June 2016
Sam was due for a new beginning. He had been feeling lost since his parents died. He tried staying with his married sister but he thought that her husband was a jerk. His frequent fights with his sister's husband about one thing or another were troubling his sister because she loved him and babied him more than she should. Those fights were even causing problems between his sister and her husband who thought Sam needed to get a job and get out and move to his own place. Jill thought that her brother needed more time to find himself. She would slip Sam money even though she was 100% wrong to go behind her husband's back. In his own way, Bruce would try to help Sam by offering him a job at the factory where he was the foreman. Bruce, by his own admission, was a little bit harder on Sam than he was on the other men and that somehow peeved Sam off. He felt powerless because Bruce would put him down in front of the other men. This came to his head one night while Jill was cooking supper. Bruce and Sam started arguing and Jill tried to diffuse the situation. But she stayed out of it even when he called her brother a "bum" which made Jill mad because she thought that her husband was being unfair and cruel to Sam. It ended up with Sam going outside before the punches were thrown. Jill gave Bruce the silent treatment and Bruce didn't care because it was his house and if Sam couldn't abide by the rules then he needed to go. Jill thought that was unfair of her husband to do that. Sam came in and apologized to Bruce even though he felt like he did nothing wrong. Bruce realized that he was a little rough but he felt like it was for Sam's own good and to give him some backbone. They all sat down and ate supper. It wasn't easy though. There was peace at the supper table. Sam went into his room. He got some sleep and he was up at 5:00am ready to go to work and he waited by the truck ready to go to the factory. Bruce grew a little more tolerant of Sam because he worked hard and he did more than the other men and they started to take notice. He was the first to go in and the last to leave. Sam cashed his paychecks and after giving Jill rent money and groceries, he put the rest of it aside because he was preparing to go someplace else to start fresh. He had quietly put in his 2 week notice and he asked the personnel supervisor to keep it quiet. He decided to leave because he figured that would do the best for all the concerned. He and Jill talked about it and he mentioned to her that he was leaving so that her husband could get his house back. Jill didn't want him to go but he was a man and he had to make his own way and not have Jill hold his hand. On the day Sam set out to leave, Jill gave him a few more dollars to help him out and she made him a good lunch. He took to the road in the early morning. Sam was on that lonely stretch of road and he had his thumb leading the way. He was out there all morning and Jill was worried about him. She was about to go out to go in her car and bring her brother back home but she needed to let Sam go and try his wings anyway. Sam got a ride to the next town. It was an old farmer and his wife going to the town. They saw Sam and took pity on him because he reminded them of their dead son killed over in Vietnam. Myrtle and Jeb were farmers that planted Peaches and Tobacco. They made a good living but harvest was just about over. They took Sam in on their way to the town to pick up supplies. The owner of the feed store needed someone to help him out for a few weeks; Sam needed a job in the worse way. So, the owner took pity on him and hired him to start the next morning. After they were finished with their business in town, Myrtle and Jeb took Sam home. Myrtle fixed Lunch and boy Sam was hungry. She fixed fried Chicken Sandwiches and Tomato and Cucumbers, fresh stewed corn and Peach cobbler for dessert. Sam ate until he was as full as a tick. After that wonderful lunch, Jeb went to milk the cow, collect eggs from the laying hens, and feed the pigs and walk and feed and water the one horse called Sassy Sue. She was a gentle spitfire and she took to Sam right away. Later on, with Jeb's permission, he called Jill and Bruce to let them know that he was fine and he had a job and a place to stay. Jill breathed a sigh of relief because her brother was safe and sound.
"I am a married 49yr old, beginning writer that lives in Durham, North Carolina. I love GOD, Waterfalls, Sunflowers, Rainbows, Dogs, Cats, and Children. I also love to cook, read, and do cross word puzzles."
Sarba Roy
September 2018
I knew the basics of survival. My mother had already given up on trying to confine my unmanageable bouts of adventure and had resigned instead to teaching me a few life hacks in the hope of preventing my untimely death.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
March 2018
Ahiliya, the beautiful princess of Magadha, was sitting on the balcony of her palace brooding over her loneliness. She had a score of girls to keep company though. Yet, everything looked so lacklustre.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
June 2017
"There are two lives that can be lived," said Mother Cat to her kittens, "the one you have with me safe at home, nestled in comfort... or ..."
Debaprasad Mukherjee
June 2017
Sam does not smoke; at least no more at present. In his boyhood days, he used to inhale an occasional puff or two from a friend maybe, but not now.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
June 2017
It was a regular Friday morning, the last working day of the week. As much as my little princess Ziva, I was also pretty excited about the weekend.
