Enough Rope

By Edele Winnie

She chose the belt carefully. She did not want leather, but rope, narrow rope. He was a thin man, so that helped. Classy rope belts were difficult to find.

He was an odd sort. Tallish, skinny, messy brown hair and glasses. A passionate marine biologist who had never learned how to swim. He’d been fascinated by computers as a youth, and that had led to his development of the computerized shark tracking system as an adult. His work as a biologist was respected but he was still, at heart, a computer geek who spent more time behind the screen than in the water.

She was on the wrong side of forty, married, dyed blonde hair with dark eyebrows. She wore heels every day. She was renowned for her work on the great white shark. It was she who had published the data revealing that there were no large males, only female great whites. Sharks were her passion too, but her moods ran in both warm and cold currents.

It was inevitable that they should meet; there were only so many biologists specializing in great white sharks. It was at the Worthington Marine Aquarium, which held both displays and serious scientific inquiry. Continue reading

Cheater, Cheater

By Jessica Gouin

Brent and Elle couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night. Every element was planned and went off without a hitch. It was rare to have more than an hour or so alone together and even rarer when nothing went wrong. That should have been their first inkling that that particular evening would be the worst night of their lives.

“Oh god. Oh god, Sophia! What have we done?” Elle whispered frantically to Brent as they stared down to the bottom of the basement floor from the kitchen doorway.

Brent’s chest expanded and retracted rapidly. He wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like. His entire body was numb, except for the pounding in his chest.

“Shit! It was an accident. I didn’t mean it.” He said more to himself than to Elle.

“You shouldn’t have pulled her away from me that hard.”

Eyebrows raised at her accusation he said slowly. “She was going to kill you. I freaked out. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I didn’t mean to do any of this.” Continue reading