A SHORT STORY. While on a romantic weekend getaway with his current girlfriend, Matthew Wiley runs into his ex-girlfriend Anna, the love of his life. He can't resist the urge to confront the issues that drove them apart years ago, but he has less than two days to convince her to give them a second chance at love and trust."My life is worth more than a few minutes of anyone's pleasure."Alessandro Lupo (Alex) is a sixteen-year-old gay foster child who has been moved from "home" to "home" in New York City. Isolated by circumstances and by the protective shield he's surrounded himself with, he wanders the streets of the West Village and gravitates toward Stonewall Inn, where the 1969 riots planted the seeds of the gay civil rights movement. Having been raped at his previous foster home, he worries about HIV and about ever being able to enjoy sex. Alex, whose parents had both been Italian, feels his lack of family keenly. As he wanders the city streets, he scrutinizes people who might also be Italian. Alex is short for Alessandro, which means defender of men; Lupo means wolf. But Alex feels fearful most of the time—fear not just of Derek, the other foster teen in his current home, but also of life in general—and wishes for the courage of his 19th century countryman, Giuseppe Garibaldi, with whose statue in Washington Square Park Alex has imaginary conversations.Then Alex meets two people who represent polar opposites: one who validates the low opinion Alex already has of himself; and another who helps him see himself in an entirely new light and teaches him that his life is worth more than a few minutes of anyone's pleasure. Views: 242
"I, the most humble Mother Joachima, now in the one hundred and sixteenth year of my life, in obedience to the request of Mother Superior, was entrusted with chronicling the beginnings of our mission here on Terra Two and the first hundred years of terraforming.""I, the most humble Mother Joachima, now in the one hundred and sixteenth year of my life, in obedience to the request of Mother Superior, was entrusted with chronicling the beginnings of our mission here on Terra Two and the first hundred years of terraforming.""Many people would have been better suited for this task, since they are much more knowledgeable and eloquent than I, but I was chosen for I was blessed to witness many of the events first hand. Whether I will be worthy of this task is at the mercy of the Almighty, to Whom I pray for guidance and fair resurgence of my memories."[...]The sun peeked from behind Terra Two, festooning its edge with a very thin and sharply intense sliver of light that broadened quickly, casting coffee colored shadows on the chocolate rose surface, shimmering on the plane of the water and making it shine like old gold. The images of the methane containers echoed on the restless liquid surface and thin wisps of foam got carried by the breeze to form even and delicate crests between the islands. The waves interfered and harmonized creating complex ephemeral patterns, almost as if the planet was trying to tell the newcomers a story in a language so ancient and abstruse only it understood. Views: 242
CHAPTER I.INTRODUCES MRS. JAMES PREEDY; HINTS AT THE TROUBLE INTO WHICH SHE HAS FALLEN; AND GIVES AN INSIGHT INTO HER SOCIAL POSITION.Mrs. James Preedy, lodging-house keeper, bred and born in the vocation, and consequently familiar with all the moves of that extensive class of persons in London that has no regular home, and has to be cooked for, washed for, and generally done for, sat in the kitchen of her house, No. 118, Great Porter Square. This apartment was situated in the basement, and here Mrs. Preedy received her friends and “did” for her lodgers, in so far as the cooking for them can be said to be included in that portentous and significant term. The floor of the kitchen was oil-clothed, with, in distinguished places, strips of carpet of various patterns and colours, to give it an air. Over the mantelpiece was a square looking-glass in a mahogany frame, ranged on each side of which were faded photographs of men, women, and children, and of one gentleman in particular pretending to smoke a long pipe. This individual, whose face was square, whose aspect was frowning, and whose shirt sleeves were tucked up in an exceedingly free and easy fashion, was the pictorial embodiment of Mrs. Preedy’s deceased husband. While he lived he was “a worryer, my dear,” to quote Mrs. Preedy—and to do the lady justice, he looked it; but being gone to that bourne from which no lodging-house keeper ever returns, he immediately took his place in the affections of his widow as “the dear departed” and a “blessed angel.” Thus do we often find tender appreciation budding into flower even at the moment the undertaker nails the lid upon the coffin, and Mr. Preedy, when the breath was out of his body, might (spiritually) have consoled himself with the reflection that he was not the only person from whose grave hitherto unknown or unrecognised virtues ascend. The weapons of the dead warrior, two long and two short pipes, were ranged crosswise on the wall with mathematical tenderness. When her day’s work was over, and Mrs. Preedy, a lonely widow, sat by herself in the kitchen, she was wont to look regretfully at those pipes, wishing that he who had smoked them were alive to puff again as of yore; forgetting, in the charity of her heart, the crosses and vexations of her married life, and how often she had called her “blessed angel” a something I decline to mention for defiling the kitchen with his filthy smoke.CONTENTS1. Introduces Mrs. James Preedy; hints at the trouble into which she has fallen; and gives an insight into her social position2. What was printed on the quarto bill: a proclamation by her Majesty’s Government3. Extracted from the “Evening Moon”4. The examination of Mrs. Preedy, continued from the “Evening Moon”5. Contains further extracts from the “Evening Moon” relating to the Great Porter Square mystery6. The “Evening Moon” speaks its mind7. In which the “Evening Moon” continues to speak its mind8. The “Evening Moon” postpones its statement respecting Antony Cowlrick9. In which the “Evening Moon” relates the adventures of its Special Correspondent10. The Special Reporter of the “Evening Moon” makes the acquaintance of a little match girl11. The “Evening Moon” for a time takes leave of the case of Antony Cowlrick12. Mrs. Preedy has dreadful dreams13. Mrs. Preedy’s young man lodger14. In which Becky commences a letter to a friend in the country15. In which Becky continues her letter, and relates how she obtained the situation at No. 11816. In which Becky writes a second letter to her friend in the country, and gives a woman’s reason for not liking Richard Manx17. In which Becky, continuing her letter, relates her impressions of Mrs. Preedy’s young man lodger18. The “Evening Moon” reopens the subject of the Great Porter Square murder, and relates a romantic story concerning the murdered man and his widow19. The “Evening Moon” continues its account of the tragedy, and describes the shameful part enacted by Mr. F Views: 242
CHAPTER I.INTRODUCES MRS. JAMES PREEDY; HINTS AT THE TROUBLE INTO WHICH SHE HAS FALLEN; AND GIVES AN INSIGHT INTO HER SOCIAL POSITION.Mrs. James Preedy, lodging-house keeper, bred and born in the vocation, and consequently familiar with all the moves of that extensive class of persons in London that has no regular home, and has to be cooked for, washed for, and generally done for, sat in the kitchen of her house, No. 118, Great Porter Square. This apartment was situated in the basement, and here Mrs. Preedy received her friends and “did” for her lodgers, in so far as the cooking for them can be said to be included in that portentous and significant term. The floor of the kitchen was oil-clothed, with, in distinguished places, strips of carpet of various patterns and colours, to give it an air. Over the mantelpiece was a square looking-glass in a mahogany frame, ranged on each side of which were faded photographs of men, women, and children, and of one gentleman in particular pretending to smoke a long pipe. This individual, whose face was square, whose aspect was frowning, and whose shirt sleeves were tucked up in an exceedingly free and easy fashion, was the pictorial embodiment of Mrs. Preedy’s deceased husband. While he lived he was “a worryer, my dear,” to quote Mrs. Preedy—and to do the lady justice, he looked it; but being gone to that bourne from which no lodging-house keeper ever returns, he immediately took his place in the affections of his widow as “the dear departed” and a “blessed angel.” Thus do we often find tender appreciation budding into flower even at the moment the undertaker nails the lid upon the coffin, and Mr. Preedy, when the breath was out of his body, might (spiritually) have consoled himself with the reflection that he was not the only person from whose grave hitherto unknown or unrecognised virtues ascend. The weapons of the dead warrior, two long and two short pipes, were ranged crosswise on the wall with mathematical tenderness. When her day’s work was over, and Mrs. Preedy, a lonely widow, sat by herself in the kitchen, she was wont to look regretfully at those pipes, wishing that he who had smoked them were alive to puff again as of yore; forgetting, in the charity of her heart, the crosses and vexations of her married life, and how often she had called her “blessed angel” a something I decline to mention for defiling the kitchen with his filthy smoke.CONTENTS1. Introduces Mrs. James Preedy; hints at the trouble into which she has fallen; and gives an insight into her social position2. What was printed on the quarto bill: a proclamation