Fraternity (Iron Shield Part 1)
“Damn it all!” Everett pounded his large fist against the table with a resounding _thud_, startling his compatriots as they all huddled around a loose stack of papers scattered about before them. Their only candle – by now nearly...
Writing Prompt #9 - "Left to Die"
The island lay about half a league away, no more than a sandbar in the aquamarine sea that stretched endlessly in all directions. Even at this distance, Lambert could see the green fronds of palm trees stretching up from the shore, as well as the...
An Alien in Our Midst
Medication taken – check. Teeth brushed – check. Door closed – check. Door _locked_ – check. Staring up at the blank ceiling, I visualize my mental checklist of nightly rituals and imagine myself striking through...
Writing Prompt #6 - "Fault Line"
FOR IMMEDIATE DISSEMINATION: We regret to report that at approximately 4 a.m. this morning, Hayth Tower collapsed. Other buildings in the area may have also been affected, although at this time we do not have a full accounting of the damage....
Writing Prompt #11 - "Hunting Game"
As exciting as the sport was to watch in the regular season, the finals of the National Hunt Association—NHA for short—had been dull, one-sided routs for the better part of a decade now. The Supersonics were simply undefeatable. Their team was too...
Writing Prompt #10 - "Textbooks"
A sudden gust of late-November wind buffeted me head on, forcing me to clutch my coat closer to my chest. Leaves—no longer the brilliant reds and oranges of recent months, but dun-colored and dead—splintered into dozens of pieces underfoot. The last...
Writing Prompt #4 - "Albrecht Syndrome"
Max hunched over his keyboard with bated breath, checking each part of his genomic analysis code line by line for what felt like the hundredth time. The pipeline ran just fine, but just because it was syntactically correct didn’t mean that it was free...
Writing Prompt #5 - "Transmission One-One-Two-Five"
“Foxtrot Tango Three, this is Mission Control. Do you copy?" “Affirmative, Mission Control." “What's your position?" “Point-zero-niner, four-five. Approaching target at 900 knots. Visual in T-minus thirty...
Writing Prompt #1 - "The Library"
You there! Yes, you. Follow me, if you will, and I will show you a place most wondrous and peculiar – a place unlike any in this world, or any other for that matter. It takes a ways to get there, along a path so well trod that banks of dirt...
Writing Prompt #2 - "The Endless Night"
“We must perform the divination now.” Five hooded solismages standing within as many equally spaced pedestals raised their hands to the sky in supplication, welcoming the warm embrace of the Sun’s rays shining down upon them. On the main dais...
Writing Prompt #8 - "The Grove"
Under the weeping branches of the great Phigienohr sat a figure in quiet repose. What they were contemplating, who could say but them. Such was their focus, however, that an observer might have understandably mistaken them for a statue, or perhaps a...