December 28

It was three days after Christmas. I’d sent all the thank-you letters and finished all the left-overs. So now I could relax for a few days before the New Year’s Eve binge with my drinking mates.

And that thought set me thinking about the New Year and, for some odd reason, New Year resolutions, things I’ve never really given any consideration to, but perhaps I should. So for the first time, I did, doing a rapid assessment of how my life was going. Were there any facets of it that could do with improvement?

1. Departure

Once upon a time, in a small suburban town, there lived a teenage boy named Alex. He was a typical young boy, full of energy and always seeking adventure. One summer, however, his life took an unexpected turn.

Author's note: Here it is, my first story here, originally started as a New Year's Contest entry, but as the story played out, I felt I'd be truncating it too much to get it to 5,000 words. Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration, getting me to move from reader to writer!

'Til You Make It
By Marissa Lynn

September 17
"Dammit! I can feel it right there, but, crap. Something's not right. I'm not right."

Annie reconnects with her family and gets her true life.

My Hero
A first (short) story by Suzi Auchentiber - I made it my New Year Resolution to try to join the ranks of writers and not just be an avid reader . . .just hope I can cut the mustard!

As I sat in front of the bathroom mirror, I couldn't help but study the reflection staring back at me. My long, dark blonde hair flowed down my back like a cascade of silk, reaching well past my shoulders. The makeup palette before me held the power to enhance my deep blue eyes, making them pop with an almost mesmerizing intensity. My fingers delicately painted a subtle smoky eye, accentuating the already feminine features of my face.

HOW I BECAME STEPHANIE

(MY OLD NAME AND FAMILY NAMES CHANGED TO PROTECT IDENTITIES OF THIS LIFE STORY)

CHAPTER 1

Tony is reserved, calm and unflappable. Every Friday night he goes to Lads’ Night, his main social outlet, drinks beers and plays games. He doesn’t even particularly like games, or the challenges or bets that go along with them, despite being very good at them. But something will happen to Tony this Friday night. Something that will change him and reveal a part of him he didn’t even know existed.

In a perfect storm of coincidences, friends, and new friends, with depths he didn’t even begin to understand, Tony could be starting a journey to a very new life. The question is what will it take for Tony to realise the Toni in him isn’t just a strange indulgence for a single night? And what will the people around him do to push him towards accepting this?

The first part of a new and ongoing serial.

It was a scorching June day when this all took place. I was 13 and living alone with my single mom. I was homeschooled, but not sheltered from the world. My mom was my hero - my dad was gone before I was even born, so she raised me solo without any help, all while owning and operating her own successful salon. We did well for ourselves, had a nice house with a pool. Despite her busy schedule she always made time for me, and even though I was homeschooled I never felt coddled or alone with her parenting. I based a lot of my personality and work ethic off of her.

Being about 5 or 6 I was mesmerized by my mother’s black patent purses and her lipsticks also my sister’s black patent Mary Janes, any chance I had I would go into her closet and reacquaint myself with those beautiful patent little girl shoes.

I would pick them up to get a closer look feeling the shiny smooth patent leather and playing with the buckle just in amazement of how pretty they were, if time allowed I would take them back to my bedroom to wear them.

Authors note: This story is about a male athlete who realizes he is dysphoric over his penis and testicles and wants to get a vaginoplasty but stay a masculine man. One day an accident in practice makes that dream a reality. He and his teammate discover together that they have feelings for each other and navigate the complex situation together. It is a way to explore my own feelings towards gender and sex, but contains explicit gore and scenes not suitable for all audiences. Part 1.

—

This story is about an Indian couples' struggle as their marriage is tested and they try to navigate their way through the entirely new expectations and experiences of the husband's suppressed auto-gynephilia and trauma from abuse sexual/otherwise, against a backdrop of traditional patriarchal Indian society and an intensely segregated LGBT community.

Danny Collins in…

Pick Me Boy

By Jmaster

Danny Collins was the new student to Westwood High, a school in the middle of Suburban Illinois. He was a wildcard at his past school always getting good grades and sometimes even girls but his long hair and skater boy appearance often was a turn off for some, now entering into Westwood smack dab during his Freshman year he had to make some friends.

Jason was a 20 year old living in the heart of michigan. He’d been growing his long, thick blonde hair out for 3 years now, and it reached his mid back. He usually loved brushing his hair, as well as wearing it in a high ponytail, but he had an issue: It looked too plain. He fantasized about the long layered bangs that women wore, and wondered how it would feel like to have those. He loved the bangs that hung from their hair when they wore it in claw clipped styles, but never had the courage to try to get one of those cuts

Story:
Hill Street High School was built in the early 1990's in response to the town's recent growth. Too, the old school was a remnant of the 1920's, and looked it. The town had eventually given in to the inevitable and voted in a new school.

The new building had everything. As befitted area weather, it was totally enclosed (except for the athletic fields, of course). Yet its public areas never felt claustrophobic, for it relied a great deal on glass. The cafeteria was large and clean, the library well-stocked even with fiction, and the gymnasium included an indoor pool.

April 2004

Is the tape running now? Are you sure? OK. I’ll start again.