Chapter 6

September, 1918

‘Dear Tamsyn,

The outside world is more amazing and more terrifying than I ever knew. Everywhere I look there are reminders of how small and insignificant I am compared to the horror all around me, and yet my love of you drives me forward.

"I look stupid, don't I?" I asked Alyssa as she took a step back, mascara brush in hand. It would have been more accurate to say that I hoped I looked stupid.

Alyssa chuckled to herself but kept any answers to my question to herself. She was finding the whole thing, especially my delusion quite entertaining. She knew as much as I did that my androgynous face would take to makeup quite well.

Title

The New Girl at Uskweirs Manor

a pastoral romance by Miriam Robern

Strangers on a Hill

Bath, June 1812

The carriage, like everything else that Ashbourne owned, was well-appointed, suffused in rich fabrics, and, at least objectively speaking, very comfortable.  But Amelia perched at the edge of her seat, back teetering stiffly, a torrent of hasty words spilling out of her mouth.

Chapter 7

Cate was brought home an hour later, after I had put Jenny to bed. I had changed out of my dress and into a nightie and gown. When she walked in, I made sure to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She went off to change and we sat with our wine, talking about anything but what had happened that evening.

Science Changed Me For the Better

Title

The New Girl at Uskweirs Manor

a pastoral romance by Miriam Robern

Correspondence, Concoctions, and Coaching

Monmouthshire, May 1812

Dearest Mother—

I hope this letter finds both you and Father well and in good spirits.  I myself have been blessed with good health in the last few months.

I'd woken up at the crack of dawn to the sound of the cocks crowing. This had been the second night in a row that I hadn't been able to get any real sleep.
 
I'd managed to sleep for a few hours after Nabo bid me good night but dreamed only of fire. Her destructive nature had infected every facet of my imagination and I feared what she would do to me.
 
'Look what she had already done' I thought to myself as I stared at our reflection in the mirror.
 

When you can look like a girl … should you?

Note : The beginning of this story is borrowed from I don’t know where – but sloppily filed and needing some rewrite and growth ….

It shouldn’t be a big deal. All Billy's friends have visited the widow's house and each seemed to come away better for the experience. Visiting her has been a rite of passage for boys in town for as long as anyone can remember.

Billy knows he should want this. The whispers about him have been growing and even his friends are starting to ask questions. Tonight is the night if he's going to end the rumors. Should it matter if it’s Halloween and there’s a full moon in the sky?

'Cause the stars are dull when they're compared to you and I
And if people don't like it, then they can close their eyes
'Cause we're not the same and we don't have to try
'Cause we're brighter than fireflies
We're gonna light the sky

Nights at the Mall
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I was one of those people who believed that I could beat anything if I set my mind to it. I used to tell myself that it was a male thing – women are not like that, which is why I must be a man. But I was wrong in so many ways. Plenty of women are just like that. I was more like them.

CHAPTER 52
That was as far as we took things, each for our own reasons. I knew my own, at least, but could only guess at hers. I dressed in ‘business casual’, as Maz did much the same in clothes produced from her bag, and for too many reasons we faced away from each other as we covered ourselves for the day. I still took her hand as we went into the kitchen for breakfast.

Geeta had done a more than adequate spread, and once it was served, she simply smiled at us while holding her car keys.