a man named Manny

A man named Manny lived in a Manhattan mansion manifestly too large for one man. Somehow Manny managed to maintain the mansion with its manicured lawns in an appropriate manner. But Manny worked in a low-paid manufacturing job and the mandatory mortgage repayments were like a manacle around his neck. One day, muttering a maniacal mantra, Manny grabbed his keys from the mantelpiece, got in his car

le Club Nosferatu

It was 3:00 am and they were hungry. Where could they go in the City to feed? There were hardly any people out and about and all the restaurants and take-away joints were closed. So after some debate they decided to go clubbing instead. When they got there the music was pounding loud enough to burst the eardrums of a beggar sleeping in the alley out back. He clutched his skull and wailed

the thing of fortunes

"You know what they say about fortunes? They come true in strange and bitter ways... in unexpected, unpredictable ways... particularly if you seek to tell them or know them... And most especially the thing of fortunes is..." © Copyright S R Schwarz 2007. All rights reserved.home (refresh screen)

sorry doesn't help

Kevin was scared. And worried. And confused. He hadn't meant to go so far, and now he was lost, and dad was going to be angry. Kevin didn't want to go back into the dark room under the stairs, and dad was going to say "warned you and warned you" and mum was going to say "he didn't mean it" and dad was going to say "for his own good" and mum was going to say "he doesn't understand" and dad was

meaningslaughter

Seventeen spin cycles ago, the August Facility of Horse-Mongerers Generale convened an Erstwhile Redolence, ostensibly to honor Pederast and zer military facilitations. Naturally, nobody expected Pederast to instantiate specifically, explicitly or otherwise---notwithstanding ministrations of dubious provenance to the contrary. Of course, it goes without saying, but not without writing, that the

last of the snow-elves

Wearied by zer lifetime quest, ze stares into the embers of a dying fire, and weeps. Zer tears float weightless through the twilight, evaporate into tiny sparkling jewels, then fall to earth—cold grains of sorrow, their magic spent. The last and finest of zer kind, ze attempts a summoning but zer power is almost gone. Zer magic freezes into crystal runes that crack, then splinter into dust.