I sneezed explosively; by happy coincidence, the sound bore an uncanny resemblance to the word, “bullshit.”

Simon was excited to leave his birth planet behind.
All it took was to hire onto a merchant ship - the Golden Swan - as a lowly shipboy.
Traversing the sea of stars had been a dream of his since being little.
But it might turn into a nightmare as the merchant ship spots a pursuer with Pink Sails.
Pirates are hunting the Golden Swan and there is nothing Simon can do.

I've been lurking on BigCloset for years. It helped me figure a lot of things out about myself and gave me a place to escape to when things in the real world were just a little too much. Hopefully I can help contribute to the wonderful work on this site! Apologies for any grammar mistakes, difficulty reading, etc. Again, this is my first time really writing out a story. All feedback and criticisms are welcome and appreciated! That being said, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1:

The pair of us worked long into the night cleaning the house. Despite my best endeavours, Heather would not divulge what she had planned for us when we finally left out current location.

The Other Side of Me – Part 25
by Lily Rasputin

“No,” I said, trying to inject nonchalance into my voice. “I didn’t forget. Uh, the time just sort of got away from me.”

There was a pause from Sam’s end, just long enough for me to wonder if she was mad that “I” had apparently forgotten we were supposed to get together today. If she was, I’d just have to find some way to put out that fire as well. After all, it wasn’t as if I could tell her that it wasn’t really me she’d made plans with.

Part Twelve

Major Lee was a good commander; he knew how to yield gracefully to a situation. He put Vic in the group which was assigned the task of liberating the hostages. Unfortunately, as the group she was with made their cautious way towards the barracks, Vic made the mistake of getting in a hurry to rescue Michelle and moved ahead of the troops.

The next morning, Zack woke up to the sound of Lanie dropping her phone and cursing. Zack blinked and rose out of the bed he was sleeping in.

"Hey, Zoe's up," said Miles.

"What?" Zack looked down and realized that he'd shifted to Zoe in his sleep.

Lanie looked over and realized Zoe was now female. "Oh," she said. "I guess you changed before you went to bed?"

"No, sometimes I just shift gender in my sleep without intending to," said Zoe. "Want me to change back?"

"It's okay, you can be a girl for right now," said Lanie.

There is one thing Jason love’s more than anything in the world, esports. In fact, he wants to become the best Dota 2 player in the world. That’s why he recently joined a competitive team, only to find out later. That he joined an all girls team. And while pretending to be “Emily” online is one thing, offline this might prove to be a lot more difficult.

One too Many
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Even with the curtains drawn in a vain attempt to help me cope, it seemed that the room was in direct sunlight, or that I was in a Nazi interrogation room facing a searchlight I kept my eyes open as only slits, or was it the one ton block sitting on my head that was keeping them mainly closed?

QUICK NOTE: I apologize for the rude tone I used in my blog post last night. It was really late, and I was feeling pretty tired, hence why the technical issues I ran into with the site irritated me as much as they did. But I definitely should've been more polite in my wording, and also refrained from using the word "fuck" (in its asterisked form, no less) in the blog's header. And I also apologize for my salty attitude about the previous chapters getting relatively few reads. Going forward, I will try to have a better attitude and take criticism better.

***

Part Eleven

"We had just come to the same conclusion," said Major Lee, once Vic and Spivak reached his office at the UN headquarters building. "Our drone team noted the activity there, and pegged it as the location for the prisoners and those holding them. Don't worry; we kept the drone very high.

"We also found people near the north shore of the island, but they only number about a dozen. Presumably, they are there to secure the exit for the mercenaries. There are small boats hidden in the underbrush nearby."

"So we need to go scout."

The Story Behind...
A Different Pair of Queens

***

Um, not that anyone asked... but... just in case...