Being Me

By Karin Roberts

The Cruise – Voyage of Discovery

Cruise Diary – Day 5

I woke with a slight start a noise outside in the corridor, it passed. I looked at the clock just gone 8am.

Yesterday had been a strange day it had started so well, I had really been looking forward to Cadiz and my trip ashore. The end though with Mhari confirming her knowledge of my true gender had knocked me a bit sideways.

I pout my deep red-coloured lips for the camera as I take shot after shot of me in various poses. My dark brown hair has been styled into a feminine bob, framing my immaculately made-up face.

“Well, since you're here, let's get a look at you” I smiled and playfully shook the skin around Kesey's neck. He cocked his head and leaned into my hands and his stubby tail began to wag.

Colin regarded me while I gave Kesey the once over.

“He's usually extremely shy, I'd even say ...skittish... around strangers. I've never seen him take to anyone the way he's taken to you....”

I smiled and regarded him for a moment. “What about you?”

He shrugged sheepishly.

Leading on the lurkers ....or.... Playing with the paparazzi.

Since the divorce things have changed. Sis and Mom work more, and the house isn’t as tidy. Mom is more stressed. She complains about money all the time, and my good-for-nothing father. Some changes have been for the better. Mom and I haven’t received a thrashing; her for being a whore, and me for being a dumb ass. I was growing my hair long.

Bill Lynch saw the plain white van turn into the alley so he stepped out from behind the dumpster and flagged them down.

“Jesus. TOOK you long....”

“ON YOUR KNEES” the commando bellowed.

"Beautiful, Jamie," the photographer calls to me as I turn my head and look off into the middle distance, giving the photographer a perfect view of the necklace and earrings I'm wearing- not to mention the exquisite white wedding dress! The dress is strapless, but doesn't show off too much cleavage, and hugs my curves beautifully. I have incredibly long fake nails- extending over an inch from my fingertip- attached to each digit and my make-up is applied flawlessly.

A sudden jerking sensation caused me to lurch into consciousness. It took a second for my confused brain to catch up and then I realized it was just a bit of turbulence and that I’d been sleeping for the last couple of hours. Then sensation rushed back.

“Ugh.”

It seemed I had the rest of the day free. I wandered into Katherine's 'office'. I guess it was a tax thing or somesuch, but this was the room with all the Katherine Keller memorabilia.... her framed first Vogue cover.... a number of other framed glossy magazines and photos, including one with a very perplexed looking Dalai Lama which made me smile. There was her Golden Globe, her people's choice award, a number of teen spirit awards going back to the time she first started modeling. I hadn't realized how long she had been doing this. How long since she had been a part of the 'real world'.

I leaned back in my seat and looked through the binoculars toward the building. Night had fallen but within the fenced in compound there was plenty of light.

“See anything?”

I looked over at Chris, “Not yet. Most of the employees have left but there are still way too many cars in the lot.”

Chris nodded, reached behind the seat, and pulled out a bag that held a pair of sandwiches.

“Are you hungry?”

This chapter is called Revelations for a reason. Luna learns more about the creation of the succubi and their role prior to the Sundering, she also finds out she has a relative on campus. In addition, along with several misadventures, she finally gets her powers properly tested, which produces even more surprises.

Curiosity Killed The Boy

My older sister always had more clothes than I. Her closet and dresser were full. The closet in the spare bedroom was packed with outfits that didn’t fit her or were deemed out of style. There were boxes of her old clothes on the floor of the closet. Since Monica took care of her clothes, Mom had a habit of saving her stuff. “You never know when they may come into use,” she would say.

...When a load of concrete is delivered the recipient does not know it is laced with weird mutagens, mutagens that will have a severe effect on him and his neigbours...

Light filtered in through the expensive curtain to hit me in the face. ‘Why is it that I’m always being woken up by some kind of annoyance,’ I wondered. I sat up and looked around the hotel room. My head hurt and my mouth felt like it was full of cotton. I wondered how much I’d drank last night, it was all a blur. I got up and padded softly to the window and pushed back the curtain.

Normally, I’m a light sleeper. I can count the times I’ve slept so deeply that it felt like I was climbing from a deep, dark, comfy, pit into reluctant awareness on two hands. This was one of those times. At some point during the night I’d rolled onto my left side, away from the window, so now I rolled onto my back and glanced at the curtains that diffused the sunlight streaming in.