A Nanny of Denmark by Kate Miotto
"She circled the table where he lay, a tentative finger outlining his body as if to memorize, in the very cells of that digit, his dimensions and texture. Her eyes drank in what her skin could not digest, inebriated by what she saw.”

Light and Shadow by Jaimie L. Robertson
"To his light, I am shadow. Were he to hear me say such aloud, his brow would furrow, he would suck his bottom lip between his teeth and look upon me with disapproval. In one of his more excitable moods, he might simply thwack me on the head.”

an excerpt from Blood Rush by Trish W.
"The basement was a dusty, moldy and cobweb draped space and I wasn’t sure why any self-respecting vampire would choose to live down here.  Several candles were burning which seemed like a terrible fire hazard, what with all the wood.”

Pain by Jaimie L. Robertson
"His guest brings him gifts of grief and torment, as one might give their host a bottle of wine. He receives these with grace, not cringing in horror or attempting to refuse them. He knows the consequences of trying, and he is unwilling to pay the price.”

an excerpt from Passion's Promise by Julie Van Wagner
"In a low voice, the dark figure replied, "Forgive us, sir, for so late an intrusion. My name is Robert Phelips and I believe, sir, that you may remember me from our mutual service to the recently and wrongfully executed King Charles I."

yet another excerpt from Blood Rush by Trish W
"An hour later when I returned with a double espresso doused with whipped cream so thick it would give my doctor a heart attack just by association, I was surprised to find Caleb still sitting in the stairwell."

 Interlude by Julie Van Wagner
“But he saw.  And understood.  His chest tightened and his smile relaxed.  He was amazed.  He continued to watch as emotions dance across her face – surprise, confusion, awareness, hope, and then the two that he felt like a punch in the gut – defeat and resignation. Gone so fast he might have imagined it, but he knew he hadn’t."

Something by pseudonymous
"Ana was just the kind of girl that Caroline couldn't take - pretty, perfect, polite, petite and polished. She first saw Ana at one of her shows, sticking out like a lily white sore thumb at it - but managed to seem to be having as good a time as the most hardcore of fans."

The Dawson House by Michelle Schoofs
“It wasn’t until many years later and only after the vagrant was found on the sidewalk in front of the grand house screaming murder that someone again ventured into the house. But they searched the house looking for the demons that the man said he had found there only to find an empty house without a living soul within."

Hide and Seek by Kate Miotto
"He sat with his elegant legs draped across the arm of the chair, body sprawled in reckless abandon; caramel skin gleamed as it peeked from beneath the folds of his silk robe. Long fingers curled habitually around a stray lock while violet eyes absorbed such works as Socrates, Homer, and the occasional Calvin and Hobbs."

Spiraling Snow by Anonymous
“To an average person, the words ‘spiraling snow’ might have been ignored had they popped into thought, but he knows better. He is a writer. He can feel the difference in random thought and a message from that place beyond where his stories come from. He knows the secret that few others do. Every novel he writes of fantastic places and strange creatures is a true story."

another excerpt from Passion's Promise by Julie Van Wagner
"Much later, as he was climbing the stairs to the loft, he paused on the steps to look in on Janet who was finally asleep.  He wanted to memorize her face, as she was at that moment - innocent and full of promise - much as he had fixed the sights and sounds of the farm in his mind."

Living Nightmare by Delphica
"You try to look sufficiently contrite, but she says she can see it in your eyes that you are not following her with enough respect. You think you are too clever, you are not appreciating her achievements. You do not understand that you cannot tell the truth about how we work here. We are here to make money. This is no place to have scruples."

One More Time by Michelle Schoofs
"I start climbing the stairs knowing that the creepy monsters that have chased me out of here before will be there again. The corridor seems to lengthen and I see the figures embedded in the glass walls. Don’t look. You won’t see them if you don’t look."

