I came out of my bedroom to find my housemate Charlotte gazing at herself in a full-length mirror. She looked quite pretty dressed up in a long blue dress for her sister Sara’s wedding. Her brown hair was trimmed and styled better than I had ever seen it before. A little silver pendant holding a ruby hung from a chain around her neck. Charlotte had even put on makeup beyond just lipstick, a rarity for her. “What do you th...

  The official plan, as carefully explained to all parental units, had called for Amy and Libby to share a motel room. The guys would stay with Mark’s roommate who was supposed to be in summer school. In reality, Mark’s roommate had just flunked out. And no one questioned that Bob and Libby would have the motel room to themselves.Once they were dropped off, Mark and Amy headed for the shelter of Howard Ingram’s new place....

Randall was propped against the Formica and vinyl-clad wet bar at the Alverton Volunteer Fire Department Social Hall. At the opposite side of the space, next to a long table of cookies, the polka band had launched into a zesty rendition of the Chicken Dance. Guests wove through a garden of dining tables toward the dance floor. Randall tipped his glass toward a purple-chiffoned bridesmaid who wobbled past his post at the b...

A picture perfect moment and such a lovely gown of pure white, glamorously gliding over the floor as she spun around. Twirling into strong arms, surrounded by a sea of faces, all of which smiled. Genuine happy faces that looked on, joyful expressions that overshadowed the two dancing. A blissful scene between them and the crowd, it blurred at the edges and the flowing music began to sound rhetoric and hollow. Soon the son...

The sun was setting, with orange-gold hues reflecting off the bay, a romantic backdrop of scenery, clearly seen through the glass wall that spanned the back of the house. The glow illuminated the spacious room with a high-rise ceiling where light blue sheer lace curtains flowed down from the rafters offsetting the light from the sun. Two to three rows of chairs lined the edge of the room, vines of ivy and flowers skirted...

The end of October was only a few days away and that meant so was the wedding of Carpenter and Holly. In Sinking Wells, the blacksmith known as Styles had just finished securing the packs on his mule."Kinda sorry to see ya go," the owner said."I have family matters that need my attention," Styles lied."If ya ever get the notion to return you will be welcome."Styles mounted his horse and the owner handed him the reins of t...

Brother Sebastian headed to the rail car as fast as he dared to without giving the impression that he was running. Once inside he dug out all the chemicals that were mentioned in the ancient text along with a mortar and pestle. He set out glass containers, copper pans and alcohol lamps. He then began to blend the chemicals according to the measures provided — that was the easiest part to decipher. This formula was among t...

As Carpenter sat in his trance revisiting his past, Brother Sebastian was still working on the strange formula that was among Dr. Vincent's notes. Being able to move around in the daylight aided him in his research. He went to the telegraph office and sent a message to the university for some additional reference books from their massive library.The formula was written in Sanskrit as he suspected believed, but some of the...

With Holly back home Brother Sebastian returned with his trunks of research materials to the rail car as there was still the puzzle of the formula he had decipher. Carpenter returned to visiting him every night where his mind was sent racing backwards in time. He saw himself returning to the cave where he had burned the wizards body and gathered the ashes. He then ventured deep in the woods until he found a place by a str...

Holly spent about a week in the territorial capital choosing a wedding gown. She would awaken shortly after sunset and make the short walk to Mrs. Parsons bridal shop to view her photographs and to see and feel the fabrics. Mrs.Parsons was always a little concerned about this pretty young woman walking the streets alone at night. "Even in this nice town the streets can be a little dangerous after dark," she would tell Hol...

Reader discretion advised. The story you are about to read contains mature content that some may find offensive. By choosing to read this piece, you agree that you are 18 or older and do not object to content of a sexual nature.Alicia rode at Thakkor’s side down the hill, once more traveling on the well maintained roads of Freeland. After four days of easy riding, she and Thakkor were within a day’s ride of the city. As o...

Wedding DJ's get a lot of strange requests. At one reception I returned an hour after setting up to find a small TV set up behind my equipment. I cannot recall the year, but the Cleveland Indians were in the playoffs and the Bride and her Dad were BIG fans of the Indians. Her Dad instructed me that NO MATTER what was going on, if the Indians scored or one of the players hit a grand slam I was to announce it. So throughout...

Yes, I was a wedding DJ. I started in biz when DJ's were still considered a novelty. Here are examples of what I experienced. Wedding receptions fall into four categories: Great, Good, Bad and The Worst. The GREAT ones are comprised of about 15% of the receptions. The GOOD ones are about 75%, The Bad and Worse ones are the rest. These receptions are usually the fault of the people who contracted me and their guests.They a...

It was a real hair-pulling, clothes tearing, head knocking, rolling in the dirt, screaming and hollering catfight between two high school girls. At issue was which one would get to be the, let’s just say, the latest flame of a guy by the name of Sonny Barnhill.It’s what they thought, anyway. That’s why I sat in a front row seat, enjoying the show but worrying about what might happen afterward.Now some of you may be wonder...

Jennifer sat up in bed and greeted the morning with a smile. She glanced at the calendar, filled with pink X’s, on the wall next to the bed. She felt a special glow inside that made her tingle from head to toe, and today nothing would extinguish it. She then enthusiastically said, “I don’t believe it, my wedding day is finally here! “ Wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, she hummed the tune, “Here comes the bride.” S...