The Beast stirs at first light, as he has done every morning for the past three thousand years. His chamber is grey – apart from a single golden beam, spilling through a gap in the curtains he cannot move.

There is still some redness in the sky – sunrise is rapidly giving way to a solid blue, but splotches of scarlet and gold linger on the horizon. I’m out of breath, but not incapacitated, as I hurry up

It’s been eight years since we last saw each other. In the early days, immediately after our break-up, I used to look at his name on my phone screen – never sending him a message, never giving him any

Two and a half years after quietly allowing my Hive presence to lapse (for a variety of reasons, none of which had anything to do with Hive) I have recently returned as a way to help myself get back into

‘Mom, we’ve driven past four times now,’ I plead. ‘Please, let’s just go home – what if Dad sees us? Or Mary?’ Mom lets out a bitter laugh at the mention of Dad’s new fiancée. We’ve reached the bottom

There has never been any physical violence – this is what she clings to, sometimes, as a reason to stay. That, and the happiness they enjoyed in the very beginning: their moments of tenderness, before

When I think of the old tree at the end of your garden, I see the gnarled log beside it (on which we would hop and jump – who’s the leader, you’re it, I got you, that’s the rule) I see the swings dangling

When one sees a fantastic cat, the only appropriate response is to pay tribute to them! This is my most recent piece of digital art (proudly home-spun and AI free) — inspired by a gloriously fluffy fellow.

It didn't take as long to pack up as I thought it would. After all the fights, the headaches, the endless back and forth over who was right or wrong... it's proven surprisingly easy to pack up a life.

‘Emma?’ Sarah appears around the side of the fruit and vegetable aisle. ‘Hm?’ ‘Are we ever going to talk about the fact that Derek Fitzmaurice keeps coming in here looking for you?’ Emma glances towards

I hoped, when the message first came through on my phone, that it wasn’t true. Surely it would turn out to have been a wild rumour – some bizarre notion that had taken hold in some obscure corner of the

There was something so innocent about them: those adorable robotic animals (Poo-Chis, Meow Chis, Furbies, to name a few) that dominated my childhood. As basic and limited as their sounds, expressions and

If I were able to take your hands – hoping they would not, any longer, be snatched away – and press them to my cheek, as you always did when you had strength to lift them yourself, I would take time to

Inspired by the freewrite prompt don't shake it. The little story that unfolded in my head today, as I began to respond to the prompt, reminded me of the Don and Amanda tale of a few months ago, so I decided

I’m not in the habit of writing as ‘myself’, so to speak, as I prefer not to put too much of my personal life, thoughts or opinions into a place as volatile as the internet. I was once more open in that

A response to the freewrite prompt standing naked in the arena, and a continuation of my Ballroom Project! The zenith of the full moon is here at last. Everyone will be expecting her to step out of the

A response to the freewrite prompt not a boy, and a continuation of my Ballroom Project! Would Alila's life have been different had she had been born a boy? She knows that her older brother Orvec is held

A continuation of my ongoing Ballroom Project series, a work in progress. The wedding will be over by now; the festivities brought to a raucous end; debris strewn across the palatial halls of Albalia's

On the day of your funeral, all I could think about was how rarely I had ever seen your eyes closed before. We lined up near your coffin, ready to stand and smile and shake hands with the visitors who

The heart is a multi-layered thing: forever resilient, inherently vulnerable; alight with hope, weighed down by the shadows of the world – this reflection came to mind as I sketched out the artwork above.