The set of four black leather cuffs in Jake's hand caught Jessica's eye. They seemed so out of place here in his office at the insurance company they both worked for. "And just what do you think you're going to do with those?" she asked, a slight catch in her...

Working from home has its advantages. I don't have to commute back and worth from the office, and can clock in when I felt like it. Sounds ideal doesn't it? Well, without trying to sound like I'm gloating, it is. My name is Tom Cooper, actually Tom Jr, since I...

Tiffany was twenty years old when she married "Famous Larry," a self-made millionaire whose chain of used car dealerships had made him a minor celebrity in several Southwestern cities. They met on the beach near Panama City, Florida where Tiffany was waiting in line to get a snow cone with...

I climbed the steps to Colleen's apartment with some trepidation. Which was ridiculous, when you think about it. Why should I be nervous? I've been up and down these stairs a thousand times. Colleen and I have been best friends since junior high school. Better than best friends; more like...

My name's Matt. This story takes place in 2006, the summer before I went off to college. I was an 18 year old boy, enjoying my last summer home. One day in June, my parents had decided to take day trip to the beach for some shopping. This was great...

I remember growing up and finding my older sister Angie wandering the house -- and sometimes the neighborhood -- while sound asleep. The first time I caught her like that I woke her up right then and there. My god I thought she was going psycho on me the way...

The cart lurched and groaned over the dirt path; the oxen pulling it balked and had to be prodded again and again. The town's people followed it, picking their way through the weeds and potholes. The path was quite overgrown, few people coming this way in the course of their...

Chapter 1 Andy and Linda were mother and son, but anyone that did not know them personally would think they were brother and sister. There was twenty year difference in their ages, Andy being 22 and Linda 42, but apart from a few crow's feet at Linda's eyes they looked...

It all started when I accepted an invitation to go over to my friend Dave's house. Dave was a wealthy guy who lived in a large, almost like a mansion, type of house. I had grown up with Dave but I didn't consider him one of my closest friends or...

So there it was. I was a boy, just turned eighteen, without a father. Dad, who had been very ill for a few months, had died two weeks earlier and it could not have come at a worse time. Relationships with my stepmom and with my sister were at an...