La Petite Mardi Gras: Part One
Pleasure Dies At the Stroke of Midnight

-1-

The antebellum south was steeped in tradition, some of those traditions vanished after the Civil War, some endured through the turbulent years that followed and are still carried on to this day. Among those traditions that started in antebellum Benton was the annual Carnival Ball that's hosted each Carnival by the aristocratic families of Benton. Chief among those are the Potter Family who were among the earliest settlers of the town.

Chapter Two – The Wolf and The Bear

Penelope Bishop and her nemesis Jennifer Jones find themselves on the same side trying to capture sex-trafficker and Russian mafioso Alexi Reznik. Jennifer brings her faithful friend and sex goddess Katya Kuznetsova to Balwyn to use her wily ways to help with the case.

CHAPTER 21
It was the start of a much harder year, as we buckled down for the first stage of exams that could have a permanent impact on our ambitions. No O-levels would mean no A-levels; no A-levels would most definitely mean no university, no degree, no opportunities, or at least massively reduced ones. It meant that we had to reduce our social activities, with the added nastiness stemming from the perverse stance of Alys’ shrinks at the gender place.

Cover image from Unsplash

Again, I need to thank Malady for his help and ideas as I write this.

Your help is much appreciated!

Chapter 4.1

“Well, you son of a...”

We had returned upstairs, and when we arrived, we had a surprise! Sitting in Marc’s desk chair, talking to Amy, was Rachel. Her wings were carefully folded behind her, and her pixie dress appeared out of place inside a building.

They sat around eating and drinking champagne and discussing wedding plans. Sam asked Angus to be best man. He had not known him that long, but he knew it would mean so much to him.

As she ate her chocolate gateaux, Michelle smiled to herself. Everything was going well. There were no more monsters hiding ready to ruin things.

Just as she cleaned up the dinner things, the phone rang.

I got back to my room feeling very excited. OMG, OMG, OMG! Tim asked me out, I told him I was born male and he was still game for a date! Was it a date though? Or maybe it was just two friends, hanging out? He was, after all, the new boy and he needed to make friends.

I really liked him though, really wanted. Really wanted him to like me.

Emily has compromised the safety of their safe house at Canal Cottage.

NB Although all of the great houses and historical figures are real, current period characters are purely from my imagination and have no link with anyone living or dead.

Part 5 Changes Afoot!

White Elephant Recycle Electronics, Utica Ave Brooklyn, NY.:
“Hey Rita, how much do you want for this old dinosaur computer?” Edward holds the old thing up.

Rita looks at the old portable computer. It had two old-style floppy drives and the old-style amber screen built into it. The thing was only good for running programs on the old-style floppy disk.

“Fifty dollars. I have the disk that goes with it. I’ll give them to you for nothing.” Rita knew the machine still work.

“Forty dollars.” Edward looks at Rita to see if she’ll give.

A Woman’s Work
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I had always wanted to be an artist. I guess I felt that I was creative, but what I really liked was the idea of flicking a little paint onto canvas and selling it for $10,000. It struck me that it could be so easy if I had talent.

Things are dire for Lillyn.
But even death is just an inconvenience.
At least if you are a void-trader of Lillyn's caliber.
There are still some tricks up her sleeve.