The clock ticks inexorably only inches from her head as Carmel awaits the imminent arrival of her master. She stands exactly as instructed, leaning forward to face the empty fireplace, feet slightly apart, grasping the mantelpiece for support. The unaccustomed stance thrusts her up onto her toes, making her wrists ache. At least, thinks Carmel, she can be...
My name is Lucas James Plywood. I'm a young black man living in the City of Los Angeles, California. These days, I'm a student at the prestigious Central California College, one of the best private schools in the state of California. Add to that the fact that I basically attend this great school for free and you'll realize why I'm in such a celebrating mood....
A weak woman has a dangerous addiction. Her lover helps her to get rid of it, cold turkey. SCENES OUTSIDE THE WILDER-FELLINI BUILDING Cinner I beg you to forgive me, but your rage is inconsolable. You slap me hard across the face and push me roughly into the car. I slump in my seat crying and cradling my jaw. You speed toward the campus where you are the...
He rubbed his eyes, looked at his fountain pen -- leaking, again -- a puddle of deep blue spreading on the paper. He picked up the pen and threw it in a nearby trash can, then took a little packet of tissues out of his jacket and wiped his ink off the paper and tossed that away, too. He looked at his watch and shook his head, packed up his things and grabbed...
"Ding! Dong!" Molly was standing by the door with her small bag strapped to her shoulder. A close family friend of her mother's had contacted her to watch the house of an acquaintance of theirs that same morning. She was available and needed the extra cash. It was mid-August and most of her friends where away on vacation so the timing was perfect. A quiet we...
I hate dinner parties. But my estranged wife invited me to attend this one with her. I thought it provided an opportunity to reestablish our relationship, so I readily agreed. When I rang our apartment's door bell that Friday night, she answered the door with a small, knowing smile on her sweet face and looked better than I had ever seen her. In comparison,...
Sometimes, I wonder why so many people seem to get such joy out of opposing the hard-working, determined high-achievers they encounter. I knew the answer to the question the moment I asked it of myself. Pretenders always hate the real thing. And they know it when they see it. My name is Stefan Brunswick. A young black man living in the city of Boston, Massac...
Andy walked into the main office of Loop-a-Doo Public Relations Consultants Ltd at 5:30 for the meeting where everyone employed there would hear the dreaded news. He fancied he could smell fear in the air. The CEO Toby Collins announced, "Attention everyone, this is Mr Andy Ash, who is to deliver the bad news as part of JCA's need to restructure in order to...
Chapter 1: Office Hours I can't believe they did this to me again for a second year. How did they expect me to make it across campus from one class to the other in the space of five minutes? It doesn't help that Dr Nathanial Williams always runs his lectures over by five minutes, either. He just doesn't stop talking until he realises he has his another clas...
Hey, there. What's up? Kelvin James Guillot is the name, and I'm a young man living in the City of Toronto, Ontario. My father, Oscar Guillot, is Afro-Caribbean, originally from the island of Haiti, and my mother Jennifer Hughley is white, originally from the City of London, Ontario. I guess that makes me Haitian-Canadian. Cool. My folks met as students at Q...