Bill W

Meander comes from Greek Maiandros, an old name for a winding river in Asia Minor that is now known as the Menderes. To the Latin maeander, to the English Manderes, and finally to Meander in the early 16th century as a noun, Despite this origin, the word is more commonly used to refer to a person's wandering course than a river's. The word "meandering" was first used in English in the early 1600s. The earliest known use of the adjective "meandering" was in 1617 by William Drummond, a poet and pamphleteer. Examples of the word meandering in a sentence: "Just then, he spotted them meandering down the road." "I made the drive through the meandering roads of Montecito once a week." "The humans pursued a meandering course through the forest." "My keen eyes found a small kid meandering around the area aimlessly." What is the difference between wander and meander? Some common synonyms of meander are ramble, roam, rove, traipse, and wander. While all these words mean "to go about from place to place usually without a plan or definite purpose," meander implies a winding or intricate course suggestive of aimless or listless wandering.

What would you do if you heard something crash in the woods? Would you go check it out or call 9-1-1? If you went to check it out and found an unconscious creature inside that definitely wasn't human, what would you do then? Those are the types of issues that this story deals with. This is a sci-fi story that has plenty of drama and quite a bit of humor, and it's totally enthralling. It's well-written, imaginative, and moves at a steady pace, and even if you aren't a sci-fi fan, you'll still want to click on the link and open this marvelous longer short story, and you'll be glad you did.

Puppi, from the very start of this story you had me hooked like a hungry large mouth bass or a rainbow trout and you slowly reeled me closer and closer to shore. It was a wonderful mix of sci fi, drama, and humor. and at times you made me wonder what I'd do if I found a downed space craft with an alien onboard, while other times I was terrified smiley and deputy dawg would find Perry, and other times chuckling over the wisecracks and hilarious actions. This story was well-written, had a good pace, and was creatively thought out. You have a great imagination. Great job! For a while, I thought Perry was going to insist that Reuben go back with them, because Perry couldn't stay with Reuben. And if Perry returns, I hope he wears a helmet or Reuben buys him a motorcycle or bicycle helmet for his visit, because I don't think Perry's head can take much more trauma. 😜 I also hope you've written more about these two, because I'll be checking your site looking for more about them. If possible I'd give this story 6-stars, but I'm limited to only 5, but Kudos on this fantastic story.

Have you ever had your house, condo, apartment broken into and robbed while you were at work, on vacation, or just away for a celebration, like the Fourth of July fireworks? Did you feel violated? Did it set you on edge and make you fearful and nervous afterward? Did you get suspicious or jump to conclusions about who might have done it? This is a cleverly crafted story about such an incident and you can feel every emotion that the couple who were robbed felt. You will also find a little twist at the end, so be sure to read this excellent short story.

Cole, another excellent story. You set it up perfectly, the feeling of being violated, the reading into things that were said during the investigation, the doubts and suspicions about who pulled it off. You made me feel all of that in a powerful and masterful way. Kudos on a job well done.

Going through a breakup can be hard enough when there's an underlying reason, such as cheating, but when it's based on misinterpretation, a 3rd party with his own agenda, or a lack of communication, it can be devastating. This story is about a bad breakup and how the parties deal with it afterward. @Headstall uses powerful writing to display the emotions involved on both sides, and you'll feel like you're one of their friends witnessing the aftermath. Take time to read this moving and heartfelt short story - you'll be glad you did.

Powerful writing, Gary, and you painted the conflict like a Leonardo da Vinci painted portraits. Your story makes me wonder how many of your readers that have gone through a bad breakup and are mentally going back and reassessing what took place? I hope maybe a few of them will be able to patch things up the way Duncan and Leon did. You had me a little worried when Kelly and Martin locked them in the extra room, because as upset Duncan was at the time, I was afraid he was going to physically attack Leon, but I'm glad that didn't happen. Thank you for writing this highly emotional drama. Communication is essential in a relationship and without it the relationship is doomed. I hope your readers all see that now and can avoid the same mistake in their lives. Kudos!

