The Lost Pizza

It had been a good pizza too. Deep dish with steak, mushrooms, green peppers, and extra cheese. He had only eaten one piece when his door had been smashed in and the had fight ensued. During it's course, he wasn't exactly sure how or when, a fire had started. They had continued to fight until he had killed his attacker; but by then it was too late to save his apartment. Realizing this, he fled from it, pizza forgotten, and melted into the on-looking crowd and stood, watching it burn. There had been nothing special in the apartment, not pictures, keepsakes, or valuables. There had only been that poor, poor pizza.

So Close to Consciousness

She came to consciousness slowly. She didn't bother to open her eyes at first. She simply lay there, listening to beeps and humming. Beyond those, she was only aware of the fact she was breathing and in pain. There was a dull ache in her lower left arm; and a sharper, more widespread, pain on the right side of her torso. Her head, although not pounding, throbbed slightly. She felt stiff and heavy. She decided to open her eyes, but was only rewarded with a blinding light that caused her to scrunch them closed. Against her better judgment, she tried to sit up. The movement caused her side to flare in pain and her head began to pound. The unconsciousness she had slipped away from moments before grabbed onto her like a parent finding a runaway child. She tried to fight it, to cling to her hard won awareness, but the darkness won. She once again slipped into its numbing hold.

To Save a Town 2

Soroya flew the short distance to the town square where the town's people, old and young, were being loaded into trucks. Those who were old and strong enough to offer resistance had been handcuffed or tied. Many of the children were crying. There as a news crew and its vans interspersed with the military vehicles. They were recording the scene and broadcasting it live. It was how she and her brother had become aware of the situation.

She came to a stop, floating in place just south of the square. Using some of her power, she projected her voice and spoke. "General Thrisen! Let these people go!"

All heads, cameras, and guns turned to face her. A collective gasp went through the crowd as they noticed her, floating above the streets. Very few of her people used their power for flight, it took too much power, and even fewer had used it where it could be seen. None had ever been captured on camera.

A man, tall and muscular, pushed his way through the soldiers and civilians to stand in the center of the square. He had a megaphone in his hand. "Ah, Soroya Kingschild. We meet at last." he spoke into the megaphone. "Where-"

"I'm here to trade myself for the town." She cut him of before he could ask where her brother was. "They've done nothing." As she spoke, she noticed soldiers moving through the news crews, making them lower their cameras and voice recorders.

"They gave shelter to enemies of the United States." was the general's reply.

"They had no idea I was here. I rarely came to town, and when I did, I made sure I could not be recognized. They did not know they were helping me. Let them go and I'll come peacefully."

The general thought about her words for a moment. "You'll come willingly? No fighting or resistance?"

"Yes. Provided you release them now. I won't come down until then." she replied.

The general spoke into his sleeve. "How about this, in addition to you surrendering peacefully, you also prove that there are no others like you among this crowd and I'll let the town go. No charges will be filed, no one arrested. If there are others like you, they will be taken and placed in the nearest camp, instead of being taken as a terrorist. Sound like a deal? As you think on this, you should know that I have men in place to shoot you out of the sky if you refuse this offer. "

She didn't immediately respond. He was asking her to betray her own people. It would have been one thing if no others had been here; but there was one man. He was a few years older than she and Corin, and taller. He stood with defiant posture among other young men who were waiting to be loaded onto a truck. Even from her height, she could see the markings that marked him as one of her people. The markings of her people were only visible on a certain wavelength of light. A wavelength that humans could not see or produce. Not with out help. What would be the most significant about this betrayal, even of one man, was the fact that she was supposed to be a leader of her people, a queen of sorts to her brother's role as a king. Even still, she knew what she was going to do.

"I'm sorry."she mentally said as she sent a telepathic burst of apology and deep regret. While her people could not exchange words telepathically, but they could send "bursts" of emotion with such precision that they might as well have. Her burst was returned with one understanding and acceptance. From the way he expressed it, she got the impression that he had known what she would do even before she had and that he was perfectly okay with it, possibly even proud. "Strange." she thought.

She closed her eyes concentrated. She felt the power flowing through her and molded it to her will. A moment later, she was filled with warmth. She opened her eyes and raised her right hand. A yellowish light emanated from it. She shone it over the crowd. She lit the rest of crowd, moving slowly so that the general and his soldiers could clearly see that there were none of her people among them, before coming to stop on the man she had noticed.

