I would soon learn the mistake I had made to cure my incessant boredom; I had led mankind down a road that only gods should traverse. The mistake that came from ignorance and curiosity would change not only my destiny, but that of mankind itself. But like any event there is a point in time where all the threads meet, a time when the slightest change has the greatest impact, its synergy.
The stories in this segment are mainly about the kids. The problems they have dealt with and the aftermath. Then the Happy Family they become in the end. It starts with Jamie and will end with Kayla Ray. Flash Backs will finish with Kayla Ray.
Gideon pulled his wagon to the side of the street, and Charles and Forrest pulled in behind. He set the break and wound the reins around the handle. Turning toward Hannah, he gently reached out and patted her leg. "I know the anticipation is probably killing you." He stood and began to climb out of the seat, "Keep the young-uns here in the wagon; I shouldn't be but a bit."
By the time he had reached the street, he was joined by both Charles and Forrest. Together they walked to the Land Office's doorway where they took their place in line with other new arrivals.
Hannah and the children sat and watched the bustle of the small town as people walked and rode past on horses or in wagons. There was an earthy smell from the street, it had not snowed here but it was still chilly. A few passersby tipped their hats toward Hannah, which made her smile and think, ‘If they only knew’.
Their wagon rolled on, the land had begun to level out during the past few days. Tall pines crowded the trail; Hannah was smiling more as the snowy landscape was turning green with vegetation that had yet been touched by winter’s icy grasp. Within her heart was an anticipation that seemed to grow with each rotation of their wheels. Gideon and the children too weren’t immune to the excitement of the trail’s end. Theirs was a journey that had taken months, but like those who arrived before them, much would need to be done!
From a great distance away, it had been lost in the clouds. The closer the wagons neared, it loomed over the treetops and could be seen for miles and miles around. "Mount Hood," Gideon whispered in awe.
"That's a huge hill, Pa!" Cade chirped as he looked on between his parents, "Are we going to have to cross it?"
"Oh dear, I hope not," Hanna sighed fearfully.
"No son, we will skirt the south end of it and move on from there." He glanced at the both of them, "Next big stop will be the Willamette Valley!"
"Hannah..." Gideon called out softly. He was standing at the end of a wagon with Charles behind him. She looked up from her project of wiping mud from Emma's hands and face with a wet cloth, and then handed the cloth to Rachel to finish.
She stood and looked toward her husband who was standing still. "Are you coming in for breakfast?" she asked, moving toward him. "Em found out that mud was pretty fun to squish in her hands and..." she had a puzzled look on her face as he had remained slightly hidden behind the wagon.
Hannah had prepared breakfast for them all; while the children were eating, Gideon was seeing to their animals. “Once you are finished, put your dishes in our bucket and I’ll wash them.” She called out, “I’ll take care of them as soon as I’m done with Em.”
Cade quickly dropped his empty tin into the bucket and went off in search of his father. Watching from the back of the wagon where she was changing Emma, she saw Rachel kneel next to the bucket and begin to wash off the tins. Hannah smiled inwardly, as without being asked, the young girl took it upon herself to assist her.
Ever closer to their crossing point at the Snake River the small wagon train came. Meanwhile, Rachel was becoming better at reacting with those around her; it was evident that she was slowly mending her broken heart.
Hannah wanted Rachel to keep her family's Bible, because it was about the only link that she still had with the family she had tragically lost. Often she would sit alone and slowly look at the pages, tracing her tiny fingers along the words her mother had written.
Pulling off his boots, he set them aside and then removed his pants so he was only clad in his drawers and long shirt. Hannah had removed her dress and sat in the chemise running a brush through her long hair. Gideon stretched out and watched her profile, illuminated by the soft glow from their campfire. She returned his gaze and smiled, feeling great thankfulness for his love.
He rose himself up on an elbow, enjoying the view she offered. There was a slight shadow that her form cast against her chemise; it allowed him a glimpse of her breasts as they swayed with the motion of the brush. He could already feel the telltale swelling produced from viewing such loveliness which had captivated him.
