OLD BEN Maybe the year 2000 or so, Daytona Bike Week again. For those of you who don't own one or care about motorcycles, haven't heard about Bike Week, or live on a deserted Island someplace, Bike Week in March really is a big deal. With luck I seemed to get the end spot on a narrow residential street right across from a small pizza place. The place I'd...
It takes about two hours for the ferry to get from Cedar Island to Ocracoke, the southernmost village on North Carolina's Outer Banks. We got to the terminal in time for the 7:30 am ferry, boarded, and climbed to the sun deck while the boat pulled away from the dock. It was a beautiful May morning: partly cloudy, but with a warm sun sparkling on the water....
The dogfight had been brutal. The flight of four Falcon class heavy fighters over NZ8-257 were spotted by long range probes and investigated by a pair of Valkyrie class interceptors piloted by Lieutenant Jason "Friday" MacKenzie and Lieutenant(J.G.) Ryan "Rash" Rasher, who took them down in a heated battle. During the skirmish, the Romulan flight leader se...
The moonlight played off of every curl and ripple. The sea with its infinite repetition. The sound so soothing, so calming, so relaxing, it should rock anyone to sleep…almost anyone. Looking over my shoulder, the ambient light touching gently on every surface, most of all, the face of the angel, bathe in a celestial glow. Smiling softly at her, seeing the pe...
Each morning I was amazed anew with the view from my room. The cabana was just off the beach exactly as the travel agent described. Practically steps from the bed, I was on my balcony. Steps again, and I was on the path surrounded by palms on my way to the warm white sand and the ocean's edge. I felt as if I was the only one on the island. The island seemed...
When Josh and Alex got back to the lagoon, it looked deserted at first. The sun was going down, and the tall cliff-walls all around it hid the whole place in deep shadows. There were no mermaids perched on the rocks here, nor basking in the waterfalls, nor lounging in the high fresh-water pools that spilled into the brackish inlet. But then Alex dove under...
For Juliette, per your request. * Chapter One -- Mostly set-up. The trip was meant to be a vacation for John. He had worked tirelessly on his latest articles for New Yorker magazine and felt he was due a break. He had thrown himself full time into his work since his wife died the year before of breast cancer at the tender age of thirty-nine. Their one son...
So far our vacation had been fabulous. It was the first time either of us had been to the Caribbean and we were taking in as much of it as we could. In the three days that we had been here so far we had done just about everything touristy that you could think of. We had been up at dawn and partying and dancing just until about dawn for the last three days. I...
We were finally taking the vacation of our dreams. One that had been put on hold for years, due to work, school, lack of funds, etc. But we finally got everything worked out and we were headed south to the Virgin Islands. Actually, we were headed to a deserted island off the coast, but we couldn't fly onto it. We had to take a boat there. It was the plan to...
Jen emerged from the walkway of Kingston Airport into the baggage claim area expecting to meet Cathy, her college roommate. Although they haven't seen each other in ten years, they had kept in touch, at first by phone, now more often by e-mail. They hadn't seen each other in so long for two reasons: They worked at opposite ends of the country, and more impor...