Back At The Vineyard:
“How are our finances looking, Henry?” Elizabeth looks across Henry’s desk as he taps away on his computer.

“The vineyard itself is doing fine. However, the trauma center is incurring a significant amount of expenses. You’ll need to make some changes to bring down the cost.” Henry looks towards Elizabeth, who is the trauma center director.

“What type of cost are you talking about, Henry?” Elizabeth needs to know exactly where they need to cut costs.

“Ex- excuse me?” The young woman asks, her facemask muffling her soft Yorkshire accent. “Can — can we get a selfie with you, please?” I allow myself a small chuckle as I turn to face the asker of the question — a girl barely older than sixteen, standing with three others of her age. All of them are wearing t-shirts with cartoon caricatures on the front and, even though I can’t see them, angel wing prints on the back, just like all t-shirts promoting the group I tried — and failed — to join.

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

The room was bathed in pastel pink tones, with airy curtains letting in the afternoon light. The floor was covered in colorful wigs, sparkly shoes, brushes, and children's makeup. Sitting on the edge of the bed, eight-year-old Tomás held the straps of a lavender glittering dress in both hands, looking at himself with a mix of wonder and longing.

I had just recently moved to Scottsdale, Arizona as a result of my mother’s death. My only living relative was going to allow me to stay with her for a couple of years, since there was no one else. Up to recently my Mom and I were living just outside of Amarillo, Texas on a small farm that my Dad used to operate.

He got killed several years ago when his tractor overturned as he drove it along a small stream next to one of his fields. He was caught under one of the wheels when it rolled over and he was squashed.

Unable to find a job after flunking out of high school, my Mom had given me several accounts in her cleaning business. All three were nightclubs, the cleaning had to be done in the early morning hours since the club was open late afternoon and evening till 2 A.M.

The job was not hard, me being eighteen allowed me to work at the club because they sold alcohol. Most of Mom’s other employees either too old to work early in the morning or too young to be in the club.

Security Training Center Number 2:
Jake and Jessica look at the young fifteen-year-old teenage girl standing before them. She was wearing the black skintight outfit they had given her to wear. The suit had sensors built into it to monitor her vitals.

“Alright, Brandi. First, you’re going to stretch, so we can get a baseline on what your body is doing.” Jessica was standing near the monitors and already getting basic readings from the suit.

I was looking through the credit card bills for the last month. Neither my wife nor I are hurting for money, both having successful careers that we have been able to walk away from in the last few years.

Due to being high profile in the community we both are expected to attend quite a few social and charitable functions every month. Mackenzie is more tolerant of these affairs than I am. Often I conveniently find something that has to be done at home, an excuse to avoid going to them.

Elizabeth’s Quarters:
Elizabeth wakes up and feels herself being held. She could feel something soft being pressed against her back. It took her mind a few seconds to realize who was in bed with her. Her mouth had a weird taste, a taste she had never tasted before.

She was wet between her legs and hoped she wasn’t going back to how she was when she came to the vineyard. She manages to turn around in the arms to face who is holding her. A smile forms on her face as she realizes it is Carol.