One Answer by Victoria Papst
"She walked barefoot up a long stone stairway. To either side of her people were lined up, one to a step. They did not acknowledge her presence, but murmured amongst themselves incomprehensibly."

Real Dreams by Jessica A. Lusk
"Reality and dreams, nightmares and lucidity seemed to come and go with such frequency and intensity in her house, her life, her mind, that she wasn’t at all certain she was who she thought she was. Maybe a wicked twist of fate had doomed her. Had she done something so terrible that this was her lot in life? Was this bad karma in all its glory?"

Only in Dreams by Dena Moscheck
“It’s a conversation that should sound crazy to me--crazy and impossible--but it makes perfect sense. I don't know why it makes sense, but it does. It's a conversation we've had a million times, one that ends with a pact we make a million times to find one another."

Final Meeting by Anne-Claire Woodfield
"All of a sudden the light and color of her room faded as it transformed. Dark walls appeared around her, high ceilings rose above her and a large set of wooden doors were placed in front of her. The furniture disappeared as she stood, shocked and amazed at what was happening. What was she meddling with?"

Finding the Dream by Jaimie L. Robertson
"She always said she didn’t belong here. Not just here meaning our home, but this world. That she was meant to be somewhere else. Be someone else. And she thought that this was the reason she could never quite find what it was she sought."

A Walk in the Quad by Sharon Martin
“As she headed down the large stone staircase and onto the dimly lit path, Cheryl noticed how incredibly still the campus seemed. The air was motionless. There were no sounds, no laughter or even faint music from nearby dorms to pierce the stillness."

Shifting Tides by Carissa D
"She stands gazing into the turquoise mouth. Will it caress her lightly with a warm, inviting tongue? Will it swallow her with voracious gluttony? She peers intently but the gift of crying has not blessed her. She remembers..."

The Inept Ghoul by Julie Van Wagner
"He had tried on many occasions to explain to them that his heart just wasn’t in becoming a Poltergeist, but the Elders were adamant that he was to go to school there. They never did tell him why, although he suspected the reason had something to do with his brother, Peter."

an excerpt from Labyrinth by Jaimie L. Robertson
“Whirling around, Drake followed the finger Gabriel was pointing to a second story window. There was a shadow there, almost indiscernible in the mist, but one that was not quite as black as the darkness around it. As quickly as he spotted it, the shadow was gone."

Discover the Stars by Liv Uhrig
"CLARITY: No breath, no dreams. No light, no stars. Stars and dreams discover breath and imagination; remembering kisses beneath the skies. (looks around) No star? No dream? No asphyxiation? No mediocrity? No light? …  No clarity?"

Lost Princess by Jess Smith
”There’s one faint star shining through the open window, through the sky that’s just beginning to turn faint shades of blue and black.  Is it this late already?  It feels simultaneously like I’ve been here for mere seconds, and endless years."

My Perfect Day by Julie Van Wagner
“There is no breeze yet this morning and the water is like glass with a thin mist rising from the surface. A chipmunk dashes about gathering his winter hoard of seeds and nuts, a squirrel jumps from tree to tree chasing who knows what and birds flit about and sing their morning medley."

Nerve by L. Devin
”When they arrived at the hotel where Liev had made reservations, he nonchalantly informed Devin that he’d gotten them a two room suite instead of two separate rooms. This, he said, was so that they could better brain storm into the wee hours of the night if the mood struck them. Share their creative energy. Right."

Nerve-Part Two by L. Devin
”Gradually, Liev began leaning closer as he pointed out prospective plot holes, and then finally when talk turned to the intimate nature of the characters’ relationship, Liev had somehow closed the space between them and was thigh to thigh with him on the floor."

The Room - Despair by Liv Uhrig
”She stands in the middle of the room looking at her hands. For a moment she seems as though she is going to calm down, as though she is accepting her confinement. The moment passes. Her hands ball into fists her eyes screw shut as she sinks to her knees and her mouth tears open and a scream so filled with despair lodges from her throat that I flinch with guilt."