Not often did I pass through a region twice. But between wandering and also traveling the world, the unusual had to happen someday. In a land I had not visited in a long while, I stopped by a mail chain. A wall of lost letters posted for the receiver to perhaps one day find. I … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Last Goodbye
Tag: Short Fiction
The Hopeful Wanderer – A Dogged Decree
At the top of a snowy mountain in the earliest morning, when rays of sunlight bloodied peaks and bruised purple clouds low on the jagged horizon, the noise of claws scratching on ice brought my gaze up from my boots. My nose burned with the cold and my hands ached where I nestled them inside … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – A Dogged Decree
The Hopeful Wanderer – A Dance at Dusk
In the depths of a cloudy blue twilight, I spotted a darker shape flailing within a grassy field. All around, long stalks reached toward the sky, silhouetted black against the encroaching twilight. Among them, the figure whirled and leapt, feet thumping against the dirt. Shoulders and hips swayed. Though I squinted, I could not make … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – A Dance at Dusk
The Hopeful Wanderer – Mirror Mimic
Over a still lake, pale pink fog rolled, muffling the surrounding forest noises to silence. I knelt on the pebbled shore of a small peninsula, cleaning myself in the water. Splashes echoed into the distance. Goosebumps raised on my chilled skin. Once I finished, the surface became mirror smooth. Reflecting the fog back on itself … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Mirror Mimic
The Hopeful Wanderer – Toxic Remedy
With sickness dragging at my bones, my throat, and the pit of my stomach, I shambled through a flower market nestled in the heart of an unfamiliar region. As I was new to the area, I didn't know where to find the plant I needed. That plus the language barrier meant this market was my … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Toxic Remedy
The Hopeful Wanderer – Keeping Away from Windows
Shattered glass clung to the window frame from sill to ceiling, heavy, pale curtains flapping to either side in a fresh breeze. Large sections of broken pane lay scattered among shards ground to dust, strewn across the floor. The window smiled a ragged, toothy smile, as if to say, "Watch this." Another massive ball of … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Keeping Away from Windows
The Hopeful Wanderer – Footprints in the Sand
Along a stretch of grayscale sand, swept smooth and clean by the wind, a set of unusual footprints appeared. No one made them. None that I could see, anyway, which was troubling to begin with. But more worrying was how the footprints raised instead of imprinted, moonlight glinting along the outlined relief. As if someone … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Footprints in the Sand
The Hopeful Wanderer – Accepting Assistance
The hollow, wet thump of fruit smacking concrete still echoed around the fruit stall. Oranges, mangoes, lemons, kiwis all scattered. Rolling underneath the stand upon which stood more neat mounds of fruit. Most still neat, anyway. The rest of the pretty piles lay in ruins. I peered over the short wall separating the beleaguered fruit … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Accepting Assistance
The Hopeful Wanderer – Detoured from Death
A sedate river of shaggy, horned beasts lumbered across the huge plain in my path. Snorting and lowing, their numbers stretched from the horizon on my right to as far as I could see on the left. Pressed together horns to tails, alternating between eating and walking. A cool wind blew them before it, sending … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Detoured from Death
The Hopeful Wanderer – A Tower of Doors
Eighteen doors. Four atop six on top of eight. Their hues ran the gamut of the rainbow, with like colors clustered together within each layer. The bottom eight doors shifted from navy to indigo to cerulean; the middle six ranged from forest to emerald to lime; with the top four a mix of sunflower to … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – A Tower of Doors










