Stories

Successful, but romantically repressed computer programmer, Liam Bailey would've blown a homeless man for a taste of stale after spending almost a week chasing down his energetic young nephew. Instead, after his gorgeous neighbor Gabriel Morgan, sexy dad of two--who Liam would've sworn under oath and death by fire ants was straight as an arrow--turns up on his doorstep bearing sugary gifts and a few extra surprises. Suddenly "straight" makes about as much sense as a diagonal and Liam needs to decide if he should try a diagonal life, or just keep swimming so he doesn't end up getting in too deep...

Robby, estranged from his brother Tanner after coming out as gay, builds a life with his husband Manny, marked by love, resilience, and family. Over the years, Tanner sends cards for milestones—graduation, birthdays, even Robby’s children’s births—but never bridges the gap in person. Haunted by past betrayals and unwilling to risk his hard-won happiness, Robby wrestles with the meaning of family, forgiveness, and whether some wounds can ever truly heal.

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.

Nathan Harris is an angry loner, who just wants to be left alone, until an interaction with Corey Andrews leads them both alone together in school suspension. The two soon learn they have more in common then either of them realized.

Benjamin is aging out of the foster care system, with no family and no home he strikes to move out on his own. he strikes an unlikely friendship with Josh. Can Benjamin learn to trust, learn to love, and can Josh break through the trauma and distrust and work together towards salvaging their road to redemption

Someone buys a house and receives a belated letter from the son of the previous owner. He is a Navy Seal, wounded and recuperating, unaware as he sent it that his parent has passed away. An unexpected friendship forms..

Newly coming to terms with being gay, following an abusive childhood and a failed relationship with a girlfriend, electrician Keith meets Thomas, who runs a local arts charity. Despite coming from vastly differing backgrounds, the two discover much in common, not least the need to come to terms with complex relationships to their fathers. But they also learn to enjoy exploring life together.

14-year-old Bryan Padilla is caught between worlds he doesn't feel connected to. Having been abandoned by their birth parents at a young age, Bryan and his younger brother, Caleb, were adopted by a family friend, Diego Padilla, and raised in a culture not of their own. Though it is the only life Caleb has ever known, Bryan inwardly struggles with his feelings about life, death, race and sexuality. Things escalate shortly after the death of his birth mother. Can Bryan come to terms with his situation as a figure from his past tries to upend his entire life?

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.

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.