On the Saturday morning, Alice awoke first arose and went about getting ready for her day. She felt invigorated, alive and fresh. Donning a teeshirt and jeans, she went down to the kitchen to make her coffee and her man's tea – he did not like coffee whereas Alice was almost addicted to it. As she was preparing to take his up to him, he came through the doo...
"Not interested, sorry," Yuki Takamori said haughtily to the short, stocky and balding, thirty-something white guy who sat next to her on the bus. For the past half hour, since she boarded the 95 bus heading to Barrhaven Center, he'd been trying to get her attention. Once Yuki made the mistake of actually responding to him, the guy engaged her in increasingl...
Shane Kiefer is a smart, shrewd, tough, old son-of-a-bitch. He did not rise to become the Eastern European Director of covert operations for the CIA without all of the above, plus he was a stone cold killer when the need arouse. When he retired from the CIA, he set himself up in the business of advising companies of the ways to protect their personnel and tr...
I would like to thank my editor and those who provided me valuable feedback! * * * * * The noise emanating from the Sea Maiden tavern was often the only thing heard throughout the warm, salty nighttime air of the docks. Gone were the bustling merchants and stone-faced city guards who populated the area during the day, retreating to the safety found within...
Man, was it ever cold that Saturday morning. It'd snowed a little but then the temperature went down so fast that it was just too cold to even snow anymore. I kept checking the thermometer to see if I'd need to run the water in the upstairs sink. We'd had one pipe placed too close to an outside wall, when we built the house, and if it went below 5 degrees i...
My name is Laura and I am a good girl. I always do what my mother tells me to do. Why not? Mom is a great person. She raised me by herself after Dad ran away with a cocktail waitress. Really, a cocktail waitress, how cliché! Mom worked two jobs just to make sure I had everything a young girl needed. She even sent me money when I was in college just so I had...
(note to readers: this is part one of the story, I'm intending a second part, so don't chastise me for letting you hang) * Melissa pulled into her driveway in her black Pontiac Firebird. She saw that Bill's truck was already gone. A Friday afternoon sigh escaped from her lips after another week working as an optical technician at the local mall. She had ho...
Nikki hung up the phone with her boyfriend smiling and giggling. He was finally home from college, and although he had to work with his dad all day he was definitely coming to the party tonight. She called Lisa a few minutes later. Manicures and pedicures were definitely needed, and she wanted her best friend to talk to. Lisa didn't answer so she sent texts...
This short extract from the memoirs of Evan Moore is provided for students as a study in economic opportunism. Chapter 10 - THE ISLES OF HALCYON That summer had been difficult. Firstly there was my internet company which, from its inception I had planned to sell once it reached an optimum size - but even so our parting almost seemed like having one's child...
Desire is such a curious thing, universal yet utterly subjective. The earliest teachings of Buddha instruct that the root of suffering is found in desire. If you want more than you presently have, then you will never be satisfied with what exists at your fingertips. This may be true but it is my belief that the root of success may also be located squarely at...