Model Behavior
Emerson wondered if it really was cold in here, or if it just seemed like it because he was clad only in underwear. Specifically, boxer shorts. More than that, boxer shorts that weren't even his. Seated on a bare wooden bench, the only furniture in...
If Only You'd Wanted Me Back
They sat around the small campfire, each silent, each with his thoughts. _Five Characters in Search of an Exit,_the old bear remembered, except that there were six here tonight. He'd met that actor, the one who played the major, who had met the clown,...
Casualties
_It's off._ The thought - or, rather, the feeling - reverberated in Bobby Harris' head, even as the sound of the admittedly small crowd caromed off the walls of the stadium, penetrating to his cold ears through the thick polycarbonate shell of his...
Communion
Zachary Parker wasn't sure if he was nervous or excited. He'd taken a Psych 101 class that had explained that, as far as the body was concerned, the physiological sensations were the same, what with adrenaline (and other stuff he couldn't remember the...
Friends of the Dragon
The statue wasn't huge, in a literal sense - even with the plinth, it wasn't quite seven meters tall - but it sort of glowered down at you. The sainted warrior atop his feral horse was dour-faced and totally intent on his business. The dragon that...
Best Served Cold
"Before we dig in, just a few words, please..." The field house never smelled better, all jokes about jocks after a summer scrimmage aside. As per usual for the time of year, Head Coach Elliott Bruno Stackhouse had arranged the catering of his...
Reparation
After the badger left, Lyal put an arm around Lyris' shoulders and squeezed her close, and she put an arm around his waist. He could feel her trembling slightly in the embrace, and it worried him. The stress of being on the run was bad enough, but she...
Collar 6 -- No Secrets
Time is a fickle thing, as Kafka's parable "A Common Confusion" tells us. When waiting, time lengthens; when unnoticed, it flashes by. In my case, both sensations were occurring -- pun intended -- at the same time. Thad Whitlock made certain things...
Presents
A light snow fell outside, enough to dust the lawns, to frost the windows, to bless the rooftops with a gentle nightcap for the perfect winter's nap. Barton sat contentedly by the fireside, a cup of hot chai and a few ginger snap cookies (both of...
Expiration Date, Part 3
I hope you'll forgive me waxing poetic for a moment; in light of the occasion, it feels necessary. Are there, I wonder, enough words in the cumulative languages of the universe, to describe love in its entirety? I'd have to think not, for just about...
The Stallion's Tale, Part 2
**_Seven Years Ago_** The soft knocking at Gabriel's door surprised him. The Clydesdale glanced at the clock to register that it was indeed near 8:15 in the evening, although a quick look out his window would have let him guess about the same from...
Reawaking
Eoin McCraken had not pedaled his bike harder or faster in all his life. He was plenty winded, and the biting air of the cold, clear New Year's Day morning attacked his lungs with ice spears. He was beyond caring; he only knew that he had to get back...