It was a shop day, so I had to bring my smiles, despite everything that had happened. My Dahon folder had caused a few comments when I had boarded the train at Croydon, and once again at Clapham Junction, but that was par for the course. It was still far more convenient than the bus ride into Barnes. Asa I was also covering duty manager that day, I had had to brave the full-on commuter rush into London, and once again I was grateful that the second trip was against the flow and the train a lot emptier.

Charlie

Late last year I was asked to interview a resident of a care home. I was told that he was over ninety but still very lucid. It was in the build-up to Christmas and I couldn’t see the point for a fashion magazine, but his daughters were insistent that he had a story to tell our readers. I had my misgivings, but went along anyway with only my phone to record the interview.

Charlie walked with a frame and guided me back to his room with the help of his daughter Claire. Once seated, he began his tale.

Jane, recently divorced, looks for a reconciliation with her daughter, Sarah.

This is a story I had given up on. It just seemed trite. Then I realized I was telling it from the wrong viewpoint. Mathew's viewpoint may may offend or trigger some people, but here it is.

It was the worst holiday I can remember. No, it was the worst day I can remember, period.

I was in the kitchen helping Mary cut up a pork loin for our traditional New Years day family dinner of shrimp cocktails followed by chop suey when Jeremy came down the stairs. I couldn’t take it all in at once. It was all just total perversion.

All the warnings! I always wanted to write a horror story. This is the one and I don't want it to be tame. It certainly isn't for everyone. There will be fucked up scenes. Check the warning tags, if there are any you'd rather avoid, please go read one of my other stories instead.

Lost and Found

“At your age how do you avoid the social services and the schools people?”

“Mostly by hanging with adults, like you. If they see me with a grown up they go to bother someone else. That woman over there is one of them. That’s why I decided to talk to you.”

“How did you know I was safe? I could have been a child molester or anything.”

“Naw. I’m good at weighing people up. You’re a veteran with PTSD. I’ve met hundreds like you on the streets. Nice men who gave everything they had to the government and then got threwn away on the garbage heap.”

Photo by Mikhail Nilov: https://www.pexels.

Remember back in middle school, when you had to take English? Maybe you don't, having mercifully forgotten the torture of middle school. Even though middle school was not something I really wanted to enshrine in my book of memories, I do remember Mrs Gore's English Class. A very appropriate name, Gore, as most of us felt we had been slashed to bloody ribbons by the end of the class.

The holidays are stressful for any family, but it’s more so when family has become strangers. An emergency takes the Roberts clan home for the holidays, where long held secrets will change their relationship forever.

The new year comes with new resolutions. For Kenny, he wants to confess to his longtime crush, Jason. Of course, that's easier said than done. Kenny decides to clear his head with a night on the town crossdressing, but when he does, he meets an interesting girl who is more than meets the eyes.

Right, this story carries all kinds of warning flags. I’m not joking. If you have even the faintest trace of triggers don’t read this story. Otherwise it's rather sweet.
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The town where I grew up was not exactly a multicultural metropolis like New York. On the other hand, it was not a redneck backwater either. While most of us were white we had our share of other ethnicities as well. Mostly native Americans and blacks. Still, none of those blacks were as black as the new student in my high school class. She was really ebony black, not the various hues of brownish black of the “native” blacks. Native in the sense that they, and their forefathers had been in this country for at least fourscore and seven years. Rasa on the other hand was pure African. Pitch black, tall, muscular and moved like a large feline. No wonder she soon was tagged with the name “The Black Panther”.

John's life was in turmoil, his job was in jeopardy, he was miserable and unpopular. his sister Natalie convinced him that he needed to drastically alter the way he treated people.

To Save the Worlds

Chapter 4

Alexa kept the lights off in the kitchen and there was just enough light outside to see by. She sat Harmony down on a stool while she made a quick patrol of the house. Harmony watched as she moved around the house, her expression still, not sullen or vacant, just observing. Once she had satisfied herself that the house was still secure, Alexa returned to the kitchen.

Crouching before Harmony, she asked, “Hey! Are you going to be okay?”

Sometimes change is found in the most unexpected ways...

Happy New Year to this incredible community :)

Just Another Midnight at the Chapel
By Sabrina G. Langton

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Author's Note: Mmm, New Year's Eve in New York City. If you never experienced it, um, consider yourself lucky, ha.

Two people meet, and change each other's lives, whether they really had something to do with it or not... I hope YOU like it...

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"Which way is Times Square?"

I smiled, I would point.

What if you could get past that urge?

   Aunt Frances is Dad’s aunt and according to him, she runs a tight ship at her house. She has some rules that need to be obeyed and won’t hesitate to enforce them. What’s more no matter how long it’s been, whatever conditions she decides to enforce them with will be in effect going forward forever.

   What kind of rules??? And just how does she enforce them? And how long is forever? Surely not forever, forever.

”My New Year Resolution is to the win the school beauty pageant this year!”

That came at the end of several days of not so subtle pressure on me. Not to participate in the pageant but to “man up” and be more assertive and competitive. My family is very competitive. No matter what, they always competed. Sports, academics, work … you name it. My big brother was the school quarterback, my big sister was the girls’ athletics team leader. Since they were twins and seniors they also competed to be the valedictorian. That fight was vicious.

Mark - recently widowed, must face his new life, can he find his joy?

Hey girls! It's been a while since I've posted anything here lol. After writing my last story I felt burnt out and life caught up with me quickly. I've been meaning to write more but have been putting it off.

Candy Cane Story
By Ellie Dauber © 2023

I wrote this on the FictionMania Message Board in response to a request by Hidden1 for a story about a man whose penis becomes a candy cane.

Hope you like it.

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Joe Dixon was a 16-year-old boy who just got his first blow job from a VERY drunk girl he didn't know at a Christmas party. Now he was obsessed. Every time he looked at a girl, he pictured her lips around his penis, giving him pleasure.

Man of the House
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

My parents were very keen to meet Manuel, my sister’s new boyfriend, and it seemed like she was toying with them … my father in particular.

“Are you worried that I might embarrass you? Or that we will clash, Chrissy?” Dad asked her.

Here is a little story with a Christmas theme. I wrote this a week or so back but given the post from Piper, I thought that it was worth sharing now.