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.

Greg Fowler has been reborn, reforged his life, and been reunited with his newborn brother. Now we join him as he educates himself about his New Reality. While his travels won't cover many physical miles, his education will cover centuries of tradition. Can he learn all he needs to handle his responsibilities? Can he use his newfound knowledge to help his friends? And more importantly, can he use what he learns to help those he finds along the way?

This is Book Four in the "New Reality" series. Reading the first three books is a must if you hope to fully understand the world that Greg and his friends live in.

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.

Being the oldest and growing up in a large family can be hard, especially when you are gay and the family is extremely homophobic. You are constantly being compared to your deceased father. A man whose stature and deeds are always increasing, as time goes by, and are held up as your goals. Anytime you reach those goals, your mother moves the goalpost further away.

You never seem to measure up. You are always being told that you are worthless and will never amount to anything since you cannot measure up to your father. It never mattered that you were a straight "A" student and that you were an athlete.

How close can Kenan come to the flame before he gets burned? Will love cauterize fresh wounds or will it blister? Just how hot is Asher? (Very)

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

Roy Patterson just moved into town. About to be a high-school junior, he was not really happy with the move. But his dad got a promotion, he got a bedroom of his own. Leaving a few good friends didn't make up for all that. Two weeks in and he hasn't found anyone who could be a friend.

That all changes one Sunday. The circumstances around that change are, to say the least, a bit odd.

This is Book 3 of the New Reality series. Reading books 1 and 2 is strongly recommended. (Trust me, you'll be LOST if you don't!!)

From the pits of tragedy come the joys of the future. Greg Fowler learned this lesson the hard way. Now, he and Scott have to prepare for life while facing challenges they thought were years away. Life is coming at them faster than they want, but is it faster than they can handle?

Read along and find out.

Derek Arriens had always been the kind of boy to help others, so ending up with a career as an EMT after high school wasn’t a surprise to him or anybody who knew him. Derek volunteered for the rescue squad as soon as he got his license at 16 1/2. Three years later something happened that made him wonder if he should consider a change of career.

Zach has been invited out for his sister’s twenty-first birthday. Unfortunately for him, he’s stuck at the nightclub with little to do. The music is annoying, and he does not drink. His saving grace? The bartender giving him Perrier and truffle fries. How exciting.

Can anything or anyone rescue him from his boredom?