Photo Credit, David Niblack, Imagebase.net
She felt his presence as he sat down beside her on the concrete step. He didn’t speak, and neither did she.
The susurrus sound of rippling waves washing in upon the shore mingled with the laughter of happy couples in rowboats. A sanderling twittered by the dock. An old woman by the parking lot was handing out roses for Valentine’s Day. Continue reading “Worth Fighting For”
Photo Credit, David Niblack, Imagebase.net
A warm sea breeze rustled through the palm thatch umbrella shading the table. Matt inhaled the salty air and closed his eyes against the glaring sun. The surf roared in his ears as the tide washed in over the hot sand down on the beach. Children laughed, playing in the waves. Matt heard the clicking of a bicycle and opened his eyes just in time to see Claire ride up. Continue reading “Letting Go”
The headlights glared through the rain. The trucker blasted his horn. Carter tried to swerve back into the right lane, but the bike laid down and slid across the wet, cliff-side road. The truck roared past him. The bike plummeted off the ledge and Carter followed it. Helpless to stop his descent, he plunged into the darkness of the canyon below. It was four hundred feet to the bottom. He knew he’d be dead on impact. His arms flailed, vainly trying to grab hold of something—anything. Continue reading “When Dawn Breaks”
“She’s a pretty little thing,” Eve said as she watched the young woman.
“She looks so tired,” Sarah commented.
The girl’s pale face and heavy-lidded eyes undershadowed by dark circles clearly reinforced the statement. Continue reading “Especially Now”
Doug made his way through the crowded corridors of O’Hare. His bag hung over his shoulder and the pain in his back letting him know that his body didn’t appreciate the long flight. He wasn’t so young anymore, but the sleepless nights had taken their toll and left him feeling far older than his sixty-two years. He trudged outside through the doors and a rush of cold air blasted him in the face. He pulled the collar of his coat tighter and glanced around. The sun had long-since set and the city was lit by street lamps and neon signs. Cold flakes of snow were just beginning to fall from the black night sky.
Doug waited for a cab, trying several times unsuccessfully to get one to stop. When he finally he got one, he slipped into the backseat and set his bag down beside him.
The young driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “Hey, where you goin’, pops?” Continue reading “Prodigal Christmas”
Sold: one soul to the devil, he thought as he leaned back in his chair and stared at the final word on the page.
It had taken seven months of his life to write.
It was the raunchiest thing he’d ever read or written.
He hated every page.
It was nothing but trash…and it would sell millions of copies. Continue reading “Stolen Soul”
“Are you blind, man? You’re life is falling apart around you and you can’t even see it!” Matt yelled.
“I’ve got it under control!” Mike shouted back, knuckles turning white as his grip tightened around the bottle of beer in his hand.
“Yeah, like you had it under control when you almost killed yourself driving drunk or when you hit your wife and broke her jaw—”
“Shut up,” Continue reading “How Free the Truth”
I raised my hands up above my head as I stared down the business end of the .45.
Come on. Are you kidding me? I just wanted to make a deposit!
The hand that held it trembled and I looked up into the kid’s eyes, the only part of his face that showed through the black ski mask he wore.
What I saw there wasn’t what I would have expected to see in the eyes of an armed bank robber. Continue reading “Do You Believe?”
“What do ya say? Should we give it a shot?” Andy asked.
Kris sighed and shrugged, “I don’t know.”
Andy stared at his son for several moments and nodded.
Nothing he did seemed to meet with approval from the sixteen-year-old. He’d thought finding a car for him would make him happy. Getting a clunker would be affordable and they could spend time together restoring it. However, it seemed even this idea was falling flat.
Kris cocked his head to the side as he looked at the beat-up old Camaro. Continue reading “Beautiful, In Its Time”
(Winner of CFW Event #18)
Taking that first drink when he was seventeen. That was the first major mistake of his life. One drink had led to another and then… he was hooked.
Stopping by the side of the road to help Jenny Garman change a flat tire. That was one of the good choices he’d made. They’d known each other vaguely before then. Seen each other as they walked through the halls of Dearbrook High, but after he’d helped her that day it had spurred a friendship. He never really understood it, at least on her part. She must have seen something good in him. Maybe she saw what he could be. Continue reading “Ten Things”
Whitney L. Schwartz 