Jack & Jean visit the Amish in America
By Sharphawlad
Chapter 1 Holiday to Harrisburg
Jack & Jean were going on holiday to America. The last time they had been on holiday together was their honeymoon in 1949. Their eldest son Richard and his wife had taken over the running of the family farm. The farm was on the edge of Ilkley moor and the history of it could be traced back for at least 1000 years.
In deep slumber, Hannah lay near Gideon, soaking his warmth as the air had cooled overnight. Her dreams that night were enveloped in warm sunshine as she walked across a sea of beautiful blue flowers, with her long red hair drifting in a gentle breeze.
She stood upon a small knoll overlooking the wagon train. Her feet were comfortably bare. Below she could see Gideon and Cade hitching their mules for the day's ride. She didn’t know where Emma was, but assumed she was safely tucked away inside the wagon.
Like an ancient goddess of Greek lore, she stood like a sentinel on that knoll. As still as a statue, the long yellow skirt drifting in the breeze, her fiery tendrils seemed to have a life all their own. The stark white bodice she wore seemed to carve out the sky, its bow with the long ribbons floating just off her shoulder. Next to her beauty, the landscape around her appeared barren and desolate.
Hannah and Cade watched Gideon and Charles stand off to the side and discuss the fee for the wagons to ride across the Green; from the looks on their faces they were not happy. She removed her bonnet and held it in her hand, quickly looking back toward a sleeping Em. "Papa doesn't look too happy, does he?" Cade whispered.
"No honey, he does not." She sighed, as the man continued to gesture toward their wagon. Gideon shook his head and waved him off, then turned and stormed back toward the wagon, Charles and the man exchanged words before he too headed back.
Gideon's expression was of a man who didn't like what he had heard. He climbed up into the wagon and sat staring at the man, his jaws flexing in anger. "Well?" Hannah, asked, breaking the sullen silence.
For three straight weeks the wagon train pushed on, battling their way through the great Continental Divide, always heading toward the Willamette Valley. The terrain was very rocky, forcing them to set up block and tackle to haul the wagons over particularly steep inclines, and then down the deep ravines.
Often they would take their teams down separately and the men would work the ropes and slowly guide each of the wagons down alone. It was safer this way, but often mishaps could and did happen.
Gerry’s eighteenth birthday celebration starts out on a decidedly sour note. A chance encounter changes that—and the course of his life. This is the story of that encounter and its repercussions.
Crawling out from under the wagon, Hannah struggled to rise up; looking about in the early light of morning, she could not see any sign of Gideon. She was feeling out of sorts, as she made her way to the fire to replenish the wood to begin cooking their breakfast.
Arden climbed down from her wagon and came to assist Hannah. “You look a mess this morning, did you have trouble sleeping?”
Lee and Leanne were twins - born to British parents in South America where their father was employed by the oil industry. After the double tragedy of seeing her husband murdered and baby daughter dying, mother and remaining son return to Britain, where life becomes bleak for both.
A light misting rain began to fall as the afternoon closed; it was more of a nuisance rain than anything. On Gideon's urging, Hannah retreated inside as both children were awake and had been for hours. Cade was now sitting up on the seat next to his father.
As what seemed to Hannah as her 'usual' position, she calmly sat in the bottom of the wagon quietly nursing Em. The ever continuing rocking of this wagon was something that she desperately wanted to avoid experiencing again. She stretched out, to relieve the cramping of her legs and uncovered something fascinating.
As the wagon train was beginning to come to life in the early morning hours, Hannah was cooking fish that Gideon and Cade caught while the sun was still below the horizon. As she was crouching over the skillet; she noticed that her dress was smoking at the bottom.
In frustration she smacked at the scorched hem, "If I don't set myself on fire wearing these dresses, I'm going to kill myself over sexual frustration." She groused under her breath. Hearing a noise back of her, she turned to see Arden standing slightly behind their wagon. She smiled sheepishly, "Sorry... just about set one of my best dresses on fire."
