Mrs. Waltz and I hurried to get dressed as the footsteps and radio sounds become louder as the person in the hallway got closer. She had pulled her pants up and was dressed as I just got myself back in order when there was a knock. Knock, knock, knock. It was Mr. Daniels the assistant principal. He was here also helping everyone pack up their rooms for the summer. "Hey there y'all, got everything in order?" He said to us....

Barbara Morris knew that her job did not make her popular, but if people did not park their vehicles illegally, they would not get parking tickets. At the moment, fifty-eight-year-old Barbara was affixing a ticket to the windscreen of an expensive-looking car that had overstayed its welcome on broken yellow lines. She had been doing this job for about two years, since it was decided that the very lax parking situation in...

My husband passed away suddenly and I’m now a widow at 53. I married young so I don't know how to be anything but married. Learning to be alone is the biggest challenge. I’m financially secure, but lonely. I have convinced myself that I’m beyond my prime. I’m curvy, five feet seven inches, my hair is slowly turning silver where dark brown had once been. My brown eyes still sparkle when I laugh. I have a group of women fri...

As I lay in my bed that night I couldn't help but replay the memories from earlier. From entering the warehouse to being introduced to the fourth floor, to what happened with Kimiko, and Teresa watching. My mind was a mess – and it was a blur. I still had a decision to make. But would it be the right one?  I got up and headed to the gym. A little exercise should help ease my mind. I got through my workout with a clear hea...

It was a long week. My boss called me last minute begging me to supervise a project that has gone over both time and budget. It's breaking my heart to leave her home. The timing couldn't be any worse and I won't be able to go with Wendy to see the orthopedic surgeon. I know it's difficult for her, but watching her suffering in pain rips my heart out. Being out of town working and having no way to talk to her, because the...

The detritus of drug-taking is scattered all around, so Jed gathers it up, wraps it in toilet tissue and dumps it into the en suite bathroom’s waste bin. He runs his tongue around his teeth, crunches a complimentary breath mint so he can suck on the fragments and then rinses for good measure using the mouthwash he brought with him on the trip. That’ll do. Peering through the bedroom door’s peephole he spies the girls hudd...

"I want to eat something sweet and juicy to fill me up. How about you Dorion? ... Dorion," Mrs. Waltz asked.I shook my head and snapped back to reality. "Yeah, I'm hungry too," I replied.  I had been staring at the breasts of a woman old enough to be my grandmother, Mrs. Waltz. "Your mother wants to know what you want from the Mexican restaurant," she continued. "Just tell her I'll have my usual," I replied. I was at the...

At seventeen we should not have been in the bar, but Dave had managed to get us past the bouncer and inside. The dim lighting and loud, throbbing music were as exciting as having our first drinks in a club. Dave was my buddy, already nineteen and a regular at the bar. We hung out regularly before he finished high school, less now that he was in University and working part-time. His younger sister Joanie and I shared the s...