Red Jaguar and his retinue were surprised by the confident demeanor of the young boy and how fluently he spoke their language. They were also awed by his reddish hair and piercing green eyes.

“Kneel when you greet the King, impudent one,” a man snarled as he lowered his spear and stepped toward Raben.

Synopsis: Allison speaks with her therapist about starting hormone therapy and learns about Philanthropy

“Allison? Are you okay?” Brynn asked me. I snapped out of my brief trance and looked back to her. Brynn was the therapist that Remy had referred me to and so far I had no idea how the session was going.

“I…yeah, I’m fine,” I think I was lying.

Curtain Fall - Chapter 03

Carol piloted the car carefully into the morning daylight. They began to see increasing numbers of people coming out of buildings. Most seemed to be cautiously exploring the nearest wrecks. A number, however, were just looking up into the morning sky. Curious, Gill craned his neck to look up out of the car as well and let out a curse, “Holy crap! Giant bubbles are way up in the air!”

Chapter 13

Adele felt supremely confident in her role as Mr Arthur and felt her grandfather would be very proud as she shook the General Manager by the hand as firmly as she could. He introduced himself as Mr James Ramsbottom and he had been waiting as Arthur entered the reception hall.

My Happy Ending
“My Happy Ending”. By Avril Lavigne

Synopsis: Allison goes to class for the first time and runs into an old friend.

“Don’t you look smart in your school uniform,” said Jessie after greeting Les.

 
"What's wrong?" Dr. Owen asked.

Maria had gone when I awoke. Glancing at the alarm clock I saw that it was past noon. I stepped gingerly out of bed, wincing slightly as I made my way to the en-suite. My feet were a ruin after spending all night in heels. I surveyed myself in the bathroom mirror. The make up that I had neglected to remove last night was now re-arranged in a far more abstract pattern all over my face. The hairpiece dangled lopsidedly over one ear, mirrored by one remaining earring in the other.

Chapter 8

The next morning we were all feeling worse for wear. The only thing that any of us seemed to regret was the amount of alcohol we had consumed. I'm not sure I regretted even that, as last night probably wouldn't have happened without that lubrication. So, although we had headaches we all had smiles and little touches of affection.

Synopsis: Watch the story from Brianna’s point of view as she receives an unexpected phone call.

My eyes shot open as I heard the phone ring. The room was bathed in darkness, still, and the clock beside my bed read 5:59 AM. Who in the actual hell was calling me at almost 6 in the morning? This was my day off, right? I checked the phone screen. Yep, Saturday. I squinted a bit, I knew the number. Why did I know that number? I swiped the answer icon and held the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” I said, doing my best impression of an ‘awake’ person.

Zodiac Coin: Scorpio
By Ellie Dauber (c) 2006

Unprincipled legal gun for hire, Sam Ralston, is forced/brined to take on a charity case, a woman accused of threatening an urban drug lord who is one of Sam’s regular clients. The bribe is the Scorpio Coin, and Sam uses it in ways he never would have imagined. The result… read for yourself. The tale also contains the conclusion of the background tale of how the coins came to be.

Zodiac Coin: Scorpio
By Ellie Dauber (c) 2006

Synopsis: Allison has some one on one time with her sister and gets ready for class

“Wake up sleepyhead,” I felt a hand on my shoulder and gradually opened my eyes. The room was still dark. Was I back in my dorm? “Oh my god you sweat like everywhere.”