Ties That Bind, Chapter VII: The Penalty
_Like an ancient day and I'm on trial_ _Let them seize the way, this once was an island_ _And I could not stay, for I believed them_ _Left the lights always in season_ _(Beirut)_ * * * When I hurried into the bustling hospital waiting room, I...
Ties That Bind, Chapter IX: Styrofoam Plates
_Just 'cause he's gone_ _It doesn't change the fact:_ _He was a bastard in life_ _Thus a bastard in death_ _(Death Cab for Cutie)_ * * * I didn't think the meeting was going terribly well. Nothing I told the assembled group in the small office...
Ties That Bind, Chapter VIII: Lost!
_You might be a big fish_ _In a little pond_ _Doesn't mean you've won_ _'Cause along may come_ _A bigger one_ _(Coldplay)_ * * * Pressed up against the foot of the bedpost, I scanned the vast expanse of the darkened room. Where could she have...
Ties That Bind, Chapter VI: A Tattered Line of String
_You've got a tattered line of string_ _And you tie it 'round everything_ _That you want to call your own_ _But it never seems to hold_ _(The Postal Service)_ * * * The squirrel's silly smile seemed completely out of place in the drab...
Ties That Bind, Chapter V: We Looked Like Giants
_And together there_ _In a shroud of frost, the mountain air_ _Began to pass through every pane of weathered glass_ _And I held you closer than anyone could ever get_ _(Death Cab for Cutie)_ * * * I needed to make a point of getting kidnapped by...
Ties That Bind, Chapter IV: Love Kills
_And I know when you're in too deep_ _You still think of me sometimes_ _Stockholm Syndrome and misery_ _There's a penalty for love crimes_ _(Robyn)_ * * * Even though the soup had long since gotten cold, I stirred the pot sitting on the trivet in...
Ties That Bind, Chapter III: Crystalised
The heavyset beaver didn't even give the papers I laid on the desk the courtesy of a cursory glance. "No. And that's my final answer," he said flatly. "Please. I've been to every other firm in the city. You're my last chance. At least _look_at her...
Ties That Bind, Chapter II: Attack of the Fifty-Foot Reynard
I couldn't help but gawk as Reynard stared downward back at me. Not that he seemed any less shocked about his general predicament. The balcony on which I stood only came to the middle of his white-furred chest. His jaw hung slack, bewilderment in his...
Ties That Bind, Chapter I: Pity and Fear
_And there are no tears_ _Just pity and fear_ _And a vast ravine_ _Right in between_ _(Death Cab for Cutie)_ * * * We tumbled through the front door of Reynard's apartment, giggling like godsdamn _schoolgirls_. Had I _no_dignity? Reynard ran for...
Bad Moon Rising
"Oi, Cog!" Baram called across the locker room as the black-scaled dragon pushed through the door. Cogaran glanced up as he finished his text, stuffing his phone into the pocket of his slacks. A crooked grin crossed his face as he saw the blue...
Breaking Point, Chapter III: Youth
_We're setting fire to our insides for fun_ _To distract our hearts from ever missing them_ _But I'm forever missing him_ _(Daughter)_ * * * I didn't know that so much of life could change with a few words. But that all changed when the judge...
Breaking Point, Chapter II: Lilith
_It's all trouble_ _It's all trouble_ _'Cause you want to feel it, you want to feel it_ _But you don't believe in it_ _(Susanne Sundfør)_ * * * The only redeeming qualities of West Saaduuts--nay, the only reason West Saaduuts should even...