Putting up my Hair
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

When I was a young boy, I wore my hair long. My mother did not discourage me because she said that my hair looked lovely, which is what I thought too. But my father hated it. He was always telling me to get it cut and I always resisted. I suppose that says something about my relationship with my father – I felt that he was proud of my older brother, but not me. As far as I was concerned, that made his opinion questionable, so I always questioned him.

This is a bit of a re-released. I missed the end off of the story

Me, My Brother, and the Last Night of Summer
Copyright 2024 by Heather Rose Brown

This is a short story about a preteen nonbinary kid trying to deal with gender issues, and what happens when a sibling with similar but different issues reaches out to them.

Orphan Petal

November 2023 - Part 3

Shirley knows who he is

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 57 A Baby Spoon and Pusher

Here come comes the nurse with a red hot poultice, Slaps it on and takes no notice, ‘Oh,’ said the patient, ‘that’s too hot,’ ‘No,’ said the nurse, ‘I’m sure it’s not.’

Orphan Petal

November 2023 - Part 1

Shirley is back at the child's home. He hoped things can be the way the once were

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 56 What You See is Never What You Get

How calt will it get? Who knows. I can’t even hazard a guess because I’ve got nowt to base one on. We’ve never hit minus thirty [-22℉] before anywhere in Britain in recorded history, though it’s said that during the winter of sixteen eighty-three going into eighty-four the ice on the Thames was a foot thick [305mm]. I’ve never manage to find even an estimate of how calt it was, but it’s reputed to be the most severe frost recorded in England. It always seemed daft to me to use the expression worst recorded when there’s not even an indication of how calt it was, how is that recorded? Come to that what was it they were recording? Maybe we’ll hit minus forty [-40℉] this time. I wouldn’t rule it out, but like I said I’ve never bin here afore. Think on, it’s not that long since for the first time recorded the temperature in the UK went over forty Celsius. Forty point three [104·54℉] it was at Coningsby in Lincolnshire on the nineteenth of July twenty twenty-two. So owt’s possible.

Photo by Shin Shimami on Unsplash

It was the summer of my eighth year, the forth of July, in fact, that the difference between girls and boys acquired more significance than girls have cooties and boys don’t.

I sat in silence during dinner, not wanting to bring up anything up to my parents, since the other parents had not told them anything about the past few days. I imagined a small mob of pitchforks and torches slowly advancing upon our house and I would have to talk about everything. We were just about to have dessert when there was a loud knock on the front door.

My eyes can't tear themselves away from the image I see in the mirror, and I'm about to cry.

My name is Daniel, I'm 12 years old and I didn't go to school today because I felt bad. Mom works as a nurse and my sister Katherine (Katty) is in High School, so I have the house to myself.

I've always been attracted to my sister's pretty clothes (especially her cheerleading uniform), so as soon as Katty left, I ran to her room and took off these annoying, boring boy clothes and grabbed my sister's cheerleading uniform. sister, so I put it on.

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 54 Tekin Receipt of a New Un

If we can find any folk who fit here I’ll be as glad to accept them and take the money off the government thieves in Whitehall and the local authority bandits in Barrow, Kendal and Penrith too as the next person, but if they don’t fit here the government can keep the bloody money and the refugees and the victims of violence even though they be women and their kids. Being abused does not give any the right to abuse any of our folk.

Aayla Farstrayer listened as the Master droned about an obscure ancient prophecy. According to the prophecy, "A chosen one would bring balance to the Force," the Master said. "It was thought that a young Jedi student, Anakin Skywalker, might be that chosen one. Instead, young Anakin was seduced by the Dark Side, became Sith Apprentice Darth Vader, and helped Sith Master Darth Sidious destroy the Jedi Order."

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.

Was Prince Taylor tricked?

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 52 Political Analysis

Continued on from GOM 51 on a Saturday evening in the Green Dragon Inn taproom

“Christ, Lads, Dave missed his calling as a green grocer he should have been a diplomat. He’d have all the middle east conflicts sorted in minutes. Admittedly, he’d turn the entire spot into one big, f*** off, glassed down, radioactive plain, but the situation would be sorted permanently which would definitely be a result. We need more of that kind of thinking.”

“I recently heard, Alice, that Hell is staffed by vegetarians and the security guards are all vegans, so I’m going to heaven where slaughtermen and butchers like me are well thought of because the angels who run the spot are known to enjoy a deliciously bloody, blue steak, and there are no security guards because none of the residents wish to leave.”

One girl is brave enough to stand up and speak out. How will people react when she does?

Prince Taylor now has holidays and can be who he wants. Does he want to go back to the institute?

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 51 Coneys, Bees and Fish

Continued on from GOM 50 on a Saturday evening in the Green Dragon Inn taproom

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 51⅒ So Just Where is Bearthwaite? is included before the footnotes

For any as don’t know a coney is an adult rabbit. The lasses’ cuniculture business, that word always makes me snigger, but honest to god it is what the tax man refers to it as, so maybe they’ve not all had their senses of humour surgically removed.