Imagine a brisk autumn evening, the kind where the leaves rustle underfoot with every step and the air smells of impending winter. Ethan had always loved these family gatherings at Aunt Clara’s—a quaint house wrapped in ivy, with an overstuffed living room that felt like a hug. Tonight, though, there was a subtle shift in the atmosphere, as if the house itself was holding its breath.

“Uh, sorry, sorry,” he mumbled, but he didn’t turn away.

Sixteen the Hard Way
22.3 Smack!
by Erin Halfelven and Wanda Cunningham

That ride was the longest carnival-type ride I’d ever been on.

This is a sequel to ‘A Walk to a New life’ and "See things through a woman’s eyes’, it may help to relate to the characters if you read them first. But it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone if you prefer.

A young boy's life takes a huge change when he is forced to leave his remote island home.

Ethan always prided himself on his routine, a mix of early morning jogs and a quick breakfast before diving into job applications. It was another mundane Wednesday—or so he thought—as he shuffled into the kitchen, half-asleep, his thoughts clouded by the pressure of finding a job. Emily, his sister, had already left for work, her side of the kitchen counter cluttered with her usual chaos of bags and bottles.

John Taylor's life was in a bit of a rut, and an uplanned shake-up was exactly what was needed.

Honeymoon Reveal
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

We had only been married for three years at the time and we had never enjoyed a proper honeymoon. The fact was that after we had met on a dating site and almost immediately, she had thrown herself in to caring for my young sons … and me. My sons and I had all been devastated by the loss of my first wife Marion, their mother, only a year before I met Cherise, but she helped to pull us all out of our dark mood. She said that it was all she wanted - to bury herself in a loving family.