A descendant of Ceres, goddess of the harvest, was dumped a year ago by her fiance. Bad idea, be careful around a goddess! Now he wants to reconcile but nothing is simple where goddesses are concerned. Or is it?This short story was the inspiration for the novel Earth Legend. In it, a descendant of Ceres, goddess of the harvest, was dumped by her fiance. Not a good idea if your fiancee is a goddess! Now, a year later, he wants to reconcile but nothing is simple where goddesses are concerned. Or is it?

Short YA fantasy romance about a girl who falls in love with the prince of a river.The metal soldiers slip through the darkness doing their wicked duty under the gray-red dust laden skies of Planet War. A soul has been taken and they must find it. Rock, a newly masked soldier, is among them. What seems routine is not. Those who are near indestructible are not. The odds are incredible and the mission perilous. This is beginning of the Metal Soldiers Series. Read it now!This is the first book in a series of four books in the sci-fi genre by Kenneth Guthrie. The next book in the series (Metal Soldiers #2: Princess Of War) details the desperate fight of the metal soldiers to retrieve a certain soul before it falls into the wrong hands. You can find the full series in Metal Soldiers: The Collection.This is the first book in the series and so is free for your enjoyment. Thank you for reading.

Short fantasy story about a boy who disappears while sailing across a goldfish pond on an old barn door.How far would you have to be pushed to take another life? What is the cost of having to make such a decision, even if it is to defend yourself? A woman in an abusive relationship confronts these questions in a final act of defiance.A short sample - For some reason all she could hear was ringing in her ears. She could not understand why she smelled fireworks in the living room or why her arms were so heavy. Through a haze she could see him look at her with a look of shock, a growing stain spreading across the faded shirt she had given him for a birthday years ago. His lips formed two words before he fell face first on the floor. “I’m sorry.” As she looked at him on the floor she realized that the growing pool coming from under his body was his blood. She watched as the blood slowly spread across the floor like a lava flow threatening to burn all in its path. Reality seeped in further as she saw that a small pistol was in her hands even as she could not recall how it got there. A small voice in her head told her to leave and run but she could not. The world turned into shades of gray, everything in black and white. Everything but the crimson pool slowly spreading across the floor."A moving story that I enjoyed reading. I found it quite sad, but it mirrors countless real lives, so makes one sit back and think long and hard about the world we live in and our choices.""Was drawn in from beginning to end. I hate reading short stories for this reason, I WANTED MORE, wonderfully told. True gift he has with words.""Wonderful story. It's an age old tale retold in a fascinating and surprising way. The writer has a true gift for storytelling. I was spellbound from the beginning to the end.""I enjoyed reading I'm Sorry. A insightful yet emotional take of a young girl who fell onto an abusive relationship. Reading this short story was like viewing a abusive relationship right from the inside instead of hearing about one."

The world will end unless two lovers agree to be separated for eternity. This quick read of a little less than 7,000 words by veteran romance writer Florence Witkop deals with what happens when one of those lovers learns the terms... and refuses to abide by them.Kiethara is a descendant from a long line of powerful guardians who have been charged to protect a magical forest since the dawn of time. She prematurely took the place of her mother—the previous guardian—after she was defeated by a man known as Gandador; now, young Kiethara is forced into a position of power and danger. The Spirit of Aaron, the forest's first guardian, awakens to train her legendary powers, all the while hiding unknown truths and secrets of her past. When Gandador returns to destroy the reign of the guardians and rule the forest himself, he brings into the forest a whole new world, and Kiethara must keep in check her overwhelming emotions and experiences in order to control her magic and save the forest.Wickedly dark yet extremely moving, The Guardians of the Forest explores the burdens of responsibility and the prospects of failure. Kiethara must protect the world's source of power while developing her own, but guarding it becomes difficult when she finds herself kidnapped and taken out of the forest she is bound to protect. This YA novel draws true-to-form parallels with a normal fifteen-year-olds life. Readers experience how Kiethara bears the weight of an entire world on her shoulders in a humorously sarcastic tone, relying on the friends she makes and the love she discovers to ease the fear of failure to deliver what she has been born to accomplish.

Free short sci-fi dystopian story first published in The Talking Stick about a group of people about to executed because, though they've done nothing wrong, they are carriers of a fatal flu.It's more than just a cold draft, a simple shadow out the corner of the eye; the sound of movement when no one's there.Olivia Strange just moved into her new apartment with her cat Lexington and already strange things are happening! But can Olivia figure out what's going on or will she be the next person to disappear?Excerpt:A scurry across the floor jerked her head to the side where she saw nothing. She couldn't see the floor well at all from where she was sitting so she eased forward, still holding onto her blanket, to check. She wanted to be sure there wasn't a rat running across her floor. Just as she leaned her body over the edge of the bed is when she felt a shift in the bed around her. It seemed to depress. Her hair stood on end and her arms became riddled with goose bumps, than the light snapped off with a metallic sound.She jumped turning to look at the lamp which was still semi visible in the dark thanks to both the moon light from the open curtains of the windows and her clock. She reached out to turn the lamp back on but nothing. The bulb had blown. A second sound of movement slid across the floor.“It’s okay. Get a hold of yourself.” She mumbled in the darkness letting out another hot breath between her trembling teeth. Her eyes strained to see before she remembered her flashlight tucked away.She reached down to the floor and eased her hand under the bed. Her fingers reaching out for the flashlight she knew should have been within reach, but now, when she needed it most she struggled to find the darn thing.

A rogue puma threatens a high-end wilderness horse training facility and the only person capable of ending the threat is the new hire, a former Army Ranger sharpshooter. And the only way he can save both horses and people is by putting the entire place in lockdown. If you like eco-fiction with a strong sense of place and a lot of realistic action, this is the book for you.Maggie has a problem. Her horse whisperer, Carlos, broke his leg and she can't do all the work at Green Forest Stables by herself. So when she heads into the forest to bring them back after they have gone through a break in the fence... again... in frustration, she tells Carlos to hire help, knowing that no one will come work so far from civilization. But when she returns with the horses at a dead run because something in the woods spooked them, she discovers someone did come and apply for work while she was gone. And Carlos hired him. Maggie isn't sure about the new hire but when it becomes evident that the danger in the woods is a rogue cougar and that it followed the horses back and is stalking Green Forest Stables, she learns that all that will keep the stables and everyone there safe is the new hire, former Army Ranger and crack sharpshooter, Maxwell Abrams. And that the only way he can do that is to take charge of the whole place, including the people and horses that are there. Can she trust her horses to someone who knows nothing about them? Can she help keep the place safe? Unlike Maxwell Abrams, she's a poor shot. And she's used to giving orders, not following them.

Elle, a descendant of Ceres, goddess of the harvest, stows aboard a space ship colonizing a distant planet because her powers are essential to keep the plants alive that keep the colonists and crew alive. She's caught, of course, and thrown in jail where her powers are useless. Soon plants begin to die. Chaos erupts. What can Elle do, if anything?