Sleep had been hard to come by. Mark’s mind kept going back to his bumping into Bebe at the dance last night and her agreeing to a date, then it would switch back two weeks to his kissing Amy, and how that changed everything, at least for him, then return to the meeting with Bebe.Just before dawn, he woke to the sound of his father leaving to go fishing on Big Bear Lake with S.J. Marshall. Unable to get back to sleep, Mar...

"I want them beheaded," she announced amidst the staggered crying of the women. "You want to cling to the barbaric ways of your heritage then you can appreciate drawing your last breath with your throat against the chopping block."More cries broke out, loud and pain-filled sobs that rang inside her ears. She would finally have the revenge she sought for so long. Recompense for the murder of her beloved family at last. "Th...

===The dream was back. So were those eyes. The ones that hovered in an angry sky, seeing everything but focusing on nothing.Amy knew those eyes—knew a time when they’d been filled with happiness and a love of life. But then her brother had returned from  Vietnam.Young, naked, and skinny, she stood alone and vulnerable on a hill surrounded by flames. Everything kept changing. An older man in a business suit waved at her wh...

                                                          SHOTS FIRED James Connolly never wanted to be a police officer. However, after receiving the final results of his G.O.A.T. evaluation the powers that be had made the decision for him, much to his dismay. The police sergeant had always found it funny that the government would at least wait a couple of days until after what was supposed to be a celebration of life be...

I am a stranger in a strange land standing here alone at the balcony railing, as I have done so often in the past looking down watching the scene un-fold below. With it, all like being something out of Dylan’s Desolation Row, and being able to see all yet, not being seen. As I stand here in reflective thought and contemplating the reason(s) or the folly of my being here as I stand here uninvited to this dance, as usual.Wh...

CHAPTER SEVEN / CHAPITRE SEPTLaurent damn there walked through the elevator door as it opened to the lobby. Walking over to the front desk, he gave a quick turn around to see if he spotted Larry. "Besoin d'aide Mr. Bourgeois?" questioned the front desk clerk "Oui, vous avez vu mon frère jumeau?""Your brother came earlier for the gym," explained the clerk"It's 5:32 in the morning. How earlier?""Maybe around one. He walked...

I open my eyes to the harsh sunlight, proudly beaming through my windowIt doesn't cleanse away the dread or mundane sorrowPushing greasy hair away from my faceWalk out the door, down the steps, repressing my failure to communicate From down the street, you call my name, but in my daze, it's distorted As I approach closer to you, a grin sprawls across your faceI force myself to replicate it, but I can't hide where my mind...

  WEST ONE  They told him the badge would give away his affiliation, so he no longer wore it. Instead, Dennis Hsu had returned home in order to acquire a disguise; his civilian Vault 186 jumpsuit. V.S.P.F. jumpsuits bore a special insignia. On each arm, a golden police shield was stitched into the shoulder and in the center of that shield stitched in white were the numbers 186. It was a meeting that the police force wante...

I dance with the skeletons in my closetI locked all my emotions in a locket Some of my dreams, I buried in a casket Life it seems is a nightmare need an ice bucket Girl in her teens can’t understand her body Never known true friends, familiar with hashtags and emojis I send blank cheques to my memory bank, hoping to forget I cry on wet blankets, with my only companion, regret Writer's block, on a word diet Bad day to be a...

THE LAST SUPPER She staring at me tryna figure out my net worthFlirting with death in her night dressFinna gets loose, at my placeShe sucks the breath outta stressGonna go Christian Grey at my place50 shades of grey, on her faceI try to work out her broken esteem and broken virginityHer makeup goes with the stories she makes up, rotten dignityI should make up my mind, quit stalling Live to conquer tonight or regret it in...

The Adventures of Caegrin ICaegrin hammered away endlessly on the sword. He thought something classic, and simple would be easier to do. Should be easier to do. But as many times as he tried forging the blade just right he failed. He would then toss it aside after inspecting it and start a new one. He didn't even have to wait for it to cool down to know it wouldn't meet his father's expectations.He grabbed a new sheet of...

CHAPTER THREE / CHAPITRE TROISD'amieeh woke up around 07:49 am with Larry on the brain. "I guess I do have a problem," she mumbled to herself as she slowly dragged her body to the bathroom. While taking a shower, Dami's cell phone will not stop ringing. Though she heard it, she kept her mind on how Larry. "Wait, I told him my name at the airport," she thought, turning off the water. "But how did he know I'm prideful?" she...

THE INVESTIGATION Lieutenant Jacob Brittle of the Vault Security Police Force grimaced at the sight of the destroyed upper eastern bloc reactor station of Vault 186. Two weeks had passed since the overload catastrophe that claimed the lives of over half of the technicians assigned to the power hub.Jacob was a tall, well-built man; about six and a half feet with short, bright red hair and a large forehead decorated with se...

(continuance from chapter two) D'amieeh's phone kept dinging with text messages from the girls that followed the hashtag #SnatchATwin from IG, G+ and Facebook. Questioning her run-in with Larry, when and where are they meeting for breakfast. At some point, she grew tired of the back and forth with the messaging so she shot the girls a group text:I'm pulling up at hotel. We'll finish convo at breakfast. Not sure of locatio...

Prologue Dimitri held his breath as he watched the dark phantom wrapped in a ragged cloak of an archmage fly overhead. He was sure Thael's invisibility cloak shrouded them from the spirit, but he dared not make a sound, even breathing, while the creature flew so close to them. Though the woods were thick where they ventured, the twisting grey-brown trees of the Shade Wood never seemed to produce a leaf, only sporadic bran...