Washed ashore with no money, no identity and no memory of a life before. Adopted by a kind family only to be plunged into the fires of war. Will the boy, more beautiful than any girl, live a life of happiness or one of sadness?
Washed ashore with no money, no identity and no memory of a life before. Adopted by a kind family only to be plunged into the fires of war. Will the boy, more beautiful than any girl, live a life of happiness or sadness?
A fairly steady breeze was blowing as the sun steadily sank in the sky. The wagon train stopped for the evening in a little glade near the Platte River that they had been following for the past several days. For the most part they had settled in a circle, the traditional routine for both safety and protection.
(Edited by PersnicketyBitch. Same editorial hand as always. Different name. More after the jump.)
The Tape is back! This time around StephAD has contributed two great stories, the first kicking off the collection with an exhilarating magical duel. Hikaro has submitted an intense apocalyptic tale and talks Brave New World and superheroes in the Mixed Tape Interview. Trismegistus Shandy and Jenny North offer intriguing glimpses into ordinary lives changed by super science and spirits. So what are you waiting for? Hit play on this fantastical new collection for thrills, spills, and maybe... even some feels.
In the pre-dawn light, the train was slowly coming to life. Families had eaten and were now hitching their mules, horses and oxen to them. Hannah was holding Em and standing beside Gideon, while Cade sat on the back of the near mule watching.
“What do we do with the little cart?” she asked, capturing a loose lock of hair and tucking it behind her ear.
“I’d love to take it with us, but we’re going in some real rough country soon and I’m afraid it will just drag us down.” He looked past Hannah to the cart where it sat off the side of the trail.
Hannah sighed, then turned to also look at the cart. “We can leave it; perhaps someone else could use it for repairs or may have use for it in some way.”
Gideon had been watching her, remembering to what she had done only last night, his mind dwelling on what his heart wanted him to do to, and for her. But alas, it wasn’t to be… for as soon as she could, she would be gone. He couldn’t help studying the curve of her form, mesmerized in the beauty she possessed. Her wavy red locks drifting in the morning air, she was so much like ‘his’ Hannah…and yet, nothing like her.
As they rode closer to the wagon train, Hannah looked over toward Gideon, admiring his rugged handsomeness. She knew that she could pull off the ruse; she had been doing it for weeks already, but one little question was in the back of her mind and she wanted to ask it before they got too close to prying ears.
“Gideon?” she asked.
“Hannah?” he said with a laugh and then smiled boyishly to her, and decided now wasn’t the time to kid with her after all that she had been through. He decided that he should respectfully reply, “Yes Hannah, what is it?”
“I’m basically giving up my… let’s just say ‘life’ here… to help you with the children.” She looked at him, studying the expression he would give for asking. “What is in it for me?”
Gerry’s eighteenth birthday celebration starts out on a decidedly sour note. A chance encounter changes that—and the course of his life. This is the story of that encounter and its repercussions.
In her dreams she looked down at herself from above sleeping with little Em, and there was a man standing at the rim of the embankment. She sat up and turned to face him, the Walker Colt raised and threatening.
The man in the dream was a kind man, he approached her, gently removing the gun and placing it in the grass beside them. He kissed her passionately, as his rough, working man's hands tenderly held each side of her face. Again and again they kissed, until he had lowered her into the soft grasses. She was beside herself with concern. Why didn't she resist his advance? Why did she so willingly allow him to control her as he did?
She threw her head back into the grass as he began to kiss and fondle her breasts, arching her body to allow the man better access to her femininity. Even though asleep, she couldn't fathom why she would allow this to happen and yet, why she wouldn't put up more of a struggle. It was as though her body wanted to experience this from the feminine perspective.
Gerry’s eighteenth birthday celebration starts out on a decidedly sour note. A chance encounter changes that—and the course of his life. This is the story of that encounter and its repercussions.
Gerry’s eighteenth birthday celebration starts out on a decidedly sour note. A chance encounter changes that—and the course of his life. This is the story of that encounter and its repercussions.
