The swordsman said, “Fetch me the rooster.” And his daughter obeyed. Elizabeth left the castle quickly and crossed the street in her search. She knew which rooster he meant—the great, black rooster, almost as large as she was, with one eye green and the other gray, that lived in the house on Tumble Hill on … More Cozy Flash: “Elizabeth and the Egg-Laying Rooster”

It was a small thing, air-light, tissue-thin, barely an impression left in the great, good green into which it was born. The spark that brought it to life was also a mere whisper, a molecule or two of breeze floating among a soft spring mist just before dawn. A small thing, but not helpless, even … More Cozy Flash: “Dreaming of Violets”

The esteemed firm of Babbitage and Esqueaken is pleased to present Your Highness Alphonse I, Regent of the Hundred Isles, warlord of our glorious campaign against the known world, billable hours for your litigation against the pretender, the false claimant against your son, in the dispute of the named Chosen One of the Kingdom. All … More Cozy Flash: “Billable Hours for the Disputed Rights of the Chosen One”

It’s one of those lazy days. Scout had meant to get up earlier, she really had. But their bedroom window had caught the morning sun so perfectly, kissing her face and encouraging her to stay in bed just a few minutes more, a few minutes more… She’d been out late last night, after all. She … More Cozy Flash: “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”

Fleet Mac Wood knew arguing with pack goats was futile. The ranger lived with three of the beasts. He told them daily not to eat his tent, not to chew his boots, and not to wander into the mountains where bigger animals—or worse things—would eat them. He corralled them. They leapt the fence. Hobbling was … More Cozy Flash: “The Problem with Pack Goats”

Grandmother sits on the floor of her ruined house wearing only her nightshirt when I find her the morning after the shockstorm. It has taken me half the night to climb to the little village at the edge of the cold, clear mountain lake, where a handful of elderly villagers stubbornly cling to their traditional … More Cozy Flash: “Iai, Iai, Mele (Listen, Listen, Child)”

The road rose ahead of Sanya and the sun was blissfully warm on her face. Birds trilled from the banks of pine trees around her. In the clear air, as the mountain path twisted, she caught glimpses of the mighty Erech river, crashing far below her through its steep-sided valley. Sanya began to sing for … More Cozy Flash: “The Price of Crossing”

On a good day, Bluet could fluff his fur out until he was wider than he was tall. Tonight an unseasonable rain had slicked him down to nothing. He kept his paws tucked in his armpits as he darted between the shelter of blooming cherry trees. The path hugged the bank of a sloshing stream, … More Cozy Flash: “Up by the Gryphon”

The girl found the little man in a meadow near the pine forest not too far from her home, where she had been picking blue cornflowers. She had seen a small glint when a passing cloud moved past the sun, and when she knelt down, there he was. At first she thought he was a … More Cozy Flash: “The Little Soldier”