Part 25

While all this was happening I suppose that the band and the other dancers were working through the general shots and close-ups. I expected that Damini would be dancing around at the dholaks to make it look like she was producing the sound we had created. For nearly an hour Anudeep and I worked with the dancers before the choreographer was happy.

Saturday morning Avery awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking. Mom was fixing a nice breakfast so, presumably, he would have a full stomach to make a full confession. When he went into the dining room, she put a full plate in front of him and inquired, “Can we talk after breakfast?”

He gave the only answer he felt would satisfy her, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Thank you, Honey. You know ….” Her cell phone chimed. She looked at the screen and the blood went from her face. “Hello?”

Snake Oil
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

“Doctor Nutbrown’s Incredible Remedies” was emblazoned on the side of the wagon that rolled into the town of Pratchett, Arizona.  Holding the reins was Doctor Thaddeus Nutbrown himself, if that was his name, and beside him the pretty woman Susan, Mrs Nutbrown, if that is what she was.

“You can set yourself up beside the livery stables,” said Sheriff John Bigelow.  “Just so long as you understand we will have no cheating in this town.”

PMS Zombies by Arielle Brix
Cross-posted from Lycelia
Full novel available at Amazon

Zoey tosses and turns as images filter through her dreams warning her of upcoming danger and past dangers. The image of her father being tortured to death in his home office, while she watched from her hiding spot. The thundering sound of the gun going off. She felt the pain her father suffered and then nothing as his life slipped away.

A loud clap of thunder wakes her from her dreams. She sits up in bed and looks around her. It takes her mind a few seconds to register where she was. She looks around the plain-looking room, as she sat in bed while the covers pooled around her.

Saddled 4

I was now getting out and about a lot more. The locals had all taken to me as the saviour of the legend of Henri and word started to get about that I was some kind of magic stud, being able to get Odette pregnant in her mid-forties. I just smiled and tried to look enigmatic.

Conviction

As the song says, it's been a long strange trip.

It started on an ordinary day, the last ordinary day I would have.

I was walking home from work when I heard a scream.

I froze, and couldn’t figure out what to do. Part of me wanted to go help whoever it was who screamed, but the rest of me wanted to ignore it and not get involved.

But before I could follow through on that cowardice, a man came out of an alley - from the direction of the scream.

PMS Zombies by Arielle Brix
Cross-posted from Lycelia
Full novel available at Amazon

Chapter 2: Cravings
-------------------

It was a little unusual for a meeting of going on forty men and a couple of women to be held at a scrapyard, but naytheless they were there at Connaught’s Yard. The incongruously pretty and well dressed woman in four inch heels who opened the meeting was maybe in her early or middle twenties and despite her apparent ease with her anomalous surroundings she looked to be seriously out of place.

Part 23

The noise was less as we moved into the site and when we arrived at the hotel building it was just a memory. We were escorted into the building where hotel staff was eagerly waiting to serve us.

Lunacy
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I always had a soft spot for Edgar – I think that is the right way to put it. I always pride myself on being a hard man, but when it came to Edgar I was a bit soft. I had known him for years; his mother and my mother had been good friends.

Somehow chapter 76 got missed. Sorry about this so here it is.

Saddled 2

It was a good thing that it was not a cold night because we slept where we lay, cuddled on a single airbed. Around two in the morning I woke needing to pee and I worked my way out of the tent and went over to a bush to relieve myself. As I was finishing she came out of the tent and stood beside me and kissed me before squatting and relieving herself, with me holding her steady.

Kissy visits the salon and Rory meets a Princess.

The girls and Babs' arrive in Texas.

Chapter 7b

Running into his arms, I burst into tears. He chuckled and held me for a long few moments. I can’t begin to describe how totally comforting it felt. Then I felt one of his arms leave me. The next thing I knew Sammie was also being hugged by my dad. He even kissed her forehead!

“Oh daddy…” I sobbed…happily. “It’s so good to see you.”

Part 21

On Monday I had a call from Gaurav who wanted me to meet him in town at lunch time. We met and he took me for a nice meal and then we went to a jewellry shop where he wanted me to choose an engagement ring. It was about time he had got around to it!