When the sun climbed high into the sky, Hannah had found a small stand of trees to rest the horse and nurse Em while enjoying the comfort of the shade. She contentedly watched the child... her child, as she had finally accepted, nurse.
She had taken to pinning her long fiery hair up into a bun recently and removed a bonnet that Luttie had given her. This effort allowed a cool breeze to wash over her.
As her daughter suckled, she rummaged in the sack and removed a biscuit to eat. Both she and Em sat on the seat of the cart quietly eating, when an unusual sound brought the young mother to alertness.
She approached the back of the wagon and began setting things down. After a while, Luttie climbed down and escorted a reluctant Hannah to the back of her wagon. “I’ll hold the little one for you. Get into the clothes I set out for you, everything should be there to give you at least one good outfit suitable for a young woman.”
Standing inside the wagon, Hannah began to reluctantly disrobe. She peeled herself out of the pants and ‘johns’ that Ezrah had worn and hesitated to drag up the drawers that Luttie had picked out. Once it was on, she sighed and picked up the chemise and pulled it over her head.
“Here are some stockings that were hers too…” She said as she tossed them toward Hannah. Hannah sat on the floor of her wagon and pushed her feet into the long stockings. She watched as Hannah stood and drew up the corset.
“I know it isn’t as fancy as you probably wore back in Indiana, but out here you’ll be thankful for the support that it’ll give you. Your back has to be pretty tired with the size of your bosom.”
Tears filled her eyes as she rode into the dark, back toward the trail where she had found the canteen. In the bright moonlight, she found the trail and once again headed west. Behind her she left her former identity, a corpse forever clothed in feminine garments.
She glanced behind her; the trees and rocks were only a blackened shadow upon the horizon. Ezrah’s passing was now only marked by the pile of stone covering the young mother's body…it was too confusing! Grimly she wondered if hundreds of years from now, some archaeologist like those who have stumbled upon the strange bones of past monsters, might locate the altered bones of... Ezrah. What might they think about him, wondering why he was clothed as he had been?
She sighed, and looked down at the tiny charge asleep in her arms. She felt sorry for herself… to be so young and saddled with such great responsibility. She knew that women all over this great big world have been taking on responsibilities like this for thousands of years, so why should she be any different?
As Ezrah dreamt, far off he could hear the sound of a train whistle. The closer it came to him, the louder it became, sounding much like he was laying right there on the tracks. The shrill train whistle screaming like a banshee woke him and caused the youth to bolt upright, his now unfettered feminine breasts seemed to have a life of their own. As they settled he looked down, a great wet spot saturated the front of his chest, right at their very summit.
“Oh shit!” he cursed as he sat up and felt the front. There was no mistaking that by becoming Hanna, he was now lactating. He looked over at the baby fussing and crying, and tried desperately to ignore her, but it was no use. It was the baby crying that made him dream of the train, and it seemed the more she cried, the wetter Ezra's shirt became. As he sat up, his eyes came into contact with the body of the woman, although she was an exact duplicate of what he had once looked like… only wearing the bloodied dress.
Two days west of the attack site, Ezrah was on foot walking the big black horse in an effort to rest it. Ever since that terrible day, the boy used every trick he could think of to elude the roving bands of Indians. Unsure of whether they were those who attacked and killed his parents, yet to him, all Indians were now suspect.
He was walking through a small canyon, and the echoing of Blackie's hooves rattled within his ears even though he was trying to keep silent. As they emerged from the other end, he saw a band of at least a dozen Indians riding diagonally toward him. If he delayed too much, they reach him in no time. He quickly mounted and took off across the prairie in an attempt to outrun them.
When he heard the loud whooping, he knew that he had been seen and it was the second time he had heard their telltale sound. The terrible feeling once again returned to the pit of his stomach. Lying along the back of the big horse, Ezrah entwined his fingers in the long black mane of the horse. Still with the reins in his hands, he hung on for dear life. The horse ran like the wind, ears flat back, tail out and its long ebony main flailing in the terrified youth's face.
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
A Love So Bold
