Stories

This is part 4 of “Catering With Benefits” - in the Appetites series.

Our favourite characters are living in the time of the pandemic, but don’t let that stop them from getting on with life.

The Flinders Street complex housing Poppy’s, Deans’s Bar, Divas and Dare to Bare, is closed due to the statewide lockdown.

On the other side of town the younger generation are coming of age and stepping out to discover what life has to offer.

This story is about Grant A Wellstead, his five closest friends, after the death of his parents and sister in a horrific car accident.

At a result of the accident, Grant becomes very wealthy, when the courts award compensation for the loss of his family and from the injuries he received from the same accident. His only living relatives, his Scottish grandparents, move to Australia to care for their grandson, as he recovers from his injuries.

Afterwards, Grant travels to Scotland with his grandparents, to complete his education. Come along and enjoy the ride of Grant's ups and downs in life, hang on as it gets bumpy...

A young man finds love twice

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?

Caleb Micco has been merely existing ever since his banishment from his Montana pack-- living in Texas, but refusing to become part of the pack willing to take him in. His thoughts are leading him down an ever-increasing dark path. Can a chance encounter with a local farrier make a difference in his life? Bigger question- can it make a difference in the lives of the hybrids stuck between human and wolf?

Corbin Crowley didn't intend to fall in love during his junior year at Old Dominion University. But he did... and this is what happened.

Jacob continues his journey to form new bonds with his brothers while struggling to find his place after awakening to a brand new world. Will newfound friendships be broken? Will his first real love be lost? Those are the heart-wrenching questions Jacob must face with the ever-present fear of losing himself to light and shadow.

Young Adam, aka Simon, aka J.J. grew up in Southern Indiana, the victim of sexual abuse for as long as he could remember. The one thing he had going for himself was his intelligence, which allowed him to master advanced college-level material online. On his 13th birthday, however, his father left him no choice but to fight back the only way he could. Forced to run away, he began an amazing journey that would lead him to the highest corporate echelons, and more importantly, to love.

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

“What about you Zackary? Do you have any plans to keep you busy during the holidays?” Mum asked me. I so hated that name, but it is the name I was given at birth, and my middle name was just as bad, and I refused to use it, and regularly reminded my parents and brother to never speak that name.

As I considered the question, I wondered if the casual summer job that I have for the past few years was still available, which I had really enjoyed, and began just two days after Boxing Day. “I don’t know, nothing until after Christmas, and after that I am hoping that I will have my usual old job,” I replied.