Chapter Nineteen – The Sapphire Necklace The Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia spent the autumn of 1754 recovering from the war. The country gave thanks to the Creator for having spared the central valley, but the province of Hórkustk Ris, which had been devastated and depopulated, would take years to recover. The Grand Duke was very active in planning the provi...
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: First, let me thank everyone who read the first chapter and offered their insights and views. The food-for-thought I've received from you has helped me to think about what to include (and not include) in the newest revision. Thank you! Normally after I've finished a story I write a little introduction, musing about what inspired me...
Ria was sitting in the bar of the Ritz Carlton hotel in Las Condes, Santiago, reading an article on the Las Vegas race on the ESPN Desportes website. The article said that Carlos Sanz looked much improved over last year, and that his off season time with the sports performance experts must have helped. It ended with a short tribute to Luis Tabernas, noting t...
Thai drove through the outskirts of Zenith toward the center of the city. At this point the sky was lighter. The black of night had already faded to a deep blue which started fading into orange. She could see a thick brown layer of smog congesting the skyline of multistory domes and buildings around the city's central hub. With every city block closer to the...
Author's Note: This is a short set in the same wider setting as "The Voyeur Husband". Reading the other is not at all required to understand this tale. I do hope you all enjoy. ________ Shadow and Lust ________ Lounging comfortably in her chair Cassie watched the vivid blue's of the news feed scrolling across the bottom of her television screen. The anch...
Bolivia, 1983 Summer knew that something was wrong the second she saw Otoniel dash out of the jungle towards her. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates and the color had completely gone out of his skin. He was panting too hard to shout anything at either Summer or Russ, but there was a sense of panic that had completely engulfed him. "Walter," Summer gue...
This story contains themes of forest fire and may be triggering for some readers. Chapter 1 The French Polish was chipped and the white nails had lost their luster. She stirs the ice cubes with a paper straw, stabbing at the orange slice floating on the ruby surface. She raises the glass, examining its contents. The glow from the sky outside, played with t...
On the shadowed rim of lost nightmares, haunted by visions of the Reaper and the Brothers Grim, it’s hard to find the distinction between what is real and what is an illusion. Sitting on the edge of just such a pointless realization, I crushed out the last bit of my “rollie”, (better known as a cheap, hand-rolled smoke), and carefully tucked it into the wor...
Of the words spoken in verse by the shrewish woman in this part of the story; these words hold a mystery at the heart of this story, there meaning is revealed by the end. Any criticism is very welcome as I am relatively new to writing, this being the second story I've written. I hope you enjoy. Thanks, Blithering Hayseed ***** Guthredd Sleeve-heart's...
It always made things easier if the building was old, a heap of concrete and grimed glass that had little in the way of physical locks and nothing at all when it came to more sophisticated security systems that cost real money and made a real difference. This was a prime example of the type, an office block that had somehow managed to survive the turn of the...