Don't ask me why. I probably couldn't tell you if I wanted to. I had been given an opportunity in New Orleans. It wasn't a tough assignment, and would only take a couple of days to complete, so I decided to drive there. Okay, now, that doesn't sound like a problem except that I work in Chicago.   Let me try to explain. I am employed by a large airline based in Great Britain as an Aerospace Engineer. Because I am not marri...

I remember that day so clearly. June 14th, 1986. It was the day my childhood best friend died. I was twelve and Joe Collins was nearly twelve, he would have got to be twelve years old if things had turned out… Different. He was coming up the garden path when I opened the front door. It was almost eleven and I had been up for hours. We had talked about building a dam the day before. The closest part of the river to us was...

Neither Mike nor Jeff knew each other prior to that evening. Their separate journeys on the same long stretch of road would most definitely alter both their lives in many ways, so much so that it would not only bring both of their lives to an end, but it would also see their lives continue on none the wiser as to if anything out of the ordinary occurred at all while creating an afterlife with each other on that long stret...

It started with a phone call from my wife who was out shopping. "I'm bringing home a cat," she told me. "You don't need my permission. Is it in need?" I asked. "Yes, he is and he's a big boy," she responded. "I look forward to meeting him," was my final word before the line went dead. About two hours later she arrived home with a large carrier. I was told they gave it to her with the adoption. She opened the door and out...

Metamorphosis:- a striking alteration in appearance, character, or circumstances. It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. For many, the eyes can tell a whole story on their own before even the beginnings of a word can be spoken. Eyes, they don’t lie … unless they want to and at that, they can then offer a deceptive sense of calm. A point came in the young life of a certain Derek Hanson when he took a look de...

Nicole's coughing woke Nigel and Ian. It was half seven in the morning and in a way, it was just as well that the three friends were awake. The owner of the shop doorway they had been sleeping in would be arriving soon to open for about eight and he has a severe dislike of the idea that his premises are being used in the manner that the three waking friends are using it. The coughing though, this is what was really worryi...

During the latter half of 1989 and on into the early months of 1990 some of the local football fields in the town of Watergate along with the river which flowed alongside, were given a makeover and transformed into a public park with lakes, a geezer and so on and this park opened to the public early in the summer of 1990. Across the street where Jennifer Langton lives in this park and on Wednesday night, January 14th, 200...

The weak light from a leaden sky revealed a scattering of forlorn leaves clinging to the dark, wet limbs of trees bordering a deserted playground and half-empty parking lot. Cold, misty rain and swirling winds hastened the inevitable outcome of this doomed struggle.  A typical winter's day in New York, thought, Gwen Kaplan, as she took in the scene from inside her snug bedroom. To her, it seemed beautiful. The nasty weath...

From the far side of the street, Nathan could see that the living room light of his apartment was on, but when he had left for work it had been quite bright so he knew that he had not accidentally left it on. He entered the estate grounds after keying in the security code to the pedestrian gate and watched as that apartment light went out before he could even get to the steps that lead up to the apartment door. His first...

Strange things do happen and more often than not they tend to happen to me. This is the telling of the kind of thing that does happen. Went into the bar of a nearby hotel one evening, met up with a few of the lads, had a few drinks, and watched the televised football. It was late in the year, quite nippy outside but after having a few pints it always doesn't seem to be quite as cold as it actually is. It was fairly dark a...

“One day, you’re going to thank God you’ve got that speed, lad.” Those were the words of old Jack Linley to eighteen-year-old Danny Friar after the young man had run a solo one hundred metres trial on grass. While Danny, in his running gear, and spiked trainers, looked on anxiously, from a distance. the old man showed the time on his stopwatch to his two back-up trainers Vic Tanner, and Sid Dawson. Danny saw some approval...

It was Thursday, early morning in mid-July, opening day of the Lake Arrowhead county fair. Dana MacMurchy sprang from her bed with an enthusiasm equivalent to that of a child on Christmas morning. She was up and dressed so quickly one might have thought she had actually slept in her clothes. Braiding her hair was going to take too long, so her tousled chestnut locks were pulled into a ponytail. She then pulled it through...

  “...and in local sports, the Mets and Yankees both dropped road…” Debbie Morris automatically switched off the alarm radio she’d carefully set last night to turn on later than usual and glanced at her wristwatch.  Satisfied she was now, as planned,  exactly ten-minutes behind schedule,  she nodded and went back to re-checking her hair and make-up. As usual, she didn’t like what she saw in the small make-up mirror on her...

White House Security Agent Mike Marsden stood respectfully next to the First Lady. She sat in a white chair underneath the table umbrella. “You must think him silly, Mike, for having an above-ground pool at the White House. He must appear quite common to you.” “It’s not my place to comment on the President’s choices, Ma’am, but the President is not a common man by any measure.” As the cabana door burst open, Mike’s hand w...

  I went to the beautiful Victorian mansion where the unaware Glantry family was still living, and I was accompanied by law enforcement and State Officers, full of warrants, documents and papers, and had them gathered in the patio, where I gave them the news. Their lawyers were all under arrest, the dirt they hid was out in the open, and their house wasn’t theirs anymore. They owned nothing and had to leave immediately. S...