Not What We Expected by Tiffany B. Quinn A chance dinner date brings echoes of the past. A strong sense of déjà vu has Andi wondering where this will lead.

Chapter 1

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Chapter 6
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When classes resumed on Monday, it was almost like nothing had happened, except Jude could tell that that was a lie. Everyone still felt the impact of what had happened on Friday, and then on Saturday. No one wanted to talk about it, as far as Jude could tell, but at least everyone was trying to move on with life.

It was the day of the week when a couple of the P.E. coaches had their students either jog or walk around the track ring for a couple laps before sitting down in the bleachers and warm sunlight.

Annia’s Story

Before the written word, people shared stores by way of oral tradition. Sometimes these were fairy tales, or morality plays, but sometimes actual history was shared by one person telling another, passing the story down through time until some bright person finally writes it down. Many of those stories have sadly been lost, so it’s not impossible something like the tale I’m about to share really happened.

You young ones want to hear about Annia do you?

I’ll tell you but you have to promise to pass it on.

Promise?

CHAPTER 10 - Deception; the practice of deliberately making someone believe things that aren’t true

Ellen touched up her makeup, explaining why it was important. George always thought that women used makeup to help them look pretty; he was now told it was all part of the seduction game.

"Now let’s get back in there the night is still young."

A broken man, George turned to the mirror to freshen his lipstick. He was in turmoil, so autopilot took over and he did the lipstick thing too.

“Okay, then,” I say to myself, before taking a deep breath and walking through the front door of the large, imposing building. For the first time in two years, I’m entering a place of education that’s based in London- only unlike that last time, I’m doing so on my own terms.

Becoming Joanne

It was a critical time of my life, things had to change and quickly.

Author's Note: This chapter's a little short, but sweet.

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Chapter 5
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“What’s wrong, dear?” Jude’s mom asked while they were eating dinner.

Jude lied, “Nothing. I’m alright.”

“It sounds like you’ve had a long day.”

They sat in silence while they continued to eat. Jude continued to do so more slowly than usual. There was just too much going on for his mind to process at once.

“Mom?” he said. “I think I’m going to need a new doctor.”

I didn’t have any friends at school. I was a loner and more than a bit odd, so other kids tended to stay away from me, and I liked it that way because everything they did, talked about and were interested in seemed trivial and pointless.

This one is out quicker. It is also very short, but I saw the rest of what I wanted to get in taking up too much space (and time): Dawn.

Stone

Chapter 28 – Ready for the Road

Here it is: part 7. Here we meet the girlfriend and discover a little more of the gods' mischief.

Apologies for the wait. Hopefully my next story will not be so long in coming.

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Chapter 4
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Jude ached all over when he awoke. The room was different from what he remembered, whatever he was lying on was hard and flat, and there was only the one soft thing touching his arm. Most of what he could see at the moment was the ceiling with a light over him, though it wasn’t turned on. The room was a bit on the dark side, and he needed to figure out where he was.

Masks XXII: Golden Opportunity

by

Rodford Edmiston

Part One

"Whew!" said Vic, sagging with relief when the pregnancy test came back negative.

"Oh, babe," said Michelle, bending to hug Vic as the martial artist sat on the lid of the toilet in their shared apartment's tiny bathroom. "I'm so glad. You didn't really think Stone had... done something while you were out, did you?"

Stan had tears in his eyes as he laughed and said, “Sasha has a seven pound splitting axe just inside the door that he uses for firewood on his yard, and is there anyone here who doesn’t believe he’d use it?”

“I counted my arms and legs first, then my fingers. I was amazed they were all there. We turned round and the plaster lath ceilings had turned into dust and kindling and the entire wall was down. It was just a pile of cobbles and broken lime plaster on the floor.

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Chapter 3
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That following Saturday was perhaps the strangest day in Paragon history. On most days, either heroes or the occasional villain could be seen soaring across the sky, zipping across the streets, or scoping out the sites from the nearest popsicle stand.

Floodlit

I honestly never planned to become famous.

But I should start at the beginning.

It started when I met Mac, which was short for Macerio Yadell Gica. Yeah, him. His family came to Canada from the Philippines a couple of generations back, and even then he was an amazing performer.

“There are no stories that old, Father!”

“Indeed not many, Naomi, but there are some. Most are not told often, for many are incomplete, some just fragments, and often they disagree with each other. One of the most popular girls’ names for centuries has been Scowla, so would you like to hear of Our Lady of Niok and how Saint Scowla was visited by her with the passion in front of thousands and viewed by millions?”

Tim Rodgers was so ecstatic when he hung up the phone and went to his computer. He just got done with a productive conversation with the Dean of Business at Northeastern Wesleyan University. He was offered a full-time professorship chair there. The man was going to end the business world section of his life. No more late night at the office, daily meetings to just make some paper-pushers look busy or meaningless paperwork to give to some hoarder to file only to never see the light of day again.

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Chapter 2
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“Dead? There’s no way!”

Various students and teachers said something to that effect. School closed early that day. Getting ahold of Julian’s mother was close to impossible when everyone got out. Luckily, Julian’s new friend had awesome parents.

Denise beckoned Julian over to their car. Her father was the one driving.

“Hello.” Julian wasn’t sure what else to say, but felt compelled to say more.