Some people have it easy. They’re born lucky, with money, with families that love them, with talents that let them succeed in life and in some rare cases, all of them together. Then there’s the Average Joes. They live normal, yet challenging lives. It’s a daily struggle, but one that’s possible to overcome with enough effort. They make up the the majority of...
The Devil came back from Georgia and met with his Executive Committee to review potential souls to target. He had several Popes, Imams, and various other religious leaders to help out. "There is a young woman in Alabama that is a prime target. She has sex constantly," said a Baptist Minister who lived below due to his penchant for prostitutes. "Just look at...
The Codex Il Malvagio sat on a fine wood stand amid a circle of black silk and sumptuous pillows. The thick book was worn leather and aged yellow pages. Nona was careful not to bump it as blood red petals fell from her hand. She finished her round, and lit a heady incense of deep sandalwood, carnal musks, and heady spices. Fragrant smoke curled up from the l...
Christmas Eve. In our little town, just north of Boston, snow flew, slanting down in white slashes against the night. But everywhere were lights, electric candles in black windows, bright wrappings of colored lights around evergreens in front yards, vertical rows of lights across roof lines and planters and framing picture windows. The town was proclaiming t...
"I hate the bastards!" growled Mimosa the following day, employing the worst insult available in the Knights' language. Illegitimacy was the ultimate stigma in a society that attached so much importance to child-bearing. Glade paused from shaving her fellow slave's crotch. She was aware of the vehemence of Mimosa's remark. "I hate them too," she said, altho...
The girls could finally relax. Father William was still in a stupor and needed no attention except for the occasionally cleansing of the brightly colored hibiscus vomit from His shirt. "We had a lot of customers." Alice wasn't really inclined to conversation but the silence was deafening after the hullabaloo of a crowded carnival. "Oodles." Imogen was ab...
It was the spring of 1938 when Giles showed me the bordello. It was, he assured me, no ordinary place of sex. Having lived in Paris all my life, I didn't think there was anything I hadn't already seen or done. But, with conviction, he told me that what I'd find there was unlike anything I could or would expect. Cleverly, he never told me exactly what it was,...
Oracle Four: The Legacy is Born. For three cycles after the ascension feast, Raven would grow in favor amongst the kingdom and become a well respected warrior. As with any kingdom, there was from time to time, minor skirmishes and uprisings and the warriors would be called upon to fight and put them down. Raven quickly proved she could do just that and in a...
My name is Stephen Pratchett, and I am a secret atheist. Why keep that a secret? you may ask. Well, the problem were my parents, and to a certain extent, my two siblings. You see, they were reformed protestants. For those of you who don't know what that means: they were the strictest, fun-hating, sour-faced people on the planet. Fundamentally their beliefs m...
Chapter One Ivory tugged aside the curtain of mammoth hide that was all there was to secure the relative warmth inside the tepee from the chill wind. She crawled outside and stood upright in the bulky furs that muffled her body from hooded top to swaddled toe. She needed reprieve from the dark distress that was overwhelming her during her bedside vigil. Ins...