Grownupreads Stories

"Bridget Jones with a lot more wine! This story is hilarious, feel-good and relatable in all the best ways!" - Grace K @ HQ. She's just quit her high-flying job, and her marriage is coasting on fumes. Can Alice find a sense of purpose in the wreckage? ***** Alice's life isn't going to plan. She's tied to her phone, pointlessly managing PR for a sinking corporate megalith. She's become a bit player in her kids' lives, and her marriage is coasting on fumes. Forcing herself into action with a rash resignation, Alice sets out to make a positive impact on the world around her. But how? Meditation leads to napping, and her attempts to get closer to her teenage daughter result in the discovery of a secret that leaves her at a loss. As the months tick by and a sense of purpose continues to elude her, Alice finds herself forming bonds with the most unlikely characters: the young woman who panhandles outside her old office; the homeless boy who sits cross-legged outside the liquor store with his ginger cat; her own dog walker who, it turns out, knows a thing or two about developing a good crema. Testing the limits of marriage, motherhood and the Toronto subway system -- can Alice find her way into a purpose-driven life? Or will it all be one giant hangover? [*Wattpad Editor's Pick 2018*] [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]] Readers say: "This had me laughing so loud that my sister came to check up on me to see if I'm OK!!!" "...the new Bridget Jones, a working woman's take on the digital age." About the Author: Working mother and red wine enthusiast, Renee lives in Toronto with her flawed but wonderful family (seriously, who left socks on the kitchen counter?) in a flawed but wonderful house (what *is* that smell in the basement?) where she writes flawed but wonderful stories about what it is to be a woman today.

Birgitta the nun, the grumpiest sister ever taking vows, is forever hiding in the Monastery. She wants nothing but to mind her own business - pleasantly seated in her favorite chair in front of a good fire - but is forced on an adventure, as a wizard suddenly turns up at the monastery, bringing her wayward manners and useless staff. The adventure, such as it turns out to be, brings heaps of misunderstandings, some hope lost, and a bundle of broken trusts. Birgitta the nun, in the end, finds herself on a quest, searching for friendship just as much as longing for solitude.

What if in the future they cure old age with a pill? Carolyn Deschaines is a woman who has lived too long, and after 150 years she has decided to gracefully 'die of old age,' but then she meets Theo and sparks fly. *Completed Short Story* First published in 2011 in the print magazine Tough Lit III (Adventures for the Average Woman).

After putting her dreams on hold, Layla gets the opportunity of a lifetime will this be Layla's greatest success or her biggest Regret.

Following the events of Cupcakes and Side Effects, the press is breathing down George Alpha's neck while he deals with the aftermath of the Freeheart bank robberies and tries to figure out what the hell is going on. But just as he's closing in, his only leads disappear... leaving him with yet another mystery... and a craving for comfort food. *** New parts added every week ***

A WW II veteran struggles with the aftermath of a false truth; a young girl prepares to sell her body to a passing stranger; an ancient trapper sniffs the path of the wolf; a deformed fish surfaces; a mysterious track is discovered on the shore of a northern lake. Nine Lies of B.G. Davies is a collection of short fiction featuring new original works as well as a few remastered drafts. Some stories were previously published outside of Wattpad, and reworked here for the Wattpad audience, some have appeared on Wattpad in earlier forms, and others have been running around the hard drive long enough. It's time to set them free. "Unknown Artist: Bicycle and Snow, 1941" was selected as the Grand Prize Winner of Wattpad's Literary Fiction Networks's competition "Winter." "The Brother Goes First" was the grand prize winner of Wattpad's Margaret Atwood The Heart Goes Last Competition. "Seduction in D Minor" was the first place winner of Wattpad Romance Love Me Tinder Competition. "The Line in the Sand" is true. Enjoy the lies.

For the Unending Love Contest. It is based on the official prompt of the poem by Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore's 'Unending Love."

Gray walls. Gray clothes. Gray lifestyle. At the Ceremony, thirteen year olds have to choose between the underground and above. The people who live underground are tagged government haters, and those who are above are the government lovers. Or, as many like to call them, "Gover-Lovers". Emily Rinwood shouldn't be underground. But because of a deal she made years ago with her best friend, Scott, she finds that she is. Scott Owens never wanted to hurt Emily. But bringing her underground was important. He - and his other friend, Noah - have more than a few tricks up their sleeves. Harper, a crazy, energetic girl finds herself looped into the madness of the mission. Together, they team up for the quest that could shape the whole world.

