A dialogue short story about the things we wake up to that remind us there are still things in this life worth waking up for. ante meridiem - [adv. & adj.] "before noon;" Abbr: A.M. Or a.m. [credit to owner of image (not me)]

"You killed me, so now I'm here to haunt you - bitch."

Every Tuesday during football practice, sixteen year old Sem Bolton finds himself stealing glances at the gorgeous college boy jogging down the path next to the fields. He was his dirty little secret. His guilty pleasure. His unobtainable fantasy: safe and distant on the other side of the chainlink fence. Then, through a series of unpleasant events including being forced on a camping trip, it turns out his unobtainable fantasy is not so unobtainable after all. Not only is gorgeous college boy gay as well, he also wants to date Sem. Now, Sem was never one to play it safe. But outing himself was in a whole different league than testing his mother's patience or taking hits in the boxing ring. Was he really ready to date a guy, all consequences included? As if internal struggles weren't enough, count on girls, friends, and an estranged brother, to complicate stuff even further. Photo on the cover by: https://unsplash.com/@nickkarvounis

Kennedy (Kenna) isn't known for her beauty. She's never been complimented on her appearance unless being called beautiful by your family counts, and to Kenna- it doesn't. Sick of being ignored because of her looks, Kennedy gives herself a makeover but it isn't very successful. After encountering a crying Marissa Rivers on the behalf of her obnoxious brother, Noah, she becomes acquaintances with the girl. After a chat about Kenna's failed efforts at makeup and how she's a nondrinker, she offers Kenna the help of her and her friends. Kenna graciously agrees but there's a catch. Kenna will have to be the girls' designated driver to the next few parties that they want to attend until she can do her own makeup which may take a while but what happens when Kenna accidentally gets drunk at one of the parties and Noah has to bring her and the other girls back to their home? She gets involved in a lot more than she planned. And it seems as if all she wanted was to become beautiful.

Sometimes all you really need is a place to call home. * * * Being re-written completely as of May 14, 2021

In Tokyo, where the System siphons thought, emotions & memories, a literature student meets a strange psychic girl and they embark on an escape from mindless agents, dream worlds and reality itself, in a soul-searching journey for love, for identity and what it means to be human. But all that remains is a peculiar coffee shop order. The novel examines the human condition, perception, socio-political systems, capitalism and consumer culture, incorporating paranoiac conspiracy theories, surreal cosmic visions, circular symbolism and shifting parallel worlds, with profound discussions of coffee, art, literature and music. [Dystopia, Magical Realism, Philosophy, Literary] #1 Sci-Fi, Spiritual; #Wattys2014 Award Winner; Featured on Wattpad, IndieReader, @DIGonUSA "Struck me to the very core of my being." "Very interesting concept of reality... Thought provoking.." "I have been turned to a whole new way of thinking because of you." "Like a seven course meal full of spice and illumination... One does not listen to a classical piece to get to its ending. No. It is the ride, the moment by moment...a genuine Masamune among stories." "It was both personable and philosophical. A rare breed of good story and thought provoking ideas... A virtual standing ovation would not be enough to encapsulate the absolute awe I have of you." "It's not a regular thing to find a piece of work that oozes sophistication and embodies literature and art." "The world Takatsu has created opens to the deeper awareness of another, the draw of another." - Mary L Tabor, Wattpad author, essayist, professor "Offers acute, almost painful observations of the minutiae of life, if life took place in a Murakami snow-globe." - IndieReader Insiders "Vapoury style that seems to hover off world at times...haunting and strange (which is good)...You're on to something different, striking." - B.W. Powe, York University English Professor, award-winning author, poet, philosopher http://EspressoLove.tk