*Before…

“Probably, you’ll have to at least come to Santiago with me at some point.”
“Where?”
“Chile.”
“You live in Chile?”
“No, not really but it’s where we bring in new bloods.”
“New bloods?”
“People like you. A lot of our people went out of the colonies to live in the wider world some have had kids we try and bring them home if they call for it or like you turn out to be Shuan or Tuan and their powers start.”
“Oh…”
I head to Jax’s car after I eat my burgers and take my pop and Cheyenne joins me and he’s there with some girl and they’re listening to tunes and have the AC blasting away and I slip into the back seats laying down and reach out taking shy’s hand while I’m doing so and she joins me laying in the cool of the car.
We both let out an out of the heat and pleasantly full sigh and she wraps her arms around my waist and wriggles to get comfortable saying, “In the tradition of my peoples I recommend a siesta.”
Jax is like. “Agreed…Amy?”
She takes his jacket and wads it up like a pillow and shoots me a look and a little smile as she uses him as a pillow. “Definitely.”
I snuggle back against Cheyenne and whisper. “Tell me about Chile?”
She hugs me a little tighter and whispers in my ear. “I first went there when I was six….”
*And Now…

http://youtu.be/4iOGeCLpAY0

Onboard SS ERIN midnight 08 Nov 17:

Today had been a long day for Eliza and her sister Chrissie. Packing, the long trip to the harbor, getting everything unpacked and stored in the much too small cabin the shared was tiring. Lunch was tolerable except for the most charming Tom Dodge who entertained everyone with his many strange sea tales that his son demanded. Each story more fantastic than the prior story. As a storyteller he was; well, he just was.

Bianca St. Claire has arrived at Whateley Academy, where she hopes to escape the problems of Chicago while she learns who she is becoming. However, as she begins to settle in, new problems begin to arise. This story takes place in the Whateley Universe, second generation, and is the sequel to the story Written in Blood.

http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php

 
Introduction: This is another story in the Cynthia Chronicles series. Other stories in the series are An Incremental Journey, Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend, Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver, Cynthia and the Moment of Truth, Cynthia and the High School Years - Part I, Cynthia and the High School Years - Part II, Charli and the Girl Cave, Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling, Randi and the College Professor, Adam and the Three Wishes, Lisa and the Culinary Quest (aka Howard and the Completed pass), Cynthia and the Solicitous Sisters-in-Law, Cynthia and the Queen of the Knight, and Cynthia and the Dropped Ball. The time frame of this story follows about three to four years after Charli and the Girl Cave. This story takes place a little more than a year after Bobbie Anderson wins the (British) Open and about ten years after Simoné and the Second Time Around.

Marti returns home after she and Lanu have consolidated the details of the upcoming family reunion. Marti brings her mother in on what’s happening. Needless to say, Marissa overcome with emotion. The word goes out that there will be a family reunion. The recipients don’t know where. Randi is brought into the know.

http://youtu.be/ETC6NSxpFFE

New York Harbor 7 November 1872:

The Brigantine MARY CELESTE out of Boston carrying 1,701 Barrels of poisonous alcohol ["denatured alcohol"] departs New York for Genoa, Italy...

New York Harbor [forty-five years to the day later]:

Somewhere, the road itself casts shadows in a land called...

Bian
(Bee-Onn)
by Erin Halfelven

Alexa Chapter 4: A Night Downtown

Leigh Anne - Chapter 15
By Barbara Lynn Terry

Part 1 - At the hospital.

As the ambulance attendants wheeled the wounded suspect in to the Emergency Department of County General hospital, officer Tony Springer was asking the man questions.

“Sir, we need your name and address, as well as your date of birth. We need this information so that we can contact your family, and let them know what is going on.”

“Screw you. I don’t have to answer any of your questions without an attorney. I suggest you let me make my phone call.”

It’s not easy for a single mother to raise a son but I think that Sam and I have done OK for the last ten years. Of course a job with a good salary helped. Sam and I have grown quite close so it came as complete surprise when I came home to find Sam at my vanity, wearing only a set of sexy lingerie, including garter belt and stockings, crying over the complete mess of an unskilled attempt to apply make-up.

I hadn’t really associated Sam with anything feminine. Never a trace of make-up, no skirts, no dresses. Talking about dresses; the apparently brand new dress, still with the tag on it, hanging next to the dresser was completely inappropriate for a first date. The stress was definitely on the L in LBD. Way too skimpy!

 
Introduction: This is another story in the Cynthia Chronicles series. Other stories in the series are An Incremental Journey, Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend, Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver, Cynthia and the Moment of Truth, Cynthia and the High School Years - Part I, Cynthia and the High School Years - Part II, Charli and the Girl Cave, Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling, Randi and the College Professor, Adam and the Three Wishes, Lisa and the Culinary Quest (aka Howard and the Completed pass), Cynthia and the Solicitous Sisters-in-Law, Cynthia and the Queen of the Knight, and Cynthia and the Dropped Ball. The time frame of this story follows about three to four years after Charli and the Girl Cave. This story takes place a little more than a year after Bobbie Anderson wins the (British) Open and about ten years after Simoné and the Second Time Around.

It’s time for the big hike to the top of ‘Old Gray Back’, Mount San Gorgonio on most maps. This is a long hike; let there be no doubt about it. Fortunately, the person they hoped would be on the hike is there. Now to save her.

They had a wonderful meal, and many more perverted jokes that would make an Earth Sailor blush, after which they said their goodbyes and thanks to Erik for the wonderful food, and headed towards the tavern. Even Vanessa had to admit the more subtle jokes, like the author and the octopus, were clever and funny, though. It only took her halfway through the meal to finally fully process it, too.

To Ryan’s horror, Ms. Daniels continues her bizarre transformation from network executive to doting mother-to-be. Despite this fact, Ryan is heartened by the return of Ashley. Unfortunately, not all was as it was before. Still, when all seems lost, a new hope for escape rises from an unlikely source.

Excerpt: The young woman easily pulled the covers away from my face and kissed me gently on the forehead. “I love you, Kaylee.”

She lingered for a minute, likely waiting for me to say something in return. With my silence, however, she trudged from the room.

I tossed and turned, my mind grappling with my inability to leave and the horrible fate that awaited me as the daughter of a madwoman. My body and mind exhausted with the struggle finally succumbed to sleep hours later.

Another very short story that spawned from the very predicament this story begins with.

You all know how it feels to have water in your ears right? The plugged feeling, the muted sounds. No matter what you do, it only seems to make it worse (and usually does), driving you crazy. When you're at the end of your rope, who would you turn to for relief?