Stories

Best friends, Luke and Matt, have been inseparable since primary school and now, after twelve long years of schooling, the end of those school years are finally within sight. All that is left to do is make it through the night of the school formal, before starting their final exams.

So what will the night bring for the boys and their group of friends? What secrets are about to be exposed? How will they, their families and their friends all react to the events that are about to unfold? And what will they discover about themselves . . . about each other . . . and about life?

I had had many chances to hook-up, but I wasn’t built that way. Of course, there was the obvious fumbling with others growing up, nothing more serious than a couple of hand jobs after high school which left me unfulfilled. Anita Bryant, Jerry Fallwell, Newt Gingrich along with the not so moral majority, with their contract on America was unsettling to say the least. Gay boys and men were dying, and no one knew why, and much less interested in finding out why. To the best of my understanding, it was virtually impossible to catch AIDS or venereal diseases from your hand, warts maybe, eyeglasses were a risk I’d take. Then Mikey entered my life…

To have someone to love is one of life’s greatest gifts, his grandma used to say. However, what grandma didn’t know, and Otis didn’t have the heart to tell her, was that getting there in this day and age required going through a painful phase called dating. Something he’s not very good at, to put it lightly. However, when someone moves in an apartment a few doors down from his, Otis begins to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

Full summary inside.

An unnamed narrator recounts his first sexual encounter with an unlikely college classmate.

Owain returns to live in his home town, 20 years after leaving when he was disowned his parents for being gay. He needs to rebuild his life following illness and come to terms with his messy family history. There is much to learn and discover, along the way he meets Colin, a builder who has his own family issues. The two explore how to make a life the way that they want, irrespective of the weight of their family experiences.

The story takes place in Cheshire, UK. The main setting, Netherwich, is my invention based on elements of Crewe and Nantwich. The language uses some regional idiom.

University student Jason misses a train and finds catching the next train totally changes his life.

Coming of age, coming out, sexual confusion, seduction. These themes and others are explored in the winding tale of Toby, Carey, and their friends, loves, and acquaintances.

A delinquent sneaks out of his home to go shoplifting.

The story was inspired by Prompt #211:

You’re a closeted gay man at a company gathering, for example, a conference of some kind. The company brought in a unique kind of entertainment and you’re attracted to one of the entertainers. With their costumes, you can’t tell if they’re male or female. You decide, what the heck, and ask them to meet you later. They’re not what you expected.

Jackson is a Senior in high school. Everything seems to be coming together to make this the best year yet.