The setting is a small city in New Zealand. The hero has an odd name, the reason for which is explained as it his less than a smooth journey into adulthood. Dio falls into an usual occupation that connects him to an assortment of offbeat characters and soon it becomes apparent that Dio is enjoying a life richer in many ways than most people around him. It ap...
Interlude: 25th Anniversary Cindy: Everyone says that it was one of the most memorable weeks of their life. A lot of things, significant things, happened in a very short time. Then it was a matter of picking up the pieces. Dad calls it his mosaic. Chapter 8 -- Making a Mosaic Sheila: Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. I shut the damned clock off. This time it wok...
I worked for companies for about thirty years. I always made a decent living. We have a nice home (and mortgage), my daughters have no student loans, we’ve managed to upgrade our cars every few years. So it’s been a good life. But it’s been close to a hand-to-mouth life. If I lost my income for any appreciable time we’d have been in big trouble. But that’s a...
Norm Underground. That was the only way to do it. "What was that?" Tilly said as she yawned. I turned my head on the pillow to look at her. She was lying on her side, her face lit by a thin shaft a sunlight slipping between the curtains. Her eyes opened and she regarded me quizzically. I was certain that I had not spoken aloud, and it wasn't the first tim...
I have passed from the outermost portal To the shrine where a sin is a prayer; What care though the service be mortal? O our Lady of Torture, what care? All thine the last wine that I pour is, The last in the chalice we drain, O fierce and luxurious Dolores, Our Lady of Pain. ~ Algernon Swinburne: Dolores Deep, festering anguish swirls within my being; it...
Cerebral Long-term Active Muscular Paralyzer (CLAMP) The huge man with the prison tattoos had the tiny woman bent over against the visitor's room table and was yelling something at her, all the while struggling to open the zipper at the bottom of his orange jumpsuit. His intentions were clear as the woman looked at the camera and nodded. Suddenly, and with...
Prologue - Picking flowers I was out in the nets harvesting carbon flowers on the day before I fell down the well. It's a methodical meditative process which I had always enjoyed. Each time I finished clipping another gnarled black nest of super-expanded fibre out of its place in the net and chucked it into the gurney floating behind me I felt that positive...
When last we left Alexandra and Jamison, her introduction to Jamison's lifestyle had just begun. He has explained some basic concepts of BDSM to her and given her a 'tasting' of what she can expect. Jamison has initiated Alexandra with a light play session and her first punishment for breaking rule number one: Always tell the truth. Her punishment came in th...
The partnership had been a resounding success. The three of us had bought the land, developed the subdivision and sold off the entire project at a very good profit, and in doing so had become firm friends. Ken had taken on the operations and project management, Marcel knew sales and marketing, and as for me, Rex, I handled the finance and administration. We...
Author's Note: And once more, we have a TALES OF THE MACABRE. Once more, I feel compelled to warn my readers. This story does not end happily. This story deals with darkness and wickedness - both human and cosmic. Because, at the end of the day, this story is a fantasy and sometimes it feels good to visit places such as the Night City. Just don't...live th...