I want to thank readers for comments, both public and private, kind and unkind, regarding my writing. I also want to thank the authors here for their stories and feedback to teach me new ideas and forms on how to get things out of my head. Finally, I want to thank James Blackshaw, whose music was an inspiration while I wrote this. Some of his album titles be...
"You should celebrate. We should celebrate," her best friend, Bonnie, said, all cheery and upbeat. "Celebrate? You've got to be joking." "Hey. Getting divorced isn't the end of the world. It's...it's a new beginning. It's a different door opening when the old one closed. It's..." "Bonnie? Can you please give it a rest?" "Sorry. I'm just trying to cheer y...
Copyright Oggbashan July 2016. The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. This is a work of fiction. The events described here are imaginary; the settings and characters are fictitious and are not intended to represent specific places or living persons. ********************** I woke up feeling awful. My head pounded...
Now Click – There it was; the unmistakable sound of a key turning in the lock. 'Fuck!' I exclaimed, surveying the scene before me; the skirt and blouse tossed into the corner of the room; my wife's friend straddling my lap, clad only in her lingerie. 'Get off of me!' I tried to push her off, but felt her resist, pressing me firmly back into the sofa. Play...
This story is a submission to the sixth Friendly Anonymous Writing Challenge (FAWC) and a tribute to the founder of FAWC, slyc_willie, who we lost unexpectedly in October 2015. The true author of this story is kept anonymous until the end of the competition. Authors base their story on a list of four items. Their choices included the following letters: S L Y...
As I walked away from Casey, I spotted Astrid, her eyes on me, and a knowing look on her face. I hesitated for a moment, then walked over to her. "You made a tough decision, Auslander. I commend you on your prudence." I shook my head. "I'm not sure this is worthy of commendation. Part of me thinks I failed to manage this situation properly." Astrid shru...
Pam stopped outside her hotel room, fresh off her morning run. She checked her watch, a banana grabbed from the continental breakfast in her other hand. 8:22. That gives me enough time to shower, call John, get dressed and get downstairs with time to spare. "Excuse me?" came a voice from down the hall. She turned to see a tall black woman, in a t-shirt a...
"You don't have to this, Z-man. My dad will hire you back. If construction's not your thing then go to the police academy." "I can't until I'm 19." "That's only six months off, man. Just give yourself some time, okay? Work around here until then and after that, you can serve to your heart's content." He knew he shouldn't bring this up, but if it would kee...
Once again, I took Randi's invitational theme "Sharing is Caring" a little too literally. This story is in two parts -- the first much, much darker than the second. However, without the first part, the second doesn't make much sense, so please, bear with it. Very grateful for her editing assistance. Part 1 -- Something happened on the way to Heaven. There...
Sarah pulled her new key out of her pocket as she lugged her suitcases off the elevator, shoving them down the hall to her suite. She smiled to herself when she saw the door already propped open, her suitemates apparently already having arrived. "Hello!" she called as she pushed open the door and stepped inside, looking around. The apartment was pretty nice...