A Ship of Bones & Teeth

by Karina Halle

Or perhaps it wasn’t the spell or my charm that won him over, but the fact that I was beautiful, nude, and silent. Something he could both show off to the world and manipulate to suit his whims.

I expect her to scream for help or try to swim away. Instead, the princess punches me right in the face.

God Almighty, she is the moon and I am the tides. I feel my resolve begin to slip away as her eyes pull me in.

I have wanted to kiss her like this since the moment she first punched me in the face.

In the end I was caught between the devil I knew and the devil I didn’t.

How can she belong to both places, when only one of those worlds includes me? Don’t get attached to a caged bird if you only mean to set them free, I think.

Life doesn’t pull any punches just because it’s already beaten you to the ground. It doesn’t let you breathe just because you’re already drowning.