Hark!

The sharp, golden catch of a sturdy, good latch, now

Caroling!

Clicking!

Clinking!

The snick of the lock, brass tick of the clock, in

Sweet-toned

Silence

Sinking!

The hours have dragged, as you boasted and bragged, with

Tittering!

Totter...

You’re beautiful, with your creamy, freckled skin, your red-gold hair spilling like a flame across the pillow, your eyelashes curling and thick against your cheeks, rosy with sleep.

I try not to wake you as I slip out of the sheets, gather up my pillow and a quilt before treading softly to the door.

I turn back, gazing on a vision of perfection, reluctant to leave.

Your rosy mouth, parted...

A glint of teeth,

A crooked smile,

There’s mischief in your eyes,

Yet underneath,

Like hidden gold,

A quiet treasure lies,

A quiet word,

A kindly act,

A jewel without prize,

You speak the truth,

With honor giv’n

My shelter in disguise...

There was another thud and a muffled grunt from the wall.

Cedric. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to patch another hole in the wall.

The little weasel.

Correction: Giant weasel.

My name is Jenny, and my best friend is roughly 6’9”, rather furry, but good natured, and, if you don’t mind his inclination to shred the cushions to make himself a cozy burrow in the linen closet, he’s… nea...

Another fist-sized meteor of flames scorched overhead, making it necessary for Wren to drop behind a barrier and pancake herself against the floor again.

The floor, she had discovered, was cement. Cement is hard— a fact she’d always known, but never fully appreciated until now.

She had realized, from distant memories of childhood splats off her bike, that cement isn’t nec...

Sarah could have kissed the little demon.

As a tantrum went, it was earsplitting, repugnant, infuriating.

As a distraction, it was sheer, unadulterated genius. Inspired, really.

Every face in the lobby turned to the crescendoing storm of hideous shrieks with identical looks of horror, and she could see the gleam of phantasm spankings in some of their eyes.

His tiny arms lashed every direction,...

“I was gone for what, five, six minutes?! What happened here??” Dorcas wailed.

Large, luminous yellow eyes looked at her meltingly over the sharp fangs currently embedded in a splintered chair leg. The REST of the chair was strewn in the chandelier, which was swaying ponderously above their heads, casting a giddy light over what looked, at first glance, to be a massacre.

Smatterings of cru...

Everything was covered in dust. Dropping her duffel with a muted thud on the carpet, Gene ran her finger along the dark wood surface of the hall table, leaving a shiny track in the matte film. The whole house felt muffled and still, greeting her like a stranger.

Everything was silent.

A loneliness she thought she had wrestled down and escaped in her travels seemed to pounce on her from th...