Wow! It's been a little while since I posted a story, or even a chapter. I've had a sore left arm due to a bone spur growing into a ligament. I finally got a shot to reduce the pain, and I've been able to type again.
Once more, special thanks to Malady for his help editing.

Chapter 2

August 27^th, 2021

9 AM

Because of her age, Gloria's doctor was keeping a close eye on her and her baby. Each ultrasound had shown a healthy child, but Gloria was still concerned.

She wanted this baby between her and Mike to be perfect. It was silly, she knew, but she and Chester had a wonderful son in Chet. How much better would a child from her and Mike be?

She tried to put that thought behind her. Chet was an incredible young man, and she was very proud of him. Marcia and Amber were wonderful girls too.

There was something about a child that was both hers and Mike's. It was a testament of their love. She knew, though, that it would be easy for her to favor the new baby over the others, even if only because he or she would need more care than the others, and while Marcia might understand, Amber probably wouldn't.

Mom and Dad's plan was so crazy, it just might work. If Sam doesn't die of embarrassment....

6. My sister is so weird...

Bab's get's to learn of her long lost daughter Wendy and arrangements are made to meet.

Little did Stacey know that new neighbours would turn his life upside down.

In the three months since she'd entered the Program, Verity had been exposed to indignities without number: probes and penetrations; medical procedures which invariably left her shaken and tearful. The invasions never seemed to end. They'd explored her most intimate recesses with a barrage of wicked-looking instruments, delving and touching and pricking and poking until she'd begged them to stop, wailing like a child as each new device was inserted. Still, there was something worse than all the violations she'd suffered over the past ninety days...

Struggling to survive the lethal poverty of a post-apocalyptic world, young Verity Sherman has volunteered for "genetic reconfiguration;" a long and torturous medical procedure which effectively transforms biological males into fertile young women. If successful, Verity will be granted wealth, comfort and privilege beyond her wildest dreams - but only if she can survive the horrors of reconditioning. A dark, dystopian vision of a future where gender is a fluid medium and sexual slavery is the only alternative to the slow, creeping death haunting the slums of the Red Zone.

The parents of a troublesome teenage son finally had enough and sends him for special training. He gets more than she bargains for.

My freshman year in high school was quite remarkable. I managed to go through an entire year without making anything at all out of it. Well, scholastically I did reasonably well. Socially? I might just as well not have existed. I failed to get into any sports team. I failed to excel in any other way. I failed to get even ONE date, and that was definitely not for want of trying. I had no real friends. I had a few acquaintances that socially were as remarkable as I but that was all.

At the end of that year the school had come to the realization that the cheerleader team couldn’t possibly be at all events where they were wanted. The decision was taken to create a JV cheerleading team. Cheerleading was an exclusively female thing in our school. However, there was nothing in the rules that stopped a boy being a cheerleader provided he followed the rules. The rules would be the same as for the senior team. Same conduct rules. Same dress code, including wearing the skirted cheerleading uniform on match days and a nice dress at required obligatory social events.

I may have been a bit deranged but I decided that this was my opportunity to stand out, and get close to cute and popular girls. Best case, even share a locker room with them! I mentioned it to Carl, the nearest thing I had to a friend, and he just looked at me and shook his head. Well, I wasn’t to be discouraged by that.

I found myself floating. Floating through the air, floating through space, time had no meaning, there was no beginning or ending through the realm I floated through. My body felt light as a feather. Then I felt my toes touch something. I looked down and noticed I was standing on some green grass. I looked up and noticed the sky was blue. I had gone from floating from nothingness to standing on earth again. Then I noticed it. Before me a massive gate with a fence running as far as the eye could see in both directions. The bars of the gate glowed in the sun. 

Graphic created by Patricia Marie Allen from pictures on pixabay.com

Authors note: This story first appeared in the “One Dozen Roses” anthology and has been edited to be read as a standalone.
You can read it in the anthology here.

Introduction: I’m sure everyone has come across a story or two about someone finding that bottle or lamp that after the appropriate action releases a genie who will grant a certain number of wishes for the lucky person who happens to find it. Quite frequently, the person finding the genie doesn’t read the ‘fine print’ and the results are frequently not what the person making the wishes desired. The greedy and the dishonest seem to get the worst of it. In the case of this story, I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out.

Bruce Finds His Rainbow. Part 4

As the year wore on he continued his work with Joy and at the warehouse. Every few weeks the girls would leave him a small box of goodies from the damaged goods bin. He was using the good shampoo and the moisturiser and was looking good, or so he thought.

Where Lola eventually gets to find some important members of her blood family.