Caught in the Filter

A round-robin story by Shadow Dragon, MrMarvel, Sylvia Waldgrave, Bobbie Cabot, Spindizzy, Paradox, Trismegistus Shandy, and another who wishes to remain anonymous

Janice who used to be John rambles a bit of the last twenty years on how she finally became the woman she always wanted to be.

My midnight muse hit after reading a few of Morpheus's "Bug" stories.

Early Saturday morning, I was digging underneath the bed I slept in. I don’t know why I was, maybe I was bored, maybe I was trying to forget the unpleasant experience the day before. Honestly, the classes after lunch were just as a bad, and I got no information about Lhasa. But now, digging underneath a bed gave me time to think about it and now, I really didn’t want to know what had happened to Lhasa. I was also rethinking the whole school thing.

Jenna and Ron, left at home while their parents traveled to China to learn a new manufacturing process. Awakened in the darkest hours of the night by his dog barking Ron opens the door to face someone other than the skunks or coyotes raiding the chicken pen as he first expected.

Makeup

“Remember to keep your knees together when you sit down,” the old lady reminded me while we were waiting to see the headmaster of Providence Meadows for the fourth time at 7:30 am. I wasn’t really in the mood to respond vocally, so I simply gave the old lady a look that translated into ‘yeah, I get it now, stop reminding me.’ But I still kept forgetting. My opinion of the skirt had changed a bit, a feeling I didn’t know how to describe, but I still felt exposed wearing it.

Spin the Bottle

As the last one into the loft, I didn’t get a seat on the couch. Instead I found that someone on Tuesday had brought up a bunch of fluffy pillows, and a bright green inflatable chair. “That is never going to last,” I said, looking at it.

Big Davey laughed, “We alrealy had to patch it twice. It only cost twenty dollars though.”

“What are we playing?” I asked, eager to seem eager.

“Spin the bottle,” Bree said. “Wee David finished the app.”

Eat Like a Boy

***TRIGGER WARNING: Eating Disorders***

After a very confused night, I wasn’t sure Autumn would be at my door, and took my time getting breakfast. Then I heard Bruce honk outside, and had to grab my bag, figured I’d charge my phone somewhere, sometime, and rushed out the door.

I piled in the SUV and Autumn took off for the highway again. “It’s your turn to choose the music,” she said, hanging her cigarette hand out the window. “Something I’ve never heard before.”

Lacey was asked to come down to Harrisonburg to hang out with Bug for the day at 9 pm the night before by her grandmother. That request sparked a stern talk about why spending time with Bug was a very bad idea from her mother, directed at both her and her grandma. This stern talk turned into an argument between her and her mother which then led to an argument between her mom and her dad. Lacey could hear the argument, as her parents made no attempt to keep it quiet. Her father was for Lacey going to Harrisonburg to spend time with Bug, whereas her mother was completely against it.

Bookstore

At the auditorium, Autumn was holding her keys, and everyone was sitting around and waiting. I came up and said “Hey,” and everyone said “Hey,” and Bree gave me a hug, and I didn’t know why. They were waiting for me.

They were waiting for me.

“Sarah wants to go to Cornerstone,” Autumn told me. “Do you want to come or go home?”

“Oh, I can just take the train home, it’s not a problem.”

“Don’t be such a little bitch, come to the bookstore with us.”

Secret Entrance

Rachel on her knees. Sarah unbuckling a belt. What does Regular Dave’s dick taste like? What does Big Davey’s cock feel like?

Don’tmasturbatedon’tmasturbatedon’tmasturbate.

A week and a half later, I was still deeply bothered by Lacey’s revelation about my mind being sealed off. While I had gotten my mind reading somewhat under control, I still hadn’t gotten my emotions under control. And being stuck in this godforsaken tiny house didn’t help me. The old lady refused to let me leave the house. She herself didn’t even leave. Her neighbors brought her everything, or so she said. I never saw anybody enter the house and when I was allowed to walk into the backyard for fresh air, I never saw any neighbors.

Dear Readers, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Apologies for the delay. Here is the full Chapter 8.

I sat on the edge of the bed, in a bathrobe, and held my head in my hands.

Why a bathrobe?

Because the maids had ensured there wasn’t a single scrap of clothing in the entire suite other than a bathrobe and fluffy slippers for me to wear.

Oh, and those slippers were shaped like bunnies.

The old lady made it extremely clear the following morning that I would be traveling with her to Front Royal to have Thanksgiving dinner with her extended family. It would be the first time in a very long time that her entire family would be together for something, and the old lady thought it would be a good experience for me.

1st Meeting

Directly after Drama was Math, and I had some problems finding the classroom. I got no introduction this time, just sat down, and was pleased to learn that our section had been covered last year at my old school. This was going to be a breeze. No studying in for this.

When I woke up in the field, all I knew of myself was that I was a girl and my hair had a pinkish tint to it. That was it. I awoke from what seemed a veil of nothingness, and when I was fully aware, I realized I had no idea who I was. I didn’t know my name, my age, or who my family was, if I even had family. Nothing. My mind was blank, well, mostly blank. I still seemed to remember things that one would learn in school. I thought of George Washington and how he was the first president, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, basically everything about the guy.

Crew

Therapy

“Do you believe me?” I asked Dr. Malmon. It was our fourth session together. I had just finished explaining Mr. Glome to him. I expected to hear the tired refrain, ‘I believe that you believe.’

“It’s hard not to,” The shrink said instead. “You gave me permission to consult with your doctors and other experts.” He paused and gave me a look, “I hope you’ll understand if I leave the extra dimensional aliens out of my consultations—but from what I’ve seen… your explanation is as likely as any other.

Staring

I woke to find my hands pressed in between my thighs. That should have been uncomfortable and wasn’t. It was comforting. I rolled over to go back to sleep and found that everything was wrong with my body.

Not that. That was still wrong, but I had woken up with some of the knowledge permeating my brain.

What was wrong was my breasts. One was half-in, half-out of it’s bra cup in one direction. The other was half-in, half-out at an opposing trajectory. One shoulder strap was on, the other was pinning my arm at my side.

Dear Readers,
Chapter 6 Part II was rewritten but not reposted. As a result, readers may find some disparities in the character descriptions and in the way Arnval behaves.
The rewritten Part II will be released with the eBook, effectively replacing the version posted here.

It was a hard landing into the pool.

At the last second, I was able to right my body and plunge into the water feet first.

Target

Target

I kept my arms crossed on the way out of the hospital. I kept my arms crossed in the car. I kept my arms crossed on the way inside. If I had died right there, I would have kept my arms crossed all the way to the morgue.

As a boy, I hated going through the women’s section of Target. It was hard to do without imagining everything that was supposed to fill in the underwear on the halls, hangers, shelves, and hooks. I always made me feel dirty.

I woke with my arms shackled over my head to a large steel conductor. The weight of my body wrenched them down, and ached with every movement. Whatever Dr. Vortex had planned was going to be worse than the BDSM nightmare I found myself.

Through the uneven panels of corrugated iron I could make the slivers of his coat as he moved between workstations. He moved in slow motion as though trudging through a swamp; or maybe it was the haze looming from above.