Elena and Tudor were walking down the streets of Paris, enjoying the sights and sounds of the city. Elena had planned this trip for months to celebrate Tudor's 45th birthday, and she wanted to make it a day to remember. As they walked, Elena spotted a cute small salon and thought it would be the perfect surprise to have a very short haircut. Tudor loved short haircuts, so he was excited to see what would happen next. "Hey...

Near closing time on a rare, rainless Cornish evening, I wander toward the shop where you work, unable to explain how I got here other than transport by sheer longing. The same compulsion told me where to find you in this village across the sea. A display window's counterfeit moonbeams stripe the dark sidewalk in front of my destination. Tongue-tied with grief and hope, I push the door open and step under clean fluorescen...

The journey had taken forever. That bus had rattled along, zero suspension and zero softness on the bench seats. Add to that the pouring rain and the loud mob at the back, drinking and arguing and playing music, and the voyage had seemed interminable. And then a taxi, also rattling along with no suspension, taking them to the Airbnb they had booked in the middle of nowhere. Just Ailsa, and her new girlfriend, Peach. When...

Old friends laugh and reminisce over scrumptious lunch and fizz. In habitual fashion, conversations bemoan husbands consumed by work or golf. As if that drift apart was inevitable. My fingers lightly brush the blemish upon my neck with memories to the contrary. You sat in our bed watching me dress. Eyes deliciously intense, imagining the opposite. My departure was met by the grip of my wrists as you pinned me against the...

Charlie: Got switched to the evening patrol today. Would love to spend it looking forward to coming home to you. Come by whenever you like and make yourself comfortable. I promise I’ll make it worth the wait ;) Lacy: No, I’LL make it worth the wait ;) See you then. Lacy had no intention of making this an idle promise. At the end of her own shift in the biology lab, she smuggled out a few supplies she was sure she could fi...

I was in my second year of college at U of M and was looking for something to do during the winter break. A good friend of mine told me that his dad's company, which managed inclusive resorts, was looking for help during the busy holiday season. Did I want to go with him and make some extra cash while enjoying the weather, women, food, and drinks? He didn't have to ask twice. A week later we arrived at a beautiful adult-o...

Christine and Doug were the best neighbours you could wish for. After my rather messy divorce, they were so supportive, checking on me regularly, helping out with various things and inviting me around for the occasional meal. What little confidence I possessed had been drained from me and, although they were very supportive, my friends and family were mostly too far away to be much help when I needed them. Christine and D...

As I held back my unrequited love’s hair while she relieved her troubled stomach all over the icy pavement, I reflected that this wasn’t exactly how I’d hoped to spend my first Christmas in London. The previous year, after months of interviews in secret, I’d landed a new job in the City. I celebrated by taking my work colleagues out for a curry - a kind of Merry Christmas/Happy New Job/Goodbye kind of thing. I’d sure miss...

A gentle breeze stirred the cherry tree leaves as I sat outside on the garden decking. Relaxing on a hot summer's afternoon, the cool breeze was a welcome break from the heat, however brief it lasted. Flowers in bloom, the bees working overtime, birds on the feeders, chirping in the trees… “Owww… oh crap… dammit!” came an anguished shriek from next door, breaking nature's soundtrack. I had heard my neighbour out in her ga...

Springmarsh was a town full of strange occurrences, despite the town seeming normal. There was a two-story tavern, a couple of small shops, a few shack-like houses, and a gypsy caravan that only opened at night. This town was one of the poorest in Eriwald, albeit it looked decent enough, and the establishment that stood out most was the tavern. From the lazy spin of the fans to the recumbent light of morntide that would s...