Private Rizzoli: “Sgt. Stipholz was the kinda of guy who was always jokin’ around. He was always trying to win the rest of the guys in the squad over by telling jokes, buying rounds of beers, stickin’ up for us if the captain was comin’ down too hard. You know stuff like that. He was a pretty good guy.” Private Fontaine: “I remember one time.. Damn, I couldn’t stop laughing … the sergeant was trying to walk the barrel of...

Stanley fell to the ground as the sound of gunfire rang out louder than he had ever heard before. He crawled on arms and knees until he was clear of his bedroom window, just as his mother had taught them to do at times like those – and there were many in their neighbourhood.“Joey! Stanley!” His mother shouted from the other room.“I’m okay, Mamma. I’m safe,” Stanley shouted down the hall as he rose to his feet.“Oh thank th...

“Who is that?” “That’s not the girl…” “What happened to the girl?”“How long has it been?”The man and woman stood in the doorway of the second bedroom. Its bare white walls and softly carpeted floor held so much promise. “This will be his room,” the soon-to-be-Mother told her husband, her hand lightly touching the roundness of her belly. “We’ll put the crib in the corner there. The changing table can go there …” and in her...

First one Spaniard, then most indigenouspeople, died. Just in one year, 1525, probably millions perished. The civilisations of the Amazon were buried, first the flesh, then the artefacts, then finally even great temples. A few scattered tribes survived, weak, but growing back to health through the generations. 'The Lost Civilisation' was covered by forest, largely 'undiscovered' even by the most intrepid of explorers unti...

I wish this world were real. I wish it wasn't just in a book.Why do you wish that?So I could go there. I'm tired of being stuck in reality.Don't you feel safe here?Of course I do. I think that's the problem.Ah. The thirst for adventure.Exactly.Well then. Let's get started.

Cheryl rifled through her purse yet again, racking her brain to figure out what she had forgotten. Cell phone, check. Wallet, check. Keys, check. (Duh. She couldn’t have driven to work without those, now could she?) Gym card, check. She opened the wallet and confirmed (well, reconfirmed — no, actually, re-reconfirmed) that her driver’s license, cash and credit cards were all present.With a sigh, she started to punch in St...

Dawn placed the last dinner plate in the dish washer and looked up at the clock. She then glanced over her shoulder at her husband. Brian sat at the table, scouring the classified advertisements in the local newspaper, trailing a finger down the small type, his spectacles balanced on the tip of his broad nose. “Keep an eye on the time,” said Dawn, “or you’ll miss the kick off.” Brian looked at his wristwatch, got to his f...

Chapter 3Funny how wires can hold things together. Things like your arms, your bones, your mouth. She thought of all the times she had been patched up as he liked to put it from her little accidents. Accidents that no one ever questioned. Until now.She had made some sit up and notice her. Notice all the accidents she was having. Notice all the times she had gone to the hospital and each time was worse than the one before....

Chapter 1 The name doesn't matter. There are many different names and different faces.. Too many times things like this happens. She ran around the room trying to make sure everything was in its place. Trying to see the room as he would when he came in. When he had left that morning he had given orders to make sure everything was in proper order.She did not want to see his anger. She had seen it many times. She has felt i...

My purse swung off my shoulder and plopped into my office chair. I went for my coffee cup. Then I noticed the barbecue sauce splattered all over the file cabinet. "Eww . . . this is really gross and weird," I thought as I cleaned it off. The thick red sauce splatters were clinging to tables and desks and file cabinets. Hand-prints told me that someone had eaten a sloppy meal and fondled my cubicle. Weird. A day passed. An...

As Lord Bodrum drew his dying breath, he reflected on it all: on his miraculous beginnings and privileged childhood, on his undeserved fall from grace in the court jester scandal and subsequent rise to the throne of a vast kingdom upon proving his innocence, and, naturally, on the five-inch dagger with its hilt barely discernible in his waning peripheral vision, as well as the circumstances by which the handle, intricatel...

The White family munched on pizza and hummed along to the Chuck E Cheese Band. It was Saturday night and Brian White’s birthday. Mom and Dad had been saving up all month for this special night. One new animatronic caught Brian’s eye. It stood about five foot eight and looked like a pig. It wore a black bow tie, a dark tuxedo, and a top hat. The bubbles tickled Dad’s nose. When the singing ended the pig climbed off the sta...

Whenever I want. The words were carved into her skin with a razor. The letters on her forearm were a constant companion.He said it to her the first night she heard mom crying, sitting down on her bed. The words whispered in her ear like a prayer as he rubbed her leg.It lasted for years, her body an aftermath of his sweat and her blood every time.She has the razor now and watches him sleep, a rabid animal at peace.The vein...

“It’s just a piece of material, what’s the big fuss?” That line right there just incited a riot. A huge debate happened first, of course. “It’s not the flag, it’s what it represents!” said one man. “It’s our freedom!” said an elderly woman. “How dare you insult our flag! By doing that, you’re insulting our nation!” said another. The person of the original phrase, let’s call him Steve, was puzzled. He just didn’t understan...

June. Eighty degrees in the shade.I’m on a coach with fifty over-excited, over-heated, under sevens. We’re off to a farm. All day. Whose bright idea was that?As a responsible adult, I grin and bear it. Today I will be teacher, helper, protector and toilet monitor. Mostly toilet monitor.Upon arriving, we visit the toilets then go for a walk. We see fields, corn and cattle. Somehow, the children see digging, gold and Minecr...