Lily Burke walked the beach every morning as long as it wasn’t raining cats and dogs. On the weekdays, she walked briskly to keep in shape. But on the weekends, she allowed herself to meander along the shoreline, looking for shells to add to her already overflowing collection. Sometimes she would find little treasures like a button or a hair clip. But on this particularly sunny morning, Lily spotted something that gleamed...

The Iron Rook I "You want to assassinate the royal family?" Duncan repeated the elder Sage's words slowly; doubting every word."I prefer to call it a silent coup, but yes." Sage Ordon replied with a calm smile. As if they were talking about taking a nice sail down the Riverlands, rather than a plot of high treason.The Sage had appeared at his castle, deep in the woods, entirely out of nowhere. Though Duncan was not a man...

(Music “13_no~nbiri” Kitz Playlist)13_no~nbiri.mp3A fox with a missionAs Kitz in his fox form padded along secretly and silently behind the traveling group with Minara and Amaroth walking slightly behind Drake, Thane, and Grumble, Kitz’s mind wondered. During the long days of travel, he kept thinking back to the town of Crossroads and of all the strange and wondrous things he had seen there and of all the people he had he...

(Music “Love Awakening” Kitz Playlist)21 Love Awakening.wmaThe journey beginsIt had been many weeks since Kitz left the village of Wyvernwood behind. He had set off to explore the world and become a great hero. One day he planned to come home wizened from his experiences to impress and win the heart of Pearl, his heart’s desire. Thoughts of her smile made his mind dance, and his feet would usually follow no matter what he...

(music “And more…”)19 - And more....mp3The CurseKurzit awoke the following day in his bed after a strangely good nights rest. He had many wonderful dreams that night and felt like new. He smiled and thought briefly about little Cheer and what had transpired. Then he smiled more inwardly at a few of the dreams that he had just had that involved her. He hadn’t realized how unbearably cute he thought she was with only her ow...

(This story is of course still a work in progress made with music in mind. Each theme is referenced and should able to be found on youtube if you want to look them up...These pieces inspired me as I wrote the chapters and I believe enhance the experience of reading them if used as repeating background music)The Story of KitzIn a world of trivial happenings, where the whimsical natures of the gods are as dangerous as the m...

Ara inhaled deeply into her cigarette and then blew out the rings of smoke. It was a bad habit she couldn’t get rid of when she was human but now it didn’t matter. The surge of nicotine in her blood made her close her eyes and sigh in pleasure. In all honesty, the drug had little effect on her but she supposed it was the habit that was comforting. “This was the one thing that still felt good,” she thought. “And who do I h...

She walked the streets, not knowing where to go or what to do. Whimpering and still warm, her newborn baby lay where she had left him. She hoped the owner of the tatty launderette would find him when she came to lock up, if no one had found him before. Flickering like a broken slot machine, the fluorescent lights of the launderette provided not enough light for day and too much for night. The baby snuffled in time with ea...

Chapter Twenty-one: Wrath of the Puppet Master When Saturday came Ethan and Marry entered the grand tournament together. The portal on floor 99 took them to an expansive rocky mounts type of area. It was also filled with massive skeletons from enormous creatures, easily three times the size of a large elephant. The creature’s skeletons were long and wide and their spine resembled something strangely familiar to Ethan, but...

These stories are meant to be read serially Jen and I spent the following few days visiting her relatives we had met at the party, where Jen spent most of the time talking with the teens and cuddling the younger ones while I conversed with the parents. That's what she wanted, to try to connect with the next generation, and I watched her flourish when she did. We waited some days until Saturday to visit Harry and Lucille's...

These stories are meant to be read serially. I went around doing my mundane tasks for months, doing little actions, at times wondering if I were doing any good. I did ascertain there were other agents besides Jennifer and myself, who were not trained to the extent we were, but not enough to keep me from my everyday simple tasks. But then, Simon told me I had access to the records of what we were trying to avert and if my...

These Agent stories are meant to be read seriallyAlthough Simon had stopped by occasionally over the next couple of months to see me I hadn't received any information as to when I would be re-installed in my new body.But, I wasn't just vegetating. I was learning. I learned subjects I hadn't realized existed and many I did know about but had never studied. One of the most important ones was history, not just the one I thou...

Crying is not an emotion I tend to share; I generally keep myself to myself and even then do little to deal with them. My best friend Chloe, God rest her soul, had departed this world as if in a puff of smoke. I felt aggrieved that I had not spent more time with my friend, there was so much I didn't know about her new life. Chloe was a Fundraising Executive. She was constantly following world disasters, droughts, tsunami'...

Later, on the way to Shirley’s, I noticed a box of books on the back seat of Jenny’s car. “What are all those books for in the back?”“Oh, that’s my summer reading,” she said. “Before I left for here, I borrowed a bunch of books from some friends. That’s what we do--trade books,” she added. “I love to read.”“I used to love to read when I was younger, but now I hardly read anything except journals and research papers.”“Too...

Rainbow’s End: Pt.1Note: This is a long two part story but an intriguing journey that may be worth taking.I was on my way to a bio-technology conference in Philadelphia but didn’t have to be there until three that afternoon, so I decided to get off the turnpike for awhile and see some of the countryside. I had just reached the top of a hill when I heard a horrible clanking sound from my engine and the car lost speed. No o...