Stories

Will Felix succumb to the surrounding flames of his life, or will he rise from the ashes like the phoenix born again?

Prompt #385 –

Brendan Nelson had a tough week at work. He is a Project Manager at a small software company. Nothing went well on his current project. The last delivery to QA (Quality Assurance) was a total failure, the techs couldn't even install it. Add to that, a serious problem in the development of a new feature arose. Finally, on top of that, the customer was screaming about a bug that hadn't been fixed for months, and now it apparently crashed the system. As if things weren't bad at work, he had to come home to a surprise.

Newly coming to terms with being gay, following an abusive childhood and a failed relationship with a girlfriend, electrician Keith meets Thomas, who runs a local arts charity. Despite coming from vastly differing backgrounds, the two discover much in common, not least the need to come to terms with complex relationships to their fathers. But they also learn to enjoy exploring life together.

Seventeen year old Dakota (Dak) Ross was having a little difficulty with the goings on in his life. He’d recently come out as gay to his mother. He hadn’t seen his dad since he was three, or so he had been told by his Uncle Spence. He couldn’t hide his relationship with Jamie Paxler any longer now that they were having sex. Well, just oral sex so far, but he couldn’t hide the goofy grin he wore almost all of the time. Definitely all of the time he and Jamie were together.

Sharing that little piece of news with his mother didn’t go over very well at all.

Aouli 'Blue' Māhoe-Rivers is a high school senior who loves photography. One day, he skips school to snap some pictures, only to find a wall. Now, he wants to know what's behind it.

December, 2023 was a high point in eighteen-year-old Kevin Lewiston's life. He'd finally lost his virginity. For the first time in recent memory he didn't get a 'C' or a 'D' on his report card. His parents gave him their old Chevy Equinox for Christmas. Everything was looking up for the young man.

The calendar changed. Kevin's world changed. By June, he was on the verge of giving up. Then he saw something on TV that changed his mind; saved his life even. He packed everything he needed or cared about into his car, hit the road, and never looked back.

These are the prompt tales I'm collecting. What will they become? Who will read? It doesn't matter because they are mine.

Boy meets boy, leaves boy, meets another boy. All the usual things happen to someone with a thankfully less-than-usual life.

The last day of a dying old man is lived from his perspective.

A response to Prompt #68:

Imagine where your character leads a pretty decent single life. Then there is a phone call and that life is turned upside down as they find out, they have just become a parent—to a teenager. Is this a cousin that has been left with no other family members? A god child? A niece or nephew? What is this first meeting between them going to be like?

The circumstances whereby Manny obtains guardianship are a little strange, to say the least. Not to mention what happens afterward.