Jennifer Lam, of "A Bikini Beach Summer" and "A Bikini Beach Late Summer", revisits Bikini Beach for the first time.

“So why weren't you in Subterfuge class?” I asked Ella when history class ended. “I thought that every student on the leadership track had to take.”

“I talked it over with my advisor, we decided I could skip and go to the second year course,” my roommate said. “Honestly I learned most of what they teach in 101 before I left the nursery.”

“That sounds rough.”

Third Wife
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I had always had long hair. My mother let me grow it. She said that she had long hair when she was younger but cut it when she had children. She liked to brush it.

At high school I wore it in a long braid oiled so that it did not have too much volume. After it was washed it would gain volume and look like girl’s hair, which was not a look I wanted. It was interested in girls and so I wanted to be masculine. In fact, girls used to like to play with my hair.

“Why is it wet?” I lifted my foot and shivered in the waning light as I looked at the standing water forming a thin film over the brick road, stretching from one end of the street to the other. Quinn shot me an almost amused look, then shook his head.

“Drainage problems, kid,” He shook his head. “The pipework below Jovial have been clogged since as long as I remember.”

“How long is that?”

Jared Raynes was a big man. Not that he was built like a linebacker, but he had a presence that was right there on the nail from the beginning. Using the word ‘Imposing’ did not do him justice.

Once the introductions had been made, he said,
“This is my show, ok? If I tell you to duck, you duck. Got it?”

Discharged - Female
A Short Story based on Fact
By Maryanne Peters

A Sad Little Song
By Sabrina G. Langton

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Author's Note: Just a little music to break up all the words. Just a little fluff to compensate for all the deep ideas, thoughts, and ideas floating around on this site. Just a little laugh to get us ready for the holidays... I hope YOU like it.

***

"So, sometimes a song makes me sad."

Linda, my wife, was asking why I was crying. I felt I was crying a lot lately, but in this instance, I had a good excuse, it was a sad song.

"This song is so not sad."

When magic class finally ended, I headed off to subterfuge, the one class I actually wanted to attend. I didn't want to become a trained liar, but it had my favourite teacher Bob, and I wasn't likely to get burned or horribly maimed in it. That had never really been a concern of mine before coming to Doom Valley Prep, now it was at the top of my list.

Putting the old priestess and her words out of his mind, Keir turned his attention to the children and teenagers who were coming to a stop before him. They were looking at him with wide eyes, some bowed their heads when they saw him looking. The oldest boy hobbled up on a crutch, then fell to his knees, his lame leg stretched awkwardly behind him, and looked at the ground.

Greg and Jill begin their new lives as Lisa and Blake. Lisa bonds with the girls at Bonnie's class. Afterwards she goes shopping with her new friends. Blake recruits a personal trainer and makes an exciting purchase. Lisa cooks a delicious dinner and she and Blake consummate the love they have for each other. 

I was expecting to land on something soft. Maybe an awning, a pile of refuse, a puddle of water, anything,. That was how it worked, right? In stories, the hero would face certain death and then find themselves saved just in the nick of time by mysterious circumstance. I was no hero. Instead my body hit solid ground. Rough round cobblestones greeted my body; the shock came first, then the pain, then the garbled, muted scream that barely escaped my lips through a crushed windpipe. Rib cage shattered, left arm twisted and malformed, knee caps cracked.

Have you ever looked over the edge of your life and pressed the rewind button in your brain? Just looking back at the things you might have done, could have accomplished, or conquered like a battalion on a literal battlefield of life? I’m pretty sure the general in charge of my life was either asleep at the morning briefing or he was annihilated and no one informed me as I ran up and over the hill into the line of fire.

Author retains all rights to this original work of fiction.

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“That was nice if a little unexpected,” said Sylvie as our kiss ended.

"That was to keep you safe, ok!"

Author retains all rights to this original work of fiction.
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Friday June 8th, 8:46 p.m., Avondale, Arizona
"Wait, you are working with my government?"

She nodded, "My father is the accountant for Louis de la Vega Corbino or as is he is better known Lupe. That name means something about a wolf and a river,” she said as if it was a ridiculous nickname.

The Recall
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

I was close to him in age, which is why they called on me, I guess. I was still assigned as “Active for Operations”, but I had not done a whole lot. That work is for younger men.

It was just that he had worked in the Ukraine, and now that was the place everybody wanted to understand. A lot of intelligence is about experience, and old connections. It is the kind of stuff that people retire with.

Author retains all rights to this original work of fiction.

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Friday, June 8th, 4:51 p.m., Phoenix, Arizona
Getting back to the office turned out to be a quicker trip than I thought it would be, though I had to use Lyft first to get my car from the police station. This late in the day, the office was almost empty, and my attempt to find Valerie and recruit her in my quest to deal with Gabriella fell way short. She'd gone home for the day due to a sick child. Damn it!

The author retains all rights to this original work of fiction.

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Ask the Right Questions, Chapter 1 of 6

--- Six years and 5 days ago ---

June 3rd, 20:23 local time, Patsah Melah, Afghanistan
I had been connected on and off to the SAT-Link laptop since arriving an hour ago at our position on the outskirts of Patsah Melah. Colonel Flagg's delegation was just east of our position over the Afghanistan/Pakistan border and had arrived about three hours ahead of our making it to Patsah Melah.

Allie - The teenage years of Alexander Horten

March 27-April 2, 2016

Keir strode down the hall like he was the master of the keep. The servants they passed hastily got out of the way at the sight of the pair of ghostly guards who marched silently in front. His three living maids followed behind, he would need them later.

“Well, you always want to be the center of attention,” she accused.

“I said they should venn into amphibious forms and swim out to see the Outer Banks, but Mom just smiled and said maybe.”