Ursula had previously thought that her Navy post would only begin once she arrived in Palarand. How wrong she was! With four different factions to manage plus Norse and Zebrins, wounds and other ills to attend to and near one hundred fifty mouths to feed, suddenly she is the center of attention. Unfortunately her resources are limited but she does what she can.

The Voyage of the Visund

A tale of Anmar by Penny Lane

81 - Director of Welfare

This is just a short story idea that came to me while having a walk today thinking about "stuff". Sorry not my "normal" stuff.

"Houston, approaching orbital point alpha in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Orbit optimum. We are looking good."

"Roger that Captain Adams." You will be out of radio contact in 5 minutes. How are your instrument readings?"

"There are A-OK Dave. I have more than enough fuel for 10 more orbits, a landing, and then some."

“If it was just Mom, maybe. But Dad . . . you know, he’s got the whole Christian thing going. Church every Sunday, Bible study. The full catastrophe.”

Moving away from home and going to university, is often a young person’s first real taste of freedom and adulthood. The parents are often seen to wrap their little ones in cotton wool and protect them from the big bad world. When that wrapping is taken away, many young people have a difficult time coping with reality.

Chapter 25

On the flight home on Sunday afternoon, I sat between Maureen and Mom and quietly spoke about the future as Ali dozed in my arms.

Mom said that she was going to push Dad into being in Fort Lauderdale by Easter and Maureen said that this would be a traditional weekend for Jordan and me to wed.

We batted it around a bit, and, between us, we thought about an Easter Sunday wedding, at the farm, with a big marquee set up. It would be kept quiet from the press, just for invited guests.

A group of friends streams their gaming on Wednesday nights. But not all the action is on the dining room table.

I’m a trainee witch from a rural town where even the slightest deviance is frowned upon. There, witches are expected to follow a strict way of acting, and even being. And it is expected that a witch is to act as basically a medicinal servant for the village. She is to gather weeds and prepare potions to help deal with stomach aches and other ailments. Witches are to never wed. to never fall in love. To never have sex.

It’s patriarchal bullshit! Moreover, as I’m transgender, I don’t fit into their narrow view of what makes a witch! You have to be born female, and born to a wealthy non-witch family. I’m poor, and haven’t had the, quote, appropriate education. Only upper class villagers get an education in my hometown. Poor folk are expected to do hard labor such as farm work or hunting.

For that reason, I’ve decided to leave my hometown and travel to the capital city, where everything is better! The people are nicer, and nobody cares if you’re trans or poor or whatever! I arrive on foot after a month of travel. Most people fly on their brooms, but I’m not experienced enough for that. I can barely fly. Others take the train, but I’m too poor for that. The travel is rough, and I have to forage and hunt for food as I’m simply incapable of brining one month worth of food along with me. But, with blistered feet, I finally arrive at the capital!

Sarah is invited to stay the night with Phil. She is asked to spend more time as Sarah and must decide if Sarah is more than just a pleasant distraction. Part of this is based on some recent experience of mine.

I was still breathing hard from the climax I had just experienced. My legs were like jelly. Stay the night? Despite my exhaustion, I felt myself shiver at the thought. Spend the night with a man as a woman. Not just sex, but actually sleeping with him.

Fear can be such an incredibly basic sensation. Your body and brain detect danger, making you change your current actions into doing something to steer away from whatever it is that is causing the fear. It can make you run away from a dog that is behaving in an aggressive manner. It can make you run away from a bully who wants to ruin your day. It can even make you run away from your own mother and her judgmental gaze. All of this seems easy enough. But what if you’re afraid of something closer to home? What If you’re afraid of something you can’t run away from?

Pete needs a makeover....

7 & 8

Exploring my feelings & On the fast track

Alex’s curiosity gets the best of him and he decides to explore women’s androgynous out in public without Carrie prompting him or having her along. He doesn’t quite have the guts to include a small bust line, so his bra cups lay fallow. On returning home, he tells Carrie where he’s been and how he’d dressed on purpose almost bragging about what he’s done.

Carrie notices that he’s not put anything in the bra cups and corrects the deficit. She then proves to him that he should have gone with the enhancement because not even people who casually know them notice anything. Carrie spring boards the incident and Alex finds himself in a lingerie shop. This leads to a whole new definition of “out and about.”

From there things get a little out of hand.

News of Ma’s passing seemed to spread like wildfire around the town. Once the presence of California Bureau of Investigation vehicles and a Medical Examiners wagon outside Nancy’s house was known, it would be hard to her death a secret.

Wendy the Good Witch (Part 3)
(or Brunettes with Perfect Eyesight)
By Sabrina G. Langton

***
Author's Note: Hmmmmm... A hotel, a deli, and a view of New Jersey don't ever say I don't take you anywhere... Oh and of course a song running through the words... Something different and something completely the same, ha... I hope YOU like it...

***

“Hey,” Julius says to him, “you should apologize to Sebastian. About what you said yesterday.”

 

“Yeah, I guess so,” Vincent says, not quite meeting Sebastian’s eyes. “I’m sorry I said stupid stuff when you told us about changing your type. Um, I heard somebody saying you were using new pronouns already?”

One would expect that after all the excitement of last week, I’d be enjoying the mundanity of Monday morning classes. Solving formulas during algebra, calculating vectors during physics, and reading about the War of 1812 during history. It wasn’t quite as engaging as the emotional rollercoaster I went through last week. Nonetheless, I needed to keep notes religiously trying to keep myself in my mother’s good graces.

Chapter 23

After the meal, the other girls left us, and Alicia went off with Josie to explain why she was sorry. Brad went off to have a drink or two in the bar which left me and Ali with Tony.

“Edie, Josie was devastated once she had watched that DVD. She told me a lot about her time with the Pixies, and her time living with you and your family at the farm. I saw that the papers have said that her brother is the father of little Ali, so Josie is really your sister-in-law.”

Orphan Petal

May 2023 - Part 4

Shirley is bitter and mad at the world. His new life will change him in ways he never knew possible. Can he find himself and be happy? What does he not want to tell the world... it himself?

This is a spin-off to the story "The Teenage Years of Alexander Horten"