PART ONE
I always avoided the first part of the hill when the weather was likely to produce mud, which meant the whole of January and most of February in practice. It wasn’t the mud on the path itself, for that was why wellies existed, but the immense quantity my dogs would collect. They’re not exactly my dogs, of course, so mud meant cleaning them off before returning them to their ‘real’ owners, and I rather liked having some ‘me time’ each day and enough hot water for a bath for myself rather than two or three mud-magnet hounds.

Precious Time - Part 3

I had the day off, promising to go with my sister and her daughter to the mall. It was her daughter’s birthday and she had been promised as a gift to get her ears pierced.

According to Sis, Haley had been so excited, barely talking of anything else. Greg, her husband, had to use their car today for a business meeting so I was drafted to give them a ride and preserve peace in this part of the free world.

A Step Too Far?

by Suzie Dalkin

This was written without any idea where it was going. As a result, readers may find it funny or offensive – or neither – or both.

Edward Arley was a very organised young man. His parents were staid pillars of the community who for many years had run a successful estate agency business in Sutton Deering, an old market town about 50 miles north of London.

"Come on, come back," Remi whispered, pacing the clearing as Brother watched with evident concern. Her bare feet had long since toughened against the rough stone, but she kept moving more from nervous energy than any real purpose. "Just bring him back safe. Please." Speaking aloud helped maintain some connection to her humanity, even if the words were meant for no one but herself.

David sprinted toward the crosswalk, glancing at his watch with growing panic. He was cutting it close—ten minutes until his shift started at Morgan's Grocery. Mr. Morgan wasn't exactly known for his flexibility when it came to tardiness.

CHAPTER 70
Murdo had been incredibly generous, but he remained a very sharp businessman, and springing for accommodation as well as the venue would have cost rather a lot, so we were booked on a late afternoon boat back. Rod had arranged a small coach, and Phil a few taxis for those we couldn’t fit in. Tradition had to be observed, and so we bounced back over the water before trundling up to King’s Park, where Kul did his video thing and Neil the snaps.

From the time I got up this morning till now, today has been one shitty day. I ended up having to get my car jumped because of a dead battery. The service I paid for to handle such occurrences taking their sweet time to get here. Thus I arrived late for work missing an important meeting, my immediate boss livid that I had missed it.

Then my computer failed a little after eleven A.M. requiring the IT guys to replace the hard drive. Three hours of work that I had performed this morning lost in the process. Then the final touch to my horrible day occurred.

Precious Time

A novella in three parts

By Erin G

Precious Time – Part 1

Spring was late that year in the burgeoning town in which I had arrived, somewhat precipitately, almost twelve months before. Through March and April, cold and snowy weather prevailed in the eastern two-thirds of the country, though warmer temperatures than usual were reported in most of the remaining states.

After witnessing a murder. Young Robbie Dunkirk sees his family also murdered. He calls his mothers estranged twin sister. She comes up with a plan to hide Robbie. He becomes his twin sister Sarah.

A group of people wake up in a video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

The group returns to the city.

Chapter 30 recap

Book 2 in this series, and one of two direct sequels in the whole thing. Whether Jimmy wanted to or not, Peggy has made a new friend. I mean, how much trouble can girls really get into? Sounds like the newest Baker sister is about to find out.

A remaster of an old story I wrote as Shawna Stimple.

In a world much like our own, aside from the fact that werewomen walk amongst us, the squares struggle to uphold their binary social order. Their instrument of tyranny is the Office of Werewoman Registration, cog in a bureaucratic machine designed to keep werewomen in their place in the social pecking order. But hey, this is a transformation story, and things can… change!

Practice was over. Gregory picked up a towel to wipe some sweat from his face.

Thomas was about to towel off when a text arrived. “Son, I’ve got an emergency. Can you get a ride home?”

“No problem. Be careful out there.”

“I always am.”

When Thomas arrived at the scene, Joe approached with a grin on his face. “I can’t wait to hear why you are showing up to a crime scene looking like your wife.”

“I’ll tell you later. What’s the fuss?”

MADDY
I realised he might not immediately get the point, so asked again, before he could answer.

“Do you want to get used to it, Mr Strachan?”

He actually laughed, and I could see his grin in my imagination, shining out of his helmet,

Stop it! Bad mind!

Neil’s next words set me laughing with him.

“What is it you say, Maddy? The answer is ‘Oh my yes!’, of course”

Chapter 16: First Day of School

The rest of the summer had been a whirlwind of self-discovery for Yuqi. Between exploring the books and scrolls in her mother’s chest, adjusting to her transformed body, and reconnecting with her family, she’d hardly had time to think about the impending school year. But now, as the first day of sophomore year dawned, the nerves that she’d pushed aside all summer hit her like a freight train, leaving her with a lingering sense of self-doubt.

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 64 Looking to the Future

Then after sniffer her armpits for ‘boomerang smells’ standing up on a crowded bus she goes into her selling routine for Ariel Platinum with the odour removing power of Febreze and its built in stain removers. I think that’s what the blue bit and the red bit are supposed to be. The advertisement then closes with the selling routine just like the other one. Then right at the end a voice over comes on both of them saying ‘Always keep away from children.’ I’m a teacher and a mum. I don’t need telling to keep away from children. I just wish it were possible.