Nick woke up jittery and was worried what his parents might be truly thinking. Special thanks are in order to Michelle B. for editing this for me.

“No matter what happens … no matter whether or not you grant my wish … I just want to say how much I appreciate your friendship. You’ve been kind and patient and compassionate, helpful and honest and … most of all … been there when I’ve needed you. Thank you.”

I looked at my wife with tears running down my face and said, "I just had a date with a man, looking like this, so pretty, feeling so feminine, so womanly, feelings are bursting out of me desiring a man, Steve. What is going on with me? I am a married man and I am wired to think and act like a woman now in so many, many ways. What is happening to me?"

To say that my sympathy level was withering like a daisy in the Sahara would have been a gross understatement. More like I was thinking that I should throttle my utterly clueless mother, then go hunt down the feckless bigot I got as a father, armed with a two dollar whore sporting an incurable itch.

Grace has trouble in the home, but how did it all go so wrong so quickly? I hope you find this addition to the String of Pearls satisfactory.
- Eclectic Kitty

You've worked hard and reached the pinnacle of success. Now you have lost everything but the trappings of that success. You're presented with one last opportunity to reclaim that which means the most to you. If you do everything correctly, things just might turn out okay. But if you botch the opportunity, it could permanently set a course for final ruination. The risk is high. What would you do? Would you hesitate before doing it? This is what Thomas did.

Warning, there are a couple intense memories here.

"Just for tonight, Jeffrey, suppress your ego and behave like an average fourteen year old schoolgirl."

"I can't, Susie - if I went missing it would make Denise dense."

Susie and Jeffrey 53 - 58 by Jamie Hayworth

This one starts out all fun and games
But it gets darker.

And the abrupt ending?
Well, let's just say that my characters could, and should, have behaved better.
But I still like it, ah, sort of? I mean, why else would I have wrote it?

Maybe you will too.

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I wrote this a long time ago. It is a fairy tale dressed in reality.

1. College Interns

Three hours into the flight, Kelly turned to Jody and asked, “Have you ever been to California before?”

“No, I haven’t,” Jody replied looking out the window. “I’ve always wanted to go but I’ve never had the chance. Outside of taking the train up and down the East coast, I’ve never really been anywhere west of Pittsburgh.”

One Last Game

Melanie Ezell

What is love? Sometimes it's giving up everything you want for the sake of someone else's happiness -- even if just for one last game.

For the BCTS November story challenge