CHAPTER 74
Life seemed settled at last, especially for Charlie and Tiff. They were still rationing their trips outside, but at least Charlie had started wearing something other than night clothes, and when we made our Summer expedition, they came with us, as did Gemma and Kim.

This time, Lim was driven up by Phil, and there were happy grins and congratulations from Cathy and my original Nell. As for Alicia, she rode up with her father, and when Owen the barman commented on how nice it was to have his guitarist back, and Alun made a comment about looking after his daughter, Alicia beamed for days. The weather blessed us for several days, and there was one shining moment that lifted my heart even more than Alicia’s wide smile at her father.

Lola reluctantly finds herself involved with another part of the kidnap gang.

Chapter 8

The next few weeks sped by with more than a fair share of drama…with a capital ‘D’. Lei finally got busted on campus for smoking pot with her friends. Mixed feelings swirled around as I felt both happy and sad for her. Lei finally got what she wanted. She was going home to party with her friends. No doubt every rude boy would be on notice.

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 9 – A Life in Service

Life settles into a routine for Maria, the cleaning lady and reluctant maid. Then a new business opportunity arises.

To Return Home

Thanks to Malady for his help editing and for ideas.

Cover image from Unsplash

2.5

The room started to spin as the blackness enveloped John. I felt as though my body was being ripped apart, piece by piece, each molecule separating from all the rest. I lost all sense of what was happening around me, and my mind focused on the link with him. Suddenly, it simply disappeared. I don’t know what happened with it. One moment, I could feel it, and the next there was simply nothing.

For a long time, I stared at the hologram in horror, but there was nothing to see. It was entirely black. Was my husband still there? I couldn’t tell from that at all.

I looked around, and found everyone staring at me. Dumbly, I asked, “Could the tricam have burnt out? That was a bright flash.”

For several minutes, no one answered, then Marc said, “No. The tricam doesn't use any standard light sensors. It measures the light differently. There's no way to overload the sensors.”

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 4 – My Transformation

Can the professionals make Dave more convincing as Maria?

I didn’t ask Anna how she found out about Transformations or who her contact was, and she didn’t say, but the following Saturday morning Sally and I found ourselves at their anonymous-looking manor house out in the country. We were welcomed by a very pretty receptionist who introduced herself as Angela.

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 8 – A Maid by Any Other Name

There is a difference between a cleaning lady and a maid, isn’t there? Not according to Dave’s mean big sister.

The Wishing Stone By Teek © 2020

Summary: Making a wish on the Wishing Stone is a great honor. One that only ten people every hundred years gets to make. Many wishes throughout time have dramatically changed the life of the Wishee for the positive, but there are consequences to one's actions. When the youngest Wishee in history makes a life-altering wish, those around twelve-year-old Mikey must adjust to the changes.

Chapter Summary: The loss of a tooth, causes Sarah to miss having her big brother around.

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 7 – A Born Cleaning Lady

A new career beckons for Maria, the hard-working cleaning lady and laundry maid.

As promised, Anna and Phil came round at about eight o’clock to see how Maria had turned out. I answered the door and took some pleasure in seeing their open mouths and gasps of astonishment. I loved performing, and being admired for my acting talents.

“Por favor, pase, Señor y Señora,” I said in character, holding the door wide open.

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 6 – Sally’s New Girlfriend

What will Sally make of the plump little Spanish cleaning lady who used to be her husband?

Sally came back into Ingrid’s office and whooped with delight when she saw me.

“It’s fantastic!” she said. “You don’t look like… him at all. You look just like a grown-up version of… the other Maria!”

“But I’m so fat!” I moaned.

CHAPTER 72
Paul kept me up to speed, in a very unofficial way, especially when two of Di’s mates started the process with Paula. He was clearly fretting, worried about whether she would be able to cope with the sort of thing I wasn’t sure Di had managed without being hurt. That said, I couldn’t be sure Charlie would be able to take it, but she was now insistent that she was to, as she put it, rip a new arsehole in Ashley Evans’ face. While I wondered about her sense of anatomy, I understood her meaning perfectly. Paul, though, was already suffering. He did put my mind at rest on one issue, however.

“No, Debbie. Got a room rented for her”

“And who’s paying for it?”

Byline chapter 14

PMS Zombies by Arielle Brix
Cross-posted from Lycelia
Full novel available at Amazon

Zoey tosses and turns as images filter through her dreams warning her of upcoming danger and past dangers. The image of her father being tortured to death in his home office, while she watched from her hiding spot. The thundering sound of the gun going off. She felt the pain her father suffered and then nothing as his life slipped away.

A loud clap of thunder wakes her from her dreams. She sits up in bed and looks around her. It takes her mind a few seconds to register where she was. She looks around the plain-looking room, as she sat in bed while the covers pooled around her.

I returned to the store as quickly as I could but I couldn’t find Melody anywhere in the clothes department. There was no evidence of an abandoned trolley full of clothes so I was left a bit perplexed. Where was she?

I began to walk through the main section of the store. As I did so, I scanned the aisles. There was no sign of Melody anywhere until I caught sight of a trolley half full of clothes in the aisle that had the racks of makeup.

I managed a smile as I saw Melody looking at shampoo.

“Your hair is fairly greasy,” I said calmly.

Melody almost jumped out of her skin.