Aanchal Bharara
June 2017
There was a 12-year-old boy who had a lot of money to spend and enjoy his life. He lived in a mansion like house and studied in one of the best schools in the country.
(Voinks) Val Portelli
April 2017
Let me see dear. Oh yes, I should do. I've lived there for nearly fifty years. Was there anyone in particular you were looking for? I might know them.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
April 2017
'Handle with care' used to be written on the bottles into which my father poured his finest blends. My brewer father and simpleton mother handled me with utmost care.
Amina Bezzazi
April 2017
First shot for the late Hero... Second shot for the noble mission he died for... Third shot for the honorable corpse he so bravely served... Fourth shot for the departed Martyr.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
March 2017
Word had come through the mountains, along the long winding trails of our jungle and finally along the river, Yenzi was coming.
Hákon Gunnarsson
March 2017
It's evening, and we are walking on the beach. The sun is going down, and the sky is so beautiful. She is beautiful too, and laughs like a pixie.Of course, I've never seen or heard a pixie, but I love her.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
March 2017
Molly: Hey Tommy! You, goody-goody! Why on earth you're peeping through the window?
Cheryl Russell
March 2017
Lou looked up from her school exercise book and looked across at her gorgeous teddy she called Eddie bear.
Cheryl Russell
February 2017
She looked around uncertainly. The station was crowded, how was she supposed to find her daughter amongst the crowds.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
February 2017
Look at this snap, I say. Isn't it so telltale? Doesn't it speak volumes on our closeness? Our relationship could be the subject of a great novel of romances.
Voinks (Val Portelli)
February 2017
Although it was dangerous, I had no choice. We needed to eat and there was nothing left in our old habitat.
Joshua Hedges
January 2017
Life is complex, putting most answers on a spectrum, which I suppose places me between ordinary and special, smack dab in the middle of average.
Sheenah Middle
January 2017
God! He had been lucky, what if he had not walked back into that place today? Tomorrow would have been a disaster; his life would have changed completely.
Cheryl Russell
January 2017
The two girls Grace and Charlotte stood watching, fascinated by what they were seeing. Grace put her hand over her mouth to stop herself crying out.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
January 2017
The plan chalked out in the morning had nothing to do with birthday plans. They wanted to visit the Forbidden Fortress. It is a place they are told to stay off.
Joshua Roberts
December 2016
Janette was a head and half taller than her sister Susan who stood just in front of her under an arching entrance to an alleyway off the side of a cobbled street.
C. M. Turner
December 2016
Scarlet and Ashley had been told not to leave the castle. They stood in the doorway watching something flying overhead. It wasn't all that large as dragons go.
Sheenah Middle
December 2016
"Fred! How are you?" Jim said to the man that had stopped in the street before him. He had been cycling down the road trying to keep warm...
Val Portelli (Voinks)
December 2016
I can imagine you in a pinny. I've just been up to the cemetery; it would have been Ethel's birthday today so I took her a few flowers.
Cheryl Russell
November 2016
The enormous looking egg sat there with a look of abject horror on its face. A human was trying to take the layer of shell off.
Hákon Gunnarsson
November 2016
Charlie came running out of the woods in the morning mist. When he saw the lake pier, he slowed down to a walking pace.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
November 2016
We trees are pretty awesome. Don't you think so? Just look at me! How blessed I am to have these orange beauties all over me.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
November 2016
His niece turned to her teddy bear. A notebook opened upon her lap. She had been scribbling along pretending she knew how to write.
Cheryl Russell
November 2016
He walked along the road, arm out hoping to catch the eye of a passing motorist. It was a lonely stretch of road with trees lining it.
Drew Hill
November 2016
Two young girls, one looked to be ten while the other looked no older than six, were running around the tavern with trays over their heads.
Margaret Jennings
October 2016
Darkness in the trees that reflect his mood. A match that will not light. Thoughts that take him far from serenity.
Kelley Mether
October 2016
He tried to judge her accent. Possibly Spanish. Definitely another backpacker, like himself. If she wondered about him, she didn't show it.
Janice Joseph
October 2016
He pressed his face on the fence very hard. He looked far into the empty street to see if there were any signs of life.
Voinks (Val Portelli)
October 2016
I was beginning to go stir-crazy being cooped up indoors. All the things you take for granted suddenly became insurmountable mountains.
Keith Dwyer
October 2016
It had started in college. In the summers Jake had worked for a catering company in the resort area south of his hometown.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
September 2016
I was a mathlete, my teachers always called me the Bell Curve Breaker.
