The subway car shook as it rumbled down the track,
clack-CLACK-CLACK,
CLACK-clack-CLACK,
clack-clack-CLACK,
with all the promise and none of the delivery of a rhythm. We all
shook with the car, swaying in time, like tide-pool anemones tossed
by the same waves. For a Sunday afternoon the car was relatively
crowded, but there was a lot going on downtown that day. It wasn't as
crowded as a weekday morning, though; we all had room to breathe,
even if everyone couldn't sit. Alan leaned against the po

Thera's hand moved quickly along the
bottom edge of the wall, following the outline of the bricks where
they met the close-cropped grass, her finger darting into the
crevices where the mortar had chipped away. She was quick - a natural
athlete - but not as quick as the lizard that scurried just ahead of
her grasping fingers. The little creature ran with such speed,
looking back over its shoulder to dodge her next grab, that it did
not realize it had run into Thera's other, waiting hand until her

There
comes a moment in a young horse's life where everything makes
sense.I did all the right things. I kept in shape. I taped my
ankles when I ran. I studied hard, and took courses in business while
the rest of my high-school friends rolled in the grass and wrote bad
poetry and smoked anything they could get their hands on. I worked
nights during college and paid my own tuition and graduated without
the crippling weight of student loans. Good for me, right? I listened
to my parents and when I d

We stood outside the
Scale and Schilling Inn, pressing in under the eaves to stay out of
the pouring midnight rain.
I stood, that is,
while Sir Benthorn remained seated in the saddle above my shoulders.
That put him rather high above the ground, since I carried a sizable
pack below the saddle. I carried a lot: besides Sir Benthorn (and his
armor, of course) (oh, wait, and my armor), my bundle held my tent,
his pavilion, a week or two of trail rations, his changes of clothes,
a veritable armory

Eleanor slid a few
more inches along the brushed nickel of the elevator railing, until
her hip pressed up against the badger trapped with her. Her thick,
hooved fingers reached down to run through his fur.
"Eleanor Brune,
just what do you think you're doing?" The badger's voice was
mostly calm; he managed to maintain his snooty dignity while the left
half of his face was buried in the Jersey cow's curves where her
ample belly the tops of her thighs met. It wasn't entirely accidental
th

Ann's
story
My name was Annie
Setter.I was planning on changing it (the "Setter",
not the "Annie") after I graduated, after I wasn't beholden
to my parents for tuition money. There's nothing that screams
"provincial" more than a breed for a surname. That's not
how they do it in the capital cities, is it? It's definitely not how
they do it in the Industry. My parents would have been upset,
probably, but if they didn't want me to act like a capital kid, why
did they b

"I'm gonna eat you
up." Her voice was dreamy. Her breath made his ear flicker.He
moaned happily in response. They were a strange sight: a huge jersey
cow and a dappled gray pony spooning in the scattered straw at the
back of the barn. She was the one wrapped around him, with one thick
thigh thrown over his hips and and his head wedged between the pillow
of her upper arm and the heavy weight of a breast. She was bent over
him, her wide tongue tracing lazy, idle stripes up the length of

Ryan hustled into the
bathroom as quickly as the heavy door would let him, and was
unzipping his fly even before he'd reached the urinal. He fell
against the wall above the flush handle and let out a long-held sigh
of relief as an uncharacteristic flood streamed out of him and into
the porcelain basin. His bladder must have had the whole pitcher of
beer in it. Well ... he had been the only one to drink from it, and
it was empty; she just kept sipping from her huge soda cup as she
refilled his pi