Six Forty-Five, Part 4: Epilogue

Things didnt get better right away. I still got bullied at school, and at home was stuck in the middle of several fights between my mom and my step-father. I also had to cope with flashbacks so bad that sometimes, all I wanted to do was cry or throw up, or maybe both.

But by summer, once the doctors had finished poking around in my head, they made the pronouncement - I was a girl.

Just one with a little bit of misplaced skin between my legs.

As soon as we got home, Grandma began interrogating Tim about my ring. “Tim, I really need to know how you came upon this ring. Emily says it has been in your family for a very long time?”

“Yes, Ma’am, it has been passed down to the oldest female in each generation. I know that there is a kind of prophecy about it that I’ve always thought was just a fairy tale, but now I know that magic is real, so perhaps the prophecy is as well.”

Attack of the Beast
by Anon Allsop
Part 6

Chapter 21

It had been almost three years since Parker was home. I studied the floor under the pew as the elderly Pastor gave his sermon. My mind had come quite a long way since that day when Park left, growing more and more accepting to the way my body was behaving. It had taken me almost three months to finally shave my legs. Once I had done it, I realized that there were several reasons why I should have been doing it all along. After that little step, another hurdle would come up.

One by one the little nuances of what makes a girl into a woman transpired over my life, each one taking me closer and closer to the result that most women learn when they are my age. It is almost as if going up a great long stairway, each step, closer to the final result. My mind reeled with these confusing thoughts when I should have been listening to the sermon, so drawn into these ideas and theory's that I was startled when the entire church stood with a thunderous roar. I glanced around; some were hugging, crying profusely while others were clapping and singing their praises toward the heavens.

Half Way.

Fiction by Johnny Cumlately.

Tomorrow will be my 40th birthday. I have a reasonable chance of surviving to see my 80th, so on that basis I am half way through my life. Tomorrow will also be a significant date for another reason. For the first half of my life, I have been male. For the second, I will be female so I have particular reason to celebrate.

Chapter *8.10*

Tres Bonn

“Gabeee!”

Talk about over dramatic! The girls almost smothered me as I got out of the car.

"ITS MY NAME AND MY NAME IS SAMUEL!" I screamed at my parents.

The Gowns
The Blessing 
Please forgive the lateness of this chapter?

Pure fiction, inspired by two great British Comedians, one of whose characters was (I’m told) the Only Gay in the Village. This Queen, you may suspect, is the First, but not necessarily the ONLY Queen in this village. No such village yet exists but, who knows, one day…. Now, Astrid and Christopher get out and about..

Chapter 3 Outside the front door

A teenage boy enters the CHASM, a school that teaches the use of magic. However he soon learns that magic can sometimes be unpredictable.

Sweet Dreams-27...Oh Crap! WTF?

Chapter 27

The rest of the day gets pretty hectic. It’s Saturday so both Alex and I have to work. Saturday’s a good shift for me at work because it’s one a really full day from nine until nine and it’s also the day that we get some new inventory for the store. I’m really getting into working for Hali too she’s actually helping me get some of the girl stuff down. I guess I’m sort of naturally girly though I never thought so just…punk…goth…sorta weird. I mean some of the gay kids and the odd kids would get beat on every once in awhile but those that were truly weird like me most of the time got ignored.

I’m going through skirts and holding some up to me looking in the mirrors. Hali has this folding changing screen thing that’s like three full length mirrors very useful in a clothing place.

“Hey, you think back in my old school they didn’t really think of me as a weird kid but a weird girl?”

Six Forty-Five Part 1

The day before everything went crazy, I lay in bed, watching my alarm clock as it hit six forty-five. I knew that in five minutes my alarm would be going off, so it was useless to try and fall back to sleep, and yet I was in no hurry to leave the warmth of my bed. I know that for most people, it would be pretty weird to have your alarm set for ten to the hour instead of on the hour or on the half-hour, but I have a lot of little quirks like that, and most of them dont make any sense, even to me.

Finally, I sighed, and got out of bed.

This chapter describes the preparations for Christmas and the progress of Briony's pregnancy.

The Welsh Mountain Ram 33

Briony... Betrayed wife and mother.
Sion... Her eight-year-old son.
Ellairy... Her nine-month--old daughter.
Arfon... Brionys’ abusive and unfaithful husband.
Dave Cadwalloder... Welsh bachelor hill-farmer.
Jenny and Lassie... Daves’ sheepdog bitches.
Laddie... Daves’ sheepdog.
Jessica and Pansy... Daves’ sows.
Angel... Daves’ mare.
Gabriella (Gabby)... Angels’ foal (Gift to Sion.)
Elsbeth... Briony’s sister.

Jacqui and Me - Chapter 3
By Julie D Cole

In truth I did wear lip protector in the cold weather so it wasn’t exactly difficult.
As I stepped out of the car Jacqui introduced me to some of the gang. ‘This is my close friend Sammy. I hope you don’t mind me bringing her along.’
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
She turned and looked at my face that must have been dumb struck. She was laughing.

I came into a well lit house, and everyone was up, watching a DVD. As I walked in, Mom saw the mess my tears had made of my face and makeup, and she quickly wrapped me in a hug.

"Are you all right, honey?”

“It’s been an interesting night, Mom. Very interesting.” I giggled as I tried to wipe off my makeup with some tissue.

Grandma smiled, and I knew she had been probing. I really do need to learn how to shield.

“I know that look, Mom. Emily, what happened after you left?”

Civil War Casualty

Fiction by Johnny Cumlately

I should never have gone to that godforsaken country, but I needed the money. I signed a two year contract with the National Oil Company at a salary twice what I could earn at home and found myself the only expat in a team of 12 men on a remote drilling rig miles into the desert.

Attack of the Beast
by Anon Allsop
Part 5

Chapter 15

When I awoke, Park was gone. I felt a mix of emotions as I searched the house for him, realizing that he most likely was already on one of the hundreds of transport ships. A great wave of sadness washed over me, knowing that I would be alone for a long, long time. Then I felt anger, anger for him leaving and not saying goodbye.

I trembled as the fear of the unknown kept invading my mind, and a long shuddering sigh escaped my lips. I swallowed and gently wiped a tear away, a tear... for Park. I knew why he slipped away while I slumbered, his uncomfortable fear of leaving me behind... trying to say goodbye was bad enough last night, what would it have been like this morning?

Garia takes her place among the guard recruits to learn how to look after her assigned frayen and there are inevitable consequences... Later, an offer of help comes from a surprising source, and she also learns of another possible arrival on Anmar.