The hallways are empty, the school day long over, the din of lockers and youthful laughter have dissolved into silence. It's as if the very walls are waiting. And then through the intercom a song starts to crackle, the soundtrack of a forgotten life. And the band begins to sing - "Lovely Maggie falls for Johnny, a boy no one else can see. Heartthrob Johnny, 50s bad boy, trapped for eternity. Lonely boy and lonely girl, unsolved mystery. Maggie and Johnny, only highschool sweethearts, because Johnny can't ever leave. Do wop, Do wop....." In 1958, a rumble goes down outside the brand new high school in Honeyville, Texas. Chaos ensues, a life is lost, and Johnny Kinross disappears. But in 2010, someone finds him. Orphaned at the age of ten, 17-year-old Maggie O'Bannon finally finds a permanent home with her elderly aunt in a small Texas town. Working part-time as a school janitor, she becomes enmeshed in a fifty-year-old tragedy where nothing is as it seems and the boy of her dreams might vanish when the bell rings. This volatile and mismatched romance is doomed from its start, as Maggie struggles to hold on to yet another person she is destined to lose. Secret love and hushed affection are threatened by outside forces, resulting in a desperate race to keep a secret no one would understand. Deeply romantic, funny and tender, Slow Dance in Purgatory captures the heartache of a love story where a happy ending might be decades too late. Views: 673
Steven James Bartlett Senior Research Professor of Philosophy, Oregon State University and Bartlett is known for his fiction, including When the Owl Cries and Adiós Mi México, historical novels set during the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and descriptive of hacienda life, Forward, Children!, a powerful antiwar novel, and numerous short stories. He was also the author of books of poetry, including Spokes for Memory and Wherehill, the nonfiction work, The Haciendas of Mexico: An Artist’s Record, the first extensive artistic and photographic study of haciendas throughout Mexico, and numerous articles about the Mexican haciendas. Bartlett was also an artist whose paintings, illustrations, and drawings have been exhibited in more than 40 one-man shows in leading museums in the U.S. and Mexico. Archives of his work and literary correspondence have now been established at the American Heritage Center of the University of Wyoming, the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection of the University of Texas, and the Rare Books Collection of the University of California, Los Angeles. I am deeply grateful to my wife, Karen Bartlett, for her faithful, patient, and perceptive help with this long project Views: 672
Andy Simon wakes up in excruciating pain, a pain for which there is no explaination. He then hears sirens from vehicles that aren't there. Then his wife kisses him gooodbye and begs him not to die on her, though she doesn't even seem to notice her own strange words. His day only gets weirder from there. Why does the pain persist? Why does his coffee taste like blood? What is happening to him?Andy Simon wakes up in excruciating pain, a pain for which there is no explaination. He then hears sirens from vehicles that aren't there. Then his wife kisses him gooodbye and begs him not to die on her, though she doesn't even seem to notice her own strange words. His day only gets weirder from there. Why does the pain persist? Why does his coffee taste like blood? Why is he the only one who seems to notice the torrential rainstorm he's driving in? And what does that car accident he keeps hearing about on the news have to do with it all? Views: 672
A story about a frightening walk I had in the fog one cold winter's night a long time ago in Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex, England.The year is 2043, the life has come to the point where the animal instincts of survival often came into play. The human race is in danger of already taking control “Company.” After the implementing of the microchips and brain waves scan, the things went out of control... Alan is a member of a underground society, working for the good of the human society, preparing and educating the people of the important and forgotten ideals, protecting them from silent enslavement. Courage, honesty, bravery, qualities long gone. No one knows whether Alan and his group will be able to save what has left from the true vibration of the universe, pulsating in each and every one of us. Hope is non existent if action is not present... Views: 672
In this short story, Christie, a relapsed alcoholic, faces her first Christmas apart from her children. As she window-shops for gifts her ex-husband won’t allow her to give, she finds a family huddled around a fire in the alley behind the store. If she wants to offer help, she must face her own fractured heart.Built during the sixteenth century, the majestic turreted stone clad fortress of the Montgomery's stately residence sits next to the River Dale, which meanders its way gently passed the estate as it flows slowly towards the sixteenth century church and the ancient village of Sunny Dale, in the distance. Rodney the gardener is tending the estate's award winning roses, and appears to be everything a woman could ever want in a man; tall, handsome, clean shaven, caring, helpful, charming, a good listener, friendly, witty, always immaculately dressed, but above all, exciting. Penelope thinks so, as she has agreed to marry him. So does Lady Montgomery. After all, no other gardener has taken the time to help her with her own personal pride and joy, her very own hidden garden. But Lord Montgomery is not so sure. Views: 672
