Stories

Fourteen-year-old Simon is getting a haircut. He has choices: a crew cut or a mullet; to continue his isolation, or to murmur a personal 'open sesame.' Later, with a little help from his friends, he finds out he is not nearly as alone as he imagined. And he suddenly can face the prospects of a long summer and entering high school in the fall with hope.

Reflections of the past, realities of the present, and hopes for the future. These aren't prompts, and anything could wind up here, from poetry to monologues. It's all about words, and the forms they lead us to.

Teenage Triumphs aired a few months ago. In Australia, the network saw another country's successful special episode, so why not throw caution to the wind and try one last time by replicating the UK's success?

This is Talented Teens - eight teenagers represent their schools in a test of endurance, intelligence and teamwork, but strong personalities collide when they must vote each other off one by one until only the Strongest Link remains - featuring Tyson, Elijah, Veikko and Topher from my other published stories.

Thomas has his own secrets from his past, who he used to be. Zack, Thomas's manager at work, has his own secrets too, with his health declining. At first, they both support each other in their secrets, physically and mentally. However, things get a lot more complicated when they begin to develop feelings for each other and Thomas's past gets more violently involved in his present and Zack's health keeps getting worse. Can they be there for each other, despite all that life throws at them?

Like the namesake movie released in 2000, which is set in LA, What's Cooking (in NYC) explores the lives of four families as they make preparations for the Thanksgiving holiday. As with the movie, there is much unexpected drama, but with the added wrinkle that all four families, who are well-known to NYC Holidays readers, are waiting for loved ones to arrive on the same flight from California. When a glitch in Air Traffic Control occurs, anything can happen.

One of my favorite stories of my own - in the top three. Failure, redemption, loss, recovery and finally...the meaning of living.

Asher and Seth just graduated from New York's top public high school. With so much to celebrate, their parents throw them a surprise party, where they meet new friends. The son of a black Creole father and an Asian American mother, Asher has developed his own style of Cajun-Asian fusion that has earned him a reputation as one of New York's top chefs. The son of a politician, Seth plans to follow in his father's footsteps. Both boys will begin college in the fall, but first there is an opportunity to help Asher's parents realize their dream of opening new restaurant.

After a very long journey, a samurai named, Tatsuro Myoki has stumbled across a community of innocents that simply want to live in peace and harmony with the world at large. However, when the 'blood gods' come to collect local citizens as tribute...this lone samurai must choose between leaving a life of death and murder behind, or using his unmatched skill to protect those he has come to care about!

As another one of the character spinoff tales from the zombie apocalypse series, "Shelter" (http://www.gayauthors.org/story/comicality/shelter), this story follows young 'Preston Miles' and his struggles before society fell all to pieces in a matter of days. I hope you enjoy this prequel miniseries before the main story! And be sure to check out the other spinoffs ("Walker Road", "Rotting Apples", "Safehaven", and "Release Me") as they are posted here! Or, grab an ebook copy at https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/

Ryden's home. His mother's very happy about it. If only he was actually there. Where's Luke. If only she could find him everything would be alright.