I won't go through every detail of the day, but I will say that it didn't take me long to realize that Alice was joking when she said that waxing was fun. AND that it was nothing like waxing floors.

He stopped walking. "How can you ask me that? Have you ever looked at yourself? I mean, it isn't even that... I don't know. How could I pass up a chance to be with you? I remember the first time I saw you, when I was walking up the stairs from the basketball court, and I saw you, lost, in that cute little dress...," he was grinning, and I had to smile too. I could see that moment in my mind, too. "I had to talk to you. I had to try to go out with you. I couldn't not try. I really like you."

When I was finally alone, lying in a huge bed in a huge dark room, I felt terrible. It wasn't just the residue of the waxy toy makeup. It was a crippling cosmic guilt like I've never felt before. I don't pray, but that night I slipped out of bed in my Hello Kitty nightgown and got on my knees.
 

"The only thing I want to change," I informed my parents, "is that I want to go to Lou's party on Saturday."

They glanced at each other for a moment, then Dad said, "As Tinkerbell, or Lite Brite?"

"It's Rainbow Brite," I corrected.
 

"Oh, my God, Jerry!" I said when he emerged, "Everybody thinks this baby is real and that's it's mine!" At that moment, the baby stopped crying and let out a soft coo. I sighed in relief...

Ms. Tandy held up the doll and asked if anyone knew what it was.

One girl said, "A doll."

The teacher replied, "Come on, if it was that easy, I wouldn't have asked."

"Oh! Oh!" another girl called. "I know! I know!"

Having to reveal my thoughts on transition to Saint Nicholas made me a little uncomfortable. I wondered secretly whether he even had the power to fulfill my desire. “Sir, it seems that my feeling that my body was of the wrong sex was prevalent even in my preteens. I suppressed those feelings thinking the it was not natural and a passing fad. As I reached my teen years and found that I would be different from my mates, I found myself questioning my masculinity."

I wasn't sure how we were going to play it, but when Mom reached into the changing booth and rolled my boy clothes up into a tight roll, I got it: for the moment, I was Juliette.

Alice asked, "How will you handle tomorrow? What are you going to do? How are you going to explain to everybody?"

They all looked at me, and I looked back at them. A slow smile came to my lips, and Alice said, "No! You're not! You... you can't! You're not going to pretend to be a girl, are you!?"

"Stop!" I told her. "It's not funny any more. I never said I wanted to be a girl! Or even pretend to be a girl!"

"Trust me, Marcie-Mark," Jane told me. "I'm your responsible adult. You're in my care. And I'm telling you, this will be good for you. You'll like it. You'll learn all kinds of useful things about girls, and you even can write a book about it when you're older.

Mom bit her tongue, and said calmly, "Victor, listen to me. If you put on a boy's costume, one of your friends might notice you. But if you dress like a girl, they never will. Think about it."

"But do I have to dress like a little girl?" I asked.

"Oh, my lord!" she cried. "You have to wear a dress every day for the next two weeks?" She actually sat down on the sidewalk, she was laughing so hard. I wanted to smack her, I was so mad. "We're going to have to do some shopping!" She clutched her sides.

"Oh, Marcie," Ms. Price said with a concerned frown, "What happened to you? I thought you'd get here ahead of me."

In answer I looked up at the Queen of Hearts lookalike standing next to me. I wanted to say, What happened to me? She happened to me. That's what happened to me. Then I looked from Ms. Price's eyes to the hand on my arm, to try to tell her, I'm her prisoner now.

Chapter 21: No regrets, in which the s#!t hits the fan and Joey forgets to duck.
Chapter 22: All you need is love, in which some things finally go right for Joey and she prepares for her big debut.
 

This story takes place roughly half a year before Ikarus. It's about inadvertendly stumbling across a line you never thought you'd cross, even though you were steaming towards it all the time at full speed.
Comments are more than welcome.

Two astronauts return to Earth after fifty years in space to find a world completely depopulated by a terrible plague. The last survivors of a doomed planet, the two men eke out a grief-stricken pointless existence, foraging in the ruins of shops and warehouses as they wait to grow old and die. The fact that they are such good friends does help, but the crushing sense of loss and isolation is always with them. Until one day...

Halloween

by shalimar

“What are you going to wear to the Halloween party, Stephie?” Shelly asked one of her thirteen-year-old twins.

“I don’t think I’m going to the party,” the teen replied. “I don’t ever win the best costume.”

“You are going,” Shelly replied. “You will have a good time even if you don’t win.”

“But, ma!”

A Care Givers Company story
The Best and the Brightest

by Maggie Finson

Heylo folks! Heather Rose and I are coming up on production fast now! Honest! Really! I mean it! Stop looking at me that way!

Major appreciation to my artist, Heather Rose Brown! She's worked so incredibly hard on these, getting every little detail to my specifications, taking an average of four tries for every character concept sketch! She's so talented and so hard-working. I stand / sit / float in awe...

A story of a teenage boy with desires to become feminine. He gets busted wearing his best friend’s, sister’s cheerleading uniform. And she always wanted a sister...

A boy in a girl’s cheerleader outfit was staring back at me. My hair was long, but just not, well, styled like a girl. I opened her drawers and found some tie-backs and barrettes. I had no clue of what to do with them. Just then, I heard a soft knock on the door.

“Brian, is that you in there?” It was Britney!

“I’ll be right out,” I whispered.

“Brian, you have been in there for a half hour! What is going on?”

I had to think fast. I told her that I was sick. She did not believe me. I heard her try the door. Then I heard her use a tool to unlock the door. It was opening! I threw my body against the door and pushed.

“Please don’t come in Britney!” I pleaded. It was too late. She was part of the way in pushing back on the door when she saw my reflection in the mirror. Her eyes got big.

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN

By Bimbo Alison

A bored but romantic-at-heart witch enjoys a cross-country train trip. On her journey she touching many lives aboard the train and tries to make them better, while working around many of the rules and regulations of the magic community.

Hope you enjoy!

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For My Daughters

by shalimar

Chapter 1

Esther and Grace played with the tea set Albert had set out for them on a small table in the corner of the room. He had placed their tiny table there so he could keep an eye on them as he scrubbed the counters. Al had washed the dishes the two girls had used for dinner, and then he made sure the kitchen sparkled before he gave them his full attention.