100 Words, Day 4: Out of the Water and on to the Watering

The winter melons ran out first. Albiderak planted the seeds and, with a little coaxing, they took root. With a fair ration of honey mead each day, they thrived. Soon winter melon vines overwhelmed the small plot Albiderak had staked for them in the garden. They more than obscured the cottage’s brick walls; they engulfed the entire structure. For three seasons now Albiderak hadn’t needed to rethatch the roof. Even in winter, when the leaves were off and the stems died back to a woody brown, the vines tangled so tightly across the roof that not a single drop of rain or melted snow could seep through. Continue reading

100 Words, Day 3: Out of the Hold, Into the Water

The undertow pulled at Marlowe before the water reached his chest. Peters held out the respirator, but Marlowe didn’t reach for it. If he let go of the handholds, the current would rip him loose. He wasn’t ready for that. Instead, Marlowe opened his mouth. Peters wedged the rubber mouthpiece… Continue reading

100 Words, Day 2

The barge lumbered through the ocean, its hull so heavy and flat that only the crash of waves against steel assured those inside they were still at sea. Crates and barrels had dampened the noise when the Magadan left port in Ramsgate, but now the sound thumped through a hold… Continue reading