Gallery

Agnes stands in her living room, and watches the fire as it burns low in the hearth. The fire smolders along the edges of its embers, flickering dark orange to red and back again. It will go out soon, likely in the next twenty minutes. She’ll be back in fifteen, with luck. She runs a finger along the handle of her woven basket, then sets it in front of the fire. “I offer bread, to fill your stomach. Wine, to quenc...

Nervous energy buzzed under Satin’s skin, arms and legs unable to remain still from the movement of it. She flitted from stove, to counter, to stove again— check the time left for the parmesan risotto, add a bit more chocolate drizzle to the peanut butter cheesecake, shift the platter, dust off the counter— Here, to there, tiny adjustments, moving to the hum of her own anxiety. Satin paused midway through anothe...

The light and greenery of the greenhouse gives way to a quiet flagstone path, leading to one of the building’s side entries. Sable watches Primrose’s slender back as he guides her to the door, his shoulders drawn to perfect posture. “My ambrosia workshop isn’t far from here,” he says without preamble. “You’ve likely seen it in passing before. It’s a storage shed; we keep larger gardening equipment in there, but there’s an attached room for my w...

Sable kneels down in the cold, dark earth, facing the ambrosia flowers she’d planted. It feels like so long ago, but… she smiles, tracing an opalescent petal with her fingertip. It glimmers pink and blue where the light dances on its surface, and when she pulls away the petal curls as if to draw her back.  It feels like so long ago, yet at once like barely yesterday.  ...

Andromeda watches the crowd of people as they dance and mingle, a finger tapping idly on the stem of her champagne flute. Angora outdid herself on the decor this year— gossamer drapes hang from the ceiling, and when they catch the light in a certain way they shimmer like faerie wings, subtle enough to be a dream. The chandeliers are similarly ethereal, the candles on their arms flickering in shades of amber and honey.    ...

The mandala wrought in stained glass stretched across the greenhouse roof, allowing light to spiral down in multicolored fractals to grace the plants beneath it. Those lovely, colorful lights cast softer shadows than the harsh fluorescents Sable was used to, and she smiled to herself, admiring the way the lights chased themselves among the glossy ficus leaves.  Primrose was running uncharacteristically late, but Sabl...

“Hollis, the elevator’s this way,” Sable said, a nervous smile fluttering on her face. The other bun looked up from the weeds they were admiring. The overgrown stems were easily half the height of their bun form, and stretched up from between the sidewalk cracks, seeking sunlight. “Huh… yeah, guess you’re right,” they said, and picked one of the bright yellow dandelions before meandering after her....

Afternoon sunlight drifted through the cafe’s windows, settling upon the hardwood floors in languid pools. They stretched toward the soft shadows beneath chairs and tables, but didn’t bother to intertwine with them just yet, content to warm the floor they rested in. Sable had arrived about 15 minutes early, deciding that would hopefully be not too early, but not too late. She’d ordered a mocha and a plate of sma...