Chapter 2 — MONDAY — Unexpected Developments It was surreal. Jack Palmer was sitting in the hotel's sumptuous breakfast room, listening to Roxie and Jade chat casually about the Fashion Show. It was as if last night's full-blown threesome had never taken place. Did every woman treat sex as offhandedly as these two? He couldn't get his head around it. The...
I like to weld. I have to tell you, melting metal into a little puddle at 30,000 degrees is pretty cool. You put the tip down close to the metal, hit the foot pedal, grow that ball of plasma, and push the puddle where you want it to go, dipping the welding rod in on occasion to build up the joint. There's nothing cooler than that. But it took me a while to f...
Bill and Joy Jones was a happily married young couple, living on a small farm that had been in his family for over a hundred years. They were America’s idea of the perfect couple. Both were 25 years old, very good looking, and just made for each other. They met in college and when they graduated they married and set about creating the good life. She was a t...
In my circle of friends, I embody the term "social butterfly." I do it without thinking, like breathing. Yet despite this innate ability, the last thing I wanted to do was go to Cristal's party tonight. The invitation had said "house warming." But knowing my best friend, I could read between the lines. It was only an excuse for her to show off her decoratin...
Lisa closed her eyes and tried to remember every second of her dance with Craig last night. They had been at a small dinner party at the beach. She had gone with her mother and hadn't dressed to impress anyone. After all, everyone there knew everyone else. What she didn't know was that Craig's wife had passed away since she had seen him last, and this was su...
A Master Without A Sword: I As I lay face down on my bed and cried, I heard my mother walk up the stairs and enter the room. 'Hey, what's the matter?' she asked as she walked over and sat next to me on the bed, then reached out and stroked my hair. 'I'm fucking useless!' I cried into the pillow in reply. 'No you're not,' she said, 'you just need some sm...
Millie's head snapped up. "You said what now?" She queried as she leant back, hoping that she'd misheard. "I said; my name is Drew Rasenbach..." He repeated it slowly this time, enunciating it like she was hard of hearing. "Holy shit!" She groaned dropping her head into her hands. "That's what I thought you said. Oh Fuck!" Of course that's who he'd be! Mil...
Author's note: This is version 3. I went back once to edit inconsistencies/continuity errors and really embarrassing editing mistakes, and now here we are again. The original was never intended to have sequels, which means the world wasn't properly designed. But it is now, so here we are with another edit. Original note: If you haven't already, read the p...
I. It Begins in Turtle Creek and Everything Burns Virginia twirled her grandmother's silver pendant between her slim fingers, cursing herself under her breath, wondering how she would tell Lauren about her betrayal. The pendant hung from her neck, dangling between her breasts, a gift from her dead grandmother, and Virginia had a habit of playing with it whe...
The Beginning Driving west, Harold and Helen Yodersohn had left behind all they knew, the adjacent towns of their conservative religious community. Isolated, they knew the surrounding world only indirectly and not very well. The Latter-day Puritans had a 19th-century feel with conservatively dressed women and healthy hard-working men. The couple had fit in...