Ronyx
The Mustard Jar
10 Recommended Works

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A quick word from Jevic
    Ronyx over at The Mustard Jar caught my attention back in 2012 with "It's Not Easy Being a Tree". More recently, I've been spending some time over at The Mustard Jar and reading some of Ronyx' wonderful stories. Whatever you choose from the list below, I am sure you will enjoy. Congrats to Ronyx for being an excellent author!
    Like what you read? Take a moment to tell the author thanks. Your brief comment will both reward and encourage the author to keep writing. You can reach Ronyx at ronyx@themustardjar.com
    Jevic, The Tarheel Writer

    Recommendations are presented in alphabetical order.

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"A Different Road"
by Ronyx
A Different Road by Ronyx

Link verified to TheMustardJar.com/ on 20 March 2026

Rated M for Mature Audiences

Story Notes: High School setting
Complete with 12 Chapters and an Epilogue (41,905 words)
Completed 17 March 2021
Added 17 September 2024 (archived/word)
Corey and Brett have been best friends since they were five. After twelve years, Brett decides he no longer wants to be involved in a relationship and must now travel a different road. Can Corey survive without Brett in his life? Find out in this story of love and loss.

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"A Mourning Storm"
by Ronyx
A Mourning Storm by Ronyx

Link verified to TheMustardJar.com/ on 20 March 2026

Rated M for Mature Audiences

Story Notes: High School setting
Complete with 19 Chapters (80,409 words)
Completed 2009
Added 28 August 2024 (archived/word)
Sometimes life isn't fair. Fifteen-year-old Richie Ferguson has to learn this the hard way when his mother dies of cancer and he's forced to live with a father who left the family two years earlier for another woman. Richie's life becomes a storm, whirling around with no sense of purpose or direction. Will the tumultuous winds destroy him or will he find a calm sea in time to save his own life?

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"Birds Don't Sing Before a Storm"
by Ronyx

Link verified to TheMustardJar.com on 20 March 2026

Rated M for Mature Audiences

Story Notes: High School setting
Complete with 29 Chapters (107,109 words)
Completed 14 March 2021
Added 10 August 2024 (archived/word)
Casey Barrett is a sixteen-year old who lives alone with his mother. After several incidences at school, she decides she can no longer deal with his rebellious behavior. She sends Casey to live with his father who deserted the family five years earlier.

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"Brittle as a Bird"
by Ronyx
Brittle as a Bird by Ronyx

Link verified to TheMustardJar.com on 20 March 2026

Rated M for Mature Audiences

Story Notes: High School setting
Complete with 20 Chapters (83,222 words)
Completed 2008
Added 12 June 2021 (archived/word)
Joey Carpenter is a street kid. Living in his parent’s garage, he hustles to survive. Alcohol and drugs help him face the world. Rejected by his family, and an outcast at school, his future looked dim until he meets Allen Foster- who has his own problems. The special bond they form will give Joey a second chance at life.

"A Bridge to Yesterday"
SEQUEL to Brittle as a Bird
by Ronyx
A Bridge to Yesterday by Ronyx

Link verified to TheMustardJar.com on 20 March 2026

Rated M for Mature Audiences

Story Notes: Drama, Violence, Angst
Complete with 14 Chapters (57,583 words)
Completed 2008
Added 12 June 2021 (archived/word)
A sequel to Brittle as a Bird. Joey's life has changed very much since Allen's death. So too, has Gene's life. Tormented by the past, Gene has estranged himself from his family. An incident will bring him back into Joey's life. Will he once again be able to find the love he so desperately wanted years before? Can a bridge be crossed to a distant past?

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"Dancing on a Star"
by Ronyx
Dancing On a Star by Ronyx

Link verified to TheMustardJar.com on 20 March 2026

Rated M for Mature Audiences

Story Notes: High School setting
Complete with 33 Chapters (124,673 words)
Completed 2018
Added 28 August 2024 (archived/word)
Jack Woolery's life was safe and secure. He was attending high school, and he had no intention of coming out to his parents or best friend, Jimmy. Then Tracy Craft moves in across the street and changes his plans. Tracy, a new student, and an aspiring ballet dancer, is strong and confident. He challenges Jack to reevaluate his life. Can Jack become friends with an openly gay boy, and yet maintain the secret life he trusts?

