Every night Rim dreamed of her parents—what even were parents? She didn’t know, but they were clearly nightmares since they looked just...

The gate over Alice’s flower garden is still there, and the cheerful little hand-painted sign proclaiming “Welcome All!”  is there, too,...

Nobody ever complained about the Thompson’s lawn. The HOA did not come after them for putting garish cement ornaments all over the place,...

He was aware, judging by the redness of her face and the way the tip of her hat was trembling with suppressed rage, that he should stop....

At first, the rock outcropping looked like just that—an eruption of red, shadows almost purple in the dusk, with red expanse on one side...

First of all, you should know that a haunted house can’t choose to be a haunted house. A house has to reflect the character of the people...

Chrysalises weren’t supposed to change quite like that, Betsey thought, staring up at the delicate green pouch hanging off the branches...

On Thursday Rob Smith found out he was a superhero. Whoopee. How fantastic. I suppose you’re already judging me for not being excited,...

Have you ever tried to change a teleporting baby's diaper? She’d vanish as soon as I got the special transportation-blocking diaper...

Not being a huge fan of the ocean, my mermaids are never of the singing, starry-eyed fork-collecting type.... “By the late Tidal Era, two...

My mother used to cut my sister’s hair in the garden so she could be seen through the neighbor’s window. Our neighbor was a fairy. “If a...

Once I served the Emperor. Once, when I was whole, when I was worthy. Once, before I was cursed. It was the day before I was to lose...

Sometimes she would sneak out of her rooms in the early morning, when the fog was lifting off the gardens, and find the door in the far...

I’m sitting in the kitchen feeding my youngest daughter. There are crumbs under my feet and a counter full of dirty dishes behind me. We...

My wife and I, we tend the horses of the west wind. When the breeze is warm and gentle and makes the grass on the clifftop ripple, we...

This is not my best work. But I'm already 3 days late, for my self-imposed short-story deadline and I want to get back to working on my...

The terrified screams stopped when the doorbell rang. In the gaping silence that remained, a reedy voice called out, “Pizza!” The wind...

Meg lifted her head from the mud in the bottom of the ditch and squinted. The sun was halfway into the sky, the crickets were chirping...

The feathers always made dining out difficult, Gemma thought sadly as she tried to tuck the fluffy down feathers that grew out of her...

“Whaddya do with dead roses anyway?” He said, leaning on the counter, his cigarette bobbing at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t smoke in...