Breaking News
_ **Breaking News** _ Some lunatic in a truck swerved into our lane, right in front of us. Mick, the wolverine in the driver's seat, pumped the van's brakes. Finn, the white shepherd in the middle seat, swore blue murder at the truck's rear...
Doomsayer
_ **Doomsayer** _ A slow, low rumbling started from beyond rolling green hills. Steady. Constant. A coastal town sat in those foothills, steeped in the morning sun. One by one, its residents, curious over those drum-like beats, stepped out of their...
Boiling Point
_ **Boiling Point** _ My walk from the station was more like a swim, the swampy summer morning air even more overwhelming and oppressive than the metro journey that'd got me there. A journey made up of three trains, two transfers, and nearly an entire...
Blind Date
_ **Blind Date** _ A wave of noise and a blast of heat crashed into me the moment those automatic doors slid open. I ducked my head to dip inside and escape the gloomy, late-November cold, allowing this new 'VRcade' place I'd been invited to fully...
Lost & Found
_ **Lost & Found** _ The air stifled so very much. Even on a morning that was not so hot, how difficult it was to breathe came as the first thing to my notice upon disembarking the train. To walk through the streets, the crowded, overloaded streets,...
The Climb
_ **The Climb** _ I'd overpacked my grocery bags. I knew that from the moment I had to lug all four of them out of the store. The decision to do an extra-large after-work shop, thereby granting myself a day off from that part of my weekly routine,...
Torchbearer
_ **Torchbearer** _ Blake sank to his knees, placing a paw to his battle-felled brother's chest. The pain-stricken grunt it drew threatened to pierce his own. Blood oozed between his fingers. Drenched his palm. He recited a silent prayer for any and...
Hard Labour
_ **Hard Labour** _ I glared at the short straw in my palm. Again. As hard as I willed it to, it refused to grow longer. "...Do I _really_have to?" "Listen, the straws have spoken," Manny replied, beaming his pleasure for the longer one in his grasp....
Helping Hands
_ **Helping Hands** _ I grabbed a slice of sourdough outta the pack I'd brought from my kitchen section down below. Being up on the sun-soaked main counter, right next to Tomas, made me an easy target for his pleading over breakfast prep. "Sorry,...
At Capacity
_ **At Capacity** _ Another step, another bump. I caught the coldest stare from the wolf whose seat my thigh collided with. Following up by thwacking my tail against his leg can't have helped matters as it trailed behind. I decided against glancing...
Laundry Day
_ **Laundry Day** _ A mistake, a blunder, a five-star screw-up: whichever way you dressed it, avoiding my laundry for as long as I had done wouldn't be repeated. Each hefty haul of my overflowing wash basket was a struggle, sending scrapes and grinds...
Voices
_ **Voices** _ '_Dear Jiri,. Thanks for taking the time to meet us the other day to discuss our Line Cook vacancy. I'm getting in touch to let you know that while we were very impressed with your knowledge and your enthusiasm, competition for the...