This is a story of fiction. Any similarity to persons alive or dead and to institutions is coincidental. My thanks to Erik Thread for his invaluable advice. * CHAPTER ONE Many people had heard of Toni Berwick. She was the new sensation of the Ballet, a young dancer in the classic mode who was thrilling the critics with her poise and skills. Even I had h...
He's stalking me. Rachel realized with a start as she looked out onto the crowded dance floor. She knew exactly who it was, because she'd seen his face all day. He was beautiful, too beautiful to be an assassin though apparently no one had ever given him the memo. He was over six feet tall, with a thick pelt of wavy blonde hair and a chiseled face that screa...
Hi folks, sorry there was no story last week and thanks to everyone Who wrote to find out why. The main reason was the power outages during the fourth of July week. I wrote large chunks of this story on my iPhone but still had no way to send it. Thanks as usual to mikothebaby for editing this one. I really appreciate how hard her job is after looking at a st...
Hi folks, okay let's do the disclaimer first. Please don't take this one seriously.It's just a fun Halloween piece. Thanks to Mikothebaby for editing this while struggling with a Migraine. Some of you who've been here for a while might recognize this story. Anyway, this one is that subtle kind of scary, so grab someone to hold onto while you read it. SS06 *...
My arms were stretched over my head as I finished hanging the last sheet of drywall. Another step closer to the end of the two year process of renovating our first house, it was hard to conceal my sense of pride at turning a worthless wreck into the nicest place on the block. But as soon as I heard the garage door starting to open, I felt that familiar pang...
James Ross was sitting at his desk drinking his first cup of morning coffee. He was staring out his window instead of going through his inbox for the first time like he would normally have done. Normally by this time of morning he would have finished his perusal of the overnight deliveries and made some phone calls to subordinates but his heart just was not...
Chapter 11 Monday, February 12th, 2007 was another day I circled on my calendar in red. The first thing that Mr. Kennedy did in government class was hand back our tests. And not to brag or anything, but YESSS! "A-plus — Excellent work, Mr. Sterling." Maybe my answer had been correct; maybe the twenty-first step in a bill's journey to becoming law was having...
Let me start by saying I love teachers. Many of my dearest friends are teachers. Y'all have a depth of patience that I cannot begin to fathom. This story came about in 2014. Several nights in a row the news told me of some new case of a teacher messing with a student. Ten cases, eight were perpetrated by females. Even as I wrapped the story up news broke of...
Sam Jenkins was a different child. He was smart, heck he was genius level smart with an IQ that tested at 180 when he was a freshman in high school. His parents were unrepentant 1960's style hippies who had made it good. They were well educated and had great jobs but their life philosophy embraced many of the beliefs the "flower children" of the 1960's spout...
This is Part One of a two-part story. I wish she hadn't tried so hard. Maybe if Madi Adams hadn't tried so hard, I wouldn't have taken her for granted. I know -- it sounds like I'm blaming her. I'm really not. There's no question -- what happened was entirely my fault. Still, if Madi hadn't tried so hard, I think I would have better appreciated the things t...