“Yeah, they seemed okay. They paid well, which I guess is the important thing. They worked at being friendly, but something was always straining at them. It’s a small house they’ve got, but then they’re really little people. No complaints, little made it easier for me to clean.” I shifted my backside. As I got… Read more Little People

Surrounded by a primeval forest, Saro lay clutching the muddied dirt, gasping with his final breath, his body numb, the flash of his sword still recoiling in his grip. His master cast a steely eye and spoke a wounding reprimand. “This moment is trivial,” the old man said, “your aches and pains are feeble ghosts,… Read more The Battle

Once upon a time, there was a talented young fairy named Garalinda. She attended the prestigious Godmother Academy, and after much hard work and training, landed her dream job: Level One Godmother. Her brilliant blue wings swept high as she embarked on a career that promised to be legendary. Then, in a fateful clerical twist,… Read more The Legend of Garalinda

Tears mingled with raindrops. Water dripped from her earrings onto the slopes of her shoulders. Her thick braid intricately woven with buds of jasmine now drooped, heavy with dampness. Her clothes, soaked through, had a translucent appearance. But for once, Nilambari hardly cared. In her lap, lay her daughter’s head, her body on the muddy… Read more The Yakshini’s Daughter

Since you ask, this story takes place many years ago when the world was young and minnows had not yet been invented. In a land more or less in the middle of the middle part of the world was a forest. But not the kind of forest you would know now, a forest with leaves… Read more How the Chestnut got its Candles

“Do you live around here, or do you fish?” asked the loon. “I fish,” said the merganser, “but I could certainly be persuaded to stay since the fishing is so spectacular.” The merganser continued to dive and fish in the lake, while the loon watched and worried whether the merganser might be persuaded to leave.… Read more The Lake

I’ve always enjoyed popping over to the other side at this time of year and mingling with the mortals for a few hours, maybe put the wind up a few if the moment was right. Last year I happened across a fancy-dress party and figured it would be a prime opportunity. This crossing over was… Read more Hallowe’en

Once the Blackfoot Indians lived from Saskatchewan to Yellowstone, free under the Big Sky. Life was good. The sun warmed their bodies and songs filled their hearts. Buffalo was plentiful. Starlight and her husband lived many years alone in their lodge.  During this time of great wealth, her husband took another wife.  This pleased Starlight,… Read more The Legend of the Buffalo Stone

Who, Great King, could ever survive your cold hand smiting? My life, which you took so swiftly, would not even have been worth mentioning, had it not been for this final act—that I am a dead man addressing you this morning. Superstition made your men spit repeatedly as they cut off my four limbs and… Read more The Crowmaven and the King