Stories

This is the third and final part of the Confounded Trilogy, portraying a May - December story with familiar characters.

You would be wise to (re)read the previous parts of this trilogy, to get reacquainted with the characters; some you will know, some are new. Some references will hark back to previous writings, and will make more sense. This story is told from perspectives, so called Points of View (POV).

Many men enjoyed the life and freedom of being a cowboy, but it wasn't an easy one in The Old West. The aches were many, but it was the loneliness that could wear a man down. Jubal was one of those who dreamed as he moved and protected cattle, and the day finally came he had enough money to buy his own piece of land. Fate, though, dealt him a terrible hand once again, taking everything from him and leaving him lost and alone. Was Lucas his savior, or just more trouble for a man who'd learned to trust no one?

Corbin Crowley didn't intend to fall in love during his junior year at Old Dominion University. But he did... and this is what happened.

Boone and Coy have built a damn good life in Larkspur, and feel on top of the world at being able to share such blessings with each other. The Old West has its challenges for men made like them, but everything is falling into place on their little piece of the frontier... until an unexpected visitor shows up out of the blue. Suddenly, their world is turned upside down as they struggle to help the troubled man.

Aged 10, Albert and his younger sister Florence went to live in the old house at Coldbrook with their parents. What happened there would change all of their lives.

Anthology Pot Luck Theme: Turn Back Time

British born Chinese gay man Stanley Cheung wakes with somebody else's hangover.

Not only that, but he is laid out on someone’s couch in a grungy student digs where a strange woman is telling him he smells like a brewery. The thing is Stanley rarely drinks.

When the woman finally leaves, he finds out that not only has he woken as six-foot-three, ripped, blond-haired, straight Caucasian Don Bradley, but today is not Friday.

It’s Thursday.

Again.

He is reliving the same day but this time as somebody else.

Cinema engineer Craig is tired of life on the road; eating junk food, staying in bland hotels and never knowing if he’ll get home at night. He can’t see any way out until an unexpected turn of events and an encounter with a fellow traveller makes him realise there might be an alternative.

Being gay has always had its pitfalls, but nothing could have prepared us for the devastation of the last two decades of the twentieth century. Michael is very sick, but there is one more thing he feels the need to do as he lays in bed waging the biggest fight of his life. As an activist, he still wants to be of some use, no matter how little. It's not his nature to give up until he has to. This is a story about PRIDE, and what it represents to our community. Pride month means many things to many people. For some it is a parade and a chance to celebrate, but for others, it holds different connotations.

Life in the Old West was harsh. The work was hard, but the men were harder, and death.... well... it came easy. Boone had no one until he met Coy, a handsome cowboy with a good heart. Their friendship was quickly formed, and meant everything to him, but after five years of being at each other's side, it was time to move on. Coy didn't need him anymore, and Boone wanted someone made like he was. Finally accepting that was never going to be Coy, and tired of being rootless, he sets out to find a home... land that was his, and a place he could belong. Coy? Left on his own, what path will he take?