Showing results for title "Presence" in Literature & Fiction

Crusher Bruskiewicz doesn't believe he can be stopped. The 15-year old takes every challenge thrown his way, bolstering his fearsome reputation and encouraging his bullying ways. Some of his adventures are hazy in his mind, though, and hard to remember specifically. What the teenager doesn't know is that he keeps dying from his misadventures, only to be teleported into the future and repaired before being sent back to his own time.

An aged, decrepit old woman wanders the quiet hallways of her home. She remembers a day when they were brighter, more kinetic with anticipation of life within their walls. Family was a regular occurrence, and the tinkling laughter of grandchildren used to echo through the house. Oh, how she missed those times, as she now hobbles oh-so-slowly with her cane through the archaic old home. And as the old woman wanders, reminiscing through the halls, she comes upon a door. Rusty hinges amplify groan of age as the door swings slowly open, and she balances herself in the doorway.

Young David is on his first journey away from home. Hired as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, he is flown half way around the globe to work in a pilot school teaching refugee children. Settling in and learning about the new world he lives in, he meets and falls in love with beautiful Amaris, a mysteriously secretive young woman who lives on the hill.

In the outskirts of Tuscany, a fuse sparked, leaving behind the entrails of an undesirable fire, slowly burning away the remains of those left behind. The love between Sophie and Alessandro seemed shallow and childish at best. From their initial confrontations to their constant arguments and differences, the gap between their relationships continued to push them further apart. Left with nothing more than a surreal dream with lingering desires, what will Sophie and Alessandro do when the reality of life finally takes over the world of fancy and dreams?

Alan and Katie, a young couple married for not quite a year, have both been consumed with work and wrapped up in starting their lives ever seen their marriage. But now, they've been given the chance to escape their busy lives for the first time since their honeymoon. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has other plans, and strong thunderstorms follow the unlucky couple all the way to their destination and stick around. Unable to fully enjoy all the ocean has to offer, the two are stuck inside for the weekend. Now, the young couple has to find ways to enjoy themselves indoors.

Angelique wants nothing more than to meet her personal Prince Charming. She becomes involved in a domestic case, and the officer in the case takes a liking to her stern attitude and brilliance in domestic law. Frederick comes back after being shunned and verbally excused from this teacher’s presence. She is aware of everything, except that he is readily and eagerly interested in her. After accepting a hasty date decision, Angelique decides that maybe a Prince Charming may come to her after all.

Elsa, the librarian, asks Benji to lend her a hand in putting books away. They immediately establish a strong connection and forge a lasting friendship. She encourages him to read from the subjects and topics he enjoys. She prompts him to follow his desires. Benji soon learns there is a vast world in front of him to make of, what he wishes. He gains confidence to make decisions for himself concerning his education and future.

The Tronik Gambit is the story of a rag-tag group of air pirates. Like their older, sea-borne brethren, they spent years terrorizing aerial shipping, raiding ships on the seas with float-planes, and robbing towns and remote outposts on land, and using their machines to make the fastest getaways imaginable. Operating from a massive flying aircraft carrier and using clouds, mist, and forbidding terrain to hide their presence and move around with impunity, their weapons and machines are makeshift and purchased from corrupt industrialists and created entirely from scratch.

Brigitte had a rough start in life. It all began when her village was bombed when she was just a child. After being sent to the US by a refugee agency, she drifted from one foster home to another for some time. In her pursuit to find the sense of family, she is recruited by the Russian mob, where she meets up with an old friend. The mob offers them everything except freedom. She wants more. She changes her name and makes a new life for herself.

In the summer of AD 777, Charlemagne rode out to conquer the Saracens and reclaim Hispania for the Holy Roman Empire. While immortalized in the words of medieval poets, scholars, and historians, the story never told is the one of what happens when all the men leave and the village is left to run itself. This is a story of Lady Matilda, the wife of Lord Harold, one of Charlemagne’s many lieutenants. After Lord Harold departed, nearly two years ago, Matilda, her maiden, Marta, and her steward, Otto, had been left to maintain the affairs of their small hamlet of Doblesmark.

