I hadn’t been home for a very long time. Actually, I hadn’t been home since I went away to college more than ten years ago. My parents and siblings preferred to come to the big city, New York, instead to see me. Much more exciting than our little town. The town could have been the model for a Hallmark movie. Everyone knows everybody and all that. The church socials, the Christmas market. Well, you get the picture(s).

Since I was going to move to Paris (France, not Texas) I finally decided to go back once before I moved. Of course, my family would love to visit Paris with the excuse of visiting me, so we’d still see each other but it was Christmas and all that… Also, I have to admit that part of the reason I went back was so that I could brag about my new position as the manager of our Paris office. Quite a career move for a young woman, especially one born as a boy.

Queen Dana of Highwinds the Elf Kingdom inside the Empire has a problem. One that she cannot fix personally. The problem is with a small minority of her population. A problem that has been brought to her attention by the half elf son of a problematic Duke. What is a Queen to do? She calls on help from a friend. The question now is does she realize what she is letting loose on her kingdom?

Mrs Bennet and the Body in the Library

By Susannah Donim

Chapter Fifteen – What Mrs Bennet Did Next

What does the future hold for Mike, Michelle and Holly?

Between them the two detectives managed to pull Sam off me and handcuff her, before she could do much damage.

Uplifting Seven

After that Steve drove us home and he congratulated us on our good fortune as he drove.

Tatiana said that now we were big names we may need a more handsome driver so I said that we couldn’t get anyone more handsome than Steve so maybe we should just insist on a classier car.

That made him laugh and he said that he thought it was going to be fun driving us two around so Tatiana told him that it will be us four as we had nominated Francine and Margo as our personal assistants.

Mrs Bennet and the Body in the Library

By Susannah Donim

Chapter Thirteen – Mrs Bennet the Snitch

Even though the show has been closed, Auntie Michelle has to stay on and help the police find the killer.

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Living Next Door to Alex – Part 2
By Julie D Cole

Lilith
By Wholeman

Uplifting Six

I sat there stunned. “Why would I be the face of a brand?”

She looked at me almost pityingly, “Geri, sweet innocent that you are. You heard what Babs said at the dinner last night. She said that there was a campaign in the making that needed twins.”

Mrs Bennet and the Body in the Library

By Susannah Donim

Mike settles in as Mrs Bennet, the Mistress of Longbourn, and learns to live the life of a 19th Century married lady.

Chapter Ten – Mistress of Longbourn

Mrs Bennet and the Body in the Library

By Susannah Donim

From playing a part in a play, Mike has become a full-time forty-year-old woman and has to play the part in real life.

Chapter Nine – Becoming Auntie Michelle

“Couldn’t you find me any trousers?” I grumbled as Holly drove us away from Transformations.

“Sorry,” she said, “Mum doesn’t own many pairs and I know she’d miss any I borrowed.”

[May 2015. At an office in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne]
“Flowers for a J Parsons?” came the cry from the deliveryman who’d just entered the busy office.

Almost everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look towards a small man whose desk was right at the far end of the office and almost hidden by six grey filing cabinets.

All of Frances’ theatre group, technicians as well as players, were agreed they should put on a production of her play as their next project when they’d finished putting on the ever popular ‘The Song of Solomon’ and after they’d had a few weeks rest. Helen the senior sound technician had said, “After all that blatant eroticism, the darkness of your work will be a challenging but interesting contrast, Frances. Angela will actually have to do some work next time.”

The last caused considerable laughter because Angela was the female wardrobe mistress, and most of the women and girls had been on stage for most of each performance at best scantily glad and more often wearing just stage make up.

Uplifting Five

We arrived at our destination and Steve let us out at the kerb. He said he would wait for a message and would need about twenty minutes lead time. We walked in to the most girly place I have ever seen, the pink almost made your eyes water.

The three girls were obviously well known there and we were all waved through the doors and into the lobby.

I whispered to Margo that I now needed to use the toilet so she said “Bog bonding time” to the others and we trooped into the toilets.

Chapter 3.12

Wednesday, May 12^th, 2023

7PM

It had been a long day for Marcia. She was briefing Darryl, Mage, and Chet on what she’d found out from the two men. When she told them that Kirk was Wanda Gregory’s nephew, and Stephen’s cousin, Darryl just shook his head.

In contrast, Mage exclaimed, “I can’t believe how many people are related to each other in this case!”

Mrs Bennet and the Body in the Library

By Susannah Donim

In between performances, Holly takes Michelle out for dinner.

Chapter Six – Mrs Bennet in 2021

“I really enjoyed that,” said Sheila back in the dressing room after our half hour (OK, forty minutes) synopsis of Miss Austen’s five-hundred-page novel. “You were all really good. You must be so proud of Holly.”

Mrs Bennet and the Body in the Library

By Susannah Donim

Mike, now ‘Michelle’, gives his ‘Mrs Bennet’ at the end of term show.

Chapter Five – Performance on Stage and off

Uplifting Four

With a razor in her hand she told me to stand still while she checked me for errant hair. There were a few on my back that I had not been able to reach and a couple on the backs of my legs that I had missed but she was happy that I had fulfilled my task.

She then asked me what I had worn when Keith had visited so I opened the fun room and showed her the leather pants and jerkin. She wanted to know what I had worn on my feet and I showed her the boots.