by her Majesty’s Government3. Extracted from the “Evening Moon”4. The examination of Mrs. Preedy, continued from the “Evening Moon”5. Contains further extracts from the “Evening Moon” relating to the Great Porter Square mystery6. The “Evening Moon” speaks its mind7. In which the “Evening Moon” continues to speak its mind8. The “Evening Moon” postpones its statement respecting Antony Cowlrick9. In which the “Evening Moon” relates the adventures of its Special Correspondent10. The Special Reporter of the “Evening Moon” makes the acquaintance of a little match girl11. The “Evening Moon” for a time takes leave of the case of Antony Cowlrick12. Mrs. Preedy has dreadful dreams13. Mrs. Preedy’s young man lodger14. In which Becky commences a letter to a friend in the country15. In which Becky continues her letter, and relates how she obtained the situation at No. 11816. In which Becky writes a second letter to her friend in the country, and gives a woman’s reason for not liking Richard Manx17. In which Becky, continuing her letter, relates her impressions of Mrs. Preedy’s young man lodger18. The “Evening Moon” reopens the subject of the Great Porter Square murder, and relates a romantic story concerning the murdered man and his widow19. The “Evening Moon” continues its account of the tragedy, and describes the shameful part enacted by Mr. F Views: 242
The development of the American Life-Saving Service covers nearly a century.“... The initiatory movement was the organization by a few benevolent persons of the Massachusetts Humane Society in 1786. In attempting to alleviate the miseries of shipwreck on the Massachusetts coast, small huts were built; and in 1807 the first life-boat station was established at Cohasset. The Society depended upon voluntary crews, but so much was accomplished of value that some pecuniary aid was received, as time wore on, from both State and general governments.“The magnificent work of the Coast Survey, begun in earnest in 1832, absorbed the resources of Congress for a decade and a half, during which period nothing was attempted in the way of life-saving except through voluntary societies. A few public vessels were, indeed, authorized in 1837 to cruise near the coast for the assistance of shipping in distress, but it was through the movement in aid of commerce, which extended to the lighthouse system.“In 1847, five thousand dollars were appropriated by Congress toward furnishing lighthouses on the Atlantic with the facilities for aiding shipwrecked mariners. The money, after remaining in the Treasury two years unused, was permitted to be expended by the Massachusetts society upon Cape Cod.“In the summer of 1848, the Hon. William A. Newell, then a member of the House of Representatives from New Jersey, incited by some terrible shipwrecks on the coast of that State, induced Congress, through his eloquence, to appropriate ten thousand dollars for providing surf-boats and other appliances ‘for the protection of life and property from shipwreck on the coast between Sandy Hook and Little Egg Harbor.’ During the next session a still larger appropriation was obtained. Twenty-two station-houses were erected on the coasts of New Jersey and Long Island, and although no persons were paid or authorized to take charge of them, and they were manned by extemporized crews, their value in several cases of shipwreck was so great that Congress made further appropriations from year to year, and stations and life-boats gradually multiplied.“Through the pressure of a shocking event in 1854—the loss of three hundred lives off the New Jersey coast—a local superintendent was employed, a keeper assigned to each station, and bonded custodians placed in charge of the life-boats, which had been repeatedly stolen; but the absence of drilled and disciplined crews, of general regulations, and of energetic central administration rendered the record of the institution unsatisfactory, and its benefits checkered by the saddest failures.“In the year 1871, Sumner I. Kimball succeeded to the head of the Revenue Marine Bureau of the Treasury Department, under the charge of which were the life-saving stations. He made it his first business to ascertain their condition. Captain John Faunce was detailed to make a tour of inspection, and was accompanied a portion of the way by Mr. Kimball himself. The buildings were found neglected and dilapidated, the apparatus rusty or broken, portable articles had been carried off, the salaried keepers were often living at a distance from their posts, some of them too old for service, and others incompetent, and the volunteer crews were in a quarrelsome temper with each other and with the coast population.“Then commenced that vigorous prosecution of reform which has crowned the humane work with unprecedented success. Making the most of slender appropriations, and in the face of perpetual discouragements, this one man, the chief of a bureau, pushed on by philanthropic impulses and guided by unerring judgment, brought a complete and orderly system into effect. It was not the work of a day, nor of a year. It required patience, sagacity, and rare powers of organization and government. He knew no office hours, working day and night at what many were pleased to consider a hopeless task. In his brain originated the idea of guarding the entire coas Views: 242
