The morning sunlight peaked through the blinds, slowly rousing Ben from another full night’s rest. With a yawn and a rub of his eyes, he stretched his arms over his head, flexing the muscles in his back. Putting his hands behind his head, he couldn’t help the satisfied smile he wore. The faint sound of birds calling outside the window added to the ease of waking up at his favorite place on Earth. He’d spent most of his li...

Passing the welcome sign on his way into town, Nick couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief at the sight of his old stomping grounds. It had been a while since he’d last been home. Driving down the main street through town, he gave a glance up at the old water tower. The high school logo painted on the side, time faded with help from the weather. Leaving home for college was something Nick looked forward to. A new adve...

Pulling into his driveway, Will parked his car and breathed a heavy sigh. The stress and nervousness of the day had all but subsided as he stepped out onto his driveway. Loosening the tie around his neck and removing his suit jacket, he heard a whistle from the neighbor’s property that caught his attention. Turning towards the house next door, a big smile filled his face. “Looking good, Will!” his neighbor Amber shouted w...

Traffic crawled to a standstill as the sun sank lower in the sky. Inside his recently purchased, but slightly used, Honda Civic, Jacob sat mumbling expletives under his breath. The sea of brake lights seemed to stretch on forever in front of him with no end in sight. Letting out a yawn, Jacob toyed with the buttons on the radio and pondered the choices in life he had recently made. Why did I ever take this stupid job in t...

Casey woke to the warm Florida breeze drifting through one of his condo's open windows. Rubbing his weary eyes, he rolled onto his side and reached for his phone on the nightstand. Groaning that the time was only quarter to six in the morning, he rested his head back on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. His mind drifted about, playing back the events of the past couple of months in his head. Casey's life in that sh...

"Strike two!" shouted the umpire as he watched the pitch fly into the catcher's mitt, just inside of the strike zone. In the dugout, Jason nodded in approval as he glanced down to mark the count in his coach's book. Fresh out of his last semester of college, Jason was back home attempting to start his adult life. Graduating wasn't the only hurdle he had to jump. His mind was spinning, applying for jobs here and jobs there...

My eyes burned painfully from the lack of sleep. It had been a long shift, responding call after call with no rest. I was exhausted, hungry, and downright filthy. My body ached to where I just wanted to sit down and never get back up. I drifted off as our rig pulled back into the station. Two house fires, several medical calls and a bunch of false alarms made up my twenty-four-hour shift. Pleasant thoughts of my next four...

The temperature in the shop continued to rise with the mid-morning sun. Ryan had been watching the clock tick, second by second, for the last half hour, begging for his workday to be over with. Stacking heavy bricks painstakingly on each pallet sent his way. The sweat poured off of his body, soaking his jeans and making his t shirt stick to his body. His shaggy brown hair matted back in his drenched ball cap. Covered in d...