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The Doegin and the Desert

“How will the wind find you?” the Doegin asked, his eyes scanned the faces of his students.

“As a traveler,” the children recited.

“How will the heat take you?” he demanded.

“As a fighter,” they exclaimed.

“How will the desert keep you?” he asked.

“As dust,” the children replied with a sense of reverence. “The desert goes forever. The desert is forever. As dust, so too are we.”

The Doegin smiled and the children were proud. The old Doegin would the next of them to battle the desert. The elders being at peace with their battles brought the children comfort.

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The Wash

That June, Steve used his summer job at the coin-op car wash to start dealing drugs. Cars would pull in, flash their lights and Steve would stop hosing down the empty bays long enough to hand the driver what they were looking for. They paid him well in return.

It wasn’t long before the building started to expel more filthy cars than clean ones, and Steve had to start making his dirty customers spray their cars down before he’d make an exchange. That summer, the car wash had its most profitable season ever and Steve was promoted to manager.

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Ice Palace

The aftermath of the fire was a beautiful tragedy, the street becoming a frozen river while the skeleton of the house stood like a sparkling palace of ice.

“It’ll have to be demolished,” the fire chief announced on the morning news. He stood in front of the fragile wreckage of the historical home while the news anchors, back at the station, grumbled mournful platitudes. Up next was a story about a three-legged therapy dog visiting kids in hospital.

Nathan recorded the segment about the fire as a souvenir of his crime. He recorded the dog because it was cute.

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Frostbitten

There was something about the falling snow that stole sound from the air. She hadn’t needed to walk far from the house for the music from the party to fade into nothingness, the bass that had been rattling her rib cage finally relenting. The cold was invigorating and she could feel herself sobering up with each step and every cold kiss from a snowflake. She watched the house from a bus bench across the street, her eyes on the silhouettes that occupied each window, her heart laying broken at someone else’s feet, her breath rolling away into the silent night.

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The Jay

The old weather vane had rusted in such a way that its creak had attracted the attention of a smitten blue jay. The jay would sit in a nearby tree, bouncing with the branches as the wind brought its lover to life. The jay had learned quickly that the skinny iron bird would dance if he kept his distance, but she fell quiet and still whenever he landed upon her metal perch. Thus, the jay found himself content to court her from afar, twirling himself as she swayed, happy to hear her song, even after the leaves abandoned the trees.

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The Crossroads

The four kingdoms built holy places in the corners where their lands met. It was a show of peace and trust among allies and when the kingdoms fell to the War, those who retreated to the Crossroads were able to create a stronghold for refugees.

As time went on, it became clear that the War could not be won and both sides, exhausted, had little interest in the Crossroads. The new city was a sanctuary for those who had lost everything, a place to start over in the shadows of the spires that had once symbolized a promise of peace.

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The Funeral Home

They had been in the funeral business for hundreds of years. They were courteous, meticulous and above all else, they did not dawdle. They arrived at hospitals and care homes within an hour of being called, no matter the time or weather. They would arrive in undertaker’s garb, coats and gloves with a hat could hide their expressions as they went about their routine. Nobody would have guessed that they were vampires, or that their kin ran so much of the industry. Their broods rotating through towns nationwide before anyone learned what happened to the blood of their loved ones.

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Outsiders Party

Browne found Pryor at the periphery of revelry, smiling in silence at antics of the crew. “They’re exhausting, aren’t they?” Browne asked.

“Delightfully so,” Pryor said, matter of factly.

Browne, who had hoped to find solace with the quiet outsider of the group, was disappointed to learn that Pryor was also enchanted by their optimism. “Oh?”

“There’s a kind of quiet in their noise,” Pryor said. “A comfort in their chatter. Keeps me out of my own head, you know?”

Browne nodded. “Sure, yeah.” A close by the party continued, spirited and loud, separate but welcoming and warm like fire.

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Alter of Dreams

The little black alter found its way into Morgan’s every dream and nightmare, its ominous presence demanding an offering. After weeks of being haunted by it, Morgan watched as a shifting shadow of a thing placed a single black rose upon its dark surface. It was at once harmless and horrifying in the way specific to dreams. When Morgan woke holding the rose, the purpose of the alter was clear. It was a gateway. Each night, Morgan would place something on the dream alter and awaken with it in real life, without asking what sacrifice it would seek in return.

