Black Cat Investigations – that’s what it says on the door to my downtown office.,

I’m Black by the way. No, I don’t mean that I’m black. Do I confuse you? What I mean is that my name is Black but I don’t have any African roots (that I know about). Actually, I’m white, almost albino white, blonde (nice wavy hair), 6’4”, 200 lbs almost purely muscles apart from the skeleton, firm chin, chiseled features, snappy dresser and so on.

Chapter 3.15

May 30th, 2023

8:27 PM

Marcia was out riding Tigger when Darryl phoned her.

“Hi, Foxy,” he said when she answered. “Can you come up to the house? We need to talk about something.”

“Do you want to meet me at the stable?” she asked him.

“No, I think we need to talk in the house about this,” He told her.

“What’s this about?” she asked. “You’re sounding kinda cryptic.”

“Nothing bad, Foxy. I promise that.”

“Okay, now I’m getting suspicious,” she said as she steered the horse toward the barn.

The Other Side of Me – Part 19
by Limbo’s Mistress

I was completely, utterly, and totally speechless.

Of all the things I expected to be revealed when I sat down across from the Kappa Omega head girl, the very last thing on that list would have been the announcement that she knew about the dimensional shift. To say that a whole new twist had been added would be the understatement of the year.

Luckily, I recovered my wits after a few seconds and put on my most confused expression, hoping it seemed sincere.

“Do what?”

The throbbing in my head told me that something wasn't quite right when I regained consciousness. I felt something soft under me. That said 'you are in a bed'. The bleeping of a monitor told me that I was in a hospital. That in turn meant official records which leads to questions and possibly awkward ones at that.

For Him
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I think that I am smart for a fourteen year old. I mean, I am really good at school, but I think that I know people, and I think that is what being really clever is all about. And I knew my father better than anybody else does, including him. I certainly knew him better than Mom ever did.

I don’t mean to say anything bad about Mom. She died three years ago in a car accident. I was only eleven but that is an age when I think that you understand everything pretty well. I did.

LOCKDOWN LUCY: JOHN’S STORY

This story is a sequel to “Lockdown Lucy.” This time, we see events from John’s perspective.

Included are another set of all new photos of Lucy; some from familiar scenes. This time, they’re how John saw things.

---

Swipe Right
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Tinder is made for guys like me. If you feel like sex then you just open up and see what’s about. If you are good looking and athletic, girls will go for that. Free sex. Swipe Right. Some girls talk about relationships, so you let them. Just put on your listening face and nod. Whatever it takes to get them into the sack. “Thank you Ma’am.” Don’t hang around. Leave quick. They might get ideas.

Jamie has a plan and Nana agrees to test the first hypothesis.

“You two look exhausted,” Priya said as Luke and Lucy sat down at their usual table in the Student Union bar. “I don’t need to guess why, do I?” The Indian girl bit her lip as her two friends both shook their heads.

“Ugh,” Luke sighed, sharing a knowing glance with his sister. “Never mind ‘back from holiday’, I feel like I NEED a holiday.” Luke allowed himself a smile as his friends Gavin and Susie smiled sympathetically.

What if supernatural beings like Witches, Faeries, Demons, and their ilk are all real? Glen Evanston is about to be caught in their many traps in my new work in progress: Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem a Graphic Novel by Raine Monday

Visited Upon the Father
Following the “Sins of the Son”
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I carry my father’s name. I am Vernon Michaels Junior, just called “Junior” at home. Home was with my mother, as my father had been thrown out years before, and he was actually living in the town where I was going to college, and had a small place near the campus.

My father proudly called me “a chip off the old block”. He said that he got into a spot of trouble at college. He said that he would give the best advice – “Don’t get caught”.

Chapter 3.14

May 23^rd, 2023

12:34PM

Bruce sat on a log bench that was sitting near the barn. It was facing out towards the water and Pioneer Peak, and he was enjoying the view. He had his eye on a golden eagle circling something below. He supposed it was a rabbit, and he watched to see if it would dive for its prey.

Chet exited the house, looking for the older man, and when he spotted him, he followed Bruce’s gaze and saw the eagle just as it dived. A moment later, it was heading back up, a wiggling mass of brown and white fur in its talons. He hoped it was a rabbit.

Walking up to Bruce, Chet observed that the man was munching on a sandwich. “Well, did the police mess up your camper?” He asked.

Antibodies 4

© Copyright to Beverly Taff.

Characters.
Nana Bev, Interplanetary prospector.
Jamie, Bev’s younger prospecting Partner.
Dennis Potter Freight manager and old friend of Beverly’s.
Jack Godfrey Yard foreman and walking boss.
Charlotte and Lucy - Jamie’s younger dancing & clubbing friends.
Rose and Violet. Real girl friends of Jamie, Charlotte and Lucy.

Chapter 4.

Every day, all the time it seemed, the guys just made fun of me. Sure I was smart, but I was small, smaller than most of them. It was terrible, as they turned into men, I seemed to stay behind, with my soft hairless features. And puberty, well that didn’t seem to be happening either.

KAI

For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.

I stared blankly at the GCSE exam past paper on the desk in front of me, then at my watch for perhaps the fiftieth time this lesson, then out of the window where the sun was streaming down onto the tarmacked playground below. Only a few minutes to go now, a couple of hours to kill at the library, and I could go home and escape. For a few hours anyway. I’d been planning it for weeks. My stomach had been turning butterflies all afternoon in anticipation.

Mare's Tales - Chapter 30 – by: Beverly Taff

With our long sojourn at an end we finally returned full circle to
the same pretty yacht haven we had left so long ago. Things had
changed enormously for all of us but not so much as to damage or
affect the intense feelings we still had for the friends we had left
behind. Margaret, Jane, Diana and I were overjoyed to see our centaur
friends waving excitedly on the quay as our weather-beaten yacht
nosed its way into her old familiar berth.

Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
A Short Retelling of History
By Maryanne Peters

Aye, it is a heavy burden to have the fate of an entire nation borne upon your shoulders. More so when that nation has such a fine tradition of bravery and resourcefulness. Surely the Scots are special folk. I only wish that their hero could have been strong enough to live up to the expectation.