Authors Note: This story is complete and sitting on my hard drive. The novel is 49,188 words long in twenty chapters. I will be posting two chapters per week, roughly 5,000 words per post, on Fridays.

Alex comes home one day and his wife, Carrie, tells him of a problem in Mike and Lisa's marriage. Mike is his best friend since middle school. It seems that Lisa caught Mike cross-dressing and came unglued. She had come to Carrie looking for solace and support for divorcing Mike. But Carrie told her about a Phil Donahue show she'd seen as a teenager featuring married cross-dressers and said that cross-dressing really was no big deal.

Lisa was offended that Carrie wouldn't back her up and said, "If it was your husband, you wouldn’t think it was so cool," and left in a snit; part of her anger now directed at Carrie.

Carrie, on the fly, hatches a plan to help Lisa see that if it was her husband, she'd still think it was no big deal. Alex somewhat reluctantly goes along with it and discovers things about himself that he never knew existed.

Chapter 17

We spent most of the afternoon discussing the songs we would be dropping and the ones that would make up the core of Sisters shows. Many staying were already classed as Pixie hits. We could build on that and cement the move with our next album.

We got the amps turned on and just played the things we liked for an hour or so. We then had a short discussion on why Josie left and the effect that had on all of us. The fact that she hadn’t been on stage for some months had helped lessen the damage to the band as a whole.

Chapter 5

As they walked into the office, Sue was on the phone. She looked at them, smiled, and said, “I see what you mean,” then put the phone down.

“That was the duty sergeant. He wanted to know if we now had a new branch – the Fashion Police. You both look a bit different. Very elegant and absolutely right for the job I have for you, tonight. That’s if you haven’t got a couple of seats booked at the ballet. That outfit looks good on you, Maria, maybe a little more expensive than your weekly outfits.”

Chapter 16

After Pet had taken a couple of bows and the crowd settled back in their seats, Richard took up the microphone. “Tonight, you have just heard one of the rising stars in classical music, but we now have another surprise for you. We have, not just one, but two rising stars for you, please welcome Miss Edweena Grosse.”

I went on stage and took my place alongside Pet. Then I smiled at the audience.

Mom having me kiss my Barbie doll with my freshly applied lipstick I think was just a way to have me start wearing lipstick because she knew i was fascinated with her lipstick and it wouldn’t take much to have me fall in love with wearing lipstick.

Chapter 4

That evening, Andy had a few too many, with Maria having to help him inside when she took him home. She helped him undress and into bed, giving him a motherly kiss on his forehead as he started to snore.

I wrote this in response to a comment about nasty dads. I've included quite a few of them in recent writings - Seven Dresses, Candy Crush etc - and I'm not sure I can justify it, apart from a mentioning the general impression I have that rigid attitudes and unbending beliefs are more of a masculine trait than a feminine one. I realise this isn't true in all cases, so I wrote a story with a father who's more supportive than the mother, although she doesn't do too badly. Of course that dad's a bit trans, so not a typical male.

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The first time mom put lipstick on me when she was tucking me in, up until then she was having me kiss my Barbie doll good night, after she kissed me good night on my cheek or forehead.

That night she said sweetie look in your purse which I usually kept on my bed at night with my Barbie doll, grabbing my purse unsnapping the clasp looking inside and there was a new lipstick tube before my very eyes, I was so excited just looking at that wonderful item of girlhood.

Chapter 15

Richard came to the wings and escorted me to the center of the stage. I could see an audience of more than the dozen or so I had expected.

He went to the microphone, “Tonight we welcome Edweena as our pianist for the piano concerto, but now you will see the violinist in her.”

The strength of the pirates has surprised the searchers but they know there is no time to lose to prevent any further attacks. A two-pronged assault is planned but this will require Ursula to use some of her unusual talents. When the troops finally join battle with their enemy, there are some unexpected discoveries.

The Voyage of the Visund

A tale of Anmar by Penny Lane

80 - Combined Operations

“But I can’t wear that! My father would be scandalized.” I heard a snigger from behind me and shot Selene, our ‘other’ make-up person, a sneer.

I just wanted to say two things.

Chapter 3

With the front door open, they could see a brick laid on the accelerator pedal. The FSI leader looked closely at the outside of the door and pointed out a small depression.

“I expect that there were two of them. They started the car with the brick upright and one put the automatic into drive. As it started to edge forward, he pushed the brick over onto the pedal and would have ducked out of the way. The second guy would have knocked the door closed as it went past him. I expect that we will see some damage to the grass with wheelspin.”

Chapter 14

It had certainly been one busy day. I was ready to drop. After we had changed, though, we had a message that there was a private party that we were required to join. It turned out to be in one of the larger staterooms which Kelly had taken for the night.

In a quiet town, lived a young boy named Liam. Liam was known for his compassionate heart and willingness to help others. One day, he learned about a charity that made wigs for children suffering from cancer, and he knew he had to do something to contribute. With a determined spirit, he decided to grow out his hair to donate.

Part Nine

Sutter threw the bow rope to the deck crew of the submarine. Reynard tossed them the stern rope. The sailors held the small boat steady against the sub's hull while the commando team scampered aboard.

Once on the wet foredeck of the sub the commandos were quietly but enthusiastically welcomed by the crew. They were surprised when their rum runner boat was also pulled aboard, and maneuvered onto the cradle and back into the hangar.

Chapter 2

They spent the day going through the case files. Susan had told them to keep things to themselves. Monday they would discuss the cases and see where they would go next. When she got home, she found Mervyn having a cup of tea in the kitchen.

“Hello, darling, how was the trip?”

Not everyone will approve of you as you go along your own gender journey. You'll change and grow in many ways they may disapprove of. But it's not your job to please them.

Captions:

Panel 1:
Idiot: "This is why I don't like being your friend anymore. You've changed."
Lari: "Do you mean the tits, or the complete shift of my beliefs and worldview?"

Panel 2:
Lari: "It's called growing. I've done both."

Part Eight

"The Nazis have sponsored multiple expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic and several mountain ranges," said The Solution, frowning. "Including the Himalayas. Could they have found something here, closer to home?"

"Viking hacksilver," guessed The Infiltrator. Being pragmatic, or perhaps merely hopeful.

When I tell people that the Sunflower Grocery Store is haunted, people around Benton tend to give me something of a sideways look. But honest to goodness the store is really, bloody haunted. In fact I would go as far as to say it's crawling with ghosts. My name is James Donald Bell, and I'm a part time Courtesy Clerk at Sunflower Grocery store. Before I move on with my story, I should tell you a little about what a Courtesy Clerk is and what they do.