Shane has never managed to catch a break. His mother died when he was a teen and his father left home the day he turned eighteen. Then he met a man he thought would fulfill all his dreams. Little does he know that Tyler will plunge him into a nightmare of both physical and verbal abuse.With his self-esteem destroyed and no friends to turn to, Shane lives every day in despair. But when they're invited to a neighbour's house for dinner, things begin looking up. Michael, their host, i...

There was a lot about the COVID-19 virus that wasn't understood. For the health of the general population, being put on lockdown was completely understandable. But knowing the reason and even agreeing with it doesn't make it any easier to endure.Clay is beginning to feel the mental strain of being at home all the time. He is sick of his furniture, sick of his books, and sick of everything else in his bubble world. That's the reason he sneaks out to go for nocturnal walks around the...

Charlie Thorne has never had a Halloween like this one. On the run from the police after being wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, his only desire is to make it back to the arms of his partner, Ellis.He knows the risks. He knows the police will probably be waiting for him. But he can't help himself. Weeks spent away from his lover mean Charlie is all the more desperate to see Ellis again, and to protest his innocence to the police.Little does he know how hi...

Ian feels he has not been blessed with good looks, and his treatment from others lends weight to these beliefs. From a child, where he is teased about his big nose, to his twenties, where his best friend, the handsome Zack, seems to get all the attention, Ian is made to feel inferior. The resulting insecurity means he won't look in a mirror unless absolutely essential.Then one night at Zenith, the local gay club, he locks eyes with Brad. He likes what he sees, but so does Zack. As ...

Like a million other young gay men, Bryan keeps his sexuality hidden because it's safer that way. Yet other guys know he's different -- they sense it, and make Bryan's life pure hell. At home, things aren't much better. He barely acknowledges his alcoholic father, and his mother has little time to spend with her family. So Bryan is alone, with no support, no shoulder to cry on.Years of torture and torment, of name calling and humiliation, have taken their toll. Bryan does what he c...

The test of any relationship is whether someone will stick around when times get tough.Mark has middle-level Alzheimer's. There are long periods of time he cannot account for. Often he can't remember the names of everyday objects, or even of people. This is both unsettling and irritating. He spends a good deal of his time in a comfortable armchair by the window, looking out at the back yard.But there is a man in the house with him. Mark doesn't feel threatened by his presen...

Clint is travelling on a small Cessna Citation over the Pacific. When the plane hits a pocket of turbulence, he is wrenched from his nap and plunged into a nightmare. The plane plummets into the ocean.Clint and one other passenger, a man named Carlos, survive. The hulk of the plane sinks, leaving them adrift with no land in sight. They fight to stay alive, but thirst and exhaustion overtake them.Purely by luck Clint finds himself washed ashore on a mysterious island. But wh...

Have you ever seen someone and had the strangest feeling you've met before?When Paul notices a handsome man watching him on the bus, he's a little annoyed. When it happens again the following evening, he begins to worry. On the third day, the mystery man, Calvin Dickson, taps Paul on the shoulder and introduces himself. Paul can't help but be wary. Calvin gives Paul his card and suggests they meet for a drink. When Paul reads the card and notices Calvin is a chartered accountant, h...

Australia's Outback is a tough place to work. The heat, the red dirt that gets into everything, the flies, and above all, the isolation. Mining is big business in Western Australia, but it's hard work. No doubt about it. Twelve hours on and twelve hours off. Just enough time to eat, shower and sleep. Or, if you're lucky enough, you might find another way to pass the time.Duke is all man. He's made of just the right kind of stuff to handle the demanding life of a miner. But even rea...

Two decades after first being brought to the royal court, Pan's romance with King Seronisis has not cooled. Pan, approaching his fortieth year, casts his mind back to his childhood spent on the family farm, working in the fields all day, and to the few hours a week he had to himself whereby he would disappear into the Great Forest to wander and daydream.The king has been doing some reflecting, too. He has become increasingly aware that, with the passage of time, he is one day soon ...

Pan is a simple, honest farm boy. In all his nineteen years, he has only ever known his father's farm. Yet in the few moments each day he has to himself, he dreams of another life -- something more than the back-breaking work, the loneliness, and the dirt of the farm.One morning his prayers are answered in a most surprising and unexpected way. Roused from his sleep by one of King Seronisis' hulking Hapsid Troopers, Pan is escorted from the bosom of his family and transported in a c...

Michael is thirty-nine and gay. Like his little niece, Kim, who has a learning disability, he is considered a non-citizen under the draconian Normalcy Laws. Kim's parents quietly arrange to flee to New Zealand, where the Normalcy Laws haven't been implemented.As Michael has a good job and has been careful to hide his homosexuality, he doesn't consider going with them. Instead, he remains behind and goes about his business as normal until one morning when he is confronted by two Bla...