After the Pantomime

By Susannah Donim

A spare time hobby slowly turns into a lifetime choice for Nick.

Chapter 2 – A Stand-up Comedienne

Nick makes his debut as Daisy Duquesne.

Part 28

That weekend Aganee, Birgitta and I spent a lot of time with Anna, Anudeeps’ wife. It happened that the trash mags had been right when they said she had been an airline hostess. “I met Anu by accident. He was flying in my plane when we hit turbulence and I literally landed in his lap carrying a tray of drinks. He said ‘Don’t worry. I will hold you down’ and did just that.”

Lola has a lucky escape as she throws caution to the wind.

Tom didn’t know why he booked the appointment.

It had been over two years since he last cut his hair. At first it was laziness. Then pride. And then… something else. He never said it aloud, but he liked how it looked in the mirror. How it felt. How it moved. Especially after brushing. The glide, the shine—it stirred something.

But now he was standing in a boutique salon, pretending he was ready to chop it all off.

A single chair. No receptionist. Just her.

The stylist looked up from her phone and froze.

“…Wow.”

It seemed like just seconds ago Avery had snuggled in a warm bed in a dark room. He awoke to a room that was bathed in sunlight. He headed toward the kitchen, stopping for a bathroom break. He found his mom at the kitchen table, reading some papers.

“Hello, Sweetie. Oh, we don’t go around the house in just a nightie. Go slip something on over it.”

CHAPTER 74
Life seemed settled at last, especially for Charlie and Tiff. They were still rationing their trips outside, but at least Charlie had started wearing something other than night clothes, and when we made our Summer expedition, they came with us, as did Gemma and Kim.

This time, Lim was driven up by Phil, and there were happy grins and congratulations from Cathy and my original Nell. As for Alicia, she rode up with her father, and when Owen the barman commented on how nice it was to have his guitarist back, and Alun made a comment about looking after his daughter, Alicia beamed for days. The weather blessed us for several days, and there was one shining moment that lifted my heart even more than Alicia’s wide smile at her father.

Blake and his friends explore career opportunities at a local ladies strip club. Blake - transformed to Bunny Boy - is singled out to be a star of the Butch and Bitch Bistro where he meets his true love, Betsy Boss.

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 10 – Our New Careers

Maria, the cleaning lady, gets a new boss (same as the old boss). Business booms.

There were no real changes in Luke or Lori’s life until the spring of their junior year. Luke was thriving in California. Good grades, good friends, and good weather helped Luke to live the good life.

Luke's grades were as high as the waves he loved to ride. His being in the top 20 of his class was going to get him into Stanford. The Harvard of the West Coast was his dream school. The university had one of the best, if not the best, computer engineering programs in the world.

Heaven to Hell

Have you ever thought about heaven? They do say that the Catholic Church denies the existence of Hell, just admitting that there may be purgatory awaiting lost souls. Whatever you may, or may not, believe; you can experience Hell on Earth.

Chapter 8

The next few weeks sped by with more than a fair share of drama…with a capital ‘D’. Lei finally got busted on campus for smoking pot with her friends. Mixed feelings swirled around as I felt both happy and sad for her. Lei finally got what she wanted. She was going home to party with her friends. No doubt every rude boy would be on notice.