Kissing the girl   Errin slipped out through one of the side doors, the hot and sticky summer air enveloped her. The heatwave has rolled over the city the past few days relentless and scorching. She needed some cool air, for more than one reason. The red wine, tequila and the usual cigarette with wine have unlocked bottled up feelings. She sighed, she had hoped that the night air would cool her down and clear her mind,...

They lowered Bobby Bishop into St. Petersburg soil on a perfect December afternoon. For Jonathan Wilton, who'd flown from New York for the burial, this was Florida's old winter miracle. But no Florida sunshine cheered Bobby now: lost in Iraq (K.I.A.), aged twenty-eight. No longer in the breeze, steering a sailboat down Pass-a-Grille Channel, or skiing the Vermont hills. No more sunlight or moonlight for Bobby. Christmas w...

In Tidewater Virginia in July, 2017, Max Stewart unloaded from his SUV a nine-foot inflatable dinghy, then pumped it up by foot. With him were his cousin Sally Angland and her university friend Simon Grant. “What's this crazy trip about?” Max asked.   “As you know,” Sally said, “I'm publishing my book on Impressionist painters. It highlights Richard Vlass, a university professor and art expert. But oddly in his early care...

I was annoyed… At first… Then I was amused. - - - I have lived in Midtown Manhattan for most of my adult life and Eugenia’s Creations just off Herald Square is my favorite boutique. I am a curvy girl and Eugenia designs specifically for ladies with a figure. I tend towards the slightly edgy side of sturdy tailored pieces, which means I don't do frilly stuff well. Nevertheless, I have a great appreciation for good design t...

Now and Forever: a love story The dream was back--so were the eyes. They hovered in an angry sky just above the horizon, seeing everything but focusing on nothing. Amy knew those eyes—knew a time when they’d been filled with happiness and a love of life. But that had been before her brother came back from Vietnam. Young, naked, and skinny, she stood alone and vulnerable on a hill surrounded by flames where everything kept...

At the Carolina Coast Hotel, some guests, bewitched by the full moon, still lounged on the lawns in the wee hours. That September weekend was ending. The sweet summer of 2017 was bidding goodbye. Meanwhile, Conn Franklin, a James Dean lookalike, was coming up the beach from his boat, ignoring Stefanie Ryan waving to him. But Conn's friends, Wyatt Graham and Cooper Peterson, were admiring fair-haired Stefanie. “If you like...

Kate stumbled down the neatly raked path, her glasses steamed up with the heat of raw emotion and half-blinded by tears. She trusted she would find her way to her favourite spot in the Walled Garden if she were blindfolded, or even in the pitch dark. That was if the entrance hadn’t been barred by solid metal doors at nighttime. It was as though she was led by a homing device to her place of refuge, a bench tucked in the c...

Night on the beach. Awakening suddenly, David felt Jamie’s dark hair tickling his cheek. He stirred on the towel. “How long was I asleep?” “Only for a few minutes,” Jamie said. “You must be beat.” Easy night, peace. The sky clear above a sea dark as itself. The eastern stars were ushering up the aging half-moon, still clinging to the ocean’s edge. This old ocean that could take one across the world, maybe with this girl,...

Sometimes in life, there are those moments in time that some things will eventually come true and when they do, you will jump at the chance of happiness. These are the times in life, that if something is going to happen it will happen. So if it does, it is just meant to be. There has always been this one thing in my life that I always truly believed in. This belief has followed me throughout my entire adult life. This one...

Tale 1 A little boy was fond of a little girl who was studying next class. They lived in a beautiful small town. Then, the little boy picked the wildflowers on the roadside for the little girl after school every day. The little girl was very glad to have the gift. She always showed a lovely smile on her face when the little boy handed her the flowers. He always blushed with a chuckle, whenever he saw her lovely smiling fa...

about 2200 words Hamlet and James Dean Died Youngby James Foley In Virginia, an hour’s drive south of D.C., there’s a huge white house—built in the 1890s out on a point on the Chesapeake. And this summer when I drove there for a Wednesday-evening literary-club meeting, a gale was churning the water in front and on both sides of the house. And somehow on that lightning-blasted and thunder-shaken night, this lit-up mansion...

Mam and I have lived alone ever since Da died. I remember that day almost twenty five years ago as it were yesterday; there was a terrible storm and Da was outside fixing the tarpaulins covering the hay bales when a freak gust of wind uprooted the ancient oak tree beside the barn. Da was crushed under timbers from the barn and died a few hours later in hospital from his internal injuries. No one knew how old the oak tree...

New Years Eve is the well known evening of massive parties happening anywhere in the world. From a group of classmates, Mill had been invited out to a party in celebrating the coming new year. Jynx as her "designated sober buddy" kept watch over her well being the entire time. Mill was not much of a partier due to embarrassing herself by tripping over her own feet in previous occasions, tonight was not so different.Afterw...

These are the first two pages of a 44-page endeavor It’s not like AJ’s known for his spontaneity, he’s not some feral college freshman. He’s not even an eager eyed person. He’s boring. He’s routine, painfully routine depending on who you talk to. Being boring is easy, it took just one moment of weakness to remind him.Class was wrapping up when the idea came from nowhere and he acted on it. There’s nothing spontaneous abou...

 She is a big beautiful woman about five foot six with shoulder length rusty red hair and hazel eyes. In her opinion, she was nothing special (although others told her often she was). She made the effort to help anyone she met without expecting anything but their respect in return.She often felt like a failure in love because all her past relationships had either been abusive or never lasted long. However, even though she...