Mark Ponyboy Peters - Stories

Christmas in Australia, in yet another new town.

It's hot and dry and there's not really much to look forward to, or so sixteen-year-old Cameron Lewis thinks.

But then he stumbles upon a neighborhood game of cricket in a dusty, vacant lot. This might be just what he needs?

‘They say that sometimes you’ve just gotta take a chance or two, don’t ya know?’

And that applies to life and to love, as thirteen year old friends, Christian Miller and Jeremy Hutton are about to discover.

Every town has a history. Every town has stories that have been handed down through the ages . . stories that tell of people or events that may, or may not, be real. Thompsonville is no different. In fact, this town probably has more than most. Here’s just one of them!

Every town has a history. Every town has stories that have been handed down through the ages . . . stories that tell of people or events that may, or may not, be real. Thompsonville is no different. In fact, this town probably has more than most. Here’s another one of them!

War! Nothing on earth even comes close with regards to heartbreak, tearing apart relationships and families, and leaving dreams shattered! History is littered with the shells of the broken hearts of millions, and yet the wars never end. So, what happens when two young lovers in a small country town during WW1 are called to play their part? Can their love endure? Will they be reunited at wars end? Or will their love be trampled into the earth by the boots of a marching army?

Life is filled with surprises. We are constantly reminded that we are at the mercy of the universe; from the people we meet, to the events that shape us, to the places we find ourselves in. If we are among the lucky ones we will find our place in the world, and someone to share it with, and life will be sweet. But even then, everything is subject to change, and we either roll with the flow, or find ourselves fighting against the tide, because you just never know what might come at you from out of the blue.

We first met Nate and Danny in The Seventeenth Summer. Best friends forever, but then Danny fell in love a year ago, and left Nate behind.

Nate couldn't blame him; after all, who wouldn't want to escape Thompsonville, but that didn't change his feelings. One year on, it's Nate's turn to escape, but first he needs to see Danny, perhaps for the last time. Can he finally tell his best friends how he really feels? Or is it time to finally spread his own wings and experience life for himself? Or perhaps, life has other things in store for him? The only way to find out, will be to find out what happens in Kandanga Falls.

"My grand-father always used to say that everything that happens to us in life happens for a reason. And when we look back on our lives there are some moments that just seem to stick in our minds forever and I can now see what he meant by that."

For Scott Fraser there was one such moment that he remembers well. It was the time when, as a teenager, he saved the life of a young boy who was about to be swept out to sea.

What he couldn't have prepared himself for, however, was what would happen when that same boy comes back into his life some years later . . .

My Prince wasn't actually a real Prince... and his father wasn't a real King... and his real name wasn't Elwyn. Jesus, who would call a kid that, other than maybe a screenwriter creating some medieval drama for the silver screen? Drama would eventually take my Prince to the pinnacle of his chosen profession. His story... our story... begins in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia.

The new kid in town was quite the looker, but for Tim Patterson: gay, seventeen years old and single, he didn't think he'd stand a chance . . . even with his best mate, Ben Walker doing his best to interfere! What he didn't count on, however, was that the new kid in town had a secret of his own, and that the two of them were more alike than anyone could realise. And so it begins. Boy meets boy . . . and everything that they both hoped for looked like it was falling into place. Can they truly make it work? Can they avoid the pitfalls that seem to come with young love? Will they be able to find a way to work it all out?