A musical ride featuring song titles that move you right along — When Pierce McIntyre first tagged me to join in writing for Plethora of Pop, I was slightly taken aback. While music is a big part of the day, with it almost always on as the background to my writing, I have never considered myself a radio head. …

A Runaway Train Delivers Notorious Criminal To His Final Destination — June 21, 1891. He’d survived another test-barely. Moving his limbs and extremities, the inventor concluded his wounds were minor, and only the shock of the concussion had left him disorientated. The room had blacked out, and he could only hear electricity snapping. …

The morning after brings reflections and possibilities — Chapter 1 can be found here. Dinner and Not a Date Date When not looking at all finds something specialmedium.com Kiersten woke on Friday morning with a smile, but unlike Monday when she dreaded the start of the day, this day began with her feeling like she had returned from a little holiday. …

A summer camp ghost story — A singular source of light flickered between the pillars of the North Carolina pines; the cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but once more the night flickered with a beacon from Josephine to Stanley, her forbidden love.

The heart wants what it wants and sometimes it’s a monster — On good nights I fall asleep smiling at her. I’m happy, my eyes are closed, and I can smell her honey-scented hair as it falls across my cheek. Laying half-draped over me, her legs scissor over my thigh, and an arm lay across my chest, her fingertips resting against my…

An accidental discovery sets researchers on a race against the last ancestor of the Yellow Emperor who seeks global domination — “There weren’t always dragons in the valley,” great-grandmother said. “They would come and go as they pleased. Sometimes they came out from the caves and stayed a long while in the villages, teaching our people. …

A journey to another world through the lens of Lunarpunk — The Sea glowed blue under the light of two moons, and in the water stood The Five; The Healer, the Teller, the Empath, the Caller, and the Translator. Separated by an equal distance, the quintuplet of Elders each took positions like points of a cross, with the Caller as the…

A flash of spring fashion becomes a call to action — Sandy De Luca was a sunshine girl. Cradling a mug of coffee in her small hands, Sandy stood, her eyes closed and a smile on her face basking in the heat of spring’s first kiss. Like the tulip bulbs breaking the softened soil, Sandy felt the call to shed the…

An untenable affair rekindled in a town much too small to bear it — By anyone’s account, Ben Sawyer had lived a good life. His daughter, Christine, was moved to tears again and again, not by grief but by the outpouring of love for her late father shown by the townspeople of Cherish, British Columbia. Ben had been a boisterous fellow who worked a…

Dark justice delivered through cloak and fang — He was an enormous beast and as the thin fingers of Circe’s dainty hand disappeared into his silver-tipped black hair, Kali the Devourer shook his shoulders then dropped to the floor. “There-there, darling,” said Circe, his Mistress and master. “Why you’re not a nasty creature at all, and don’t you…

When his victims of war follow him home — War is a greedy business. It always starts with one person deciding they need more. More living space, more resources, power, influence, and wealth. More control. Then the taking begins; Taking lives, money, time, and peace, taking hope, freedom, and dreams. Like I said, war is a greedy business. I…

And the Green Light of Sardinia — Previous Chapters. The Secret Life of Tom Bradbury and the Mechanics of Saving the World It was May 4th, 1999, and Tom Bradbury was twenty-two years oldmedium.com The Secret Life of Tom Bradbury An Oath to Marigold and the Runes of Manmedium.com The Secret Life of Tom Bradbury and the Cavalry of Necessary Chaos.medium.com The sound of running water and the protesting squelch from old pipes stirred Tom back to consciousness.

and the Cavalry of Necessary Chaos. — previous chapters.. The Secret Life of Tom Bradbury and the Mechanics of Saving the World It was May 4th, 1999, and Tom Bradbury was twenty-two years oldmedium.com The Secret Life of Tom Bradbury An Oath to Marigold and the Runes of Manmedium.com Tom believed that the success of each operation for the Tribe was overwhelmingly dependent on one key factor; immersive research.

An Oath to Marigold and the Runes of Man — Removing the cord holding two keys from his neck, Tom Bradbury leaned over the brown paper-wrapped box and unlocked the heavy door he had fashioned from the surrounding copper beech trees, leaving the box and his past where it lay. “Blainville-Crevon,” read the words burned into a slab of oak…

The folktale of the Lüdércs-What would you trade to return one who was taken away? — Through the flames from the campfire, Joseph looked at his hunting partner and life-long friend Dezsö, who still grieved the loss of his wife. The plague had arrived and more than half the village died. It was fortunate that Joseph had the hunting cabin and better still, few could ever…

A narcissist's demented lust for power employs unscrupulous means to feed his rise — Blair Kennedy, wearing only a dress shirt, stood looking out of the window of his 29th-floor office in the Commerce Place Building in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a bright blue sky day with a clear view across Inner Harbor straight out to the Patapsco River. Still, Blair Kennedy wasn’t feeling…

Broken but not beaten, a girl escapes to answer a question held in verse — It was the smattering of freckles dusted across the bridge of her nose that made Wendell fall for Catriona. It was a small nose that rose with a slight lift upwards at its very end. It was slim along the sides with petite teardrop-shaped nostrils, and when Catriona laughed, grimaced…

Cosmic explorers caught in the many dimensions of love — Looking at the science officer, Captain Colm Kelly, 1st Lieutenant Heather Lynn Castonguay wondered if he had any idea of what a gorgeous specimen of a man he was. …

A mysterious woman, a simple man, and a life in small pieces — The blade swung through the air in a high arc, its polished and razor-sharp edge crested high above his shoulder then swiftly brought down, splitting the timber with crisp crack. “Allison.” The name of a college crush came to John’s mind as he reached for another bucked section of the…

The inconceivable company of an inventor, an aviator, and a mobster mingle in space-time vortex. — June 21, 1891. He’d survived another test. Moving his limbs and extremities, the inventor concluded his wounds were minor, and it was only the shock of the concussion that had left him disorientated. The room was blacked out, and only the snapping of electricity could be heard. …