Stories

Twelve year old Bobby travels by train to visit his grandparents for Christmas, but all is not as he remembered from the previous summer. For one, there is his thirteen year old cousin, Carl, who Bobby never met.

Zachary Alexander is a normal teen growing up on a cattle ranch in Eastern Oklahoma. He's the quarterback of his high school football team, which took the State Championship. During the summer before his senior year, Zach goes on a canoe trip with three of his friends. An incident occurs on that trip which dramatically alters Zach's life. He is branded a homosexual by those friends and life goes horribly wrong.

The Robert Charles Memorial Scholarships offer art majors at North Park College a full ride, partial board, a weekly stipend for miscellaneous expenses, and a room and studio in Charles House. Six and Casey are this year’s freshmen. They are as different as night and day, but don’t seem to be outclassed by the other residents.

Joshua Burk is sent to Pine Corner, Wisconsin, to live with his father. While there, he falls in love, twice, discovers life can be a little strange in a small town out in the cornfields, and begins an unbelievable journey of discovery and wonder.

Other than giving his allegiance to Vini, god of grapes, wine and ale, distilled spirits, healthy bowels, prosperity, the Harvest, and boyoes who accept the love of another boyo, Spid Doop is your average fifteen-year-old Schtickist. He hates Normals with a well deserved passion, he gets in trouble with his Mamt and Pubi, and he dreams of the day when he can have his own habitat. However, there is one thing different about Spid, a Normal boyo wants him.

A recent college graduate has a dream of building the world’s first ski resort. Unfortunately, he doesn’t take into account who owns the land and whether his compatriots are with him or against him. Joining the fun are dwarfs, nymphs and fairies, werewolves, a satyr, an unghostly ghost, an unfortunate eunuch, and a Hero.

An unhappy dragon receives the unlikeliest of gifts and wishes the impossible dream. A powerful sorcerer wants more trouble than he needs, encounters a dragon, finds he’s stronger than he thought, and comes up with a solution to a couple of tricky problems. To complete the mix, we’ll throw in the shortest knight in the kingdom who desires to go on a quest for fame and fortune.

Once upon a time a young man named Gregor was sent on a long journey across the mountains to be apprenticed to be a butcher. He came to the proverbial fork in the road neither of which were good choices. Gregor chooses the short, easy route, a choice he may live to regret.

A tale about a little boy, who has a lesson about little boys, is stolen by a troll, and enslaved by gnomic magic; and, a sorcerer who thinks he has failed is given the secret of magic.

Debbie and Cathy have been in the closet for more than four years, and have less than one more to go to be free of their fundamentalist parents, but a year is still a very long time. (January, 2009)

This is the 17th story in the Naptown Tales series, which can also be found at Awesome Dude and Nifty. Please see the Introduction for important background on the series.