“That’s....” Chuck began to say before he felt the building below his feet begin to move. The shaking lasted only a few seconds. “We just had an earthquake.”

This was the third earthquake Charles McBride had endured since coming to live in Japan, and he wasn’t nearly as jaded by them as his fiancée seemed to be. “I won’t miss those things.”

Synopsis – The Swan Song committee and Gabrielle Tanaka begin to worry as both agents Ripley and Chrysanthemum fail to report in as scheduled. At the same time, Hiromi Sato sets her personal plans into motion.

Part one: strangers in the night,

Detective Johnson looked thoughtfully distracted for a moment before finally replying, “We’ll set up a trap for him at your apartment.”

“But how?” I asked, confused by the sudden change in position.

Hannah tries to fend off cabin fever while she waits for Detective Johnson to finally catch the ever elusive Joey. But will he be caught in time?

“Wait!” I said in a surprised tone. “A safe house? You mean like witness protection? What about my work? My apartment? What am I supposed to do with my stuff?”

“Slow down,” he said while holding his hands up to emphasize things. “We don’t know how long it’ll be, but I wouldn’t expect it to take too long. For now, anything you don’t have to have with you should stay here. I’ll have a uniform posted here as a guard, okay?”

“Will there be room for my upright?” I asked.

“I don’t know why not,” he responded before adding, “Which one is that?”

snowblind, shipwrecked, several millennia old

by Miss K

The village in which I grew up was particularly notable for one thing, which I'll come to in a moment.

David and the Birds

by Miss K

I'd completely forgotten about the human-faced birds.

It started this morning when I found myself by chance in the neighbourhood where David lived. It was unexpected. I wasn't thinking about David, nor was I particularly intending to be in that particular part of South London. It just happened.

After climbing two steps and being provided a gentle boost from Chuck, Hiromi was seated on the mare known as Dolly. Hiromi began to laugh hysterically almost from the moment her butt landed in the saddle.

“Yes,” Hiromi said as she continued to laugh uncontrollably.

Plot synopsis- Ripley visits Australia and Hong Kong with Chuck, Chrysanthemum is debriefed, A family prepares for a cross country move, and Dr. Wagner’s superiors face a crucial decision.

As she approached the office, Hiromi saw something amiss. Her office door was ajar. Hiromi walked straight into the room only to find someone seated at her desk.

“I don’t care, get out of my office now.”

Synopsis- Captain Slater continues her Swan Song mission while at the same time undergoing both physical and mental changes.

My sleep was peppered with nightmares. Okay, more like several variations of one nightmare in particular. Every time I’d get to sleep I’d see Joey either attacking me, or harming those around me, or in one case outing me to all his redneck buddies as a transsexual.

I looked up at her, something didn't sound quite right. "Becky?" I asked her questioningly.

"It's a little disturbing Bill. Here, you read it."

"Nick, it actually started with my missing memory. We've found out what caused it. And a person did it."

"What? You're talking something criminal now Bill."

CURSED

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived in a hidden village in the woods. All the people in the village knew this man's name to be Shelly, and everyone in the village knew the man's story. Some times Shelly would come out of his house to watch the sun begin to set; and in the last moments before the sun is gone Shelly would cry.