Author: Summer Writing Contest 2020

Should Have Waited

July 17, 2020 by Summer Writing Contest 2020 2020 Summer Writing Contest, Hot, Romance 0 Comments

“Don’t wait up for me.” 

Helene waved at her husband’s back as he disappeared down the hall before she closed the door of their tiny apartment. She looked around the sparse room with its secondhand furniture and nicotine-stained walls. A weak sunbeam struggled to make it through the polka dot curtains Helene had made from her prom dress, but the room was still dark. 

Dark enough no one could see the tears streaming down her face.   

Her grandmother was right. She should have waited for Max to graduate from college before they got married. 

Eleven Birthdays

July 16, 2020 by Summer Writing Contest 2020 2020 Summer Writing Contest, Drama, Hot 0 Comments

Marty was slow to wake, slow to rise on the morning of his seventy-fifth birthday. At least, he thought it was morning until he eyed the green 12:06 on his alarm clock. Instinctively, he rolled over and felt for Lori but the bed was empty and neat aside from the crumpled sheets on his side. He groaned into his pillow and listened to the quiet.

The hum of the fan, the rumble of cars a block away, his own inhales and exhales. He could almost feel the quiet house with its thick, cold walls closing in on him. He got up then, with the agility of a man much younger than seventy-five.

Behind Her Mask

July 13, 2020 by Summer Writing Contest 2020 2020 Summer Writing Contest, Drama 0 Comments

In a shadowed corner of the hospital stairwell she sits, crumpled like a discarded wad of paper, arms wound tight around her legs to still their trembling. In time, when her fury is finally exhausted, her body will unfurl, its energy spent. This stairwell is her private refuge, where the sobs that rattle her body and cleanse her soul are heard only by the walls around her. Perspiration beads her forehead, a display of damp patchwork darkening her scrub cap. Her skin prickles beneath it, but she barely notices. She barely notices the smell of stale sweat seeping out from scrubs that should have been changed days ago, if only she had the energy to care. There is no one here to judge, but there is no one here to comfort either.

Crowds of Light

July 10, 2020 by Summer Writing Contest 2020 2020 Summer Writing Contest, Drama, Hot 0 Comments

“Not that it matters anymore,” Michele said as if she were not alone. “But it is so nice out tonight.”

It was a clear night, without clouds or moon, and to avoid tripping on the rocky path, Michele pointed the flashlight at the ground ahead as she walked. As she hiked up the trail, the cold breeze that blew down the small canyon chilled the skin on her bare arms. On any other night, the black pitch in the canyon, the rustling leaves, and the scurrying sound of creatures in the brush along the trail would have frightened her. But that night, there was nothing to fear; she was calm, breathing in the crisp spring evening air.

A Study in Cashmere

July 9, 2020 by Summer Writing Contest 2020 2020 Summer Writing Contest, Drama, Hot, Thriller/Suspense 1 Comment

I’ve wanted to do this for so long.

Gordon stood in front of the open hall closet, running his hand across the row of hanging coats, feeling their different textures beneath his fingertips. Scratchy wool, smooth poplin, the slippery impervious surface of a rain slicker. So many coats. Why did one woman need so many?

He removed his own charcoal-gray dress coat—his only dress coat—and shrugged into it, replacing the sturdy wooden hanger. From upstairs, he heard the click of the bathroom door, the ventilation fan firing up like a helicopter engine.

She was awake.

The Aisle

July 8, 2020 by Summer Writing Contest 2020 2020 Summer Writing Contest, Drama, Hot, Romance 0 Comments

“Oh sweetheart, you look beautiful.”

Casey stood at the top of the grand art deco staircase, the “wow-factor,” according to the wedding planner, of Willingsbury Manor’s entrance hall. At the bottom stood her father, beaming up at her with eyes shining like his expensive new cufflinks. 

Casey gripped her extravagant bridal bouquet, wincing as a thorn stabbed her hand through the itchy fabric wrapped around the stems.

Dark Time

July 7, 2020 by Summer Writing Contest 2020 2020 Summer Writing Contest, Hot, Science Fiction 1 Comment

The flashlight slipped from his hand, spinning like a lighthouse as it floated up and out of reach. It settled bulb-first against the reactor room bulkhead 40 feet above, plunging Lee into darkness.

“Touché you bastard,” he yelled to the wayward light. “But I really don’t have time for this.”

Time, Lee mused while unhooking his tether, had apparently conspired with the fusion reactor and flashlight to kill him. Over the past hour, his life horizon shortened from what once seemed an eternity to perhaps no further than this moment.

Till the Last Breath

July 3, 2020 by Summer Writing Contest 2020 2020 Summer Writing Contest, Fantasy 0 Comments

“Next stop, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” announced the captain of the ship. The boat was filled with people; some were fellow classmates who attended my college. The rest were a bunch of unfamiliar faces. I sat on the edge of the boat and started reading the book that my professor gave me. I had to read a book about myths and legends for my criminal justice class. This book was all that I needed for my final exam.