The Castle That Fell (Fiction of the Apocalypse)

First: How Long?
Previous: Streets on Fire

June 7

“I do believe that I'll skip the news tonight.” Shahin put the remote down on the table with a gentle thump. “And, possibly, the wine as well.”

Bella curled up on her lap. “Storytime, mama?”

“I can do that. Find me a book, then?”

“Right here.” She hauled the heavy picture book up into her lap. “The story of the princess and the crow.”

Shahin suppressed a sigh. It was a very good story, in a very good book of stories, but Bella had asked for it every night for three weeks. “Not the Prince and the Snake?” That was, for one, still Xiuhcoatl's favorite story.

“I like the Princess. Or...” Bella's eyes went white for a split second, and her hands flipped blindly through the book.

Shahin swallowed as her youngest child found The Castle That Fell “Princess and the Crow, then, it is, my daughter.”

Next: A Letter to School

Streets on Fire (Fiction of the Apocalypse)

Previous: How Long?

June 6
“...circles fifty feet in diameter that do not seem to be moving, burning out, nor expanding. Unfortunately, the circles of fire are also entirely resistant to all retardants the Sedona Fire Department have tried...”

Shahin closed her eyes, but it was too late. The images were already searing themselves into her brain. Circles, circles of fire.

The streets were on fire - no, they were actually flooding with flames, the heat pushing ahead of the unnatural inferno. People ran from the fire like rats, like their own flood of humanity. In front of Shahin, a child tripped and fell, his foot caught in the storm drain grate.

“Mom?” A warm presence in her lap pulled her from the vision. “Mom, read me a story? The news is boring.”

Next: The Castle That Fell