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.

Pool Area:
Kassie paces herself as she counts mentally how many strokes it takes her to reach the other end of the pool. When she reaches the other end, she turns around pushes off the wall, and starts swimming towards the other end. She makes sure to take into account how far she glides before counting her strokes again. She knew the wall of the pool was on her right-hand side this time and that the rope that separated her from the other lane in the pool was on her left-hand side.

Bobby

That Thanksgiving was scary and mortifying. Not to mention the horror it all led to.

“Robert Taylor Smith! Where do you think you are going like that?”

The most scary part really came early, already at Halloween. As every teenager knows, hearing your full name expressed in a severe voice by one of one’s parents is not a good sign. Especially when expressed by a father reading with his back towards you.

Add to that I was trying to sneak out dressed in my sister’s cheerleader uniform …. Yes, I had forgotten about the mirror on the wall. Mirror, mirror on the wall tell me who is the kid most in trouble.

After the initial shock of the changes, I took a moment to thoroughly analyze my body, trying to process everything that had happened. My reflection was almost unrecognizable compared to the person I once was. My hair had grown significantly, flowing down my back in soft waves. Its color had transformed as well, shifting into a beautiful gradient of light blue at the roots that deepened into light purple at the tips. It shimmered slightly in the light, almost as if it had absorbed some of the water's essence.

Part Twenty

She was kidding, right?

This feminine/sissy nonsense had already spun out so much more than Chris had expected. The main way he was able to reconcile the embarrassment of letting his cousin do all of this to him was the fact that there was a clock on it. Amy definitely wouldn’t be able to explain this to her mother; she was manipulative, but not that manipulative. Even if Chris couldn’t speak up for himself, as Amy now had that video to use as leverage, his current image was so much more extreme than a simple prank.

I returned to my hotel with a lot to think about. Corey had shown me a picture of the ‘RV’ that he was going to travel around in. It wasn’t anything like the bog standard white ‘box on wheels’ that you see almost everywhere clogging up the roads.

If I laugh or giggle, is he going to get offended?

Pete's Vagina
58. Run/Pass Option
by Erin Halfelven

I had pleaded for my parents to do something, anything, as the men gripped my arm firmly and led me away.

"Mum!" I had turned back to scream at her as she cried into my father's arms.

Why weren't they doing anything? Why were they letting these strange men lead me away and for what?

"Nabo, what's going on?" I had turned to my old friend who had been avoiding my gaze.

I had tried to force myself out of their grip with no success. Now, as we approached the shrine and my pleads fell on deaf ears, that same feeling of helplessness began to resurface.

When Macy and Jack returned with Victoria, Tara was almost certain it was her two daughters who were returning, bags of clothes gripped enthusiastically in exited hands. Jack seemed completely comfortable in his girly disposition despite Victoria's presence and his earlier qualms which had seen him leaving in as emphatically a boy mode as he was capable of. No doubt about it, Jack was returning even more utterly in girl mode than he had left in boy mode. Hands waving in girlish gesticulation voice high in enthusiastic conversation with the other two.

Chapter 5

“Would you believe that I would never have been on that ferry unless an American colleague hadn’t suggested a walking holiday on Palma. I was planning a trip to the Black Forest, not the Black Sea!”

We both smiled and I reached out to hold her hand. For three days, we met in the mess and spent some time in the small gym, getting our strength back. Around us, life in the submarine carried on, with drills breaking the monotony. On the fourth day, everything changed.

My village was one where superstitions ran wild and unchecked. Even as the rest of the world progressed into the 21st century and turned to science for answers, they remained stuck in the past with their primitive beliefs.

The sound of a car driving away, caused by a smile on Jack's face.
e waited another 10 minutes to be safe. The treasure chest was hidden behind the drawer.
A plaid skirt, a low-cut blouse, tights, panties, a bra and mary-jane shoes.
A beautiful set, created over a year.
It fits Jack perfectly. Everything fits well. He looks like a regular girl.
Excitement when he sneaks out of the house dressed like that. I've never forgotten it.
The thrill of being caught or laughed at.
Now it's all over. He can only change secretly at home.

“Augh! How do I keep letting you talk me into stuff!”

Knocked Up for Halloween
by Erin Halfelven
A Fit-4-U Tale

The rain poured heavily as I walked through the dimly lit streets, my thin jacket doing little to shield me from the downpour. I clutched the grocery bag tighter, feeling the cold water seep through the fabric. My shoes splashed in puddles, each step reminding me of how today had unraveled into a string of bad luck. The weight of it all pressed down on my shoulders like the gray clouds above.

CHAPTER 50
Chad was the late arrival at work on Monday morning, as he was busy dropping Vern off somewhere. I didn’t need to know whose place was involved, as long as the lad brought a smile into the office on his arrival.

Ronnie was already behind her desk, and in response to Maryam’s “Morning!” as the three of us walked in together, Ronnie simply said, “Very chipper this morning, Ms Rahman!”, before shutting her mouth more than a second after speaking.