Chapter 5

The parents all nodded and Sharon said that she didn’t mind looking after an extra one, there was room and it did give her an extra interest, being able to use her teaching skills. She told the other parents that she had given up teaching when she married so was only helping out as a teachers’ aide for the moment.

WILF
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I was an experienced transvestite. I had been closeted for years. I denied it to myself and did not tell my wife the full extent of my need to dress. She was open to “kinky sex”, but she drew the line at anything more than that. I decided that I would lie to her as well as myself.

Josh Ryan was not normal. He talked different, walked different, laughed different... and everyone knew it. He had two very close friends who always wanted to help him; in fact, throughout his young life, he always had people around who wanted to help him... usually to fend off his parents who seemed like they would do anything for him. Their desire to help however, often made his own life take a back seat to their ideas of why he was so different and who he should become as a result... "for his own good." Determined to raise Josh 'their way' and according to their own ideas of who he is, it would take extreme circumstances and more pain than Josh ever thought a person could endure for anyone to even begin to see the damage his parents were doing to his childhood, his future, and in the end, his very life... all "with the best of intentions."

Eric Dunning was only twelve and in the last six months had watched his mother Erica waste away with cancer, eight years after the death of his father Jack in the early months of fighting in Afghanistan. Torn away from everything he has ever known, a happy southern California life with his mother and his best friend April, he is sent to the complete opposite side of the country to live with an aunt and cousin he has never met. Enduring one trauma after another, circumstances alter the way he sees life, God, and himself in ways he could never have imagined.

Set against the backdrop of rural northern New Hampshire in the 2010s, Lost Faith combines elements of coming-of-age, transformation, self-discovery, and romance, interwoven with a potential answer to the question, "Why does a loving God allow good people to suffer?" It is written as a companion story to the novel, Every Day is Your Last.

CHAPTER 1
“Got your phone?”

“Yeah, of course!”

“Why’s it still sitting here plugged into the charger then?”

“Cachu! Ta!”

“And it’s raining!”

“Course it is! That’s why I’ve got my cagtrousers on”

Shade looks at Hatter as they drove towards Washington D.C. He could tell she wasn’t happy about leaving Bree behind or leaving her.

“Are we doing the right thing about adopting Bree?” Aylin looks at Mark as he sat behind the steering wheel.

“Yes, and you knew from the beginning that there will be times we will have to leave her. Look at Dakota and Terry. They sometimes have to leave the twins when Anika has a mission for them.”

A Father’s Debts
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

(And another of those stories extended from the short attached as a pdf.)

Do not think for a minute that my father traded me to meet his debts. Some may put it that way. Some may paint him as one of those gambling addicts would sell a family member to pay for his problem. But people cannot be bought and sold. I had to agree.

Signals
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Introductory Note:

Over on Fictionmania I post very short pieces which are simply jottings inspired by images that I view from time to time. For me they are little exercises - mind flexing moves to keep my story writing fresh and to try to find new perspectives on what are often just tired tropes. But sometimes the idea needs to be fleshed into a full idea and that is what I usually post over here on Big Closet Top Shelf.

Trans Wiki Bio: Pearl Grey
A Short Alternative Biography
By Maryanne Peters

Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and adventurer best known for her popular adventure novels and stories written for young women. Her novel “American Frontier – Women of the Purple Sage” is her best-selling book.

In addition to the commercial success of her printed works, her books have had second lives and continuing influence when adapted as films and television productions.

Early life

The Complete Rear Window

I was just chatting with Erin about 2nd person story writing - you know, yes you.
I suddenly realized that I had not posted this story.
It was originally a series on Fictionmania, and I received such wonderful reviews from Sydney Michelle that when I consolidated it, I had to put those in as an "overlaid" conversation.
But unfortunately that forced me into formatting acrobatics, so until I can get it into html here is the pdf ....

“Say cheese!” The photographer says as the nine of us all pull wide, happy grins- and no one's grin is wider or happier than the bride's. I smile as the tall, handsome groom approaches... and kisses the woman stood six feet to my left.

Julia enjoys the ride back to her house. She is careful when she pulls up her long driveway because the wolves sometimes like darting out of the woods. She still couldn’t believe that the new captain put her on suspension for three days. As she parks her pick-up truck, she spots Sphinx coming around the corner of the house.

“Hey, boy.” As Julia exists from the pick-up truck.

Sphinx walks over to Julia, happy to see his human. He stops near her and wags his tail when she starts scratching him between his ears. He loves when she scratching him between his ears.

A posh young woman of high station has certain... fantasies while waiting in the check-out line.

Ratings and cautions are for safety.

Author's note: This story might be "half-baked" due in part to me having written it during a heatwave. I'll most certainly come back later to iron out the kinks as the saying goes.

The Fa'afafine bill

Fa'afafine is a “third gender” in Polynesian culture, according to the Samoa Fa'afafine Association.
It has been a part of island life for as long as anyone can remember..When a boy is noticeably effeminate, he will likely be taught the traditional duties of Samoan women, which often means working within the house. In the past it was thought that this role was forced on them. There are contradicting stories. Some do indeed say that they were forced. Mostly it is voluntary though.

Luke pulls up in front of the Courtyard to pick Mrs. Bounty up. He had received a text message from her. He spots Gina Bounty walking out to his car. He gets out and opens the passenger back door for her.

Gina spots Luke Winter holding open the passenger door of his black Mercedes-Benz S-Class for her. He was also one of her father’s agents that operated out of Washington D.C. and an amateur race car driver as well. Before he came to work for her father, he uses to be a Lt. Commander in the United States Navy.

“Long time, no see, Luke.” Gina likes Luke a lot.

Ian and Brice
Chapter 4 (Brice)
Copyright 2021 by Heather Rose Brown

In this chapter, Ian reveals another bit of his past, which starts Brice thinking about her biological parents. Those thoughts lead Brice to asking one of her foster parents a question she'd never had the nerve to ask before.

=-=-=