Jude always ordered hot coffee when he was falling apart. He leaned back in his booth and pressed his hands into the porcelain, trying to drink in the heat through cold fingertips. He couldn't taste ... [+]
Bronnie and the Great Green Two-Headed Plague Dragon
E J Delaney lives in Brisbane, Australia, and has written stories for Escape Pod, Flame Tree Fiction and the school magazines Countdown and Blast Off. "Bronnie and the Great Green Two-Headed Plague Dragon" is in Short Circuit #08, Short Édition's quarterly review.
Bronagh's mother watched her toying with her food. "Sit up straight, Bronnie," she chided, "and finish your dinner. Your father's ready to read you a story." "I don't want to." "Well, if you'd rather go straight to sleep..." Bronagh pushed her plate away. Always she had to do as her mother said. Why couldn't it be what she wanted for a change? Her mother raised an eyebrow. "You're having dinner. You're going to bed. Whether or not you get a story is up to you." Bronagh eyed the plate again. "Fine," she grumbled. "If I have to."***Evening fell. The sun disappeared behind the western mountains a