If only I had listened to the warnings about drugs. In my defense though, I have had a rotten life up until this present moment. A moment that finds me staring down the barrel of a shotgun in a private hospital in the middle of the night.

The first few years of my life were like many other people's. I was the only child of loving but poor parents. I was always on the small side which led to bullying at school, but that was normal. Schools say they hate bullying, but most of them turn a blind eye to it.

Venuses in Furs
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

We always get the invitations. It was that way when we started doing it just for fun, but now it has become a lifestyle. You might say that it has gone way too far, but I have learned lately that too far isn’t far enough for me.

We decided to throw our own “Fur Party” because that is how it started, for me anyway.

Toni has been Toni for a little over a week, which seems to be just enough time for her to have slept in a boy’s bed. Yes! With the boy next to her. And they did more than sleep in the afternoon, long before the Sandman visited. But how will she handle discovering men do more than smell good and kiss good?

Will Toni be spending the new day telling all her friends about her discoveries with a smile on her face? Will Steph in Light Avenue have to get used to saying the annoyingly alliterative “Toni and Tim?” Or will Toni be running to Big-G, her one rock, with tears in her eyes when she meets him later in her day? More importantly, does Toni even remember why she’s meeting Big-G, or has her mind been filled with more distracting thoughts?

Prince Taylor deals with the attention towards him after someone wrote a book about his sissy journey

On the first day of school, Genesis rode with Ramona to school. Unlike Genesis, Ramona had her own car that her mother had helped pay for. Genesis had never thought she'd be riding in the school bully's car, but here she was now.

"Listen," Ramona said as they pulled into the school's parking lot, "My mom told me she and your dad signed you up for the cheerleading squad-"

"Yes, I know," said Genesis. "First practice is after school today, right?"

For Madison Sander, the path home is not a straight one, nor is it always a happy one, but there's always room for friendship, family, love and hope.
Note: The CW is related to the first scene only.

The Long Route Home
By Marissa Lynn

Prologue

"You ready, Emily?"

"Yeah. I've been slowly having Cecily take a few things while he's been out. Everything else is in the trunk."

"Great. Get in. She should be waiting for us."

“… Cymru, yng Nghaerdydd; thank you for listening to Noson Werin, presented by myself, Siw Williams, with this evening’s guest the multi-instrumentalist Chrissy Morgan, who will be performing next Wednesday in St David’s Hall, Cardiff. This has been a Tidewave production for BBC Wales in Cardiff”

I waited till the ‘on air’ light was out, and confirmation from our producer, before I turned back to Chrissy, who was now encumbered with several instrument cases.

“How do you think that went?”

Part 6

Sunday, we had a day at the beach at Lyme Regis, with the parents. It was the first chance that Dad had to be where we could talk quietly. He spoke to Angelica as we walked along the foreshore, eating ice-creams. Whatever he told her, it must have been good, as she gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Then, he walked between us while Mum steered Angelica away.

Living the Novel
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters