Fantasy Stories
A Loss, Long AgoThe famed Wingriders go to battle against the Amalek, together with the soldiers of the Dahlia Queen. In alliterative verse.
"Sing, human and Wingrider, slow / A lament of the long fercor war / Before it reached the mountain ridge / Where it would fall in favour / Our sons became battleweary / Our daughters dreaded the fight"
Circle DanceEvery year, they danced the Circle Dance in May, and ten years and a day ago a woman had a very memorable dance partner, who promised to return. In verse.
"She raised her head / Her chin held high / When music came / Across the sky / From the room above / Where merriment lived / She heard the song / And knew how it went"
FairytaleAnne didn't want to be at the ball, and she certainly didn't want to talk to him, so she hides behind a door.
"Men and women from fifteen to thirtyfive mixed and mingled, all in jewelry and dresses that tinkled and shone. All with a glass of champagne that tinkled and a smile that shone. Bright light glinted its reflection on crystal and white teeth. Perfume rose in hot, sharp clouds from shoulders male and female. Between all the ornaments, half-hidden by a fashionably low-hanging chandelier, stood Anne."
Merry He Goes RoundCastor only meant to go out for illicit icecream, because he doesn't much like blood. When his mother comes looking again, he discovers he can do much, much more. Alter Ego universe.
"On the stairs that led up to the caroussel sat a boy that looked human, but wasn't. He ate ice-cream. His dark hair flopped into light blue eyes, grey-white skin not unusual in this season, although it made him sickly in appearance. He wore only a shirt, jeans and sneakers. People might have commented on him, had it been possible for them to do so. For no one saw the boy."
Queen of the UndergroundCarley meets a wondrous woman on the underground, and slips into an enthralling dream. Alter Ego universe.
"The only seat still free was next to the woman. The rest of the commuters sat or stood in a half-circle that centred on her. An admiring court. The male half probably stared in frank admiration of her face. The female audience, Carley herself included, could not help but envy that clothing, and where did she get those boots? The only detail of this arrangement that struck Carley as out of place was the pressing silence. No phone rang here, none whispered behind their hands, books remained in bags in favour of the tableau she provided."
The Sky and the Sun and the DawnA castle shining in a magnificent dawn once belonged to the now-extinct Callower clan. In alliterative verse.
"The sun shadows silent windows and shines / From a sky that has not seen a soul in centuries / Dawn encounters neither friend nor enemy / Gates sag into an old man's grieving stance / If they could talk, they would tell this tale"