Derrick followed Callum as he led them up the drive of a sprawling farmstead to the small house in the center. It almost blended into the landscape with how low it sat. Taylor’s camera shutter accompanied their footsteps as he took pictures of the surroundings.  “The first building was somewhere that way–” Callum gestured off ...

Maybe in Another Life East Street, the main road through the village, was all but empty. Residents had disappeared indoors for lunch or sought shelter before the dark clouds broke with heavy spring rain. In the silence, gritty shoes on cobblestones hurried by. Inside number 25, two women cowered in a darkened room. Ermentrude shook ...

They boarded a small ship on the beaches near Ingrid’s family house. Sigrid and Rionan sat aboard deck and held tight while Ingrid, Helgi, and Bo threw their weight at shoving the stout frame into the water. The sand crunched and shifted beneath their feet. Foam and cold seawater dribbled into their shoes, but the ...

Ingrid forced Rionan into a bath in the back room of the longhouse and handed her a bar of soap dotted with lavender. Rionan appreciated the subtle scent as she rubbed the smooth foam into her arms and hair and listened to the bickering outside. It felt good to have soot and dirt out of ...

The man who grabbed their attention was in his mid-sixties, at least, with a salt-and-pepper beard that reached his chest. He had a full mug in hand like he had just returned from the bar. Kally sniffed and nodded, “Why?” Derrick hesitated. “It’s for a project,” he hedged. “We’re college students.” The man lumbered over ...

It happened again, like many times. The sheer euphoria of being beside her, the moonlight cascading her bare skin. Her angelic face with a peaceful, serene expression. I brush a strand of auburn hair from her face, careful not to wake her. Her smooth, cream-like appearance radiates in the night. I glance at the alarm ...

Derrick stared at the Hnefatafl piece. Outside, the sky had darkened with threats of a storm. Taylor called him back over.  “We need to leave soon if we’re going to catch the bus back,” he said. Kally booed from the pit where she was once again circling the walls. Derrick wondered what she saw that ...

“I prayed for you,” Rionan said. Ingrid paused, stirring the pot over the flames. It was too early for the sun to have risen more than a sliver over the horizon, and a dim shadow infused the woods around them, but the trees were already alive with birdsong and rustling leaves. Ingrid stared, unsure what ...

Reykjavik was on fire. Ingrid scrambled from house to house and pulled people from their doorways and bedrooms. A boy grabbed at his siblings as Ingrid kicked in the door to yank them out. Once assured they were safe, she hurried on. The flames grew higher and higher as she stumbled about, calling for Rionan ...

The night Onacona was born, her father saw a white owl in flight, so it became her name. Some Native American tribes regarded owls as unwelcome souls of the night. The seven tribes of the Cherokee people thought otherwise. In the Cherokee creation tale, the animals inhabited the upper world called Galuntai. Their god ordered ...