I could not for the life of me understand how old Carol Weathers, the tottering bubble of sunshine who noticed the engagement ring sparkling on my hand the minute she saw me, had somehow missed the eight-foot tall _thing _towering in her kitchen, helping itself to raw pasta.

If you asked me to describe exactly what the thing in her kitchen was, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. It had a som...

“…First, drive up Pinewood Ave until you hit the grasslands. Floor it from then on. You might be thinking of turning tail after forty or fifty minutes, but don’t hit the brake. Just don’t.

It’s a straight line down. Straight line back. Otherwise, you’ll be bad news, kid.

Near the end of the road, past the abandoned construction job and empty trailers, you’ll find Molly’s place — the diner parked i...

Margaret had been meaning to get a new prescription for some time now, but still the misunderstanding is really not her fault. Anyone with her eyesight would believe a little sweet thing like Maximus to be a dog when faced with them.

How was she to know that she was petting a piece of darkness incarnate?

Okay, _sure. _The little guy introduced him- apologies, themself as Magnum Tenebrosum, but ...

_The elderly human suspected nothing. It was laughable how easy it was to infiltrate her frail spirit. Mortals are weak, foolish. They know nothing of the true nature of this world. They know nothing of the shadows. _

“Here kitty! I got some tuna for you.”

Carlak bristled at the old woman’s voice. They didn’t care for the flippant attitude their new servant spoke to them. Still, they were famish...

I have watched thousands fall by the meer infliction of my gaze. I’ve toppled empires and left only destruction in my wake. I’ve assumed the mass casualities of a raging storm. I’ve been called many names, feeble human reductions in my power to try to understand me. Only now…

“Fluffy!!” I heard the old crow coo at me. She was nearly blind, with glasses that took up half her face doing hardly anyth...

My fur baby

Oh so lazy

Never moves

Never eats

Just sits there

At my feet...

Flashlight in hand, Izzy searched the wooded area behind her house. The last few days when she took Sheba for a walk she had felt eyes on her. Her old German Shepherd would growl and even lurch at the trees. Tonight’s walk Izzy hadn’t felt watched but she thought she’d heard a mewling. Sheba refused to enter the woods at all. Izzy couldn’t get the worry out of her mind.

With a high-powered flashl...

Mrs. Agnes Whitaker had always been a woman of kindness, the sort who left out saucers of milk for strays and talked to the robins in her garden. So when she found the poor, shivering creature curled up beneath her hydrangeas one blustery evening, her heart clenched with sympathy.

“Oh, you poor dear,” she cooed, bending down with only the mildest creak of her knees. The thing—coiled, glossy, and ...

𝙸𝚟𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚠𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚊𝚛𝚗**٫** 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎. "𝙾𝚑**٫** 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘." 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛. "𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗'𝚜 𝚗�...

The little old lady at number 237 opened her green door to the wiry door to door salesmen.

His wide smile laid on as thick as his cheap cologne.

“Oh why hello dear.” The old lady cooed, her chunky glasses made her eyes bulge on her petite face.

“Good day ma’am, I’m Bucky Dutton with Spurious investments, I was hoping I might have a few minutes of your day.” His voice was high and energetic, yet b...