Collected Stories: Adult Drama

By Seth Giolle

This Collected Stories volume covers dramatic tales in an adult theme: tough life choices, drug addiction, deep loss, richer gains. It's drama. It's the key to our very existence forcing change and challenge when we least want it and most need it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781304740991

Seth Giolle

Seth Giolle was born on a small, rural farm in southeast Ontario. After Travelling throughout Canada in all its splendour, he once again makes Ontario his home.

Book preview

Collected Stories

Drama

Adult

By Seth Giolle

Other Works by the Author:

The Bonds that Bind

Book 1 of the Legacy of Auk Tria Yus

The Foundations of Power

Book 2 of the Legacy of Auk Tria Yus

Breadth of Legend

Book 3 of the Legacy of Auk Tria Yus

Heart, Soul, and Steel

Book 4 of the Legacy of Auk Tria Yus

Collected Stories

Science Fiction

(Volumes 1, 2, and 3)

Drama – Youth, Teen

Youth Adventure

(Volumes 1, 2, and 3)

Adult Adventure

The Amulets of Aazlim

A How-To Guide to Making your Own

Player-based, group run, inPerson

RPG Game

Collected Poems

Grun’s Tales

A Few Thanks

It is always a blessing when you find a good editor.

Of course, the thing I’ve always found is that good editors don’t always think they’re any good at all. I’ve found those people are often wrong. For this collection, I want to thank Deb for helping edit 72 Forest Way in particular. Without her blunt observations, I wouldn’t have seen the obvious, and Kim’s feedback for Trails of Love was most appreciated.

I often out of the blue ask people what I should write about. Most people just stare at me and blink often. Others suggest things. Those latter people are a credit to our race. As the above relates to this specific collection, Alain was the inspiration for Inspiration. I definitely want to give credit where credit is due.

If these people are reading this, they’ll know who they are.

A Note from the Author,

Hello, this collection of stories involves more than one sub-genre. As these stories are designed for different audiences, I suggest the reader pay heed to the table of contents before reading certain stories. In the table of contents, stories are listed by Page Number; Protagonist, Genre; Word Count, and Story Title. The Page Number and Story Title are self-explanatory. The Word Count is a drawback to writing classes and magazine submittal guidelines. In each case, stories are defined by how many words they possess, not how many pages they might involve.

What may of most importance is the individual Genre listing. The genre is primarily that of the given volume, but a Drama-based story might also be a Mystery or a Horror as sub-genre. That other genre is listed where drama isn’t the story’s only genre.

This collection is presented and designed to appeal to a wide audience. I was debating publishing three drama collections: youth, adult, and ‘tweens.’ The third collection would be for all the dramas involving teens and stories that weren’t youth or adult, but something of a mix of both. They’d all be pretty small collections, so I discarded that thought. Instead, there are two collections - adult and youth. The youth collection includes youth and teen.

This specific collection involves the more suggestive dramas and those dramas that touch on topics that are possibly too mature for a younger reader. In other words, they deal with topics you might not want your young child reading. That being said, what’s inappropriate by one parent’s mind is perfectly fine by another’s. I separated as best I could. Both collections involve a diverse dramatic theme.

I entreat you to explore and enjoy. I look forward to feedback. Let me know what think. There are some interesting anecdotes about the stories included before the stories begin. I’ve added these because in most cases, I feel they enrich the story.

To the reading.