Brian is a closeted gay man who has a "crush" on a new hire at work. He isn't sure if the new hire, Nate, is gay, but it really doesn't make a difference, because Brian knows he can't come out of the closet. The reason he won't come out of the closet is that he has a harsh, bigoted father who has made his life hell, although not as much of a hell as his brother, Kurt, has had to deal with. The problem worsens when Brian discovered Nate is gay and is interested in him, but Brian is not ready to come out of the closet, because he's worried about his father's reaction. What is he going to do - come out or lose Nate? This is a very well-written short story with very believable characters. Do yourself a favor and read it. You won't regret it.

Def, I loved your story and could identify with your characters. They all seemed so real. Although I had my suspicions about Harvey, after Bri said he'd go on trips a couple of different times for a week, but I thought he might have a mistress. And knowing that Harvey's father had disowned him, I had two possible reasons for that - either his father discovered Harvey had pre-marital sex or he had a gay relationship. The twist was, I never suspected it was with Carl. Great job!

As ridiculous as it seems, Management has decided that Angles and Imps (demons) should work together as a team in connecting "true" soul mates. They become an Angel-Imp AI team, and the imp's job is to makes sure they complete the physical connection, while the Angel's job is to ensure they voice their love for each other. Tim's descriptions of the characters are imaginative and delightful, and the assignments are imaginative. And this particular story has a surprise ending. Take a long at this creative short story and you will probably enjoy it as much as I did.

Tim, I love your AI stories. They're so imaginative as the two bicker back and forth about how to carry out their mission. And now it seems they are also soul mates. Will it work out and is this from their hearts so they'll announce their love for each other, especially since Angles don't copulate. Is this relationship coming down from Management or has it come about merely from working together? Great job!

Audacious comes from the Latin root audere (dare) audac-/audax ("bold") and came to English in the mid 15th century. Shakespeare used "audacious" seven times in his plays. That in itself wasn't exactly an act of bold originality. It had been around for decades. If you look up the word “audacious” in Webster's Thesaurus, however, you'll see that it has several, very different connotations. One, as it relates to words like courageous, heroic, and gallant, and another is the audacity synonymous with impudence, temerity, or brazenness. The word audacity was first used in English in the Middle English period, around 1432–50 in Higden's Polychronicon. It comes from the Latin word audacitas, which means "boldness". Examples of audacious in a sentence: "First of all, his work made dear what an audacious venture poetry still could be." "her audacious behaviour will land her in trouble one of these days" "she made an audacious bid to take control of the company" "they devised an audacious plan of escape"

A wonderfully tense and emotional story concerning two different ways the main characters react to having gay feeling and being attracted to another male. The story could have definitely been longer, but it was long enough to understand what these two young men were going through.

Well done, CM. You had me glued to the screen to see what would happen next. We all have different reactions to our feelings of being attracted to another male, and you portrayed two different viewpoints very well.

Cole, I've loved most of your stories that I've read, and this story had the promise of being a really good story, except you included so much detail that it made it confusing. Let me explain, start with Bauer's death. By starting with the cardiac event, moving to cancer, and then suicide, you confused your readers. You could have just started with the cancer and had him commit suicide because of the inevitability of his death and excessive pain, and that would have been much easier to understand. I loved the idea of the old library and Todd Spencer, but you included details that you could have used but failed to. When Dalton was first there, Spencer had mentioned the presence of the newspaper morgue, and I later thought Dalton might have used it to investigate the haunting from a death of someone being "buried alive". I think that if you had Dalton use the address of the house and looked through the morgue to find out about Spencer's death and its connection to his husband would have been much more effective than just finding the clipping in the book. Otherwise, there was no need to mention the newspaper morgue on the first place - superfluous information. Also, when the old library building just disappeared and the cemetery appeared was a great idea, but what was the purpose of Dalton reading the tombstone with the name Reed Parker on it? How was Parker connected to this story? When Dalton read that name on the tombstone I was thinking it was the name of the boy haunting the old house. If Parker's connection wasn't going to be explain, then the mention of the tombstone would have been sufficient without reading the name - or even saying the name was too worn away by the weather to be legible - or it appeared damaged by a storm, thus making it illegible. Like I said, this had the promise of being a great short story, but you added too much extemporaneous information that made it a little too confusing.

