Link: The Road to Hell Title Page and Description

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After the service, the family went to their usual restaurant for brunch. Josh was quiet and contemplative, distracted as he mentally deconstructed the topic, The Sermon on the Mount. He didn't understand the context, other than in theory, so all he could do was judge the value based on the words spoken. He ate his turkey club sandwich absently, staring off into space as he pondered the words that seemed to be in total contradiction with the impression his parents had given him of the Christian faith.

Perhaps the final chapter for the competition

Living Next Door to Alex - Chapter 7
By Julie D Cole

‘I have been trying to call you but your phone was switched off. Oh Jules I am so relieved to have you home safe.’

Chapters 4-6 of 9

I wish I could get you
Out of my mind
But I think about it all the time
And I wish I could not think
For once in my life
But when I see your face
I can't escape my mind

Link: The Road to Hell Title Page and Description

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Josh awoke at six as usual. He almost didn't need the alarm he'd set the night before, having gotten used to rising at that time anyway, but he was taking no chances. Jumping out of bed quickly, he got dressed. Putting on fresh white undies and white tights easily now that he'd had practice at it, he put on a pretty bra and then got into the skirt and blouse.

“She couldn’t have chosen a more convenient month for this?” Sophie sighed as she, Amy and Hayley tried to manoeuvre the cumbersome single bed into her bedroom. “I always thought that August was, like, the busiest month for foreign travel.”

“Oh, stop whining,” Amy chastised her flatmate. “You were the one who suggested this, remember?”

Living Next Door to Alex - Chapter 6
By Julie D Cole

I stepped into the shower and turned it on with my back to the shower door. It was very spacious when I compared it to our shower at home with more than enough room for two. I ducked beneath the stream of water adjusting the temperature and soaked my hair.

I was applying the body soap when Alex stepped into the shower.

‘I see you started without me? I thought you needed my assistance.’

Link: The Road to Hell Title Page and Description

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After returning home, Josh was truly happy for the first time since the start of school. He had his two best friends again and it actually gave him hope for a moment that, with their help, he could figure a way out of his predicament. They always helped with my parents insisting I'm gay! he reasoned. Slowly though, a new thought dawned on him. I've gone to school three times dressed as a girl! Everyone thinks I want to be one now! It'll be impossible to convince them I really wanna be a boy... even Tracy and David!

A Thing of Beauty
By Maryanne Peters
A Sequel to "Beauty Boy": https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/87856/beauty-boy

I sometimes think I am just a thing to him. A thing of Beauty.

I know what beauty is. It is my trade after all. I was a boy then, looking for a trade that did not require me to sweat or get dirty, and preferably involved in surrounding myself with beautiful things. Why should that be restricted to women? They do not have a monopoly on beauty.

The night was bitter cold. The snow was softly falling as she walked up the narrow street of Montmartre hill in Paris. The plain brown working dress and shawl she wore gave her little protection from the cold. Even the multitude of petticoats seemed to trap the cold air against her cotton stockings.

She didn’t care. She was determined to see this through. For her, for them.

Ursula goes to the market the following day and encounters several dranakhs on the way back. A restless nap leads her to reconsider the dangerous decision she has made. A personal talk with Eriana adjusts their plans. The following day, unexpected allies are revealed.

The Voyage of the Visund

A tale of Anmar by Penny Lane

59 - Second Thoughts

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Living Next Door to Alex – Chapter 4
By Julie D Cole

-1-
An Unexpected Turn of Events

After a traumatic journey ducking bullets and ambush, the girls finally make it to the courts in Texas.

Lolita Revisited
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I never thought that this kind of thing happened for real, but there are strange people out there.

I suppose my mother was strange too. She always had a hankering to see me dressed as a girl. She told me that she did it when I was a baby, dressing me in pink just because she liked to hear people say: “What a pretty little girl”. Any chance to put me in a dress for Halloween or fancy dress she always said: “Go as a princess. Let me get you the outfit.”

The whole crowd seems to like me now
'Cause they think I'm cool but back when I was in school
They found it very easy to hate me
Funny how always these times are changing
Back then I was so easy to shatter
But now in the end it doesn't really matter
Tap your foot and listen in
Ignore the world, let the music cave in
Close your phone and breathe in the air
You'll soon realize that there's something that is so much more than this.

I hadn’t been home for a very long time. Actually, I hadn’t been home since I went away to college more than ten years ago. My parents and siblings preferred to come to the big city, New York, instead to see me. Much more exciting than our little town. The town could have been the model for a Hallmark movie. Everyone knows everybody and all that. The church socials, the Christmas market. Well, you get the picture(s).

Since I was going to move to Paris (France, not Texas) I finally decided to go back once before I moved. Of course, my family would love to visit Paris with the excuse of visiting me, so we’d still see each other but it was Christmas and all that… Also, I have to admit that part of the reason I went back was so that I could brag about my new position as the manager of our Paris office. Quite a career move for a young woman, especially one born as a boy.

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Living Next Door to Alex – Part 3
By Julie D Cole