"Bring that man here." the general said through his megaphone. Soldiers moved to obey. They grasped the man by the arms and brought him to stand by the general. Once he was standing beside the general, arms still held by the soldiers, the general addressed her again. "Alright, Ms. Kingschild, it's time for you to hold up your end of the deal."

"What about the townspeople? They are free to go?" she asked.

"Yes. The town is free to go." the general responded. He spoke into his sleeve again and solders began to move through the crowd, releasing those who had been restrained.

She watched for a moment and then slowly began to descend, releasing the power that held her in the air . She did it slowly so that no one would assume she was flying off or attacking.

She had only descended a couple feet when she heard a muffled thwump and whooshing sound behind and above her. She whirled in the direction of the sound. She tried to dodge, but was not fast enough, so a second later, her chest and left arm exploded in pain and she lost all control of her power and descent.

She was vaguely aware that she was headed in the direction of where General Thrisen was standing. She hit the ground with a thud, cracking the asphalt.Her unconscious body rolled a few times and stopped. There was blood coming from a gash on her head and from her nose.

"Restrain her." the general said, and his men obeyed. They roughly rolled her over and cuffed her hands behind her back with cuffs made special for restraining her kind. Two of them lifted her by her arms and dragged her to a truck.

"Lieutenant," he said, addressing a man beside him who saluted, "make sure she stays unconscious until I say so. Also, take that man she identified with you. If he give you any trouble, shoot him." The lieutenant gave him a "yes, sir!" and scurried off to follow his orders. Then, the general turned to address the rest of his men and yelled, "Somebody confiscate those cameras!"

Insubordination

"That's still not an excuse for her behavior."

"What behavior, sir? She did what was needed and saved lives."

"She disrespected a superior officer, disobeyed a direct order from said superior officer, assaulted an unarmed civilian, blew up a building thereby endangering civilian lives, and freed a criminal from custody."

"That's one way of looking at it, yes sir."

"One way of looking at it?! What in heavens man! How else should her actions be looked at?"

"Well, the criminal she freed was a wrongly accused man who was instrumental in today's success, for it was a success mind you. The building she blew up was an enemy stronghold that was more of a danger the lives of those civilians if left standing that it was being blown up. The unarmed civilian was an assassin sent to kill our Council Leader. Sir."

"What about her disrespect and disobedience of a superior?"

"Since you asked, sir, if the superior had been so superior, he would have taken her actions himself instead of leaving them to be carried out by a junior officer."

Pain and Memory

Mr. Grey had told her that she had been unconscious for three days, and missing for two weeks before that. She had simply disappeared one night after stating that she was going to her dorm's gym. Two weeks later, her friend, Pasha had found her lying in the floor if the entry way. She was dressed, although not in the clothes she had left in, but her feat were bare and bloody. She had no memory of how she had gotten there or where she had been for those two weeks. Every time she tried to remember what happened, s searing pain shot through her head. If she tried to press on through, the pain and pressure only got worse. The doctors said it was probably due to the fact that she had sustained two concussions. She also had three broken ribs, two cracked ribs, busted knuckles, lacerations on her face and arms, and the bottoms of her feet had been scraped raw. They said that, from appearances, she had at some point gotten into a fight barefoot on rough terrain. They said that the broken bones and cuts would heal, but they could not tell her for sure whether her memory would return.

The Night Before Duty

Captain Harrison looked down at his young son. He would miss him so much. He hated that he had to leave, but duty was duty.

He could hear his men laughing and talking with their families and friends. They would be leaving for Eiridin tomorrow. Since they were escorting King James, there was no way of know how long they'd be gone. So tonight, the families and friends of the Guard were having a feast.

The King had ordered his kitchen staff to cook their best and had lent the men one of his banquet halls for the occasion. Entertainers had been hired and were outdoing themselves.

Even thought there was much merriment, the was still a lingering sense of apprehension. Eiridin was the capital city of country they had been at war with not too long ago. The war was over, but relations were not friendly. The king was going as a display of "good will". There were also rumors that he was going to speak with King Ivan about a marriage between their two heirs. Captain Harrison had no idea if they were true, it was not his place to inquire about such things. His job was to protect the king, nothing more. He only offered advice when the king asked for it; and though that happened often, the king had not brought up that particular subject.

