You stare as the fence silently pulses, ready to shock curious sheep away. The pulse gives them time to retreat, to let go. If the power was continuous, you and the sheep would be stuck, glued to the ... [+]
The sword bounced against Petra's hip as she entered the BART train. The passengers didn't give her much thought, too used to the sight of Knights these days to care. Petra was relieved; she didn't ... [+]
A long time ago, when the world was new, the night sky was a dark void absent of moon or stars. By day, Helios, the Sun God, filled the sky with light as he raced his chariot around the heavens ... [+]
Tracy Jo Freely climbed a tree one day. A plum tree. The big plum tree at the end of Miro Street.
"When are you coming back down?" her parents asked her an hour later.
"Never," said Tracy Jo.
He
... [+]
I watched one of those old movies the other day—you know, from when nobody wore masks. It was a little disturbing to see all those naked mouths, and sometimes it was tricky to tell what was going ... [+]
The meep of the alarm dragged me from the warmth of my quilt cocoon and smack into Monday morning. I had to bat at it four times before it finally stopped and I found my glasses. 6:00 A.M. and ... [+]
There's nothing I love more than eating. Mmm, yes. Fat Boy loves a good meal. I enjoy the crunch, the squish, even the quietest sizzles as I grind every little particle between my molars. I cherish ... [+]
Bag over my shoulder, I turn around once more at the threshold of the crevice: this cave was my last abode. Giving it up is hard, but I don't have time to feel sad: the tide of mist crawls at my ... [+]
When Eliana returned to the Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta that night, she imagined that her grandfather's footsteps on the same floors, in the same hotel, after climbing the same mountain, would have ... [+]
Her name is Amina. The keeper of the tribe's goats, she knows all the paths and all the trails on the great plateau of white stones that stretches all the way to the horizon. She walks and hops on ... [+]
The stallion pounded the ground with its hooves in a wild gallop, its horsewoman leaning over its neck. With no saddle or bit, the mount flew free, its mane in the wind.
Nighttime enveloped the
... [+]
All libraries should have these luminous corners. That space near the blinds, behind the section reserved for the Quattrocento; or that seldom frequented mezzanine, obstructed by boxes and ... [+]
When he was small, he had always dreamed of being an astronaut. Unfortunately, he was hopeless at astrophysics, but that had not stopped him from becoming the best geneticist at NASA.
The day he
... [+]
Granddad used to say that the stars were born from the smiles of women, and I never understood how right he was. Until today.
At the age of seven, all I knew for sure was that I liked the idea
... [+]
"Come on, come on, come on, before the moment's gone"
The lyrics of "No. 1 Party Anthem" by the Arctic Monkeys rang through the summer air. It had been a red hot summer, right from June, covering
... [+]