S W E E T   F I E L D S

They waited for her in the sweet fields above, or so her sister, Etta, had told her.  Buncy didn’t know if she believed that, found it hard to believe much of anything good in the world.  Etta had been gone for so many years.  No other blood family she could recall.  Buncy still had the ugly old necklace that Etta had given to her before that horse-faced Sugar Thompson come along and drag her away, but she kept it behind a board by the stove and didn’t look at it much anymore.

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(First published by Space & Time #100)

T O    W A K E   S C R E A M I N G   F R O M
T H E   A M E R I C A N    D R E A M

Amid the roaring music, the flashing lights and the ecstatic revelry of thousands who had come to the warehouse to celebrate their particular brand of freedom, Udo Schmidt considered himself a fortunate man.  His journey through life had been difficult, marked by violence and the miserable deprivation of a nation drained dry by misguided politics.  But now he lived in a country where food and security were plentiful commodities.  If you worked hard and took pride in your craft, Udo thought, you could experience wonders.

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(First published by Red Scream Magazine 0.2)

L U L L A B Y

Music should be wind… carry you away; not cave for hiding.

Alexandra Chen remembered her mother's words as she labored over the keyboard with the obstinate tune.  No matter how she tried, she could not find the finishing layer, that final perfection of melody and thunder.  She had tried so many different combinations, but none of them had felt right. 

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(First published on Gothic.net)

P I E R C E

He bounced on his toes, two quick pumps of the heel to release a bit of the tension.  They had a good audience tonight; an attentive audience that was liberal with its adulation, and though the Ringmaster seemed distracted, perhaps even disturbed, The Pierce could feel a winning performance brewing in him.

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(First published in CIRCUS/CARNIVAL from Lone Wolf Publications)