At the hands of Cedric the Bull, a hundred yellow heads rolled from the grey two-by-four of the executioner's slab. When the valiant knights of the Yellow Castle climbed the high walls of his fortress, they found them lying in a pit ten bricks deep, all jumbled together. It took ages to match them up... Continue Reading →
Lily gave Mark a look of disdain. There was, he thought, an art in the way she curled her lip. "It's not really my fault," he said. "All right." Lily sat down. "Explain. I'm a fan of absurdist fiction." "You could have left a note. 'Do Not Eat. This is for the party.' I came... Continue Reading →
"So," Alice asked, waving the plush green toy up and down in front of his face, "what do you think?" "Will I ever be free of stain of Universal?" Adam replied in his deep, faltering voice. "Or shall that image be a pestilence upon me until the end of time?" "That's what you get for... Continue Reading →
Elizabeth tried to ignore the fact that her neighbor's door had ten locks. So he's cautious, she thought. Perfectly normal. The locks went, one after the next, until the door opened a crack and two intense eyes glared out her from a haggard face. "What is this?" he asked. "I'm Liz. Your neighbor. We've never talked before,... Continue Reading →
“It was really dark last night, but I’m pretty sure this is the place.” He peered around like it would be behind a rock. Everything was perfectly calm. The bright grass, little road, and wooden bridge were like something from a postcard. "Stan," I said, "if this was the place, we'd see it." "Not necessarily.... Continue Reading →
"And if you look to your left," Ernie said to the tourists, giving a flamboyant gesture of his hands, "you'll see one of our longtime residents." Cameras clicked and fingers pointed as they beheld the blue-feathered bird. She was perched upon a branch, a hollowed cup in her hand. "And what's so special about her,... Continue Reading →
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jeff asked, shouting over the wind. "Yeah, man!" Blaze (which he thought sounded better than Roger) yelled. "This'll be killer promotion! Everyone who comes by on the road will see it. And look! There are, like, a hundred cars down there!" Jeff looked. There were a lot... Continue Reading →
“I’m sure that the little girl in that back seat was signing us…” Harrison protested. "She wasn't," Judy snapped. "She was." "And what makes you think it was us she was signing at?" Judy asked. "Out of all the people on this road?" Harrison mumbled his reply and kept glancing down, unwilling to meet his... Continue Reading →
“It seemed a good idea at the time?” Even as Roberta said it, she knew that it wasn't true. Raymond threw up his arms in frustration. "Raising the dead 'seemed like a good idea at the time?'" The old orange lightbulb flickered, casting shadows over the ruined basement laboratory. It was the only one still working.... Continue Reading →
Immortality. Unnatural beauty. Unimaginable wealth. It all sounds rather... snazzy, right? Unfortunately, there are one or two downsides to being a vampire. And I’m not talking about the sunlight thing or having to drink blood. You get used to those pretty fast. And as for crucifixes and garlic, you have to cancel any dream vacations... Continue Reading →
