Clifton liked to watch. In a way that's what led to his banishment, I guess. I didn't know at the time that it could have been called a glorious banishment, but my more recent one certainly qualified for that. I was in my second season as a dancer aboard cruise ships. I worked as one of ten dancers—five women and five men—and two women and two men singers w...
Meritocracy: the idea that anyone can rise up to the top based on their skills. Everyone preaches it, but nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, an incompetent, bumbling worker isn't going to get promoted, but merit is just the pre-requisite. What you need to have just so you won't get waved off like an annoying fly. The rest is connections. The...
Reality started to creep into my dreaming as I was floating up into consciousness. I started reliving the night before, the hour drive to Albuquerque and the Sidewinders Bar, which was rougher than my norm, but I had been in particular need and drinks were half price during their annual April Fools' Eve event, which this year started after midnight on April...
When I was asked to attend a stamp exhibition in Germany it wasn't the most exciting proposition. I was working for the Post Office in administration and they were having trouble finding volunteers. Anyway, I thought what the hell? It was a free trip to a country I'd never visited and I spoke a bit of German. So I went. Frankfurt, it was. In a big exhibitio...
The anger and determination of Qin Shih Huang was almost palpable as he unleashed his cavalry, war chariots, and bronze and iron weapons—all battlefield levelers that his enemies had never before encountered—on the rebel town of Anyi. Within hours of receiving the message that the Lord of Anyi would not send tribute and yield in the season of homage, Qin Shi...
I had just gotten out of the shower, with my body wrapped tightly in a towel. I was in the kitchen of my on again-off again boyfriend's apartment, and was looking for a clean bowl to pour some cereal in. Derek—my occasional boyfriend—had left for work at six, and I was debating whether I should stick around until he came home from work, or take off. I was le...
I will remember this moment forever. With a ten hour marathon of driving behind me, I looked at the stony hill beyond the road, the dried out lake bed on the near side, and the bright Nevada desert sun above it. A group of youngins sat in the sliver of the midday shade of an RV. One had green hair. One had cowboy pants and a bare bronze chest. A girly one ha...
The boy stood at the side of the dirt road under the blazing sun, and raised the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face, baring his rippling abs. He couldn't believe he was stuck in this shithole. Fine, so he had misbehaved a few times this past school year. So fucking what? What did they expect when they held him back a year? He was eighteen and...
Summary: Black teen mistakes straight man for cock sucker in bathroom Note 1: This is a 2017 April Fool's Day Contest story so please vote. Thanks to: TexBeethoven, Robert and Wayne for editing this VERY short story. Black Dick: A Mistaken Identity There is a popular saying: wrong place, wrong time. And for a moment or two that was definitely me. I...
The image of Thomas leaning back against his car that Wednesday evening as I walked out of the training facility and onto the parking lot, took my breath away. This soft, gentle, giant of a man leaning back with his feet crossed at the ankles, his arms crossed, it suddenly hit me...why did he have this effect on me? "When you told me, you were a soccer play...