‘I long for my dear beloved...’ Yakiv Stepanovych Rybak—the son of Stepan the fisherman—jerked his head up and around at the unexpected disturbance, feeling the fine hairs at the back of his neck prickling. He stood at the river’s edge, surrounded by forest and scattered rocks. Wisps of mist caressed the mountainous terrain, and in the low, gray light of predawn, the source of the sound lay hidden.
It wasn’t the ascent of Mount Everest that took my breath away, it was the suffocating pressure of breaking a record.. The title of “First Chinese National To Reach The Summit” had been taken, of course—something my mother never ceased to remind me of. However, the record for the first Chinese national to reach the summit without oxygen was still ripe for the taking. To my family, it was the only acceptable consolation prize.
I have tried to venture beyond the cave, but I can learn little of the beast’s habits. I have seen neither hide nor hair of the creature, nor any other for that matter, during these last two days.
The severed goat’s head stared at him from the hay-strewn floor, judgement in its clouding eyes.
‘You will be tested’, the condemned convict said, voice low and accent thick as the Magistrate gave the final chance for redemption to the accused.
He is not mine, this boy. Not of my blood, at least. My sinewy arms cradle his round and tender form. The wind tries to pull him from me, but what can the wind do that even God cannot?
“Well, it’s safe to say her occupation didn’t have her killed” Whether he was right or wrong depends entirely on the meaning one chooses to give to the word “safe”.
Once the private home of a man named James Gilliland, the ranch had been transformed over the years into a mecca for UFO enthusiasts.
As the first flakes of snow landed on Jocelyn’s parka, the generator spluttered and died. ‘Shit,’ she spat. She tried to brush the flakes from her sleeves, but for every crystal she banished two more fell from above.
