E K Stokes

The heavy oak door of the detached house clicked shut with a finality that seemed to echo down the quiet, tree-lined street. For a moment, Leo stood on the driveway, squinting against the sudden, aggressive brightness of the early afternoon. The world looked exactly the same—the neighbourhood hadn't changed, a distant lawnmower was still humming—but to Leo, the landscape felt like a stage set that had lost its meaning. As he swung his leg over his Raleigh, sitting on the saddle gave a remin

You can unpublish the original story and publish the revised version as a new story - Add Story The consequences of doing this: you lose all old comments, but they are irrelevant anyway, you lose any chance of becoming a promoted author, promising author, or any other author status. That's my best understanding of things, so I would think long and hard about what to do and maybe speak to a gayauthors site person for official advice - don't do anything you might regret later, The site has very strict policies!

The light of Ryan’s phone reflected his image which was, by all accounts, infuriatingly youthful. At nineteen, with a round face, a scattering of freckles, and a clean-shaven jaw that had never known the struggle of thick stubble, he looked more like a sixth-former bunking off class than a Londoner trying to navigate the city's dating scene. He shifted on the edge of his mattress, his slim, gym-toned frame tense. From the other side of the flat's thin walls, the muffled sounds of his two ex

Ryan is nineteen, a student, shares a flat in London with his ex-school mates who know he's gay, but still think he might not be. He is going to meet someone he found on a dating app, a first!

The internal fire that had warmed Leo by the lake didn't stay there; it followed him home, the glowing embers buried yet ready to burst into flames. The heat permeated his skin like a low-grade fever. It was a one-track loop—a constant mental replay of sunlight, skin, and the magnetic pull of the brothers. He found himself wondering if Kenny felt that same static charge in his blood, or if Sam’s bravado wasn't only a mask for a similar obsession. The grand opening of the summer holidays did

So whisperly poetic... And more... Which include a trip to the dark side...

The week had passed in a fever dream of well known monotony. To everyone around him Leo was just another unremarkable, ordinary boy on a Raleigh, but to himself, he felt like an undercover agent returning to a secret location. The nineteen-fifties semi-detached house in the suburban street next to Hadley Woods no longer looked like all the other similar properties; it looked like a gateway, an entrance, a special place. Leo propped the bike against the low garden wall, his palms damp agains

Mine was dark green, Sturmey Archer 5 speed, I was always jealous of my big brother who had racing handle bars.

One week after their first encounter Leo meets up with the two brothers Sam and Kenny to escape to the lake in Hadley Woods. Leaving behind suburbia, and in a quiet secluded spot, they pass the day together sunbathing. The shared intimacy and shared secrets solidify what has become a "secret society of three."

Chapter Two of Kismet The story continues... The week had passed in a fever dream of well known monotony. To everyone around him Leo was just another unremarkable, ordinary boy on a Raleigh, but to himself, he felt like an undercover agent returning to a secret location. The nineteen-fifties semi-detached house in the suburban street next to Hadley Woods no longer looked like all the other similar properties; it looked like a gateway, an entrance, a special place. Leo propped the

@peter rietbergen, @Lutheros, @chris191070, @drsawzall Firstly, my apologies, the first publication was a draft version published by mistake, I've corrected the error. It was a repeated small section that got mixed up in the editing. I'm finding this site difficult to read on as the stories are plastered with ads everywhere, breaking into the text and making a real mess, with weird highlighted Google links on story phrases. As to your comments and the story itself, one by one, in order: You should, it's based on a real event. Indeed, it's really chapter one, but the progression is meeting Thomas, "Usually, our friend Thomas is here," Sam continued... Yes he did, the story is an exploration of burgeoning adolescent sexuality. I can't know other people's experiences, but speaking for myself, growing up there were many sexual things which happened and I can't believe I am different from everybody else. Maybe you had a quieter neighbourhood, maybe you had less freedom, or you simply didn't encounter the same kinds of adventures? And yes, to reiterate it could be expand, I have a draft of chapter two, but it's an adventure with Thomas and Thomas is the oldest. As I said the event here is based on a real event. I hesitate with the continuation due to the ages of the characters, Kenny is 11, Sam 12, Leo 13, and the girls are 14. Similar age group for this site rules, but Thomas is 16 and that might pose a problem to continue here, I don't know, I prefer to be cautious, I've already skirted controversy and have no wish to go there again, even if it's not entirely fiction. Thank you for your comments and encouragement.

Kismet is a transgressive coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a stifling North London summer. It explores the fragile boundary between childhood innocence and the electric, often terrifying, awakening of adolescent desire.

The tires of Leo’s Raleigh gripped the dark asphalt as he pedaled furiously towards the last street of semi-detached suburban houses before the deep green wood, the countryside at the edge of the city. At thirteen, the woods were his sanctuary—a place where he could leave behind the routine and escape on an adventure. He skidded to a halt, the path into the wood was two hundred metres away, the oasis of English oak and a mixed variety of other trees whose names he didn't know. He could already s

Hunter is right, any sane, intelligent review of the war on drugs would arrive at the same conclusion, it's a lost battle. It has been for years. That Hunter' s father believes he is doing God's work, that sounds as American as prayers before meals. There appears to be a growing divide between father and son as Hunter lives through some dramatic events and is growing up fast. I think Ferney's death must have effected deeply everyone in that group of friends, and have touched Hunter perhaps more profoundly than he realises. It's a tragedy that will stay with him until the day he dies. A very good, very real, chapter.

@andy cannon summed it up... Thank you for your comments.