[At the home of Mr Fox and his Son early Monday morning]

The SOCO team was assembled for a briefing. More than a few were yawning. It was not yet 06:00.

“I want this place taken apart. Every nook and cranny. Check the walls and under the floors. Who knows… there could even be secret rooms,” said Detective Chief Inspector Clive Pascoe.

Chapter 13: Kate Resurfaces

When the Captain and Jason left, it was Maggie's cue once again to retire to the background. As Kate took prominence, she felt as if all the wind had left her sails. She eased back toward her pillow with a drained expression that did not miss the doctor's eye.

Cover art by Erin Halfelven
©2026, SammyC

Call of the Canijo
A Short Western Story
By Maryanne Peters

The bullet had entered his chest and pierced his lung. Captain Glenn Kilbourne had been told that he was one of the last Union officers to fall in the Civil War. It was April 1865, and it seemed a cruel thing to be told that his survival would be a miracle, but he fought hard to heal himself. The surgeon was skillful but told him that recovery would take a long time, and a New York damp fall and cold winter were now his enemies.

Chapter 20 October 20th 2025

Whit pulled up behind an ambulance. There was a loud quiet inside the Emergency Room at Mud Creek’s small hospital. Whit and Lucy helped Grace limp up the counter. Heads turned, Grace had a bloody towel against the side of her head, her big pink Hello Kitty sweatshirt was stained with blood, and her pink tights and short skirt looked out of place in the blue green fluorescent lights.

The woman at the desk didn’t react outwardly. She glanced up once, took it all in, and stood immediately.

“Head injury?” she asked.

Part Two

Slowly, it obeyed. Malak flew overhead for a bit, watching to make sure it actually left. Once certain it would maintain its course away from the beach at least for a while, he turned his attentions to the other monsters. Most of them were by now already ashore. Though they lumbered, they still made progress on the land.

When the government decides to erase Kate Thomas in 24 hours, fate had other ideas.

The elevator opens and I step into the office. My shoes squeak against the linoleum, too loose, and my hips move with each step in a rhythm I'm not choosing. The receptionist gives me her usual nod.

Private Beach, Virginia Beach, Va.:
Alice, Casey, and the rest of her designers along with an expert photographer and her support crew were taking photographs of Jessie, Daisy, Tessa, Lucas, and Nagisa in the new swimsuits they had designed for them and were marketing. The girl’s nipples were poking against the material because of the chilly breeze blowing off the ocean.

“I thought you said it was going to be warm?” Jessie looks towards Alice when she says that.

Chapter 55: New Balance in Life

The rest of the week in the cabin passed like a quiet dream. Each day began with the gentle crackle of the fire and the smell of pine drifting in from the woods. Yuqi would wake to the sound of her parents humming softly in the kitchen, the sun filtered through frost-laced windows, casting golden patterns on the worn wooden floor. Outside, icicles glittered from the porch roof, and the snow piled so high that it muffled even the sound of footsteps.

Chapter 5: The House of Her Goddess

The temple did not rise in a single moment.