Love Stinks! Introduction
Jon-Tom's occasional wanderings took him far and wide, though he normally never stayed away from the tree for very long. One of these journeys took him to the town of Sechtelly, along the river Logaro. It was a distance from the Bellwoods, and he came...
Never a Bettor Be (commission for Steel)
It was time for the annual games of skill and daring in the Northern Reaches. These were not human games, but those of the Winged Folk. They were those who took to the sky; those whose wings rode the air; those whose tails touched the clouds. To the...
Fur and Feather
Worthless was wandering loose, sans the mountain man who normally occupied the spot on his back. Amos was down in the Sioux camp, discussing human things. Equines had more sense and fewer inhibitions in doing what was necessary. Humans talked and...
Gentleman Drake
He awoke some time later, when exactly he couldn't tell, with cramped shoulders and stiff legs. He went to shift, to allow blood to his limbs, and at the same time to stretch his wings. For some reason his wings didn't respond. He opened his eyes...
A Deadly Contest
The next morning, Jon-Tom found he had to pull the sheets from his skin. They were adhered with blood, even if the skin underneath was now whole. His wife was back to normal, gently snoring, her hair mussed and sprayed across her pillow. He figured...
Another Day on the Job
As he stepped inside, he was greeted by the same furry face that he had left that morning. She took one look at him and frowned. "Boy, he dragged you through every little dirty cubby and crevice in that infernal hole in the ground, didn't he?" She...
Fitting in, in Hobarrow.
Jon-Tom found out that touring the school was the only duty he had that day. He returned home, to find his new wife still is leopard form. She smiled at him when he came up the stairs. It diminished a little when she saw his face. "What is it...
Some Lifetimes Are Like That
The bartender was polishing glasses when the gentleman walked in. He was careful to use the term gentleman, despite the fact that this guy could often act in an ungentlemanly fashion. He was one of those customers best left to his own devices, because...
Succumbing to the Desert Heat
To the untrained and prejudiced eye, the distant figures walking across the heat rippled plains looked like the typical native and his hunting dog. That is to say, if you were familiar with life on the savannahs of Africa in a human world. This was...
Upstairs/Downstairs
The drive home was hell, just like it was every Friday. Commuting from the country to the city and back wasn't fun, but once you got home, it was divine. There were no neighbors and no salesman; just peace and quiet. Today, it was going to be a simple...
Becoming One with Nature
The conversation I was engaged in was improving with each passing moment. It was no wonder there was a certain amount of incompatibility in our dialogue; for when you are used to dealing with only one language, the off chance that you'd run across...
Inadvertent Experimentation
Professors meant well, but some days the constant droning of their voices could put even the most avid student to sleep. Dry dusty texts and long winded dissertations were not what Tobias considered to be the ideal learning environment. He liked to do...