Invisible Storm

During a typhoon alert, Joyce Lane calls me and tells me to pick her up from her company. On the way there, I receive a text from her. "You don't have to pick me up anymore. I'm going to stay over at Fin's place for a few days." I opt not to start anything with her. Instead, I calmly text back, "Okay." In the middle of the night, Finley Jones, Joyce's junior at work, uploads a social media post that's meant for my eyes only. Joyce can be seen huddling against Finley while feeding him some snacks in the photo. The window outside depicts a storm. The caption writes, "It's only befitting for me to tide out the worst weather with the woman I love the most." I leave a like on the photo calmly. Suddenly, Joyce calls me and demands what that like means. I reply coolly, "It means we're breaking up."

Myst Phandora Fayrel, an orphan girl living a common life in the outer skirt of the least known but strongly built, the farthest kingdom in the whole Phirellium Realm (Phantasm World), a world where various people do possesses extraordinary powers that can make impossible things happen. She was alone in life, ever since her most beloved person had died because of an accident. She was forced to learn to be independent at the young age of six to survive because she doesn't have anybody other than her cherished person to seek help and care. Fortunately, she was taught to prevail in hardships and face everything in a positive light and so she survives throughout the passing years. And along those times she gains something precious to her, an ardent friendship. Then she got involved in a very serious situation that she, for the first time in her years of existence, hesitated. She was tag along to a new series of events that will change her life forever cause of her friendship. She never knew any of those royal and noble matters at first and never intended to learn anything about them entirely, but it all changes as she finds things related to her past. After that, coincidence keeps on occurring, some new people arrived that is bound to change her life, and things she ignored in the past and didn't give any thoughts about came tumbling down to her as a significant key to the truth that everyone was succumbing to find out after so many years. Will she meet new friends? Or make new foes? Will she learn to love along the way? Will all her doubts and questions be answered? Adequately, nobody knows what will happen yet.

During Black Friday, the intelligent system I develop helps the company run highly targeted ads and brings in 30 million dollars in revenue. But when I apply for the project bonus, the director rejects it. "The system is just an auxiliary tool. The performance belongs to the sales department." I hold back my frustration and pull up the system logs. "88% of the orders come from the system's targeted pushes. According to company policy, I should receive a 0.5% commission." The director glances at me, twirling his pen. "If the sales commission doesn't go to the sales department, should it go to you? And your lousy system exceeds the API limit and racks up extra fees. You still owe us a hundred thousand dollars. We'll deduct that from your salary." Three days before Christmas sales are set to begin, the system completely shuts down because of API restrictions. Late at night, the director calls me. I stare at my computer screen. "Since the system is just an auxiliary tool, why don't you start with manual targeting?"

Yvonne Sunderland married Zach Frank, who had been with her for ten years. In the second year of their marriage, Zach passed away due to a plane accident. But when Yvonne turned forty-three, she met her supposedly dead husband! Before she could even ask any questions, disaster struck. An avalanche suddenly struck. During the critical moment, Zach was buried under the snow in order to protect her and that woman. His final words were, “I’ve repaid you all of your favors with my life. If I can redo my life, I don’t want to marry you and would rather meet her first…” When she opened her eyes again, Yvonne found herself back to the first year she married Zach.

Have you ever lived a life that looked perfect—but felt like nothing? Felt yourself slipping away every day… yet still couldn’t call that life your own? Well, Serena Beckett has. The perfect daughter. The perfect wife. Invisible in her own story. Born into a wealth she was never allowed to claim. Married into a life she didn’t choose, but ended up loving endlessly as she thought she could finally have a thing of her own. Until the night her husband walks in with a stranger… and divorce papers. That night, something breaks in her. And something far stronger takes its place. Serena doesn’t crumble. She doesn’t leave. Not until she decides who she really is—beyond the Beckett name, beyond the lies, beyond the mask she’s worn for far too long. Is she the girl her family tried to tame? The wife Eliot thought he could throw away? Or someone neither of them ever saw coming? And when Eliot finally sees her… Will it be too late?

I'm the second child of the family. Because of that, I'm also the one everyone neglects by nature. The birthdays of my older brother, Joe Thompson, and my younger sister, Lyra Thompson, are jotted down on the calendar by my parents. But they always fail to remember my own birthday. Joe and Lyra often have new clothes to wear, whereas my parents keep forgetting to buy new clothes for me. Heck, Joe and Lyra often receive holiday gifts! Meanwhile, my parents never bother giving me anything during the holidays. In fact, when we're traveling back to our hometown, my parents end up ditching me at a deserted highway rest stop when the temperature is extremely low…

Gair, the third-born son of the Laird to the largest clan on the border, is one of three identical triplets. He is quite content with the fun and freedom of a third-born son. He enjoyed spending his days training with the men and his nights laying with willing lasses. Leaving his brothers to squabble over how to run the clan and worry about providing heirs suited him fine. Unfortunately, the king has other ideas. To keep peace in the highlands and unite the borderlands the king feels all three men must have a clan of their own. Since he believes all three are unwed, he chooses brides for them which will result in each having a clan to rule and a wife to create heirs with. He wed Gai to a beautiful woman. The problem? The woman had married his brother two years earlier! With a coin toss, the brothers swap identities, switching wives and clans. Will anyone notice? Will Gair regret leaving his home and the beautiful woman the king had gifted him to head off into the unknown, to run a clan he's never visited and marry a woman he's never met? Isobel is an outcast in her own clan. She refuses to dress or act like a lady. Instead, she has found a way to become nearly invisible, and to help and who are being abused to escape to new lives. She had thought herself safe from the dangers of marriage. It hadn't occurred to her that the king would see it done. Can she trust this stranger with her secrets? Can he help her heal from the past? Most importantly, can she help him save their clan from being taken over by a band of rogue mercenaries?

When a hurricane comes, my husband, the leader of a rescue team, takes away everything we've stored at home so he can save his true love. I plead, "Leave some for me. I'm pregnant." He shakes me off. "How can you be so evil? The windows at Lottie's home have already been blown away. Don't tell me you're going to sit by and watch her die! She's not like you—you're not afraid of everything. The hurricane will be over soon, so you won't need any of this stuff." After that, he leaves without another look back. What he doesn't know is that there's also a crack in our home's windows.

The Hidden Piece is a creative fictional story about the life of a young girl with a promising future. Faced with many life challenges that she didn't handle well, she had regrets and wished she behaved differently. Each phase of her life contended to activate her inward strength when confronted with these challenges, but she easily gave up which almost affected her dreams and aspirations. The only required tool to push through her difficult moments was using the power of her mind, which was also the strong force opposing her progress. This story is highly recommended for young adults searching for headway through life storms.

Paano kung ang dating hinahabol ay siya na ang naghahabol? Ganito ang sitwasyon ni Alissa Mercado o Ali, isang training manager. Head over heels siya kay Leighton Correa, ang basista ng bandang Poison Ivy. Naging mapusok siya sa binata na may nangyari sa kanila nang dalawang beses. Huminto ang kanyang obsesyon nang nagtapat siya sa binata at siya'y ni-reject. Dito tuluyang tumigil ang kanyang kahibangan at sinabing itigil na ang kanilang ugnayan. Sa kanyang pagsisimula, nagdadalang-tao ito. Dahil sa nangyari, tinago niya ito kay Leighton at hindi na nagpakita. Tila mapaglaro ang tadhana. Nagkrus ang landas nila anim na taon nang nakalipas. Ang dating hinabol ay siya na ang naghahabol. Makuha kaya ni Leighton ang puso ni Ali na tinawag niyang bagyo sa kanyang nirvana?