Tammy snuggles closer to Leland as he slept. They spent last night going over the security footage and didn’t learn anything. The footage Nyx had was scrambled as well. They need to give the footage to someone who could unscramble it.

Normally, she would have Becky work on it. But Becky and her wife Sunny were visiting her folks. Nyx had gone back to her hotel room and was seeing if she could reach a friend of hers back in Georgia. According to what Nyx told them, this friend of hers was extremely good at de-scrambling videos and such.

A Thing of Beauty
By Maryanne Peters
A Sequel to "Beauty Boy": https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/87856/beauty-boy

I sometimes think I am just a thing to him. A thing of Beauty.

I know what beauty is. It is my trade after all. I was a boy then, looking for a trade that did not require me to sweat or get dirty, and preferably involved in surrounding myself with beautiful things. Why should that be restricted to women? They do not have a monopoly on beauty.

Fit For Life Fitness Center:
“Higher ladies.” Sandy looks at everyone in her exercise class.

Some of the women were new and some were ones that have been taking her class for a while. She notices a light brown hair teenage girl that was new to her class. She was a little awkward in her movements. It was like the girl didn’t know her own body.
Sandy continues to watch the girl until her class is over. She walks over to the girl “I noticed you were having some difficulties. Is everything okay?”

Lolita Revisited
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I never thought that this kind of thing happened for real, but there are strange people out there.

I suppose my mother was strange too. She always had a hankering to see me dressed as a girl. She told me that she did it when I was a baby, dressing me in pink just because she liked to hear people say: “What a pretty little girl”. Any chance to put me in a dress for Halloween or fancy dress she always said: “Go as a princess. Let me get you the outfit.”

The whole crowd seems to like me now
'Cause they think I'm cool but back when I was in school
They found it very easy to hate me
Funny how always these times are changing
Back then I was so easy to shatter
But now in the end it doesn't really matter
Tap your foot and listen in
Ignore the world, let the music cave in
Close your phone and breathe in the air
You'll soon realize that there's something that is so much more than this.

CHAPTER 6
Jim pushed the bundle of lists to one side, and settled back into his seat, hoping that it would take the sting out of his next words.

“We will have the Red Cross coming in for a visit, or the Jerries will send them a list of names. Not sure about that, but apparently the Swedes or Swiss or whoever give us parcels. We are also to be allowed mail from home, which can include parcels. That is on certain conditions. One of them is what we already do, or rather our Officers do, but it’s down to me right here and now. I have to read and censor your letters”

Special thanks to Malady for his help in editing and ideas.

Author’s Note: This chapter is very short, but it describes what happened to Grace's and Greg's 'sister', the dead version of Grace.

The Letters Chapter 10

The two made their way back to the office, and Greg had barely made it inside before he stopped to stare at the video still playing there. Gracie had followed him in, and when she saw the desk, she stopped too. There, in the 3D projection, was the sight they’d seen just a few moments before. Grace was lying on the floor in the position they’d left her in.

CHAPTER 29
It was the start of a wonderful month, made even better by the simple fact that there was no way at all that Mr and Mrs Edwards would be heading off castle-snapping. I was starting to see them as being as much a part of my family as my own parents, and being together was a blessing. I could never discount the reason, never forget it, but as she healed physically, my lover seemed to be finding her own spark again. We had a treat ahead, of course, at the end of August, but it was the weeks at home that I loved.

A Little Maturity
A Short Story and a Sequel to “Underage”
By Maryanne Peters

You might remember me. A couple of years ago I told my story right here – about how Grady became de-Grady-ed. And then after that, degraded.

Looking back on it now, I can see how everything went wrong. All I wanted was to experience life as an adult before I was ready. Pretending to be a girl, pretending to be Grace, gave me that.

CHAPTER 28
There were several advantages in being back home, even if it wasn’t exactly mine. We weren’t restricted to a bed and an armchair, but had access to a sofa. Music, a kitchen with snacks, and a better television, although the latter was ignored once we realised how bad daytime programming was. It did get some use for playing DVDs, though, but in the end, we spent the hours slumped together as comfortably as we could manage, given her injuries. Annie dropped by a few times, but the Woodruffs were only seen at night. Apparently, rhyolite held more charms than us, and they were making the most of it.

Beauty

Thanks again to Gabi for her editing and support.

Beauty can be a curse. Curses can be a lesson. Sometimes the mask people show us is a mirror to show us how we see them.

Cautions for death and violence, because this is a fairy tale.

A boy discovers his feminine side while his mom and sister go on a trip during the summer.

Synopsis:

Twenty-seven year old Aiden Wellington and his mother never saw eye to eye, but when he received a text from her saying she needed him, he immediately left for the estate his mother and grandmother lived in. Nearly at his mother’s home, an accident nearly claims his life. He should have been killed but instead he wakes to discover his life would be altered forever.

This is the first book of a trilogy, but reads as a stand alone novel. Look for book two of the trilogy being completed soon.

Virtually Feminine - Part 11 - First Day - Again

Cathy goes into the office dressed as her true self for the first time.

The Way to Go
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Sex is one of the major drivers of humanity – in fact, it is the first driver. Money and power came later. They are social constructs. Sex is why we exist. We are here because of it, and our purpose is driven by it.

One Month Later:
Gracie tries to scratch an itch under the cast on her arm. She uses a nail file to get under her cast.

“You know if you keep scratching the skin under your cast, it's going to be raw.” Rose looks at her younger sister.

“Rose, it itches, and the heat isn’t helping.” Gracie hated the cast on her arm.

“How do you think I feel, sis?” Rose looks at Gracie. Her arm was supported up in the air, while the cast around her shoulder that held her bones in place.