A collection of sci fi and fantasy short stories. Some are new, some I wrote years ago and finally got around to posting here.

Three hundred years after the fall, the known world is beginning to regain a semblance of order, with the sword the ultimate power once more. But not everything of old was lost, and there are some that will exert deadly effort to obtain what was left behind. Orphaned, plague-marked and mistrusted by the community he lives in, a boy must come to terms with the fact that he is different from everyone else, but is soon the focus of unwelcome and deadly attention. Separated from her father, a young girl has to learn to survive in a foreign land haunted by tribes of ghosts and roving bands of piratical thralls to a sadistic King. A watcher keeps lonely vigil from within a fortress that has been under siege for hundreds of years, while a soldier dies for the twenty-third time, and dies again while wondering if he is going mad. First started in 2015, this story is at 50k+ words, but was removed when a plotting hiccup was encountered. I now intend to split it into three parts, and this is the complete Part 1. Part 2 will begin once I've finished editing another work... Please vote and comment, as your input will help shape the story. Enjoy!

The idea that Miriam's long held dream could possibly be realized, set her on a precarious path through a corporate jungle of avaricious players, manipulating careers and events to her advantage, which led to jealousy, deceit and murder . . . Adult themed

Sequel to The Chronicle of the Worthy Son, and therefore full of spoilers for that book. Lark was never going back to Larbantry. Washing ashore in Borealund had changed zir life in ways ze'd scarcely dared to fantasize about. But getting to live zir life as zirself was not worth keeping the people of zir newfound home from getting to live theirs at all, so...Lark has now brought Larbantry to Borealund to save the land ze loves from further war and destruction. But can ze really protect what ze loves by working within the power structures ze would rather burn to the ground? Can ze actually function within them at all without being destroyed zirself? [Note: Yes, the protagonist is non-binary transgender. Hateful comments will be reported. NBs have the right to exist.]

Carlos, the caretaker of a vending machine, realises that it's not an ordinary machine - it sells luck. What happens next? Will Carlos's life remain the same? Read about the emotional roller-coaster ride Carlos goes through.

What happens when a literal Professor of Coolness begins to feel like he's losing his edge? ∆ Originally published as a hypertext story on Philome.la ∆ Updated with new images in March 2016. ∆ A Wattys 2016 visual story nominee.

The first in a series of sea-themed short stories. A man returns to the place where forty years before his life was suddenly changed with devastating consequences. He hopes to find peace at last. However, the sea is not finished with him yet...

A factual personal recollection of Brexit night. 3.7k words.

It is the year 2142 - The Age of Quantified Automation, and every life is measured and controlled. Everything a person does is recorded. This data is used to place people where they are most needed. Adelaide and Adwin are turning 18 soon and will be placed as a cog in the wheel of the American Republic. Are they more than their data? Does free will still exist? Follow them as they discover what truth really is and what it means to be truly free. Underground is a very different world. They are off the grid. Are they a threat to those who control the Republic - First 400? Do they know the truth? Can they save the world from what they believe to be pure evil? Or are they wrong about who the enemy is? Follow Freya as she fights for what she believes to be true. Join this exploration. ~~Don't forget to hit the ⭐️ if you like a chapter~~ This book is an exploration of biopower, basic income, culture, in-group and out-group bias, conflict, corruption, technology and the human spirit.

Do we ever realize, at the moment that it is happening, that what is unfolding is to become the defining and pivotal moment of our life? Or does this realization only come years later, when we reflect and, given the wisdom of time, understand how a single event changed two people's lives forever? And how a cooler of beer, a Ford Econoline van, and eight high school friends on a road trip to a Prince concert might have changed everything. "Purple Rain" by BG Davies was first published in The Sun-kissed Summer Romance Anthology.

Short stories, Including 1. My Lucky Day - a woman finds a lost journal on the train... (Chicklit) 2. Marianne - historical flash fiction - regency period 3. Hen Thief - humour / crime 4. Cliffhanger 5. A Writer's Nightmare - my entry for - 13 Days of Halloween Flash Fiction