Fable
The Game of Revenge
From Mount Olympus, Zeus, ruler of the Olympians, looked across the glaring sea into Poseidon's realm. In many cities, mortal women showed their beauty as they lived their mortal lives. Hera, queen of the gods, admired her new tunics, absorbed in her own world, both powerful and independent, envied for her independence. Zeus, wanting and yearning to visit a new lover, Alcmene, knew he needed to divert Hera's attention. He regarded this as an easy task, since she preferred her own interests rather than please him. Heading out into Olympus to find the perfect distraction. When Aphrodite passed by, Zeus enlisted her to entertain Hera; Aphrodite, goddess of love, delighted in such amusements and agreed. Returning to his palace, Zeus found nothing to eat, as Hera was still dressing and ignoring him anyway. He ate the last bit of bread just as Hera entered, scowling and reproachful, making her anger clear. Soon, Aphrodite arrived to occupy Hera. Hera glowered at Zeus but kept silent before her guest, then stormed out, making her displeasure unmistakable. With Hera gone and his scheme successful, Zeus left Olympus to visit Alcmene in the guise of Amphitryon, while Hera remained unaware.
By Sarah Danaher23 days ago in Fiction
Notes in the Margins of Happily Ever After
The first thing every girl receives in the kingdom where I was born is a book. I am writing in mine now. The leather cover is still white, though the edges are darkened with smoke and forest dirt. Some of the pages curl slightly, as if the book has already survived a small fire. The gold lettering has almost rubbed away, but if you tilt it toward the firelight you can still read the title pressed into the skin:
By Stacey Mataxis Whitlow (SMW)23 days ago in Fiction
A Convening of Heaven's Conference Table.
"There will never be any peace...until God is seated at the conference table". (The ChiLites, 1973). "Hear ye. Hear ye. By the power of the All Seeing and Unseen, I thus make this holy proclamation to declare, affirm and acknowledge that...
By Novel Allen24 days ago in Fiction
Echoes of Resistance
The streets of Bristol were alive that day, though not with the usual hum of buses and chatter, but with the heavy pulse of voices that demanded to be heard. I had not intended to join the protest—I came to observe, to write, to bear witness—but once I stepped into the swell of people, the energy was impossible to ignore. The banners waved above heads, each one a story, a demand, a prayer. The scent of rain-soaked asphalt mixed with the faint tang of chalk from hastily scrawled messages, leaving the air electric.
By imtiazalam24 days ago in Fiction
Eurydice's Truth. Honorable Mention in What the Myth Gets Wrong Challenge.
The poets say he turned back. They forgot that both gods and men had already silenced me. Even now I linger in the world of the dead, millennia after my husband showed how little faith he had in me. The stories say that after his awful death he found peace, that he could walk beside me with no need to look back. But in truth, he remains lost in his songs, and I am still an afterthought, or perhaps merely an ideal for his imagination.
By J.B. Miller25 days ago in Fiction
The Brave Little Fox Who Saved the Forest
Deep inside a vast green forest, where tall trees whispered secrets to the wind and crystal-clear streams sang gentle songs, lived a small red fox named Finn. Finn was smaller than most foxes, and many animals believed he was too weak to survive on his own.
By Rahman Khan26 days ago in Fiction
Ghost Kitten Rise
There is another world that exists parallel to our own. It sits right beside us, and above us, and below us, and all around us, yet we never see it, and only very few of us ever sometimes feel it. That feeling may come as a cold chill, or a whisper from an empty room, or a tingle running down the spine, or any of a million other barely noticed disturbances to our ordinary everyday lives. We only notice because the feeling is so non-ordinary, so different from what we expect and are used to. Some people call it the spirit world, or another dimension or heaven or hell, but the name is not important, at least not for purposes of this story. What is important to understand about this other world is that it is inhabited by many creatures, some of which are formerly living beings from our own planet earth. Most people refer to these as ghosts, and they are feared by the still living. Some of these ghosts should be feared, but others are innocent and kind, even helpful to the living. There are other things in that world that are much more fearsome than the former living. They are natives of that world, and it is all they have ever known. However, they also know of the ghosts, and they know they come from another place. They very much desire to know what this other place is, where it is, and how to get there. They wish to conquer that world, our world, and make it their own. The reasons for this are not understood and there may be no reason, at least not one we could ever hope to comprehend. For countless millennia these beings have waited and watched and plotted and planned and made attempt after attempt to breach into our world.
By Everyday Junglist27 days ago in Fiction
