Damned Babies
Jessie woke up exactly like a boulder would have. Her eyes cracked open like the doors of a sealed, ancient tomb. The first sight she saw was the red, angry digital clock that read an agonizing 8:49 AM. On a Sunday. She groaned, very long and very...
The Draft
"Alright, team! Everyone up!" Lucas Harrier grumbled and rolled onto his back, feeling the weight of his belly shift against uncomfortably against his lungs. He'd already been in and out of sleep for that past few hours, but if Coach Pendergrass was...
Going Home
The taxi cab hit heavy turbulence on the bumpy road, jostling Tim in the back seat. He wasn't in any kind of condition to be jostled. Once the drive evened out again, he lazily turned and looked out the window. He landed in Seattle about an hour ago....
A Little Slice of Paradise
The security screening was long, extensive, and uncomfortably invasive. Kristina would have only been more unsettled had the security personnel and employees hadn't seemed completely bored out of their skulls the entire time. She hadn't expected to...
Like Rabbits
At late afternoon on a Wednesday, Marcus and Nick were both at home lounging on the couch in a comfortable silence. Nick was slumped against the right arm, wearing nothing but the sweatpants he taught yoga in, and only mostly focused on the video game...
Dad With Benefits: Part 4
Hoyt sat at his kitchen table with a stack of papers he'd brought home to work on. At the moment, they were pushed to the side while he puzzled over the brand-new tablet that was barely too small for his hands. It was Jacob's Christmas present, only a...
The Summoning
It was the time of dusk where silhouettes stood out from the slowly darkening sky. The road was empty, pavement dirty from the aftermath of the day's rain. The storm had finally moved on by the time the van had reached the edge of town. The commuters...
Give the Devil His Due
"_Well_sir, with our cheapest package, that still gets you more than fifty channels provided by the basic cable service and access to pay-per-view programming, along with special deals on premium services like HBO and Starz." Jessie wiggled her pen...
Dad With Benefits: Part 1
Hoyt struggled with the shopping cart as he dragged it out of the stack and realized too late that a broken, squeaking wheel was making the job that much more difficult. Behind him, his twin children watched while simultaneously not helping. Jacob was...
Belly Buddies (Part 1)
The waiting room was uncomfortably empty and the air conditioning was turned up too high for that time of year. Even Cora, raised originally in Scotland, was becoming uncomfortable by the cold air. It wasn't the kind she was used to. It felt sterile,...
Pocket Change
Right after Emma knocked on the front door and rung the bell, the gray cat stepped closer and put one ear against the wood, listening carefully for any noise on the other side. A car drove by on the road behind her, breaking her concentration. She...
Empty Basket
Melinda turned off the main highway onto a tiny, one-lane dirt road around two-thirty, knowing in the back of her mind she'd be on it for almost an hour. It was almost more of a foot-path cut through the forests of western Pennsylvania that just...