The moon hides behind a cloud, creating a cloak of darkness. Her heart galloping inside her chest, the princess tiptoes past the mustached guards who are snoring away with hats covering their eyes, swords slipping from their hands. Once outside, she sprints to the stable. Tomorrow, at the ball, her father, the king, plans to… Read more That Was Then

Of a moonlit night, the long-armed youth turns his back to the village and sets upon the path to the mountain lake, riding the upward draft toward the dome of the summit, beyond the limit of the worn path, above the smoke of hearth fires, outside the lines of maps, meandering where voices decay to… Read more Ascent

It was a harmless lie, nothing more. The same lie that the old man himself had been told by his own folks, back when  he was the boy’s age. A tale that parents told to keep their children in step, to save themselves the trouble of using the stick or the back of a hand.… Read more Scarryns

The fog sisters rolled across cold fields, and sat on the banks of frog ponds. They spent their time listening to the gulp and splash beneath the soft glow of the moon. The smoke brothers liked to billow and blow, and climb up mountain sides and shame the sun. But most of the time they… Read more Fog Sisters, Smoke Brothers

When time began, Great Father gave Snake Woman authority over all growing things. With this power, she grew massive fields of corn and beans and orchards of beautiful fruit. Each harvest she gathered seeds for the following year.  Soon she had more seeds than she could ever use. Snake Woman shared her seeds with The… Read more The Legend of Snake Woman

To love your neighbor as yourself seems pretty heartless. Narcissus’s yew bow has a hefty draw, and few can boast the strength to bend it. But when he steps noiselessly into the glade and spies a roe deer, her nose to the pool, the bow arcs lithely as a reed. The hissing shaft buries itself… Read more World Turns to Slurry

Haruka’s thick eyebrows knitted together as one as he scowled at the board of businessmen sitting before him at the table. His glare was punctuated by his fist slamming onto the thick wood like the thump of a body being dropped into a grave. The board members jumped. “Daichi has died without revealing his secret… Read more Glowing Soil

The train stopped as he arrived at the platform. The doors slid open so he boarded and took a seat by the window. There was only one other passenger in his carriage; a woman around his own age who had long wavy red hair that fell down to her shoulders, and even redder lipstick on… Read more The First Carriage

Jane had always thought of herself as green. Not in an environmental way as that was a bit too modern. As a child she’d wanted to be a sprite and mix with other sprites down by the stream. She wanted to fit in and be one of them and listen to their murmurings and play… Read more Another Life