Curled Up
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

When I retired, I decided that I was going to live a life of leisure. I had made plenty of money and I no longer had any dependents. I just wanted to curl up on the couch and relax.

It was just that my whole life I was driven, and I felt that so long as the driving force was still in me, I could never truly let go and lighten up.

The problem was that I was a man. The problem was between my legs. That simply had to go.

In a nutshell, the song is about all the crazy, misguided things
a man might do if he fell for a woman: things like:
get a job, rent a decent apartment, bathe more frequently...

We stepped out of class together, just chatting about how life was at Liberty High School and with Katie commenting on how friendly everyone was so far and how there was this nice guy who was telling some interesting comedy.
“Ah, you’ve met Matt.”
“Is he a friend of yours?”
“Yes,” I decided to forget to mention that he wanted to get into her pants.
“If he keeps practicing, he could be on stage one day.”
“Yeah.”

“What the hell is this?”

Jacqueline had vigorously scrubbed the toilet bowl to the point where her arm and wrist were blazing. But in spite of all her efforts, there was something that was simply refusing to come off.

Jacqueline groaned, setting the toilet brush aside and getting down to eye the foreign substance for what could have been the millionth time.

It was a tricky thing to catch, simply glancing at the bowl would not reveal it. Jacqueline herself hadn’t noticed it until she began cleaning. And soon it became impossible for her not to notice it.

Won’t they all see what I see, when I look in the mirror?

Elias Dufort was the leader of the king's appointed hunters. The hunters had attempted to remove the plague of nightwalkers for centuries. While investigating a possible hiding place, Elias runs into somethign completely unexpected and it will change his life forever.

When Phillip had got home and explained to his wife what had just happened. She had just rolled her eyes and carried on getting ready for a girls dinner she had planned. Phillip had a brief conversation with his agency and they simply repeated what Stephan had outlined at the meeting. Phillip had spent his time over the next few days mentally preparing himself for just how silly he would look presenting Loose Women, and Ruth’s teleshopping shows on QVQ as a presenter who was used to being on much larger shows.

"But wait… Did Rachel just assume that Riley..." I was thinking out loud, and I could see Lizzy’s eyes growing twice as big in anticipation of what I was about to say. But patience clearly wasn’t her strong suit, so it wasn’t surprising to hear her demanding an answer when I didn't finish my sentence right away.

Phillip Scoff strolled down ITB’s studios, briefly smiling at one of the members of the crew who rushed by him. He had given decades of his career in entertainment to the tv broadcaster, capturing the attention of millions of Britain’s daytime tv watchers on This Morning. Himself and his much adored co-presenter Holly Wibbly, had won the show endless awards.

CHAPTER 15
That was when I nearly broke, but I had a long chat with myself. Stupid bloody thing to say, really, but while my thoughts were screaming and painful, there was a little voice underneath the agony whispering words of… What? Not solace; not comfort. Just words of sense and sentiment.

Carolyn had loved me, at least as much as I still loved her, and I had absolutely no doubts on that score. She was gone, and I took what solace, what comfort I could, in the fact that it had been so quick. To be honest, there was nothing better I could find to lift me from my bed, but in the end it was all I had, and it was enough.

It was the third time that I would have to pee in my bed that week. Just the night before my grandma had made it very clear what would happen if she were to find me in a wet bed the next morning which is why I began to cry as I tried to go. It was so hard to start peeing myself even though my bladder hurt from being so full I felt it would burst.

A group of friends streams their gaming on Wednesday nights. But not all the action is on the dining room table.

“I have walked my way since the beginning of time. Sometimes I give, sometimes I take. It is mine to know which and when!”

Fear can be such an incredibly basic sensation. Your body and brain detect danger, making you change your current actions into doing something to steer away from whatever it is that is causing the fear. It can make you run away from a dog that is behaving in an aggressive manner. It can make you run away from a bully who wants to ruin your day. It can even make you run away from your own mother and her judgmental gaze. All of this seems easy enough. But what if you’re afraid of something closer to home? What If you’re afraid of something you can’t run away from?

Pete needs a makeover....