Lucy continued: "You know, I'll admit that I'm more than a little jealous.
I'd love to have interesting men interested in me. But I gotta say that it worries me a little, too."
She paused. "Because if you're going to be carry on like this with all kinds of men,
at some point they're going to come here, looking for you."

Chapter 33

Chugiak, Alaska

2:00 AM

It had been an eventful day for the Johnsons. That morning, or yesterday morning to be precise, they had no thought of a new child in their care. Now, in the guest room, a thirteen-year-old girl was in bed and would be for quite a while to come.

The ongoing saga of Oak Island ended and Bob stood up and stretched. It was a repeated episode from the tenth season, and he once again wondered if Mage, Chet, Marcia, and Darryl could solve the mysteries if they were to tackle it.

Her face lit up. In a teasing, confidential tone she asked,
"Did mean old Charlotte steal your boyfriend Ross away from you?"

"No," I scoffed. "I don't know Ross. Charlotte is my—" I sighed.
"Charlotte is my cousin."

Patience was not one of my virtues. I was getting antsy and wanted to stretch my legs on the surface, yearning to see what my home was like after all the time I'd been away. The desire to see familiar sights and perhaps even visit my parents was overwhelming. We were so close to them now.

The anticipation of my upcoming visit was palpable in my voice as I asked Minsha, "Would you like to see my home here on Terra?"

Minsha looked at me, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "I would love to see it, Kara. It sounds wonderful."

Author's Note: Link to Part One

Thomas shook hands with the lawyer and said, “Eighteen years, I think, Dan. You look good.”

“I still run. Not as fast as we were in high school: Rathmore and Ryder, top two high school middle distance runners three years in a row. But I can still do a five k run, take a shower, and go to work.”

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 57 A Baby Spoon and Pusher

Here come comes the nurse with a red hot poultice, Slaps it on and takes no notice, ‘Oh,’ said the patient, ‘that’s too hot,’ ‘No,’ said the nurse, ‘I’m sure it’s not.’

Here you go. The final chapter of this story. It was difficult at times, trying to come up with almost plausible storylines for the various films. Don’t worry, while this has been going I’ve written more – maybe not so long, I seem to get one of those a year.
Enjoy! Marianne
Chapter 35

With the certificate, and from what I read in the first journal, I had the start of the book, and after that the words flowed like water over a waterfall. The opening paragraphs set the tone.

"Do I have a police record?" I asked in alarm.

"No, but it's not for want of trying!" he quipped, laughing, cackling, clapping his hands.

I smiled to encourage him, but honestly I didn't find it funny. I didn't find it funny at all.

The next day was a big anti-climax compared to the previous one. Working on the catalytic converter thefts was right up her street and the sort of policing that she loved. From that high, there was always a new low not far away.

Oh, do I have a tale to tell you….

The final day of my life, at least as I had known it up until that point, was a Sunday, which now
seems appropriate, if not a bit ironic.

Chapter 32

The next day was still that constant drizzle that makes the world feel as if it’s been submerged into the North Sea. I sat quietly, catching up with my tablet and emailing Jacquie to see about getting one of the spare rooms ready. Later that afternoon, May took me and Chloe to the school. Chloe led me through to the gym, where Miss Steel was standing with a worried look on her face.

'When will this ever end?' she thought, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Years of fighting had taken a toll on her body, leaving it adorned with countless scars from previous battles. Her bandaged arm now boasted a new one, but she chuckled to herself, knowing it would be a proud scar for any warrior. As she brushed her shoulder-length hair, she noticed wrinkles beginning to form under her eyes. 'I am getting old,' she thought as she looked at the wedding photo on her table. The young woman in the picture had a radiant smile and sparkling eyes full of life. "Nathan," she sighed, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye. It had been eighteen years since he left, and not a day went by that she didn't miss him. But she vowed to never give up until she avenged his death or died trying.

Rick lets Officer Wolfhart led her to a special worker from the city. The woman that Robyn took Rick too, was part of a new department. The department was setup to help people who have been exposed to the Blue Lace Drug and its derivative a new street drug called Venus.

Sasha watches as her daughter walks away with Rick. She now needed to find out who the magician was that changed Rick Jones and what that cabinet was. She waves goodbye to the people she knew and leave SWAT headquarters.

Accustomed
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

2002

James McAdam had been dating the girl for a while when she told him about the job opportunity that had amounted to nothing.

“It is a private nurse job for this super rich guy, but despite my qualifications and experience he rejected me when I met him earlier today,” she said. “It would be a great job, because is very rich, very old and very sick, and said to be very generous. But he is looking for somebody special, and it is not me. Perhaps you should apply. You don’t have a real job.”

When Jayne and Kathy arrived home the discussion took a sinister turn as there was an envelope pinned to their door with the words ‘PERVERT TRANNY’ in large capitals written across it,

Chapter 31

I couldn’t do any more, so went into the lounge and asked the lads if they had any ideas about a name for my project. There was some hilarious suggestions before Brendon came up with ‘Unicorn Air’ with the logo being a kiddie version of a unicorn, with wings, flying over a rainbow. Bronte went for his sketchbook and turned the thought into reality.

Sergeant Hill had spotted Roberta leaving the HQ of AC-12 and challenged her.
He didn’t wait for her to respond to his original accusation.

"Jess," I hurried out of the car in pursuit. As soon as we parked, she took off, ignoring me as she had done for most of the journey.

The buildings, trees, sky, everything seemed more interesting to her than whatever I had to say.

Our relationship had been positive up until that point, and she'd even taken my side over her husband's a few times, so I was taken aback by her sudden change in attitude.

After a man’s wife leaves him, he falls down the path of sissyhood.

My ex wife lied and took everything from me, so I paid her back in kind.

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 56 What You See is Never What You Get

How calt will it get? Who knows. I can’t even hazard a guess because I’ve got nowt to base one on. We’ve never hit minus thirty [-22℉] before anywhere in Britain in recorded history, though it’s said that during the winter of sixteen eighty-three going into eighty-four the ice on the Thames was a foot thick [305mm]. I’ve never manage to find even an estimate of how calt it was, but it’s reputed to be the most severe frost recorded in England. It always seemed daft to me to use the expression worst recorded when there’s not even an indication of how calt it was, how is that recorded? Come to that what was it they were recording? Maybe we’ll hit minus forty [-40℉] this time. I wouldn’t rule it out, but like I said I’ve never bin here afore. Think on, it’s not that long since for the first time recorded the temperature in the UK went over forty Celsius. Forty point three [104·54℉] it was at Coningsby in Lincolnshire on the nineteenth of July twenty twenty-two. So owt’s possible.