Continuing the story of Charles/Charlie, we find out more about him as he prepares for Jennifer's visit.

After a while Charles got himself together. He thought ‘She wants to come over, what’s the worst that can happen? She didn’t laugh at me, she encouraged me.’

“Audrey?” Aleah gently shook nudged her shoulder. While we’d been downstairs, she’d fallen asleep on the bed, her head buried in Lauren’s lap. “Wake up sweetie.”

She opened her eyes slowly, rolling them to look up at Aleah. She remained silent until Aleah finally spoke again.

“You’re staying here tonight,” Aleah said finally. “We don’t…usually allow that sort of thing, but...we don’t want you to leave…like this, okay? You’re staying here. I need you to get up though so you can change.”

Chapter One - Benny's Girls

British prisoners during WW2 formed amateur dramatic societies in German POW camps to keep themselves occupied and men played female roles quite convincingly. Their German captors encouraged these activities to keep the prisoners active and their minds on things other than escape. But what if.....

“Come on Tammy, you need to improve on your fighting skills.” Greg swings his Bo staff at Tammy.

Tammy brings her Bo staff up in time to block and strike back at Greg. She twirls it and manages to whack him behind his head. She put some power behind it because they were wearing protective gear.

“Good, your doing better.” Greg attacks some more and is blocked each time.

Tammy keeps attacking and finally sweeps Greg’s legs out from under him. She spins her Bo staff and put the end under his chin.

“I surrender.” He was impressed with Tammy’s weapon handling.

There are five of us here for the dinner. It was in this moment I realized how shocked I was that more sisters never stayed for dinner in the house, seriously. Today is was me, Aleah, Isabella, Amelie, and Lauren. They were nervous, but I wasn’t.

Raven stops a few blocks away from the garage to gather herself. She was still pissed after seeing one of the men responsible for sending her to jail. She tries the breathing exercises she recently learned from Barbara.

Barbara had found her crying and upset about a memory that resurface from her time in prison. She instructed Raven on how to center herself and let the emotion flow out of her, instead of letting it have power over her. She needed to get her emotions under control before she got back to the shop.

“Tiff, what’s going on with you?” Isabella asked as we pushed a squeaky cart down a grocery aisle later that night. “You’re like…glowing.”
“Oh, nothing,” I said in sing-song voice. She was staring at me. She didn’t need to know anything. Tonight we were out getting stuff for tomorrow’s dinner. “Do you think we should go with a roast?”

“Think we should make Audrey make whatever it is we have,” Isabella huffed.

“Does Audrey even know how to cook?” I was genuinely curious. I really had no idea.

“Yes.”

“What? Really? She never even eats.”

This story has been reposted from my "Double short-story collection". Reviews from original post included.

At the time I wrote this, I was dealing with some very dark thoughts, so this story was my effort to exorcise them.

Caution: this story contains triggers for those with depression. Also, while bizarre, contains a form of suicide.

I’ve always been pretty proud of my car, it was a blue Mercury Milan; my parents paid for it. I can’t say I was really proud of it as I pulled into Shawn’s driveway. If you could call it a driveway. It was more like a road, to be honest. As I pulled in I was greeted by a guardhouse and a wrought iron gate, both of which barred me from entry until I rolled down my window and spoke with the guard.

“Go right in, Miss Grey,” The security guard waved me in as the gate was pulled aside. “Mr. Derringer is waiting for you.”

Chapter 20

When we knew from our text messaging that Sarah and Gabi were due back, we started watching a movie. We knew we had to act very casual with them so we had a plan of action. That way we hoped they wouldn't ask too many questions.

Ellie and I were on the couch cuddling, watching the movie when they came in and rather than our usual catch up chat, we pulled them onto the couch to cuddle and watch the movie with us. My mind wasn't really engaged in the action and I would be surprised if Ellie was any different.

Chapter 19

If you have never been pregnant, how are you supposed to know what it feels like? The main question was, was it possible? Yes, we had sex with Gabi when she still had male equipment, but her penis was trapped in a false vagina. She couldn't get an erection and she certainly didn't put it inside me.

I stared at the guy for a full minute trying to discern who he might be, then it finally occurred to me to actually ask him.

“What do you need help with?” I asked with genuine concern. He really was worse for wear and I thought about inviting him in but I really didn’t want to bring a boy into the house. “What happened to your face?”

“I…” He said, shifting uncomfortably on the porch, his eyes darting to the left and right as if he was excepting something to come at him. “I don’t want to…I’m afraid to say…”

Chapter 18

A series of events that began the next morning started adding up to a worrying conclusion.

Chapter 17
We picked up Sarah's purchases in Toronto but knew we would have to take their application with caution. Back in the hotel room, we got Gabi to try the strap on dildo rig with the front piece removed. There were a couple of issues. Lots of lubrication was necessary for Gabi to feel less uncomfortable and that had to be reapplied regularly. The other problem was the whole rig was visible through most of the clothes. Not obvious, but noticeable, to us at least. Not visible panty line, but visible strap on dildo rig lines.

Chapter 24

On arrival back at the hotel Adele suggested some tea and refreshments and they opted to take a quiet table on the veranda at the rear of the hotel that looked over the garden and was shaded in the afternoon.

the same accident that caused the loss of his leg at age six also stimulated the latent genetics that ran in his family to trigger a mutation. Although becoming one of the ‘exo-humans’ the government monitored would prove to be the least of his worries once he stumbled upon his family’s secret.

Class wrapped up early so I dropped by the library to catch up on some reading. I probably could have done it at the house but it was kind of quieter here. Call me a prude I guess. I stepped into one of the private reading rooms, and I immediately remembered that it was the one we’d sent Audrey to for Lauren’s laptop.

Chapter 23
For the first time since they met Adele found Robert to be a little distant towards her as she helped him into the carriage as the cab driver secured Roberts bag with clean undergarments and a nightdress in case he stayed overnight at Adeles apartments.

“Is this too much?” I asked as I stepped from the hallway and into the bedroom where Olivia and Aleah were literally playing cards on the floor. Olivia looked up at me and let her eyes wander up and down my outfit; it was a strappy dress that came down to just above my knees.

“For a first date? With Shawn Derringer? Girl he’s lucky to be in your presence, you should just wear a t-shirt,” Olivia snorted at me and went back to her hand.

“Or a burlap sack,” Aleah laughed.

Ursula tries to come to terms with her new circumstances, and that includes getting a close-up look at the local transportation. The seamstresses appear with more garments, and are treated to some more novel outfits.

The Voyage of the Visund

A tale of Anmar by Penny Lane

16 - Gifts from Palarand

Chocolate syrup and angst collide in the GAT basement as we kick off book 2 with a new narrator