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Cover By Amelia Parris 2 My Flower By Sundri 4 Drako Should Be Sleeping by DrakoKatze Story by Scotty Grissom 6 Moonlight by Janis Moffat Image by Scotty Grissom 8 Latter Day Velveteen by Jeshi Kene Image by Scotty Grissom 10 Untitled by Anty Em

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Drako Should Be Sleeping By Scotty Grissom Drako tossed and turned since she went to bed. She so wanted to sleep, but her brain simply wouldn't shut down. Any of the thoughts could wait until morning, but they didn't agree. Finally she had enough and got up out of her bed. Maybe a cup of tea would settle the thoughts. It should at least make her a bit more sleepy anyway. After only a few feet, she heard a noise. It couldn't be anyone else since she lived alone. At the least she decided she should protect herself somehow. So she grabbed the first thing she could. Instead of the reassuring feel of a baseball bat or anything else of use, she felt the soft ear of a teddy bear. She sighed and then spoke to the bear, "I'm just being silly. I probably just left the tv on. " She wasn't totally convinced this was true. So she held the bear in her arms and crept toward her bedroom door. She listened closely, but only heard her own breathing. She opened the door and the sound made her shudder a bit. She started to speak to the bear again, but then heard another noise. She entered into the living room and no one was there. She looked around and noticed a book end on the floor. She crept as quietly as she could to the bookend and looked around more.

Another noise made her jump. Maybe someone was with her after all. She clutched the bear closer and moved toward where her phone was. As she had her hand on the table and was reaching toward the phone, a shadow stopped her. Her hand froze and she stared and waited for movement. The movement came and revealed itself to be her cat. She sighed and glared at the cat. "It was you the whole time, wasn't it?" The cat simply licked her paw and acted as if Drako hadn't even spoken. The cat then stretched and made her way to Drako's legs. Drako glared down. "I don't think so. It won't work this time." So she ignored the cat the best she could and walked toward the kitchen and began preparing tea. She stared bleary eyed until the kettle whistled and she poured the water into her cup. With the cup in one hand and the bear in the other she made her way back into the living room and put both down. She turned a lamp on and grabbed the book she kept on her coffee table. Within minutes she was asleep as if nothing had happened.

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M o o n l i g ht by J a n i s M of f a t The moonlight on the lake was particularly bright that evening but I couldn’t stop to take it in. As I ran through the park there was only one thing going through my mind, "Where would be the best place to hide?" Each tree looked better than the last and I could hear him catching up. Knowing that I had to take a chance, I quickly grabbed the branch of the nearest tree and climbed up into it. "I hope he can’t hear my heart beat," I thought as I tried to calm my breathing down. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. I didn’t know how long I had been running for, but it felt like quite awhile. Then I heard him. He was walking slowly through the park, paying close attention to anything that would lead him to me. I held my breath. “I can tell you are close by. Show yourself and I can promise no harm will come to you.” He said in his usual gruff voice. I could tell he was trying to catch his breath. He was quick, but I was in better physical condition. I had heard those promises before, but they had never been followed through on. He looked around and then dropped to a knee and looked at the ground. I could tell my father had sent a tracker this time. I slowed down my breathing as he tried to find any traces of me. There were times I wish I could just disappear all together. But that wasn’t my gift. Sometimes I thought it was nice to not have that gift and other times I wished I had it. But I was lucky enough to get the gift I had been given. I can remember the day that I received my gift like it was yesterday.

The men who governed our world were called the Elders and they gave out the gifts to each of the children born into the community when they came of age. Three years ago it was my turn. I was terrified the day my father brought me to the Council. I had heard of the different gifts that they had given to the youth and was scared that the gift they would give me would end up being a curse. I waited for an hour before they got to the business of bestowing my gift. Sir Stewart Von Bront called my name and I went forward under the urging of my father. “Vanessa De Laurier, you are now of age to receive your gift. Do you feel like you are prepared to do so?” I nodded. “Then receive your gift.” He then raised his hand and pointed at me. All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in my head. As it traveled down my spine I could feel something inside me change. I closed my eyes for a moment when the pain was over and then saw a vision of my father signing a treaty with another kingdom. I knew they had long been in talks for peace for a while and it felt nice to know something was going to be done about the wars. That is when I realized my gift. The Elders saw fit to give me the gift or foresight. That was partially why I ran away. It had been three years since my gift was given and for the most part the visions were of good things or things I could do to help people. The latest one I had received had been of my father agreeing to an arranged marriage for me. I would not have that for one moment. So I ran.

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T h e L a t t e r -Da y V e l v e t e e n B y J e s hi K e n e l A dripping sound echoed down the seemingly abandoned alleyway. A melody playing against the shapes and forms which made up the young one’s dwelling. Sluggishly the little creature sat up, exposing itself to the unknown dangers on the other side of the unlit street. It was a peculiar animal, small and fragile, slightly deformed. Its ears dusted the ground, the tips becoming dampened by the puddles of rainwater on either side of it. Dragging its precious paws, the rabbit-like creature hobbled down the street. At one point in time the animal had been normal; its coat a pure white, its eyes a bright blue and its nose a powder pink. Now all that was left of it was a tattered hide with the features of a worn down smile. A frayed ribbon was clumsily tied around its neck; a small tag that read “Sophie” hanging off of it. Sophie was the last bit of identity this little fellow had. Many a times little Sophie heard the “Velveteen Rabbit” story and in his little stuffed heart he believed it to be true. So, bravely he trudged down the long enclosed domain at which he was abandoned in. Dreams of a bright reality shone so brightly at the end of the cities burrow. The light was starting to creep through the towering stone trees, lifting Sophie’s heart a little more.

