Mike was short of stature, standing a mere 5'2", and most everyone he knew thought he was too skinny. He'd let his hair grow down to his shoulders, his face was clean-shaven, and his personal hygiene great. He even flossed. His overriding passion were running and playing video games and he had developed an especial love for retro-gaming. When he wasn't out p...
Author's note: This story contains a few Australianisms and other minor references to popular culture that may not be entirely clear as to their meaning, but where necessary I've tried to explain them as naturally as possible in the text. For any further explanations a simple internet search will most definitely help the reader. However, I think this secti...
My new life seemed a world away from the rural backwater that was Denton, but I felt the thin veneer of maturity melt away as the Delta Airlines flight circled to land at BWI three days before Christmas. I had promised Mom I would come back for the holiday. I had been unable to return for Thanksgiving, and had not been home since early Fall. When I spoke wit...
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing here Harold." Jessica said standing in front of the mirror and putting the final touches on her make up. "You're not nearly as clever as you like to think you are." "Whatever do you mean my dear wife?" Harold called back from the bedroom. He was sitting on the edge of their bed furiously putting a few final detail...
In many ways, I was still a hick from Iowa - just a few years removed from a slow moving town in the middle of nowhere and with a secret past that could destroy me. Now here I was living in Seattle during the early explosive years of the internet boom of the 1990's. Money was flowing through Seattle like water then - Microsoft money, Amazon money, Nintendo...
It was a dark, dark, day. The days usually were during the winter. I was in Alaska, so you know it was laden with snow. I had just gotten out of class, and one the chores I had to perform was shoveling snow. So there I was, out on the back porch, shoveling away. You can't really tell what time it is judging the daylight, since there wasn't any in the first p...
"It's been a while." Sean mumbled. He was already a couple . . . several . . . a dozen or so hits into his vodka bottle when he curled up on the couch and turned on his Wii. It had been a few years since the last time he'd played Super Mario Bros. 3 but he still had a lot of pleasant memories from his youth tied up in the game. It brought a smile to his face...
There was a quiet nervousness between them, which was a strange contribution to the years of comfortable friendship they had shared, though the nights of raucous shows and drinking and smashing things were over. Both of them had remained true to their roots, tattooed and pierced well into their 30s, even when they'd got responsible, got married, and started...
Brenda hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair, wishing she were somewhere else. The dealership has been busy for a Friday and, as Sales Manager, she had been going from one deal to the next all morning, supervising the sales of various Chevy vehicles. Her head ached and she longed for the end of the day, the promise of a glass of wine and a hot bath....
"Oh, hell yeah!" Mac shouts as he dances through the door of his classroom, the final period of the school day. 8th period for a senior was like a paradise: No teacher harassing you for homework, no tests or even a curriculum. Just a space to kill time before the final bell rings. Mac, of course, is twice as happy for one reason: He has indeed conquered hi...