Stories
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The Night Unending, Part VI (Finale)
There was no staircase after the top, only absence. Octavius stood on the edge of the Tower of the Night King and stared into a sky that was not sky but memory congealed into black silk. The stars were watching… Continue reading
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The Dandelion Rite
Every spring, just as the dandelions began to blossom, the townsfolk of Gristlethatch performed The Planting. It was tradition, ancient and grim. No one quite remembered how it started—some said it was in the town charter, others blamed the bees—but… Continue reading
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The Night Unending, Part V
He saw it through a break in the storm, just as the fog finally broke its hold: a jagged silhouette against a sky the color of bruised fruit. The tower rose like a wound in the world, forged from obsidian… Continue reading
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Cast No Shadow
Darkness wasn’t a lack of light in Grandma Marla’s house. It was something else. Something present. The first time I noticed it, I was six, chasing a dropped spoon under the dining table. My fingers reached for silver, but touched… Continue reading
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The Night Unending, Part IV
At first, it was just his name that slipped away. He noticed it when he tried to hum a song from his childhood and couldn’t remember the lyrics, then couldn’t remember the tune, then couldn’t remember why it had mattered.… Continue reading
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The Night Unending, Part III
He found it by accident, or maybe it found him. He had wandered far past the dead-end paths of the street, where the moon refused to shine, when a glow shimmered in the distance—a pulse of green and blue and… Continue reading
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Animal Husband
It started with the teeth. Not the growing or sharpening of them—the shedding. Molars clattered into the sink like coins. Canines splashed into soup. He’d smile and leave bloody holes where speech used to live. “He’s just under stress,” his… Continue reading
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The Night Unending, Part II
Octavius scraped together a flashlight, some plastic-sealed food, and a coat that smelled faintly of old dreams. His apartment was cavernous and echoing. He stepped into the night’s impossible thickness with his odd little bundle. The air tasted like rust… Continue reading
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The Night Unending, Part I
Octavius awoke to a dense darkness that felt wet, like being submerged in ink. A velvet absence pressed against his eyelids from the inside out, humming softly, like a song only mirrors could sing. He couldn’t tell if his eyes… Continue reading
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A Very Dysfunctional White Elephant
The Hensley family Christmas was always a volatile affair, but this year promised to be especially catastrophic. Aunt Carol, freshly divorced, arrived with a bottle of merlot she refused to share. Uncle Greg had already dipped into his “festive flask,”… Continue reading
God Is In The Radio 