Stories

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?

One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy.

Five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told.

I am sure many of you, like me, learned this children's nursery rhyme about magpies. According to an old superstition, the number of magpies seen predicts whether you will have good or bad luck. Something I came across subsequently, was the existence of many variations on this rhyme, some more sinister than the children’s version.

One of those is incorporated into this short story about boyhood abuse.

Out of necessity, Armie accepts what his life has become, but when a handsome stranger issues an unexpected challenge, the walls he's so carefully constructed begin to weaken. Once the dust settles, will they crumble altogether?

Eighteen year old Owen has escaped the bullies from his home coven and started a new life in Teonards. He never want to have anything to do with his old coven ever again.

The coven have been looking for Owen since he was discovered missing. Mica is in Teonards on a supply run and decides to ask around while he's there.

When the two meet fireworks and revelations are abound.

Can minds be changed?

Prompt responses and Short Scene/Stories that won't leave my head alone.

Psychologist James Mannigan is granted a series of interviews with the Vynx brothers, four men of unknown origin found naked wandering Dartmoor fifteen years ago who claim they are not human. Housed in the Seahaven Open Facility in a remote part of Scotland, they live unremarkably alongside other guests.

At first, through his questioning and study, James finds nothing he has not encountered before. Until Guardian, one of the brothers, insists on sharing their beliefs on reincarnation. As events unfold and finally reach a violent climax, James finally learns why he has been chosen.

This started as a story for the Grid Game and has gotten bigger.

Simon is a newly turned vampire, he's made his home in a lovely cave on a mountain.

Unfortunately, someone else has decided they like the cave too.

My prompt was - A newly-made vampire (verb) deep forest on a mountain no one dares enter (conjunction/pairing word) the cat won't move.