Stories

This is an experiment. I attempted to write a chamber slice-of-life piece: small space, small number of characters, two actually, not counting the cats.

Guest Prompt #2 by Valkyrie: Write a short story (at least 500 words) in first person without using the pronoun “I”.

After a devastating loss, the protagonist finds solace in the intoxicating presence of another.

The world appraised each the moment they were born. While Walter Samson IV stands to inherit his family’s empire, Teyshawn Jones fights every day for a slim chance at a future. Neither can afford to stray from the narrow path before them, yet what each truly wants is the freedom to walk side-by-side.

Note: This story begins four-and-a-half years after Kept Boy to Made Man and seven months after Souris lands in Chicago. While it is not necessary, it is recommended you read those stories first as an introduction to the Land of Lincoln and many returning characters.

A middle-aged reckoning with the past: a moderately successful gay author stops in New York on a book tour, and confronts memories of his school days. How we perceive ourselves, how we perceive others and how others perceive us, can change as our vantage points shift in time and space.

For Tony Scott coming home, five years since he left Thompsonville, to chase his dreams, is daunting. Five years since he has seen the only place he could call home, the only people he has been able to call family, and the only man he has ever loved!
If he is to find happiness he knows he must face the mistakes of his past and face those left behind.
What will he find there? Will the town have changed, or will it still be that sleepy seaside haven he had grown to love? Will he be welcomed back, or will he be shunned? All he can do is step off that bus and knock on that door. Only then will he know if he really is in a good place!

The boys are back! We return to Parborough to catch up with Brian & Gordon after an eventful year, what with new jobs, new relationships and new friends. Brian, his soon-to-be husband, Gordon and son, Toby are discovering life as a family, along with working out just what their relationship is with the rich and sexy Russ Kahn.

But life isn't all roses and Toby's relationship with his friend Noah is called into question whilst his Mother's boyfriend remains a worrying threat.

Perhaps this story is merely a sorry little attempt at magical realism. Or perhaps it only takes place in the mind of its narrator, or in his dream, or perhaps some of it really happens to him—or a combination of all that. But none of that matters; none of those ideas either add to or detract from the story. With a nod to the many modern adaptations, here is another take on the Pygmalion myth. As with all such stories, be careful what you wish for!

Souris (soo-wree) was a happy child in a loving home with perfect parents until everything went horribly wrong. A coming of age tale told over eleven transformative birthdays in which Souris must navigate love, loneliness, and loss to find himself.

I wrote this in 2017 for a friend who lost his first true love in a car accident, and after almost a decade was still grieving for his husband. I dedicate this to anyone who's ever lost someone they love.

My entry for the 2025 Poetry Anthology - Diversity! Quite possibly a topic we can all relate to.