Janet looked at me, took a large gulp of her wine and started, her voice at first quiet with a tremor in it, but becoming steadier and more normal as she spoke. “First of all, you’re quite right that there was a price to be paid for all the things we had. I might as well say it upfront - it was sex!” Janet’s eyes started to tear up again at this point, but she wiped her eyes with a tissue thoughtfully provided by the hote...

Chapter 1: Setting the stage It’s strange how things come to light when we think we’ve hidden and forgotten them. That was just a passing thought as I sat on my own in the bar of a hotel I hadn’t been back to in over thirty years. I was having a beer while I waited for my wife to finish getting ready and join me for a meal. As I sat there at the back of the room, I looked at the other customers and was slightly startled t...

Sven waited on the farmhouse doorstep, hearing the footsteps approaching in answer to his ringing of the bell. The smile as Sam opened the door brightened the cold, damp afternoon better than any sunshine might have done.  Sven kissed her as he stepped quickly in, so she could shut the door before the dismal late winter day had time to penetrate the warmth within. "Sven - it's a welcome return - so good to see you again,...

A New Day by SpectreOfHell Normally, Patrick couldn't remember his dreams. There were vague after-images of things, people, places, but nothing really coherent. Instead, he recalled emotions. Fear, anxiety, happiness. Sometimes, rare times, he realized he was dreaming while the dream was unfolding, allowing him to take control of things. Those dreams were the shortest, as if his mind didn't want him directly connected to...

Emily slammed her car door and cursed loudly. It wasn't enough that the damn car quit on her on this empty country road, she was also out of range for her cell phone to work. She leaned against the door and looked around in frustration. She was stranded. It was all because she had become so bored. Everything just seemed so routine these days. She was tired of it. Her husband had left her over six months ago, running away...

Later that night after work, I decided to take a shower. I invited Kate to join me, but she declined politely. I sighed, and went into the bathroom. I don't know how long I was in there, but it felt amazing. As the piping hot water rushed over me I felt all the aches and pains of the day go away. Kate had taken care of handling any stress I would normally have. Some say I take my low-paying retail job too seriously, and I...

I felt myself dissolving. Darkness. A thought. A wish. A vision. A flash. And there… Madrid. Spain. Midnight. I’m actually here. Finally. I’m standing in this street. This very street. Near the driveway that leads up to Tate’s House. I can’t believe it. I need to savour it. This moment of reckoning… Grey rays of pale moonlight filtered through the trees that were being battered and blown in the fierce wind. A storm. But I...

10pm. Rain-thuds. Windless. Fingers of mist rolled off the roofs of my neighbourhood houses which looked like giant ships anchored in a dead calm sea of darkness. Depression. Hopelessness. Sensitivity. I'm 18 year old Steele Sanders, and I'm sitting on the rainy front stairs that lead up to my suburban home, lonely, still and blank. My black Nike hoodie drenched, only revealing the lower half of my face, between droplets,...