Gym Pandas
_ **Gym Pandas** _ Friday evening. A little before 9pm. Standard scene. The gym had quietened down after the post-workday rush. Most folk still hanging around the leisure centre were either busy upstairs in their dance class, or playing handball out...
Workout
_ **Workout** _ "Are you _sure_ this is okay, Sam?" Marek asked, again, creeping down the last step on the stairway. "I don't want you getting into any trouble by doing this." "How many times?" I chuckled back from my soft, belly-backed seat in his...
Hangover
_ **Hangover** _ "Hey," called Dan, arriving back at our table with a beer in one hand and a metal tray balanced on the other. "Which of you got the rum and lemon?" I waved up at him. Easier than trying to shout above the noise of the dusky bar...
Escaping the Storm: Part 5
Part 5 As strange as it might have sounded, Erik found his first Wednesday of work required far more getting used to than he'd expected. Sure, it involved stacking those same shelves in that same busy supermarket, but the little things came together...
Foundations: Part 9 (AaO Side Story)
_ **Part 9** _ _(Jonas)_ "Martin was the first Maleni I really got to know back at high school." "Maleni?" Alen mumbled past the finger in his mouth, slipping it out to swipe up more residue from his glass. "Really?" "You sound surprised?" "I...
Foundations: Part 6 (AaO Side Story)
_ **Part 6** _ _(Alen)_ What remained of Saturday came and went at a staggering pace. That afternoon, I joined Jonas and his family on their trip to Kastenic, a larger town just along the coast. The pool that Mirko had suggested to us back in...
Saturday Shift
Saturday Shift "...It's unbelievable," I heard Izzy yell. "The guy doesn't have a damn clue what he's doing." "Bit much maybe," Dane replied. "You're gonna defend him? Really?" "Hey, I ain't defending anyone--" "He's a fuckin'...
Shallow Goals
_ **Shallow Goals** _ "Got you, Cloud!" I almost choked on a mouthful of chlorinated water, yelling out so fast after climbing back to the surface. "You're it!" "No way!" my brother cried above all the splashing and yapping in the pool around us....
Wrecked
_ **Wrecked** _ I wanted to die. Lucky as I might've been not to have done so already. Here in the dark, up in the hills in the middle of only gods knew where, I sat staring past the cracks in my windscreen. Better that than at the petrified polecat...
Small-scale Surgery
_ **Small-scale Surgery** _ '_Stopping off at the store later. What would you like for dinner?'_ My husband's text half-distracted me from the patient file I'd almost finished up with. I'd not long since scoffed down some lunch, but that didn't stop...
Theatre of War
Theatre of War "Move, move!" People rushed past me, running for their lives. "Keep going!" Screams of terror cut the air. "Don't stop!" A clap of thunder overtook us all. The asphalt rumbled. The screaming got louder. I fought hard to stay...
Escaping the Storm: Part 9
_ **Part 9** _ Walking down to the kitchen for breakfast the following morning felt more akin to swimming through molasses; each step reminding Erik of the rough night's sleep he'd endured. Tuesdays, and the prospect of another week of work, were...