Stories

Haiku from walks taken this Autumn along the trails in the woods.

Cory and Mark are BFFs who have faced all of life’s milestones together. They’re about to travel a dark path, until realizing the light will shine again on a different day. This story is an exploration of friendship and grief, and may be difficult for some to read.

When my wife died, I decided to move back to Indiana, to spend more time with my grandson. Noticing that Cliff seemed despondent, I decided that a fall hike in Clifty Falls State Park was just what he needed. Suspecting that he was gay, it turned out he was, but his affect was related to something else entirely. We learned a lot about each other and the path we took turned out to be metaphorical as well.

The Gift a hero can bring

Tony and Sean Morgia-Mulligan had been married for quite a few years, but recently they’d lost some items that they felt could never be replaced. One day, a young man named Jeremy Reinhart approached Tony and began chatting with him, and during their conversation Tony learned that Jeremy had a unique ability. In fact, Jeremy might even have a way to make up for their loss, but does it have a chance of working?

This is my entry for the Fall/Winter 2021 anthology, ‘An Unconventional Gift’.

Chandler Drake is in middle school and rides the school bus that Bob Bell drives. They’re also neighbor’s, so when Bob sees that Chandler is being bullied, he wants to help. Bob does what he can, but he would like to do more. When he discovers a second boy, Nick Morenus, who lives nearby and rides a different bus, is going through a similar situation, Bob attempts to offer a solution to help both boys. Chandler has devised his own solution that works even better when combined with Bob’s proposal. Will this strategy solve their problem?

This is my entry for the Fall/Winter 2021 anthology, ‘An Unconventional Gift’.

Joey Lam just lost his fiance, Jake Lawrence, due to an auto accident on Thanksgiving. They were supposed to get married on Christmas Day. Through a series of ancient taoist rituals and modern artificial intelligence programming, Joey may still be able to give Jake something seemingly impossible, the promised Christmas wedding.

Fall Anthology 2021 Theme- "An Unconventional Gift"

Zach thought he was fooling everyone and was only out to Jake, his kid brother. Then on his 15^th birthday, his dad gave him a rainbow pendant inscribed with the Hebrew word ‘Chai’, which means ‘Life’. His dad had had it made to give to his best friend, Cliff, who had AIDS, but never got the chance. Zach promised to wear it with pride, but hid it under his shirt, forgetting he had to undress for gym, a class he shared with Tanner, his secret crush.

Tristan Rader and Gavin Munson met as four-year-olds and almost immediately became best friends. However, their time together ended the summer before fifth grade when Gavin’s father got a new job and his family moved away. As the pair grew older, their paths would cross and bring them together in unexpected ways, only to have fate intercede and cause them to lose contact yet again. Will the journey of life win in the end or will fate triumph? Only time will tell.

This is my entry for the Fall/Winter 2021 anthology, ‘A Winding Path’

Jamison definitely missed his older brother, Johnny, when he went off to college. Especially since he's the only person in his family that he can talk to about being a gay teen in high school. So Jamison is overjoyed when he gets to take his very first bus trip out to see him for the weekend. It's a three hour ride, but when he meets another boy who seems to be heading in the same direction...that may not seem like enough time at all.