Here we are, another month, another chapter. A little short, but packed with action! (If by action you mean thoughts and introspection.) Please enjoy.

"Incidentally," he added in a quieter tone, "my girlfriend can be quite jealous."

I paused in the doorway. "Okay, noted. Does she live with you?"

"No... not yet, anyway. But if she calls, don't talk or make noise, alright? And if she comes over, just... act normally."

"That's what I usually do," I assured him.

[Authors Note]
There are dozens and dozens of stories about a bad boy becoming a good girl on TG sites. This is a topic that I had not put my toe into until now. However, I decided to do something a little bit different whilst remaining within the ‘bad child changes and becomes good’ theme. This tale is about a bad girl who thinks that she is entitled to the world and therefore is in dire need of being put on the right path. I’ll leave it to you to fill in the blanks.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

Changing Roles
By Julie Dawn Cole
Chapter 31

Emily took my hand and led me into the bedroom that she had allocated to me that was luxurious compared to my apartment and the one I’d grown up in at home. It was even better than most hotels I’d ever stayed in and I’d been excited by the prospect of sleeping under the freshly laundered and crisp white sheets in the large inviting bed. Emily sat down on the bed and gently pulled me to her side.

Yæmis

Yæmis was in trouble, again, kind of. For an eleven year old girl in year seven she got into a lot of trouble, kind of.

“This must he the fifth time you have been sent to see me this week,” the headteacher said.

Yæmis smiled and said, “The sixth, and it’s only Wednesday lunchtime, so averaging it out before school’s end on Friday I’ll be seeing you another six times.”

Domesticity
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

I love to cook. I learned how to when I was laid off and my wife Jane became the principal breadwinner.

“Let me keep house for a bit,” I told her. “I will keep looking for a job, but until I get one there is plenty I can do at home.”

It turned out that there is plenty to do, and that does not give time for job hunting.

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

Virginia Horse Center, Lexington, Va.:
“Man, this place is unbelievable.” Debbie and Juni were loving the horse center.

“And the good thing about it is we don’t have to judge anything.” Angela was glad they didn’t have to do anything this time except sing.

Cassady and Jessie were standing next to each other and looking around. They spot a teenage girl dressed in western gear helping a bunch of other teenagers with a bunch of horses. Cassady and Jessie watch as the long, strawberry blond-haired girl leads several horses out of a horse trailer.

“I’m sorry, your daddy needs me to help with something,” I told Durom. “We’ll have to continue the story tomorrow night.”

 

“But I need to know what happened to Bilbo,” he said plaintively. “Did the trolls catch him?”

Chapter 5