“Happy Birthday to you…” erupted from the entire house. Mom brought the chocolate princess cake with sprinkles out from the kitchen. It’s a long-standing joke from when I was five — I cried the entire day about wanting a princess cake, but at that time, we didn’t have any money. We managed to get a poor version, and as we were going home, we came across an orphanage that was throwing a birthday pa...

Richard looked at the odd wrapping of his birthday present. It did not look like any wrapping paper he had ever seen before. There was weird writing on it and it felt much different than what he normally got. The card that came with the gift only said that sometimes the gift I on the outside. There was no name with the gift but Richard had a feeling he knew who had sent it. He very careful to open...

I roll over to the feel of something under me. “Ughhh what is it?” I grab wearily and my hands pull up something like thick paper. Is this a joke? It looks like a treasure map. The old paper, edges almost burnt-like, dots connecting one tiny circle to the next until one is marked with an X. As I lay confused, the door swings open. My husband laughs.. “What is it birthday girl?”. “Babe did you put ...

The whithered scrap of paper lay still in Ammer's limp hands. _Answers. _That is what he wanted.

A breath away from despair, he glanced down at the aged parchment in his grasp once more. _Still blank. _Desperate, Ammer brought the parchment close enough to his eyes so that it brushed the tip of his nose. He could not find the slightest mark of ink anywhere. In a rage, Ammer groaned, crumplin...

Consumed by bunches of wrapping, I reach for another long tube covered by more of the bright colorful, birthday themed wrapping paper.

“Oh! This one’s from us! We thought that since your turning 18, we would keep the family tradition!” My mom interrupted.

I keep her words in mind as rip the top of the tube and pull out what’s inside. A worn out, aged piece of parchment is in my hands.

Laughte...

I trudge down to the mailbox in the chilly twilight. Opening it, I’m pleased to find it almost full. Looks like a few people remembered my birthday, I think. Moving out to the middle of nowhere hasn’t made people forget about me.

It’s too cold to linger by the mailbox so I quickly scoop what’s inside and hurry back to the warmth of the house. I throw the stack of mail onto the kitchen table and s...

The ocean had always been linked with her life, Morgan’s namesake, her Mam’s source of income and Pa’s, setting off to trade with the neighbouring isles as she played on the docks with the other children. It is the hub of their small town, where everything new arrived. The colours of spices and fabrics being unloaded, smell of salty sea and sweat from sailors.

“Morgan! Morgan!”

Mam’s shrill voic...

Never thought I would feel like a pirate, but today that’s exactly how I feel. I don’t know who this card is from and I don’t know how it has managed to get delivered to me whilst on a cruise with my friends. But right now, in my hands, I’m staring at a crumpled map.

“Let me see.” Sam jostles in closer to me, her chin perched on my shoulder. She has never understood the concept of personal space....

Every day they bomb us. They try and destroy us. We want to escape but there is nowhere to go.

The bombs fall and no one helps us. We are being ground into nothing. Hundreds of us, devastated and scattered.

One day, we find a map. It promises a way out. Survival and help is waiting for us. It could be a trap. It probably is a trap. It is a small scrap of hope in a time where we have no altern...

Aidan woke up to the scratchy licking of a tongue on his face. Blinking to clear the sleep, he looked around and found himself lying on the ground in a verdant wood surrounded by tall trees. The fluffiest dark gray creature licking him hopped away and chirped a laugh. Nearby lay a beautiful young woman, curled up and snoring lightly. He could just make out the short, velvety stubs of her antlers. ...