New Stories posted in the last 30 days

Serena Li is eighteen years old and dying. Glioblastoma, stage four. Six months. This is the gut-wrenching, heart-breaking story of one sister counting the cost — and paying it — to give her dying sibling the unconditional intimate love she desperately longs for before the end comes. Some gifts cost everything you have to give… And even more.

After years of missed opportunities and wasted resources, Camilla Durum has enough coin stashed away to pay the fees required to take the Mage’s Exam. If she passes, she’ll become a Mage, the boost in respect almost as sweet as the increase in pay. But days before the fees are due, Camilla’s feeble-minded sister comes to her, screaming and crying about thieves and kidnappers. Their brother has gotten himself deep into debt with a vicious crime lord and Camilla’s future as a Mage is at risk.

Two short stories, companion pieces. Two perspectives on the same youthful relationship and its quiet unraveling. Written in the same raw, introspective style, they explore the gap between what we plan and what actually happens when young love collides with timing, family expectations, and the unpredictable paths of growing up.

A girl tells her mother she doesn't want to move in with her mother's boyfriend. She tells her that he is creepy. But the mother tells her she is imagining it. The boyfriend makes it clear she isn't.

A reclusive man. A storm-lashed house. A single moment of panic that changes everything. When Edgar Wainwright attacks an intruder in the dead of night, he discovers the truth is far more complicated than fear allows. As guilt settles into the quiet halls of his isolated home, an unexpected connection begins to form between him and the stranger he nearly destroyed. But some mistakes don’t stay buried—and some bonds are born in the dark where neither forgiveness nor escape comes easily.

> 1974. After years of fantasy and role-play, a couple finally are determined to explore the world of Swinging. What begins as curiosity soon becomes far more intoxicating than either of them expected when they meet a seductive, worldly couple from the East. Drawn into an atmosphere of temptation and desire, each discovers a hidden fantasy they never realised was waiting deep inside them.

A Jamie Story
Jamie finds the bathroom at the beach rental overly bland and seeks to liven it up. Illustrated.

A secret sex life of a lawyer

On the advantages of being a sissy

Santa Claus is forced to carry out market research on how families enjoyed Christmas. (Note: this is set in a Southern Hemisphere country, where Christmas is celebrated in summer.)