holiday - Stories

It is January 2004 and the United States and its “allies” have just completed the successful invasion of Iraq and Saddam Hussein has been captured. US Presidential Elections are on the horizon. Howard Dean is the frontrunner to be the Democratic candidate to take on George W. Bush.

These events weigh lightly on the mind of Will Schluter. He just graduated from high school a semester early and is looking forward to spending the next eight months in the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure and mind broadening experiences.

Neither Will nor his country had any idea about the challenges that lurked ahead.

The location? A science fiction convention outside of Baltimore, circa 1980. Our little group attended all the local conventions and there were a lot of really fun times. Some people would say unusual times, I'd go with different since it wasn't at all unusual to us. Come along and get into my head as I recount some of our adventures at this fateful Balticon.

Charlie Boone and friends get together in the magical town of Twombly for a Christmas party and magic show. Better late than never!

Ben is a visually impaired gay demisexual, who encounters Jason, a gay homeless young man. Though they both have their own issues and background, they grow closer with each encounter.

The magic of that first snow, not just of the season, but the first ever!

It's nearing the Fourth of July when Charlie and Kip get a jolt of bad news: something has happened to their friends! And off they go on a rescue mission...and a learning experience with new magics, that has all of them reeling!

When Josh and his sisters move from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Manhattan Beach to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, he quickly befriends a group of gay kids that go to Stuyvesant High School, where he's a freshman. His youngest sister, Robin, forges her own relationships with fellow students at the Salk School for Science. In the meantime Freck's mother attempts to make amends. All look forward to the festivals of Passover and Easter, but then a global Pandemic forces a change of plans.

Ayden worked hard to make a better life for his son; he was so close to being done with school, then he could get one good job instead of working two jobs and studying at night. Then they could move out of their tiny apartment, into a nicer place, and have a decent schedule. He just wants to give Anthony a better life, all the things a little boy wants and needs, and spend quality time with his son. Of course he'd ask Santa for a dog for Christmas.

Charlie and the gang decide to spend Valentine's Day investigating a mysterious visitor to the solar system.

You know, regular holiday stuff.

Last spring, Jeff was reunited with his long lost love, whom he last saw nearly fifty years ago, when they were both in their teens. Abandoning a life in California and moving in with Paul in New York City, merging two lifetimes into a 3-bedroom prewar apartment proved to be more difficult than either of them imagined. Things come to a head when they can’t agree on how to renovate the kitchen. Leave it to Paul’s grandson, Seth, to come to the rescue with a surprise plan, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Sienna’s never been kissed and she’s perfectly happy with that. Atleast that’s what she tells herself. Then Lauren Newberger comes along and shakes things up. But a happy ending isn’t destined for all.

Cody and Damian, blessed with an untimely history, meet again on New Year's Eve. Will this be the final time?

These are a collection of short stories or scenes written with a special occasion theme, e.g. Christmas, Easter, Birthday's, April Fools, etc.

It's nearly Christmas, and Lewis decides to pay a visit to his estranged parents to invite them to his and Stephen's upcoming wedding. Lewis has always been the strong one. Now it's Stephen's turn.

Yet another side-piece to Storms.

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.