Raven drags herself through the front door. She was soaked to the bone from the rain. The day had started off nice and sunny. It was just a little chilly when she left to go to work early this morning.

She hadn’t noticed the storm clouds, till after lunch. The garage was doing good, so Jordan cooked food for everyone. He cooked on a homemade grill he kept behind the garage. It was a simple lunch of hot dogs, bratwurst and hamburgers. There was a chef salad that Jerry made, there was potato salad and macaroni salad as well. Of course, there was beer and soda.

Sunday morning Kelly was a couple levels above normal perky. Honestly I don't know how she does it all the time. I was getting use to it though. Seeing her happy all the time did make me feel a little better. There are many ways to wake up in the mornings and a chipper all too happy Kelly calling me honey, sweetie or the dreaded sweetheart was far from the worst.

I haven’t been in a shelter for a really long time. I think I was five back then. I forgot how crowded they were. People everywhere. Last time I had to stay in the nursery with the really young kids and toddlers. Probably the only place where I was one of the biggest. This time they gave me a small room. There was a small window on the top of the ceiling which was on the ground outside as we were in the basement. It had a bar in front of said window on the back wall to hang clothes on even though I couldn’t reach it. A small garbage can, a dresser and a bed.

Jaxon Dundee watches as a Lear Jet lands at Alice Springs Airport. He had been contacted by Captain Burghoff about some new recruits flying in for dessert and jungle training. He suggested that he takes them out for a week in the desert and to the rainforest for a week.

Jaxon didn’t mind and the person sponsoring the people coming in, paid him good money to put his recruits through the wringer. He wonders how many the training camp sent this time. He waits for the jet to come to a full stop, before approaching it.

“Mmph,” I moan as I wake up in my bed, my soft sheets huddled around my body- and only my body. I let out a sigh as I swing my soft, hairless legs out of bed and pad through to the bathroom for a long, hot shower, before drying myself and heading to the kitchen to make myself a much-needed cup of hot coffee- and take my much-needed oestrogen tablets. I try to force a smile on my face as I switch on the television, but it quickly disappears when I’m greeted by a trailer for this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing, which starts tonight- and which features my Kayla.

CHAPTER 84
Just the slightest of twitches in reaction to Mam’s deliberate stressing of the boy’s middle name, and of course I understood her purpose. My son turned his wide-eyed gaze to Mam.

“This is Aunty Annie and she lives in England by a church with aeroplanes and she plays a flute and she doesn’t speak Welsh but Aunty Steph Mrs Woodruff does!”

I knew it was going to be bad. They never call us into the living room this late. It’s their television time together they call it. This time the television was off though. Definitely something bad, and were part of it. I don't think we did anything. Were we too loud? I was just reading I don't know how that was bad…

“I’m sorry kids.” Mr. Lopez said. “There's really no easy way to say this. I haven't been working for a few weeks now. I was hoping I could find something. It’s just not happening as soon as we wanted.”

Join Avery and follow along as the hard life starts to show a silver lining. Things may not be great at first but there is still hope. Dangerous hope. To have hope and lose it may perhaps be one of the worst things of all. Walls of protection firmly in place around Avery’s heart and despite the past hardships and a lot of personal issues. Avery finds people who care and finally starts to feel good about the future. Tainted future. Past experience and unplanned secrets threaten to unravel. Will hope shine or will dispare wall Avery away from the world for ever?

Stuck in a Rut.
By Rosalie Redd

Casey Church is a normal 13 year old girl, full of hopes and dreams and fears and anxieties. But in a world where there hasn’t been a girl born in over a century, what is normal?

Chapter 19.

*** Prologue ***

CHAPTER X

The prosecuting attorney told Karen he didn't believe they would get a conviction against the three men who allegedly raped her. It was her word against three men who had an alibi collaborated by the bartender. He told her to forget about it and let it drop. She should consider herself fortunate to be alive.

“I’m going,” I said adamantly to Broderick, gripping my bow in my left hand. “If they’re after me I deserve to know why.”

“We can send you a memo,” Broderick said, dropping a netted bag of lemons into a canvas backpack along with a few packages of crossbow bolts. “Have you ever been in a real fight? And by that I mean a fight where you didn’t get one of the most important people in your life killed?”

“Excuse me?” I clenched my fist, my face beginning to burn a deep red. “There was NOTHING I could do for Meredith!”

The dust had just about settled by the time I came to my senses. I realised that I was lying on top of Jemma. I felt her groan and move so I knew she was alive.

As my head cleared, I realised that Bathroom door had been blown off its hinges and was lying on top of us. The fact that it was solid had probably saved our lives.

For some strange reason, I remembered cursing the building inspector for insisting on it being a ‘fire door’ because the Central Heating Boiler was in the Bathroom. I moved a bit and didn’t get very far at all. The extra weight of the door would make getting out from under it a lot harder. You win some and lose some.

I chuckled to myself. It is strange what passes through your mind at times like this…