Hope's Light

Chapter 2

by Erisian

Book 6

Chapter Two - Paintings

Ever since that moment of radical transformation (or resurrection, if one prefers) back at the start of all the madness - when my name went from Justin to Jordan and personal pronouns flipped on their heads - I’ve had occasion to journey to a scattering of spiritual places. Planes of existence, dreams, realms - call them what you will - they all had a certain commonality. They were formed around an inner core, a nugget of desire or purpose which stabilized the whole and resonated throughout. Some were tied to entire stories sung forth in glorious splendor, others built on specific concrete principles or even emotional states. The more coherent the core, the more cohesive the realm - and all the souls and spirits resonating in sync with that pattern locked-in the solidity even further. Their presence and observations made things more ‘real’ within that domain.

I’ve tasted, touched, ripped, reinforced, and even created such places anew. The planes of Hell were no exception in their properties, and while I’d only visited two of the many available, for various (and desperate!) reasons I’d needed to delve deep into the structures of both to fight against a Chaos-corrupted agent attempting to shred them into incoherent pieces.

“Can I sit down?” asked Casey.

“Please do. I’m finished here, and I have a team to brief. In case you have not noticed, the show opens in…?”
I looked at my watch.

Rose covers up a yawn as she drives back home. The banquet was boring and the entertainment Ciarán did later was mildly entertaining. The other high rollers that were there might have been impressed with his act, but she noticed Sasha wasn’t amused or entertained. At some point during his act, she thought she saw Sasha cover up a yawn.

A smile forms on Rose’s face as she enjoys the drive back to her place. Tonight, she wasn’t going to bother with going on patrol. Most of the gangs, weapon traffickers, and drug dealers knew to stay out of her area.

Title

The New Girl at Uskweirs Manor

a pastoral romance

by Miriam Robern

A Fateful House Party

Monmouthshire, May 1812

Miss Amelia Wright gained access to Uskweirs Manor by supplying a false name.  The attendant at the door dipped his head, murmured, “Of course, sir,” and gestured her within.

Mantra is cornered into a meeting with the last person she wants to meet in this violent ruin of a planet. But that same person is the one whom Mantra loves most in the world.

Jack, Nick, and Cheshire along with their pets have made their way to the temple. All of them were exhausted and had numerous cuts, bruises, and small wounds covering their bodies. Even Sher Khan and Chaos had blood coming from wounds covering their bodies.

Chaos was favoring his right paw. A hunter set a trap and he stepped right into the trap. Jack tended to his injured paw, but it still bothered him.
Samson was resting on Nick’s arm as they stood inside the temple. They spotted a gem hovering over a pit in midair. The pit was to big to jump across.

Glamour Photoshoot Transformation

Rose mingles with the people at the banquet. She keeps Sasha in sight, so she can talk to her. As for Ciarán, something about him was rubbing her the wrong way. It was a good thing she came prepared. She walks close to Ciarán and gently drops a small GPS tracker into his side pocket. She also scans his cell phone with hers.

While she is close to Ciarán, she listens in on what he is saying to some guy. They were talking about investments and the newest CEO of some company. Nothing that matters to her. She wasn’t into acquiring or having lots of money like her family.

The Girl in the Mirror

By Julie D Cole

"Look, Deeny: having a lawyer doesn't magically make things easier.
It doesn't magically save you from the consequences of your words and actions."

Mantra tries to juggle two problems at the same time. What she finds out is gut-wrenching, but she has an important job to do and can't afford to get emotionally involved with the local problems of an alternate world. Unfortunately, things have a way of going wrong for Mantra.

Speak Now
A Short Story from "Romance and Other Crimes Vol. 3"
By Maryanne Peters

It was hard not to like L’Roy with his easy strength, his ready grin and his smooth butternut complexion. L’Roy Shipney and I were on the same road gang in New Mexico, working out of the county jail with sixteen other inmates repairing a culvert that had been damaged in a flash flood when the whole business began.

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 59 Chineseium

“Well, Son, doubtless if you looked the words up in a fancy English ordbok it would tell you that they are the same, but there’s a difference in the way Bearthwaite folk use the words these days. Yance ower they were the same here too, but now a visitor is someone we welcome, even if they’ve never been here before, decent folk are visitors. Tourists are folk we don’t really like, folk we don’t approve of, but as long as they don’t get too far out of line we’ll happily tek their money off ’em. Okay, Son?”

“Yeah. I get that. Visitors good, tourists bad. Simple enough, Granddad. I’ll explain to my brothers. Thanks.”

As Ethan left Alan couldn’t help but smile at the Orwellian simplicity of life as seen by a child. Visitors good, tourists bad. ‘What,’ he wondered, ‘would I give to be eight again?’

Knight Group Banquet:
Susan and Sasha pull up in one of Sasha’s old-style Corvettes and turn it over to the valet. Sasha gets out of the car and hands the key to the valet.

“Please be careful with it.” Sasha didn’t want anything to happen to her old Corvette.

“Yes ma’am.” The young valet accepts the keys from Sasha.

“You know, we could have arrived in the BMW, instead.” As Susan and Sasha walk up the steps together.

“I know, but I wanted to drive my Corvette.” Sasha walks side by side with her wife.

Forgive Me
From an AI image by Priscillamcminnar on Deviant Art
By Maryanne Peters

Trans-demic
Chinese Flu
Sam Wong read the email from Josh Epstein, the partner in charge of the fiendishly complicated real
estate deal that had consumed the last three months of their lives.
“You’re going to have to close this deal without me. I’m sick as a dog, and my wife just called an
ambulance to take me to Bellevue. I just hope it’s not that fucking Chinese Flu. Do whatever it takes to
get this done.”
Sam flinched at the slur but was used to minority bashing that goes on behind closed doors of politically

After the divorce, Mark felt like his life had crumbled. Losing his wife, home, and half of his savings in the settlement left him bitter and broken. So when a glossy, golden envelope arrived in the mail, offering a free month-long cruise aboard the USS New Beginnings, he hesitated. It seemed almost too good to be true. But with nothing to lose, Mark accepted.

The next morning, I arrived at the Royal Oak just before 09:00. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Casey was waiting for me. She looked much better than she had when I dropped her off, the previous lunchtime.

“Good morning, Casey.”

[authors note]
If you love formulaic and, in my opinion, cringeworthy ‘Christmas Movies’ or similar ‘Made for TV Romances’ that use an ensemble cast of ‘almost perfect specimens of humanity’ then stop reading now.