The End Of The Rainbow

After years of chasing storms all around the world, Will finally found his way to the end of a rainbow.

The scene was less idyllic than he'd imagined. The area around the rainbow was dark and wet and definitely not sanitary. With all the discarded junk and used medical supplies, it looked rather like a trash dump.

There was a leprechaun, though he seemed drunk and could not even manage to stand. Will asked where his gold was buried.

"You think I'd hide my gold here, at the shit end of the rainbow?" He hiccuped and fell asleep. Will cried.

Abnormal

Ben's parents adopted him late in their lives. They fed him and encouraged him to make friends and planned elaborate birthday parties that no other children came to. They did their best to give him a normal life, but something just seemed wrong with him.

Eventually, Ben's parents realized they had been wasting their time. What was the point of adopting a child if he wasn't going to attract more children to their home in the woods? They could have just kidnapped him and baked him into a pie and saved a whole lot of money on clothes and tuition.

The Stakes

They sat across from each other at their favorite restaurant and it seemed everything was at stake.

She fussed with her rings and he rubbed at his tattoo and they said everything except the truth of their despair. It was easy to pretend their worlds were crumbling into ruins when what they really needed to say was that life had become a burden. It would be easier on their own but each wanted the other to blame and so they spun their lies into spit and tears until they realized nothing was at stake any longer except their favorite restaurant.

The Tragedy Of The Greens

The green spaces in the village of Turnstell once served the needs of the entire community. Mr. Damhorst grazed his flock of sheep in the fields. Mrs. Graham was able to keep her honeycombs next to the woods. The Goldsmith twins collected berries for their homemade jam.

That was a long time ago. The Greens are no longer green. That's because the sheep attracted wolves, and the berries attracted bears, and the honey, well they brought the bees. Plus a developer chopped down the woods and built a row of high-end condominiums.

But mostly, people just really hated those bees.

Getting Under Her Skin

After a pupa has transformed into an adult moth, even a scientist has a difficult time connecting the new form with the old.

Similarly, when mild-mannered Bruce Banner gets antagonized and changes into the Hulk, it's hard to believe they are the same individual.

There are many examples of such disparate metamorphoses in nature.

But nothing can be so shocking as the enantiodromia my mother undergoes after she discovers that I've forgotten to do my chores. Where once was a loving parent who'd literally give her life for mine, now there's a raving lunatic intent on cutting short my existence.

The Acersecomic

Her hair had never been cut. In a way that was totally dissimilar to Rapunzel, she was a prisoner, trapped by whatever strange mixture of fate and circumstance that determined what we are to become in this life.

If she had been born a Buddha, perhaps she'd have lived many lives and enjoyed all manner of fashionable hairstyles. Instead, she was stillborn with a full head of hair. She was buried with that same tussock, tied together with a bright pink ribbon her mother had tried to purchase from the local notions shop only to find her money was refused.

No One Else To Blame

She stared out the window every day, waiting for her husband to return from sea. Whether she wanted him to return or not was an open question in her heart and mind, but it was her duty to wait so wait she did.

The war had ended years ago. The other husbands had either returned or been confirmed dead. Only hers was still unaccounted for.

She was Queen in his absence. The power was nice and she bowed to no man, but sometimes it would have been nice to have someone to blame for the rotten economy besides the Gods.

Honors Bestowed

When the bandit chief Harper Caine invaded the capital, he was met with the torrential might of the King's Watch. After he quickly dispatched the watchmen, the King's ministers unanimously called for negotiation.

It was decided they would offer Harper Caine lordship over the King's peach orchards.

"Why would I agree to such a settlement?" asked Harper Caine.

"Because tending to the King's peaches is considered the greatest honor in all the lands and comes with a salary of 1,000 gold bars."

"I agree to those terms."

It was many years before Harper Caine realized the King cared nothing for peaches.

God Save The Stars And Stripes

These are patriotic times and they call for patriotic men and women.

The Vexillologists always were zealous in their dogma and it should have come as little surprise when they assumed power. Most people celebrated, but the purge was necessary to weed out those who only publicly welcomed the new regime. There were still leftists and homosexuals who favored the old system, the weaker version of our constitution that had been perverted by judicial neglect. The Flagbearers would except nothing less than original intent.

Some say we are a diminished nation. Those people deserve the torture that is awaiting them.

Starburst

I remember being hurriedly pushed toward the flying ship by panicked voices howling peril. They spoke of a great heat inside me.

What was happening—?

Somehow, it was too late.

Now, all around me is twisted metal, smoking wreckage. My body throbs. Soot covers my hands and feet. Away from me, the skyscrapers appear spotted and streaked, but near there is only ruination. Debris like leaves. Great buildings that stood here only moments ago are gone. Here I am in the midst of it all.

I’m alone and lost and scared.

And, all the blast lines point to me.

From Guest Contributor Matthew Wells