Dog Star Chapter 8: Giovanni

Read the previous chapter: Claire. Gio was crossing the street even before the man had finished talking, nearly getting himself run over by a tricycle in the process. He didn’t even notice the tricycle driver cussing him out. All his attention was focused on the small body lying in the street in front of the…

Dog Star Chapter 5: Claire

Read the previous chapter: Giovanni. By the time Kiko brought the motorcycle to a halt, Claire’s throat had gone sore from screaming. She didn’t know that ghosts, even part-time ones, could get laryngitis. She wondered if it had something to do with her still technically being connected to a physical body. If she could get…

Dog Star Chapter 4: Giovanni

Read the previous chapter: Claire. “Gio, come,” Lola called. “It’s time to eat.” Gio tucked the blanket around Gisele, who coughed and moaned weakly. His youngest sister had been listless since coming home from school yesterday, and as soon as Lola awoke at the crack of dawn, he carried the now feverish Gisele over to…

Dog Star Chapter 3: Claire

Read the previous chapter: Giovanni. “Hello? Hey there, can you hear me? Open your eyes.” Claire turned in the fog of darkness where she’d been floating in, wondering where that voice was coming from. “Come on, Claire. Be a good girl and open your eyes for me.” I’m not a good girl and I’m not…

Dog Star Chapter 2: Giovanni

Read the previous chapter: Claire. “Oy, Gio. Sun’s going down. Time to call it a day.” Gio lowered the hammer and studied the wooden plank he’d nailed into place to secure the front windows of the blackened remains of his house. At the sound of the voice, he turned and saw Mang Dan, his neighbor…

Dog Star Chapter 1: Claire

The squeal of tires and the shriek of metal meeting concrete tore through the smoggy air. “Oh my God! What happened?” “That truck came swerving from out of nowhere!” “Someone’s been hit!” “Who?” “That uniform. Looks like a student from Siena High.” “Damn. What a mess. No, don’t move her. Someone call an ambulance. And…

Part 3: The Bridal Veil, Chapter 15

Read Part 3: The Bridal Veil, Chapter 14 The prince soon found himself blinking as shafts of light pierced through the canopy of thatch and wood-tiled roofs, crisscrossing lines of timber, and innumerable rags hanging from clotheslines. The light fell upon a courtyard that had opened up at the end of a dingy passage. The…

Part 3: The Bridal Veil, Chapter 14

Read Part 3: The Bridal Veil, Chapter 13 When I came into our classroom, Jenneth was already in sitting in his chair with his head buried in a textbook, refusing to even glance my way. I settled into my seat, feeling dispirited and twice as guilty as before. Somehow, in less than twenty-four hours, I…

Part 3: The Bridal Veil, Chapter 13

Read Part 3: The Bridal Veil, Chapter 12 The two cloaked figures made their way outside the palace compound and into the sleeping city. It was the deepest part of night, the still, quiet hours before dawn, but the streets were not empty. Other figures drifted about—bakers, drunkards, thieves, and the occasional civil guard on…

Part 3: The Bridal Veil, Chapter 12

Read Part 3: The Bridal Veil, Chapter 11 Soon, the peasant girl found herself walking out of the dungeon and into a star-strewn night illuminated by a full moon. She was wearing a cloak similar to the prince’s, with the hood pulled low over her head in order to conceal her identity. She threw back…