Ariel Ascending
_"Ariel is the name of an angel... sometimes also of a demon..."_ --Cornelius Agrippa, Occultist (1486-1535) **_Saturday Evening_** I leaned back in the old, worn, but comfortable office chair (trying not to think of myself in quite the same...
The Rooftop Muse
My name is Naomi McLeroy, and I'm part of the county's CSI department. I'm a vixen therian, a creature whose mere existence is a mixed blessing in the world of humans. I can perform a special service that few humans can do: I can see and speak to...
The Laputan Factor 02
The briefing was good, meaning short and to the point. Gorgonea Tertia was not exactly one of the top stars in everyone's constellation list, but there were some reports from that general region that might indicate some trouble for travelers going...
We Have Seen
_Letter dated August 4, 2023_ _Tristan Black Wolf:_ _I found this sealed envelope in Jason’s papers, with your name and an old address in Stillwater OK on it. Glad you’re still in touch. No one has seen Jason in ten years, so we have opened his...
Maxwell 1
# Maxwell 1 **Monday, March 16, 2011** "Now, that's the way to bring your laptop in for service." Maxwell Boudreau smiled at the otherwise unassuming, professorial, white-furred fox who proffered his closed laptop as the platter for a pastry box,...
The Late Train
The railway platform hadn't changed since the days that it had first come into being. No matter the time of day, no matter the weather, the season, the year, the century, it still felt of necessity and enforced patience. It wasn't "clean" in the way...
The Jam Jar
For Neil Gaiman, who unknowingly gave me the seed crystal _ _ _ "Ye gods, that thing is repulsive."_ _ "Yes, I know."_ _ "Why do you keep it?"_ _ "It needs me."_ \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* The rat, mid-sized for his particular feral...
Because We Have Wings
**_Monday_** There is nothing better than waking up naturally, rising slowly from the depths of sleep because of the clear, slowly growing dawn bringing golden light into your bedroom windows -- or, in this case, into the high windows set into the...
A Homo, a Hetero, and a Metro Walk Into a Bar
"All right, guys, one round on me, and then we're off to the movies, whadda ya say?" There's nothing quite as difficult as trying to keep up the morale of the morally impaired, and as much as I loved my friends, they were about as hopeless as it...
The Desperate Hours
The large, powerful lion looked through the observation window into the hospital room beyond, his forepaw clenched desperately into a fist pressed against the glass, his face caught somewhere between terror and rage. The body in the bed beyond lay...
Collar 13 -- I Am Called
This story has been deleted in order to comply with the AUP changes of May 2021.
Questions
"All Saints Day," Barton said into the quiet. "Pardon?" "The day ye both came t' find me." Barton sat in his chair near the fire, while the twins sat on the sofa nearby. They wanted to be sitting in his lap, as they often had over the past week,...