Finally the worn toy was making it to the end of his journey, a brand new life waiting for him just a few feet ahead. It truly did seem like magical world of noises and lights, of smells and tastes. Sophie perched himself up on his haunches, taking in a simulated breath. Here I come world. he thought to himself. And in his final moment of triumph the small velveteen rabbit was pushed down into the storm drain along with the garbage. His frail body landed like a weight amongst the forgotten materials of the city. With defeat, he looked up at his once free world which was quickly replaced with darkness and bars. A small sigh left his stitched mouth.

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U n t i t le d by A n t y E m I never imagined that I would solve my first case by digging around in the dirt searching through this Hymenopterous* maze. To understand what I am doing here we must go back a few months ago. I had just moved to a new precinct and as a new detective I needed to prove myself, especially to the men on the force. The first day at a new work place is never easy. A woman in a traditionally male workforce is even worse. You get used to the harassment, name calling and ass grabbing. You learn to pick your battles and kick ass when the chance presents itself. You learn to out think not only the criminals, but the role that you are forced to play in the workforce. I was introduced to a handful of co-workers and finally to my desk and my new partner. He was tall and well built. Unruly blonde hair and dark blue eyes behind his nerdy glasses oozed a shy, nerdy handsomeness. Like Clark Kent, he was a superhero hidden behind a suit. I could see this was going to be an interesting partnership. As I was settling in, the chief approached my desk. He said, “I hate to rush you into things, but we have a case that just came in and we are backed up as it is.” “Sure” I replied, “I would like to jump right in and get my hands dirty.” I glanced at my partner and said, “Mind if you drive? I don't know my way around here yet.”

He leaned over his desk and said, “Yes, I will be your chauffeur. I can teach you how to get around here.” We drove a few miles to a large ranch. It was a missing person case. The owner of the ranch had missed his boarding for a cruise. His house keeper had reported him missing, but there was little lead as to where he went and no evidence of foul play. His girlfriend had broken up with him just a few weeks before after she discovered that he was entertaining other women in his spare time. His “business” trips were particularly suspect. She was the obvious place to start. As we walked back to the car after interviewing the maid, Curtis tossed me the keys. He said “No time like the present to orient you. “ I slid into the driver seat and slipped the belt across my lap. I noticed that the buttons on my blouse were undone a little more than I usually prefer, but with Curtis’ blue eyes moving up and down my silhouette, I decided to pretend like I had not noticed. We knocked on the door of the girlfriend, Shari’s house. She was a woman in her mid-30’s. Petite build and gorgeous red curly hair. She was not upset by his disappearance at all and admitted that she hoped he had been run off the road by a truck. She gave us a list of supposed lovers. We thanked her for her co-operation and left. As we drove back to the station we discussed Shari’s story. She had decided to keep her planned vacation and she took a road trip to see her mother and her sister. Her mother lived 2 days away, so her whereabouts were suspicious. She

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definitely had motive, but her window of opportunity would have been small. We took the list of names that she gave us and made a list of addresses to visit the next day. We interviewed about a dozen women. Only about 4 of them were actual lovers, the rest were in various stages of involvement from friends, ranch contacts, and one veterinarian. Of all the women we interviewed, only two did not have a tight alibi. Abby was a tall, slender blonde who said that she had caught H1N1 and had spent the weekend in bed. She was a vet tech and met Curtis when he brought in a sick horse. They had spent two nights caring for the animal. She was shocked to discover that he was missing and that she was in a long list of lovers. The other was a graduate student at the local university. She said that she had spent the entire weekend working in her lab in the basement of the biology building. She was an entomology student and had to spend large amounts of her time identifying ants. She was not shocked that there were other women. She said that she had discovered the secret a month or so earlier when she discovered cruise tickets in his wallet when he had stayed at her house. She had been skeptical, but that was the proof she needed to end the relationship. She was not disturbed that he was missing. She said that she hoped he was having fun with whatever woman he was with wherever he was at. That was it. The case was filed and we went about our days with cases more important problems.

Until the day a hand was found. The lawn man was mowing around the large fence surrounding the ranch. As he was riding along the back fence, he noticed white chips flying out of the mower. DNA results reveled it was Curtis’s hand. The bones were found on top of an ant nest. All the flesh had been picked off and only 35 bones were found. This is how I found myself digging through an ant nest looking for any evidence that could provide a clue as to what happened to Curtis. We never found any. The ants had picked away any fleshy evidence of cause of death. Larger animals like coyotes, skunks, opossums and stray dogs had moved and cleaned up most of the large bones and the small bones revealed nothing. With no evidence of foul play, we had to close the case as an accidental death. * - A member of an order of insects including ants, bees, and wasps.