'Assume the position' those words echoed in my ear as I stepped back. There was no possible way this could be going on. This was all a mistake. Daisy had defended me, he had taken up for me. He should have been hailed as a hero and here they were treating him like a common criminal.

Daisy took a deep breath and reached into his pocket. A moment later he was pulling out his wallet, his phone, and a string of beads, prayer beads. He handed the items to me. I don't know why but he did and with trembling hands I took them.

Chapter 4

The next day we started the cleaning / searching process in the attic, then worked down from there. We found nothing in the attic, nothing in the family bathroom, and nothing in the other bedroom, where we put away all the sister’s clothes.

“So you see,” I said to the monster under my bed, “it's the last day of the school week. If I survive today, which includes detention, I'll have two days to recover and prepare for next week and the rest of my detention.”

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

The Ynnuf Civilization endured cycles of peace and war as knowledge grew.

I had finally done it. I was on my own in my own flat. My marriage had failed and I had split amicably with my wife. She kept the house that had been paid for mostly by a trust fund set up by my parents. I kept the remainder of my savings. I did not begrudge her the house. She had been patient and understanding about my "condition". Both my parents were dead, which is why I was contemplating doing something I had been longing for all my life.

“We’re gonna be working together! This is gonna be kind of awesome. I mean, it’s menial service industry work, so that kind of sucks, but it’s about as good as waiting and busing tables ever gets, from what I hear. Mr. Paget’s a fair boss, unlike that asshole at my old job, and you get to work in all kinds of cool bodies.”

Saved by the Bell
-3-
The Son of God goes forth to War

I don't think one signal word passed between the three of us as Jamie guided Daisy out of the lunchroom and toward the headmasters office. Jamie and Daisy walked ahead of me, and I trailed a little behind the two. Then something happened, as we drew closer to the headmaster office. Daisy paused and took a deep breath. And then in a light, airy tone of voice he started to sing a cappella. The sound of his voice seemed to echo down the hallway. 

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

Is staring too much at a classmate a really bad idea?

Saved by the Bell
-2-
Dead man Walking

“BELL! JONES!” A loud voice seemed to boom. The voice belonged to Mr. Coalfield. A brute of a man, Mr. Coalfield or Coach Coalfield as everybody in school called him was the boy's P.E Instructor and the head coach of the Benton Academy football program. His skin was brown as leather and his neck reminded of the shank bone of a ham. And his hands were thick like hot dogs.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

Bob
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

I was called Bob when I was a man. I always thought of myself as a regular guy. I was quiet, I suppose – not one to stand out. I could never be overtly gay. I think that requires a little more courage than I had. I just wanted life without drama or conflict. I was always a gentle person. I still am.

When Robert’s wife’s body is stolen, Robert must discover where and who she is and get her body back. But can he succeed when Exmuritious Forrester, the CEO and owner of Transmigration Studios, decides to stop him? Who can Robert trust, when anyone could be anyone?

Chapter 3

I also found out that the drama group I had seen today was mainly made up of lower-level employees of several embassies, as a relief valve to lower their stress. She told me that Vlad wasn’t overtly linked to the Russians, but he had a lot of friends from all around the Soviet Bloc. It was said that he was an advisor to Todor Zhivkov, the leader of the Communist Party, and had carried that connection through to Lyudmila, pushing the culture and arts to the forefront.

You will have realized by now what I soon inferred: that I was no longer on Earth, and that Bisur, who had somehow drawn me to this world from my comfortable home in Knightdale, North Carolina, was a wizard.

Rocky and I were hiding in some of the thickest bushes we could find. Bugs were biting us, we had cuts from razor sharp leaves, and thorns were stuck in my hair and clothes, but overall we weren't doing too badly. We had already survived ten minutes, which was longer than I had expected.

Colonel Moreno was at his makeshift desk looking over reports when Keir entered the mostly intact building. The hopelessness and fear that had filled the mans dark eyes when they'd first met had faded. There was a hint of iron and hope when he spoke now. Keir was glad to see it, this was going to be a long war and defeatists could bring it all crashing down.

“Mage Keira, I trust your errand went well,” Colonel Moreno said.

Conjugal
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

We were brothers the way that real brothers never can be. We had been friends so long neither of us could remember our first meeting. With did everything together, we went to school together, we played sports together, we scored girls together, we did crime together.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.