This one's not for the faint of heart. Over the course of the story there will be death, suicide attempts, a fair amount of physical and mental abuse, some egregious torture and a hefty dollop of foul language, but hopefully a happy ending. Actually, the last bit's a given since it's me doing the writing, but between here and the end is a rocky road, so please if any of the above is likely to be triggering for you, please, please think twice about reading.

Laura recalls some of her experiences in this chapter, and quite graphically. I’ve marked them in red in case you prefer to skip.

This one's not for the faint of heart. Over the course of the story there will be death, suicide attempts, a fair amount of physical and mental abuse, some egregious torture and a hefty dollop of foul language, but hopefully a happy ending. Actually, the last bit's a given since it's me doing the writing, but between here and the end is a rocky road, so please if any of the above is likely to be triggering for you, please, please think twice about reading.

There was a time in my childhood where I tried to embrace the dream of being a girl. They had the better clothes, they were, for the most part, more refined and they seemed to be ‘with it’—having the knowledge needed to live.

Nadir to Zenith

They say that pride becomes before a fall. I wasn’t feeling proud when I fell. I was concentrating very hard of the job at hand. My name is Damon Rose, and I was just nineteen when I lost my grip, and nearly my life.

One father learns from the sad lesson of another.

It was a shop day, so I had to bring my smiles, despite everything that had happened. My Dahon folder had caused a few comments when I had boarded the train at Croydon, and once again at Clapham Junction, but that was par for the course. It was still far more convenient than the bus ride into Barnes. Asa I was also covering duty manager that day, I had had to brave the full-on commuter rush into London, and once again I was grateful that the second trip was against the flow and the train a lot emptier.

View from a Bridge

The old tune was on constant repeat in my head as I walked, slowly, across the bridge, carrying a heavy knapsack. The view was particularly stunning this bright early summer day. Following the lines of the song, though, I couldn’t take any more.

Halloween Romance
Sequel to
Mischief Night Magic
Part Six: A Lesson on the Perils of Womanhood

Gwendoline took a deep breath as she closed the heavy wooden doors of the girls bathroom behind her. She then started to walk around every square foot of the bathroom. Once she was sure we were along she turned toward me and heaved another long, drawn out sigh.

This story is about an Indian couples' struggle as their marriage is tested and they try to navigate their way through the entirely new expectations and experiences of the husband's suppressed auto-gynephilia and trauma from abuse sexual/otherwise, against a backdrop of traditional patriarchal Indian society and an intensely segregated LGBT community.

The moon was high in the sky as Natalie took slow, tedious steps toward the cabinet in her apartment’s unused guest bedroom. The bedroom she now knew as the one Astian slept in before the… event.

There was only one way to end all her pain for good.

She took a shaky hand and grabbed one of the door handles, opening it to reveal a pistol on the top shelf.

It needed to stop.

She grabbed the pistol and examined it in her hands.

By any means necessary, it needed to stop.

On The Whole, I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia

It was a gorgeous day, sun shining brightly on the ornamental gardens of the forty story condo building, I could hear the murmur of traffic passing on the street in front of the place. Eschewing the doorman at the front entrance, I pulled the rented pickup around to the service entrance and parked. I adjusted the visor on my cap, the one with the Cold Comfort Refrigeration logo on it.

Link: The Road to Hell Title Page and Description

CAUTION: Attempted Suicide
CAUTION: Referenced / Discussed Suicide
CAUTION - Highly Emotional Content

--

As the school year came to a close, Josh and Grace were getting closer to one another, but he continued to struggle with his feelings while still clinging to the memory of his love for Jennifer and all that she'd tried to do for him. No matter how many times he tried to look at it, he couldn't figure out what the right thing to do was.

As an apology for the double post of Uplifting, here is the next post of 'Songs for Two Lives.'

Part 5 The Magic Bus

I settled into my new life. My new manager told me I was lucky to have got the job as the budget had been limited the day after and that he wasn’t able to employ any more staff.

The job wasn’t difficult; I just had a database of all the properties that the council managed as well as another of the waiting list. My hardest part was matching properties with the right number of people in a family.

I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired

The drop into despair and the darkness that I had built around me, and set myself up for, crashed over me like a wave. I reached out for help, but could the hand save me, or would it be slapped away as the depth of my sorrow, and anguish overcome me?

Again this has comments on suicide and pretty much my first-ever anxiety attack. So, again if you cannot emotionally read about that stuff, I would suggest missing this story.

Warning on Grammar. While I have really tried to correct a lot of stuff, however, the email was real (in fact all the chapter is how it went down), and I didn't want to overly change the content too much. In saying that, reading the old email again now, .... Jesus grammar can be shit in email communication!! :D