Collected Stories

Drama - Adult

Trials of Love                       Adult, Drama                          9925 Words

Lines                                     Adult, Drama                          7112 Words

Eve                                        Adult, Drama                          2247 Words

Duke Henry                          Adult/Senior, Drama              1391 Words

Age Versus Experience     Senior, Drama                        2426 Words

Distraction                            Adult, Drama                          7199 Words

Butterflies                             Adult, Mystery/Thriller          14301 Words

72 Forest Way                     Adult, Drama                          5435 Words

Free Samples                      Adult, Romance                     2218 Words

Little Red                              Adult, Twisted Horror             4345 Words

True Youth                            Senior, Romantic Comedy    2410 Words

Lust in the Hood                   Adult, Corny Romance          2627 Words

Inspiration                             Adult, Drama                          4991 Words

The Interpreter                      Adult, Horror                         11832 Words

Good Times                         Adult, Science Fiction           3361 Words

Born Different                       Adult, Drama                          2255 Words

Anecdotal:

I’m not a strong supporter of drama. It’s the underlying plot in any novel or story that being said, and without it, there’d be no worthwhile drive to any book on any shelf. I respect drama as a useful and necessary element. I’m just not the first, second, or third in line to read a book or watch a movie because of its strong drama content; however, in an attempt to strengthen my novel and story writing, I started writing some drama-based short stories.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

Adding to this experience of challenging myself in areas I’m not decidedly great in, I made myself write stories in first person perspective. I find this perspective odd and awkward, but again, if you don’t challenge yourself, you’ll never grow in anything. As such, some of these stories are written in a first person perspective. Let me know if you like those ones specifically as I’m not sure how to take them myself.

Summing all this into one more concrete thought, for better or worse, I decided to collect the better drama stories here in both third and first person perspectives.

I think I’d pick Trials of Love as my favourite in this collection. This story was written as a challenge for myself to see if I could write a story from the perspective of an older woman. It also tackles a careful subject: cancer. Instead of focusing on the disease in question, I’ve designed the story to reflect the people in its grips. And it brings in people right after diagnosis to avoid more complex medical details that stretch stories out. This is designed to be a shorter story after all. Finding the right balance of person and situation isn’t easy.

Lines was a dream. Literally.

I had this recurring dream as a child that changed slightly each time, but it was generally always the same. We were driving in the dream always going places. Either we’d be heading to a home with my grandfather in the station wagon, or it would just be me and my parents. Sometimes, my siblings would be there. Often, we’d be headed nowhere in particular. As the dream morphed over time, we’d stop at the same house we’d always pass before. In front of that house, there’d be a street carnival with unpleasant people who harassed me. Or they’d be nice, and it would be fun. Small details changed, but the general road travel and moving on continued.

I discovered one day the house in my dream was real. We passed by it on a trip somewhere. The dream stuck with me through the years, and I thought I’d honour it with a story. Like the dreamscape, I altered some minor details and gave it a fictional cover story.

Eve and Distraction were school assignments. Eve was inspired by Granville Street, Vancouver. More of note for me with this story, it involves a protagonist who is suffering amnesia. It’s quite hard to write an amnesiac character well, but I wanted to try. The truer challenge for me was trying to make it so a reader could figure out what Eve had job-wise even when she didn’t remember who or what she was. There are little clues woven into the story, but they’re pretty subtle. She’s amnesiac. They have to be subtle.

Distraction was written to see if I could write a car story. I don’t drive, so what do I know about cars? The actual ending of this story dramatically changed quite a few times. There’s mention of going to a restaurant near the end. Originally, the story took them to a restaurant as a closer. I removed that ending but left in the cue. Need for Speed games were a great inspiration for the racing descriptions. The point of view for this story is adult. It isn’t explicit, but it is suggestive, hence, it’s in an adult collection.

Duke Henry and Age Versus Experience work on selective perspectives as well. Could I write a story from a senior’s perspective? There was only one way to know for sure. Duke Henry is written in both first and third person. That way, the reader can experience the moment from the eyes of someone living it directly and those helping him through it.

Age Versus Experience was fun because I was using a person who had a life’s experience to work with. She could comment and mumble about whatever she wanted. She’d been there and done that, and she was pretty witty about it. She’s pretty smart and determined to boot.

Butterflies is a mystery about a man looking for the person who killed his fiancé. To date, that person has gotten away with that murder and others. It was a lot longer and more confusing originally, and the ending was always a difficulty for me. It’s gotten better with every draft. That’s a good thing.

