Dispatches

She dropped out of her classical music program and abandoned her scholarship to travel to Europe and be an au pair. Because seeing the world seemed like a better life than spending long days in practice rooms the size of a closet...

Once there was a species of animal that looked up at the stars and tried to find the rules governing them. At first, because it could not see very far, the species made rules that governed nine planets and a few hundred stars...

Sitting in a cafe, a young man on a first date tries to impress the woman he fears is too beautiful for him by performing a card trick. It fails. All three times. And the expression on her face burns itself into his hear, where it will stink of char and fear. What he does not know is that the three cards he pulled by accident are the most important in her life...

Once, there was a great tower surrounded by a wall of sharp thistles in which a gentle princess was kept prisoner. A dragon too, lived within the wall. Its massive body wrapped around the tower, guarding it from any who approached. And there were many...