Living and Loving in Dystopia
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

Nobody thought that it could get any worse for gay Russians with the fall of Vladimir Putin, but his successor seemed all the more keen to crack down on deviant behavior. The fact is that he had an ally in President Pence. It seems like both our countries are now controlled by the ignorant provincial conservatives who regard anything out of their normal as a religious crime. The “Heartland” of Russia is pretty much the same as the Heartland of America – hostile to gay people.

“So let me get this straight,” Ella said, rubbing her forehead. “You narrowly avoided dying after being set up by Victors friends, and now Rock For Brains thinks you're flirting with him because you managed to drop a shiny boulder on his head?”

“Pretty much,” I said, sinking deeper into my comfy chair.

In the center of Pakmal city Eriana thinks she is talking to someone who can get her an audience with the Arch-Count. The reality is somewhat different, however, and it becomes necessary for the company to make a hasty yet un-noticed departure from the capital. Ursula has a suggestion for the Kittrin.

The Voyage of the Visund

A tale of Anmar by Penny Lane

72 - Prudent Choices

It Takes a Village
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

My grandfather fought in the Great Patriotic War – what is referred to in the West as World War 2. He was a hero, although he said that they all were. The Soviet Union lost 8,668,400 soldiers in that war, which was 10 times more than all the Western allies combined. But when you add civilian casualties the total people from our nation who died was over 27 million – 12% of the population.

Greenville, Mississippi had a total population of some fifty thousand souls all nestled along the banks of the Mississippi River. The town was a thriving river port, and could boost a thriving downtown district that was lined with all kinds of shops. It also had a mall, a pretty good mall. Not as big as say North Park the second biggest enclosed shopping space in Mississippi or the Metro Center Mall, who claimed the title as the biggest and best enclosed shopping mall. But it was the only mall in the region.

I spent about an hour after dinner looking through the stuff in my room. Eventually I realized that the only thing that was really the same between this room and mine were outward appearances like the dressers and the bed and everything. It turned out that they didn’t look identical after all but I was just too excited to spot the differences.

For Bobby, a trip to the opera leads to events he never expected.

A few days ago I accidentally heard some opera on internet radio, and it brought back memories of supering with my dad, only it didn't end up this way for me.

Intergalactic Love

“Please leave and trouble us no more with your lies. I may be of Irish descent with strong connections to the Sidhe, but I don’t live in a færie story, and I’m not Cinderella.”

As soon as I woke up I knew something had happened. I felt the warm embrace of sleep slowly slip away. My mind tried to make sense of where I was. A hotel? I didn't remember getting there.

My head felt so heavy. I had almost no strength, this wasn't right. I tried to recall last night. I had been driving through the corn belt region of the midwestern United States. It had long been an ambition of mine to drive from Canada to Mexico.