Summary:  All Joe wanted was some blackberry pie; was that too much to ask for? Yet Adam and Pa didn't seem to have any consideration for it. At all.  Winning story of the 2016 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament. Category:  Bonanza Genre:  Western Rated:  PG (canonical violence and a mention of blood) Word Count:  2700   … Continue reading Hero (by faust) →

Summary: Growing up isn't easy. Two vignettes, two times in Joe's life when he is forced to mature—and he's all on his own. Or is he? Category:  Bonanza Genre:  Western Rated:  PG Word Count:  1200 A Man of Sixteen Joe was sixteen, and he was a grown up man. Sheriff Roy Coffee had asked him … Continue reading Brother (by faust) →

Summary:  A series of vignettes.   Hoss talks to Adam while taking care of him.  Ben faces the unthinkable.  And copes. Category:  Bonanza Genre:  Western Rated:  G Word Count:  1300 Taking Care   Well, big brother, let me do that for ya. I have your comb here already, and—what? 'course I'm using your comb. I know you find … Continue reading Blue (by faust) →

Summary: What has happened that has changed Adam so much? A story about the ravages of life and the endurance of love with references to ‘Triangle’ and ‘Forever.’ Category:  Bonanza Genre:  Western Rated:  PG Word Count:  9500 The early evening had brought a soft breeze and a slight decrease of temperature. The night promised to … Continue reading At Dusk (by faust) →

Summary: Wisdom has different faces. So has solace. Especially on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the lake. Category:  Bonanza Genre:  Western Rated:  G Word Count:  1300 For Lars, who taught me all about love when he was six. “When God is watching us, do he see us like ants, Adam?” Joe. Lying in the warm … Continue reading A Portion of God (by faust) →

Summary: Gravely hurt and completely helpless, Adam finds himself at the mercy of a person from his past who seeks nothing but revenge. And for once, there's no chance he'll talk his way out of it.  In the end it might come down to who's more determined; and Adam surely won't give up. No, he won't, … Continue reading A Lifetime of Unhappiness (by faust) →

Summary:  Adam and Joe are caught in a cave in. Adam is not amused. Category:  Bonanza Gente:  Western Rated:  G Word Count:  3900   The last thing Adam consciously thinks before the sky quite literally falls down on him in an ear-shattering crescendo is “I told you so,” although, even in the midst of being buried alive, his sense of justice lets him admit that he might have been a little … Continue reading Lucky Streak (by faust) →

Summary: To what length will Adam go to prove a stranger’s innocence? Winning story of the 2015 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament. Category:  Bonanza Genre:  Western Rated:  PG Word Count:  9600   I. “He didn’t do it.” It elicits some reaction, breaks their routine of the past two days. It’s almost a relief. Well, it certainly … Continue reading Whatever the Cost (by faust) →

Summary: Adam's fate is sealed.   Written for the Pinecone Challenge. The first sentence was given and had to be developed into a story. Category:  Bonanza Genre:  Western Rated:  G Word Count:  613 We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. Madame Titia had said it … Continue reading Ride of Destiny (by faust) →

Summary: A young widower, a small child, and a wonderful gift. Category:  Bonanza Genre:  Western Rated:  G Word Count:  840  "Wats-wats?" Big brown eyes, open wide and nearly greenish in the bright light of the early afternoon sun; the child's face seemed to consist only of them: of them and the soft pink lips forming … Continue reading Wats-Wats (by faust) →