Claire knows only a world where most of humanity lives inside sparsely populated cities protected from the Outside by guarded walls. She is a new Driver whose job is to transport items between these cities. Her first run takes her through the dangerous land of the Outsiders, where she and her protector must evade their pursuers in a chase across miles of barren wasteland with no hope of help.THIS IS A SHORT STORY OF APPROX. 5,000 WORDS.Claire knows only a world where most of humanity lives inside sparsely populated cities protected from the Outside by guarded walls. She is a new Driver whose job is to transport items between these cities. Under the watchful eye of her Protector, Shaun, Claire makes her first run from San Jose to Angel City to bring back medicine needed to save hundreds of lives. However, the trip takes them through the dangerous land of the Outsiders. Using their skills, Claire and Shaun must escape from their armed pursuers in a chase across miles of barren wasteland with no hope of help.

Isabel is a young princess when her parents adopt the son of her father's best friend. Soon after, she learns that her kingdom is a great danger, and her entire world will change forever. Her fate is soon put into the hands of Sir Owen, who is the King's most trusted knight. While Isabel, is struggles to find her place, William, must also learn to adjust to his new life as part of the royal familIsabel is a young princess when her parents adopt the son of her father's best friend. Soon after, she learns that her kingdom is a great danger, and her entire world will change forever. Her fate is soon put into the hands of Sir Owen, who is the King's most trusted knight. While Isabel, is struggles to find her place, William, must also learn to adjust to his new life as part of the royal family. Soon after he goes to live with the royal family, he discovers that he has mysterious strengths, and finds himself saving the life of the Princess. Will Owen and William, be able to keep the Princess safe?

Dahlia Sabin has been killing vampires most of her life, that is until, she meets one in particular that needs her help. See Pool of Crimson through Patrick's eyes. Four short stories that give you a glimpse into his perspective. See the Blushing Death as Patrick sees her.On Halloween night, unsuspecting visitors at one of the greatest vacation spots in the world are about to be scared to death.Jesse Alexander, an 18-year-old recent high school graduate, accepts a job in a small, costume store, in Mt. Dora. It was the perfect job in the perfect laid back, little town. On his own for the first time, he is looking forward to being able to relax in the calm and quiet of his new surroundings and seriously consider the direction of his future.Working at Alivan’s Wizards and Witches Corner Store was uneventful. It was the ideal position. He was the only employee, and his only encounters with his boss were via email or instant message. However, with only seven days before Halloween, Jesse finds himself sucked into a race against time and wizardry.The Secret Society of Seven Sorcerers is missing one of its elite members and is in the process of seeking a replacement -- one truly worthy member for its inner circle of elders. A dangerous and mad wizard has escaped from prison, murdered everyone that can identify him and is interviewing for the coveted membership position in the Society.Beifar Mahgo, Special Agent from the Department of Magical Investigations is in pursuit of the elusive demented wizard, and all clues lead to Jesse. Jesse’s encounter with the Special Agent disrupts his peaceful existence and forever changes his view of reality and normalcy. With the threat of being framed for murder, and the lives of thousands threatened with imminent annihilation, Jesse is thrust into the midst of the mission to apprehend the crazed wizard and teams up with agent Mahgo. Jesse Alexander must believe in himself, trust in the unimaginable and face the unexplainable. However, in the world of magic, nothing is ever what it seems.

A short story about vanishing youth and fighting pseudo-dinosaurs.Lt. Edward Philips is a Pyrrianaut, one of the elite soldiers used by ColAdmin to guard their off-world colonies.And he has a problem; well, two problems:At 22 he's getting too old, and his mind too set in it's ways, for the neural link to his armour, and he's going to have to retire soon, and he's not sure what to do, but that's going to have to wait until he resolves the more immediate problem: a gigantic alien pseudo-dinosaur is about to fly into his colony, and he's going to have to stop it.

Chagrin River Review is a journal of contemporary fiction and poetry. The Review is named after the Chagrin River, which flows through Northeast Ohio. The high quality writing comes from emerging and established authors across North America.Great. Another novel of dystopian freaking fiction?Not really...In a moving tale about a world trying to regain its humanity, master storytellers Dan McNeill and Kevin Morton tell the story of a band of misfits out to save the world. River's Rising is the thrilling first episode of the four part World Down series - the series that proves not all dystopian fiction needs to be entirely dystopian.Three years after a decimating virus has left mankind on the brink of extinction, two brothers must move past their hatred of each in order to survive. But in this new world, surviving means having a little faith - faith in each other, faith in themselves and faith in what can't be seen. Perhaps most importantly of all, faith means being able to follow their third brother. Their older brother. The one with Down syndrome. Their brother Po has a gift.When they realize what that gift is, it will lead them into a journey of discovery where the stakes couldn't be higher. On one side are the Elected - five god-like beings with super-human powers whose plans for global dominion seem next to certain. Opposing them is suicide.On the other side are the mythical 19 - travelers with their own powers who haven't been seen in years. Tales of their exploits during the dark early days of the outbreak are told in whispers. Hope that the 19 will ever be found is growing dim.But Po and his gift may turn that all around.World Down: Episode 1 - River's Rising. Finally, dystopian fiction without dour characters or kids with crossbows. Finally, dystopian fiction that's fun.

