Thursday, March 20th, 2003 Mitch had been having a great year.  He had finally found a home teaching in the western part of the state.  His first couple of years out of college, he had struggled. He had bounced around, trying to find the right fit for him.  His first two jobs were both single year stints. However, in the summer of 2001, he had been hired to teach history in a nice mid-size town.  Well, mid-size for this s...

February 21, 1996 Clang. The basketball impacted on the front of the rim and ricocheted away at an odd angle. “Damn it!” Tracy yelled out as someone passed the ball back to her. She dribbled several more times, raised the ball once more… clang. Another miss. Tracy couldn’t shoot free throws. She had always been miserable at it—ever since she was a girl playing little league. Now, here she was a freshman on the college bas...

Friday, July 20th, 2001 The sun beat down on Heather’s bare skin.  It was hot and it was humid. She had started sweating the moment she had stepped off the airplane two days ago, and hadn’t stopped since.  The only time she felt remotely comfortable was when she was wearing her bikini—as she was now.  It wasn’t much of a bikini either. She’d bought it, especially for this trip. “If I’m going to be on the beach in Cancun,...

Wednesday, October 11, 1995   Mitch had always been curious.  His fantasies had frequently included more than one scenario involving him and another guy, but he wasn’t entirely sure how everything fit together.  He was well aware that guys did things together, but… how did it work?   When he was sixteen or seventeen, he had done some personal exploration.  He wasn’t even certain that a finger could go up there—but insatia...

Saturday, June 24, 1995 Heather was pissed.  Really pissed. Pissed off at her now ex-boyfriend Jimmy, pissed off at her father, pissed off at Katie Donovan, pissed off at the whole damn world. She slammed on the brakes of the beat-up, old Chevy work pickup she was driving.  It skidded to a halt on the dirty, dusty road. She turned the key and let the pickup die.  Heather gazed out at the field of wheat stubble off to her...

Thursday, September 19th, 1996 Jason had been Jack’s best friend since the two of them were in the 4th Grade.  They lived a block apart.  Throughout their latter grade school and junior high aged years, they had walked to and from school together every single day.  They’d spent long hot summers together. They’d spent the night at each other’s houses. They’d had epic pillow fights. They’d experimented with fireworks. They’...