Josh Reads Novels & Stories

"I...I just had a vision, or...some sort of a flashback...and...I-I--I think...I think I was my mom." Josh's brown eyes widened like he'd just seen a ghost. His pale skin somehow went even whiter than his niece. -END-

He shrugged, smiled and happily took one. He moaned throwing his head back, "These are perfect," "Practice," Josh answered for a question that was never asked towards him. He was on his third beer and was starting to get goofier then he already was. "How do you know?" Sophia asked. Josh shrugged, "experience," "What's with the one word treatment?" Tara chuckled and took a sip from the beer can she was holding. "I think I'm high," Josh rubber his face with his hand roughly. "I should get going," he threw his can into the bin provided and crawled into his tent.

A public branding. Joshua didn't flinch. He didn't bow his head. Instead, he reached into his inner breast pocket and pulled out a small, frosted glass bottle. "You’re leaking, Richard," Joshua said, his voice carrying clearly across the silent circle of spectators. "What?" Richard’s jaw creaked.

And Josh could feel fireworks-like explosions suddenly filling his head when he read what was written on it. Starting from reading quickly, he repeated it again from the very first page by reading earnestly and carefully. After finishing reading the last page, Josh went back to the beginning and re-read the entire chapter of the document with full concentration and focus that he increasingly poured as much as possible. It was as if he wanted to make sure that what his eyes caught was not just a hallucination. At the same time, he also did not want to miss a single word that he might be able to use as a weapon of his luck.

“and they definitely know how to apologize first.” Josh looked abashed. Nathan looked vaguely irritated. I glared at the paper on my desk, not waiting for an apology I knew wasn’t coming. Day four and I almost wished we were back at the cavernous library where at least Josh and Nathan’s voices didn’t carry like a pair of microphones set to maximum volume. Even at the other end of the room, I could still hear them. Josh was crouching in front of a glass case, the rag we all were handed draped across his shoulder like an abandoned scarf as he read aloud from the plaques as though he were some tour guide at a very boring museum.

I met her gaze with a small smile, “No, it’s okay, really! I’m just glad to be here.” She returned my smile, and a figure next to us shifted. Josh. Unlike Ace and Jaxon who had both not bothered to acknowledge my existence, Josh waved. His brown wavy hair falling over his face. He looked no more than twelve. “Excuse my brothers, they are just not really good with strangers.” He shrugged, “I’m Josh by the way. Nice to meet you.” I did a little bow, “Sophie, thank you for the warm welcome, Josh.”

Josh mumbles as he kisses up and down my thigh. “I’m pretty sure it’s not Chad and Joe, they would have texted.” I’m pretty sure they would have, but they never lived right across the street from me. Josh glances out the window and notices that Chad and Joe are actually outside their house washing their car. Knock. Knock. Knock. “Well it’s not them,” Josh nods towards the window. “They’re outside of their house. Hold here, I’ll go check.” Josh heads out of the room and downstairs to see who is at our door. We just moved here. How do people know anything?

“Hi, Josh. Sorry for showing up like this without texting first. The group reading was too crowded and noisy. I remembered you mentioned struggling with some calculus topics last week in class. I thought maybe we could study together? I brought my notes.” He blinked, then stepped aside with a warm smile. “Yeah, sure. Come in. I was just reviewing anyway. This is a surprise, but a good one. Make yourself comfortable.” His room was neat but lived in posters on the wall, a desk covered in books, and a single bed pushed against the corner. I sat on the edge of the bed, pulling out my textbook. “Thanks. So, which part are you finding tricky? Integrals? Differential equations?” Josh sat beside me,

Almost quite literally. "How's Joshua doing?" I asked her. I realized that I hadn't seen him around in quite a while. I mean, it's not like I see a lot of people all the time, but at least I should see him once a while. I even see Richard more often. He's usually loitering outside the pack house, just strolling really, like most of the time. It's weird but a bit funny. He's still trying to settle. "Oh Josh is doing alright." She answers with a smile. "He's attending one of the schools in the city, quite some distance from here so he stays on campus. He comes back only on weekends."

Maybe there's someone else? She relaxed, inhaled and slowly exhaled. Josh's car turned into the lot and parked in a far away spot. Exiting her car, she stood and inspected Josh while he strolled toward her. He was a tall, thin man with unreadable eyes, a balding head of hair, and crooked teeth. She wondered what she'd ever seen in him.