When at home, Marilyn dresses her husband Glen as a pretty girl. When she decides to also have Glen dress as a girl when they visit friends and family, his anxiety leads Marilyn to take him to a therapist to learn some coping skills.  The therapist's advice has the unintended consequence of endowing Glen with a superpower - the mindset of a preteen girl. As such he enjoys playing Barbies with other girls. Marilyn and the therapist are left trying to figure out how to get Glen back to being himself. 

NOTE: This story was intended to be set in the present day but a couple of the references are now a bit archaic. Back-dating it by half a century resolved that problem while also opening up interesting plot oppportunities.

THE GORGEOUS LINDA

Tim and I were best mates in the early 'seventies and he had a gorgeous sister. And through Tim I knew her slightly, but not as well as I would have liked, as I’d fancied her for a while.

Set against the vibrant and atmospheric backdrop of Japan, The Tale of My Beautiful Onii-san follows 18-year-old Haruki as he arrives in Kyoto, eager to reconnect with his cousin Yuki after years apart. But nothing could prepare him for the shocking transformation he finds. Drawn into Yuki’s mysterious world, Haruki embarks on a journey of self-discovery, family secrets, and hidden truths. In this suspenseful and heartfelt tale, he learns that family bonds in Japan can be as intricate—and as unbreakable—as the secrets they keep.

I entered the bar as I had done many times before. The difference this time was that I was there as Annie. I was in equal parts feeling exhilarated and mightily nervous. There was always a chance that I might have been recognised but I thought those chances were pretty slim. I make for a pretty convincing girl, and when I'm Annie I look miles different from my usual self. My heart was pounding, nevertheless.

Part 23

Chris wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Though he had begrudgingly shaved the rest of his body, his most private area felt like a reasonable exception. Amy was his cousin, and he had been correct about his assumption that she wouldn’t ask about something like that afterwards. Of course, that was back when it was just the two of them. With Julia included, and seconds away from discovering that he was not smooth where she was asking about, he was unexpectedly put on the spot.

I accepted magic to fight evil and it turned me into a girl, but I don’t think I really mind?

Jennifer Shannon

Chapter 2

I accepted magic to fight evil and it turned me into a girl, but I don’t think I really mind?

Jennifer Shannon

Chapter 1

Part 22

As Chris stepped back outside, the girls on the porch didn’t react in the slightest at first. He had expected something. A fit of giggles, a teasing reminder of one of the many things he had said under duress, etc. It was almost worse when they acted like this was business as usual, save for the casual female references.

“Thank you, Chrissy,” Sadie smiled, “Such a good hostess.”

“She learned from the best,” Amy said. She took a sip of her lemonade, then asked, “No drink for Julia?”

‘Are you getting dressed tonight’ was the question I asked myself

‘Yes, I am ... but I want to try something different. I want to take one more step.’
That was how this happening happened last night.

Planters Moon
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I should have thought about it. Crops that grow above ground and lie upon it, like watermelons or pumpkins grow best if you plant on a planter’s moon - on the waxing moon, the night before the full moon. Above ground they grow. I should never have buried Lionel Palin on that night.

Title

The New Girl at Uskweirs Manor

a pastoral romance by Miriam Robern

Strangers on a Hill

Bath, June 1812

The carriage, like everything else that Ashbourne owned, was well-appointed, suffused in rich fabrics, and, at least objectively speaking, very comfortable.  But Amelia perched at the edge of her seat, back teetering stiffly, a torrent of hasty words spilling out of her mouth.

Science Changed Me For the Better

Being Samantha Masters

an homage-prequel to Being Christina Chase

Nights at the Mall
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I was one of those people who believed that I could beat anything if I set my mind to it. I used to tell myself that it was a male thing – women are not like that, which is why I must be a man. But I was wrong in so many ways. Plenty of women are just like that. I was more like them.

Part Twenty

She was kidding, right?

This feminine/sissy nonsense had already spun out so much more than Chris had expected. The main way he was able to reconcile the embarrassment of letting his cousin do all of this to him was the fact that there was a clock on it. Amy definitely wouldn’t be able to explain this to her mother; she was manipulative, but not that manipulative. Even if Chris couldn’t speak up for himself, as Amy now had that video to use as leverage, his current image was so much more extreme than a simple prank.

I returned to my hotel with a lot to think about. Corey had shown me a picture of the ‘RV’ that he was going to travel around in. It wasn’t anything like the bog standard white ‘box on wheels’ that you see almost everywhere clogging up the roads.