There were three reasons to be grateful for waking up that morning, and three hundred not to. Rachael listed the three so-called positives in a litany all day, convincing herself it was worth it. It had to be worth it. One: Benjamin. She bent to pick up his discarded pants, jocks, tee, socks... “Ben!” No … Continue reading Little Things
Content warning: implied child abuse. “Knock, knock!” Madeleine listens at the basement door, her Shell-coloured pigtails dusting its fading, Ceylon wood. She smiles at a reply no-one else would hear, and twists the brass knob, carefully, quietly. Beyond the door, the space below yawns in Oolong Black. She checks her surroundings, but the Guild Grey … Continue reading Sister
A year went by without Rupert mentioning anything, but that didn’t mean he stopped thinking about it. You saw the references in his every move. In his hobby, his obsession, most especially. “That’s the last of them, I think,” he’d said, laying golden roses on the kitchen table. You’d looked out the window to the … Continue reading Letting a Wild Thing Grow
Lila forgot it was winter,That day when the sun threw rainbows at the flying snow,The trees swayed in harmonyAnd the sky burst blue. It was a day for wandering, forClimbing fences andTumblingThrough fields,Making angel scenes to wave hello toGod. Chasing a startled deer twixt fir stands, sheStumbled over hidden roots,Skinned hands raw on bark and … Continue reading Lila’s Eagle
The door shook with a thunderous knock. “Yeah, coming,” grunted Derek, half-expecting a cold-call salesman. He swung the door inward, ready to tell whoever to shove off, but the two-inch man suspended on iridescent blue wings in front of his face blew the thought clean away. “Sorry,” the creature’s voice piped, impossibly loud. “Sometimes the … Continue reading Adoption Day
EMMA LOUISE GILL 