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
Tag: short story
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
The Hopeful Wanderer – A Weary Drifter
On the side of an empty stretch of highway, I found a little white stuffed rabbit sitting in the winter-dead grass. It wore a red dress patterned with bursts of yellow flowers. From beneath the hem, fuzzy feet poked out front, seemingly sat there and left behind. Black button eyes turned down toward the toes, … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – A Weary Drifter
The Hopeful Wanderer – The Way of the Rabbit
From within the depths of a snowy hill, an enormous dark eye stared at me. Iris a deep brown, shot through with white snow. Pupil veined with tree branches. Snowflakes puffed away in the wind where a clump of snow had fallen from the opening eyelid. Unwavering focus pinning me down. Rooted in place, I … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – The Way of the Rabbit
The Hopeful Wanderer – New Year, New Fear
Hollow baubles of every color hung upon ribbons dangling from the ornate ceiling above. Soft light glinted along smooth and glittery spheres. These hung at various heights, filling the massive old ballroom with color. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors ran around the walls, ornaments reflected forever. From some ribbons dangled nothing. Beneath them lay shattered shards of baubles, … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – New Year, New Fear
The Hopeful Wanderer – Not Alone
Sneaking. Steps soft in slippery snow, I crept through a city filled to the brim with night. Too dark to see even my hands stretched ahead of me. Feeling my way forward with zero light. Light attracted the things that hunted here. Growls and snarls in the distance. Nearby. My breaths quickened at the fear … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Not Alone
The Hopeful Wanderer – Ancient Advice
I stood at the foot of a giant, neck craned back to gaze up. Up past the treetops, up past the hilltop, up to the amethyst evening sky. Three vast arms stretched away from the top of the wind turbine, stars outlining the shapes of wide fan blades. These remained still in the evening quiet, … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Ancient Advice
The Hopeful Wanderer – A Short Break
All at once, my senses came crashing in. Leaving behind the bubble where my mind had floated, separate from sensation. I took a breath, surprised at this return to wakefulness. I was seated on the floor, leaning against the wall in the low-ceilinged outbuilding where I had gone to ground. Long enough for my legs … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – A Short Break










