The backyard is dark. I flick on my flashlight and scan the trees. A cold breeze slides down my robe. For a moment, the light catches on a pair of eyes, shining and yellow. After a moment, they're gone. A raccoon, I think. That's what made the noise. That strange, scratching sound that reminds me … Continue reading Skin
Blood Moon
She glares down on a quiet street. Asphalt glitters with scarlet specks. A teenager stops peddling and stares at the half-dark moon. A hare scurries down into a burrow. A seedling breaks through a crack in the concrete. Its first taste of light is red. The teen's phone buzzes. Worried parents. She sighs, clambers back … Continue reading Blood Moon
Muse
I fell in love with his eyes. Shining and pure, they saw the world through a curtain of awe and kindness. They softened at the sound of a child's cry or a bird's call. They wet at the sight of an injured calf or a wounded heart. They met my gaze with a longing known … Continue reading Muse
Worm
Soil is cool. Moist. Worm burrows slow. Sweet dirt crumbles. Worm stops. Big dirt. Hard. Will not crumble. Worm turns towards wet dirt. Sweet water slides down. Worm burrows faster. Roots snare. Worm stuck. Struggle. Wriggle. Snap. Wiggle. Roots give way. Worm feels air. Dry. Cold. Rain falls. Moist. Worm splashes. Rain falls all night. … Continue reading Worm
Oasis
His posture was rigid. The officer's uniform hung heavy, visibly damp with sweat. His hands were knotted into fists. His eyes were cold enough to make her shiver in the sun. "I'm to be off," he said. As though she were but a servant. She blinked in the glare. He waited for a response, but … Continue reading Oasis
Dust
A curtain of dust hangs low over rubble. It sifts down, grain by single grain. When it gets close to the broken stone and churned concrete, an errant breeze kicks it back up. Such a wind carries with it the stench of hot sand and burnt metal. The dust rides these updrafts in circles around … Continue reading Dust
Necropolith
Rusted shutters clutch empty rooms,Chests with no treasure,Cages with no captives,All that's left belongs to the dust. Ghost footsteps echo in the rafters,Prints worn deep in linoleum,Squeaks and clicks, once unending,Now forever lost. Rats rule the corridors,Roaches breed in the pipes,A pidgeon waits for silencebefore spreading its wings with a clap. The teenagers have had … Continue reading Necropolith
Stray
A mutt limps down an alley lathered in refuse. The air reeks of a thousand layers of rot, but under it all is the hint of something clean. She tests the wayward drafts blown in from the street. Sweat, dirt, hints of metal and concrete. But no food. She turns back to the rubbish piled … Continue reading Stray
Grey
The mirror glares in harsh florescence. My eyes brush over my flawless features: the rugged jawline, the skin like polished marble, the hair which falls in dark waves-- I look closer. Something is not quite right. Something is out of place. Something imperfect crests the waves and slinks just beneath the surface. A single grey … Continue reading Grey
Sprout
Another stem wilts. The little mage bites back a scream and lights a new candle off a quickly fading wick. Discarded stems and bulbs and half-cracked seeds litter the tabletop. The spellbook's instructions are clear, exact. Clinical. In other words, no help at all. The old masters assume that magic flows effortlessly, so long as … Continue reading Sprout
Corey Laisure 