Note: This announcement was originally written for TG Storytime, as this story was originally written for TG Storytime. What is said in it may not apply to this site.

Well, we're coming up at the 1 year anniversary of this story. My god, I never expected it to be this long, and we still have a long way to go until the end! Anyway, 100K words! Wow! That's insane. I never thought I'd write anything longer than 100K words in my life but here we are. I want to thank you all so much for sticking around and reading this story. Every new review, each time I see this story get another favorite, it means a lot to me, and motivates me to continue writing. Anyway, here's Chapter 46 and oh, I achieved my main goal! 100K words before the story's 1 year anniversary. Another reason to celebrate!

Clementine
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Gabe Horton was just the scout and guide. The leader of this wagon train was Ezekiel Masterton. He was the man who called the shots. Gabe could only recommend. Pastor Ezekiel seemed to hold the will of every one of the settlers in his hand.

I came to life gradually, becoming acutely aware of sandstone beneath my cheek and the sensation of heat from the near-burning fire. I squinted, trying to will the throbbing sensation of pain from my head; a full blown headache that had made camp at the back of my skull. Reluctant to move my head, I explored the room with my eyes; a wooden table near the stone fireplace, a shelf filled with seemingly useless odds and ends, a wooden footlocker near a door that may or may not lead to the outside.

Sandy wasn’t just my spouse. I made it very clear to the professionals we hired for the campaign that there was no better political mind on the planet. Sandy almost never dipped an oar into my campaigns anymore, but I told the campaign staff, on no uncertain terms: “If Sandy says jump, you ask ‘how high?’ Don’t wait to talk to me.”

2 Years Ago

38 Years Before the Fall of Hybra

Slowly, Tiberius is getting the hang of things.
One year ago he joined the adventurers Conway, Debtar, and Sinea as a freshly baked mage.
His new friends had been generous with their advice and friendship.
But when the topic of Shroom Dungeon is brought up, they are unusually mum about any details.
They agree on one thing quickly. It was time for Tiberius to delve into Shroom Dungeon.
A dungeon yet undefeated. A place to lose yourself.

That evening, at the dinner table, Zoe told her parents about the breast cancer awareness club's fundraiser, and her and Miles' plan to get in Skylar's good graces by selling a lot of shirts and other items.

"That sounds like a good plan," Zoe's dad said when she'd finished explaining.

"Yeah," said Zoe. "Will you guys buy anything?"

"Sure, we can get a couple of bows," her mom answered.

Kitty huffed, a little impatiently, and explained, "Claus has this silly joke about a clone factory..."

"—in Omaha," Claus threw in.

"Why Omaha?" Dad asked.
 

For the rest of the week, Zoe tried her best to keep an eye on Skylar. Since P. E. was the only class she had with her, there wasn't much opportunity to interact with her and try to get closer to her. Of course, there was the first meeting of the breast cancer awareness club, but it ended up getting delayed to Friday at the last minute. So Zoe had to wait a little longer for that opportunity.

Okay, so before getting into this chapter I want to leave these notes here. First and foremost, I have received criticism regarding the politics in this story, and honestly I completely agree with most of the criticism. Including politics in this story was a horrible mistake. If I had the time and energy to rewrite this story, I would take this specific subplot with Elise's grandparents out, as well as most of the political stuff. I fully understand any criticism I get for this chapter and this story's use of politics. "Shame and Desire" is not a perfect story, and I am very much aware of that. I don't think anyone here reads these stories for lectures on capitalism, imperialism, and fascism.

If I will say anything to defend myself, it's that when I started writing this story, I wasn't exactly very serious about it and often times included certain elements for the sake of it. Quite a big chunk of this story was just used as a vessel to spout left wing political views. This is my first really big story, it has just hit 98K words and we still have quite a ways to go until the end. I am bound to make some mistakes. And now I have to live with them. This doesn't mean you're not allowed to criticize me or this chapter, but I thought it was just worth pointing out.

If you don't like the politics in this story, then you can be glad that there will be no major political subplots or commentary in this story from now on. I want to take writing this story more seriously and start only including elements that will add to the plot. They might still be thrown around here and there, as I've come to like Sierra's characterization as someone who cares a lot about left wing politics. And I also like the dynamic between Sierra and Elise in regards to this, with Elise being more of a liberal socdem and Sierra being far left (I'm not sure if she'd be more of a communist or an anarchist). But it won't be big, and it definitely will not take up a major part of the story.

If there's anything positive I can say here, it's that if you do like political debates, you'll probably enjoy this chapter. But other than that, go into this chapter and come out with whatever opinion you want.

Zoe took all her girl clothes back into her old bedroom, which was where she slept for the night. When she woke up the next morning, her dad had already left for work, but her mom was still home. "Hi Zoe," her mom said.

"Hi Mom," said Zoe.

"How does it feel? Waking up as a girl?"

"It's...kind of weird," Zoe admitted. "I was hoping yesterday would turn out to just be a bad dream, but it wasn't."

"Don't worry," said Zoe's mom, "Being female isn't all bad."

"I know," said Zoe. "It's a lot easier to go to the bathroom now."

Anika stands in front of the mirrors as she admires herself in the wedding dress she picked out. She was still amazed at what the Blue Lace drug had done to her body with Jack’s blood added to it. Something about Jack’s blood has physically changed her. It had hurt like hell as his blood coursed through her body.

“I think that’s the one for you, mom.” Justice couldn’t believe that Ron and Anika had adopted her. That had been a year ago, and now she was calling Anika’s mom.

I wasn’t going to start crying was I?

She did a twirl, which was adorable and would have been much prettier if she’d had room for her dress to flare out without bumping into the walls and furniture.

Once the opposition legal team had introduced themselves, I made myself comfortable and let the proceedings begin. Lane had hardly asked his first question when ‘they’ objected to the presence of Amy.

“Well, it’s only around five or six times a day now instead of almost constantly. That’s better. But it’s still plenty bad.”