Need

I sit and stare at the machine, the Need beginning to overwhelm me. If I don’t get what I Need, I will go feral.

I feel thought edging away from me, it is becoming harder and harder to keep my composure, to keep seated, to keep sane. My claws begin to grow, my death grip on the edge of the table scoring the shiny table top, as I fight the need to tear away from the table and go out to kill.

Ursula and Tyra are in a fix and it is not certain when or how any rescue might be mounted. Down at the port, certain strange goings-on finally cause suspicions to be raised, but how are the Norse to find their companions? And what is the significance of that odd word which Ursula had overheard?

The Voyage of the Visund

A tale of Anmar by Penny Lane

56 - Taken

The parents of a troublesome teenage son finally had enough and sends him for special training. He gets more than she bargains for.

The two Texan girls are settling in to Canal Cottage but like all young people they need to get out and spread their wings.

"I'm telling you no son of mine is gonna go in front of our family in a dress no you better change right now" my dad said.

I could so be a good girlfriend to a nice boy. If only...

Straight
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

The first thing that I did was come straight out and tell my family that I was gay. I guess a lot of guys have real difficulty with this, but at the end of the day you just have to get it over with. You have to be straight. As it turned out, it went well. My Dad was not surprised – in fact, he was almost relieved. It seemed to explain everything about me.

“Jonny, why are you such a girl?” he asked, grinning down at me.

"Okay then," Luke said confidently as he looked up at his twin sister. "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Lucy replied. "We do this together, right?"

"Aye, always," Luke said, giving his sister a gentle pat on the back as the two of them walked toward the imposing main gate of Durham University...

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Is there something wrong with Tommy? Struggling with thoughts and urges seems like something normal for a teenager, but it feels like it’s all leading to a choice he’ll have to make… A choice that will decide who he is, and whether he even is a “he”.

Mare's Tales - Chapter 26 – by: Beverly Taff

Once they have realised there is no threat, village and country folk
will accept the unusual much faster than townsfolk. A personal
relationship can develop much quicker and they will accept someone
much quicker than city-dwellers who live wrapped up in the prejudices
and terrors that the cold anonymity of urban life creates.

“Yes, Mom, Shuggie’s right here, sitting next to me. He’s fine.”

Equality has finally come to the UQ. Now Peter may get to meet his father.

The next few months we a frenzy of hard work for the new parliament. The first task was to make sure the mistake of the past could never happen again. A law was passed that was enshrined in the new constitution that made it impossible to disenfranchise anyone, no matter gender, race or religion from voting.

I took a deep breath as I peered out of the window of the car and onto the passing landscape. The hills were covered in snow and the glass was starting to fog from my hot breath. Autumn had come and gone and my older sister Lily some twenty months late had decided to finally take me out to the movies. I'd been in something of a melancholy mood all week. Sulking some would say, pouting others would say. Brooding was another word for it I guess.

The Editor
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

It was my fourth Marion Potter book and at the end I found my eyes full of tears. It was unusual for me because while I can be as emotional as the next man, I was editing. I was looking for spelling and grammar and inconsistencies. When you are doing that, it is usually hard to get caught up in the story. It should be just words. But they were words that I did not realize had caught me in their web and were now winding me up in silk.