I knelt at my wife’s grave and laid a bouquet of her favorite flowers on it. It had been three years to the day since I laid her in it. Memories raced through my mind; our first date, our first kiss, our wedding, the birth of our daughter. On and on the memories went, until I once again faced the stark moment when it all ended. Injured in a car crash, Karen had died in the back of an ambulance before I even knew what had...

Be me, Thomas Murphy, a seventeen-year-old high school senior living in the California Bay Area. It was the first day of my senior year of wrestling, and Coach Barton had me getting all the novices organized. According to Coach, as one of the top-ranked heavyweights in the state, I was in a “Leadership Position.” Apparently, being a leader meant I had to do administrative work. Note to self, being in charge can suck. As I...

As we lay cuddling each other in our bed after the momentous day Angela had with catching her peeping toms in the act, little did we realised that it was almost 8 in the evening. Time had just blown by since Jack, Troy and Ethan had left our house earlier around 4 pm with Angela promising Troy, Ethan and Jack that she would be willing to have a foursome with them next time Jack came in to help her with her gardening. Afte...

I had finished cleaning my room when Anita knocked on the door and said, “Referral for you.” I walked into Anita’s office and saw her standing next to a professionally dressed black woman who seemed about ten or twelve years older and two inches than me. She looked at me expectantly as Anita introduced us, “Cecilia, this is Phil; Phil, Cecilia has heard good things about you.” “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said. “Teres...

Messenger 14 “Do you know where Anthony is?” Julie asked. “No,” Laura shrugged. "I know where he was; but he could be anywhere now." “Anywhere?” “Anywhere within a hundred miles of where I left him. Can't you track him with your phone?” “He left his phone at the office." "Why do you need to find him. He's coming back." “Are you sure? I mean how am I to know?" “He is coming back. Believe me. You need to think about what yo...

Back in the nineteen sixties, when I was a kid, all the PC (politically correct) crap that infests the world today simply didn’t exist. In those days, if a kid was stupid, as many of us were, people simply accepted it. One didn’t need a troop of psychoanalysts to come up with an array of psychobabble to state the obvious. In those days it was also perfectly normal to get a clip on the ear without the entire welfare system...

We waited for this moment ever since we laid eyes on each other in the dorm hallway so many years ago.  The part of us we had been denying for so long was finally being satisfied.  After it was finished, you simply held me as the water fell.  You are too afraid of letting go or closing your eyes.  Afraid the moment will pass, and you’ll have to give me back to him all too soon.We finally separate when the water begins to...

Julie Goddard stepped out of the shower needing to be fresh. She sprayed a little of her favourite perfume and allowed herself a moment to settle. She took a swig of coffee and picked up a slip of paper from the chair in her dressing room that doubled as an office. She scanned the printed text message. It had been such a clever idea, and it worked every time; get the client to text what they want; you get their phone numb...

I finished drying my hands as she put the last dish on the drying rack. She put her hand on my upper arm and said, “Let’s have a glass of wine and chat.” I smiled back at her smile, pleasantly surprised at the contact, which she had studiously avoided during the last two weeks. As we walked past the table, she said, “Thank you for helping me wash up.” “Thank you for the dinner. It was very good.” She nodded, “Of course.”...

I often dream of steamy summer days, dreams of you and I, walking deep within the shadows of an ancient rainforest. Only the melody of distant birds might be heard beneath the dark green canopy of towering cedar and redwood trees. This is an enchanted place where thick moss hangs, like an old man’s beard, from branches and rich is the aroma of sweet damp earth and musty decay. Huge fungus covered roots clutch at the groun...

Julie and I had agreed that Marg and Cherie should move into the unit at the rear of our home so that we could become a family of four. It was rather an unusual situation or so we thought so we had all agreed to keep our arrangement a secret from the rest of the world. We were to present such that everyone could assume that this was a tenant-landlord arrangement. Our good friends Debbie and Gloria wished to have another c...