We know that it comes from French cajoler (coax, cuddle), meaning "to give much attention to; to make a fuss over; to flatter or persuade with flattery"—no surprise there. But the next chapter of the word's history may, or may not, be for the birds: it's possible that cajoler is descended from a word that is cage-bound twice over. What is the difference between cajole and coax? 'Coax' suggests that you are persuading someone very gently and patiently; your intentions are usually honourable. 'Cajole', on the other hand, has a slightly negative connotation. When you 'cajole' someone into doing something, you may choose to use deception. What is the difference between cajole and wheedle? While all these words mean "to influence or persuade by pleasing words or actions," wheedle suggests more strongly than cajole the use of seductive appeal or artful words in persuading. The word cajole was first used in English in the mid-1600s. The earliest known use of the word is from 1645 in Kings Cabinet Opened. Examples of cajole in a sentence: "he hoped to cajole her into selling the house" "we managed to cajole her out of her disastrous plans" "So buy my stuff and cajole your friends into mindless purchasing." "The theater manager does not chide, warn or cajole us into good behavior."

Yes, another cliffhanger again. Why? Don't you like cliffhangers? 😁 Hania may be a prankster, but I don't think he'd do that with something this important or serious. He wouldn't want to take the chance that they'd miss an opportunity to get rid of one of the evil skinwalkers. 😲

I suppose that's a possibility, if there is a treasure and depending on how large it is. You also have to consider they'll have to prepare for an extremely long life, and if they have sons, one or both of them will have to take unpaid time of from their jobs to train their sons. We'll have to see how it plays out.

Hopefully, time will be short for the evil skinwalker, but the rest of the plan has to go as designed first, so keep your fingers crossed. As far as the treasure, we haven't yet had any indication that there is a treasure. They've yet to go to see if they can discover if there is one. And even if there is, we have no idea how much it might entail or whether they'd be able to benefit from it. If it's artifacts, they may be considered cultural treasures that can't be sold or disposed of in any way. Who knows how this is going to turn out?

Yes, we know the "bait" worked, but now will they be successful.

No, I worked several jobs, but none of them in television. However, I grew up watching a lot of TV - stay tuned next week, same time, same station. 😜

No! Since this was done as a personal favor, any repairs would be asked from an individual, not through the group in charge of the power plant. In other words, he did the guy did it as a favor and it's not quite legal. 😲 🤪

Convivial traces to Latin words "con" (with) + "vivere" (life) to "convivium" (banquet) to "convivialis (fit for a feast). Convivial was borrowed from the French "convivial" and tends to suggest a mood of full-bellied joviality and it came into English in the mid 17th century. The word "convivial" was first used in English in the mid-1600s. The earliest known use of the word was in 1669 by poet and courtier John Denham. Here are some examples of "convivial" in a sentence: "The atmosphere was quite convivial". "The royal party found the university atmosphere convivial". "Ellen and Kevin's dinner parties are always relaxed, convivial events". "The food was cheap, the service cheerful and the company convivial". "It is always pleasant to participate in a debate where there is such conviviality and wide agreement among the parties". "He was known for his conviviality as a host".

Some jobs are boring, other jobs are varied. Jason is suddenly asked to perform a job that he wouldn't normally be asked to do and it leads him on a hunt for his target. Along the way he encounters things that he probably wouldn't encounter under normal circumstances, and he finds out details about himself that he hadn't considered before this assignment. What his job is, where it leads him, and what he discovers about himself will be left unsaid.. If you want to find out this information about Jason, then you'll have to read this intricate, detailed, and captivating short story.

Yes, patience is a virtue that often bears its own rewards. Who Knows? It's possible, I guess, but whether or not the boys can do anything to help the entire tribe is questionable.