I spent the morning in the garden, my roses were overdue for a bit of a trim, and while weeds weren’t plentiful, it was always better to act early rather than late. Of course, with that kind of job, only half my time was spent outside. The other half was spent dealing with the ‘harvest’. …
You are a small god, with very little power or influence. But you are happy, and take care of your few worshippers as much as you are able. An extraordinarily powerful being stumbles bloodied into your sacred place, and cries “Sanctuary.” Jaeshra was sweeping the forecourt of her temple. It was a task far beneath …
Conversational maxims – quality, quantity, relevance and clarity – violate at least one in each exchange. Not sure I managed to stick to this exercise from the 100 Day Challenge but I had fun... A merry-looking older man, blue eyes twinkling under grimy brows, plonked himself on the bench facing Alec and Nathan. Alec leaned …
Delauney wove through the lunchtime crowds, dodging tourists and unimpressed locals. One more block. One more block and she’d be at David’s office building. Then she’d be safe. She glanced at reflections in shop windows as she passed. The man was still following her. Was definitely following her. It wasn’t a coincidence, he was too …
The day dawned bright and cool and I gave myself the morning off. I had an appointment in the afternoon and decided any but the most pressing chores could wait until tomorrow. And there would be chores, not the least the annoyance of having used up almost my entire stock of rosemary and sandalwood candles …
Lord Danbury walked out of the room, and Anna could hear him speaking in the hallway. He was answered by their footman, and another male voice she didn't recognise. Probably the steward; Seb wasn't going to get another chance to climb out a window, at least not until he got to whatever country house was …
A Steering the Craft exercise where you try to weave a large lump of exposition into a story. The crowds stared and whispered, as they did every year. At least it was a different crowd this time. Country folk, gawping and gasping, instead of the sniggers of the city’s thieves and merchants. In all, Queen …
Prompt: All the statues in a major city go missing Janet switched the television to mute. The reporter standing in front of the empty pedestal didn’t have anything new to say and was looking increasingly uncomfortable. She didn’t blame him; the Albert Memorial minus Albert and his attendant symbols of the Empire was an eerie …
A random snippet from a story that went nowhere. The candidates were left to their own devices that morning, provided, they remained in their apartments, so each could be found at a moment’s notice for their meeting with Prince Justin. Marie raised a brow when her maid admitted the official from the night before barely …
The silence at the dinner table was deafening, Maria wanted to clatter her knife against her plate, or her glass, something, anything to break the bitter, suffocating blanket their mother had thrown over all of them and their father was doing his best to ignore. Marcus did it for her, casting down both knife and …
The DNA of Stories 