Robin J. Harrison

The  thump, thump, thump of someone knocking on the door roused her from her sleep. She sat up, rubbing the bleariness out of her eyes. Pushing the heavy duvet back, she slung her legs over the side of the bed and slid to the floor. Thump, thump, thump. That hadn't come from the door, that had come from above her. She looked to the ceiling, wondering what could be making that racket on the roof. Her parents were probably still asleep. After all, it was 2am. Thump, thump, thunk! That sounded like it was in the living room.  She picked up her softball bat, holding it like coach had taught her to, and slowly, carefully, made her way to the living room, peeking around corners to make sure it was safe. She'd heard that people would sneak into houses on Christmas Eve to steal things, and if kids heard and woke up, they'd think it was Santa and ignore it. She wasn't going to allow her family to be tricked like that, though. She peered into the living room. Just as she expected...

       Maybe this had been a bad idea. Maybe all of this had been a mistake. Maybe she wouldn't be able to make it out of this. Maybe... maybe she was going to die.       That thought scared her. It shook her to the core. But not as much as the sound of The Creature walking past her hiding place.       She hadn't had any time to mourn her friends as they were mauled in front of her, and she wouldn't have any time to mourn herself, either.       She couldn't bear her morbid curiosity any longer, and so she looked out from her hiding place. She saw there a creature of inhuman proportions, with a distended, undulating stomach; the sight of which made her skin crawl. Knowing what, or rather who was digested within filled her with dread. The Creature's powerful muscles pulled its skeleton along with rapid, disjointed movements that showed no regard for discomfort or its anatomy. Only hunger could be seen in the e...

He sped down the highway, weaving dangerously between the other cars on the road. If he didn't make it home in time, he would miss his kids waking up on Christmas morning.  While Terry was grateful his job had allowed him to go to home for Christmas, his flight had been so delayed he'd almost feared he wouldn't make it at all. His exit was coming up, and he pulled off, knowing he had to be more careful now. The snow was more packed on these roads than they had been on the highway. He pulled into his driveway, turned the car off, gathered the presents he'd bought for his family, and snuck inside. The family dog and his wife greeted him as he walked in.  Stephanie took the gifts from him to place them around the tree while he made coffee for the two adults, and cocoa for the twins he was about to give the best wake-up call ever. He handed Stephanie her cup, kissed her with all the passion he'd been unable to give her while away for work, then the two of them walked in...

 I'm currently in the process of outlining a sci-fi book series; The Citadel Series, which is a series of three planned books about young adults trying to navigate in a world with an oppressive government that doesn't care about you if you're disabled.  I'm finding it hard to create a world where there is no human influence. As a human in a society that was built and entirely influenced by humans, I can't imagine what it would be like to have languages, beliefs, practices, morals, or anything else develop without human influence in some capacity. Why should a bipedal lizard with no showing genitalia feel the need to cover their body? For protection? Why not just live in, and work in environments where they don't need the protection of clothes? Why should a fuzzy creature with fur thick enough to protect it from sharp weapons ever wear something to cover up its fur? For fashion? Fashion is an entirely human idea, and in nature, most animals show they are 'wor...