You have a spare Bra?

There’s times you get caught out – and there’s times you put yourself into a deep steaming pile of poo.
This was one of the second sort.

-15- 
Greensleeves & The Maid that Sold her Barley

Three wishes from a Genie seemed like a dream come true. But a poor choice of words may leave a young man with more than what he bargained for.

The Heart of January Bliss
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I don’t know where she came from. That is the funny thing about being a creator. Sometimes it is not a deliberative process – it just happens. She just happened.

Sure, I was looking for a new comic strip to develop and publish, and I had read somewhere that strips are more often read by men. So, I suppose the idea was that I would come up with a strip that women could enjoy.

Chapter 4 “Some Enchanted Evening”

The following morning they arrived off of Tripoli. The tours today would be in small groups, spaced over the two days they were moored. The groups would be closely looked after by some of the male crew members. Tripoli was not dangerous, usually, but the cruise line took no chances, especially with so many women. There would be a tour of the historical places and one to the bazaar for shopping.

Dad’s Style
An Illustrated Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

We always thought of my father as being the most masculine of men. He was fairly big with a square jaw and a strong nose, but people will always say that the features that made him stand out were his bright blue eyes and his huge mop of grey hair.

Chapter 3 “Monkeying Around”

The following morning there was a table for four and they sat to eat a solid breakfast. Jasmin was still on a high after last night and hoped that there would be other evenings where the two of them could grace the stage. Shelly wasn’t so sure, thinking that every moment was already mapped out and that last night had been a one-off.

As a paranormal researcher, I sometimes stumble upon a story that just moves me in ways that I did not expect to be moved. This story is one that hit very close to home for personal reasons I'm really not going to go into detail about here. The following story has all the hallmarks of a classic ghost story, the main character dies a horrible death, in fact he is murdered outright by a gang of thugs, on Halloween night of all nights, and his vengeful spirit returns to the claim the life of his attackers.

Chapter 2 “All At Sea”

Jean looked at her information sheet. “Actually, there’s a note here that tells us that the first day out is ‘come as you are’. This allows those not fully into the role to take it slowly. I expect that we’ll see a few sights in the dining room tonight but these will become less as the cruise continues."

Shame
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

“Don’t take a photo of me in my underwear!” Michelle glanced over at Paul while she played with her long red hair and suddenly realized what he was doing.

“I could not resist,” he said. “It is the same pose as this photo”. He held it up.

“Give me that!” she snapped. He held it away from her reach. “You really are such a brute. You know how ashamed of that photo I am.” But she was smiling, just a little

“Well that was the idea, wasn’t it? You were supposed to be ashamed.” He put his arms around her.

It’s a special day. I turned thirteen today! It’s the day that I move from tween to teen. It’s also the day that my twin sister, Janet, gets her magical powers.

Photo by Janko Ferlič on Unsplash

“What?” Janis asked her little girl. “Told you a lie?”

New school year, new school!

To be honest it was quite daunting to come to the huge High School from our smallish Middle School. Fortunately there were two of us. Me and my fraternal twin sister. Why do people talk about “fraternal twin” when it’s about a girl? Anyway, there we were. Cary and Katherine against the world. Well, not really. Even if the big school scared us, which we’d NEVER admit to anyone else, we didn’t really have anything to fear. We usually found it easy to find new friends or at least gET along with people. We had very good grades without being pegged as nerds since we were good at sports as well. Both Sis and I had selected courses geared towards science and technology with future engineering degrees in mind.

As expected, there was a huge crowd milling around. Sis and I got lost at first and then we ran into an Audrey Hepburn look-alike. She really owned the style. Short hairstyle, black turtleneck, slim black trousers, and ballet flats. Body language was similar as well as far as I could see. Sis could hardly keep herself from laughing. As it happens, I’m a great fan of Audrey Hepburn. As it turned out “Audrey” both was heading to the same homeroom as Sis and I AND she’d been smart enough to print out a map before coming. We happily followed her lead. In my case very happily as I walked behind her and Sis.

“I’m a T-girl on the prowl”

I was shocked, absolutely shocked to hear that from the absolutely fabulous girl that just had appeared as out of thin air beside me when I was about to sit down at my table in a very classy and expensive restaurant. However, I was even more curious, so I invited her to join me for dinner. She was not only incredibly beautiful and sexy but also one of the funniest and smartest girls I ever had had the pleasure of having dinner with, and believe me I have met many, many beautiful girls.

In the foyer of Albert Sidney Johnston's Memorial Library there hangs an old oil portrait of a woman who is dressed in a black dress with a high lacy white collar. Her raven hair is gathered at the back of her head and is tied back in a nice, neat bun. Her face is set in what seems permanent scowl and her high cheekbones seemed sunk in. At the bottom of the painting one would find the name of the woman. “Mercy Anna Howard '' Followed by “Head Librarian” and beside that “1870 till 1920”.

It is me Dolores
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

It was a part of the swamp that I did not know well. It was well off the beaten track, and I had prepared myself even to stop and camp overnight with some gear packed into my kayak. I was aware that there were some houses which could only be accessed by water in that reach, some of them old and some more recent structures which sought the privacy of extreme isolation.

E’volvo’lution Chapter 14

The six show girls for Sunday were me, Elizabeth, Katrina, Eliise, Catlin and Karmen. Joanna was helping Halina by selling posters at ‘Answer’ and Marlen was with Ezuli selling posters and tunics beside ‘Maidens’.

Berget was told to just take it easy today; we didn’t want her being taken off to give birth just yet.

For Him
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I think that I am smart for a fourteen year old. I mean, I am really good at school, but I think that I know people, and I think that is what being really clever is all about. And I knew my father better than anybody else does, including him. I certainly knew him better than Mom ever did.

I don’t mean to say anything bad about Mom. She died three years ago in a car accident. I was only eleven but that is an age when I think that you understand everything pretty well. I did.

Swipe Right
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Tinder is made for guys like me. If you feel like sex then you just open up and see what’s about. If you are good looking and athletic, girls will go for that. Free sex. Swipe Right. Some girls talk about relationships, so you let them. Just put on your listening face and nod. Whatever it takes to get them into the sack. “Thank you Ma’am.” Don’t hang around. Leave quick. They might get ideas.

E’volvo’lution Chapter 12

The first truck was going to get the internal changes and the paintwork only so we could get it out on the road. The next two would be worked on together with Bjorn doing the interior and the LED lighting. The tractors would only have LED’s in the lightning from the hammer, meeting in the middle of the grill.

Visited Upon the Father
Following the “Sins of the Son”
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I carry my father’s name. I am Vernon Michaels Junior, just called “Junior” at home. Home was with my mother, as my father had been thrown out years before, and he was actually living in the town where I was going to college, and had a small place near the campus.

My father proudly called me “a chip off the old block”. He said that he got into a spot of trouble at college. He said that he would give the best advice – “Don’t get caught”.

E’volvo’lution Chapter 11

On the way back I checked out the work-site and was amazed at how much had been done. Anders must have tied up every cement truck in Tallinn as the hard stand had been laid in a big ‘U’ shape. The space where the building would be was left with a path from it to the gate also not poured yet.

Every day, all the time it seemed, the guys just made fun of me. Sure I was smart, but I was small, smaller than most of them. It was terrible, as they turned into men, I seemed to stay behind, with my soft hairless features. And puberty, well that didn’t seem to be happening either.