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"Finding Good Trouble"
by Ronyx
Finding Good Trouble by Ronyx

Link verified to TheMustardJar.com on 20 March 2026

Rated M for Mature Audiences

Story Notes: High School setting
Complete with 20 Chapters (72,921 words)
Completed 2022
Added 16 October 2024 (archived/word)
    The protest had been going on since Monday. It was now Wednesday. It started when we played their school in a basketball game in our gym. One of our players called their players ‘niggers’ during a heated argument on the court. One of their players smacked one of our players in the face as he fought for a ball. Our player retaliated by throwing a wild punch which missed. Within seconds, both benches had emptied. Coaches and referees were able to stop them from fighting, but a heated exchange of words could be heard.
    Alan Matthews was grabbed and pulled from the court when he could be heard shouting ‘niggers’ at the players. There were audible gasps from parents in the stands, but the student section started cheering and taunting the opposing team. Administrators and teachers rushed toward us trying to silence us. I had remained quiet. I was repulsed by what I was witnessing. My classmates who I had known all my life seemed like strangers to me. I found the cheering and the taunting repulsive, and I moved away from them. I didn’t want to be involved in the racist spectacle. After several minutes, peace was finally restored, and the players returned to their benches.
    Ten minutes later, an official walked over to the announcer and told him something. The announcer then apologized and announced that the game was cancelled. Our student section started yelling and heckling the opposing team as they rushed from the court being protected by two cops who always attended the games. They usually directed traffic from the parking lot after the game. It was tragic to watch them running beside the black players as they held a hand on their guns.
    I knew instantly that what had happened would become a big event. Racial trouble was breaking out all over the country. Blacks and whites were marching for Black Lives Matter in almost every major city in America. Within an hour, media outlets were showing videos of what had occurred in the gym. Shamefully, the next morning, Somerset High School was to become the next scene of racial injustice.

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"It's Not Easy Being a Tree"
by Ronyx
It's Not Easy Being a Tree by Ronyx

Link verified to https://www.themustardjar.com on 20 March 2026

Not Rated

Story Notes: High School setting
23 Chapters (102,860 words)
Completed 2011
Added 29 Sept 2012 (archived-html/word)
    The internet can be a dangerous place sometimes. Chat rooms can be perilous. Sixteen-year-old Woody Fields finds out too late just how sinister a place they can be when he begins chatting online with another mysterious boy.
    Okay. I know Mrs. Chapman told us that we had to write an essay about ourselves, ‘It’s Not Easy Being Me,’ but I just couldn’t do it. So, I decided to write about being a tree. It’s a lot better than writing about me.
    Marco from Italy suggested this story for me to read and his recommendations are usually "spot on." So I gave it a go and I sure am glad I did. Ronyx's stories usually deal with "challenges" gay youth face and this is a really good one.
    Comicality interviewed Ronyx on his monthly magazine Imagine. Here's a link to that interview.

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"No More Rainbows"
by Ronyx
No More Rainbows by Ronyz

Link verified to TheMustardJar.com on 20 March 2026

Rated M for Mature Audiences

Story Notes: High School setting
Complete with 15 Chapters (60,930 words)
Completed 2009
Added 28 August 2024 (archived/word)
Artie's world is turned upside down when his father gets arrested for a sex crime. His family is torn apart by the incident. Add to the equation his own budding sexuality and his efforts to hide it from a hostile mother, and you have a story with love and hate, fear and courage, conflict and reconciliation.

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"Taking Off the Mask"
by Ronyx
Taking Off the Mask by Ronyx

Link verified to TheMustardJar.com on 20 March 2026

Rated M for Mature Audiences

Story Notes: High School setting
Complete with 14 Chapters (57,126 words)
Completed 17 March 2021
Added 18 September 2024 (archived/word)
At sixteen, James has an almost perfect life. Then two boys enter his life and turn it upside down. Dion is a shy boy who James can't understand. Donovan is the star basketball player who James admires. Read how an incident with one boy will bring him closer to the other as masks are slowly removed.

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