6:30 AM. The alarm buzzed. I slammed down the sleep button, with every intent of going back to sleep. Five minutes later, I had to go to the bathroom and got up to go. I turned on the light. I looked in the mirror. My wife looked back. I screamed.

“What’s wrong, Dan?” I heard myself say, from the bed.

"You ready to climb up and hook the ladder." I whispered to Karen.

She nodded, and stepped into my hands as I lifted her to waist level. Two quick taps on her leg then a quick hop had her standing on my shoulders. Two more taps, and I stood back up. She squeezed her toes to my chin so I knew she could reach the sill. I stood very still, bracing my hands against the brick wall.

Cathy and the Doctor must find a solution to their problem once and for all...but will they do so in time to save the Earth??

"You sound a little sad," Cassie said brightly. "What's wrong?"

"If I tell you, you'll just tease me," I replied, "Besides, I want to tell Jerry first."

"Oh my god," she said breathlessly. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"That's your new high school: Blessed Yvette High School for Girls. I've told you the name before."

"I don't think so," I said. "I'd remember a whacked-out name like that."

She gave me a funny look.

A Leap of Faith
By Maggie the Kitten

Edited by Holly Hart and shalimar

“Look … Randall, I know I’ve given birth a few times, so you might assume it’s a bit old hat by now, but I think I’d know if I’d dropped another baby. It is kind of a memorable experience. So let me make this really, really clear for you. There is no Stephanie Watson. There has never been a Stephanie Watson. I don’t need to fill out any damn forms to say so, and if we don’t get this sorted out and my children onto the shuttle you’ll be the one suffering from illness or incapacity. Now put that in your database!”

"This is your life we're talking about. Try to show a little interest! I'm not asking you what you want for lunch. I'm asking you how you want to appear on legal records. I hope that you at least understand that you can't switch back and forth between girl and boy every semester."

"That's putting it mildly. Uh oh."

"What dad? That doesn't sound good over there."

"What do I tell your mom? She'll flip."

There are some things we tell ourselves to get through the hard times. Some may be true and some may not, but in the final analysis, The Heart Knows.

Chapter 1

Since I'm still blocked on the two stories I'm currently writing, I'd like to re-post this old story of mine here. It was the first fiction story I tried to write. I've gone over it and corrected a lot of things and generally cleaned it up. I hope you'll enjoy it. It's a long one, but I didn't want to push other, newer stories down the page by posting it in parts.

"Marcie, what's with you?" Carla asked me. "You're so calm. It's kinda spooky. Are you on something?"

"It isn't that I want you to be upset at what happened, but it doesn't seem that you understand the gravity of what's going on with you. You just skip happily from one bizarre cataclysm to the next, while all around you, parents, relatives, and friends clutch their hearts in terror."

"Yes?"

"Hold onto your seat dad. He wrote some of those articles!"

Angelo, continuing his adventures into becoming a girl, faces frightening prospects and returns to his loving foster mother as high school years continue. The story ends in a surprise.

As I woke up on the floor after being dumped back into my room. I was covered in blood, sweat, tears and dust. The outfit was ruined as was my hair and there were bruies starting to appear on my arms and my face. I was not sure how much of my now sore back was torn open from the abuse I had recieved. I was kind of secure in the knowledge I was in my room where I thought I might be safe.

I borrowed a top from Alice that was as daring as I dared to be. "Um," she said, "I don't know if you're old enough for that top, but one thing I do know for sure: if you're going to wear it, you have to take a jacket, so you can close it up. You need the option."

Angelo finds friendship and acceptance at high school, in spite of his girlish nature. His joy is short-lived as he finds Child Welfare Services has come to remove him from his foster mother's home, a prospect that horrifies him. He works out his own solution to this frightening event and finds a whole new world.