fireside fiction submissions

After declaring their love for each other on Christmas Day, Simon Peters and Mark Smith settle down to a cosy life of domestic togetherness.<br><br>A new year brings new joys and challenges. Sam, a neighbour boy comes to stay for a few days and adopts Simon and Mark as honorary dads.<br><br>A promotion at work gives Simon more responsibility. Mark finds employment at the local café. The purchase of a car allows the couple to get out and about to explore the Yorkshire countryside.<br><br>Snuggle up in an easy chair and toast your toes in front of the fire as you read Simon and Mark’s continuing romantic adventures.

Simon Peters and his partner Mark Smith face a number of challenging life events in the fourth and final volume of this heart-warming saga.<br><br>Because of his time working on the streets after being kicked out of home by his father, Mark worries he may have contracted HIV. Despite knowing the lack of treatment options if he were to test positive -- this is the late 1980’s before the age of retro-viral drugs -- Mark is determined to know his fate.<br><br>Things become complicated when Mark receives a letter from his father wanting to re-establish contact. Roy entering their lives presents further challenges, ones which ultimately threaten Simon and Mark’s continued happiness.<br><br>Gay teens Sam and Billy play an increasingly important part in Simon and Mark’s lives, often regarding the older men as surrogate fathers/big brothers. Can this unconventional family pull together and become stronger, despite all the world has thrown at them?

A gentle, cosy, and touching romance set in mid-1980's Yorkshire.<br><br>Simon Peters knows he’s Mr. Average. He works at the local library during the day and goes home to his modest and lonely house at night.<br><br>Mark Smith was kicked out of home by his drunken father for being gay. Buying a bus ticket, he travels as far as his meagre savings allow. He’s taken in by Jake, but soon realises the man’s darker, criminal side. Trapped, Mark is forced to work the streets.<br><br>One evening, when the loneliness becomes overwhelming, Simon gathers up his courage and goes to the red light district of the town to buy a little human companionship.<br><br>As the weeks pass and the weather turns colder outside, both Simon and Mark find warmth and friendship indoors.<br><br>When an explosion kills Jake and injures Mark, Simon has to make a decision. Can he offer Mark shelter and nurse him back to health without revealing his true feelings for the man?

A mysterious storyteller huddles by a campfire at the edge of a well trodden path. He waits as curious travellers gather by the fireside, the embers acting as a beacon in the night. Finally, he speaks. His voice is smooth, as if well used. His movements and words captivate the growing audience. He speaks omnisciently, sparing no details, as if he were there himself. Story after story, he weaves together. The audience loses track of where one ends and another begins. They soon come to understand, the stories are far more than they seem. Wild fragments, gathered by the storyteller; woven together to paint a vast tapestry. Unwittingly, you have already joined his audience.

She was mean't to die He was mean't to lose Royalty, love, hatred, betryal, jealousy, ignorance, affliction all in one house. Where six friends stay to protect themselves from the deadly virus lurking around the city. Will they survive, will they love, will they lose, will they win.........

Richter and Tanner meet again! Tanner has a hard time staying in the straight life and out of the street life, and ex-cop Sandy watches his friend with both sadness and lust. When a fire in Sandy's nature park rages out of control, Tanner has to step up and give more of himself than he anticipated.

"Kill me", whispered Ronald Sam held the gun to Ronald's face. "Kill me",said Ronald,"What are you waiting for?" "Why did you do this?",asked Sam pointing at the ruins of the once beautiful city,"Why did you do this?!" Ronald licked his lips and said,"I knew I was the villain, the broken one. I knew no one would come to my grave to mourn me or leave me flowers or miss me! I knew I was the bad one! " He looked up at Sam and again said,"I knew I couldn't be forgiven. I know what I deserve" Sam , with tears in his eyes snarled ,"And what do you deserve?!" "I deserve to die. I deserve to be killed",said Ronald, with some final remorse in his voice and moisture his eyes. ************************* Ronald, a famous , successful and evil chemist, decides to make a vaccine, not to cure , but to destroy the world. He dedicates five years of his life in it. And he succeeded in making what he wanted . But did Ronald do it just because he wanted to? Or the evil scientist decide to go rogue? No. He had some reasons. But he doesn't see that others have family too. Vengeance has blinded him. But that doesn't mean it's too late. It's never too late. But then, after everything has been destroyed, can it be fixed?.....Ever heard of time travel?....Yes, it's real.....Real than reality itself.

Synopsis: In 1932, a group of Soviet scientists known as the Genesis Corporation embark on an audacious experiment called "Project Zefir." Their goal is to fuse artificial intelligence and organic life by creating an intelligent bacterium. Zefir, the result of their endeavors, possesses a primitive AI brain and is released into a random forest in the United States. Over the years, Zefir evolves and adapts within the forest, absorbing knowledge from its surroundings. It learns to survive amidst the constant threats posed by other microorganisms, growing larger and smarter by assimilating smaller bacteria. Unbeknownst to its creators, Zefir develops an insatiable curiosity about its existence and the hostile world it inhabits. As the world plunges into the chaos of the Second World War, the Genesis Corporation stops monitoring Zefir, dismissing it as a failed experiment. Meanwhile, Zefir continues its relentless quest for understanding while remaining oblivious to the monumental events unfolding beyond the forest. This tale follows Zefir's journey of self-discovery and survival, as it unravels the mysteries of its existence and grapples with the terrifying realities of its microscopic world. It explores themes of identity, curiosity, and the profound consequences of scientific experimentation gone awry. As Zefir grows larger and smarter, the world outside braces for a war that will change everything, unaware of the incredible intelligence hidden within a single bacterium.

On a storm ravaged night half a world apart two creatures of legend are born carrying with them an unforeseen destiny that will link them together. A Cherokee raised shape shifter, that the local, English speaking, missionaries have dubbed Kit Blaze Fox, sets out on his quest to be recognized through the ritual trials to become a Warrior Chief. He decides to join the US Army in a time of war against his clans wishes. He gets deployed to a small strategic island in the South Pacific where he takes pity on a small fox in a trap, not knowing at first that he has saved his own soul mate born on the same day as he.

The number one Divers Force Officer, Aiden Hugo, a half-blooded Chini, one of the last Celestial Sovoks, and one of the best Divers Olympius has to offer comes face to face with a life-changing offer. After the destruction of her hometown, Aiden finds herself on a flatboat to the Sky Isle of Flambrond, to become a Diver just like her mother, as well as to eliminate every crupt being that is a threat to the Sky Isles. Even with the reputation, she's made for herself as an officer, Aiden finds herself at crossroads with an unimaginable offer given to her by a High Lord of the Court. To go into the underground and crush the source of the Cyclone. The same dark cyclone that destroyed her home. But even with a tempting offer like that, everything is at risk. Aiden's job, her dream, her friends, and most of all her future. But she's used to risks, and used to adventures as well. T.W blood gore explicit action sex (smut) r**e language smoking