It was an accident, really. No one was to blame. Except, maybe, for the slippery fish.Two men were fishing on the pier. This was their regular Saturday thing. Cruise down to the pier, take the beer cooler out of the trunk, and spend the afternoon fishing.They rarely kept any of the fish. Toward the end of the afternoon, when there was nothing in the cooler but ice, maybe they'd drop a fish or two in if they caught something especially tasty. The rest of the day they'd pop the hook free and toss

There were four of them around the campfire. Jose, the forty-something stoner, Jeff and Dave the college sophmores, and Randy, the skinny just-out-of-high-school kid with the shock of red hair. Jose spent his summers up here in the mountains, working at the camping supply store in the meadow. The rest of the year he was a janitor at the college, which is where they met. Jeff and Dave used to go camping with their parents and it only took the promise of a few beers to get them to go. That left

June had a problem with her husband. He was a layabout, and bad in bed, but he had money. June stayed with him, but the longer she did, the more she realized that it was the money she loved. How was she to lose the husband, but keep the money?June did some research, always at the library where she volunteered, so she wouldn't end up on any lists. Because when you look up things like "how to get away with murdering your husband" on your phone or your home computer, you end up on lists. Eventually

"I look harmless. I'M NOT!" Said one of the signs on the balcony. The two women ignored it, just as they did the other signs."I'll keep an eye out for the guard," Jen said. "You set up the rope and wait for me."Trudy nodded. It was just past midnight and they'd snuck into the zoo without much trouble. Both were halfway through college, young and athletic. Climbing the fence was easy. Earlier, during the zoo's open hours, they'd toured the exhibits. Otherwise, how could they plan which animals t

Maria looked down at the river and tried to think of a way across.It wouldn't be easy. It was deep and cold and swift and though this one stretch of border and its kink of river was miles away from the nearest roads, she knew there were cameras watching. Every few minutes a drone flew by, cameras looking for illegals.They probably saw here with infrared cameras, huddled where she was under some trees, but she wasn't breaking the law right now. On the Canada side she was legal. Only once she cros

"Is that all?" The little cartoon skunkette looks up at you, then at your open fly and your penis. It's massive from her perspective given she's only thigh-high to you. Just the same, she doesn't seem impressed."What do you mean, is that all? Look at you! It's the size of your forearm.""I'm a toon," Bluebelle purrs. "We're stretchy.""You'll have to be.""You don't get it," she purrs. She turns, drops to all fours and flirts her tail up. Under other circumstances, having a skunk's ass pointed at y

It was the biggest raccoon Jake had ever seen. It was also, it turned out, the last one he ever saw.It was as big as a small bear, and fat. Even sitting down the thing came up to his waist. It also looked like it was sick."Don't touch the animals," his mom told him. "You can throw them crackers, but don't go near them." But she was off talking to the campground hosts and twenty feet the away the raccoon was coughing and hacking like it had something stuck in its throat.Jake couldn't help himsel

By kaiju standards, this Anguirus was quite small. Barely a century old, with a spiked shell only a hundred feet long. Even including his neck, head and tail, he was only three times that. Still very big by human standards, but by kaiju standards, just a pup.He had seen things, though. Like most younglings he was fascinated by the doings of his elders. He watched the great spinebacked King Of The Monsters fight it out with a great hairy ape until both were beaten senseless, and then with unwaver

The sign on the tree read "Don't feed the bears." Sharon ignored it.She'd talked to the nice retiree couple working as campground stewards and they said they hardly ever had bear trouble here. Twenty years ago, sure, but then they replaced the dumpsters with bear-proof ones and put in metal food lockers at every campsite. With no easy food to scavenge the bears mostly stopped showing up. The signs were a relic of earlier times.They were too high in the Sierras for thieving raccoons to be a probl

"Someone's got to do it," said Grandmother Otter. "Not me," said Sister Fourclaw, who lost one toe to a shark as a pup and so earned her name."Not me," said Loops, who loved to swim in circles to chase has own tail. He also liked to fart underwater and chase the bubbles, but no one wanted to call him Chases-Farts.The three looked expectantly at Sleekfur, who by a quirk of genetics had fur that was short and sleek by sea otter standards. All four of them were of the large variety of otter occasio