When Mima’s brother is killed by the witch and were-lion Cerissa, she believes there is no hope for him until she briefly hears his cry for help in a magical horn. Before she can rescue him from Hades, however, she first has to find and confront Cerissa herself; failing to realise that Minotaurs, Centaurs and Gorgons aren’t the mythical characters she believes them to be.James Spicer is a 12 year old boy in his first year of secondary school. Everyone thinks James is weird, even his parents worry because he draws and paints such dark pictures. James has a fertile imagination and loves to create paintings of werewolves, vampires, dragons, witches, and all kinds of unbelievable creatures. At school James is bullied and labelled as one of the weirdo kids. The only person who doesn’t think James is weird is his grandpa and he died two years earlier.James is desperate to fit in but his incredible imagination involving dark creatures is not easily accepted by anyone. Daily he faces bullying at school. After one particularly dreadful day James catches his shadow stealing the light from behind his eyes. James is pulled through his bathroom mirror into an incredible fantasy underworld. There James’ journey takes him through fantastical realms of strange creatures, culminating in his meeting the King of Shadows. James’ quest is successful and he returns with a new found confidence and readiness to face life’s challenges. However once again he comes face to face by the bullies. This time, however, James is equipped with his newly honed skills to deal with his problems.

Sanders was a bricklayer by trade and a good one at that. His latest project would involve crafting a fireplace on a mountaintop estate for an elusive owner. Although he had done hundreds of similar jobs before, this one could very well be his last if he fails to comprehend the true value of a few toy soldiers.Sanders was a bricklayer by trade and a good one at that. His latest project would involve crafting a fireplace on a mountaintop estate for an elusive owner. Although he had done hundreds of similar jobs before, this one could very well be his last if he fails to comprehend the true value of a few toy soldiers. His young boys would certainly appreciate them as pilfered gifts, but Sanders may not stay alive long enough to watch them ever play again.

Brother and sister seagulls fly for the first time but everything does not go according to plan.This memoir is about my family's long history with tobacco and the effect it had on my parents and myself. It is not fiction, but a real history of one thread running through my life.

الحمد لله على ما أفاض والهم والصلاة على اشرف من بعث للأمم, رسول الله سيد العرب والعجم وعلى آله الكرام وأفضل الأصحاب الإعلام, فهذا الكتاب خلاصة أكثر من عشرين سنة اختزلت في صفحات يسيرة قليلة وهي على قلتها أرجو الله أن تكون فائدتها كبيرة ومنفعتها جزيلة, وهي تهدف إلى تقوية أواصر الأسرة التي عمادها الرجل والمرأة والكتاب موجه إلى المرأة بالأساس لأنها عمود الأسرة إن تم إعدادها بالشكل المطلوب لأصبحت شعوبالحمد لله على ما أفاض والهم والصلاة على اشرف من بعث للأمم, رسول الله سيد العرب والعجم وعلى آله الكرام وأفضل الأصحاب الإعلام, فهذا الكتاب خلاصة أكثر من عشرين سنة اختزلت في صفحات يسيرة قليلة وهي على قلتها أرجو الله أن تكون فائدتها كبيرة ومنفعتها جزيلة, وهي تهدف إلى تقوية أواصر الأسرة التي عمادها الرجل والمرأة والكتاب موجه إلى المرأة بالأساس لأنها عمود الأسرة إن تم إعدادها بالشكل المطلوب لأصبحت شعوبنا طيبة الأعراق, ولا بأس للرجل أن يقرأه ويطلب من زوجته قراءته أو يهديه إليها,وأتمنى من القارئ أن يسامحني أن لم أتطرق إلى جميع الأمور أو تفصيلات كثيرة قد تخرج الكتاب عن غايته أو تشعر القارئ بالملل فأردت الإيجاز والاختصار وسيكون القارئ أو القارئة قادر أو قادرة على فهم الباقي وتحفيز النفس من اجل لم شمل الأسرة وفق ما يرضاه الله تعالى وأتمنى السعادة للجميع من كل قلبي .

Love Click is neither a book for comparing different dating services by price nor for providing tips and tricks such as uploading your best photo and introduction lines. Instead, the book introduces the hilarious, sad or unusual adventures of 13 ladies following their first date with a Prince Charming; a slice of life of 13 different characters from Bangkok to Florida, from Switzerland to BudapestDo You Really Want To Be a Successful Online Dater?Online dating is an excellent topic. Almost everyone has some experience with it, or, at least, knows someone who has some involvement with it. Love Click is neither a book for comparing different dating services by price nor for providing tips and tricks such as uploading your best photo and introduction lines. Instead, the book introduces the hilarious, sad or unusual adventures of 13 ladies following their first date with a Prince Charming; a slice of life of 13 different characters from Bangkok to Florida, from Switzerland to Budapest. The reader may like or dislike the heroes, but be prepared for an emotional connection. Most of the stories have an open ending that allows for further examination. The primary intention of Love Click is to entertain. However, wise girls learn from other’s mistakes. Are you a wise girl?