Life on the dole in a dying town is defined by drinking when you can, smoking to pass the time, and, if you're gay, going down to the barracks at the old port to get some. Iwan's got the cigarettes and the booze down pat, but he lacks experience, so he sticks to online porn and watching the lads portside.Everyone else seems to have learned how to get what they want, yet Iwan can't get past everything that could go wrong. He knows who he is, regardless of labels. But no matter how often his best friend tells him to just go for it, he doesn't trust others to see past his mismatched body.Paying for what he's afraid to get for free may seem absurd, but it's better than just watching, and it's better than porn. It may not change the world he lives in, but with luck, it will change him. Views: 672
He used to be the chief of police. Now, he is JUDGE, JURY, and EXECUTIONER. He is SHADOW MAMBA -- one mad cat on the hot trail of a cold killer who framed him for murder. Little did the killer know: don’t tangle with the mamba, or else he'll make you pay – In BLOOD. The day they framed him for the murder of his family was the day VENGEANCE was born. SHADOW MAMBA. RATED R -- for REVENGE.In his seventeen years of life, there weren't exactly a lot of things that Connor Drake was good at. He didn't excel in school and was never quite good enough to be the star of any sports teams. That was before the accident. And before the dying. And then suddenly there was Phoenix and wings and a newborn boy that he'd never met before, but that he knew, without a doubt, that he would protect with his life. He even promised the baby, Morgan, as much as he took up the role as his Guardian. Seventeen years later he might just get to keep that promise. Views: 672
Despite huge odds against them, Hitler's commanders—the elite of the Wehrmacht—almost succeeded in conquering Europe. Now in an expanded edition that includes biographies of the generals of Stalingrad and a new chapter on the panzer commanders, this book offers rare insight into the men who ran Nazi Germany's war machine. Going beyond common stereotypes, Samuel W. Mitcham and Gene Mueller recount the compelling lives of a varied group of army, navy, Luftwaffe, and SS men, including their early life, their military exploits during the war, and their post-war career, if any. Weaving in dramatic stories of tank commanders, fighter pilots in aerial combat, and U-Boat aces, the authors bring the battlefields of World War II to life. Views: 671
“Stories from Amman” is the result of over 50 artists and illustrators telling stories about a small but special city, in Arabic and English, over the course of a day.The stories range from personal reflections, to manga art, to memories of how Amman used to be.Cities are immortalized in story and stone.The is a book about a city. A place of aspiration, hope, corruption, brutality, change, ambition, family and loneliness. A place where thousands dream of escape. Somewhere millions call home.A city like any other city. But different. The stories in the ebook were created by a team of over fifty writers and artists in just one day, working in Arabic and English. 'Stories from Amman' is a 'Project Pen Storylabs' initiative to go out and create the content.Project Pen was founded to encourage a new generation of writers, creating new kinds of stories, from a new generation of writers.We're based, as you might have gussed, in Amman Jordan. Views: 671
Life is tough when you're a fourteen year old girl. It's even tougher when a quick joyride in your mom's spaceship leaves you stranded light-years from home. But with the help of a well connected space Lord, Aiyela might have a big push in the right direction.If only she only she can land a job, land her ship without exploding, and generally not embarrass herself.Marshall, a former gang member and new father is struggling to make ends meet with the love of his life Sarah. After he's fired from his a job an opportunity to make some extra money surfaces, the only problem is that it involve's stealing money from a Mars exploration program. When the plan goes awry and things take a turn for the worst Marshall gets into trouble with the law. Marshall's mistake will trigger a series of events that will lead to a big decision, a decision of freedom or confinement, a decision that could change his life as well as the people he loves forever. Views: 671
1821. Thanks to the technique discovered by Victor Frankenstein, it is now possible to resurrect the dead. Scotland Yard Superintendent Gregory Temple, on the trail of criminal mastermind John Devil, who plans to use such technology to reshape the world, is now forced to team up with Paris Morgue supervisor Jean-Pierre Severin, Malo de Treguern and Frankenstein's own creation to confront a cabal of vampires led by Count Szandor and the inhumanly beautiful Countess Marcian Gregoryi who also seek Frankenstein's secret... Frankenstein and The Vampire Countess is the second volume in a prodigious Alternate History saga which embraces the works of Mary Shelley, Paul Féval, Alexandre Dumas and others, written by Brian M. Stableford, an acknowledged master of the genre, author of the critically acclaimed The Plurality of Worlds. Views: 671
