It was under the influence of Thomas Ligotti that I entered the nearest diner; which upon reflection did seem strange, given he was not usually known for stepping out. Nevertheless

Mrs. Anderson broke her chalk against the chalkboard, perhaps because of some sudden surfacing of a bitterly embarrassing moment to which she had a strong reaction. Her students

"What am I doing here?" wondered Hrengor the Beholder. "Sure, I did give up slaughtering dungeon ninnies and have seen such a cosmic variety of incarnates visit my smoothie booth,

"Have you noticed the second presence yet?" Granny Teressa once asked me from beyond. "No, no, but thank you for asking. I think I turned out to be kind of psi-blind, except for

By then, Olivia knew that a combo of optimism and boldness was the only way forward. However, she kept her panache in reserve as she entered the post-apocalyptic coffee shop, where

but was also moved to mention that maybe more contrast would be better, e.g., "I never found a lover in abandoned shopping malls." Well,

It's a release and a way to comment on stuff, it's a way to play, it's a way to remind, and for me also a way to learn how to write more succinctly. How about you?

cat whom he had disrespected for eight years, and whose comeuppance he thought he'd escape. Leaving that aside, the creature had learned some advanced Mandarin, which

leaping upon the counter was a nice surprise to Hrengor the Beholder, who had been thinking of shutting down his interstellar food-court smoothie bistro. Hrengor blinked at the cat

Phil's sister Madeleine wasn't exactly psychic, but she could read her little brother like a book. "Can't hide love, Phil, but please don't squeeze or get cozy with my hubby." She

have to learn proper English, one imagines." Meredith Marigolds was somewhat concerned about this year's crop, and whether the language might be completely destroyed by them. "Hmm,

"Vro, if you did it before you can do it again -- you got this." No idea where that voice came from, and that he called me "Vro" was disrespectful, but the frayed space-time needed

"Wow, dude! Never expected you could even afford a safe room, let alone a concrete bunker . . . but will we ever see daylight again?" Ted thought for a moment, then

at the next table. "Just look at those two: drinking tea, holding hands -- so sickening!" thought the crypto killer before she finally got fed up and left the bistro in a huff. The

before I got to see the 3I/ATLAS Christmas show, at least from this side of things. Maybe I skidded into a van full of ICE Bubbas, because somehow I ended up in Hong Kong, which

something in Punjabi. Blasted Heath pointedly ignored Bhagavan and began to sift through the pieces of the smashed object, looking one person's for clues to the murder of

"Detective Manatee, didn't you solve that case 50 years ago?" asked Mycroft. "Yes, of course he did, you simpleton," said Vanessa Conquest, "but I wonder why he held onto the ears

I asked kreLLM to generate a few thousand dollars for me overnight and to book a flight to Seoul for the next afternoon, counting on the ambition of their tootsie-roll chefs to

ife on board with it too? It feels wrong to take a train when you don't know where it's headed. I could be a trap. Are they waiting for us to make a mistake? Is this why the sugges

Most writers would shy from giving the MC such great power, but where this was headed? He would soon discover his power and save his mother, but without training —nay, without guid