Jessie Wilson had spent eleven months learning how to sleep like a normal person. It had not gone particularly well. Normal people, she had discovered, apparently went to bed without checking the hallway twice, without noticing whether the same car had been parked across the street for three consecutive nights, and without waking instantly when... Continue Reading →
Tuesday Is Choose Day: The Little Choices That Changed Everything
Tuesday had never been Clara's favourite day. Monday at least had a reputation. Everyone expected Monday to arrive like an uninvited relative with too much luggage and several complaints. Wednesday had the satisfaction of being halfway through the week. Thursday could practically see Friday from its front porch, and Friday needed no explanation. But Tuesday?... Continue Reading →
The Apothecary Beneath the City
In a city that never slept, there was one woman who had been awake longer than almost everyone in it. Her name was Lenora Vale, although it had not always been. Over the centuries she had answered to Lenora, Leonora, Eleanor, Nora, and once, during a particularly inconvenient decade in France, Madame Valois. Names changed.... Continue Reading →
The Things She Couldn’t Steal Back
Jessie Wilson had spent twenty-two years learning how to take things from people. Jewelry was easy. Cash was easier. Information was easiest of all. People liked to believe their secrets were hidden behind passwords, locked doors and carefully constructed lies. Jessie knew better. Most secrets were protected by nothing more complicated than the assumption that... Continue Reading →
The Little Cart Where Kindness Is Always Free
The cart appeared on a Tuesday morning. It wasn’t particularly impressive. It had four slightly crooked wheels, a faded green canopy, and a hand-painted wooden sign hanging from the front that read: TAKE WHAT YOU NEED.EVERYTHING IS FREE.EVERYONE IS WELCOME. There was no cash register, no donation jar, no price list - just food. Fresh... Continue Reading →
The Witch Who Thought Her Familiar Would Never Come
Elara had been a witch for twenty-seven years before she finally accepted that she probably wasn't getting a familiar. It wasn't that every witch had one. Plenty didn't. Familiars were not magical accessories handed out alongside cauldrons and suspiciously large collections of jars. They came when they came, if they came at all, and supposedly... Continue Reading →
This Week In Chaos: This Week Was Brought to You by Dogs, Weather, and Questionable Life Choices
There are people who begin their mornings with meditation. They wake gently to the sound of birds, stretch their arms toward the heavens, drink lemon water, write three pages in a gratitude journal, and thoughtfully set an intention for the day. I sit in my car and talk to the internet while dogs breathe directly... Continue Reading →
He Thought She Was Afraid. She Was Building a Case.
Claire Morgan had spent years studying crime. She had a degree in criminology, shelves filled with books about criminal investigations, and an almost embarrassing ability to identify obscure murder cases within three clues. Her friends joked that if they ever disappeared, Claire was the person they wanted looking for them. At five-foot-two and barely over... Continue Reading →
The Play That Wasn’t Supposed to Happen
The little wooden stage in the middle of Maplewood Park had been empty for years. Once, it had hosted summer concerts, puppet shows and community theatre, but lately its paint was peeling, weeds grew between the boards, and most people walked past without giving it much thought. Except for twelve-year-old Sophie. Sophie loved theatre. She... Continue Reading →
The Woman Who Remembered the Other World
The first thing Melinda noticed was the blue door. It shouldn't have been blue. She had lived across from Mrs. Bell's house for eleven years, and the front door had always been red. Not burgundy. Not faded crimson. Red. Mrs. Bell had once joked that she kept it that colour so she could find her... Continue Reading →