Part I - He Gave to Mis'ry All He Had
"Oh hey, didn't expect you to be working tonight." "Well, I hear Keith," Kane didn't even bother pretending to look at the ID he'd been handed, for all he knew it could have said 'William Adler, President of Space Balloonland,' "finally broke up with...
Roberts Did Not Remember, Bobo Had Other Ideas
Anybody can jump ship, Just insist Ambition, at least that's nice. This isn't ever going to be a problem. Scriminations, as they say. And anyways, The Lady Giddens was a rather lovely ship. The leather-clad elemental stormed the frigate, racketed...
All Means All
“It's discrimination!" “Hey, sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to either keep it down or leave, you're disturbing people." The capybara approached like an iceberg, quiet and smooth. “Oh, you don't care about my rights?!" The doberman turned to glare...
How They Brought the Good News to the Beast of Aix
_I'm a monster._ My slit-pupiled eyes peer from the darkness of the alley. The shuffle of my leather jacket is practically inaudible as I shift my weight, anticipating. _A predator._ Eyes fixed on the door across the road. The one with the...
Part XVIII - And With That, I Close the Door
There was no particular celebration, that night at the cabin. No fanfare. No triumphal parade. Nik asked Will a few polite questions about how the shoot had gone and from there the conversation meandered into methods of constructing climate-resistant...
There's a Place in the Great Pack for You
"Welp, here they are, then," said Dad. Paul's bags were packed. He'd done that before sunrise. Wallet and ID. Toothbrush, toothpaste. Utility knife with pliers, screwdriver, and can opener. Scarf he'd knitted, wool he'd sheared himself, that year he'd...
Extra - We Can Be Like They Are
"Well, I guess I feel kinda complicated bout it all." Todd's sigh had all the world-weariness of a tribulated martyr. "I don't guess, at least not no more, it's no Satan worship or nothin, and it aint as if I aint done more'n enough to drive a wedge'r...
Part III - New Unfolding His Imprison'd Pride
This picnic table probably hadn't been here when this place had been actual offices. Will's keen investigative instincts told him that the taco truck people had brought it and set it up. An operating office park wouldn't have a plastic table with a...
Different Kinds of Drink For Him
Half-shot dry vermouth Half-shot sweet vermouth (handwriting: _if can get them, else use half-shot either not both. Try sherry?_) Double-shot gin Shake, garnish with orange peel. Miss Dora’s was busy tonight. He’d probably be working till...
Part II - The Tender Things Are Those We Fold Away
"You work in the morning?" "Yessir." "Really, on Saturday? Huh." Kane was being very patient, he thought, while Will passed a beat-up phone back to whoever-the-hell-this-was. "You're gonna text me on your first break, then." "Yessir. Uh, what do I...
Part XI - That You and He Might Touch Each Other
The thing about profound, transformative experiences--an evening spent on your knees in the upper bathroom of the Stag, for example--is they transform only you. The rest of the world, and your daily life in it, cares very little. It carries on much the...
A Young Ballade, and Naive
The garden is in heavy bloom. Beneath serene cerulean sky The flowers leave not even room For hurried ants to scurry by. And even when they richly die Slow fruit shall swell where once they grew, Delightful both to taste and eye: But I would...