The Filthy Wound
The first nick came with what Blanche thought was a sincere apology. She was amenable to accepting it because she was enjoying the view: him kneeling between her spread legs, with nothing on but a pair of underwear. It mitigated her discomfort at being so exposed and the ache where the rim of the bathtub […]
On A Very Dry Afternoon in Early Summer
Trigger Warning: This story explores the subject of consensual non-consent, memory, and rape. It is meant to be disturbing, but not exploitative. Please exercise your good sense. Do not read it if you feel this sort of subject matter would affect you adversely. Contemplation It was easy to want her, to picture himself pinning her […]
Eversharp
The steel lives on the tip of my tongue. A strange synesthesia that bridges outer and inner worlds. Its edge hums in my veins. The cut it will make, the blood it will spill, the pain it will cause all force my heart up into my throat until my pulse deafens me and my mouth […]
Nathalie’s Tailor
It starts like a low, slow rip of paper, just audible over the hiss of shower water on the slate tiles. A slow exhalation of sharp-edged things that tears her throat on the way up, making a larger hole for the louder sound that follows. Until she’s crouched in the corner of the glass stall, […]
Jouissance Précoce
This story requires a warning if the portrayal of adolescent sexuality offends you. There is no intentional adult participation, but hey, some people are hell bent on believing we are suddenly fully realized sexual beings at the age of 18. I sat up amid the swaddles of bedding in the berth and rolled up the […]
Amanda, Agnus Dei
I walked Amanda up the shallow stone steps of St. James’ Church at Spanish Place, under the shadows of its uncanny gargoyles and into the cool, dark interior. In my grip, her arm muscles were tense. The tendons of her neck stood out like wires. I loved her like this – I couldn’t help myself. […]
Dark Garden
I’m back at his doorstep. This place I’ve sworn I’ll never return to. Many times.
I feel dirty, ugly, as I ring the bell, and uglier still when he answers the door wearing nothing but a pair of baggy trousers. His feet are bare, his hair disheveled, he hasn’t shaven in a while. He’s not handsome, or well built, or even particularly well hung and, worst of all, he has a laugh that makes me cringe. I do my very best not to make him laugh.
The Tower
As she passes, I catch the scent and my entrails coil and knot like a ball of newly born snakes. My sister reeks of her despicable habits. No matter how thoroughly she bathes, I can smell it: the stench of peasant seed. All the baths in Persia, all the perfume in Venice cannot cover the […]
Click – Podcasted
Lying on his belly in the middle of a rice paddy, Carl showed the new trainee, Sovann, how to come at the anti-personnel mine, partially embedded in the muck, at a 30 degree angle and gently touch the knife tip to the side of the box, feeling for give. The young man, sweating as profusely […]
Ghost Marks
With one slender finger, Rachel pushed the crystal king onto its side with a click. It rocked back and forth on its round base on the marble chessboard. Her father’s eyes flitted over the chessboard, tracing lines of power. “What the hell do you think your doing?” “I’m resigning.” “Don’t be stupid! Why would you […]