Can't Catch a Brake

Can’t Catch a Brake

     “Drive.” She slammed the passenger door like we were getting away from a bank in a hurry.
     I slipped the car in reverse and rolled us down the sloping driveway.
     One problem though: as I pumped the brake it hugged the floor but we were not stopping. I twisted the wheel so our white Dodge Ram didn’t hit the light pole behind us.

Neither Dog Nor Boy

Neither Dog Nor Boy

            Worm carcasses littered the sidewalks. I wondered if there were any worms left in the world.

            “Charlie, no. Charlie!” My puppy was still new to life and wanted to sniff everything. His black nose twitched over a neighbor’s drenched tulips before I tugged back on the leash.

Morning Ritual

Morning Ritual

*Warning: Though a work of fiction, the following may contain triggers for some audiences, such as pregnancy issues, mental health, and gore.

            I told Mitch and he insisted on driving me down to the drugstore that morning to get another few boxes and another test. It took all of my patience to explain to him that, no, he couldn’t watch me take it and he would have to sit outside the bathroom and wait.

            When I came out he snatched the test out of my hand and tried to make sense of the pink lines in the window. “What does it say?” he asked.

Matched

Matched

    Match officials stuck a syringe into my arm and talked among themselves about the waiting box controls for lighting. I didn’t ask them what they were giving me.

         It kind of didn’t matter anymore – I had been selected to go into the arena, take out my opponent, and hopefully avoid being shiskabobbed by a random bone mutation or blasted by some unforeseen energy mass out of someone else’s foot.

Knight in Real Life: Epilogue, Legacy of the Robe

Knight in Real Life:

Epilogue, Legacy of the Robe

         Two days later Bethany summoned Paul to the library.

          “What's this about? Any more orders for bean tea?” Paul shut his mouth when Bethany set an empty gauntlet on the table next to her new laptop.

          “Library Wi-Fi connection, basically.” Bethany pointed at the screen. “Read it.”

          Paul used his finger to speed-read the email. Then his finger fell away as his eyes went over the words a second time. “I don’t get it.”

          “‘Bethany, your hunch excavated more evidence. The genealogy has another section. A cartograph encapsulated in a wall has been discovered in the cottage of the village where the monk dwelt.’” Bethany looked at Paul. “Do you want to see the map Professor Rycliffe sent?”

          “Dude…” Paul opened the attachment without asking. Bethany said nothing, but she made a mental note to teach him some manners.

          They looked over the digitally scanned version of the ancient map.

         “Do you see what I see?”

         “Yeah, a terrible map of the Atlantic. There, what’s that signature, what is that?”

          Bethany beamed. “That, my good sir, is the name of the author of ‘The Dyed Rose’.”

        “Uh, Beth, how certain are you?”

        “I'd stake my bachelors' on it. I would know that handwriting anywhere.”

         “And that?” Paul pointed to the edge of the map, where a small ship decorated the unknown waters. “‘The Sleeping Maiden’.”

        “Oh no.” The figurehead of the tiny ship they saw looked just like –

       “Lisa,” they said together. The picture detailed an angelically curved face hugging a bunch of printed flatsheets.
        "He did a decent job with the shape of them." Paul traced his finger over the pair of antiquated headphones. "Beth? Can you see me?"
         "Yeah." Bethany answered slowly. She stroked the gauntlet, raising a ring that only metal of a thick density can. "It really happened. He was really here. The author. Maybe not drawing the map, but he definitely had his hand on this."
         Paul stared at the parchment face of Lisa. "I'd have to say he did."

⟴⟴⟴ 

Knight in Real Life: Part Five, Such Sweet Sorrow

Knight in Real Life:

Part Five, Such Sweet Sorrow

         Getting the knight was surprisingly easy, Bethany thought, especially considering his sudden fascination with T-shirts.
         Getting the coffee, not so much. She and knight were still waiting thirty minutes later when Paul finally walked in the room.

Knight in Real Life: Part Four, Unraveling

Knight in Real Life:

Part Four, Unraveling

         Bethany arrived out of breath at the elevator. A crowd of Greeks piled into the elevator ahead of her. She cursed herself for not caring to learn the locations of the emergency stairways after two years.