Sweet Dreams (Preview)
**Sweet Dreams** Your breath hitches as you awaken. Bleary darkness resolves into focus; comfortable, familiar scents of your sheets and pillows fill your nose with your shuddering...
Survival of the Fittest (Preview)
**Survival of the Fittest** The zoo looked different at night. Tall, wrought-iron gates loomed, framed by the bright gibbous moon and topped by wicked spikes. Though the moonlight threw the words into shadow, Cibola's nocturnal vision had no problem...
Is This Seat Taken?
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Glenn glanced up from the book in his lap - the bus chose that exact moment to shudder as it kicked into motion from the stop, flipping several pages forward. Next to his row of seats stood a young hare, underdressed for...
A Special Arrangement
Jacob's breath came in short huffs and gasps, filling his nose with the mingled perfumes of flowers that _almost_ covered a heavy underlying musk. His sweaty paws gripped the sales counter. Oh gosh, this was such a bad idea. A customer could walk in at...
The Lonely King
**The Lonely King** They call me terrible. They call me wicked. They call me tyrannical, mighty, and the greatest of calamities. They are...
Aquatic Arbitration
**Aquatic Arbitration** _By Arcane Reno_ The moment she walked in I knew she was trouble. Long, luxurious tail culminating in a fin that could knock a guy off his paws; quick, mincing steps that said she knew where she was headed and heaven help...
Paper Dreams
**Paper Dreams** Albany's claws _tack-tack-tacked_ a frenetic rhythm over their beat-up laptop's keys. Upon the page, endless possibility played out. Act II, scene I--a pivotal turning point in the narrative building up to the _denouement_. Something...
Somewhere in Nevada
Somewhere in Nevada, a small oasis reflects the desert sun. A quaint clapboard cabin rests ramshackle on its placid shore, shaded by a lone, leafless tree. Inside that cabin, a bed with wire springs creaking, dusty floorboards, and all appearance of...
Phase Shift
**Phase Shift** By Arcane Reno "See? I am only saying that it is strange." Pouncer, the morning shift supervisor, leaned against the doorframe of Café Plaisir's main bar, scowling at what looked like a sizable cone of black leather dangling from the...
A Perilous Brew
**A Perilous Brew** Mishna parted the thin barrier of cherrywax bushes with her staff, careful not to let the sleeve of her robe catch on the boughs. No conspicuous red stains on her clothing, thank you! "There you are," she whispered. In the...
Event Horizon
**Event Horizon** "Step right inside and see the home of the future, today!" Marin hid a smile as she walked past the portly beaver standing atop a dais, despite the...
Pretty in Pink
**Pretty in Pink** Nothing captured the essence of the word 'pristine' like a field of new-fallen snow. Haku's boots crunched through its top crust with each step, sinking into the softer fluff beneath. The temperature had dropped after last night's...