He pulled his cloak over his head and brushed away a few errant flakes of snow from his shoulders. He breathed out a long breath into his cold, rough hands, this warmed them with incredible speed. He stepped out from the Coaching Inn into the day. His footfalls were cushioned by the blanket of fresh snow. His long staff arced its way through the air as he walked, and made a small dent in the snow close to his right footpr...

Moonlight edged through the tree branches high overhead, as the wind howled through them bringing a sharp cold slap to her face. Darkness seeped under the canopy far above, shrouding the world in shadow. There was one small flicker of light that illuminated the cover that encased it.Her fingers grew numb, holding the iron candle holder. A dark blue candle for banishing glowed with enough light to illuminate her pale face,...

Inspired by the work of Anne Stokes, 'Solstice Gathering'Ariane stood atop the castle battlements and looked out across the heavily wooded landscape that stretched far into the distance as far as she could see. It was the twenty-first day of December in the year of our Lord fourteen hundred and twenty-three. All along the castle walls, torches flared, casting an eerie flickering light but still she stood, watching, waitin...

CalmEvening Brings quiet.Father Sun diesDarkening the copseAs deeper night begins.Mother Gaia sleeps with us,At rest beneath the barren limbsOf leafless trees trembling in damp windForeshadowing new growth with promised spring.With MorningPleas ring outBeseeching bothThe shining Father And fertile Mother Earth. When will light and life return. Gifts are offered on raised altarsThis is the shortest day of each yearSo we cr...

Here tears reign,And Self cannot be pulled togetherWhen Self is screaming, torn asunder,Where empty shell is welling up whilstEyes of others rollAgainst the failings of thisSelfish child,So called becauseShe cannot rule whatOthers hide and stow away.'Midst the back streets of her mind,Her common sense is raging cruelTo lash her weakness,Scorn self-pityAnd loathe the drama queenShe...Is?She knows not where or when they sto...

“It’s not what it looks like,” he said, frantically fumbling with the computer mouse. She smirked. “That isn’t the Victoria’s Secret website?” Failing to minimize the screen, he switched tactics. “I’m looking for your Christmas gift." “Oh? And only 364 shopping days left!” He stroked his beard and chuckled nervously, “Well, after all, I’m a busy man.” “You work one night a year!” she snapped. “Besides, you have an entire...

The Christmas present ticked and would open soon. They've chosen one out of billions annually since the Code was deciphered because its power must be limited. They placed the box in my home on Christmas Eve, timer set for eight in the morning. I'm waiting in the living room now, heart thundering, unknowable sciences about to bring you back. You'll be there, naked. Alive. Every memory retained. Even your death. You'll ask...

"You got what for my mother?""A vibrator.""Why?""She was complaining about her sore feet.""So you bought her a vibrator?""I was trying to help!"The wife chased her husband out of the house. He ran until he lost her, then made his way back home, once he was sure she had stopped chasing. Looking at the present, the woman realised her mistake."Aw, bless him," she smiled, her eyes welling up.She found him wandering and confus...

I am a lover of words.  I like  What they do to my tongue.Each letter  Whispers its own tune  To me,  When spoken together  A song. Like love,  How it opens the lips,  Extends the tongue,  Closes with a kiss,  Sounds hopeful. How the letter O,  When accentuated,  Can leave you breathless.  The entire face must work together  To form it. Fuck…feel...fight…fun… How do you make  Sex?  You fall short of gritting your teeth. ...

It happened on the very day Princess Poubelle was to meet her intended, the handsome Prince John Don Ron von Finkleshteen. She came down with a wicked case of ghoulish mouthus. This frightful illness made it so everything the princess said was ill-mannered, ill-spoken and just plain nasty. “I’ll never marry Prince Shtinklefiend!” shrieked the normally polite princess to her parents. “With a name like John Don Ron, he’s su...

I am the dark and spooky woods. Oh, please, don’t be afraid. Just because you see overhanging branches and tangled brambles, darkness and no way out, it doesn’t mean I’m going to hurt you. I really do quite like visitors, actually. Come, enjoy my clearly set out paths. You may want to take a flashlight, though. There was this one person who forgot their flashlight. In fact, he hadn’t any idea how he’d got here. I knew exa...

I had hidden in the trees all day,until the dusky mist of twilight overcame me. Nothing you could say or do could ease the pain, or lightmy pathway from that strange madness. The trees seemed tortured as my soul,Twisted as my mind with sadness.The setting sun, behind the knollgave promise of the coming blacknessof that eternal, dreamless night. The twisted trees took great delightin hearing the flutter of my heart.They re...

Stripped to nothing Everyone knows your secret You hear the whispers An out-of-body experience Occurs immediately It feels as though You’re in a forest, Walking amidst the Barren trees and Brambles of dead bushes In a perpetual Fog The cold wind Against your skin The barrage of clouds, Blocking out the sun The moonlight shines, Only to not Reach the ground. Too dusky for you? Exposure does not Become you. Scary, isn’t it?...

“David, is that you? Are you back?” she asked. There was no answer. It was a Red-tailed Hawk that had landed on a branch above. She had heard his wings flutter. She stared up now as she raised her arm, opened her palm, managed a smile and waved. A small celebration of being alive. “Are you after the berries on those brambles, Mr. Hawk?” she asked. Then she said “No, probably not. You’re a meat eater. Sorry if I insulted y...

This musing only available on Stories Space. If you are reading it elsewhere, it has been stolen.Sometimes I feel that the world is a graceless place. Well, alright, I always feel that. For me, every day is a task that I cannot look forward to. But there is no way to rearrange my knickers drawer in procrastination of meeting the morning (or afternoon, on my days off), and I am lacking the ability to pull a sickie and tell...