Stories

My dearest Sir or Madam – Good society is not exempt from the ubiquitous underbelly of forks and cakes, though I confess I never expected to be so entirely undone by it. Nor by Oliver Fitzgibbon. Fair Oliver! Two years my senior and newly come to town – handsome, observant and possessed, I think, of the same gentle temper as myself. Yet in a world that demands discretion, I fear my admiration may prove a dangerous indulgence. With best wishes, I remain, &c., &c. – Timothy.

Luka and his best friend Devin, two resilient, homeless young men fighting to survive as hustlers on the unforgiving streets, face a life-changing moment when an enigmatic, affluent client crosses their path. This powerful stranger presents them with a jaw-dropping opportunity, an unconventional job that will challenge their friendship like never before. As they plunge headfirst into this rousing experience, they will face harsh scenarios, uncover buried secrets, and be forced to redefine their loyalty to one another. Will their relationship emerge stronger than before, or will their trials ultimately unravel their bond?

The year is 1891, and the Wild West is dying. Alvarez is a smartly dressed, smooth-talking bandito riding north with a stolen fortune, a lethal six-shooter, and one very spoiled cat. He travels alone, until he finds a half-frozen boy bleeding in the cold mud. Devon is an exile, violently banished from his Mennonite community and hunted by the very boys who broke him. As they ride together, Devon's cold logic clashes with Alvarez's flashy chaos. Slowly, the pinstriped killer and the battered runaway must learn to trust each other before the past catches up to them both.

Two enemies wake in the ashes of Jerusalem—one a deserter drowning in guilt, the other an amnesiac who remembers only how to kill. Hunted across the desert by a vengeful lord, they must disguise themselves as a Crusader knight and his squire to survive. But in the war-torn port of Jaffa, masks slip. Secrets surface. And a feral German street rat with a talent for trouble forces them to confront an impossible question: in a holy war that devours everything, can two broken boys build a family from the ruins?

Zach was looking for a quiet night of cruising at a dive bar. He thinks he's found the perfect hookup with a cocky meathead—until a surprise Father's Day Strip-Off and his attention-seeking himbo father turn everything upside down. A story in three parts.

Fresh out of his master’s, openly gay Marc dives into a high-pressure Munich consultancy and straight into the orbit of his cold, closeted boss, Frank. When a “running group” becomes their private ritual, breathless runs, heated glances, and charged locker-room moments ignite a tension neither of them can outrun.

When teenage logistics clerks Leo and Julian accidentally trigger a catastrophic reality warp at work, an enigmatic, waistcoat-wearing capybara named Barnaby steps in to help them untangle the timeline. Their reality-bending adventure ultimately leads the boyfriends to unexpected corporate power and a very lavish upgrade for their favorite grumpy resident at the local zoo.

This one comes from Prompt #71.

Write a short story featuring only one character. No secondary characters at all. You might drop them in the woods and see how they fare, or come up with your own idea, but only one character is allowed.

Fraser Vogel knew it was dangerous to parachute in high winds. He wasn’t left with too many options in his Cessna 182 Skylane when its yoke seized and the engine failed.

Jump or crash? Pretty easy choice.

Cwtch is a Welsh word, translated into English it means a hug, but the meaning is deeper and more profound than a simple hug. When you give someone a cwtch you also give them a safe place and this is what twenty something Londoner Harry gives Welsh farmboy Aled. The story tells how two souls find each other, and recognise one another immediately. It is attraction, but also love at first sight, although true love is never easy.

This story is also published under the title Eighteen Years by E K Stokes.