Stories

Prompt 553 inspired this short story

The summer that began with Rules of the Road is drawing to a close. Brian and Jeff have become close, despite their inability to have their relationship out in the open. But time and events - and people - have a way of adapting, and the closing days of summer are just the starting days of new things.

Kevin was seventeen, and unhappy. He was in love with his best friend, but unable to share those emotions with him. And, he lived on pins and needles with his dad, who seemed not to care about anything that went on in his son's life.

Kevin had found some relief in writing - tales of other worlds and other life. But now his best friend was going to prod him into something new; something that would change Kevin's existence altogether.

A place to hold my responses to the writing prompts.

After a huge row between his twin brother and their father, Russell’s mother sends him off to stay with her cousin in Europe, with no explanation. Reluctantly, the shy nineteen-year-old faces the issues which have kept him in his brother’s shadow for the past five years. It’s a twisted path of denial, anguish and unexpected joy, as Russell struggles to deal with long buried emotions and hopes.

James, an American closeted teen follows his parents to France, Paris to be exact. Alone and incapable of saying anything coherent in French how will he manage?

Marc got what he’d wanted for years, but it’s enough to tear apart his friendship with Casey. Marc tries to avoid Casey, but that’s not always possible. A series of incidents puts both of their jobs on the line and Marc and Casey have to decide whether or not the resulting consequences are worth continuing their feud. Or can they put the past behind them and learn to work together as the team they used to be, and maybe even explore what's between them?

Fifteen-year-old Billy Roberts is caught in a war between his two best friends. Brett Reilly and Dustin Smith are desperate to find the love that they don't get at home, and they are willing to do anything to get it, even if they have to destroy each other. Meanwhile at home, Billy's relationship with his parents is being strained to the breaking point. In the end, someone will be broken.

Earth-shattering events are few and far between, but when they come, they have lingering effects.

Two teenage boys were swept up by the winds of change, and punished for it. A firebrand reformer enlists the help of a reluctant correspondent, and both unwittingly help a department store man come up with a durable innovation to bring a little joy into people's lives.

Ivan offers shelter to a man stranded in a blizzard. He learns that he has something in common with his guest--something that would surely drive the other man away if he ever learned Ivan's terrible secret.