I couldn’t shake that horrible thing from my dreams. It didn’t help that I had to go to the funeral home at least once a week. I did my best to focus on my homework, but I could never get rid of the feeling that the thing in the morgue was watching me, waiting. At night I imagined him following me home and sneaking into my house, standing at the foot of my bed in the darkness, licking his lips.
My mom used to joke that being a mortician was the best job in the world because all of your customers walk away satisfied. At least, they never complain – of course they never walk away. Except… maybe I saw one of them walk away.
Should I tell you the story?
Bob, who lived in the pod above Jake, was masturbating again. Jake peeled his eyes open. They felt like oranges that had been cut open and left in the sun. It wasn’t something out of the ordinary – watching the standard government-funded porn before getting up for work – but Bob was far too indiscreet about it. He moaned and rocked as he got off, making the old steel and fiberboard of the pod creak in time with his ugly incantations. Jake looked at the clock next to his mattress, in the single shelf that housed his personal effects. He…
You can get the ebook for Voices of the Void right now on Amazon – free with kindle unlimited – or get the paperback (ebook always free with a physical purchase) Read part 1 | Read part 2 He turned away from the hall and ran back toward the elevators. As he did, the screaming finally stopped. The vision of the dead, forgotten child, seared into his retinas, burned into his memory forever, suddenly waned and began to disappear. By the time he reached the lift, the images had nearly evaporated, becoming a dream after waking, or a half-memory of a blurry photograph. He…
You can get the ebook for Voices of the Void right now on Amazon – free with kindle unlimited – or get the paperback (ebook always free with a physical purchase) Read part 1 When he reached the elevators, he noticed the doorway to the dormitory overflows was open. The lights were shining brightly all the way down a long, straight hallway. He could only see the first few doors, and they were all shut. Andrew looked back at the slick steel doors of the closest elevator. A glowing panel above indicated that the car was paused on the sixth…
The following is a short scene and a half of a story created on my livestream for the purposes of demonstrating dialogue writing. It begins with two characters who banter, revealing their character traits and also through that dialogue reveal the basic elements of a plot goal – Karen needs to launder money. The second (incomplete) scene introduces a third character, exposes his traits, and further develops the main plot goal. It was quite a bit of fun! Check out the entire stream here, then view the file below:
Sarah rushed through the narrow alleyway, brushing a stray red hair from her blushed lips as she went. The cold night wind drew moisture to her eyes, something that had grown unfamiliar to her in the days since she had offered her employment to the Order of the Black Lotus. She grumbled to herself as she stepped around a stray cat, causing the inky feline to tip over an empty bottle
My dream: After travelling abroad, my wife and I decided to move to another planet. We packed the house (the literal house, not just our things) into a decently-sized star freighter. It was blocky, but roomy and agile in the atmosphere above earth. That star freighter was taken inside a dock near the “foot” of an immensely large star ship, with a robotic dragon head containing many ion cannons. It was a battle-ready craft, probably a kilometer long. It was colored red and green. The dragonship curled itself into a ball and attached itself to an exponentially larger ship, so…
Talel threw another knife. It slid its way through the armor of the Draesen, the enchanted edge slicing through the steel mail like it was paper. It stopped halfway into the grey-skin’s neck. Dark blood erupted as he slid off of his horse, landing near the first scout Talel had killed, a human.
The elf looked over his shoulder and nodded. Mardrel padded up, his sword drawn. He was followed by the rest of the scouts, who bore bows and crossbows.
“So far, so good,” Talel said to the captain.
Mardrel peered around the boulder, taking in the steep slope up to the enemy palisade, tracing the wooden fortifica-tions with his eyes until they disappeared into the night.
“Do you think we can remain hidden?”
Talel nodded. “Well enough to get close, yes. The problem will be getting away.”
Darathel stepped up to the door and held forth his hand. The darkness rippled like water, then faded, revealing a sun-lit room filled with furnishings. Darathel and Faedra stepped in. The dark curtain formed behind them. When it did, the room grew darker as well. A halo of light surrounded a bed on the far wall. As if seeing it for the first time, Darathel flinched, then walked toward it.
On the bed lay an elf, breathing slowly. His eyes were open, and he wore a grim expression, though he stared at nothing. Bedsheets covered him to his chest, but he wore no shirt. His head reclined on a pillow, and on his golden hair sat a detailed circlet of golden-white metal that glowed with its own light, illuminating the dark space.
“Can you hear me, father?” Darathel said.
The elf blinked, then looked at Darathel. His voice was clear and slow. “My son. It is good to see you. How long has it been?”
“A day.”
“So little time. It felt like years.”
“It might have been longer to you, King Pelanel,” Faedra said.