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Stopping Time

The problem with being able to freeze time, was that he continued to age while everything else stood still. It wasn’t until puberty hit that stubble began to betray the truth of his situation. Stopping time so he could finish an essay for class hardly seemed worth it, and while wandering the world as it sat in stillness was peaceful, it wasn’t purposeful. He began to freeze time to save it, whipping his motorcycle between stationary cars on the highway, taking bedrest to heal from colds that might linger and making the most out of the mundane to save time.

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Back Again

We’ve been here before, you and I. Occupying opposite sides of the room our eyes do a daring dance across the curves our lips long to caress. Between us, like Legion, other bodies sway and swarm, swap secrets and scars, and steal glances not unlike our own. Every event we attend is like a reception of regrets, our unsaid words and unclasped hands echoing off of every wall. How long will we hold out hope that we will wake from this dream to find ourselves together? How often can we imagine holding hands over breakfast as we recount this nightmare?

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Common Crimes of Ordinary People

It was tax evasion to start. Or perhaps the flaunting of labour laws that saw a teenage Sam getting paid cash under the table. Then there was the jobs themselves, petty theft of buying small electronics before wandering back into the store, picking up an identical device from the shelf and returning it for cash. That game was given up as soon as there was enough saved for college. It seemed fair since that was a kind of robbery all it’s own. Sure, there was the occasional itch that came from a lack of adrenaline. Which lead to light burglary.

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The Spring

The Spring is young and eager; it takes wild swings at the Winter barely landing a punch upon the weary season.

Winter is tired. It has witnessed the clouds falling to the ground colder than corpses. Winter has seen its sanctuary of darkness crumble to the sun and while it knows the inevitably of its defeat, it saves its strength for a few strong blows. If it was certain to be defeated, it could hope for nothing more than strive to be remembered.

The Spring took the hits hard but refused to falter, confident that it was only growing stronger.

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After the Alter

Isaac had nothing to say to his father. His wrists and ankles burned, raw from the ropes that were used to bind him. His mind ached with the memory of sunlight bouncing from the blade of the knife and across his father’s face. Isaac had not heard the divine words that caused his father’s change of heart. Nor had he been able to hear the arrival of the new sacrifice that would be offered in his stead. Isaac’s own pleading for mercy had filled his ears. And though his father had ignored him, the something supernatural had answered his call. .

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Broken Bounty

Rufus was fuming, pacing in front of the steel door of the holding cell. “I catch them, you turn them in. That’s the deal!”

“Not this one,” Mary said. Her eyes were fixed on the small m window that displayed the broken bounty he’d brought her.

“Why not?” Rufus demanded. “Why are you trying to ruin a good thing?”

“I’m not turning him in,” she said. A vow to herself as much as to Rufus.

“You warm to him? Drake said you were too soft.”

“I’m going to send him out the airlock after I watch him decompress,” Mary said.

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Taste of Love

“I think I love you,” he says, his body still sticky with the sweat of passion.

“Oh, sweetie,” she says, taking a long pull from her cigarette. “That’s one of the worst mistakes anyone could ever make.”

“You’re making fun of me.” He tugs at the sheets.

“I’m not making fun of you, I’m only warning you. Some folks just aren’t made for loving. It’s not your fault that I’m an albatross.”

“Won’t you even try?”

“Sure, I’ll try,” she says. “I’ll try and I’ll fail and your heart will break that much harder for me having lead you on.”

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Immortal Encore

“We agreed this time would be the last,” Hannah says. “We wouldn’t need to perform anymore sacrifices. We’d grow old together and finally be done with it all.”

She’s talking too loudly. Her hearing is failing with age. “You still can,” I say.

“I don’t want to do it alone,” she says.

“I wouldn’t leave you,” I assure her.

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” She’s right.

“Then wait for me,” I say. “We’ll go again, you and me, just once more. I promise. Every time I think I’m finally ready to go, existing gets interesting again.”

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