I loved feeling the warm sun on my chest as I laid on my back. The towel I was laying on was all I had with me at the beach the July afternoon that would change me forever. My body surfing buddy was sick that day so I was by myself and feeling good: 18, in-shape, and loving summer vacation. It doesn't get better than this. At least that's what I thought unti...
It was Sunday afternoon. Three days, and I had nothing. Nothing. Nada. Nil. Zero. Zilch. White screen on Word. Asterisks rained on my page while childhood melodies flooded my head: Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing-- nothing, nothing all day long. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, how do you like my nothing song? I managed to type my thoughts, my desi...
My life has been a series of random events; an endless parade of gaffes and non-sequiturs. No goals set—no plans made—just drifting aimlessly on tiny stream to nowhere. One meaningless relationship after another—dead-end jobs—no hobbies or interests that anyone I knew cared about, and an attitude that can only be described as indifferent. "Hey, what are you...
This is a prequel to "Hell Hath No Fury Like A Drag Queen's Wife." Saturday, July 1st "Are you staying here, Quint?" asked Scott. "Yeah," replied Quentin Daniels, one of Scott's two roommates. "With you and Tompkins gone, it'll be like a vacation just staying here." Scott Chadwick, Quentin Daniels, and Melvin Tompkins shared a three-bedroom townhouse own...
*knock knock* "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, hang on." Allen came to the door and opened for me. "Sup, Pigm?" This was their nickname for me - they had all always poked fun at my weight, but I didn't mind anymore. It was just their way of showing me that I was accepted. I was a bit overweight, but I still think I looked pretty good with shoulder-length, curly...
CHAPTER 1 Kyle Sinclair, the main character -- let us call him the hero -- of this story, is a Chicagoan; active, young, muscular, sexually superbly equipped and totally gay. Kyle comes from a working class family living in the western suburbs of the city and has never paid much attention to learning anything at school, which, when he was eighteen he left r...
It was Christmas break of James' senior year of high school. Just two months earlier, he had turned 18 and made a pact with himself to finally get laid this year. He knew it was stereotypical, but it needed to happen. And being in the closet certainly didn't help. James was tall at 6'1'', with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. He was pretty skinny, but not la...
Dear Readers, Sorry for being away. Hope you'll enjoy something a little different. —Steve ***** Part I: The Friday For the words: "You're too young." May their shallow depth be recognized. The day that Professor Jason Argos, MFA, handed back the memoir assignments to his Creative Nonfiction class, Ben Patterson was uneasy. It was unlike Profes...
Peter Hoang stared out at the winter blizzard driving hard at the large picture window. He was momentarily thankful that he had made the trip prior to the snow closing the roads-especially the long unpaved road into the cottage. The fire licking at the logs in the fireplace reflected off the glass. He looked at his faint reflection. From the tip of his dark...
I spent the summer after my last year of high school working at a restaurant on the west coast, at a small resort town on the ocean close in Sonoma, California. I had grown up in a smaller town in the middle of nowhere in Ohio, and wanted to see a bit of the country before starting college in the fall. I also wanted to find a way to forget about my last year...