On a damp early Spring afternoon several days after my time up at Melannie’s Playhouse I strolled entranced, the gray light of that cool day glancing starkly off wet pavements. I was no longer sore in every muscle, no longer exhausted. Sounds of workaday traffic whisking by were almost soothing to my ears. I was strangely at peace with the world. There was t...
It wasn't entirely my fault. Well, I'd like to argue that it wasn't my fault at all, though I don't think I'd get away with it. But seriously, I was innocently floating on my back, gazing up at the perfect blue of the sky and I would probably have been happy to stay there all morning and all afternoon. The problem, though, is that bathing suits don't leave...
*This is a true story about how something incredible can happen when you least expect it. Even the names have not been changed because in this case, the innocent need no protection. * It was spring 1968. My 21st birthday was coming up soon and I would be graduating from college at the end of May. At dinner one evening my mother asked me if I had given any...
Jean had short blonde hair and coke-bottle glasses, back before those glasses were cool. Jean's favourite movie was Labyrinth, or at least that's what she always said – she might have been joking. Jean wanted to be a musician, but could never decide what instrument she wanted to play. Jean wore boxer shorts. Jean's best friend was a starving artist named Ang...
Chapter 2: Men of Mayhem JT waited until the light of day, to look at the envelopes and papers Tom took from the room. He sat on the end of the bed smoking a cigarette, looking at the papers beside him. He picked up a hand written letter and began reading it, realizing it was from Jake to Marlene. He read the words coming from Jake's heart, about how he fel...
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...
The Nose Knows. One whiff of the pillow said it all My name is Thomas Divine and I was born with a unique gift. Ever since I was a young boy I could smell odors far in advance of other people. Sometimes it was a blessing, like being able to detect the delicate scent of a flower without leaning down and putting my nose to it. Other times it was a curse, I co...
1. The land between the rivers, in Southern Illinois, it's called Little Egypt. There are coal mines, corn fields and enumerable small towns, that you don't know about unless you're from there. A little bit north of there is the land between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, it's called the Kingdom. Trenton was right on the Illinois River, with the riv...
"Mr. Reynolds." The private investigator I had hired shook my hand as I slipped into the other side of the booth. His expression and the manila envelope on the table did not bode well for this meeting. "I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you." I regarded him with a smirk. "I wish I could say I was shocked and surprised but, obviously, I hired you." "Do...
"Okay," Brian DuPoint said as he stepped back from the mirror. "How do I look?" Tyrone Stripes slowly slid his I-phone into his pocket and regarded his best friend. Brian was a gangly stork of a man. Not a man of a stork -- he had no beak or feathers, after all -- but he definitely had the same build. Long legs, thin belly, thin neck, long nose. His eyes we...