The Rollercoaster Anthology

By Mitchell Stewart

The Rollercoaster Anthology is a collection of 9 short stories written to touch on the emotions of happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Ever been in a long distance relationship? Check out Bluff Until Buff. Got cut from a sports team? Maybe Cut Day speaks to you. Done something stupid from peer pressure? The First Time Scares You might be right up your alley. All these and more await inside the pages of 'The Rollercoaster Anthology'.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329098916

Book preview

The Rollercoaster Anthology

The Rollercoaster Anthology

Stories to

Stir the

Emotions

By:

Mitchell Stewart

Copyright © 2015 by Mitchell Stewart

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in Canada

Edited by: Mitchell Stewart

'Bluff Until Buff' Edited by: Kevin Forsyth

'Cut Day' Edited by: Kevin Forsyth

First Printing, 2015

ISBN 978-1-329-08214-4

www.LumpyProductions.com

Table of Contents

Introduction                                                               

Stories

Bluff Until Buff                  

Donovan meets a girl online, and it all starts out great. Starts out great.

Cut Day              

Ryan has high football aspirations, but will his cockiness be his downfall?

Sea For Miles              

When Benjamin becomes a camp counselor, he never thought he'd be the one asking for help.

Feeling Better Already               

Sometimes you have a bad day, and all it takes is one giant leap to make it better.

Gregory              

Gregory goes out one night to bring a package back to his daughter. But he's not alone.

The First Time Scares You              

Ross is put into a position he doesn't want to be in, with a lunatic that goes back on his word.

Rock Bottom                          

When the bills pile up, and everything seems to come crashing down, what do you do?

Four Leaf Clover                 

Sometimes, it's just your day.

Black Widow               

She knows what she wants. Trouble is, she knows exactly how to get it.

After the End                

Some stories have more to say.

Introduction

Hello! My name is Mitchell Stewart, and I wrote the book you're holding. It's like you're holding my thoughts right now. Don't drop me. Please.

Thank you. Anyway, this book is called 'The Rollercoaster Anthology', and it contains 9 short stories written across the gamut of 4 different emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. As an aside, some of these stories DO contain swearing, but it's only for the purpose of creating immersion. Each story takes you on a different emotional track. The name comes from the saying 'rollercoaster of emotions'; what I'm doing is taking emotional stories and bundling them together.

You're going to find stories about love lost, the struggles of debt, helplessness, and just plain ol' happiness. Not all these stories are going to have happy endings, but that's the reality; not all stories are happy.

I want to thank you for purchasing my book and putting your faith in me to entertain you on the adventure that this book is. I don't take that lightly and I hope that you find what you are looking for in the book.

I also want to thank those who supported me through the writing process and listened to me yammer on and on about 'my book this', and 'my book that'. And the same goes for everyone who followed the progress of the book, and told me how excited they were for the release. You make this whole thing worthwhile.

Also, I need to tell you that all characters and events in my book are purely by-products of my creativity. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental, and any resemblance to real events is also coincidental.

So without further ado, welcome to The Rollercoaster Anthology.

Bluff Until Buff

By: Mitchell Stewart

Donovan sat in the darkness of his room, his surroundings illuminated by the intense white light of his computer monitor. He drummed his fingers on his desk, his long fingernails clicking against the dark brown wood grain. Donovan cleared his throat and ran his fingers along his thin, brown moustache. He shifted his weight, the chair creaking with the changing position. He deftly moved his mouse on the screen, circling the link to a chat room he frequented. He knew a girl there. They had never seen each other, but Donovan had the feeling she liked him. Well, she liked the him he had built up in her mind. She had asked that tonight be the night that they trade pictures. She wanted to see what he looked like and Donovan felt the same. 

He sighed.

He glanced down at himself. He had spilled some of his supper on his shirt (three days ago), and never bothered to change it. He pulled the collar of his shirt forward and sniffed. The stench of body odor rushed to greet his nose.

Whatever.

He sighed again, and clicked on his 'old pictures' folder. He had pictures of his family, his friends, and of himself, from years past. He leaned back in his chair, it again creaking with the movement. He was afraid that she wouldn't like what she saw. He wished he could have been in better shape, been better looking, but he had lost all motivation to give a damn after he got caught.

He sat, remembering the day when the cops picked him up. He had been caught stealing cigarettes and reselling them at school when he was 15. Back when he was in shape. He used to run – partly out of a desire for fitness, partly out of a need to put as much ground between himself and the unlucky gas station attendant he had just pilfered cigarettes from.

But that was 5 years ago. He did the scared straight thing, spent some time in a juvenile hall in his hometown of Henderson, Nevada, and then promised he would 'never be bad again'. To the program's credit, it worked. He never did a bad thing again. In fact, he never did anything again. Which all contributed to his current condition – overweight, unshaven, uncaring, and unhappy.

His attention snapped back to the computer screen.

What if I sent her this old picture of me? he thought to himself. I could tell her it's an old picture – that's not a lie – and then get back into shape, for her.

He felt a wave of pride wash over himself. Not only was he going to get in shape again, but he would