“I don’t like my birthday,” Destiny explained one chilly October morning over breakfast, “because it’s too close to Christmas. All my friends get two parties, but I only get one.” “Well,” said Eliza, pulling a sausage out from her green tupperware, “We won’t combine them. We’ll celebrate and give you gifts for both days.” Destiny’s…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 22
Tag: fiction
The Sympathetic Universe Part 21
Angel watched Eloy chop wood from a few hundred yards away. What could he possibly have planned? There was no way to light anything here. “Hey,” she shouted, “What are you doing?” The small figure of Eloy looked around confused, then shouted back at her from the distance, “chopping firewood!” “How are you going to…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 21
The Sympathetic Universe Part 20
Eliza spent an hour a day helping Gabriel learn English from his little guide. So, generously, Eloy spent two hours a day with him. Generously, he gave up his day to pick what food to eat, offering a bonus day on rotation to each of his campmates. Certainly, Eloy’s generosity could not be questioned. Eliza and Angel had…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 20
The Sympathetic Universe Part 19
Sometimes you feel most alone when you’re surrounded by other people. Eloy’s campmates, for lack of a better term, had all been visited by their gods. Each one of them had made an abrupt transition from desperate to confident coinciding with the appearance of a remarkable new ability or artifact. Now even Angel was looking…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 19
The Sympathetic Universe Part 18
It was after lunch, but that’s all anyone knew. Even the sun was hidden behind the clouds. For Angel, who was used to making the most of every minute, being unable to check the time felt like a strange kind of purgatory. Irrationally, she almost felt like the very nature of time had been wrested…… Continue reading The Sympathetic Universe Part 18
The Barbarian of Pelor
[This is a character backstory for a medieval fantasy roleplaying game I’m playing] My adoptive family said that Pelor placed me on the steps of their community center as a test of their faith and compassion. Certainly it was hard to propose another explanation for how an infant such as myself had made it all…… Continue reading The Barbarian of Pelor
The Cleaners: Epilogue
Sitting on the cold cement floor of my cell, I tried to lose myself in the exquisite lunch perched on my bed. Roast chicken, roasted on a bed of… Sweet potatoes with wine… White wine, interestingly. I would have used red wine, but I had to admit that Krystal Feeder’s choice may have resulted in…… Continue reading The Cleaners: Epilogue
The Cleaners Part 37: Disruptive Technology
For the third day in a row I was glued to my computer, trying in vain to figure out if I had saved everyone or doomed them. “This apparently unassuming old woman, former Internet celebrity ‘Angry Grandma’ is the brains behind the fall of democracy and free enterprise and the rise of totalitarian techno-communism. Some…… Continue reading The Cleaners Part 37: Disruptive Technology
The Cleaners Part 36: Placing an Order
I jolted up in my bed, but stopped at the scraping stabbing pain in my hip. “Diane!” Shouted a Caretaker beside me, “please be careful! You have a lot of healing to do. You’re lucky you don’t need surgery!” This was not my bed. I grimaced and eased myself back down. Then I took in…… Continue reading The Cleaners Part 36: Placing an Order
The Cleaners Part 35: The Dream
The light was so bright. I raised a hand to my eyes, but I still couldn’t stand to open them for all the blinding brilliance. “Diane” said my husband, taking my hand in his, “It’s all right.” I tried opening my eyes again. It didn’t hurt anymore, but there wasn’t much more to see. White…… Continue reading The Cleaners Part 35: The Dream
Samuel Munk 