Stories

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.

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’.

What if you were a witness to a crime, but didn't know it? Once the crime is solved, does what you know matter? If you put a period at the end of the sentence, does that give you a final answer?

A short and very personal conversation with my dog.

Pot Luck Theme: Lockdown

Sucked through his laptop screen by a hooded wizard, Jake must work for him and the voice in the sky… or be erased from existence. How long can he survive when he’s not in control?

Potluck Theme: National Forest

Jace is a good kid, guy next door, dutiful to his mother, respected by everyone he meets. All that changes when he walks in on something that spurred him to action, an action that forces himself to look into the mirror and wonder just who he was. He doesn't have time right now though, right now he has to run.

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.

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.

Distance can mean many things. One man considers love, separation, and getting the day job out of his head.

Grant makes a visit to Best Buy and encounters someone who has the possibility of changing and improving his life. The only question is, will it work out?

This is an entry for 2021 Anthology #1, alternative topic: But Wait; There's More