Chapter One.

I suppose my story started a few years ago. Let me take you back to the beginning.

No one asked for it, but here is the backstory Allie references to in ”The Duel”
This is an AI-assisted story as I wanted to see how close it could come to the storyline I wanted to write.
Created using NovelAI with very little change.
Let me know what you think (and I am not going to use AI for my other stories, just for these two,

Be careful what you say you want; you never know who might be listening. (A fable of sorts)

Chapter 13

When Willow went in, Wendy had some sandwiches for her after she had changed.

“How did this mysterious meeting go? Are you ruling the world yet?”

“Not that serious, Mum. All I did was to get together with a few people and play them some songs which I thought might make a good concert.”

“Oh, yes. Now give, before I get you some ice cream.”

Billy’s Desires
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I had convinced myself that being born male was the best thing in the world. I mean, men run it – the world I mean. Men are in charge. Women have babies. Women are meant to look pretty and look at their men adoringly, but they offer nothing when it comes to leadership or innovation – that was my position, back then. Somehow it seemed that the more I said it out loud, the truer it became.

Before I go home I’ll just check the announcement board. Our principal is a traditionalist so everything important is announced on the announcement board. This time I want to confirm that I’m on the list for the school’s womanless beauty contest.

My name is there all right. Peter Dupont in big letters. The problem is the big black line through it and the additional comment “Disqualified”. How can they do that! I’ll have to talk to the Principal!

The Interview (3)
by
Angharad.

Chapter 12

Sunday morning, they were up and ready for church. Willow showed her parents the pathway across the field, and it was a pleasant stroll in the morning sun. At the church, they saw Maisie and Gina arriving, so the girls left the adults to talk and went up to prepare the organ for the morning service. Willow asked if Gina wanted to play the arrival music, and she sat at the keyboard and started doodling Bach and Beethoven piano pieces.

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Benyamin's Treasure

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Prologue - Adara's Story

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There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can't imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books. John 21:25 The Message

Chapter 13: Ashes and Embers

Chapter 11

They spent two hours working with the music. They didn’t have the numbers that the piece was written for but made do with a pruned down orchestra. There was enough percussion players to fill out that section, but the strings were thinned out a bit. There was a full complement of brass players, and Willow wondered if there was an evening brass band.

The sound of a door slamming echoed through the Altura household, but Melissa barely registered it. She sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at the wall opposite her. The black and gray tapestry she'd hung there featured an intricate mandala design that she used to find captivating. Now it was just another pattern, devoid of meaning.

The Banberries

A musical journey

by SUZIE DALKIN

Sam Simpson was a bit of a nonentity. Nowhere near top of the class or the bottom. Not the life and soul of the party – not that he ever got invited. Not a sportsman and not tall, short, fat or ginger, he was just inconspicuous, and terribly shy. And, while his classmates at his all-boys school were growing up and out, he seemed to be lagging behind. Inconspicuously.

This is a paraquel to “Pawn …” as told by Dawn (Bill). (Since it isn’t prequel or a sequel it must be a paraquel)

At the beginning of my sophomore year I finally was ready to act. Perphaps not really ready but I had to do it this year. I had carefully researched the possibilities. This was the year to come out. Next year the conditions would be much worse.

As soon as I saw Bill walk towards school in a dress I knew that I had been handed a golden opportunity. No, I had no interest in Bill himself but his actions opened up so many possibilities.

This story arose from a dream, it has no ending

The sound of shattering glass echoed through the alley, freezing the boy in his tracks. His heart hammered against his ribs as he pressed himself against the cold brick wall, barely daring to breathe. He shouldn’t have followed the man in the black coat. He should have stayed home, right where his mother had told him to. But curiosity had always been his weakness. And now, he’d seen something he couldn’t unsee.

Jimmy is in love with a boy named Alex. His twin, Rachel, is in love with a girl named Alexa.
Two bedrooms, one wall apart. But the person that they're really crushing on is...?