I found you, LoveThrough digital mediaAnd hooked you up with my friendYou became my friend's ex-girlfriendAnd wanted me,Wanted moreThen our relationshipBecame a boreAnd read like an encyclopediaAnd was really dullBut also So unbelievableIs what we had retrievableIs it even conceivableLet's make that encyclopediaUnreadable"One can not judge a book by its cover." So we are told. But a cover is usually the only thing a reader has to base a judgment on. Smashwords tries to aid readers by providing summaries, one short, one long, for each book it distributes. For non-fiction this works well. But this, it seems to me, defeats the whole purpose of fiction. After all, one reads a story to find out what will happen. It’s the uncommon twists and turns that make a story interesting. But if a summary has told all this beforehand, what fun is to be had in the reading? Therefore, no summary of the present short story is given. It's short and it’s free! So read the whole thing and see if you like it. I ask you to do this because I think it is the best book judging method. To find fiction you like you must first read around enough to learn something of the style and stories of different authors. Then you can judge books, not by their cover, but by the your opinion of the writer. I'd like to help you do this. The present short story is one of several which I will make available free at Smashwords. Read a few (or all of them) and decide if you like them. It won't cost you a dime. If you like them, you can then purchase some of my not free (but still inexpensive) longer stories. All these stories are of one particular kind. To reflect this similarity all have the same cover picture, the Kitty & Rose shown above. So after you’ve read a few, you can, in fact, judge them by their cover. The common theme of the Kitty & Rose stories is human sexuality. This is not unusual. Most fiction concerns sex in one way or another; ranging from romances so sedate and demure an extraterrestrial could never know sex is at the root of everything described, to erotica so unrestricted even an extraterrestrial might blush. Kitty & Rose stories are in the middle of this range. All deal with human sexuality, but none do so explicitly. Rather, they are seemly. The dictionary gives three meanings for seemly: Attractive or agreeably fashioned; Decorous or conventionally proper; and Appropriate or suited to its purpose. With respect to appropriateness, seemly sex stories range from the humorous to the inspirational, but all concern human sexuality. So they are clearly appropriate. These stories are also seemly in the decorous and conventionally proper sense. For, while they treat sex candidly, they do not do so graphically. There is nothing pornographic nor erotic in any seemly sex story. Of course, different persons’ opinions about this may differ. A few consider frank pornography decorous. At the opposite extreme are those like the abbot of the monastery where the great biologist Gregor Mendel did his epochal research. This abbot thought Mendel’s studies were decidedly indecorous because they involved the sex of pea plants! Finally, there is the principal sense of seemly, attractive and agreeably fashioned. Like every author I exert my every effort and ability trying to make these stories seemly in this regard. But like every author, I must await your determination of the degree of my success. Since both of us will be pleased if you find them attractively seemly, I very much hope you do.Happy reading!BobbyBP.S. This is the fifth Kitty & Rose short story, uploaded 2-21-2017.

A very old parrot living high in a jungle tree relates to a group of young parrots what she has seen and stories she has heard over almost a century. She tells of the changes from a bird's point of view."Aliens Did NOT Destroy Chicago" is the title of a video discovered on the internet after claims that aliens nuked the city are broadcast on new networks. The story is told in that format, with a transcriber copying all of the spoken text into long form. In this short fiction, the author formulates a scenario where a major US city is destroyed by a false flag operation, and what might occur if the scale were so monstrous it could barely be believed. The reader is challenged to examine perceptions and exercise discernment through the use of media.

Book One of the Cobra Rebellion Saga, and a new entry in New York Times #1 best seller Timothy Zahn's legendary Cobra series. Cobras: technologically‑enhanced warriors bred to fight an alien menace no ordinary human can withstand. At the center of action on Cobra world Aventine: the legendary Moreau clan. In times of war, the Cobras are necessary, yet in times of peace they are often reviled by those they have saved. Now the Cobras have resisted a second invasion of the alien Troft forces, and forced the Troft to a stalemate ‑‑ and even converted some thoughtful Troft into uneasy allies against their kin. Yet all is not well in the human sector of the galaxy. A supposed sister empire, the Dominion of Man, threatens the Cobra worlds with what is, in effect, enslavement, as it moves to consolidate power over all the Cobra worlds. The plan on Aventine: to extort from the Moreau family the location of the home planet of a mysterious human ally that may be more powerful than the Dominion: the Qasaman empire. Meanwhile, Cobra Merrick Moreau is on a secret mission of his own to a world of humans enslaved by Troft masters. It is a world of barbaric cruelty where human are slave chattel to Troft gamblers. There the Troft force whole villages, even children, into life and death struggles served up for Troft entertainment. But the totalitarian Dominion of Man and the Troft game‑masters are in for a rude surprise: Cobras are not merely technological marvels. They are far more. For within each Cobra, bred by close family ties and hard testing in battle, there beats the heart of a warrior and the burning conviction that a Cobra will be slave to no one. Rebellion is at hand, and once again, Cobras lead the fight for freedom.