Once she locks the door, Nia puts her clothes back in her suitcase. Afterward, she blocks the closet door and sits on the edge of her bed. What the hell was that all about? A woman I never met before pops out of the closet! Thank God I didn’t undress when she came in. Does ...

Hikari falls through the closet door and lands on the open top of a large pink suitcase. When she looks up, a frightened young woman holding pepper spray meets her eye. “Wait! I’m not an intruder. Mr. Cash invited me. I won’t hurt you!” The woman hesitates, backs away from the closet, and allows Hikari ...

Thunder from the approaching storm grows louder while the ocean waves below the castle create a deep hum that echoes into the upstairs hallway. At the writing desk, Nia taps her pencil on the journal page while she thinks of words to improve her poem. So far, it goes like this,             Bubble poppers,             ...

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 ...

Hikari stares at the castle and its decorations; it shows confidence, despite its messy appearance of mismatching décor and the approach of an angry thunderstorm. She smiles to herself. Mr. Cash always has confidence, even giving it to his home. I want to have that kind of feeling in myself. She heads towards the front ...

“Tell me what’s wrong Derrick?” Kiara’s gentle voice soothed the jab of loneliness that had cut into his gut. He sniffed and willed the lump in his throat to go down.  “I just miss you,” he said again. “I miss our home.”  “What do you miss most?” He heard her shift on the couch as ...

The castle’s entrance walls are a deep shade of bloody red. Throughout the great hall, paintings and photographs of various games surround every which way. Nia tries to walk in quietly as possible, not wanting to disrespect Chav and to make herself invisible to any other guests who may already be in their rooms. However, ...

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 ...

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 ...