The feast ended at midnight. He wanted his men well rested and prepared for tomorrow. As he slipped his free arm around his wife's waist, he silently prayed. Thanking God for his family and for the ability to provide for them. He also prayed that God would bring him, his king, and his men home safe.

It's Not the End

He closed his eyes and lay still.

The fight had lasted two, maybe three minutes, but it had seemed to go on forever. Guns were fired, knives had been drawn, and punches were thrown. There were many times that he thought the fight would end then and there, only for it to be drawn out. Eventually, however, it was over. He didn't swagger away like the guys in the movies. He was on the ground, gasping for breath, every inch in pain. After a moment, he took a deep breath, held it, and slowly let it out. Then, groaning, he staggered to his feet and walked away. Fighting six (or was it seven?) guys was exhausting.

Insta-Learn

"You can learn anything! Insta-Learn lets you download new knowledge and skills directly into your brain. No more grueling training sessions, no more boring lectures! Learn what you want when you want!"
     I gave a small grunt after the commercial ended. When I was younger, I had wanted to use Insta-Learn to learn as much as I could. Now, not so much.
     Ever since I was little, my dad had taken me to what little "wild" remained and had taught me how to survive on my own, without technology and amenities. He had also taught me basic medical techniques, and how to read, write, do math, cook, sew, and fight. He taught me all of these, and a few more, without ever letting me use Insta-Learn.
     At first, I thought it was kinda cool to learn things the "old-fashioned" way; but as I grew older I started to resent it. I didn't want to be dragged out to the middle of nowhere to spend my days and nights with no technology, hot water, or bed. I didn't want to learn skills that I would probably never use; but my dad never relented. He never really explained why he made me learn things this way, he only ever said "Character trumps talent."
     I didn't stop resenting the lessons until it was too late to thank him for them. A few years ago, I hand the unfortunate experience of having to use, not only one of the skills, but all of them in order to survive. I also learned the short-comings of Insta-Learn. It was hard to access the stored skills in the "wild", and while the brain may know how to do something, the body does not necessarily understand how to perform it. Therefore, my hard work and hard won skills made me smarter and faster than the "Insta-Learners."
     As my dad always said, "Character trumps talent." Talent will only take you so far, but hard work will take you farther. Thanks, dad.

The Dragon

 He stared at the dragon crouching before him. He should not have gone out on his own. No one would know what had happened to him. His mother would spend the rest of her days expecting him to come home, like she did for his father. He couldn't climb the rocks, they were too step and smooth. Besides, dragons could fly. He would just be making himself an easier target. He couldn't dash to the side and try to run around either. The dragon's reptilian eyes tracked his every movement and it moved it's body to block his every time he tried. There wasn't anything to do but fight and hope for a miracle.

The Orphans

Mikhal shushed the children behind him. Then, he cautiously peeked around the corner. They were still there. They had been chasing them for three blocks. All because Jered had punched that rich kid a few days ago. Now, by order of the mayor, all the homeless kids in this area were being rounded up and placed in orphanages or workhouses.  They wouldn't last long there. Ari would be sent back to her abusive father, once they figured out that he was a nobleman. Tym, who was sickly, would probably be worked to death. Jered would last the longest. He was a fighter. He would probably manage to run away again. Mikhal would never make it to an orphanage or workhouse. He was too old, he'd be conscripted into the army. The only reason he hadn't left after the order was passed was Jered. His little brother was such a hothead. He didn't blame Jered for punching the mayor's son, the brat had deserved it. He just wished Jered would show restraint once in awhile. Tym and Ari needed him too. They didn't have older siblings, and other groups didn't want the burden of a sick kid and a girl. He couldn't leave. He had hoped to hoard enough supplies to move them to another city, but now they would have to start over.



Art by: John Foster

To Lie or Not to Lie

“Wait….what?!”

“I said, normally I’d-”

“I know what you said!”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“You would lie to me?”

“Uhh…yes….”

“Why?”

“Is this really when you want to have this conversation?”

“Yes! I want to know before we crash and die.”

“Well, because I love you.”

…..“Okay, I know you didn’t grow-up in a ‘normal’ of environments, but that is not how you show someone that you love them.”

“Even if the lie is better than the truth?”

“A lie is never better!”

“What if telling you the truth would get you killed?”

“Then tell me that; but don’t lie to me.”

“I’ll try to remember that.”

“Good” …. “Do you really love me?”

“More than anything.”

“Then you won’t get upset when I tell you that we’re going the wrong way.”

“What?!”