Eddie has stepped in a virtual-travel cabin looking for a distraction from his bleak life, and on an impulse, he has made the journey to the era of the 1950s. There he meets Marylyn, a pretty waitress working in a snack bar. She is so different from the women he has been keeping company with that Eddie feels himself attracted to her, attracted to how real and transparent she is. However, Marylyn is not real and is the product of sophisticated computer coding. He tries to rationalize his attraction for her, but nothing can convince his heart, and that is where the trouble starts.

Waiting for Martin is set in a nebulous future-never in which catastrophic environmental change has returned ancient beings to Earth, as well as raining down a disastrous helping of new ones. A family of children try to make their way home to their older brother, who is their guardian, when a bit of environmental fallout gets in their way.

“True Wind” is a fantasy adventure story set in a secondary world where magic exists and so do merfolk (although not in the form traditionally depicted in similar stories). Moonheart, a young merman of the Calm Winds tribe, is sent on a mission to rescue a human (or “drylander”) woman from the clutches of another drylander country’s enemy nation. He must also take his young, vulnerable sister, True Wind, so that she may discover her destiny.

Tub the ogre is tired. Tired of the unfounded stereotypes placed upon ogres by humans. He also happens to be bored. Bored of the same menial tasks day in and day out. As we have found throughout history, being tired and bored is not an ideal state of mind for coming up with great decisions. And so, Tub comes up with a bad decision. Tub decides to become a hired killer for a mysterious contact. Alas, Tub ends up a mere pawn in the hands of someone who doesn't have his best interests at heart. The ogre finds all the excitement he could ask for, and more, but will he survive?

Auntie Gobble-Bottom wants the world to be full of bubbles, but her nephew, Archie, has other ideas. Then an unexpected turn of events launches Auntie on a whole new bubble-tastic journey....

Keldon is an honor student who often spends late nights studying, wanting to be a great wizard. The headmaster decides to administer a more practical final in lieu of tests and essays. Instead, Keldon will have to journey to a dark lair where many undead abominations await, and he will ultimately have to battle a dark and powerful necromancer in order to stop him from achieving his sinister dreams of immortality and lichdom. In order to pass his test, Keldon must not only survive by defeating the necromancer and his undead minions, but also by displaying selflessness and virtue.

Dad's Down Under chronicles the tumultuous - and often humorous - funeral of an emotionally abusive husband told from the point of view of the man’s 18-year-old son. Present are the distant relatives and immediate family, all of whom have different recollections of what kind of man he was. His immediate family views him as a monster, while his side of the family remembers him as a kind, loving, and generous man.

Cashmere Blake is Hollywood’s newest “It” girl. After three years of trying to get in the business, she finally has it all: fame, money, and fortune. She gives all this up to take a break in her humble hometown. But Hollywood is not so eager to let go of its new star.

Scandal forces Maria Posaltakis out of her job as a celebrity reporter. Media mogul Mark Bannerman takes her under his wing, intent on making Maria the newest addition to his politically charged news network. He brings her to Isla Loci, his private resort, to personally train her on sticking to the channel's message. Then Chester, Mark's youngest son from a failed marriage, comes to the island. He's a moody, overweight bookish type who's just graduated from college and hates his father with an intense passion. Against the backdrop of a tropical paradise, a family conflict is brewing.

"Squire Ryanus" follows the tale of a young man who’s been a member of the Order of Majestic Truth most of his life in pursuit of the dream of becoming a Paladin. There he has given up childhood, friendships, and family in pursuit of the dream to gain a title in the order. After years of strife, he finally receives an invitation from the council to finally gain his title. Becoming a Paladin will consist of more than a mere knighting ceremony, however. Instead he will embark on a journey alone in order to obtain the Shield of Light, a powerful artifact that has been stolen.