Chapter 19: Bath time!

When Candy asked if she needed anything else, she was tempted to say, "Yes, a nice tile walk-in shower with one of those pulsating shower heads," but restrained herself with a more appropriate, "No, I don’t think so, but thank you "

Acidalia XXVI
By Amanda D

Thursday October 8th:

2:45pm EDT

The White House:

When they were Down, they were Down

After New Year, I was busy with my books and notes, swatting up for the exams. And then it would be new work in a new term. I took the dress and shoes back to Steph and we arranged for me to be available on Saturdays to wear her new designs for the camera.

“You think we’d plan to dress like each other?”

Chapter 15: The Book

Kate's hands trembled slightly as she picked up the book and slowly read aloud the handwritten title above the first page. "Look ... Out ... Seattle"

Candy’s eyes flashed and she squealed, "Oh my goodness Biddie you’re right! I do remember now. That was one of Maggie's best stories "

Cover art by Erin Halfelven
©2026, SammyC

Call of the Canijo
A Short Western Story
By Maryanne Peters

The bullet had entered his chest and pierced his lung. Captain Glenn Kilbourne had been told that he was one of the last Union officers to fall in the Civil War. It was April 1865, and it seemed a cruel thing to be told that his survival would be a miracle, but he fought hard to heal himself. The surgeon was skillful but told him that recovery would take a long time, and a New York damp fall and cold winter were now his enemies.

Chapter 11: Maggie's Memories

When Kate gave her a puzzled look she continued, "Do you remember when Biddie was talking about your stories you shared, and how much everyone enjoyed them?"

Chapter 20 October 20th 2025

Whit pulled up behind an ambulance. There was a loud quiet inside the Emergency Room at Mud Creek’s small hospital. Whit and Lucy helped Grace limp up the counter. Heads turned, Grace had a bloody towel against the side of her head, her big pink Hello Kitty sweatshirt was stained with blood, and her pink tights and short skirt looked out of place in the blue green fluorescent lights.

The woman at the desk didn’t react outwardly. She glanced up once, took it all in, and stood immediately.

“Head injury?” she asked.

He had Ten Thousand Men

The Duke may have had that many men, but the pub where I worked, of the same name, would only fit a few dozen of them in the front bar, if they were friendly. There was a lot more room over the three floors and the beer garden. We catered to a very wide range of drinkers, from social groups, office after-hours groups, shoppers from along Oxford Street, and tourists drawn in by its eighteenth-century ambience.

When the government decides to erase Kate Thomas in 24 hours, fate had other ideas.

Private Beach, Virginia Beach, Va.:
Alice, Casey, and the rest of her designers along with an expert photographer and her support crew were taking photographs of Jessie, Daisy, Tessa, Lucas, and Nagisa in the new swimsuits they had designed for them and were marketing. The girl’s nipples were poking against the material because of the chilly breeze blowing off the ocean.

“I thought you said it was going to be warm?” Jessie looks towards Alice when she says that.

Maya was full of nerves after the call with Brittany, the other girl had been so comforting and had just listened without judgement. A silent bastion of strength as Maya bared her soul. When Maya had been finished Bethany had been nothing but supportive and soothing. If their previous conversations in class had been stilted and faltering it was quickly proven that it was purely down to boy that Maya portrayed. With Maya unshackled from her Mason persona they quickly bonded as and began conversing with each other as two teen girls.

Firing Blank

My name is Donald James Blank. I know, it’s a hoot, but a hoot I’ve had to live with all my life. In primary school, the teachers would often say, “Come up and write the answer on the slate, Blank’. I was given the nickname, Slate, which stuck with me through higher education and into my first employment, seeing that two of my fellow recruits to the financial company had been with me through the accountancy degree.