Gerry stared at the computer screen, disbelieving, his eyes wide open. “Oh no,” he screamed, throwing his arms in the air and falling back in his leather office chair. “It can’t be. I can’t have done that.” Furiously, he pecked at the keyboard but knew it was futile. All his work of the last three days, writing and revising, rewriting and polishing, all to no avail. He would have to start again, nothing else for it. His 3...

I’ll never forget that Wednesday: made redundant at my age. What now? Daphne was working, my redundancy package was okay, but I’d planned on another five years topping up my pension pot. That night, I sat at the table, papers strewn about, jotting down numbers, hoping I could afford early retirement. It was possible - but tight. I sighed, leaned back in my chair and rubbed my temples. Daphne walked up and added another sl...

I spent my youth on the East Side of town, cruising the streets and feeling high on what was stowed in my glove box and trunk. My passengers were serious dudes and I smoothly ferried them around so they could deal our crystal cargo in clip joints and in pubs. We hit the money big time and got treated with utmost respect, no wayward kid ever dared to scrape a coin along my fancy paintwork. My livery still shines like a dia...

Her hands tremble, running through her hair in an anxious gesture. The alien four walls around her seem to be pressing closer the longer she stays here; compressing all of the echos of words, all of her stray thoughts, all of her fear into her tiny little bubble. Her icy calm exterior begins to crack where the warmth of little fingertips traces. The signs of it melting trickle down her face in tiny salt water streams. His...

Which direction should she go? Tanya had to make a decision. And she had to do it quickly.Taking a deep breath and pursing her lips, Tanya depressed the accelerator. Straight it would be. Straight away from her lifetime home. Straight into the unknown. Straight onto the longest bridge in the world—ironic for someone panicky about crossing bridges, but that was how desperate her situation had become. After discovering his...

"Do it again!" she squeeled. That peal of laughter always tickled me down to my toes. It was an absolute spring of joy. The remembrance alone brings a smile to my lips. I had a way of touching her with just the right pressure, in just the right spot which delighted her. It wasn't a lovers touch, but some cross between a tickle and a caress, and a visible jolt of pleasure would work its way through her body. She always ask...

Her hands shake by her sides, clenched into fists as she holds back a scream... or a punch. They just keep taunting her, laughing and labeling like she's a piece of meat to be packaged, or a can of soup waiting for the label that will be there for the customer's convenience. "Emo whore," one shouts. "Cutterslut," another says. "Hey, if I give you a buck, how much'll you do for me?!" Everybody laughs. Everybody thinks that...

The apartment door was unlocked and opened by a young woman, her movements hurried as she tried to knock off her flats one foot at a time while both of her arms were occupied with a jacket. She closed the door with her hips before placing the jacket on her couch in the living room. The girl seemed to be in a panic, but it wasn't clear exactly why. For a moment, all that could be heard was shuffling from her hallway closet...

“Gilli, what did you do?” “I'm fine, really.” “No, sweetheart, you aren't. I can see it in your eyes. Let me see.” He gently takes her hand and cradles it in his. He hisses in empathetic pain. “Okay, not nothing, love." He gently wraps her burnt hand in a cool, wet tea towel and leads her to the kitchen table. “Sit, Gilli, I’ll be back in a minute with the first aid kit.” She sits, perfectly malleable, for the moment. Not...

It was a stupid argument that morning. She had flounced out of the room, throwing a bitter “sod you” over her shoulder, and minutes later the front door slammed. He’d listened to the rapid click-clack of her heels fading into the distance. Now, at the end of the working day and without an answer to the dozen or so calls he’d made to her mobile phone, he was home again. And, he quickly discovered, home alone. In the kitche...

I keep dreaming of you, I don't know what that means... I do know that I felt an attraction, So dim but pulled me like an anchor in the sea... The eyes created a path, I didn't dare to travel it. Reality always pulled me back in, Never could I always be stuck in LA LA land, It's like these images were made of events never to happen, Even though you weren't on my mind... Little moments didn't go so far, Yet close by each o...

It was one sudden moment... Felt like forever. I forgot why we decided to hide away from the public, or at least away from those who knew us. Did we even know each other well enough? Could I even trust a young man with such closure... In a swift movement, the two of us came close towards each other. Suddenly our eyes could see deeper than the shell we see from afar. Felt like our secrets inside were exposed but frozen in...

One day I decided to take a walk alone. My trails led me towards the river bank and the scenery was beautiful. The tall grass and the movement of the river looked as if they were painted gold from the sunset. My heart was melted at the sight... But what was I to do with such a gift? For now I do not dare tell a soul. Suddenly branches had been snapped nearby, birds flew so fast into the sky. My heart panicked and grew anx...

Under the tentacles of a gnarled oak, he parked and exited the car, locking it with a ‘beep’ of his key. He strolled through fallen leaves towards the park’s wrought-iron gate where she waited, her back to him, hands thrust deep into coat pockets. “Hello, Carol.” She turned, first her head, followed by a shift in her feet so that she faced him. A hesitant smile. “Hello, Mike,” she said, lilting tones dancing on the cool b...

I'm back at work now... working as a waitress at Applebee's. Taking down orders from customers, taking orders from the managers and the cooks. They don't yell much, but any loud or unfamiliar noises send fear and adrenaline skittering all the way through my body and flashbacks through my mind. Nobody really ever notices unless I stay there for too long and don't come back to the restaurant fast enough. Usually that's when...