May - New York - Angel and Mark

When Angel landed at JFK, she expected the usual circus—paparazzi, a blacked-out car, maybe even a snide remark from Mark’s driver. Instead, there was just Victoria, waiting with a sign that said “Welcome Home, Angel.”

Victoria hugged her. Not the cold, European double-tap she’d grown used to, but a full-body squeeze that threatened to crack a rib.

“He’s at the penthouse,” Victoria said, and gave her a look. “Don’t be nice. He’s impossible lately.”

Big-city journalist Mark Holly arrives in Pine Hollow to research an article about small-town Christmas. But one borrowed Christmas sweater, one registration mix-up, and one widowed tree farmer later, he finds he's living a Hallmark movie come to life. Along the way, Mark learns that sometimes the story you end up writing isn't always the one you were looking for.

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

Matty Caff AI Comic Fantasies: These are independent stand alone AI and Face Swap created comics of fantasy and some personal experience. I use my face in every comic.

Sales
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

My grandfather was in sales. My father regarded it as a lowly occupation, and he often gave his father-in-law a hard time about it. He said that salespeople would say or do anything to close the deal. He said that it required no qualifications and attracted people with short attention spans. My father had qualifications – not great ones, but something to hang on his wall. My grandfather had sales awards, but he didn’t display them.

DHS Federal Building, Downtown Los Angeles, California:
Agents Wells and Carmen look at all the electronics that were taken from the Bounty resident. They were informed by the agent in charge that they were to recover everything on the hard drives or if it was in the cloud. They wanted access to their personal accounts in the cloud.

Sword and Sacrifice:
A Feudal Fairy Tale

Every hundred years, a sacrifice is demanded in order to ensure the prosperity of the nation, but one young noble swordswoman has taken it upon herself, not to break the cycle, but to at least postpone the loss of another innocent life for the next hundred years. How will the deity that holds back the dark react to her gesture, though. Will her sacrifice be accepted, or will both she, and the woman she loves, be taken for daring to try and change the pact?

Alpha Versus Aleph Null

In terms of the intellectuals she employed, a short sighted, skinny, nervous, young man with sufficient intelligence to understand her primary code and then develop it was a much better choice than a devastatingly impressive alpha male who’d peaked as a high school quarterback and then scraped his way through college no matter how much his smile turned her female staff into instant bed partners.

Walking the Blue Line.
Every rookie police officer knows the dangers of the job by the second week under their training officer. By the end of their training every rookie understands that there are something they can’t control, and not all crimes will be solved. Though all rookies share the same dream. Their first assignment following training. For 21 year old Officer Joe Cartwright of the Baltimore PD that dream is to be a member of the Mounted Patrol. What he got would lead to a life changing path.

Chapter 17

Maude led her to the PMs’ office suite, where they had to wait a few minutes until another Minister came out and his voice called them in. He stood and shook Willows’ hand.

“Well done, Saturday. I’m told that your delivery of all those bare facts made them sound like a story, with a Q and A thrown in. Older members would never dare to step outside what was given to them.”

“I considered the sheet as a suggestion, sir. It seemed to go down well.”

David And Tony’s Place:
David was surprised when she arrived home. She and Tony had stopped and had dinner at Domnic’s. David got roasted chicken, while his boyfriend got steak. David was still dressed as Catherine Bach. Alice Green had asked if they could wear the clothes she had them model during the last shoot.

Chapter 16

The next morning, it was a slow start for most of the residents of the apartments. It was Angie wanting her breakfast that roused Marian and Ken, with the added complication that they needed to shower and dress before going downstairs. They did find something in the kitchen to keep Angie satisfied.

When they got to the restaurant, they found Willow sitting alone.

“Good morning, Willow. Where’s Garry?”

.

Chapter 4 Decisions

As Mr Cameron was really looking to me to be more involved long-term and saw me as the lead, it fell to me to pull together a draft of our report for discussion with him. I sent over a copy to him asking that he review it and then come over to Dulnain Lodge to discuss it with us all.

Chapter 15

When Willow and Marian went into the apartment, Garry was sitting with the TV on. He got up gave Willow a hug and a kiss, and then hugged Marian.

“I expect that you’ve eaten already. I had dinner here, so why don’t I grab a bottle out of the kitchen, and you can relax for a little while.”

The girls sat down while he went to get a bottle and some glasses. After they had all taken a sip, he looked at Willow.

“So, what great feats of governance have you achieved today?”

Muse
A Short Story

“You do believe that my work is art, don’t you,” said Claude.

“Of course I do,” Blythe said. “And I only want to play a role in helping you to be that artist.”

And that is the title and essence of this story.

Note. After some encouragement I have extended the original story. I hope readers might enjoy the extra pages at the start.

A general sat behind a large desk. Behind him picture windows showed a drop of sixteen floors to a parade ground far below with marine recruits who looked little bigger than ants, being put through their paces by drill sergeants.

Chapter 14

Maude stayed sitting at her desk, and the other two took seats, with Willow on the chesterfield. The door opened and Kelly ushered a young woman in. Willow rose and gave her a welcoming hug, feeling the girl trembling as she did so.

“Come and sit down next to me. The lady behind the desk is Dame Mordaunt Modelle, the other is Janice, her PA. You’ve already met Kelly, or our receptionist and Jill of all things. I’m Willow Randall, so relax, sit down and tell us how you came to be here with us.”

Part 38

When did Amy take his credit card?

Chris was more thrown by how casually Julia said it, as well as the sight of his card in her hand. It wasn’t as if it would have been difficult for Amy to slip into his room and grab his wallet; she and her friends had been upstairs while he was looking through dick pics before they left for the mall.