"That sounded like a distress call," whistled the young bull to the matron."Ignore it," said the wise old whale cow. "It is none of our business." This was good advice. It was good advice that was ignored.The whale pod had a dozen members ranging from the oldest, the matron cow, to a couple of calves not even a year old. Fairly far down the hierarchy was the young bull. He was well versed in the arts of filter feeding and the upward lunge with maw wide agape, both techniques to fill his jaws wit

At the foot of the meadow there was a river, and in the river there was an otter. This was well known to the bunnies who nibbled the clover hereabouts. Maybe it was a different otter sometimes, as many generations of bunnies had come and gone, but just as there were always skulking foxes and sharp-eyed hawks to watch out for, there was always at least one otter in the river.To most bunnies the otter, like the river, was just part of the background. Few paid any attention to the water-weasel, whi

One day there was a mostly grown bunny, out on his own for the first time, who wanted to cross a river. There were many bunnies on this side and the clover was low-cut and sparse. On the other side it was just as sparse. But on an island in the middle, it stood thick and tall.There was a trail, worn by generations of bunny feet, down to the river where they drank. The young bunny hopped down to the shore and peered across at the island. There was also a trail there, narrower and partly overgrown

Enrico was beating up Destiny when the alien showed up.The thin pimp in his leather pants and furry jacket wasn't muscular or tall. He got by on complete ruthlessness and today was no exception. He'd led one of his whores into the garbage-strewn alley to discipline her for giving some of her "candy" to a friend. "Candy" in this case didn't mean sex, though he'd beat her for giving that away too. "What did I tell you, bitch," Enrico said as he showed Destiny the error of her ways. He'd long since

It was Monday, the one day of the week the zoo closed, and for the staff, the busiest of all days.Most days the staff mainly worked before and after open hours, feeding the animals, cleaning the pens and tending to maintenance issues. Monday on the other hand was an all-day affair, some working on mechanical or structural issues in public areas while other spent a long shift on animal training.The park was well known for its 'Big Petting Zoo' events, when well-off patrons could safely groom and

There are very specific rules involved in working for Gazelle. These rules don't apply so much to technicians or assorted roadies, unless you do something wrong and draw attention to yourself. It is best to follow the rules regardless, just in case you do. The rules apply very specifically to her dancers. There are always four of them: T.C., Jaime, Fang, and Julius are the current lineup. They are so alike most people have trouble telling them apart: all are towering, muscular tigers in slashed,

Her name was Sunny. Not her real name, mind you. That was a secret. Her superhero name was Sunny, right enough, and in that guise she wore a blond wig and gold costume to go with her domino mask. She couldn't change her height or her athletic physique, but when powered up her "Sunny" glow made her dark-tanned skin much lighter-colored, and between that and wig no one seemed to have connected her two identities.When she wasn't out fighting crime or hanging out with other teen superheroes, Sunny w

It was the morning after the night before."Explain to me," Jerry's boss said, "How you thought this was a good idea."Jerry groaned. He was hung over. Too much punch spiked with gin the night before. He hadn't gotten home until two A.M. and was supposed to have today off. Instead his boss sent an intern to get him and here he was, back at the zoo before sunrise.Jerry's boss pointed over the railing. On the other side of the moat in the lion habitat was Maximilian the lion, lying on his side and f

There was a problem with the lion costume. A couple of problems, actually.The first problem was that the lion costume had an actual lion in it. A tame lion, mind you. He was the star of the "Big Petting Zoo" at the zoological garden and was used to being around people. Other than that one time he ate a yappy Chihuahua someone let loose near him, his record was spotless.The other problem with the lion costume was that it was surrounded by idiots.It all started when Jerry, who was a college junior

Three Points isn't much of a town.There is the church, a general store, one gas station on the potholed road, and woods for miles around with the occasional rickety old house. The hilly terrain doesn't leave much room for anything larger than a family garden and ever since the coal mine shut down the place has withered. These days the occasional tourists exploring the back country brings in some money, and when none of those are around people keep to themselves.Even a little town needs a school.

