4-20

Twilight... The last glimpses of the Sun's glow, the stars begin to shine, and what there is of the Moon, twinkles into being. A cool breeze toys with the few remaining leaves that survived the Winter's cold, drifting in swirling eddies of the gentle breeze. In the stillness of this moment, a few brave crickets chirruped, adding their claim to existence....

“I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

 

“You mean like when we get home?”

“This is my mom and dad and grandma and my brother Karsan and my sister Ami,” Devi went on. “Everybody, this is Zindla and her mom Syuna. They run the shop where I first came to this world.”

“See,” Devi was saying, “a blue or green robe means you’re a girl, and yellow, orange or red means you’re a boy. At least for the Zyuneban. The Stasa have more complicated rules. And I guess we’re Stasa now, instead of Zyuneban like I was last time, so... anyway, pick whichever robe you feel like, if you can find one that fits you.”

“This is going to be Sashtun’s first-ever movie, kids. It needs to be something special. Not whatever new movie you’re burning to see. Everyone, what’s the best movie you’ve ever seen?”

“We can sell it as a retirement package,” Carson said. “An eighty-year-old man might think it’s worth the... inconvenience of becoming a woman if he can be forty again.”

 

Chapter 38 - Love the Second Time Around

We had hardly had time to do more than exchange a chorus of 'what are you doing here' before a small whirlwind came clomping over with her braids a-flying. She enveloped her father in a enthusiastic hug, and to my surprise I found myself in her embrace a moment later.

"Daddy! I jumped and didn't fall down!"

“Do you spell police with two ells as well as pronounce it that way, Geoff?” asked Paul.

Part Six

They grilled him for over an hour more, getting some additional details, though frustratingly few of them. All of this information was served with a large helping of self-aggrandizement and matter-of-fact bragging. Fosworth clearly found the entire process boring and not worth his time, but was determined to make the most of it by making the most of his contribution in stopping the monster. He made clear through his attitude that he was cooperating for the good of the c\o\m\p\a\n\y\ team.

“And even if his story is untrue, it’s not necessarily a sign of mental illness in children his age to make up strange stories. So I’ll refer you to a child psychiatrist, but I suggest you keep an open mind and check that mural in Davey’s bedroom from time to time to see if it exhibits any... strange behavior.”

Part Three

"I'm starting to hate that doorbell," said Vic, as she walked quickly to their new apartment's door in response to said bell.

This time the caller was a clean but scrawny man perhaps in his mid-thirties.

"Hey. You changed your WiFi password," he said, with no preamble.

"No, it's the same one we've always used with this router."

"Then why can't I get on?"

"Well, you shouldn't be able to. Our WiFi has always been private, even before we moved in here last week."

“But why would Davey back up her story? Or why would she back up his, if it’s not true? I’m having a hard time believing it, but I’m having an even harder time figuring out why they would both tell such a far-fetched lie.”

She jumped out of the bath, hastily threw on a robe, and rushed to the room where the portal-cabinet was stored, carrying a towel. She was overjoyed to see the portal still open as she entered the room.

Zindla liked having a little girl around, even if she was older than she looked, and used to be a boy. Seeing her cousins and other children who lived in the neighborhood, she’d sometimes regretted being an only child, and now she felt like she almost knew what it was like to have a little sister. Devi was so enthusiastic and curious about everything; having her around was like seeing everything for the first time.

“Do you want me to show you how to sew?” Pasyala asked. “Or has your mother already shown you?”

 

“No,” Devi said at first. “Girls do sewing and knitting and stuff.” But then he reflected: People go into other worlds to learn valuable lessons and have adventures and stuff. The portal made me a girl, so maybe it wants me to learn about girl stuff before it will let me go home and be a boy again? “I guess I’m a girl now, so I can learn how to sew and stuff.”

 

Chapter 13 - The Sting

Paula the Elder
There's a saying that old age and treachery will triumph over youth and exuberance every time. It may even be true if my arthritis isn't acting up, but somehow I managed to talk the the detective into letting me come along when we watched the Sasquatch do his thing.

In the stories, kids who go through portals to other worlds need to learn something from it. Maybe there’s something I’m supposed to learn from being a little girl. And there’s definitely got to be something I’m supposed to do here, but I don’t know what yet.”

 

Chapter 10 - The Bar Crawl

Titia
"So, we didn't scare you off last week?" asked Chloe.

"Not when there's a chance the guy with the hands might be back."

"Hey! You gotta give the rest of us a fair chance this week," complained Raina.

"Besides, you told him you were flying to California or some such." Shelly smirked. "Don't think he'd buy that you're suddenly in love with him and flew back."

 

Chapter 8 - Back to the Old Grind

Paula the Elder
"You ready to face the world again, Titus?"

"Reality sucks, partner. I don't want to be Titus, dammit. It was worth getting clobbered to be Titia for so long and to meet your family. Even if my family doesn't understand me, I do miss them."

"People can change, Titus. There's always a chance."

 

Chapter 7 - Dancing the Night Away

[Sorry for posting the wrong text - here's the right chapter]

Paula the Elder
"I can't do this! whined my houseguest.

"Then sit home and tend to your knitting. Your arm looks a lot better tonight."

"I'm not going to be playing basketball any time soon, but I did feed myself at lunch."

"That's progress. Just don't try to tango tonight."

"I'm not sure I want to try to dance at all."

The moonlight from the window was falling directly on the gateway in the mural. But he couldn’t see the road and horse and buggy and the distant hills. Instead, he saw — a chair. A high-backed wooden chair, with red velvet cushions on the back and seat and arms, and to the left of that, part of what looked like a sofa or armchair.

 

Chapter 3 - Some Quick Thinking

 
Paula
It's funny how white objects seem to fluoresce under the LED streetlamps they use around the warehouses. Standing there sweating in the warm summer night while listening to the other intruder moaning in the background, I could see the bright white bra around my partner Titus' chest like it was Day-Glo from my misspent youth. No black-light was needed, but there certainly was a surreal quality of the scene like that which had dominated so many parties when I was young and stupid.