Director's Cut
My footfalls thundered through the airport. For a tiger I could make a lot of noise if I had to. My heart pounded in my chest. "Sorry!" I shouted as I shouldered past a happy couple in the race for the gate. I couldn't let her get away. After...
Lit Fuse
The brandy burned. I sneered as I gulped it down and slammed my glass on the bar. I clutched the thick rocks glass in a meaty paw, teeth bared as I begged it to shatter under the pressure. But it resisted. I didn't have the heart to really crush...
Unison
You were estranged. The years were cold and cruel. For a being of warm passion, it was torture. The lion pranced about his prairie. While you were chained, disavowed and repressed. You called to him. He seldom answered. Fleeting...
Mutt. (A Wolf's Plea)
"How did it feel being a millionaire's puppy?" My voice sounded a little tinny, spoken from behind a camera. A wolf sat centred in frame, seated on a milk crate with his back to a brick wall in an alleyway. He had gentle brown fur interspersed with...
Good Neighbors 2: Persuasive
I woke up the next morning in Max's arms. He smelled of me, and me of him. My breathing tightened. My head pounded with a hangover. I groaned as I opened my eyes. He lifted his head, a little groggy himself but the snow leopard's eyes shone...
Hook Up (A true story)
I clicked my tongue, deliberating over the decision one last time. I wasn't really going to do anything, right? Not yet at least. This was just a cursory glance. Getting the lay of the land, seeing if it might be something I'm comfortable doing in...
By Starlight: Understanding (Part 4 of 4)
Waking up beside Leon for the second day in a row was a magical experience. Because he still held me. His head rest across my chest, he'd even drooled on me a little bit. And rather than be put out by that, I only found it cute. We were still...
By Starlight: Exploration (Part 3 of 4)
Sunlight brightened my room. My heart ached as I roused. Not from shame, just out of fear that things mightn't be as they seemed. That last time this happened it was so much worse than I could've imagined. But Leon was already awake. He...
By Starlight: Shame (Part 2 of 4)
Waking up felt like stepping into another world. I'd fallen asleep happy. I'd dreamed happy thoughts. And when my eyes flicked open, it all scattered. Panic caught in my head. I yanked my pants back over my hips, wide-eyed as I glanced about...
By Starlight: Departure (Part 1 of 4)
The news didn't strike me as hard as I thought it would. Walt was moving upstate. We'd only found out for sure yesterday, though we knew it was coming. That his father had lost his job a few months ago and something had to change for them...
Total Domination
Midsummer evenings always had me acting up. From early afternoon, the cool breeze swept through my window and across the green scales of my chest. My button-up shirt was buttoned down at all times during the summer, save for dreary conference calls...