Stories

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.

Craig and Jared, former brothers-in-law, have been tormented in different ways, and lines have been crossed. Can they now find a way to make sense out of a challenging family situation?

Denial is a lonely path. Lack of honesty is divisive. And self-loathing is a destructive force that's difficult to overcome. 'Dissonance' is a tale that centers around Ben Mansfield and Travis Cooper: two characters from very different backgrounds who, after a chance meeting one night, must learn to face the discordant elements that have fractured their lives and prevented them from finding love and acceptance - especially within themselves.

Life had been quiet for Don and Louis. Each was looking forward to Louis' birthday celebration. They got a surprise they weren't expecting.

Corbin has been a man on the run. Finally, he settles down in rural Idaho, far from his old life, ready to start anew. But, some things, simply can't be left behind.

Grey, a young werewolf, has left his pack to find answers in a small Oregon city. When he steps into The Lunar Haven Bed & Breakfast, his life changes in unexpected ways. It is here where he meets Dave, the bartender, and Clara, the perceptive owner. All three are thrust into a world of supernatural mysteries and curses, and have their destinies intertwine in the most unexpected ways.

This is a story full of wolves and magic, love and family. About finding the people that matter the most.

The sleepy village of Crumbington is about to get a wake-up call.

When the new chairperson of the Summer Fête Committee pushes to create a naked calendar of the Crumbington football team, mouths drop open. Her further pronouncement at having snagged a celebrity host for the fête—rising television and movie star Clifton O’Keefe, and ex-resident of Crumbington—is met with indifference.

Not by Nathan Fresher, though, local baker and captain of the football team. He had been Clifton’s boyfriend in high school, until Clifton and his family disappeared into the night over ten years ago.

Drew lives a strange life with his mother who abuses him, his neighbors who act more like a family than his mother - the complications of being different from the average by being gay seems silly to add on. He plans to study hard and get away, but then something unexpected happens with his neighbor Teo. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe both?

Gabriel Redbrick mourns the loss of his companion, Dr Albert Callico, who died in a minibus accident on his way to a medical conference.

Following a meeting with Albert's solicitor, Gabriel discovers he has inherited a derelict property in rural Italy. He also stumbles upon a secret message left to him by Albert.

The message leads Gabriel to the Italian site where he meets a groundsman, Lorenzo Morelli. The unravelling also suggests that Gabriel’s is in danger while offering a clue to unlocking his past.

Trevor Carlson is making his way through graduate school. He’s the best friend and beta to the most powerful wolves known to exist. Rather than be swallowed by the shadows of his friend’s success, Trevor’s shown time and again he’s a confident and powerful force who can stand on his own. A summer internship working at his friends pack in California broadens his horizons and reminds him not all education takes place in the classroom.

Thank you to Carlos Hazday for his tireless work as editor and pushing me through writers block to make this story what it is.