The hole punched through space with a mighty boom. Large rings undulated around the corridor with mysterious, alien function. They opened into a great rock cavern supported by pylons. It lead to a polished floor adorned with trophies of battles past. These were the first steps into a secret home of superheroes, tucked away under Mount Justice.

Sunday morning Kelly was a couple levels above normal perky. Honestly I don't know how she does it all the time. I was getting use to it though. Seeing her happy all the time did make me feel a little better. There are many ways to wake up in the mornings and a chipper all too happy Kelly calling me honey, sweetie or the dreaded sweetheart was far from the worst.

I haven’t been in a shelter for a really long time. I think I was five back then. I forgot how crowded they were. People everywhere. Last time I had to stay in the nursery with the really young kids and toddlers. Probably the only place where I was one of the biggest. This time they gave me a small room. There was a small window on the top of the ceiling which was on the ground outside as we were in the basement. It had a bar in front of said window on the back wall to hang clothes on even though I couldn’t reach it. A small garbage can, a dresser and a bed.

Jaxon Dundee watches as a Lear Jet lands at Alice Springs Airport. He had been contacted by Captain Burghoff about some new recruits flying in for dessert and jungle training. He suggested that he takes them out for a week in the desert and to the rainforest for a week.

Jaxon didn’t mind and the person sponsoring the people coming in, paid him good money to put his recruits through the wringer. He wonders how many the training camp sent this time. He waits for the jet to come to a full stop, before approaching it.

Scott looked around at the group.  Ironmonger, Dreadnaught and Vulcan had elected to change into digital camouflage uniforms with Vulcan adding ceramic plates and ballistic cloth body armor to his gear.  Dreadnaught had strapped a .50 Cal to his back along with ammo while Ironmonger had picked an M134 minigun going for a lighter round but greater rate of fire. 

“No extra firepower?”  Ironmonger asked looking at Vulcan. 

“Mmph,” I moan as I wake up in my bed, my soft sheets huddled around my body- and only my body. I let out a sigh as I swing my soft, hairless legs out of bed and pad through to the bathroom for a long, hot shower, before drying myself and heading to the kitchen to make myself a much-needed cup of hot coffee- and take my much-needed oestrogen tablets. I try to force a smile on my face as I switch on the television, but it quickly disappears when I’m greeted by a trailer for this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing, which starts tonight- and which features my Kayla.

CHAPTER 84
Just the slightest of twitches in reaction to Mam’s deliberate stressing of the boy’s middle name, and of course I understood her purpose. My son turned his wide-eyed gaze to Mam.

“This is Aunty Annie and she lives in England by a church with aeroplanes and she plays a flute and she doesn’t speak Welsh but Aunty Steph Mrs Woodruff does!”

Chapter 1

I think we can say that she was not, by nature, a happy woman.

“What?” Stella says into the phone. It’s her cousin from the clinic. “Hold on, start over and let me put you on speaker phone. Pedro, you need to hear this.” Getting his attention as he was coming in from mowing the lawn. Both sat at the kitchen table, phone in the center on speaker. “Okay Michelle, Pedro is here. Tell us what happened.

Mike was asked to cover a shift by a knowing friend on their birthday. Because the scheduling boss made an incorrect assumption, he ended up being something he could only dream of.

Join Avery and follow along as the hard life starts to show a silver lining. Things may not be great at first but there is still hope. Dangerous hope. To have hope and lose it may perhaps be one of the worst things of all. Walls of protection firmly in place around Avery’s heart and despite the past hardships and a lot of personal issues. Avery finds people who care and finally starts to feel good about the future. Tainted future. Past experience and unplanned secrets threaten to unravel. Will hope shine or will dispare wall Avery away from the world for ever?