Cheryl Russell
September 2016
They were camping. It was supposed to be a relaxing break from the hectic pace of the last few weeks.
Joanna Hunter
September 2016
They say there is no such thing as the Bogeyman. But I know different. And right now we are playing hide and seek.
Janice Joseph
September 2016
"Why are you staring at the water? We pass by this stream daily and I can't see anything new. Are you ok?"
Lisa Wood
September 2016
He'd been waiting for hours for God only knows what. Frank wasn't an information guy. They told him to wait here, so here he waited.
Ajay Gregory Antony
September 2016
"Why did I leave home? Why am I here? Does any of this make sense?" I kept questioning myself over and again.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
September 2016
"You came all this way just for college?" Cody said to his little brother. Cody looked around himself.
Cheryl Russell
September 2016
Father and son were enjoying some quality time together. It was late September but still the weather was nice.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
August 2016
"Sometimes it is not the person we miss; it is the feeling you had when you were with them."
Voinks (Val Portelli)
August 2016
My romantic nature pondered whether the 'special something' he wanted to buy me would be an engagement ring.
Janice Joseph
August 2016
For me, the bridge was a gateway to a new life and for Ryan; the bridge was something he never wanted to cross.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
August 2016
I kept flapping around my house with similar haplessness until the quake subsided. I empathise with the bird.
Tiffany C. Lockhart
August 2016
A blonde-haired woman wearing a bright green trench coat walked down the streets of a bustling city, her nose buried in her phone.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
August 2016
Rambo came into Maggie's life a couple of weeks ago. The moment she saw him, she fell in love with him.
Janice Joseph
August 2016
I lay in the bathtub with my eyes closed. I pressed the straight razor against my wrist.
Janice Joseph
July 2016
"No, not again", I sighed. It has been a routine now to search for my pen in the morning before leaving for work.
Joshua Hedges
July 2016
Yumi couldn't feel her hands. She pushed her fingers through her hair. Nothing. Her heart didn't beat.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
July 2016
My fingers caressing its strings like they once caressed the only woman's skin that I have ever loved.
Janice Joseph
July 2016
No one would give a job to a homeless young man. Prejudices never gave an opportunity for survival for the homeless.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
July 2016
If I tell you, 'I've made this bridge', you will laugh at me; because you know me. I have never done anything constructive.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
July 2016
I am here at the park; taking a stroll with the person I love the most, My Dad!
Janine W. Cox
July 2016
This love started many years ago when they lived in the same neighborhood, a couple of houses away from each other.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
June 2016
Croaka was pensive as he sat down on the slimy stone near a puddle formed by a steady stream at a corner of Mughal Gardens.
Steve Brown
June 2016
It was just past midnight when she arrived at the cordoned off station. There was a yellow Ka parked by the front.
Gerry Hounchell
June 2016
Not sure who took that picture, but it's me hitching a ride, my backside anyway, age 17, running away from home.
Janice Joseph
June 2016
I am Wahid. I came here nearly 40 years ago. I live in the next street. Are you here with your family?", the old man asked.
Sarah GC David
June 2016
It is a typical evening; a cool breeze surrounds the insides of the subway. Never do they notice the intentions of each other.
Joshua Roberts
June 2016
The cold winter air stung his nostrils as Stephan walked along the brick covered sidewalk next to the tracks.
Voinks (Val Portelli)
June 2016
It had started innocently enough; the place had been packed, he had asked if he could share my table. The hour flew by as we started talking.
Janine W. Cox
June 2016
Sam was on that lonely stretch of road and he had his thumb leading the way. He was out there all morning.
Jacqueline Driggers
June 2016
What if all the books were worlds, and when she opened one, she opened a door to that world that she could go through? Wouldn't that be awesome?
Joshua Hedges
June 2016
John's wheezed as he ran through the forest. He was a runner, why was he wheezing? Couldn't he outrun his six-year-old?
Janine W. Cox
June 2016
Pete was at a cross roads and he had to make a decision fast or else he was going to lose everything.
Ajay Gregory Antony
June 2016
The narrow road at the corner is the way to the blissful nature, where one will find true bliss.
Janice Joseph
June 2016
The fight is over forever. It is all numb now. There is no more pain. Life is setting me free. Let me fly...float in the clouds and forget my wounds.
Janine W. Cox
June 2016
Marty's number was called and he had to report to Parris Island, South Carolina for 12 weeks of basic training.
Steve Brown
May 2016
Bruno knew something was wrong long before I did. He was a dog amongst dogs and saw things before anyone else.