silverlining

           "Georgiana, I'm home!" Katherine Hart threw open the door, glancing in disdain at the filthy trash bag leaning against the wall. The apartment was eerily dark and silent, like a scene in a horror movie. A qualm of dread that she had never known before rushed over her. Moonlight blazed through the high-rise windows, illuminating the darkened rooms. A tingling feeling traveled down her spine, making her shiver like a wet cat. There was no sign of any living thing.  Oh no…       "George?" she whispered tentatively. Her heart thumped rapidly as she entered her daughter's room. No one. She dropped onto the side of the bed, hands over

                              Chapter 2 CONT. Suddenly tilting the box too far, a notebook fell out, hitting Jake's foot hard. "Shit!" he yelled, cringing in pain. Dying to massage his poor toes, he dropped the box to the side, when he finally noticed Ken laughing at him. About to tell him to shut up, Jake stopped himself after realizing that there were two other people watching him. In fact one of them was Lani, Ken's cousin, and the other was a girl who looked vaguely familiar, although he couldn't recall where he had seen her before. "Uh, hi." Jake said with a sheepish grin.                                    ~~~  Crap. Not them. W

Rubbing his toes together on the cushiony sand, Adam Tanaka smiled. He loved the beach. The distant smell of salt, the sense of a cool breeze rushing through his tufts of black hair, and the comical but constantly fighting seagulls—all part of his home-away-from-home. It had been his ever since the Tanakas had moved to the island of Oahu from the mainland. A small inlet a mile from their house, five-year-old Adam had taken to it immediately. Now, thirteen years later, the beach had given him some of his best memories…his first time surfing, his first kiss, and finally the first major breakup of his life. It's not you, it's me. Lying on his

 To my dear niece,         Please come to have tea with me today if you have not already made other plans.        Send a note by my messenger. I look forward to hearing from you,                                      Eileen Reynolds "Who is it from?" Anita asked. They were eating breakfast as the note was handed to Lucy. Her face had taken on an expression of such surprise that Anita could hardly contain her curiosity. "My aunt Eileen. She's inviting me for tea." "Oh really, how wonderful!" Anita's mother, Julia Verne, exclaimed as she wondered in. Placing a large bouquet of roses onto the table, she stepped back, obviously pleased wi

 Dear Abby, My girlfriend and I have been together for over two years. But now she wants to break up with me. What can I do to get her back? Lost in Love Guiltily, Gabriel Inawa closed his newspaper. Casting furtive glances to his co-workers, he was relieved to find that none of them had noticed him examining the "Dear Abby" column. He was supposed to be developing his photos for the latest feature article. Some movie premiere. Ordinarily, he would be excited, or at least focused. But what did all of that matter? His life was a wreck—miserable and meaningless now that the love of his life, his long-time girlfriend, had left him and he did

Chapter 4 James uttered an exclamation of surprise. "What the dickens is going on!?" "Russell, do calm yourself." Chief Inspector Reynolds remarked dryly. "There is a lady present." However, instead of being shocked at his dreadful language as many young ladies of propriety would have been, the petite young woman opposite them simply smiled, an impish grin sliding across her suddenly sanguine features. Having previously thought her to be a somewhat plain and surly girl, James found the look rather fetching. Immediately after he thought it, he cursed himself. Now was neither the time nor the place for those thoughts.  Besides, she has us

                          Chapter 3 "Sir?" James knocked on the frame of the study door.   "The door is open." A voice from within barked.      Swinging it open, James entered the study, his astute eyes taking in his surroundings quickly. A fire roared in its hearth. The entire room was made of cherry oak, giving the impression of being in a furnace, with the flames creating disturbing shadows on the furniture. Mr. Arlington sat at his desk, his portly form squeezed into a large Baroque-style chair. He was bent over the desk, perusing a set of papers.   "I'm terribly sorry—" James began. His voice rang with rare sincerity.   "Is an

Chapter 2           After the intimacy of the library, the sheer size and the crowd of the ballroom were stifling. The hordes of gentlemen and ladies swarmed about the floor like bees attracted to honey. It was an unusual dance but an oddly familiar one. Within the ballroom, there existed the timeless tale of attraction or rejection, for love or for money. ~~~     "Oh, he's quite handsome,  I  think."      "And he receives  fifteen thousand pounds  a year!" tittered Henrietta, another young lady in Anita's circle.     "Imagine…" replied Betty, a dreamy smile upon her notably plain features. She was eighteen, a year younger than her

                             Miss Anita Verne                                        &                             Miss Lucy Benning                            Are cordially invited                            To the Arlington Home                            For Dinner and Dancing                           On the 17th of this month    Staring absorbedly across the street at the resplendent town estate before him, the lanky cloaked gentleman exhaled a breath of chilly night air. The cold nipped at the tips of his fingers, seeping through his soft cream-colored gloves as he tipped his hat at random passersby. By the time the first carria

 Chapter 2    "Ah…you are so dead!"    With a massive leap into the air, the warrior swished his sword furiously, destroying his enemy. Or so he thought. At the last second, the ninja hurled his body forward, launching his leg right into the warrior's abdomen, with the sword thrust missing him altogether.   "Oh yeah! I so owned you!" Ken Riley shouted, to his best friend.   "Whatever man." Jake Lorne smiled his familiar grin. "I can still beat you at NBA Live any day of the week!"    Laughing, Ken launched himself over the couch, towards the refrigerator. "Want anything to drink?"    With a noncommittal shrug, Jake leaned back on