Stories of Tie Up Games

The first warm day of spring fell on a Friday. Trees were beginning to show their green leaves and white and pink flower buds were emerging after the long winter. I was sitting near the windows looking out over the foliage in my Film 101 class. It was Friday afternoon, and my brain had already ...

The faint sounds of dance music reached our ears as we stepped out of Katelyn’s sedan. It was an early 2000’s model gold compact of Japanese origin, simple but reliable.

It was around 9:30PM on a crisp Thursday night in November. We had just arrived at a large gravel parking lot. It was drag ...

“C‘mon, you have to do it! It’s for a good cause anyway!” Sarah implored me while grabbing my wrist across the table.

Sarah was my girlfriend, a pretty and slim girl with reddish blond hair and dainty features. She was in her standard home outfit of a gray hoodie and black joggers. I was ...

Part III: Morning

I woke the next morning with sunlight filtering through the wooden Venetian blinds of the master bedroom window. I was alone on the bed. I assumed Sarah had already gone downstairs, as I heard voices and the clattering of utensils and pans.

I stretched and sat up. I was naked ...

Part II: Turned Tables

“Fucking hell,” I said as I drew a Jack of hearts for a sum of 22. “I’m busted.”

“Alright, drop ‘em!” Sarah was referring to my green shorts, my last bastion of modesty before I was in nothing but my briefs in front of everyone.

We were several rounds into ...

Part I: Sarah

Junior year concluded at 1pm on Friday with the completion of my last final. The weather had finally warmed and many students had already packed up and left for their summer adventures. Those who were out and about were wearing shorts and sundresses for the 80 degree day.

Neither ...

Fandango wrote: 2 years ago Another solid post. I find the relationships in your stories fascinating. And I leave each of them with a dozen questions and quandaries.

Thanks! I try to leave aspects of the story for the reader’s imagination but I hope it’s not too much.

My phone suddenly buzzed across the library desk where I sat studying for my calculus midterm. Looking around to check that the librarian was out of earshot, I furtively picked up my phone and answered the call.

It was from Sarah, my girlfriend of two and a half years. It was the middle of the ...

It was a foggy spring Saturday morning in San Francisco. We had flown out to visit Sarah’s high school friend Hannah who lived there. They had been on the track team together but Hannah was a couple of years older than us and had graduated last spring. She had been lucky enough to land a tech ...

“So what’ll it be? Never Have I Ever or Truth or Dare?” Hayley asked across the table.

There were four of us sitting at a square wood dining table in Hayley’s two bedroom apartment. Low ambient lighting and chill beats gave the room a warm and cozy feel. The faint smell of jasmine from a ...

“I think I’m gonna be Daphne for Halloween,” Sarah blurted out mid-movie. We had been cuddling on the couch in my cozy one-bedroom apartment watching Scooby Doo (the live action movie). It hadn’t been my first choice for the evening’s entertainment but Sarah was persistent and there wasnâ ...