I tossed him the biggest pair of shorts I could find—probably my brother’s, stolen years ago and stuffed in the back of my closet for emergencies like this. Or, you know, mop princes. Max examined them like they were a puzzle. “This is the royal attire of the common age?” he asked, holding them up…
My name’s Charlie Stone. They call me the Thug of the Ring. The Queen of the Punch. The woman who knocked a grown man’s tooth into the third row with a jab. But today? I’m on a nobler mission. I’m looking for the perfect mop. I walked down the city sidewalk, wind pushing my hair…
The wind carried the warm, familiar scent of sugar and mint, making Sarah pause mid-stroke as she polished her nails. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, a soft smile tugging at her lips. It was that time of year again. Her neighbor, Lola Tina, always baked mint chocolate cakes for Christmas—a cherished tradition she’d…
“Why do you put so much care into the jams?” The question, spoken in a melodic, lilting voice, startled Leo. He nearly dropped the knife he was using to dice mangoes. Turning, he saw a petite woman standing in his kitchen doorway, her long, yellow hair catching the golden afternoon light. Her dress was strange,…
The sky was unusually bright, a deep velvet canvas speckled with shimmering stars, and Jeremy could not have been happier. With his telescope in hand, he dashed across the dew-kissed meadow behind his house, eager to lose himself in the constellations once more. His father had been an astronomer. So had his grandfather, and his…
If the guava tree was a man, he’d look really good, Issa thought as she stared out her window. Outside stood a guava tree older than her—tall, but not too tall—with a smooth trunk the color of overmilked coffee. “Tall and lanky… green hair or pink?” she wondered. Issa had always had an active imagination,…
Christina twisted the ornate gold ring on her little finger, each turn feeling like a small attempt to slow time, to stretch the minutes into hours, or maybe even escape them entirely. Across the café, Evan watched her with quiet curiosity, his book forgotten in his hands. The rhythmic motion of her fingers caught his…
01 – Hey, AIan It started with a need for companionship, which should not have been the issue at all considering Milla lived in a city overflowing with people. They called it the City of Souls unofficially, though its formal name was Alpha X109, the largest inhabited city in the world. But despite the endless…
There was something about the sky that made Elena stop in her tracks. It was sunset as usual in the middle of the farm where she lived, red and blue painting the vast expanse, the same as always. Puffy clouds dotted the horizon while others rolled along like loaves of bread. Everything was ordinary. Except…
The train rumbled along the tracks, its steady rhythm lulling most of the passengers into a quiet stupor. Among them sat Lena, her headphones snug over her ears as she stared out the window. She wasn’t listening to anything, just the hum of her thoughts. Rain streaked the glass in winding rivulets, smearing the city…