Stories

Book 3 in the Jacksonville Jaunts series centers around Bart Hamilton. Bart was once a teammate of Carlo Marini's on the cross-country team. Even as a senior in high school, Bart was unsure of his sexuality. He waffled between thinking he was gay, bi, and periodically straight since his early teens. It wasn't until after he turned thirty-four before his feelings were cemented on the gay side of the fence. That was when a man named Noah Hankins changed his life for good.

It's a common belief that places can be haunted due to things that occurred there. This seems especially true for prisons, hospitals, and hotels. As I have done before, I thought it would be interesting to tell a story from a unique perspective; this time, a haunted hotel story, but from the hotel's most notorious room's perspective. So, once again, this is an anthropomorphic story. We'll get to experience some of the nasty things that happened in room 606 of the fictional Memphis-Mississippi Hotel. We will experience what the room witnesses. Witnesses, or is the room itself an active participant?

Domenico Martini is entering high school at a boarding school, necessary due to circumstances from earlier that summer. He learns a lot about school subjects, life, himself, and a whole lot more. He'd always liked boys more than girls, but never had a chance to do anything about it - maybe not totally gay, and he wouldn't be sure if you asked him about it, until arriving at the school, that is.

This story originally appeared elsewhere. It has been updated to make the characters meet GA's guidelines. Additional enhancements may appear as I go through revamping it.

Prompt 263: First line: "It's behind me, isn't it."

Centaurus 4 is the latest mission to Proxima Centauri b. Three attempts to reach the distant planet were unmanned. The main reason for that was that Proxima Centauri b (PC-b) is 4.22 light-years (1.3 parsecs) from Earth. Recent advancements in space travel have reduced the travel time to 153 days at ten times light speed. The story takes place roughly two hundred years in our future.

Centaurus 4 has a crew of 16. The first three members of the crew have recently exited the ship and started their survey of the immediate area. What they experience is shocking, to say the least.

Another episode from the files of Detective Gennaro Saggio. Things have been relatively quiet. Orono, Maine has once again returned to being a sleepy little town. Detective Saggio is working Memorial Day, not looking forward to investigating the excitement caused annually by drunks.

There was excitement, but not the kind he expected.

James Toranaga is a twelve year old boy dealing with the aftermath of sexual assault. He’s doing okay. The memories are tough, and the world feels a little rougher than it used to, but he’s a strong kid with a loving family to support him.

It sure makes his emerging sexuality harder to deal with, though. He doesn’t want to think about it.

Luckily, he has the perfect distraction: he can fly.

But these strange new powers may bring dangers of their own. He is not the only one who has them.

Ludo has a nice life. A lovely wife and son, an attractive modern house, and a good job, idyllic really. But his wife is restless and spends too much time at work; Ludo finds himself getting too close to Arthur, the father of one of his son’s friends. Then his wife’s job takes a sinister turn, casting everything else into the shade.

Ralph has a successful web-design firm, lovely twin daughters and an ex-wife with whom he is on reasonable terms, though his parents persist in regarding him as a disappointment, disliking his choice of career and general lack of ambition. But, in the wake of his divorce, he experiences a return of feelings and ideas that he hasn’t had since his teenage years when an affair with another boy at school left an indelible mark. And now, he has to decide, does he want to be that person who hides, lashes out at any suggestion he might be gay, or does he want to break free.

Elisa Davis was a somewhat odd child. Her brother tagged her with the nickname Lis, and it stuck for the rest of her life. Her parents figured out her oddness at a fairly young age. They’d be looking for something - a wallet, watch, car keys, whatever - and sometimes Lis would bring them whatever it was they were looking for. Usually though, she just told them where it was.

I know you’re probably confused right now. That confusion gets resolved in a later (but not much) chapter.

This is book four in the series, 'The Life and Times of Avery Noonan.' It will focus on Madeline, although the rest of the family will make appearances.

To refresh your memories, Madeline was born in Philadelphia, PA in May of 2034. Madeline, or Mads as she was known from a fairly young age, also has an unusual ability. This ability was quite unique and dictated the direction of her career.

I had the general idea quite some time ago, needing another psychic ability, it seemed like a perfect time to make use of that old idea. Keep the tissues handy.