The villagers called him Grandfather Tiger. Greatest of the striped cats, he - or possible a series of huge tigers - had lorded over the jungle for time out of mind. Each new generation of children would hear of him, and the stories were all largely the same: Grandfather is the lord of the local jungle. Do not bother Grandfather and Grandfather will not bother you. If you end up inside him, you deserve it.A generation back some foreign tiger-hunters heard the story of the great cat from a travel

Bobby was bored.He easily slipped away from his mother when they arrived at the zoo. She was too busy queueing up at the beer stand to notice when he disappeared.It wasn't the first time he wandered off at the zoo. An energetic, easily bored and not too bright nine year old, he was almost more than an attentive single mother could handle. He was definitely more than Karen could.Left to his own devices he darted from animal enclosure to animal enclosure. A few people opened their mouths to commen

Sometimes a chain of events happens only because most of the people involved are very stupid, very drunk or very horny. This is one of those times. *****His name is Frank. He is a college student at Cal State Long Beach and is very drunk. It is early afternoon on Hallowe'en and he doesn't have a costume. "Stupid costume store," he slurred. He threw a beer can at a trash can as he went by. He missed. "Stupid Walmart." The store clerk apologized for being virtually out of costumes. So was the one

Hollow Earth.Godzilla emerged from the hole his atomic breath had bored and took in the environment. Vibrant colors. Floating islands. Rock and vegetation overhead as well as underfoot. And creatures. Strange creatures.A flock of bats each the size of railway cars, spiky crawling things a bit like a sometimes ally of his. A great lizard half his size. Smaller things, too small to focus his huge eyes on. Nothing, so far, as large as himself -Correction. In the distance, two great shapes winged t

Bruised and bloodied, the King of the Monsters still stood triumphant. The fight with the mechanical version of himself had exhausted him, but he turned to finish the battle with his other rival. Kong had helped him beat Mechagodzilla, but there could be only one alpha kaiju. Somewhere in the maze of tumbled skyscrapers was the great ape and Godzilla followed a trail of destruction toward his goal. Here was the bone-handled axe with its Godzilla-spine blades. His rival must be close by. Kong had

The battle had gone on for hours and both contenders were weary. Maybe that is why Godzilla was caught by surprise. He had separated from King Ghidorah for a moment, and it was as they charged back together that it happened. As Godzilla rushed forward, Ghidorah's middle head drew back, then darted forward with wide-open jaws.Godzilla blinked in the sudden darkness as Ghidorah's jaws engulfed his head. The force of their mutual charge sent Godzilla's muzzle sliding info the slimy chute of Ghidora

Just before dawn, Harry the beachcomber started his morning routine.He'd lived on the beach as long as anyone could remember. No one knew his real name. Some called him The Old Man of the Beach, as he'd been there as long as they'd been alive. Others called him Harry as a joke. A great mane of graying blond hair and a beard to his waist were the root of that anecdote.Every morning Harry appeared from under the pier. The pilings and rocks were covered with sharp-edged mussels and only a brave man

The
Mer and the seal
(Or,
how hybrids are made)
By
Strega
Cleo was her
name, and she was a Mer. From the waist down she was shimmering
scales and broad, thrashing fish-tail, from the waist up smooth skin,
green eyes a shade darker than her scales and sunset-orange hair.
Humans called her people merfolk, and her a mermaid. 'Mer' was good
enough for her.
It is the
nature of Mer to be heavier than humans and she was. Her long
fish-tail stretched her length to over seven feet and was all
whipcord

The
Lost Woods
By
Strega
Bill,
Randy and Phillip shared a campsite, but they didn't share tents. It
wasn't cold enough to need it, and it was, as Randy put it when they
packed for the camping trip, "Way too gay."
"Why
did we even come out here, man.". Bill kicked the end of a log
protruding from the fire, causing a shower of sparks to shoot
skyward. Phil cursed as some of them swirled in his direction.
Randy
wasn't paying attention. He was peering into the shadows outside th

...But
you can't hideBy Strega
The
job of a nature photographer is a lonely one. Even the best paid
ones, who sold to National Geographic or had popular online
presences, tended to work alone. There wasn't the money for a support
staff. If they were lucky they had a wife or boyfriend or whatnot to
travel with them. More often they ended up in some bog or desert by
themselves, and even if the animals were harmless there was weather
or dangerous humans to worry about. Weather, animals, humans. It

