Square Pegs: Crossing The Divide Short Story Series, #3

By J.B. Reynolds

All he wants is an icy cold drink on a blazing hot day…

 

For Darryl, a young man with big dreams, surviving summer in Brisbane's sweltering eastern suburbs isn't proving to be simple. Following a night disturbed by the criminal antics of his troublesome neighbours, the only thing he wants is to drown his sorrows. But when his quest for booze goes horribly wrong, Darryl discovers that friends can be found in unexpected places…

 

An exhilarating tale of heat, heart, and hound dogs, Square Pegs is the second instalment in a series of surprising and darkly humorous short stories. While sharing a linked universe, each story in the saga stands alone and they can be read in any order. If you like relatable characters, amusing dialogue, and action spiced with both comedy and tragedy, then you'll love J.B. Reynolds's Crossing the Divide short story series.

 

Ready to explore? Then get Square Pegs today to begin your next literary journey!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tsubaki Press
• Release date: Mar 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9780473392208

J.B. Reynolds

J.B. Reynolds lives in rural Northland, New Zealand, where he raises children and chickens. He writes short fiction, and is also working on a novel about a security guard who time-travels back to the medieval past. When not writing, he’s a husband, father, and high school teacher (not necessarily in that order). He likes sailing, cycling, and playing music. He has a big garden and likes getting dirt under his fingernails.

Book preview

Square Pegs

J.B. Reynolds

FREE BOOK ALERT!

A gritty and engaging story of human faults, fears, and frailty, What Friends Are For is the prequel short story to Taking the Plunge.

Get your free copy now and discover where it all began for Kate, Tracy, Evan, and Lawrence.

Find out more at jbreynolds.net

Is she the square pe-eg, made just for this square sou-oo-oo…

Darryl’s raspy voice cracked as he missed the high C. Again. For the eighth time in a row. An octave of bum notes. He swore and searched around his home studio for something to throw but everything within arm’s reach was expensive and rather precious to him. He stepped back from the microphone and slumped on the tattered couch, burying his face in his hands.

Screw it! I need a break.

He’d been trying to record the vocal track since ten-thirty. As usual, he’d had a cup of chamomile tea with honey to help warm and lubricate his voice. It hadn’t helped. It was now almost noon and what he really needed was a beer.

Trudging into his bedroom, he kicked through the clothes piled on the floor to find his keys and wallet, discovering them in the pockets of some dirty jeans, and after slipping on a pair of sneakers he stepped back into the lounge and crept to the front door. Through a crack in the curtains, he could see the front door to the adjoining flat was wide open. He detested the gang of troubled young people who lived there. The three wayward neighbours—Josh, Serena and Alex—were an improbable club and Darryl had no idea of the connection that had brought them together, nor how their living arrangements worked in such a confined space, given the unit had the same two-bedroom floorplan as the one Darryl shared with his own flatmate, Evan.

Josh, a pudgy young man with meticulously manicured stubble, was some kind of father figure to his two delinquent companions. He was the only one with a job, a car and—in Darryl’s opinion—the ability to engage in normal conversation. How he managed to get up for work after a sleep-deprived night spent dousing the drunken and emotional fires of his housemates, Darryl couldn’t fathom; nor could he imagine why anyone would volunteer themselves for such a role.

Serena