CHAPTER 28
It was another of those slow Summer days, the river once more still and green as dragonflies droned past and something fishy leapt for a mayfly. I was working on another Bolinder, my tools in rows, each bolt laid out with its nut and washers in the biscuit tin I used to keep them from going over the side.

Today at CosmiCon Justin will have the chance to fulfill his fantasy of cosplaying Duchess Immensia of 'Tachyon Dynasty' fame with his wife Sarah accompanying him as her loyal sidekick Nanoboy. How will the daring duo fare against the convention crowds?

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The Big Talk

The most important room in the White House existed in the building's West Wing, made iconically famous in the television series of the same name. The room earned its name by its shape, and thus it was called the Oval Office. At one side, in front of a grouping of windows, sat a large desk with more papers atop it than any man cared to believe he could have piled on his desk. Just slightly off center was a grouping of couches, maybe a couple chairs, and a small coffee table, around which the furniture was placed.

The After Party

"Must be that spider-DNA, kid, you're healing faster than most people do," the doctor said to me as he looked over my torso and then at my chart, almost as if in embarrassment. Granted, he was looking at a rather attractive sixteen year old girl, and he was old enough to be my father, so he could very well have thought this somewhat inappropriate. "Three days and you're ready to head back out there."

*Wren…

It’s really important to me when I catch Shaya in those moments. Dysphoria is a damned horrible thing to live with and to have the social stigma that comes with that and all her own cultural stuff and pressure and then the abuse.

I have my own stuff, growing up and into someone that was the size of a Bear and so not feeling any of that well it was all sorts of hell and finding yourself in the midst of all of it is really hard.

But I really get the whole thing that just smacked Shaya and I’ll even go so far as to say it could be like post-fight related too when the adrenaline wears off and everything and the blood cools down but the mind is still in sort of fight mode or semi-fight mode and that kind of stuff still messes with your head.

Across the River, Part Two

Tim felt himself falling asleep in the chair beside Charlie's hospital bed. He had told her that he wouldn't leave, and he wasn't going to. He decided to stand up and do some walking around to stay awake. He knew he didn't exactly need to stay awake, as Mr. Brand's security people were doing their job outside the door.

I wonder what his interest in the Chosen is. Probably just like that Kennedy guy, wants to make money helping them. Hmph, now that I think about it, why aren't there any of his guys here?

Things started with Jeff ready to turn 13 years old, dressing in his sister’s clothes and makeup; he hadn’t expected to get caught… The discovery of him cross-dressing begins the blossoming of Jessie... Jeff had trouble accepting Jessie was really him, others have trouble accepting Jeff and Jessie co-exist… Mom and Dr. Hunt support Jessie/Jeff in taking time to discover what is true in this situation.

Everyone, from the Serenity Crew, to Bob, Ed, and B, to the crew of DS9, are going to have a very interesting day.

For it is just one of those days.

 
David buries his wife after she loses her fight against cancer. He is nearly 50, and their children are now grown up, so he breaks the news that he is going to undertake that which he wanted to do for as long as he could remember — a sex change. He had struggled with his transsexuality all his life, but his love for his wife and respect for her meant he just played the hand that he had been dealt, up to now, that is.

Meanwhile, in the USA, grizzled Police Chief John Collingwood comes to near breaking point. Stressed from his job, his grief over his dead wife, and the despair of near alcoholism, he embarks on a trip to the UK with his brother to seek out his family tree.

Two very different people find a very different future, they also find each other...

Story under construction...

Mother and Daughter

I couldn't help but stare at her, lying there in my bed, her baby brother crying just a few feet away. I wanted to cry. My daughter wasn't talking to me at all, hadn't spoken to me at all in the two days since she her father's funeral, and I knew exactly why. I simply stood in the doorway and held her book bag out for her. "C'mon, Charlie, it's time for school," I said, my voice soft. I hoped she heard me.

Lucky me, she did. "Go away, Mom. I don't feel good."

I sighed. "Please, sweetie?"