For those of you that provided feedback, even negative, on the previous two Sprung endings. Thank you. I do appreciate that. Since this one is longer than either of the other two, I'm going to give a very short preview, so no one wastes their time on something they won't enjoy. Having said that, this is NOT a RaaC. While Sarah does have her affair and is pu...
*Editing magic performed by KJ24 and Shyqash, plus contributions by the regular gang of brigands and neer-do-wells* *Riptide: a strong tidal flow of water within estuaries and other enclosed tidal areas.* *This tale is an espionage fantasy under assault by reality* *The 'hero' of this tale might be considered a Libertarian, though the label means nothing...
[A note on this story: BlackWatch originally appeared here in 2009, as a six chapter story titled The Man From God Only Knows. I never really considered the story finished, and the end was really a bare-bones version -- one that I have discarded completely for this final version. BlackWatch Prelude: What has come and gone In the immediate prelude to the F...
One of the things I enjoy most about writing is all of the people I meet doing it and the exchange of ideas and info from other writers. The kindly delivered criticism and encouragement they offer fuels my desire to get better at it. I recently met a new writer who I truly believe is going to set this genre on fire. He calls himself "The End Begins" and he g...
Do you ever wonder how and why things happen the way that they do? Well I used to, but I've learned over the years that regardless of how much we try to plan our lives; fate always has a way of stepping in and throwing a wrench into the works and dictating otherwise. At least, that's how it was for me. My name is Tom McNeal. I'm 46 years old, stand 6'3" tal...
Javier felt utterly out of place, in black clothes that didn't feel formal enough. Jacob had led the ceremony in his own living room, even singing a short Buddhist prayer. Javier went up to burn incense when it was his turn, staring dully at Mr. Tanaka's body. They'd found a black kimono to dress him in. Such a pointless death, for a man who might still have...
Apologies to my Jewish readers if I got the details of Hanukkah wrong. This lapsed Catholic did the best he could, but Sunday school was an awfully long time ago! The sun was long gone as Annie stepped out of the cold and into the lobby of the community center. She wasn't surprised to find only one event listed on the waffleboard just inside the door: "Chri...
Bob Murphy sat in the waiting room in the R.P.M. Cancer Clinic and watched the young mother and her son. It tugged at Bob's heart to see the 6 or 7 year old boy looking at a fishing magazine and excitedly point out different pictures to his mother. The thing that tore at his heart was the frailness of the child and the totally bald head. The boy looked up at...
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Till human voices wake us, and we drown. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T S Eliot ◊◊◊◊◊ There is a tree I think of from time to time. A tree in winter, it's limbs bare. Blackened bark, wet with cold rain. I stand and look at it's limbs fracturing upward i...
This story features the cast of my Spring Break stories and we're going on another vacation! If you haven't read those stories, you might want to check them out, but this story will be able to stand on its own. As a word of warning, it's a long story that features polyamory and romance. I received lots of positive feedback on the Spring Break tales and I ap...