Mark Paren's Latest Stories

Exile to Érenn

Sun, 10 May 2026 10:07:01 +0000

Fourteen-year-old Aiden Callahan has been expelled and shipped off to rural County Sligo for the summer. He expects boredom. Instead he finds ancient passage tombs and a mysterious boy named Cianán who seems to belong to the landscape itself.
As their bond deepens into first love, Aiden discovers that Cianán may be the last living remnant of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the mythic race who once ruled Ireland and retreated into the ancient mounds. But summer doesn’t last forever, and some connections come with a cost neither boy is prepared to pay.

There’s Always One Special Kid

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 18:41:10 +0000

In the halls of a parochial boys’ school in Westchester County, a teenager carries a secret he has no language for and no one to share it with. Convinced he is the only gay kid among eight hundred boys, he navigates a world that would condemn him for simply being himself.
Out of those eight hundred, one boy stops him cold.
A brutally honest account of obsession, longing, and the cruelty of desire that must remain invisible, and a single sentence that could have changed everything.

It’s Not How I Remember It

Sat, 11 Jan 2025 23:35:07 +0000

This story is unlike my others. It is the true account of a gay boy growing up in California in the second half of the twentieth century. A story many of us can tell.

There is darkness and light in this narrative.

The Exchange Students

Fri, 09 May 2025 15:37:17 +0000

Matt is a new school ambassador at his high school in San Francisco. His first assignment is to welcome four exchange students. The new kids have a secret.

Luminosity 2-The Return

Fri, 24 May 2024 16:02:57 +0000

‘Luminosity - The Beginning’ should be read first.

I was fourteen years old for six hundred years. I'm ninety-five now.

Matthew, my companion, my lover, my life, lies in the hospital bed next to mine. His breathing is shallow. I am worried. It was my turn to die first this time.

Before Matthew, there was another …

Beyond is Now

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 21:19:03 +0000

Two families decide to combine a summer vacation with a professional conference, convened to discuss a newly excavated ancient Roman Mithraeum.

Their teenage sons, James and Winston, meet for the first time on the flight to Munich. James is immediately infatuated with Winston. There’s more to this trip than either of the boys expect.

Luminosity - The Beginning

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 20:37:36 +0000

Henry is a loner attending an exclusive Silicon Valley boarding school. A mysterious new kid shows up mid term in order to guide Henry on a momentous adventure.

Once In Every Ten Thousand Years

Sun, 29 May 2022 15:00:57 +0000

Ten thousand years ago, the first permanent human settlements were established soon after an unusual astronomical occurrence. The same phenomenon occurred again fourteen years ago.

This story explores the impact of the meeting between a talented fifteen-year-old and a strange and exceptional boy.