Horror
Le Griffon
The black water of Lake Michigan lapped gently at the shore. It was the night of the new moon, and while the stars shone like cold gems against black silk, it was the orange glow of the campfire on the sand that provided most of the light. It flickered on the faces of the three children and one adult huddled there, sending shadows dancing and twisting around their features.
By Crysta Coburn4 years ago in Fiction
Something In The Water
Julius almost missed the turnoff. The dirt road was obscured by pines and marked by a bent pole that looked like it used to have a street sign affixed to it. Used to being the operative phrase. To call it a road would be charitable; it was more like a glorified path, littered with loose rock and only a car’s breadth wide, so that if someone were coming in the other direction, one of the drivers would have no choice but to pull over.
By Raistlin Allen4 years ago in Fiction
Bursters
Viruses have basically two mechanisms for invading and propagating from a host cell, the so-called lytic and lysogenic pathways. In the lytic cycle viral DNA enters the host cell from the outside, binding to receptors on the cell surface then injecting their DNA in the host where it transcribes itself into the host’s mRNAs. The host cell’s DNA is eventually destroyed and the virus hijacks the cells metabolic activity using the cell’s energy for its own replication. Progeny phage are replicated rapidly. As the cell fills with new virus it becomes overcrowded, enzymes are released to break the cell wall and the host busts open spreading new phage particles which can then infect more cells. In contrast, lysogenic phage integrate their viral DNA or RNA into the host’s DNA as a new set of genes called prophage. Essentially the viral DNA becomes a part of the host’s genetic material. No progeny phage particles are produced. Instead as the host replicates the integrated phage genetic material is replicated as well. It may alter some of the cell’s characteristics but it does not destroy it. There are no viral symptoms in the lysogenic cycle, but the viral DNA or RNA may remain there permanently. However, if the prophage undergoes any stress or is exposed to UV radiation the lysogenic cycle can switch to the lytic with the results as described above. Sometimes if the difference in osmotic pressure between the interior of the cell and its external environment is large enough the cell will actually burst open quite violently even in the absence of the lytic enzymes mentioned above. It is an extremely effective way for the viral particles to disperse themselves over a large distance.
By Everyday Junglist4 years ago in Fiction
Double Jeopardy
From nearby, a wolf howled.\ She didn’t know how long she’d been running, but it had to be a long time. Her feet, shod only in thin moccasins intended for indoor use, were throbbing and tattered. She could feel them slip in the blood pooling inside the flimsy footware. She wasn't prepared for this.
By Debora Dyess4 years ago in Fiction
"Her Worse Nightmare"
Eyes wide open, she lay there frozen in time, she could see her family, but only if they passed by in her line of vision. She could hear Bob Barker encouraging a wheel spinner on"The Price is Right" through the TV. She tries to talk but she can't open her mouth. Her heart is beating so hard she could hear it in her head. Panic sets in! Oh, please, someone help me, she instinctively knows screaming would be in vain!
By Pamela Walsh-Holte4 years ago in Fiction
Castle Ornithollow. Top Story - October 2021.
Donna stood among the leaves, counting the gargoyles that lined the castellated walls of the ancient building. When her Uncle Jeremy had begun to describe the castle, with all its oddly-angled turrets and its ancient iron border and its hillock of colonial gravestones and the lake behind it, Donna had become intrigued.
By Eric Dovigi4 years ago in Fiction
