CHAPTER 12
When I returned to the living room, she was still there, wrapped up tightly in the sleeping bag, a light sheen of sweat on her face. I handed her the hot chocolate I had prepared, along with the first of the antibiotics, and watched her face light up at the aroma rising from the mug.

Her voice was clear, as Sparky had observed, but still weak.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Later, girl”

Another twitch at that word. I pressed on.

When Maxine returned home from the Hospice, she sat still for a while. The carers were busy cleaning the Bedroom where Adrian had slept for the past two months. The medical equipment … The medical equipment was all being boxed up to be sent back to the rental company. It all seemed so final. She just had to accept that Adrian was not coming home again. Now it was up to her to run her life and the business. For the first time since she’d gone to that interview with Sally Jameson, she felt truly alone. She mentally sighed to herself. There would be many more days like this in the days, weeks and months to come.

Maxine sat at her desk and gazed into space for god knows how long thinking about everything and nothing at the same time.

Positively Patsy Part 1

I sat there at a table in a nightclub in Hanoi and the lass in front of me had just told me she may be Grogs daughter without knowing just what this may mean. Not wanting to alert Pietro to the ramifications of the situation I just laughed and said that I had heard about loving drink but that was a good one.

In this chapter, our hero gets a new understanding of what delicate can mean, learns about a confrontation in the principal's office, and follows a friend in pain into the unknown.

“ Don’t be daft Kim, what harm could you do, even if you wanted to, there is not a lot you could do, all fixed up the way you are. You are a girl now, remember that and just get on with life as normal, and stop worrying, you are more girly and feminine than a lot of the others we will be playing against.”

The Letters Chapter 2

Greg turned and looked at the speaker. He saw – himself. He certainly wasn’t expecting such a strange things to happen. It was bewildering.

“Do you know what’s going on?” he asked. His voice was a little shaky, and his arms felt like there was no strength in them.

“Well, as I said, I forgot to put the belt on and ended up… Well… You. Your arms are really sore, huh?”

CHAPTER 11
I made sure I followed the paper in question for a few weeks afterwards, which amused Ruth when she caught me reading it one day as I got outside a coffee and a ham and cheese toastie.

“Not exactly your sort of rag, girl!”

“Ah, a running story I’m looking for an update on”

“Would that be the one about the little shit who got a kicking from people you definitely didn’t know?”

Grant drove.

He spent Christmas with his folks in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, but now he had to get back to his job in St. Louis, Missouri. He had plenty of time, as it was Friday, and he didn’t start work until Monday. He figured he could just enjoy the drive. He would go to Omaha, then drop down through Council Bluffs to Kansas City, then cross Missouri to St. Louis.

CHAPTER 10
My little Honda made short work of the ride up to the club, a sleeping bag strapped across the rear seat and a change of clothing in the throwovers along with some toiletries for the morning.

Being where I was, the bags also held some waterproofs.

Maid of Orleans
A Short Story based on Fact
By Maryanne Peters