It ended, as so many things do, with pain, and with anger, and with recriminations that left more questions than answers in their wake.  It ended with the feral scent of blood; sweet and high.   It ended badly; with sirens caterwauling off nearby tenement buildings, with curious onlookers, with too much gossip and not enough truth.  And as dawn broke over a city facing its third thunderstorm in as many days, it ended in h...

Our eyes met from across the revelling Mardi Gras crowd. His eyes, revealed from beneath the half mask of leather he wore, were bright blue, deep, and dark with intensity. The mask, itself was red, double horned, and molded into the most sinister expression. Below the mask, the lower half of his face showed thin wine stained lips set into a wicked grin, framed by a golden goatee. For just that brief moment, his lusty thou...

I Dan Thomas felt completely adrift. The blazing lights, the blaring jazz, and the buzz brought on by the two or three industrial-strength Hurricanes he had been sipping all throughout the day had clearly lasted well into the evening. For many of the revelers, it was just another Mardi Gras, but for Dan, it seemed like a rebellious celebration of his rebirth. 45 years old, he was celebrating his first year as a free man....

Maxwell Anderson Jr., or Max to most of his friends, had waited years to be allowed to attend his parent’s annual Mardi Gras party. It was considered by many in their social circles to be the grandest party of the season. Max’s mother, Edwina Anderson, was born and raised in New Orleans and left when she married Maxwell Sr. so he could take a position that ultimately led to his running his own law firm. Edwina, like so ma...

My husband and I were vacationing last year, and experiencing "Mardi Gras", we found ourselves drinking a little too much, and getting caught up in the spirit of the moment. That was almost two years ago today.I've never flashed any part of my body to anyone, not because of the thought of exposing myself to a stranger or strangers, but because I'm a little insecure about my body. Having had more then a handful of kids, th...