Chapter 15

I took my time in the morning. I made sure that I had a good breakfast, tidied up, then spent a lot of time in the bathroom. Freshly showered, hair washed, and no errant wisps of hair anywhere else, I took a great deal of care choosing what I was going to wear.

The real event of the evening for Elara occurred after the dancing began. The other ladies had come to find her and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer as they pulled her onto the ballroom floor.

It had begun quite simply enough. The Carole dance that began the session was a popular circle dance that was familiar even to a peasant like her. The nobles joined hands and moved in a circular pattern while they sang songs joyfully.

Elara pulled at the bowstring and aimed at the target in front of her. She took great care to keep her arm steady before letting the arrow fly. It whistled threw the air before lodging itself at the bottom edge of the wooden target.

Nick was the first to show up at Clair’s ranch. He arrived in one of the newer Lincoln Town cars, driven by a teenage woman. When she got out of the car to open the back door for Nick, she was wearing a custom-made chauffeur suit. She looked no older than a teenager.

She was shorter than Nick by at least a foot or so. Her short dirty blonde hair fell to the middle of her neck.
Clair was standing on the porch with Jasmine beside her. The other women were busy feeding their visitors. Becky had left to explain things to her uncle.

Chapter 14

When I went into my apartment, I looked around at the mess. My early morning breakfast things were still on the table. In my bedroom I picked the expensive dress off the floor, found a hanger for it, then smoothed my bed. I found a new pillowcase to replace the smeared one.

***

Author's Note: Hi... Brina here, bringing you part two of my love letter to 'Top Gear,' hot rods, Hot Wheels, and tractor trailers, ha, no just lying. I was never a car person, well I was a van person once, but I don't want to talk about that, ha... Surprisingly this chapter has quite a bit of (early) sex in it, so cover your eyes if you are not ready for it... thank you and I hope YOU like it...

***

After waking Allison received news she didn’t believe at first but instantly realised she loved, Dr. Grace confirmed Allison is changing. Allison is becoming who she wants to be. Now she just needs to let time work its magic and keep doing what she’s doing.

What Allison would really like, however, is for things to slow down. Not the changes, rather she’d like to get time to enjoy who she is, but she doesn’t even know if that’s possible. She knows she’s unique in the history of the deep-space station, and maybe that means things will never be slow and normal. But what’s more normal, in all this newness, than a lunch with Angie?

Nailed to Change

Timothy slumped in the passenger seat, defeated. Bethany, his best friend since kindergarten, was practically glowing with barely concealed amusement. "So," she chirped, her voice laced with mischief, "ready to become the world's first male connoisseur of nano-gel nail enhancements?"

Bethany, a whirlwind of confidence in a neon green sundress, cackled. "Relax, drama llama. It's the hippest salon in Nashville. They do this new nano-whatever thing that makes your nails invincible."

Chapter 13

When we arrived at Gatwick, there was a sign with an arrow that just had ‘Turbulence’ on it. It led us to a reserved floor in the North Terminal car park, where attendants were there to show us to a parking area and open the doors for us. Our driver would be back at seven, to wait for our return. Jeff and I certainly looked like we should be there as we followed more signs that took us into the main concourse, through a very quick passport check, finally arriving in a VIP lounge where some had already started mingling.

A Successful Family

The possession of a small number of cows, pigs, sheep and goats in addition to ducks, hens and geese was to the older family members the currency by which they measured true wealth. That the hundreds of doves that lived in the centuries old dovecote and the fish in the lake were a readily available food source was a wonder to them. When they added a couple of hives of bees and a dozen rabbits to keep in a barn they couldn’t imagine a better life.

Cherry blossom journey to womanhood

the rouge tasted like cherries, a forbidden sweetness on alan's four-
year-old tongue. His mother's vanity table, a glittering land of
forgotten treasures, had captivated him. He'd slipped on her silky robe,
the feel a stark contrast to his usual rough-and-tumble clothes. The
lipstick, a bright, unapologetic red, felt foreign on his lips, yet
oddly comforting. His mother's gasp shattered the moment. Tears streamed
down his face, not from her anger, but from a dawning realization - he
was different.

Genetic Gender Experiment

The humid air clung to Elias like a second shirt as he pushed through
the tangled undergrowth. Shanda, his girlfriend, was just ahead, her
laughter a melody in the symphony of cicadas. They were on a secluded
resort vacation, and a poorly marked trail had beckoned them deeper into
the jungle than they'd intended.

Allison spent her first night as a woman tossing and turning in her sleep, her pain obvious to Angie who was looking after her. Allison did manage to make the best of her Sunday — after updating her doctor on her issues — mainly by spending time with her new ‘friend’ Robert.

With her first night being one of tumultuous rest — due to the faster than expected effects of the medication Dr. Grace prescribed — what will Allison discover upon waking on day three? And what will she not notice, or refuse to accept, that it takes Angie to point out?

If Elara listened carefully enough, she could hear her own heartbeat.

Thump. Thump.

She felt a tightness in her chest that she'd never experienced before. She finally knew what it felt like to be in mortal danger, and she didn't like the feeling.

***

Author's Note: This is a story I wrote a couple of years ago...

Mmm, this feels like a novella to me, it feels longer than usual. I have been reluctantly saving this 'Wheel' for some special imaginary occasion, some wonderful happy occurrence that, well, hasn't come up yet, ha... but it will and I will wish I saved it.