The nurse who listened.

The teacher who asked how I am.

The stranger who showed me the way.

The policewoman handling my case.

The fireman clearing the path in the dark.

The clerk helping me with my paperwork.

The person who found my lost phone.

The man who told me my credit card

had slipped from my pocket.

Thank you....

The floor vibrated. Tim’s heart sank. He kneaded his hands, wet with sweat. His insides were so acidic, Tim felt like he was eating himself.

“Tim Starker?”

The old man scanned the room.

“Is there a Tim Starker here?” he said louder, annoyed.

Tim stood up, feeling his sweaty pants uncomfortably sticking to the chair.

The old man looked him up and down, then gave an exasperated sigh. He gestured...

Josie McGuire took a step back. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, hugging Mason the mason.

"Oh my..." She blushed, stone dust on her cheeks.

"Come here, Josie." Mason hugged her even harder. "I can't believe how beautifully you made the orphan choir sing! It totally convinced the investors to fund this grand orphanage."

Josie glowed. "Thank you, Mason. But you gave me the confidence! And you pre...

As I heard the cry of the last wolf, I knew it was over. Goddammit, it just was not fair. I stood up, burying my face in my hands, groaning.

"Oh, I'm sorry, guess your wolfies are not doing too well," Isabella snarked playfully.

"Guess we finally answered the question: who wins? 100 wolves or a T-Rex?" She joined her T-Rex, who was performing a mocking victory dance on a mountain of wolf corpses...

“I knew you would”

he said to the student,

the tiniest glitter of

triumph

in his eyes.

The faintest

smirk

on his lips.

The student looked

at the knife in their hand.

They felt themselves

collapsing inward,

crumbling

splintering.

Read.

Predictable.

Useless.

A terrible feeling,

to be known.

---

This belongs to Student and teacher and Blood in wood. If it comes after or before the other entries i...

“Gosh, I have to stop getting blood all over these hardwood floors…”

The student looked at the mentor. His blood had spilled across the ancient floor of the assassins’ guild.

On that same floor, generations of headmasters, noblemen, and royalty had been killed.

Peasants too, dragged in like the helpless prey a cat brings her kittens to teach them the hunt.

The student paused. By killing the headm...

Scritch, scratch. Scritch, scratch.

Bill’s hands vibrated with the sandpaper. He had so much bad luck. But also so much luck.

It was bad luck to get caught by a strong current and whisked away in a tiny boat.

It was bad luck that this boat crashed into a rock and started leaking.

It was good luck that the rock belonged to an island.

It was good luck that the island had an old lighthouse.

It was ...

Wednesday, 2:52 am

Uno paddled frantically, the icy water spritzing his yellow suit. His respirator mask was covered in water. It was hard to make out the saving shore. He wiped his mask as much as possible in the icy rain. The way next to the river was illuminated by street lanterns. What he saw made his adrenaline-pumped body shiver: a figure in a hazmat suit was waiting for him.

~

Excerpt fr...

Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds.

You can grow flowers, or you can grow weeds.

If your garden is dark and hopelessly tangled,

Think better thoughts so you won’t be strangled.

If you have a garden, you may know:

You don’t always reap what you sow.

The ground can be too dry for any grain;

With sandy earth, all efforts are in vain.

And when you spend the time,

And prepare the eart...

"I broke my rules for you. I took you in, even though you did not meet the standard. I took you in, even when you were weak. I made you. And what did I get?"

"You got the best assassin that ever was and ever will be."

The knife’s blade slid across the mentor’s throat.

Blood erupted.

He looked at his student in his final moments, his eyes going blank.

It was over.

...