An astounding start for our Minister

 

Tales of Faralmark


by Julia Phillips


02 – Farsightedness

Most of the time there was no other place in the world where Tom Downey would rather be than the Lincoln Park Bike Park. Going there was special because the bike park was only open weather permitting. His parents would only take him there once a month during the school year and twice in the summer. The trip to the bike park not being common, made everything about the place even more special. To Tom, the expert level BMX course was the best in the world. The bike trail must be the longest and widest Tom had ever seen. Even the wooden picnic benches were comfortable.

You are bigots, not just your people, but all of the alliance’s peoples, no better than the invaders. Many of our spiritual leaders are mentally of one sex living in the body of the other, and over the centuries you have burnt many of them alive. To this day it is an offence under your law for them to even exist.

There is a saying. Everyone has a twin somewhere in the world.

Like most people I laughed my butt off when I first heard it. Sure there is lots of "proof" of that being a real thing. I just never once thought I would meet someone anywhere like me.

I had been giving my situation a lot of thought, I had drifted into living and working almost full-time as a woman. My wife Sara had gone along with it without complaint but our situation was changing.

"You said something about Belinda having cousins in the IRA, and Sasha told me to drop it when I asked about it.”

“Well seeing as there’re just us here and no outsiders I’ll tell you what I meant.”

“Hold on a moment Tommy and Ellen, Mummy needs to take this call.”

I was almost outside the school where my five-year old was a pupil. As was normal, I was taking my son Tommy and my friends daughter Ellen to school.

I answered the phone.

“Hello Sam. What can I do for you this fine morning?”

“Hillman Chemicals? Yes, I know it. What is the job?”

“Editing lab reports? Yeah, I can do that. Do they have my CV?”

Stone

Chapter 41 – Waiting

Stone woke early the next morning, hearing a buzz of noise from outside the house. Looking out the window, he saw that the street was clogged with people. There was a steady stream of children in front of the new house, standing in a queue and slowly coming into that house to get a bowl of oatmeal. Stone went to the washroom, and opening the door, heard squeals of outrage from the three young girls inside.

Picture

What an amazing dream, I thought as consciousness returned to me. In that moment I was certain that I had arrived in Boston and somehow made it to my assigned dorm without remembering it. Running on too much coffee and not enough food could do that.

As soon as I had the cash, I'd have to get better sheets, the dorm supplied ones It felt like crap, so threadbare and rough, it was like sleeping in a pile of straw. At least it was warm. I rolled over and stretched out into a star shape.

Diversity
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

“You have to be either gay or black to get ahead in this organization.” Luther drank deeply from his tall glass of beer. “I’m black, so you lose.”

I could only shake my head, but in agreement. But we were here to celebrate his elevation to a named manager on one of the key funds established by our employer. That meant not only the status but a share of the return based management fee.

Anything But Down

A dose of reality

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
That bastard! I thought as tears streamed down my cheeks.

‘McTavist: The Making of a Community’, by Lewis McDonald and Lucia McTavist, with added personal details by the authoress: a synopsis.
The authorship of this work is not quite what it appears, but my editor insisted the book be presented thus. In explanation, I was named Lewis McDonald at birth, became Lucia McDonald before I was two and became a McTavist in my early teens. McTavist is my married name too because I married James McTavist. My editor says she is going to use this as promotional material. I didn’t think it to be that interesting.

{This is one from the archives. This one originally dates from 2009 and was finished in 2018 after several previous attempts that got nowhere}

It was the height of the morning rush hour and the crowds of commuters were on their way to work.

Pierre Clement was one of the commuters who in their tens of thousands made their way from Waterloo to their place of work five mornings a week, week in, week out, year in, year out. Most of the time, he was just another face in the throng of people using the station.

Pierre had been living in London for more than ten years and ran a Wine Importers that was based on the western edge of the ‘Square Mile’. He waited patiently for the No 243 bus to take him to his stop on Theobalds Rd. He was not in a good mood that morning as another passenger on the 07:45 from Guildford had spilt their coffee when the train stopped at Effingham Junction with an unexpected jolt. Quite a lot of it ended up on the previously immaculately pressed trousers of his business suit. Several other passengers did a good bit of ‘effing’ of their own.

An cryogenic experiment, A brave volunteer starts to dream about being the opposite sex. Is it malfunctioning equipment or intentional or something entirely different all together.