Rhonda’s
Party
Chris
sighed heavily rolling his eyes. He really wasn’t interested but he
simply couldn’t tell her ‘no’. He looked up into her bright
hazel eyes, glistening with a plea for his cooperation and approval
and his heart softened a bit. She leaned in and pouted her lower lip
a bit with a playful tease that made him unable to hold his firm
expression. He smiled warmly. What else could he do? He was a softy.
“Fine,”
he said closing his eyes and turning away from her a bit

The
Sounds of Summer Nights
Darkness
filled the room like a sweet fog, hot with the summer air that
filtered through the open window. The chirping of crickets sang their
songs and the scent of roses wafted in the window from the small
tangle of flowers below.
Despite
the warm and humid air, the sheets below her were cool and soft
against her bare skin. The low humming of the fan at the far end of
the room only intensified the smell of the flowers just beyond her
line of sight through the shadow

The
Valley of Toil
A
rustle in the brush caught his attention and hope fluttered in his
chest. He froze, chancing a sideways glance at his brother. The two
of them caught each others eye and they both silently and very slowly
rose their bows up in front of them, drawing string to cheek, their
muscles straining against the pull of the bow as they held their aim.
A deer stepped out from the brush with long and graceful legs chewing
on a hazelnut it had just picked up from the forest floor. A twig

The
Need for Others
Her
heavy breath met the cold air in a burst of steam that rose into the
night with each pant as she tried to catch her breath. Sweat beaded
on her smooth brow despite the bitter bite of early winter at her
parted lips. The flawless skin of her body glistened in the
reflection of the moon on the river beside her bare and trembling
form. Her knees were weak and her heart still raced as she moved up
the river’s embankment. She could hardly lift the sudden extra
weight of her