“This is a matchmaking service?” asked the doctor, a concerned look on his face. “This is the Garden of Eden,” replied his host with a smile. The doctor looked around the room with a raised eyebrow and growing discomfort. The elaborate advertisement for the service promising to “find your perfect …
The sea forgives all. That’s what they say, thought the tall, dark-eyed man standing vigil at the stern of the Aquilon. His eyes were set on the waves trailing them in the fading light of dusk. Every ripple was another step away from his mistakes; another moment away from the …
“I’ll see you at Kevin’s.” Those were words that used to be followed by a wide grin at school or a gleeful affirmative over the phone. There were either old memories to rediscover or new adventures to be had. The four of them had spent so many days exploring the …
“What a frickin’ mess this is.” Detective Mike Barrow stood atop a muddy ridge on a humid Monday morning, looking down at a small crew of police personnel in a heavily wooded ravine. In the middle of the action was a dead body that had apparently washed up onto the …
Darlene Kelly’s eyes scanned the set of hoof prints in the mud where she knelt. Her eyes moved to the thick underbrush in front of them, where something large had fled, tearing a hole in the autumn foliage. She could see crimson specks on a patch of leaves to the …
The storm made the city street a blur to Tim Avery as he walked rapidly down the sidewalk. Rain fell just heavily enough to make people run to their cars or take shelter in the shadows of store awnings. To Tim, however, walking through the rain seemed right. It felt like it might …
It was just before sundown on a Tuesday evening that the artist hauled the tools of his trade through the forest. His bag was heavy, but he had no regrets about choosing the eastern woods, far off of the beaten path. The place had a calming, warming effect despite the …
Dan was sick of rural America. He wanted nothing more than to be back in Chicago, far away from anything resembling a cornfield. Instead, he was driving through an Iowa winter with huge, white fields stretching into the distance on every side. Every five minutes a lonely farmhouse would appear …
There are things in the dark and ancient corners of this world that nature should never have allowed to exist. In spite of the decay of millennia they live on, the last remnants of the world that should have been forgotten. There was much that I sacrificed to learn that …
“Have you seen the Blaganschlor Hung by rope composed of gore Who says his name and nothing more His true name lost in days of yore? At the gray and barren meadow Where ancient rivers used to flow The dying light of summer’s glow Will call him from the dark …
Mr. Cadson had been sitting up at the bar for some time. The lights and the music were both very low, casting a sort of malaise over the entire half-empty room. A group of men in the corner were watching a baseball game on the television on the wall. A …
It was a long time ago that I heard the tale. I was deep in the desert, with only myself and a man I had hired as a guide. We found a small oasis at the bottom of a valley and set up camp for the evening. Later that night, …
