He paused a moment, considering, then said, "I hope you don't mind if I make a personal observation."

"Not at all," I said. "I'd appreciate it."

"What you're doing is quite brave. Most people wouldn't have the nerve or the courage.
It's incredibly hopeful, but at the same time, it's immensely sad."

“I Am Who I Am”

1

Lady Ann woke up feeling extremely grumpy.

She’d just had what had to have been the worst night’s sleep of her life. She’d staggered home pissed in the early hours of the morning, vomiting several times on the way home and then had to make her bed up when she got back to the hay barn above the stable. As a mere stable hand, Burt wasn’t given proper lodging. Now she was living his life she literally had to roll out his thin straw mattress every night and put it away in the morning. It was hardly worth the effort. She could feel the joins between the floorboards through the flimsy thing!

She’d tossed and turned for the rest of the night feeling cold, uncomfortable and queasy. Try as she might, at three o’clock in the morning, feeling like death warmed up, she’d been unable to block the draft coming in from outside in numerous places. And it was spring! Imagine how much colder it would be for the real Burt when the weather really took a turn for the worse come autumn. She thanked God she’d be back in her own warm bed long before that.

Atalanta's Story - Chapter 7 My thanks goes to William Durr for his all around help. I'm a grammar klutz. This is one of the shortest chapters and sets up the next chapter. Chapter 8 is a long chapter with lots of action but I'm not sure how long it will take me as my BIL passed yesterday morning so plans are on hold for a few days.

This Chapter includes Christmas giving and spring rites.

So, it's not Room in hell 14, or Vagrants 9. Both Maeve and Mouse were watching over my shoulder as my ADHD muse was dictating this one, and both approved the delay - they think it's good enough. As long as my muse keeps nailing me with ideas, I'll keep writing them; can't help but do it that way.

Minor language warning here, these are rough people and they cuss. Not too sure about the pacing; I finished this full chapter in four hours, and chapter 2 is in progress.

So...enjoy!

Copyright Nagrij, 2014.

Ups & Downs

1

The real Burt meanwhile, stared out with his new eyes at the disappearing English countryside, an elegant shawl wrapped around his shapely legs. In no time they were at the railway station and he was helped down from the carriage.

It was a marvel to be walking through the milling people. Up until now Burt had only spent time in Griply Hall. Now he was outside in the real world, surrounded by ordinary people; either his equals or betters in his normal life. Now, instead of ignoring him as they normally would have, they stepped back out of his way as he walked as carefully as possible through the station building and onto the platform.

He didn’t have to do anything himself. Gladys fussed with the tickets and carried the baggage with the help of the coach driver. He felt like he was royalty… which he supposed (as a distant relation to King Edward) he actually was!

Standing for a moment on the platform, waiting for the train, he suddenly really saw himself as he was now. To every passerby he was an elegant lady on a trip to the capital. As long as his mouth was shut no one could tell him for the imposter he was. He was a beautiful woman, the breeze caressing the curls of his long hair, his hands neatly clasped at his waist.

My Super Secret Life…Scarlet-18.

Chapter 18

*Before…

And he’s very, very married.

Man…getting used to this and being me and these super hero types is going to take a whole lot more getting used to.

I kind of get him out of my head and I’m trying to take note of the ride since I’ve never been in an aero-ambulance before and the EMT looks at me and it’s the guy that I met with the whole big thing that happened down town when I first helped out all the other AA’s.

“Hey you.” He says in quietly and nicely kinda of caring guy and gentle like…I know because I’ve used the same tones myself.

“Hey…….” Oh...oh man I can’t remember his name.

*And Now…

The Note

1

The next morning Ann was startled to wake from a deep and satisfied sleep at the crack of dawn. With no glass in the windows it was freezing and the dawn light shone right in her eyes through the open hayloft entrance. The straw mattress underneath her was little better than sleeping on a board; not like the silk sheets and thick mattress she was used to.

It took her a moment to realise where she was. And who she was. Her head was fuzzy from the previous night’s festivities but it quickly came back to her: the pleasure of drinking and carousing and fighting of all things with her mate Je— with Jeb, the farmer’s boy. She also remembered the animal passion and the thrill of bedding the slutty barkeep’s daughter, grinning broadly to herself as she fingered her bushy moustache with one hand and fondled her half-aroused hairy cock with the other.

It came back to her how she’d fantasized making love with Lady Ann – with herself – but she shook her head ruefully. She’d also gotten a lot of pleasure from telling herself she was really a man.

"Let me get this straight: Say I come to Texas with you. We go back in time, to two weeks ago. At that point, there'll be two of you, right? The one who is back there now, and the present you. Once you return to the present, there will still be two of you, right? because the one who is back there now will have caught up. How do you handle that?"

A Quiet Strength - Paying the Piper
by Anon Allsop

-Part Two-

-Six-

Max sat in the Intensive Care Unit's waiting area, a tall young doctor approached. "Mr. Augustus?" Max nodded, the doctor took a seat beside him on the couch. "Your daughter is resting now, Elise is pretty severely injured. She has bleeding on her brain, and for now, we're keeping her in a medically induced coma."

"Will she live, Doc?" Max asked without looking up.

The Doctor inhaled deeply, "There are no guarantees, Mr. Augustus. Any brain injury is life threatening, there is always a danger when it involves the brain. Your daughter has had some serious trauma, the next 72 hours will tell us quite a bit. Go on home, sir, get some rest, we'll let you know if anything changes.

Atalanta's Story - Chapter 6 This chapter involved a lot of rework and back and forth with William Durr. My grammar skills are not the best so any errors that I left are mine. This is also longer than most of the chapters and the hardest to get right.

A lot happens in this chapter, some discoveries, some mysteries and Atalanta has her first date. She starts to grow up and assert herself a little bit.

(13) If you can’t touch me you can’t hurt me

We all build walls around ourselves to keep safe from the bumps and knocks

Sixteen Feet of Steel Chapter 6

Chapter 6

*Before…

Palfrey Corner is six leagues past Dewbridge and it’s gotten dark and I’m actually walking ahead of everyone…I’m holding my hand up and I’m arcing lighting between my thumb and baby finger casting off blue white light. Hawk’s behind me where she’s keeping watch as we make our way to this place where the trail breaks into a clearing and there’s a small lake and a hamlet with a stacked stone wall and a decent defensive ditch in front of it.
There’s a horn sounded from a watch tower made of simple wood and I look at Nicole who runs up a colors flag. “Watch we come with the post!”
It takes a little longer but we get a response. “Be welcome Wisdom and Squire but be warned we’re under a yellow flag!”
I look at the others. “Yellow flag?”
Taylor’s frowning. “Sickness, they’ve sickness in the village.”

*And Now…

As Steve focuses on HRT, secret plans will change his future forever. Is he strong enough to find his way when the help of others cause Steve to question himself?

“It’s terrible that we won’t remember any of this. Some of it, like the fight with your mother,
I’d gladly forget, but if there was one moment that I could take and keep,
it would be this one with you, here and now.”

The smell of tea wakes me up.

Not good tea either but that orange pekoe that someone’s plopped in a teapot and think that you can keep it on the heat after the water’s been boiled.

I’m going to taste the teabags.

I can take this, I can take the canned milk in it, I can take anything really.

Except all of this…

Of losing them for good maybe...