“Do we have another question?” The emcee asks as I look out at the audience — a typical crowd that you’d get at a press conference, but this one is different in many ways.

Chapter 4

The next day, we presented ourselves at the university for our short course. We were directed to an office where the lecturer sat us at a table with three laptops on it.

Garnet Smith was an experienced Marine when he was transferred to 48 Commando. His statuesque figure and shock of red hair made him quite obvious in any military parade, so his hair was kept short and hidden under his green marine beret. Otherwise he had performed well when deployed around Britain’s shores. He had picked up a Scottish accent from living in Faslane, and was comfortable protecting nuclear facilities as part of 43 Commando.

Chapter 3

After we had stored our things and had a quick look around outside, we went over to the bigger farmhouse to help get the lunch. Apart from the three of us, there were only three others there, with Magnus, the Unit Leader, telling us that the others were all in the field.

He introduced Nora and Petra, the communications expert and the ‘dresser’. The first thing that surprised us was that when he introduced us, he gave us different names. I was Alex, Matilda was Mary, and Hortense was now Hope.

Whitehall in London has many anonymous buildings that are the face of Government. In one such building, and in a large well appointed Committee Room, a group of about 20 senior naval and army officers were seated, drinking coffee and talking quietly before the meeting started formally. None were in uniform but they all knew each other. The amount of gold braid they wore on formal occasions would have stretched round the large oak table several times had they been in uniform.

The Dead Pixel Society

© 2026 Zoe Taylor

“This isn’t enough to make up for me not screaming when I walked in on you in the girls’ bathroom. That was a ‘lol meet cute’ BS Disney moment. This is real. This is you seeing the Madison that hasn’t freaking existed since I was a freshman, and used to pray to God nobody heard me crying in the east wing stairwell, where the acoustics made my sobs sound like a tragic French opera..."

Wychwood Day Eight

Split Victory

© 2026 Zoe Taylor

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Morgan said just above a whisper, her voice cracking as she leapt to her feet and sprinted for the door.

The Dead Pixel Society

© 2026 Zoe Taylor

She wasn’t a project, and she wasn’t a train wreck. She just was. She leapt up and rushed out of the room, not wanting her sobs to carry all the way across the theater, especially when she heard the thud of the heavy Chemistry book slam shut below. Did Heather hear already? She ran back, turning off the CD player, and then disappeared into the shadows of the utility corridor, trying not to breathe as she listened.

Split Victory

© 2026 Zoe Taylor

In which Tiffany first learns more about her future rival, completely unaware that Morgan, 'The Untouchable Tiger' is her own twin sister, Liberty Styles is befuddled by the humble salad fork, and Morgan finally sees her dojo and her fellow students as they are, rather than as background furniture, as she learns to see herself for who she is as well.

The Dead Pixel Society

© 2026 Zoe Taylor

P.E. is bad enough, but at Clarity Prep, there's also the joy of the colorfully labelled New Experience Day, and today's lesson is Fencing, or as Lewis/Aria thinks of it, 'being a lopsided tripod with a sword.' Still, she manages to make a new friend in a senior fencing student and further the goal of repairing The Beige Beast in the process. And soon she'll get to actually see what the girls' dorms actually look like, too. En garde!

Split Victory

© 2026 Zoe Taylor

In which the twins experience their own forms of euphoric reforging of their previously shatterd defenses and world views. Tiffany experiences the embrace of the Static offshoot branch calling themselves simply "The Out Group" and the most brutal MMA training of her entire life, while Morgan learns that presenting as a girl doesn't mean she has to give up being the badass Kenpo master of the phantom blitz

Trail Drive
A Short Story

It was getting dark. The sun had already dropped below the horizon but on the plains the twilight lasts a little longer, so the stranger, drawn by the light of a fresh fire, could easily steer a horse through the low scrub.

The cattle were well settled in a basin where there was a small watercourse and some green grass alongside as well as tender tips on some of the brush. They would settle well and could be easily watched from just above the campsite where the water flowed out.

Chapter One — The Suitable Date

From behind the wheel of the idling car, Gwen Aldous watched Sam come down the dormitory steps in the rented tuxedo and felt something in her chest pull tight that she couldn't quite name.

Split Victory

© 2026 Zoë Taylor

“Sweetheart,” Tori said and kissed Morgan’s forehead, “Whatever you need, you know you just have to ask.”

Life Changes
By Kathi Jo Daniels – KathiJo25
Part 1 – Into the Abyss of Debauchery
Chapter 1 – Justin Goes to Colorado

This year has already been challenging, and it’s only halfway through.