Other Adult Fiction

What happened?

In the past, the Christmas Holiday began after everyone stuffed down their last piece of pumpkin pie and threw out the last remaining pieces of turkey. Perhaps this was because the thought of another turkey sandwich makes us all a bit queasy but this year, the transition did not occur.

In the past there has always been an excitement to the Christmas season. The weekend after the Thanksgiving feast has people throughout our community decorating their homes and apartments. Usually with colored lights, foolish-looking blowups, and various other ways to show everyone they were part of the most important celebration of the year. I am saddened to report I did not see what I thought I would always see.

There is sporadic decorating but nothing like the Christmas Wonderland of holidays past. Driving through York there is still the multitudes of lights ringing in the season but the number of people enjoying the day they turned the lights on seemed to have diminished. In earlier times, in order to enjoy the lighting of the Nubble Light, one would have to arrive early in order to be in the perfect spot when Santa arrived. Not so much this year. I wonder what has happened? Continue Reading →

My wife and I have always been involved in Presidential politics. We’ve been married for over four decades and our political lives have always been intertwined.

We were against the war in VietNam and joined protests all across the State of Massachusetts. We had no use for Nixon and his Southeast Asian policies but had some breathing room when it came to his domestic and China concepts. He did open China up to the rest of the world without going to war.

President Ford came after the Nixon resignation and did cause some stir when he pardoned Nixon. Yet, during his short time in the Oval Office people were allowed to live and try to better their lives.

The next campaign gave us Jimmy Carter whose campaign and Presidency was basically quite boring with the exception of Iran. Ronald Reagan followed and did cause quite a stir throughout the nation with his economic policies. Continue Reading →

The taste of bitterness is all that I have left in my mouth… a heavy stone sits upon my heart. The world rejoices around me and I remain as the deaf and blind… cannot hear… cannot see.

A time of stillness that I cannot define, as if in a house of glass. I feel like a little girl in a deep dark forest, sitting under a tall tree, and yet not afraid, only awaiting what else fate may bring my way.

As I sit, I remember how fate sharpened his swords, to cut through my heart again and again, leaving me lonely as always… for a moment in time I ceased my strikes and stopped fighting back.

Continue Reading →

If you are expecting a cute article about how wonderful dogs are and how we couldn’t live without their companionship and lovability you should move on to the next article.

I have no use for the fur bags that live around us. Since I live in the land of dogs and I assume it is in style to at least own a couple of dogs I, on the other hand, would rather chew off my right arm and especially dislike their existence.

The basis of my disdain for this specific life form covers many areas. First of all there favorite activity is to bark. They bark all the time whether it is to simply clear their heads or scare the hell out of anyone who dares walk by.

The people passing usually don’t mind because they are usually walking their own four-legged freak. The stereo sound of dogs drill through my head like a jackhammer does to our urban neighbors. Continue Reading →

“What did you do in college?” Chuck Willard asked. Martin Sullivan gave a wry grin. “I was a grade grubber. I really didn’t have much time for dates. All I could think of was the degree. Graduate school was even worse. I had the reputation of being a brilliant student. Actually, I had to work my tail off, and I didn’t have time for anything else.”

Chuck was a senior engineer in the Engineering Department and had been an enormous help to Martin during the six months that he had been working for the city. They had soon become friends, and Chuck had had him out to the Willard home several times. It was probably those visits that did more than anything else to convince Martin he was missing out on an important part of life.

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Liz was half falling asleep from boredom as she gazed at the endless spreadsheets on her computer. Would they never end? Then a screensaver with pictures of pretty Chinese violets appeared. She was somewhat bemused as they took over her screen, her thoughts and her life. The room around her began to fade away………..

When vision cleared, she was standing high upon a long, stone wall, reaching as far as one could see in either direction. It felt like high summer in green regions where valleys and plains begin a patient rise into foothills and eventual mountains. She could see for many a long mile in all directions, but where was she?

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There are good days and then, of course, there are Bad Days. Now I am not overly prone to bad days but I do feel personally that my bad days are the worst. So, before you say anything, let me tell you how bad my bad days are. (Loosens his collar Rodney-Dangerfield style).

I can tell you I get no respect around here! So listen up and you will be able to go about your wonderful life miserably happy. It all started with the alarm clock; which is to say, was flashing 12 o’clock when I woke up. You know what that means, your already one minute late for work because someone at The Electric Company fell asleep at the controls, and sent power surges thru your electric lines.

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Janus was on the verge of complete and utter exhaustion. There could be no doubt about it. He had experienced symptoms of this nature often enough before: gritty irritation of the eyes, fogginess of the brain, arms, and legs that felt like lead weights.

His energy reserves were definitely running low. His arms trailed listlessly by his sides, and he could only just lift his feet, each step requiring a definite, conscious effort of his mind.

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On an island, close to the mainland, was a village called Hope. Over the years, the prosperity of its inhabitants had ebbed and flowed like the mighty Atlantic Ocean, which incessantly crashed at its steep shoreline.

Not having easy access to the sea, the options of becoming fishermen or smugglers were never practical and other ways of earning a living had never been easy. However, these close-knit, doughty people had grown accustomed to weathering the financial storms by leading a frugal but happy life. With only one access road, via a narrow bridge, they were in a ‘cul-de-sac of Time’ and with the stresses of modern-day living, ‘them outsiders’, as they were called by the islanders, were beginning to search for remote places, such as Hope, to relax in.

Slowly at first but then rapidly, bed-and-breakfast accommodation became a handy source of income. At first to supplement but soon after to take over from the centuries-old toil of vegetable growing. With this new prosperity burning a hole in their pockets, many of the villagers decided to expand by pooling their wealth. Very soon small weekend-dwellings started to sprout up in the vegetable fields. Success bred success and the villagers thrived.

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I was hanging out the washing in the back garden, as I infrequently do, when a woman who was walking down the road strolled into the garden and stopped for a chat about the weather, the state of the nation and such matters. In those days the garden was unfenced, you see, but not any more.

Staring at her in some amazement I wondered if this was just a localized way of introducing oneself to new people, or was it – I suspiciously conjectured – simply a short cut habitually taken? After a couple of minutes of one-sided idle chit-chat over the washing line, during which my growing annoyance was camouflaged by inane grinning, she continued diagonally through next door’s garden and casually left the premises via a small gap in their leylandii hedging.

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Other Adult Fiction

How the Internet stole Christmas

Will this campaign ever end?

Bitterness

Imagine a world without dogs.

The Matchmaker.

Jade Dreams.

The Great Cow Incident.

Earth Woman.

Investing in Hope.

Chainsaw pruning.