Graphic created by Patricia Marie Allen from photos on Pixabay.com

Thorn in the Flesh

By Rosemary

I entered the bar with great trepidation. I hadn’t had any problems in several years of being a woman, but I had just had some terrible news. No, I take that back. It wasn’t terrible at all. It was a relief. I had developed lymphatic cancer, and like every other case, it was ravaging my body.

I was reluctantly taking part in a meeting of eleven other ‘Roses’ while we were at the SWEET (South Western Exposition for the Embetterment of Transpeople) convention. I sat down and started taking in the other Roses there.

Most of them seemed to be much more comfortable in their role as women than I was. I had actually been quite comfortable for many years, but I had never been transgendered. I glanced down at my jeans and western shirt. They were women’s – they had to be. Men’s clothing would have been ridiculous on me.

The answer

By Lynda Shermer

Chapter 5 - Carol in the city

It turned out, Alice's errands were to get me some jewelry, a purse, and some things related to that, and generally accessorize. I put my spare glasses, in a case, into the purse. Alice added a key ring with copies of my keys (and, it was to turn out, some of hers), some make up, a pen, a pad, a pay-as-you-go cellphone. And a rectangular pouch, with something in it. They were cylinders, too big for pencils. What was it? Then I realized.

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Copyright © 2021 Peregrine
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Graphic created by Patricia Marie Allen from photos on Pixabay.com

Authors note: This story first appeared in the “One Dozen Roses” anthology and has been edited to be read as a standalone.
You can read it in the anthology here.

I’ve been asked just how I came to choose the name Rose. The story of my name goes back to my childhood. I was eight at the time. It was in just after the second gulf war. I blame the whole thing on Susan. Susan was the girl who lived in our basement apartment. Her father had been called up in the National Guard and was in Iraq for a year. They decided to give up living in their house and rent it out to cover the mortgage payment. The rent on the apartment we had in the basement fit the budget imposed by his Guard pay which didn’t even come close to his regular pay. The apartment had been grandma’s before she died. It’s just two bedrooms, a bathroom and a sitting room with an efficiency kitchen and the rent helps us with the mortgage, since dad left. As part of the deal, Susan’s mom watched me while my mom was at work.

The doctor looked at the chart, "Well, you'll be glad to know, there's nothing wrong with your heart. You've just spent too long not eating right and sitting behind a desk. I'd say you should start with walking, stretching, warm up exercises, calisthenics, and only then try something more strenuous."

The Summer was dwindling like the sunset on the days leading to the Winter Solstice. Luke took solace about the finish of the endless summer in the fact the school year was another new start. He was going to school but not back to his old school. The impending feeling of winter was kept away by the promise of a new day and a new start. He would have friends looking forward to seeing him at school. More importantly, he would not have a group of kids looking forward to making him miserable. Starting high school was a new beginning, a springtime in Luke’s life.

Velma's Night Off

by
Lynda Shermer

Here is a little story that popped into my head as I was about to go to sleep the other night.

Stolen Moments

“Hello”

“Oh! Hello yourself.”

“Not what I would call a happy party, Is it? I’m Henry, by the way.”

“No, it’s not. I suppose it must be because we all think it may be the last we have. I’m - Susan.”

“Well, Susan, you should not be standing there, on your own, without a drink. Here, I brought you one over. Drink and be merry, I say.”

Becoming Abby's Girl
Part 1
By: Kokopo618

"Baby, I hear you, I just don't understand how this will fix our relationship," I say, sitting across from my girlfriend on our couch.

"You obviously haven't been listening," my girlfriend, Abby, responds, "we can't just fix our relationship like a car, we can only build it, repair it. It'll take work and dedication."

Mom and Dad's plan was so crazy, it just might work. If Sam doesn't die of embarrassment....

6. My sister is so weird...

My freshman year in high school was quite remarkable. I managed to go through an entire year without making anything at all out of it. Well, scholastically I did reasonably well. Socially? I might just as well not have existed. I failed to get into any sports team. I failed to excel in any other way. I failed to get even ONE date, and that was definitely not for want of trying. I had no real friends. I had a few acquaintances that socially were as remarkable as I but that was all.

At the end of that year the school had come to the realization that the cheerleader team couldn’t possibly be at all events where they were wanted. The decision was taken to create a JV cheerleading team. Cheerleading was an exclusively female thing in our school. However, there was nothing in the rules that stopped a boy being a cheerleader provided he followed the rules. The rules would be the same as for the senior team. Same conduct rules. Same dress code, including wearing the skirted cheerleading uniform on match days and a nice dress at required obligatory social events.

I may have been a bit deranged but I decided that this was my opportunity to stand out, and get close to cute and popular girls. Best case, even share a locker room with them! I mentioned it to Carl, the nearest thing I had to a friend, and he just looked at me and shook his head. Well, I wasn’t to be discouraged by that.

Allie - The teenage years of Alexander Horten

November 1-7, 2015

Allie - The teenage years of Alexander Horten

October 25-31, 2015

As their lives slowly settle down to normality in incremental stages, Terri and Jessica get to evaluate their relationship with pillow talk.

A few careless words led to triggereing of hidden forgotten feeling for Steve.