72 Forest Way is my attempt at a bus story. I’ve ridden so many busses, and you pick up bits of people’s lives so often. You don’t have to try. Through phone conversations, arguments, knife fights, joking, or shouted talks, you have so many stories right before you all the time on busses. To tell a story of people on one of those busses? What would that be like?

Free Samples was my first real attempt at a romance story. It’s a nice little flirty tale with an interesting twist at the end. I think it works out. I don’t like so much description in this story, but there are so many little details that need to be introduced, so I had no choice really.

Ah, a horror. Little Red is my take on converting the old Grimm fairy tale into something else. This version isn’t really for children as Red is a little twisted. The world in which she lives isn’t perfect, and wolves are the least of anyone’s concern.

True Youth is a story about an older couple who haven’t let their aging bodies hold back younger thoughts. They’re very much in love, and yes, they still make love after all these years. The story’s designed as a situation comedy of sorts, and there’s nothing graphic, just humourly implied. I hope it’s taken well.

Lust in the Hood - well, the title should say it all.

Lust in the Hood was written for class one time. In other words, it’s an old story brought forward with some of the rest. I decided to see what reaction I’d get writing it back then since so many stories presented for class were kind of stale and unimaginative. So I wrote a tacky romance, a clichéd romance novel story with those wandering eyes, tight buns, and large busts. It’s intended and written as a humour.

Inspiration is a story a co-worker inspired. I wasn’t sure where it would go, but I liked the idea, so I went with it. Originally, the drifter was passing through and continued on thereafter. It was a light, simple story to suggest hope in times of too much stress. That was the original aim. The story as it became carries a heavier emotional pull, and the ending was not at all planned. I think it’s better this way though.

The ultimate challenge to Inspiration became using a homeless person as a protagonist. Homeless people don’t eat or sleep well, and after a few years on the road, quite a few in this case, the sense of time isn’t always clear. This protagonist’s mind is still intact, somewhat, but his memory slips. He forgets why he’s there for a time, and he’s easily distracted and confused. It makes it a little hard to get a clear presentation for the reader while portraying that protagonist.

Short stories allow a writer to expand their skill base. I think that’s why so many people write them. These stories certainly pushed buttons and made me better hone my craft with every draft.

Character use and description can be finicky, and it can totally change your story plot when you alter the slightest of details. In The Interpreter, I make use of a woman named Rosa. She’s an average immigrant, but she can’t speak, or can she? That is the question. And the ultimate answer changed a few times. How people spoke to and related to her changed most drafts. Those domino-effect differences affected dialogue and action that naturally developed thereafter. People who were slotted to die originally lived. People who’d I’d planned on saving, well, died. All because I switched one small detail with a single character each time. Interesting things happen when you play with plot.

With this story, I added on an extra challenge for myself. A lot of my characters are white. That’s not a horrible thing, but it limits my writing, so I’m working on expanding my character and setting layouts. In The Interpreter, I have my story in the barrio. I also have a more mixed racial group of support characters. I realize this story isn’t a monumental leap forward for writing-kind, but it’s a step in the right direction for me, and it did create some challenge making sure to present each different character well enough without over-doing anything. That balance wasn’t as easy to find as it might seem.

Good Times is a story on some old themes: money or love? City living or country life? Which one really matters? This story was a debate for me. Is the main genre drama or science fiction? It’s largely science fiction, but the overriding theme is dramatic, so it sits in this collection, but it’s still largely both.

The next story, Born Different, had no clear inspiration. I was trying to develop some drama stories for this collection, and it just occurred to me that I could write a story around a personal dilemma involving a child that’s not born yet. That child has been prenatally identified as carrying a syndrome that will lead to key developmental and physical challenges later in life.

