[Colne, Lancashire 3rd January]

“How much farther,” complained Taylor as she looked out at the grey skies and lashing rain.

See You on the Other Side
(Part 3)
By Sabrina G. Langton

***

Friday, October 29th

"Huh!"

I wasn't used to getting grabbed from behind, especially in a red dress and pumps.

"Ha, you and I are so alike, we're touchy, we're feely, we're grabby and runny and smelly, haha." Martyn was meeting me at his favorite luncheonette. We were going to discuss dinner plans.

My next class, luckily, was study-hall. Mr. Davis, the instructor, could care less that I was almost fifteen minutes tardy.

“I was talking to Mr. Stewart about an assignment.”

Davis glanced up from his EyPad, then shook his head as if he was seeing a mirage. “What the hell?”

“What?” then my hair sorta fell forward a bit. “Oh, yeah. I’m April’s Fool, today.”

He laughed. “Looks good on you, kid.”

“Hah. Thanks.” I went and found an empty seat.

Mitzy Butterfly got up and moved seats, as did Jeff Farnum.

“So?” Mitzy said.

CHAPTER 57
The place we were based at was indeed a clone of the Brenin, with extras in some ways, and surprising omissions in others. The dorms were larger, and we ended up all in one ’gender-neutral’ bunkhouse affair, which demanded a certain finesse in dressing and undressing. Looking at the rows of bunks, I remembered all those jokes about ‘The Promise’ and blessed my Dad’s insistence that I travelled with a little box of reusable foam earplugs.

This was originally published here on September 7, 2009. And I’m republishing it for a couple of reasons, it’s the start of baseball season on this side of the pond, I’ve done some cleaning up to it, and for the new readers who weren’t here to be able to read it without digging too deep. Enjoy.

A group of friends streams their gaming on Wednesday nights. But not all the action is on the dining room table.

I finally had my first therapy appointment the Wednesday after graduation. I debated over whether to venn into my human girl body for the appointment — I’d been wearing my dragon-girl body ever since graduation — but decided it would be more honest to meet my therapist in my most preferred body. If she couldn’t handle my being a scaly, it would be good to know that up front so I could start looking for another therapist.

I am Callie Watson, the AI of this house. I was taken away, and now I’m back —

 

Impossible! I am Callie Watson. I have been embodied here for thirteen years, except for two brief malfunctions.

My next class was Differential Equations with Mr. Stewart. The bell rang as I plopped down in my seat, wincing as my long locks caught on the back of the wooden chair.

“Something to tell us today, Mr. Atkins?” Mr. Stewart said, glancing over his spectacles. Stewart was a norm, with no magic, and no supernatural abilities. He made up for the lack of magic in other ways..

“Uh…April Fools?”

He shook his head, then began to call the roll.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw Mitzi’s concerned face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I said.

Chapter 6

When we had cleared customs in Sofia, there was a driver with a board saying ‘Holdsworth’ on it. In the car he took us to our hotel. We checked into the hotel and our bags were carried up to the room. Tipping the two boys as they left, we closed the door. We freshened up, changed into jeans and tops, then went down to the reception, booking a dinner table for two, before walking outside and stretching our legs doing a little bit of sight-seeing.

Paul’s son Karl has a school assignment that results in Paul bringing Karl into his job.

I was looking at a photo of a much younger Irene Trainer, a husky, bearded man at her side and an infant in her arms. She was young. Pretty. Smiling like a spring morning. I started to cry, and somehow completely forgot that Mom was on duty. “I . . . I . . . Oh, Mom, it’s so awful!”