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I'm Kate, Sam's flatmate, and close friend since childhood. Sam and I became close friends in our first year at Area School. By the time we moved to secondary school, we could run down a hogget as well as any boy could. As most kids in our school, we both enjoyed going out hunting: if anything, more so than the boys as we really enjoyed the money from Possums, but the boys could carry and skin a Wallaby better than us. Bu...

This is a beautiful illustration from nature of how love and support work for the benefit of two. The thinner tree was cut years ago and the big one has been holding and feeding it since then. They "wake up" together in the spring and "go to sleep" together in the autumn. Inosculation is a natural phenomenon in which parts of two different trees, commonly but not exclusively the same species, grow together, self-grafting...

"Are you ready to go, yet?" "No... go without me... I can't be seen like this." "It'll be fine, babe, c'mon." "You're parents can't see me like this! It's not right! Besides, what would they think if we were... were affectionate like this? I enjoy our affection and this... this body is discouraging, neither have I figured it all out, yet." "Did you forget that I'm pansexual? And you're still pretty cute." "My memory banks...

Sigh, "You know what, this just sucks." "It is what it is, Zane, no need to get upset." "Yeah, but, ya know... that happened, man." "Let it go, it'll all be fine, everything will be fine." They looked at the situation they and their friends are in, there's only one way to describe it, they all noticed it, but are too afraid to speak on the subject, don't even want to think about it, for a mere thought will shut it all dow...

With a sterile needle and thread, I sew up the wounds that once filled me with dread With a freshly damp cloth, I clear away the red Dissolving all the reasons for which I once openly bled I carefully pluck out the staples that formally held together my heart Lightly brush off the decay and polish this organic part The scar steadily beats in tandem with the muscle blending into a work of art It’s time for a fresh start I...

He gets word of a demonic creature in a nearby town. The people have tried to take it down as it ravages homes and stores. The stories tell that its screech can shatter windows, its talons crush bone and rip through wood, and the gust from its massive wings can knock down grown men, and send women and children tumbling to the ground. Skin black as coal, and eyes a menacing yellow glow. A call to arms has been made, his co...

"We're not fucking this heist up, this time... dumbass." I glared at Jimmy. "I'm not!" "Then hurry the fuck up." "Yeah, we need this!" Sirus cracked open the safe, using the bank manager. Last time two of their crew had to sacrifice themselves after Jimmy ruined everything not paying attention to the guard, who called the cops. They had to take hostages, knocked them out, and switched clothes with them, while two good mem...

The next two days passed quickly as we carried on working, playing and eating food and each other. Despite combined efforts at both houses, my Culinary Incineration wedding vows remained uncompleted. The Dinner Party takes up to eight hours to film and goes late into the evening as Sarah had discovered but managed to truncate due to the early flight out. We told the producers that they could pick us up from my place as we...

In Patagonia, we’d talked with Weasel and David about how to manage his return home. Weasel and Andy said that on return they were usually very tired. David said he sends the kids to the grandparents for a week to allow Weasel to reset. For the first two days, they would be alone, but he was on her clock. The next two, he went to the grandparents' and left her alone, so she had time to think and unwind. Then, she rejoined...

A black cat lay on the porch of 13 Bigelow Street. She yawned and stretched, then looked at the men milling about in the street. Some were armed with bats, chains, and tire irons. All were clearly spoiling for a fight. After another yawn, the cat got up and wandered into the house. She found Grace Bigelow in her sewing room and mewed at her. “Trouble brewing, eh,” Grace said, smiling at the cat, “Guess I should have a loo...

I know a quiet girl so shy, Head down, she rarely speaks. She fears the world around her— Anxiety's technique. ♡♡♡ Her salty tears shroud bright blue eyes, But no one sees her cry. The corner is her friend for now; She prays pain says, “Goodbye.” ♡♡♡ No hope in sight, her eyes snap shut; She dreams a little dream. Creating worlds where she'll belong— A rainbow-colored scheme. ♡♡♡ She'll dance on clouds and find her voice;...

Victor's first act of survival was completed out of sight of his forever family. It must have happened sometime during the year or so he had been alive. But that history was lost in the mists of time. Puppy time is mistier than people's time. In any case, he was a stray. And he had been sent to the shelter to wonder what the whole thing was about. It was in the colorful days of October when he got lucky. His Boss-to-be ha...

She did this every year, so the call came as no surprise. In fact, I had been expecting it for the last few days. The only surprise was that it took so long. I was sitting with my wife having our coffee after dinner when the phone rang. As I got up to answer, my wife gave me a knowing glance but did not say a word. It was as if we both knew instinctively. “Hello.” I started into the phone, “Oh, hi Mom. Yeah, I’d been expe...

They say that war is hell, it is. It’s a hell I unwittingly chose. I was fifteen at the time. I lived in a little known northern town in England. Not much happened in my town. The men went to work down the mines, the women stayed at home. It was all quite simple really; I could tell you all about it on a single page. Then the war came and everything changed. I watched as the men went off to war, my father included. They t...

There it was, a viscous blob of limber elasticity capable only of thought and some kind of irregular nebulous form of motion, perceiving the world yet barely influencing it. It spent its time floundering around the park, observing the quotidian routines of the proletarians in their mundane and monotonous undertakings, yet it felt drawn with interest and was intrigued to know more of the lives of these hoi polloi. It desir...

by Tony Radford It was early fall when he hit the mall – a year past Y2K, at a jewelry store on the second floor – was a final bill to pay. He’d bought the ring that he planned to bring to his love – a big surprise, some wine, a rose, romantic prose – then a question would arise. They’d set the stage at an early age – on the playground after class where he won her hand with a plastic band and a diamond made of glass. Agai...

I'm sitting here in Southwest Florida, mere feet from the Gulf of Mexico. I live here. I've lived here for 30 years and have never been this scared.There is a storm coming. A huge storm. Hurricane Irma. She is 400 miles of catastrophic wind and will bring storm surges over 12 feet high. I feel like I am waiting to die. We all are. My family. My love. My life. Waiting. Why don't I head north? I'll never make it to safety b...

There was kid who always hid From his parent's furious yells He stayed at places where he knew no faces And his alarm clock was the bells. His name was short and gave him a fort From the troubles day to day When children teased he always thanked and pleased Never knowing what else to say. His hair was brown and he had a frown  From the worries he had to commence His eyes were blue – a beautiful hue And were his only defen...