Two
flavors of manBy Strega
It
was a little polar bear, perhaps six months old. Though such bears
grow fast, it was little bigger than a man...normally.
It
was larger at the moment, its midsection distended by an unnatural
bulge. The little bear grunted, shifting uncomfortably where it lay
in the snow, as something tried very hard to escape from its belly.
Snow-white fur shifted and twitched as its massive meal squirmed and
kicked. The little bear grunted again, clasping its belly with both
fore

The fattest
dolphinBy Strega
Mark was a big
man. Six and a half feet tall, broad shouldered and fat, he still
lacked the zeppelin shape - small head, small feet, swelling out from
each direction into a broad middle - of the truly obese. Just the
same, while he claimed three hundred and fifty pounds, he was more
like 400.
At one point
he'd played high school football and under the fat of his thick arms
and legs and body still lay a lot of muscle. Mark 'accidentally'
elbowed an ice cream cone out

The seal hunt
By Strega
 
There was a pure white seal not twenty feet from Ronnie. Though one of the smaller species, this one was one easily as large as he was not even counting the unnatural bulge in its midsection. A club, handle wrapped in athletic tape and equipped with the usual hook for collecting the corpse of a clubbed seal, lay on the snow nearby. He recognized the club as Jonas's, By that knew who the bulge was. His high school friend still kicked inside the distended seal, whic

Ronas and the
orcasBy Strega
His name was
Angilak, which means 'big' in the language of the north, and he would
tell you this at every opportunity. Not that he wasn't - even for an
orca bull, a naturally sleek and massive giant dolphin, he was large.
He was thirty feet long from nose to flukes and weighed six tons,
and would happily boast to any female who listened that he was big in
other ways too. If you gave him half a chance he'd prove it, too.
But not all
orca cows are easily swayed and

Whale
baitBy Strega
"There,
you see," Ronas's mother said, as one whale talks to another.
"A bait ball."
"So I
see," said the young whale. A great shoal of sardines was
clustered in a flashing ball, thousands upon thousands of tiny fish
swimming in a tight, swirling formation. Other, smaller balls flashed
nearby. They'd watched as the main shoal, attacked by everything from
tuna to seabirds, formed into these glittering spheres.
"Each
little fish cannot fight

Yutu
and Pinga
By
Strega
One
morning Yutu, a young but large and strong black bear, woke and
thought about women. It was that time of year when female bears come
into season and the lust of the males is at its peak, resulting in
fights and even the occasional fatality as the stronger males fought
for the right to mate. Male bears took no part in the raising of the
cubs, wandering off when the mating was done. But during those few
months a boar's interest in the sows was keen indeed.
Just
think

Arctic threesome
By Strega
 
Ikun was a nanuq, a great white bear, young and healthy and strong. Most often he ate seal, but other things ended up in his belly as they became available. Once, when challenged by a smaller male over a female, the entire rival male went down his throat. That made the subsequent matings with the female awkward, but she was greatly impressed by his feat and at at least he was well fed for the days of coupling that followed.
 
One morning he woke in his

Ripper
and Swift - good neighbors
By
Strega
Locally
they were known as Horse Properties; big housing lots in the older
part of the desert town, two and a half acres each. Each sported a
modest sized ranch house, some trees and lots of open space often
used, as the name implied, for the owner's horse or horses. A
property this size took some upkeep and if a single person moved in,
soon enough the trees would get a bit shaggy and the weeds would get
out of control. Only a lack of rain kept the p

Ripper
and Swift - bad neighborsBy
Strega
On
the other side of Swift's property from Patty's house was Nathan's.
And while Ripper and Patty were happily exchanging bodily fluids soon
after they met, Nathan's relationship with the big wolverine was not
so positive.
The
trouble started the very day Swift moved in. On this side of her
property, instead of a wooden fence with a section of chain link, a
tall cinder block wall cut off all view of the next yard. As the
tigress scoped out her new prope

Swim
in the dolphinBy Strega
"Huh.
That's weird." Wally scratched his head. He'd been on the pier a
dozen times and he'd swear that there was always a No Swimming sign
on the post here. Now there was a different sign, and an odd one.
"Swim
in the dolphin," he read. "Saturday A.M."
Wally
glanced out at the water and say a flicker of gray in the blue-green
waves. A sleek form moved easily through the sea and for a moment the
dolphin rolled onto its side and looked a