Special thanks to my editor and Sweet Inspiration blackrandl1958. NoraFares also gave me an insightful Beta read. Some who follow my comments may be a bit surprised by this one! I arrived home to find Sally sitting in our living room, and she didn't look happy to see me. "Hello, Sally," I said, going over to give her a kiss. She flinched away. It didn't...
This is an audio version of "The Natural Slave," which was published on this site in December 2019. * * * * * Click Here to listen: .mp3 format or .ogg format. (16 min/mp3) * * * * * I didn't always live in such a grand house. And I wasn't always called Orja. I started life in a cold, stark tenement, far, far away from here. My mother always insisted on...
You sit by your window and gaze out upon the moonlit grass and the night is illuminated by it's beautiful brilliance. The sadness that permeates your soul is reflected in your face and the tears stream silently down your cheeks in rivulets. Contemplating your life, the loneliness and the hours spent wondering if things would ever be the same again. There i...
This is my second story. Thanks to all those who gave me feedback on the last - gratefully recieved as always. I'll continue the stories as long as there is interest - let me know. ------------------------------------------------ "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year," finished our table drunkenly. The staff party was in full flow and the bar...
The next day at work brought bad news. A last minute business trip to Frankfurt meant their hike would now happen a couple of weeks later than arranged. As it turned out both were consumed by work so really he hadn't thought that much about her until the days immediately before their hike. He hoped he hadn't understated the strenuousness of the trail. As he...
\Warm blood drips from my busted lip onto the icy ground beneath me, staining the snow. Mud and ice cake underneath my fingernails and between my fingers on my numb, freezing hands. My whole body aches where I hit the pavement when I leaped from Scott's Camaro. Despite the pain I feel, I keep clawing my fingers into the cold, wet, ground in desperation, atte...
I: Brigid and the Patriot's Day Parade "Thbbb! ... Th-thbb!" He licked his lips and tried again on next group of sixteenth notes, pressing against the mouthpiece that felt like a block of ice no matter how much he blew into it. Even through his full-length wool uniform, and the long underwear, he could feel the frigid wind knifing right through him. It...
The state police inquest took more than two weeks, the main reason being Sosoni's less than basic vocabulary. Experts and professors from Boise State descended on McCall to examine her. Nothing I could do about it. I did not, in fact, have cameras all over my house as I suggested to Headley, but every bit of evidence pointed to our innocence. My three homic...
"Go and fetch the Lady Beatrice," Jacqueline said. "See to it that she's clean and dressed, and fit to meet her family." "You wish me to do this? I am no maidservant." Constance gestured to Marie, where the chestnut-haired girl was sleeping curled in a tangle of linens on the floor, in Constance's makeshift bed. "Why not Marie?" "Be sensible, Constance," s...
Chapter 24 -- Anyia's Journey Upon arriving at the first church along the route Anyia had to walk over the next three days, the Clergy allowed her to rest, eat, and relieve herself. Then they led her to a stone platform that had chains with cuffs suspended over it. They placed her wrists in the cuffs and immobilized her with her hands over her head. Anyia s...