Seventeen year-old Daphne is surprised when her parents let her go with her friend to a getaway resort on an island off the coast of California. She eventually learns they have sent her for experimental "suicide therapy," but when she becomes lost on the haunted side of the island, she wonders if her parents have sent her there to help her or to punish her.Seventeen year-old Daphne Janus is surprised when her parents let her go with her friend to a getaway resort on an island off the coast of California. They haven't let her out of their sight since last New Year's Eve, when she could no longer stand the way they looked at her. Her sister would still be alive if it weren't for Daphne.Her friend, Cam, takes her to a mostly uninhabited island with a wildlife preserve on one side and Chumash Indian ruins on the “haunted” side. Daphne decides she will have one last "hurrah" before she finishes what she started last New Year's Eve. However, things seldom go as planned...The resort is beautiful, the beach pristine, and the views from the headland amazing. The only thing missing is the boyfriend who left her when she could no longer love anyone. Then strange things begin to happen on the island that soon have Daphne running for her life. She eventually learns that her parents have sent her for experimental "suicide therapy," but when her horse bucks her off during a trail ride and she becomes lost on the haunted side of the island, she wonders if her parents have sent her there to help her or to punish her. Views: 242
In a parallel world not entirely different from our own, there exists a budding civilization of intelligent koalas who live and love as they deal with the perils of grove life. They themselves are in awe of their astoundingly rapid evolutionary development, and they will soon find a clue as to what may underlie their amazing progress….In a parallel world not entirely different from our own, there exists a budding civilization of intelligent koalas who live and love as they deal with the perils of grove life. They themselves are in awe of their astoundingly rapid evolutionary development, and they will soon find a clue as to what may underlie their amazing progress…. After leading the migration of his subjects to beautiful Eucalyptus Grove, the newly crowned "Prestigious Koala King" is astonished when his friend the Judge reports having found a huge, unusual object wedged amid a circle of boulders in the nearby forest. Both are puzzled: Where did it come from? Why has no other koala ever reported having seen it? Does it represent a danger to their population? They decide to keep the discovery secret, and focus instead on the settlement of their population in the new grove, as well as on strengthening relations with neighboring Koalatown. In this first book of the five-volume “Koalaland” series, the koalas of Koalaville plan their migration to a new and better grove, after having obtained it with the help of old Mr. Johnson, their only human friend.Along the way, you will meet a slew of unforgettable characters…- Doctor Koala, whose gruff manners hide a heart filled with compassion for his fellow creatures.- Judge Grandaddy, responsible for the maintaining of law and order in the grove, and one of the King’s oldest friends and top advisers.- Demure Maki Koala and her father Nory, the grove’s best carpenters, who work hard building tree houses and furniture for their grove-mates.- Bumpy, Humpy and Dumpy three boisterous friends who live and thrive on the border between legality and lawlessness.- Mayor Koala, proud and blustery leader of neighboring Koalatown, an established democracy that nonetheless tends ever-so-often to dissolve into chaos.- Rolly, Koalatown’s judge; he’s the Mayor’s best friend, level-headed councilor, and ever-willing card partner.- Claire, Doctor Koala’s old friend; her lamentable drinking problem doesn’t interfere with her psychic sensitivity, that soon contributes to ushering in a new era for the residents of Koalaville. - Duffy, Koalatown’s uncompromising policekoala who isn’t above knocking a few heads together in the name of the law.- William Bird, the emu genius whose musical compositions are loved by all koalas of refined taste.… and many more who will bring you countless moments of utter delight, serious reflection, spontaneous laughter and above all, superb entertainment! Views: 241
