The Houstons entered their home together as a family.

“Boys, please change out of your uniforms and wear something casual,” said Jeff once they were all inside.

Heather followed Ryan to his room as he still hadn’t the privilege of choosing his clothes. Entering his room, Heather went straight towards his closet, chose a white sweater with skinny grey jeans, and left the bedroom so Ryan could change.

Ryan didn’t mind that much with mom choosing his clothes. The only problem was that everyone constantly mistook him for a girl. If he’s going to be mistaken for a girl, he may as well do what he likes. Ever since he was five, that was the reason he decided to let his hair grow.

I think unless something happens soon to change his life significantly, something that gives him a place in life, a rôle, a purpose and some light at the end of the tunnel he’ll end up committing suicide before long. Such a mind set is dangerous in people who have kids they care about because their minds become so disturbed they often take the kids with them rather than risk them ending up in even worse circumstances. Keep that to yourself. None else who can’t reason it out for himself needs to know. His lack of self confidence and the fear he’ll lose the children is crippling him to the point of being barely able to function. Christ his whole life has been one unending pile of shite, whatever happens has got to be an improvement. A decent single bloke with no life experience worth a damn and even less self confidence who has clearly been reviled and abused all his life by women as well as men was given the custody of his sister and brother in law’s three orphaned kids because his parents are too old and his sisters already have a family and cant afford to take the kids in, and with no bloody support at all he was expected to cope playing mother and father both to the kids. He’s doing his damnedest, but what the f*** were the powers that be thinking of?”

The Courtship of Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn
Chapter 9: Mother's Advice

I don't think there is anything more precious to a daughter than spending time with her mother. Since becoming Cerridwen my mom has made a point to spend more time with me, guiding me if you will down the fable path of womanhood. At first I tried to hide the fact that I was seeing a boy from my mom. But people talk in this small town and my mother has an ear for gossip. Plus, she was a hairdresser by trade, and people love to gossip while getting their haircut, colored, styled, and washed.

The Late Unpleasantness

Six / Shark Tank

A Story from THE ONE

Ariel Montine Strickland

How will the Danielle survive in the Shark Tank for practicing her religion?

Freedom, oh freedom I was longing for you
Sitting alone in the dark, feeling so blue.
Pretending to be someone I didn't even know.
Stopping me from ever being able to grow.

Freedom, oh freedom what a crazy concept to think about.
I have been working hard to find you, feeling almost burnt out.
I was worried I will never find you, feeling empty inside.
I felt like staying in the dark, which was my only place to hide.

Gakkou No Kaiden
The Curse of Tsumugi-chan

If you ever go into the principal's office you will notice that sitting right of the desk is an old fashioned doll that is sealed in a glass case. At the bottom you will see a sign that reads. “Warning: This doll is cursed, please do not touch it, and please do not touch the glass case.” Many think that this is a joke. But there is a good reason for the doll being sealed up and locked away in the principal's office.

Bev is forced to remain as much as possible away from Earth until things calm down. Then family events return to haunt her.

Louis Vaughn, could never quite figure out what it was that he had done but he'd become a man in demand. That demand had come about very much either by accident or the luck of being in the right place at the right time, he’d carved out a second career as an escort. No, not the dirty sort of escort but a person who could be relied upon to behave properly when they are in the company of women and in particular the women who called upon his services. The other sort of escort was not what Louis was about.

Another self-contained short story about a gender-fluid boy, his mom, and an understanding hair stylist dealing with contemporary issues. How will Jackie handle an upcoming road trip through a state with bathroom laws?

Changing Roles
By Julie Dawn Cole
Chapter 11
I was on a high and no way would I be able to sleep and since it wasn’t too late I messaged Sally to see if she was still up and available for a chat. Within minutes she called me back, keen to know what Emily had wanted to discuss with me. She was worried in case it was bad news. She immediately sensed that I was on a high and that I had so much to tell her that I was having difficulty getting the words out.

Chapter 3

Saturday morning we were all up bright and early and, after breakfast, we went off to the station in the little car. When we got there I could see why they used it as it was very easy to park. We caught the first train that arrived and travelled the forty minute trip into Victoria Station.

My mother told me, once we had walked to the Victoria Underground, that when I started at the Chelsea College of Arts I would need to take the Victoria Line to Pimlico and walk a couple of blocks.

Ryan walked through the hallway heading directly to Coach Damien’s office. Seeing that Ryan was so successful under his coaching, the school had decided to make an office just for coach Damien.

Reaching the coach’s office, Ryan started knocking on the door. “Come in,” the sound of coach Damien came from behind the door.

As Ryan entered, he saw coach Damien, a well-built, 6’5” man in his early thirties, sitting at his desk.

Final Chapter

Changing Roles
By Julie Dawn Cole
Chapter 10

‘Well Julia close but not close enough. She certainly would have liked to have been a model. She is pretty enough and she’s tall enough but she was much too shy and she had a disadvantage to overcome unlike most models.’

‘Is she related to you? Do you have a sister or a cousin?’

I groan as I reluctantly wake up. My mother has just given me a good shake before leaving my room. Monday mornings aren’t exactly my favorite. Then I see the outfit my mother had picked out for me today. A nice black A-line skirt and a very frilly blouse. Add to that black pantyhose and shoes with a distinct heel and frilly underwear. I groan yet another time. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean that I’m a girly girl.

The Courtship of Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn
Chapter 7: Bridal Dream

The Late Unpleasantness

Five / Alien Symbols

A Story from THE ONE

Ariel Montine Strickland

How will Belinda interpret the alien symbols on the state dining room wall?

In the eigthies, when I was a teen I started to go to my mum's friend, a professional hair dresser, to get my hair styled. Then she asked me to model for her master exam. This is what came of it...

Changing Roles
By Julie Dawn Cole
Chapter 9

‘Emily you were amazing today. Rao is so arrogant and bigoted. He thinks he is superior to everybody because he owns a company and has accumulated wealth. He never had any respect for me or for George Garside and even his own workforce seem to despise him. He treats them terribly. I will never forget the look on his face when you accused him of bribery’