It was a bit of a rushed day, but we got the nature reserves in, complete with a sighting of a kingfisher. An Island tour was completed by car, with just a few tick-box moments, such as a ride on the Alum Bay chairlift and a stop at the top of St Catherine’s Down. Rita was bouncing about happily, and her English was just about good enough to ask how big the Island was. That, oddly, was something I knew, thanks to a friend who had cycled the thing for his 50th birthday.

“There is a cycle route all the way round the edge, and it is a little over one hundred kilometres long”

I could so be a good girlfriend to a nice boy. If only...

As always - All rights and Characters © Beverly Taff

“I’m tired. Please let me get some rest. Today we, the people of the world worked together. Men and women from all different races and religions saved the planet. Tomorrow I’ll tell you how we work together to save humanity.”

The whole world waited on what this amazing man had to say.

The next morning, Charlie stood at a podium outside the Darwin factory. He waited for the crowd to quiet down before he started.

I con Jack out of some of his beer...

Straight
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

The first thing that I did was come straight out and tell my family that I was gay. I guess a lot of guys have real difficulty with this, but at the end of the day you just have to get it over with. You have to be straight. As it turned out, it went well. My Dad was not surprised – in fact, he was almost relieved. It seemed to explain everything about me.

The feed cut off and the world watched in horror as there was a series of explosions on the surface of the asteroid. The ships were exploding as the power surged through them. They extra power had given the engines a massive boost. The exploding gravity field fields pushed the asteroid out of the atmosphere.

The earth was safe. Cheers erupted from the whole world. In the control room it took a few minutes for the screams to die down. In the control room.

Peter looked up from his coms screen. He was crying. Chloe stared and shook her head.

I woke early once again, nervous about Pablo’s mood in the most peculiar way imaginable. I found myself worrying that some odd mental link might have led him to suspect what I had been up to in the night, but then again, he might just have heard the creaking and done some simple addition. I took a few minutes to finish loading tents and other hardware into the car, and then started the kettle going.

In the event, it was Rita who was first down, and I was oddly comforted by the way she seemed to know where everything was, and to be utterly relaxed about preparing her own breakfast.

The bus stopped at a truck stop somewhere between the town of Rock Bottom and Nopeville—only because Chad stated that if we didn’t stop then he would have to test what part of the restroom was actually broken. So, there we were, in a place that had a diner attached to the store where the waitresses ended all of their sentences with the word “hon”.

Later that year Charlie heard some worrying news from Peter. One of Britain’s mining ships spotted a potential “Planet Killer” asteroid on the way back to earth. The Woden, contacted earth and ask the Boudicca to confirm their findings on their way back to the asteroid belt.

“I’ve sent you the data Charlie. It does look like it’s on course to hit earth. The thing is nearly 70 miles’ diameter. It will kill all life if it hits.”

I was 28. I was between jobs. I was homeless. The breaks with my parents were final. My girlfriend had just dumped me. My best friend from high school had only barely failed to kill me. I needed a break!

Rita looked towards the stack of DVDs as the film ended, and it was clear that she wanted to watch the next one, but the clock was most definitely against her. Pablo spoke softly to her, and she simply nodded, before rising and coming round to face us both. A hug and a kiss for her father, the same for me, and she was off to bed, while I was still settled against him, afraid of breaking the spell. As the hall door closed, he almost whispered my name.

Charlie pauses to smell the flowers

All Characters © Beverly Taff

Six months later. David Rodgers was living with Charlie and his family. He was a big hit with the children, who were now old enough to play football on the beach.

The Australian security guards were telling him that he was playing soccer, not football. David knew better though.

Is there something wrong with Tommy? Struggling with thoughts and urges seems like something normal for a teenager, but it feels like it’s all leading to a choice he’ll have to make… A choice that will decide who he is, and whether he even is a “he”.