Tortured Paradox

Returning this week to Otherworld.She was always sleepy after the morning dose. This time, the orderly had wheeled her out to the wide windows in the common room and left her there. She wasn’t sure why she was in a wheelchair, but it was comfortable in that moment. The light pouring into the room was soft, and on the other side of the glass, the trees rustled in the breeze. Gold fought with…

Returning this week to The Charm Keeper.“What do you remember?” The voice echoed slightly and seemed to come from both behind him and in front of him. Someone was shining a light in his eye, someone wearing a white coat. The light flicked back and forth, from one eye to the other. Something told him to sit still, to obey. There was something about that coat, though, that made him wary. “Of…

Returning to this week to Otherworld. Lee’s eyes opened to near darkness. Night. She sat up slowly, cautiously. She remembered closing her eyes on pain and dizziness. She had felt wretched. Surrounded by dverg, in a room of crystals. Things were different now. This room was shockingly normal to her mind. In the faint light shining in from one uncovered window, she could see rough wooden walls…

Returning this week to Bee.They had found a small cabin, priced cheaply by the day. It was rather shabby, its furnishings old, dusty, and sunbleached. And the location was certainly out of the way. But it was a change from being on the road, or parked in parking lots and truck stops. And the water in the shower ran hot, if weak. Jason had let Bee have a shot at the shower first. He knew she…

Returning this week to Adaptations. It took time for the boat to arrive, but the Watcher felt like he had found a new store of patience. His equilibrium was newfound, yet old. Certainly he had felt sustained in this way over the centuries on Station. Before everything had suddenly stopped. Before he had found himself changed. Still, it was nice to be returned, if only for this moment, to such a…

Returning this week to The Charm Keeper. Lia let the water wash over her. Her ears were filled with the continuous fall of it. Her eyes were closed, or she was sure they’d be full of steam. She’d turned the faucet on as hot as she could stand it. Somewhere, away from the grim tile of the shower, the flickering fluorescent of the bathroom proper, a necromancer and a girl sat waiting. Lia had…

Returning this week to Otherworld. They followed silently, though Lee could sense Tannish’s fury boiling within the dverg’s body. With each stride of his body, with the tight way he clenched his jaw, he communicated his feelings. Why, then, did Lee feel so detached from the situation? She felt muted, muffled. Like she was operating in a haze. Kind of like when she had taken far too much cough…

Returning this week to Bee. Lamperti chose to handle chaos the only way he knew how. With a handful of pills and plenty of scotch. So when he had finished his last bottle, he grimaced and forced himself up and out of his favorite chair. The tv had turned itself off a while ago, power saving mode, or something. He remembered when that wasn’t a thing. When the tv would just stay on, and the…

Returning this week to Adaptations.She had left the safety of the cabin, again, Teri saw. The wind whipped furiously out here, and the waves pushed hard against the vessel that carried his people, his family. The waters here were so different from the ones at his home. Oh, storms could whip up and be violent. He had a healthy respect for the way things could be, at the village. But this…

Returning this week to The Charm Keeper. Anka eyed Simon warily. Somehow, he had gotten about five steps ahead of her. Their guide, the cat, was moving at a measured pace about the same distance ahead of Simon. She watched his tail flick back and forth, and in her mind, it moved to the sound of a metronome. flickflick, ticktick, flickflick, ticktick. He seemed almost eager, she thought,…

Returning this week to Otherworld. Dizzy. The medicine made her dizzy. It had to be the medicine because there wasn’t much else, it seemed, that Ashe was allowed to consume. Water. Pills. If she fought, injections. The walls spun, and it was easier, so much easier, to tuck her head against something that she thought should be solid. Easier to close her eyes, and ride the waves. Sometimes, the…

Returning this week to Bee.It started little, those first days. Small reports. Weather shifts. Drone strikes. Bee was hyper-focused on the news, on the satellite radio reports, and, near the end, the AM radio chats that squealed out in between white noise static. Jason was mostly quiet, but she could almost taste the tension rolling off of him. The way his muscles would bunch, the almost feral…

Returning this week to Adaptations. Hilga had worked creche duty, of course. All able-bodied adults were required to do a rotation, at least in the beginning. It promoted character. And of course, the creche was their future. It did a person well to see their fruit in growth, as it were. She had thought herself a patient, kind supervisor of children. But those had been Stronghold…

Returning this week to The Charm Keeper.Simon glanced periodically over at Anka but didn’t give voice to the questions that rolled through his brain. And there were many. Rather, he tried to pay attention to where he was placing his feet. All around them, the world was a lime green. Faintly glowing, it seemed to pulse with the timing of a heartbeat. He could hear it even, if just barely, and…

Returning this week to Otherworld. Lee and the dverg had made their camp amongst the thick underbrush of the beach. At first, they had shifted every few hours, making their way around the small, odd island. Soon enough, however, they learned that was unnecessary. No one patrolled Ankou Island. No one came. There was evidence of visits in the past. Bones were found amongst the bracken, long…

Returning this week to Bee.“Tonight, the internet is abuzz with conversation about dreams. Do you remember yours?” Lamperti snorted slightly, only half listening. The television was on for background noise. The real noise was far closer to his ear. He rubbed at his head with his left hand, feeling a headache there beginning to crest. He had important things to do. He had a meeting with his…

Returning this week to Adaptations.The ship crested the next wave, and Nine could feel her stomach raise up, pressing against her throat. Then everything sunk back down again. Up and then down. Steady, reliable motion, for now. The sea was not as violent as it could be, not right now. The wave caused a fine mist of salt water to spray her face, but she still kept herself at the prow, her hands…