G is for Goryo

Alone in a strange land, she died, unknown and unmourned, not for many days, and yet. And yet.  Her spirit lingers even now, in those she tried to help, those she could not save. And, they say, if you wander the field at night, if you mean any ill, she might drag you down, as […]

F is for Fire

It is now the time of fire and flame, the time to celebrate the high feast of Beltane. As one of the last of a long line who truly remembers the old ways, one of the last of our kind, I stand at the edge of the ritual circle with my athame in hand, as […]

FF and A-Z: Evening

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook Back before we had scientists and telescopes in space, all we knew for sure was that sometimes – and you never knew when – evening, that magical time of darkness, would come unexpectedly. A hush falls on the land, animals become restless, crickets chirp. Is this evening or morning now? […]

D is for Doors

I vowed that this would be the last time I walked through another door, the last time I stepped into yet another world. The loss had become too much, people I’d loved and had to leave behind, unable to explain where I had gone. This time, it appears as purple door, its brass knob cold […]

C is for Cryptid

Anyone would get angry if hunted with spears, and my pet Chechi was no exception. As far as I knew, he was the last of his kind, the last of the great bears. Scientists say that his kind died out long ago, if they ever even existed. I know better, just as surely as I […]

S is for Sisters

We knew it might come to this, the two of us in a dark alley facing off with two guys who have herded us here. “Freaking reaver lovers,” the one guy says to us. I’m calling him pimple face, because – pimples. “Do it,” Vielle says back to me. We’ve been best friends for our […]

FF: R is for Rainbows

I still believe in miracles, you said, your final words to me on my death bed. Now that I’ve joined the great cloud of witnesses, now that I’m watching you from heaven, I wish you will. You can’t have rainbows without rain, but storms pass. This too shall pass, my love. At the end of […]

O is for Origins

Where do ghosts come from? People living in war-torn lands, not quite fleeing from the senseless, aimless weapons fired by people who think of this like a video game, trying to capture strategic points, not even bothering to avoid the “soft targets,” the civilians, because there’s the terror that comes with seeing women and children […]

N is for Native

In the world I come from, we see and speak in colors. I was born as brilliant violet swirling with faintest hints of pink, with a breath of smoke that wafted and puffed between each word. Now that I’m older, I’ll settle for blues and grays. I lounge with you beneath starlit skies and dream […]

M is for Mothers

 I was today year’s old when I found out that I was adopted as a child. It was a sealed adoption, but eventually my parents found out that – literally – no one knows where I came from. My mother (or father? or random stranger?) left me in a basket outside a church. It was […]