The story and discussion with the doctor revolve around what these young parents will do knowing what’s going to happen. What are their fears? How will they face what’s to come, and more in question, will they be facing the future together, or will their to-be-baby’s syndrome tear them apart? I figure all these questions are quite real for many parents, but you never hear them asked. It’s like the world wants to ignore that any parent might have an issue seeing their child come into the world knowing what it will have to deal with.

Granted, it used to be all a person heard was the negative. That wasn’t a good thing, no, but to go to the other extreme of pretending the darker concerns don’t exist isn’t that much better, is it? The research online almost gives each different mental challenge a rosy glow. It makes research less clear and a lot more work to get what you’re looking for. It’s somewhat frustrating to get any details really. At least, that’s what I found. A more balanced approach seems more logical to me: blunt, honest, and straight-forward with details supporting positive but not avoiding the rest.

Anyway, I wrote a story about CLS. If discussion is generated, all the better.

Trials of Love

(9925 words – last count)

Sandra McTansky closed her eyes. A soft ticking filled the room; sunlight gave the wooden desk by the window and all its various trinkets a warm, shiny glow; and a small, grey fan circulated air from the corner filing cabinet. It was a rhythmic, pleasant atmosphere. The white, cushioned chairs weren’t too uncomfortable; the room wasn’t too bright; and the surrounding, rubber plants weren’t out of place. It all mixed into a serene setting dotted here and there with book shelves, photos, and diplomas.

The combination would have been soothing any other time.

It would have been soothing any other place.

Her long, blue jean skirt and lime green blouse were starting to feel quite uncomfortable in the heat. And time was a factor. What was keeping the man? Opening her eyes, she dropped her gaze to her lap and noticed her fingers going white. Flexing her fingers and taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes again and bowed her head.

When would this all end?

Beside her, Ted McTansky checked his watch impatiently. Checking the clock mounted on the wall to their right, he scratched his short, brown hair and crossed his arms. His plaid shirt was tucked into his blue suit pants, and his black shoes were freshly polished. Habit. Hastily done. Glancing across at his wife, he put on his best supportive smile. Finding no reaction, he sighed and moved a lock of her blond hair back from her face. She attempted a smile before crossing her left leg over her right knee and rubbing her ankle.

Ted reached over and placed his left hand on her leg.

I’m sure they’re just looking for the file, he suggested softly, lost it in some confusion or other. You know how it is. It took them an hour to find your records last time, and they grabbed the wrong Sandra at that.

Sandra nodded back unconvincingly. Ted shrugged, then, sat back in his own chair again. The oak door, the same light brown colour at the office panelling and desk, opened behind them. They turned in unison.

Doctor Finner entered wearing the trademark doctor’s, white coat over grey slacks and a light blue dress shirt. He quickly and quietly closed the door behind him without breaking stride. Sorry to keep you waiting, he announced while adjusting his glasses, stepping around the couple with confident, eager steps, then, taking up his seat behind the main desk. I wanted to make sure the file was complete before speaking to you about its contents.

Sandra stared at her husband for a moment. She silently flexed her fingers again. And what is it the tests tell you? she braved in a quivering voice.

Ted’s hand moved over to link with hers.

The doctor opened the file and peered from husband to wife, then, clasped his hands together and sighed. I’m afraid it isn’t what I’d hoped, he summarized, but it isn’t as bad as it could be.

What are you saying? Ted asked irritably. Sandra cast him a quick, anxious glare before dropping her gaze, forcibly calming her expression, then centering her attention on the file folder, not the man perched above it.

Nodding, the doctor flipped the first page over and sat up straighter. I was hoping what we first saw on the x-rays was a simple blur, he continued smoothly, a mistake on the film or magnetic interference of some sort. Mammograms aren’t a hundred percent accurate after all. That was why I suggested the ultrasound.

Doctor Finner, Sandra pressed, what is it you found?

Sandra was too tired. No more games. No polite teasers.

Just straight answers. For better or worse.

