the old wooden table, and you see it collect on the thumbs of his white archival gloves as the field lead places the book down gently. 

The cover, you notice, has once been meticulously crafted. I...

“That’s it,” Jason stops abruptly. The others stop and turn to face him, brows furrowed, eyes searching for a problem. “I’ve got to get out of these pants! They’re rubbing!” He grips at the bunched-up fabric in his crotch and pulls it away from himself. Then looks up to his friends who visibly relax. “Seriously guys… I’m gonna die.” He pleads, shaking hard at his waistband in an attempt to cool hi...

The elders say we sing for the ones we’ve lost, both in body and in spirit. Every waning moon I’ve heard the voices carrying the desperate notes of longing across the valley.

“_Two go in, one comes out.” _

The scarred ones say we sing for those who they have lost; for remembrance, and to mourn. I can recall the visceral feelings of deep sorrow in thier anguished cries. The sounds alway pierces ...

The storm outside rages and the wind blows. Leaves swirl in a vortex of chaos across the cobblestone street. She first spots her through the paned glass windows. A distorted view of a woman robed for rest in the dusk of a coming stormy night.   The heavy wooden door of the All Mothers House swings ajar as she runs. “Sister!” Her voice is taken up and away by the wind. She cannot be heard. Reachin...

Curtains hanging from an open window flap against a cold breeze. The outside air blows in, washing over her exposed skin. She stirs yet remains sound asleep. Her skin prickling as the hairs on her legs rise in the cool air. She shifts again, then retreats, pulling her legs under the sheets. Subconsciously seeking a new equilibrium of warmth.   From the desk across her room, little scratches becom...

Her eyes began to well up, the first traces of realization. They blurred her vision, and yet she did not blink them away, instead letting the droplets build and flood out what she thought was an impossible thing. Though the rest of her remained in a subtle state of shock. As if time had slowed the moment they arrived. She was still there, standing among the curious crowd, waiting to see why they h...

**In their world of almost complete darkness, the creatures know not in the power of true light energy. For none of those who dwell here have seen anything brighter than the brilliant glow of bitter mushrooms that trive in the dark. Knowledge of the light has long been lost to the small folk that call this place home. The teachers now speak only in tales of old, speaking unknown truths in the form...

A western wind picked up early that morning. Infusing the ocean waters with heightened enthusiasm. It spoke to her in a way as she sat there, watching the roughness of it all. Dawn was surly approaching, the faint, dappled glow of the sun's rays just barely visible. Still, she could make out the growing waves eager to flood the shores, but alas, the hour was low, so they waited. Building energy wh...

Water ripples against the shoreline. He watches with baited breath, head cocked, eyes transfixed on the gentle waves. The subtle way of the water, as it’s pushed ashore creating movement in the grass. This intrigues him.

“Something changes the waters.” He signals to his friend. Then picks her up and carries her up a tree. Where they sit silently, blending with the stillness that surrounds this pl...