Finished Works

The following are listed as finished words because they are standalone pieces that I consider finished, not because they are polished and ready for primetime—I’m still working on that bit. Like my fan fiction, these pieces tend to be short and sweet, but some of them are part of an established universe and are notated in parentheses.

2008

Biological Warfare : 191 words : Science Fiction
Highways wound through the abandoned countryside like fractures, carving the land into easily defined territories.

Chloe : 283 words : Science Fiction (Blackguards and Plaster Saints)
It’s the night before the exodus –two hours, five minutes and counting– and there’s nothing left to do.

Daydreams : 260 words : High/Second World Fantasy
Dev had wanted to be a knight since he was old enough to swing sticks and imagine monsters.

Elm Creek : 273 words : Science Fiction (Blackguards and Plaster Saints)
There are only two people left in Elm Creek who remember when it was simply The Ship, without qualifiers or descriptions required.

Exodus : 231 words : Science Fiction (Blackguards and Plaster Saints)
No one had slept.

Hope Burns : 100 words : Science Fiction (Other Fiction)
It wasn’t healthy, but she couldn’t bring herself to give up what little hope had made it through the war.

Mr. Magnifico vs. Miss’Terious! : 468 words : Urban/Suburban Fantasy
“Kindly put that down and step away from the particle accelerator.”

On Arboreal Advice : 218 words : High/Second World Fantasy
“Put down the hammer and listen to me!”

Pancakes With a Side of Myth : 184 words : Urban/Suburban Fantasy
“You don’t find magic in an IHOP.”

Promises : 298 words : High/Second World Fantasy
There’s a rock near the shore of a green-blue sea and every night when the tide rolls in she perches on it, just high enough above the waves that she can see to the top of the hill.

The Cursed SunStone of Veramasu : 196 words : High/Second World Fantasy
There is noise and then there is song, and while it’s a fine line between the two Soya was pretty sure Til had wandered irrecoverably into noise.

Twin Ponds : 305 words : Science Fiction (Blackguards and Plaster Saints)
Twin Ponds was a tiny town, but it had always been tiny; little more than a collection of houses in the midst of unbounded prairie.

Under New Management : 307 words : High/Second World Fantasy
“I am the death of hope!”

When One Plus One is Blue : 305 words : Science Fiction (The Rabbit Who Ate the Moon)
The very first First was nothing more than an accident.

2007

Aiden : 153 words : Science Fiction (Blackguards and Plaster Saints)
A year ago, our future died; the hopes and dreams of youth, withering in the oncoming thunder of a century of war.

2006

Ask Me No Questions, I’ll Tell You No Lies : 323 words : Urban/Suburban Fantasy
There was something in the way he said goodbye that made her stop, phone halfway returned to its cradle held in a suddenly trembling hand.

Keeping Watch : 227 words : High/Second World Fantasy
It was such a small loss, compared to the war raging around them, but the Seventh Company took it hard.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics : 161 words : Science Fiction (Skipping Stones)
The world cheered when the first pod skipped from low Earth orbit to Mars, then onto Pluto in the same fraction of a second.

Lost in Translation : 127 words : Science Fiction (StarCrossed)
“Is this really necessary?” He’d meant it as a question, but it came out as an accusation.

Missa pro defunctis : 127 words : High/Second World Fantasy
In the end, there was nothing I could do but watch her die.

Of Ignorance and Angels : 159 words : Urban/Suburban Fantasy
It had come up in casual conversation; Bonnie was griping over a recently ex-boyfriend and Danny had said it without thinking.

Once Upon a Time : 278 words : High/Second World Fantasy
Things were happening too fast.

Second Chances : 263 words : High/Second World Fantasy
Rana made a business of taking heroes home.

Thinking Inside the Box : 244 words : Science Fiction
Something– something not quite there, but– Ah!

Watching the Pot : 259 words : Science Fiction (Night Without End)
They watched us closely in the beginning, when we were new and unknown.