Well, Doctor Finner replied, hesitating slightly, I’m afraid it’s a lump. Sandra and Ted’s eyes locked. Ted’s hand closed tighter over his wife’s, her hand turning to grip back. It isn’t dangerous right now, Doctor Finner added calmly. From what we can tell, it’s likely more of a cyst, so not cancerous. I’d still like to run a biopsy to make sure, but the images are quite clear. Either way, it will need to come out, and it’s in a good spot for us to remove it without much trouble, so it’s a good thing we caught it when we did.

You’re suggesting an operation? Sandra asked aghast. Doctor Muir never suggested operations.

With all due respect, Mrs. McTansky, and no disrespect to Doctor Muir, you’ve never faced this diagnosis. The lump, as best I can tell without further testing, is benign. Like I say, it isn’t dangerous right now, but that can change, and we’ve a good chance to get at it if we’re fast enough before it spreads.

What does the operation involve? Ted couldn’t lift his eyes from the desk top as he spoke. He just couldn’t meet the doctor or his wife’s eyes for some reason. I mean, Sandra and I aren’t spring chickens any more, he added pointedly. He forced himself to make eye contact. I’ve heard there are risks involved with operations at our age. What assurances do we have she’d be alright with this?

Doctor Finner nodded. He stretched his fingers out before joining them together again. Normally, he admitted, I would suggest another route, but I feel this is the best option we have right now, and though you are nearing forty, Sandra, I feel you’re strong enough to face this.

Are there other options? Sandra asked stiffly, her breathing shallow.

Yes, and I will present you with all of them including some homeopathic options, different diets, and the like. You are of course welcome to double check with another doctor on your case if you’d like. I wish I could suggest a course that didn’t involve operating. I really do, he offered with a sympathetic frown. But the lump is there. Homeopathy won’t remove it. He glanced from one person to the other for a quiet moment before smiling politely. "This is not a simple decision, and I would never tell you what to do.

The final decision is ultimately yours.

--

Three hours later, Ted pulled their red sedan into their front drive and turned the engine off. Sandra sat there staring straight ahead, not speaking. She hadn’t spoken the whole ride home, and Ted had found himself preoccupied with the speed, signs, rattles, and vibrations of their ride. In truth, his mind had found every little thing it could so that he didn’t have to deal with the realizations the day had wrought, and he didn’t have clue what to say to his wife.

With the engine off, silence was the only thing they had.

We’ll call Doctor Muir, he finally suggested. I know he’s retired, but he’s a good man, and he’ll have some good advice. There may have been some mistake. Maybe he can take a look at the x-rays for us. Sandra nodded slowly, hands crossed on her lap and eyes straight ahead. Toni’s a doctor. We’ll get Barrie to talk to her. Maybe it’ll help.

No.

Ted gazed across the car at his wife feeling completely helplessness.

Sandra shook her head decisively. We’ll call Doctor Muir, she agreed stiffly, and we’ll see what he says, but I don’t want Barrie or Lisa or anyone else to know yet, not until we know anything for sure.

Sandra.

I don’t want to worry them! she snapped. Emotion overwhelmed her. She shut her eyes to stop her tears. Not now. Not now. Biting her lower lip, she opened her eyes again, body trembling. Ted remained quiet giving her time to compose herself and continue. What else could he do? They’ve got the kids to worry about, she continued more slowly. I won’t burden them with worrying about me. I want you to promise to keep this between us for now, she insisted, her voice taking on a shaky calm. I need some time. I’m still trying to understand this myself, and that last thing I need is to have everyone looking at me funny or treating me like I’m some invalid.

They wouldn’t do that, he pleaded.

I want you to promise. Ted sighed. He didn’t want to, but he finally nodded and patted her left arm. She placed her hand over his and took in a deep breath. She wasn’t going to cry. She refused to cry. Good, she muttered with a brave smile, now, let’s make that call, and I’ll start us a supper. You must be hungry.

Ted watched his wife open the car door and walk towards the house. She fumbled with