A loud, thounderous knock on the door distracted Michael from the action on his TV screen. He hit the Pause button on his PS4 controller, slid his cordless headset off his ears to rest on his nape, and granted his roommate entrance by shouting out the permission. Nathan, Michael's best friend and longtime roommate, opened the door, and started talking in a seeming hurry: “Listen, bro, I gotta hit the road. I won't be back...

A buzzing noise in your pocket signals someone is trying to reach you. You know exactly who it is. You ignore it. You are done with her. You will never come crawling back to her. Not after what she has done. No. Not this time. The vibrations against your thigh remind you of the countless times she has used you, abused you, taken advantage of your weakness for her, played with you, cheated on you, hurt you. At the third vi...

“And that was the last one,” Big ol' Tom said, “now we've got ourselves a decent candle lighting again.” “Great,” replied Bethany, playing with the glass she had emptied for the third time. “May I ask you to fill that up again? Same vodka, please.” She nibbled on one of the earpieces of her shades, leaving her attentive audience in a short instant of anticipation before resuming her narration. She grinned and chuckled a b...

I remember that fateful day in my junior year of high school when we were packing up our stuff at the end of the practical chemistry course. My lab partner tripped over a backpack someone had put in the way. He was holding a rather bulky chunk of sodium in his hand that he dropped into the sink where I was cleaning the labware, so it was filled with warm water. Once pure sodium hits water, it will form sodium hydroxide un...

“Bye, Dad! I'm going to school,” my daughter shouted, “and don't stay in bed all too long, you hear me?” A few frustrated groans no one could hear left my throat before I turned around and tried to enjoy a few more minutes – or in my case usually hours – of sleep. Before long, I felt the blanket being torn off me. My daugther's tone was rather pissed: “I mean it!” “What the fuck? It's not even noon,” I yelled with a broke...

The professor held his usual Monday morning speech to greet his students. Greg had his arms crossed, acting as a pillow on which he rested his head. Just another forty-five minutes of half-sleep... Of all the courses he had to attend in order to pass through his third term, the most boring happened to be on a Monday at eight in the morning: financial maths. Good thing the lecture hall was so full, and sleeping students we...

A cold, rainy night in late autumn. The tavern was crowded. Sound of people talking, laughing, cheering; a few storytellers surrounded by their respective audience, some guests sitting at the bar. A typical night in Big ol' Tom's tavern. None of the storytellers had, nevertheless, attracted the old barista's attention—so far, that is. That was until the heavy oaken double-wing doors opened once more. A man in his late twe...

“Who's in for another round?” Big ol' Tom, the bartender, offered. Leaning over his half-empty pint, his glass eye immobilized while the intact one stared at big ol' Tom, the elder of the only two guests replied, “Still nuthin' goin' on tonight, huh? An' I c'mere to listen to sum good stories, just like the ol' days.” “Well,” said big ol' Tom, “tonight's a bit of a shame, sure. But these calm nights usually do offer the b...

As I wake up, my mind instantly fills with the events of last night. It was one of these nights. I slowly drift back to sleep, as my memories start filling my dreams. It was Saturday. The one Saturday of my monthly visit at my Mom's. She lives alone. I come back from college to pay her a visit every month. Yesterday was one of these days. I vaguely remember my mother telling me something about the subsequent Sunday. Can't...

"Shall we head to the mall? Hang around a little?” Dale suggested with his back leaning on the wall, his arms crossed. I looked into his gorgeous green eyes. “Great idea!” I replied, “I'll have to get me some new shoes anyway.” I looked down to my feet. My old chucks were about to fall into pieces, and since we were in the middle of May, it was way too warm to wear these piles of winter boots I had gathered over time. We...

A dark and rainy night. Roaring thunder. Even though nature's outburst of rage had caused a blackout, more guests than usual had found their way into big ol' Tom's tavern. Some of them for shelter from the pouring rain. The vast majority, however, for a good evening filled with stories being told at the bar in the midst of the dim flickering light of the many lit candles, for the tavern was also known as 'The Place Where...

It was a Friday night. More customers than usual had found their way into big ol' Toms tavern. The tavern wasn't exactly overflowing, though. The old man himself was the calmness in person, easily keeping pace with the ever-recurring orders. “As usual,” some may say. One particular lady had been sitting at the bar the whole evening long, listening to all kinds of stories told by all kinds of customers. Stories of love, de...

It was a calm night. Only a handful of customers had found their way into big ol' Tom's tavern; just a few people sharing some short episodes of their lives while having a beer or two. That was until a young woman in her mid-twenties appeared. Her shaky feet gave away her insecurity. Hesitantly, she was slowly heading for the bar. “This is the bar. So that makes you big ol' Tom?” she hastily asked, her voice trembling. Th...

The tavern was loaded that night. Babette, the waitress, was running in all directions, hardly keeping up with the orders of the customers. While the dining room was pretty crowded, only five people were sitting at the bar that was also belonging to the tavern. It was called 'Big ol' Tom's tavern—the place where stories are told'. Big ol' Tom's customers had always been telling stories; it had been a year-long tradition....

Note: This story is told from two different views. The girl's view will be in standard character, the guy's view in italic. I could hear the familiar sonorous roar of Ryan's convertible Camaro. The first time my elder sister Amy had brought him home, I had immediately recognized what a great man he was. He was twenty-eight, around six feet tall, athletic, smart, funny – and he had a hell of a car. The wet dream of the tee...