She wrapped her hands around the hand-thrown mug, coffee scent misting the still-cold morning in an exhausted cloud. The metro newspaper lay splayed before her on the kitchen table, moaning headlines and sub-stories of international terror threats, environmental ruin, domestic violence, a floundering economy, and the collapse of another small local non-profit. Continue reading
short
Stay back, Stay Alive (How cold am I?)
Cold. Literally frozen to the bone. Not that I’m whining. Not that I can do that anymore. Continue reading
Cross-Country is a Girl’s Best Friend
A bowl of nuts dominated the coffee table, a nutcracker standing sentry, ready for service. Three wooden bowls with three types of crackers surround the cheese log, like wise men around The Child. Continue reading
Emergency Delivery
She’d traversed the mountain, her skis crackling and sparking as she streaked down the final slope. Just a few kilometers more across the icy flatlands; she would reach the Hold before full sunrise. Continue reading
Powerless
More than powerless: feckless. More than feckless: foolish.
Not foolish: mere spot on a distant edge of
Valley of the Trolls 