Deep in the Ancient Wilds, a small sapling wandered to the edge of her forest and spotted a hatchling howling. Its orange scales glinted in the sun as it tried to wrestle free from the suffocating dragonsnare. She hurried to help, but the hatchling snarled and wisps of smoke escaped its nostrils. Maplechatter inched forward, rested a trembling hand on the hatchlings nose, and spoke in low tones, while breaking the vine’s enchantment. A dragon soared overhead and landed before…
Michale’s guinea pig had been his last reminder of earth, the place a fleeting memory from the time before his parents became leaders of planet Thore 6Q4, the robotically run city everyone wants to join — except Michael. Throat thickening, he struggled not to cry as he stepped inside Nebula, the nursery for new planets the world would someday occupy. He spilled his pet’s remains into the rising gas. Heart pounding, Michael stood dumbfounded as something within the swirling purple…
Nancy rubbed baby oil into her bronzed skin and reclined on a towel. The air was alive with screeching gulls, mingled with laughter from children on school holidays paddling in the sea. A shadow blocked the sun, and she peered over plastic sunnies at a constable. His blue woolen jacket looked stifling in the blistering January heat. He produced a photograph, its edges bent, of three smiling children. “Seen them?” “No.” He trudged on, and Nancy scurried to join the…