Emperor

By Christian Laforet

Robi-Jo squeezed her eyes tight. A scream escaped her lips as her toes plunged through the surface. A chill instantly passed through her body. She wondered briefly why a chill, but her brain insisted that the lava was so hot, that it felt cold. It made sense, she guessed. It wasn’t until she swallowed a mouthful of salty liquid that she started to think that she was not being burnt alive in molten rock. She opened her eyes, and although it stung, she saw that she was submerged in water. Pushing with her legs, she swam upwards.

She found Felicia and Sam already bobbing on the surface. “What the crap?” she yelled to get their attention.

Sam surveyed the endless ocean which stretched across the horizon before looking back at Robi. “I teleported us to Teardrop, the water earth.”

“Oh gee, you teleported us? I hadn’t noticed.” Robi-Jo waved her arms around. “Maybe—and this is just a thought—in the future you could not wait until we’re about to die a horrible death before doing so!”

Felicia nodded. “Yeah, it’s kinda jerky. The whole, making us think we’re gonna die thing.”

Sam frowned. “I’m sorry, would you have rather me leave you in the hands of that narcissistic psychopath?”

“Well, she has a point there.” Felicia shrugged.

Robi-Jo was already fuming, but the smirk that Sam shot her way, sent her over the edge.

“I’ve had enough of you!” She grabbed a hold of Sam and pushed her under the water.

“Whoa!” Felicia tried to wade away, but was somehow pulled into the mix. Continue reading →

By Christian Laforet

“I can’t believe it’s been a year already,” Dale muttered as he pulled into the Fresh Choppers parking lot.

The events of the previous year were still very fresh in his mind. When a freak lightning strike coincided with a magical spell gone awry, the result was ten thousand miniature versions of himself. The tiny terrors ran amok through the store, killing many of his fellow co-workers. Only with the complete annihilation of the building, was Dale able to destroy them.

Once the dust settled, Dale was heralded as a hero. The mayor even presented him with a gently used 2003 Dodge Dakota and fancy box cutter with a blade that was guaranteed to never dull.

Even after his fifteen minutes of fame ended, Dale considered himself lucky that, at least, the Fresh Choppers had been reduced to a gaping hole in the earth. And then they rebuilt the damned place. Dale resisted returning to work there, but relented. It wasn’t cheap keeping a beast like a Dodge Dakota on the road.

The store looked exactly as it had before. The produce department led through to meat which connected to dairy and then on to the grocery department, which took up the bulk of the space.

As Dale made his way through the grocery section of the store, he ran into Felicia and Robi Jo. The cashiers were setting up a ladder in the middle of aisle one. Continue reading →