Category: Short Stories
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“The lantern was dead,” Buttercup whispered. “Total blackness. Zamba’s hooves felt like lead as he fumbled with the lantern, his grip slippery with the cold sweat of a goat who knows time is running out. In the dark, the only sound was the frantic clink-scrape, clink-scrape of stone against iron. Zamba struck the flint again…
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“I’d have headbutted it right off the cliff!” Bramble roared, charging a defenceless pine stump with a crack that echoed through the crags. He shook his head, dizzy but grinning broadly. “One hit. Boom! That’s all it takes to be a hero, right Papa?” Clover didn’t even look up from fastidiously cleaning a hoof. “You’d…
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Marble glared at Cecil. Cecil had turned the sun-drenched pond into his own stage; The swan’s serene grace only amplified Marble’s rage. “Look at him,” Marble muttered. “White as morning light. Prancing like a model. And me? I look like coal with white paint stains.” Marble’s nest was a dazzling treasure trove: coins, buttons, foil,…
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The silence was a presence. Not the restful silence of a house in the dead of night, but the vast, deafening quiet that had settled over the world after the upheaval. Gedaliah woke to it. There was no low hum of distant traffic, no wail of sirens, no anxious chatter of a thousand lives rushing…
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The morning started all wrong. Instead of his usual proud call to the sun, Reginald the Rooster let out a grumpy, strained croak. “That’s not right,” Professor Hoot hooted from his branch. “A fine day deserves a proper crow.” Billy goat chewed a daisy, his beard twitching thoughtfully. “Indeed. I don’t see a single cloud,…
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The air in the Great Library of Alexandria was thick with the scent of papyrus and incense. Apollonius of Rhodes, the esteemed head librarian, adjusted his spectacles, the weight of the freshly acquired Septuagint a tangible presence in his hands. He’d heard the whispers, the outlandish claims: “The Eighth Wonder of the World!” He scoffed…
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The early morning light was just beginning to touch the fast-food parking lot. Sid, a bundle of stress and rumpled feathers, rummaged through a half-open bin, his beak clattering against discarded wrappers. “I’m still hungry!” chirped Sammy, his chick, a fluffy, inexhaustible ball of need. “Guv’nor’s on the job, just a sec, kiddo,” Sid muttered.…
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Gedaliah’s farm is a place of cheerful contentment, or at least it is for everyone but Misty today. The sleek, orange cat sits perched on a low fence post, her tail twitching with a tension that’s lost on the other animals. Her emerald eyes, usually full of sleepy charm, are fixed on the farmer. He’s…
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“My apologies,” Blake said, then froze. His eyes widened, and he stared blankly ahead. His mouth opened, but no words came out. “Is everything alright?” his colleague asked, a hint of concern in her voice. “Yes, just give me a minute “. Then he simply stood there, a ghost in his own body. A stone’s…
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Romy pulled her old, mud-splashed boots from the basket by the back door, a familiar scent of damp earth and hay clinging to them. The farm had always been her sanctuary, a place of sun-drenched summers and quiet solace. As a child, she’d willingly get lost there each year, shedding the small worries of school…