Christmas Catch is proud to be a part of The 12 NA's of Christmas
12 New Adult Novellas. 12 Best Selling Authors. November 2013.
Two years ago, when Ivy Emerson bailed from the tiny fishing village she’d grown up in to go to Columbia, Sawyer McCallister was the only thing she was sad to leave behind, and she still didn’t look back. But when her mother guilts her into coming home for Christmas, she crashes headfirst into Sawyer, who’s also returned after being away.
Now that they’ve both been dragged back to Saltwater, Maine, they might just realize it’s where they belong. Together. Views: 241
Money, power, and women were what drove Josh. He didn't care how, where or who he hurt to get it. Revelations of a life lived can humble anyone, even depress them, if they were to look at themselves with honest eyes and without making excuses. When Josh's eyes were opened to where his power really came from, he became desperate to do anything he could to change it.2016 Revised EditionKalin, tired of being put down for who he is, leaves home when he turns eighteen. Despite being a warlock, he’s denied his magic for years because his parents told him magic is evil. He just wants to start a new life and leave his past behind.But then Kalin is approached by a group who tell him he has a rare kind of power—and the ability to stop a dark warlock from threatening the Royal family. Kalin doesn’t think he can help until one of the witches, a seer named Regina, has a vision about his future.The truth behind his ability shocks him—and may lead to his death and the death of his new friends. With Regina's visions as his guide, will he decide the risk is worth taking?This is a NOVELLA of approximately 27,000 words. Views: 241
Herbert Strang was the pseudonym used by 2 British authors, George Herbert Ely (1866–1958) and Charles James L\'Estrange (1867–1947), to write adventure stories aimed primarily at young readers, especially boys. Views: 241
Find out what happens when magic and technology clash in the world's final days!Ascended are damned souls, weapons abandoned by both Heaven and Hell in ages long past, doomed and bound to the Earth, born and reborn.But when Seven Kharaos, a unique first-generation Ascended appears, with the power to redefine the very rules of the universe, some see it as an opportunity to end their long exile.The promised day has come, when all of humanity seeks judgment for its greatest sin: existence.But there are those who oppose the machinations of Fate, and choose to bare their teeth at what lay beyond. Heretics, damned souls -- the Ascended, they are called, cursed to wander the Earth lifetime after lifetime, vestigial, humanoid weapons once wielded by both angels... and demons in a proxy war that tore the world apart.Hope lies with a single young man, blissfully unaware of the hidden world and secret war that rages around him: a first-generation Ascended with the unique power to shape and redefine the very laws of the universe.Yet Seven Kharaos vaguely does know the extent of his own destiny, haunted by prophetic dreams of pure white wings. Terrified of such portents, he chose to run from his fate. For Seven Kharaos, inevitably, is the man who will destroy the world.The F-Infinity Saga is an episodic series updated every few weeks! Please check back often to find more cantos, and learn the answer to the question: Who, exactly, is Seven Kharaos? Views: 241
