Stories

Life had been going fairly normal for 16 yo Mitchell Benning, until the annual spring community fair, during the 3rd term school holidays. One sentence from his so called best friend ended all of that in one fair swoop. A day after the fair, Mitchell packed up most of his belongings, and he was sent to his mother's spinster sister to live, and with hard times on the farm, he would not be returning to boarding school for the final school term of the year. Many years later, Mitchell will return to his home town, and a firestorm of a different kind will strike the town, not just the one with him returning to face the community.

It's 1948. Teens Frank and Joe Dane, sons of nationally famous private detective Ben Dane, are enjoying their summer vacation. But then their dad asks them to come along on a little trip up the coast, to a tourist town where strange things have been happening...and the boys are off on a mysterious case with two friends in tow.

Events take an immediate turn for the worse as it soon becomes obvious that someone is out to stop the investigation...someone willing to use any means at his disposal to win!

An homage to the Hardy Boys adventures that some of us read as kids, except that in this one, the boys are...um, well...you'll see.

He was never entirely convinced that university was the right choice for him, but Andrew has taken the plunge and is about to embark on the next stage of his life at the University of Bath. As a watershed moment, he's determined to live his life differently. It will all be plain sailing, right?

Troy Neal has it all- good looks, smart and talented. A classmate, Jayden Henderson, finds himself struggling to survive a dangerous life when he is sent to live with his aunt and cousins after the sudden death of his mother. Late one night, when Troy's car runs out of gas on a dark, deserted street, fate brings them together. Can they survive a disturbing journey down a darkened path filled with insurmountable obstacles?

Liam is tired of feeling like he's a second choice, but walking away is never easy.

** NOTE: This is the story of Liam MacPherson, who was introduced in Unforgivable. Although it would be helpful to read Unforgivable first, Choices can be read as a stand alone story.**

Prompt

Sometimes I steal flowers from your garden on my way to the cemetery, but today you’ve caught me and have demanded to come with me to make sure “the girl is pretty enough to warrant flower theft” and I’m trying to figure out how to break it to you that we’re on our way to a graveyard.

A young man must first find courage to be free.

Prince Noah and the Blacksmith's Apprentice Phoenix are close friends, and to their dismay that's all they can ever be. But when the Prince goes missing Phoenix will do anything to get his friend back. And he realizes he may never be able to let him go again.

When Gerard is eight, he starts getting hurt without getting injured, and it doesn't take long for him to realise that he's experiencing someone else's pain. But when Gerard falls from his bike and ends up losing his foot, he dreams of flying through the countryside on a big red horse, and his whole life becomes about the desire to feel just as complete as he does when he's asleep.

A new teacher, Mister Darin Stanford, is assigned a special project by the headmistress of a private school. His project is Christopher Bird, a rich child who has had his life dictated by his father. The teacher and student need to find some way to trust each other and make this situation work. Neither is prepared for what they will encounter.

This story is written for the Jagged Edges / Unintended Consequences 2017 Anthology