I often felt guilty after singing. The feeling took me, and I’d sway with the rolling tides, ebbing to tunes played with the sounds of the sea and sky.

Out in the horizon, I’d see them, though. A poor crew of men—hopefully just men anyways. I mean, I felt bad enough when they were just men, and it’s not like I wanted the ships to wreck.

Some might have said I had a problem. That I heard sounds t...

I often wonder about that flutter

coming from my chest

And whether I’ll feel that high

where blood is pumping

and I don’t know why

but my palms are burning

And I breathe in one breath,

and feel my heart doing its best

to bring about unrest

Yet I lost the key to my chest

years ago— and there’s no crank,

no pump, that can break

the flow free or plumb

the blood like a set of pipes

where it’s leak...

What a thing felt

behind the threat of a belt

and when they stopped lashing,

they’d beat me into line

and when I’d try

to build life clean

they did their best

to burn my everything

so now, I stutter to myself

about daily things

and feel the room

to see if it feels clean

avoiding all others

to save myself

even if they

haven’t done anything...

I believed them to

be true and tried to show trust—

all that, and I lost.

I walked the world lost,

and the cost was icy frost—

cut cold to the bone

but it seems they cleared

their docket, new toys in their

pocket—shut me out,

gutted like a fish,

served up with fries—oh, the lies,

promised the high pie

and now? The fall guy.

They can get high and lie nigh

while I walk away....

Letters on the gravestone shifted. It read, “Hello? Who’s there?”

The man who saw the gravestone stared on. “Is that what it said a second ago?” His eyes turned to the boom of thunder—the flash of lightning. Looking back, the words changed again: “Pride before the fall, I suppose.”

The voice of his mother played out of nowhere and everywhere: “There are some things you will never understand.”

...

Pardon me while I ask for another shot. Alcohol! But also at life because you lose everything when they declare you dead. Your wife. Your job. And they don’t care if it screwed you over, neither.

You’ll have to excuse me for my sunny disposition. After I came back to a man in my wife, I asked to be declared dead again, and that’s nothing compared to what companies think you owe them for the time ...

The road to nowhere seemed to bend, break, and spiral. That’s when I first considered turning back to the palace. What palace? The one with spindle, of course.

The witch’s curse followed me no matter where I ran. Often, I let them tie me up at night, chaining me to a tree trunk or locking me in a room with no windows. It was okay until the curse amped up.

It started by removing my binds. The sol...

The subway tracks circled the outer rim of the city. Last evening, the subway arrived at 8:08 PM and 39 seconds. The same time as this evening. We use this cart everyday.

The subway cart opened to reveal the usual crowd. A lady in high heels, a dress suit, and a brief case stood holding a handle bar. A few old men in geometric pattern sweaters and jeans sat in the seats labeled for the old and di...

The front door closed with a slam. The next thing I heard was a knock knock knock. That goose again, I’m sure.

“We don’t want any,” I said through the door.

“But it’s a matter of universal protection.” He moved to the nearest window and put his head squarely in the middle of the glass pane. “You must help me get to the delta quadrant so that I can help Captain Janeway fight off the borg!”

Talki...

Years passed since Dmytro told the media that Victor he was playing the part of a Novagrad puppet.

Victor lost the next election. He and his family faced harsh criticism due to his behavior as a sitting President. 8 years later, he won the ticket again, and returned with a vendetta against Dmytro.

During those 8 years, Dmytro’s Velikrosia entered a defensive war with the Novagrad Union. No matte...