This chapter introduces some Japanese J-Pop groups. They are all real and you can watch videos on… https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/the-9-most-unique-j-pop-bands-right-now
Marianne

Chapter 4 And Now is a Spotlight…

One of the common aspects of a J-Pop performance is usually the large number of bodies on stage. The band had two keyboard players, guitar, bass, drums and two singers. There were eight of us and Aiko with her four other cheerleaders so we had to fit the twenty into whatever space we were provided.

Chapter 2 And it Shines over all…

Akito had hinted to his folks that the team was a little different and our first session of the year brought home just how different it was going to be. Up to now we had all been using issued leotards that the school got cleaned for us. That evening Miss Ryoji presented us all with three sets of leotards.

This is a direct continuation to What It Takes To Survive. If you haven't, please read that story first!

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"... And that's the weather you can expect today. Now back to Alan in the studio who has updates on the story that has gripped our nation and the world"

I didn't remember when the radio had come on. Maybe it was back when the car did. I hadn't been listening then due to Mikey making small talk but it now had my attention.

Chapter 2 There was Light…..

For myself, I had been trying to figure out where I stood with my new companions. Although I was dressed like a typical American student, I clearly did not fit with them because I looked, and spoke, more like the Japanese boys.

Chapter 1 In the beginning…

Everyone told me I did not fit in. Everyone said I was too small, too thin, too Japanese, too gentle and too nice to fit in with the lads who made up my school companions. They were all rough, tough jocks who spent a lot of time getting dirty, talking dirty and ogling girls.

Chapter Three

The next morning Dani went around the garage and the living quarters, placing small bundles of explosives and running all the wires to a timer. This was set for twenty hours later, when they would be a long way away. They had come to the conclusion that the police would think that they would make the break either directly north, over the border; or directly south to loop east and head for the big smoke.

Husbandry
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

The City of Sedalia in the State of Missouri has always been a cattle town. Sedalia was an important railhead for the great Texas Cattle Drive of 1866. The cattle trade was the backbone of the town in the decades that followed. The stockyards for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad were still standing in the year I was born – 1941. After that, the military changed in the center of the city, but not so much on our farm.

This is a short story I wrote last year for a competition that was part of an LGTBQ Festival. It got an Honorable Mention. Marianne.

Where there’s a Will……

It has been said that when someone dies, everybody grieves. This is not always the case, as the richer that person was, the greedier some people get. Of course, we would all say that this would never happen in our own family but it is a good job that we are not around to see the fireworks.

License to Kiss
A Story
By Maryanne Peters

Scene 1

It was not the first time that he had been in this position; nor was it something that happened with alarming regularity. It seemed to be a hazard of his profession: To recover consciousness and find himself a captive to a bitter enemy.

The Haircut
Copyright 2021 by Heather Rose Brown

This is a vignette of what might have happened if one of my early childhood battles over getting a summer haircut had gone a little differently.

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Part 40

So our year carried on in Delhi. We rehearsed and shot scenes in English and Hindi. Aganee had flown directly here and was now working with all of us to make sure the Hindi version was right for the era as so many new words had crept in.

Decision Made - Part 2

When Beckie used that syrupy sweet voice on him, George knew that it could presage an eruption that could rivals Mount Vesuvius. He braced himself for the possible explosion and its inevitable fallout. In this case, Beckie contained her anger and calmly said, “George, go pour us a couple of stiff drinks. We need to have a talk.”

Margaret’s dad asked Shelly a few questions concerning her early life in the orphanage and on the streets. He asked concerning her relationship with Able, and in the end said, “You don’t have a problem. All you need is a solicitor to represent you when you apply to the court for permission to marry. A magistrate can overrule Social Services, but because they currently have custody of you they will have to be informed, and for sure they will be represented by a solicitor.

Part 38

We all flew back into London for Christmas and it seemed drab and in need of a coat of paint after the glamour and glitz of India, although it did smell a bit better. We had a couple of weeks at home, catching up with family and friends, before all flying back to India to see what our future held.

Stamp Part 2

For the next two hours or more I was wondering just why I was doing this as she worked on my hair, my face and digits. She wove extensions into my already reasonably long locks and then put a colour in it. While that was setting she did my toenails in a bright red which she told me was acrylic and would not be easily chipped.

Decision Made
By Marina Kelly, Monica Rose

The hotel rep was addressing the crowd now, telling them that their new celebrity would be a guest in the hotel for the rest of her stay and that there would be a public event the next day where she would be presented with a check for her winnings.

Robert Graham, Robby to his friends, was twelve rising thirteen. His early life had been horrendous. His step father pimped out his mother to buy the drugs they both used, and it would not have been wrong to say Robby had been subject to daily torture. His school friends had been appalled the first time they saw the scars and burns on his body when he was showering after playing football [US soccer].

Part 36

Anna was the first to recover her wits. She put her hand on Anus’ arm and said “Well, dear. It seems as if you have total control, finally. I think we should start by getting a check-list and then work through it. I think that this is going to be a fun year.”

“I am the GOAT! I am the GOAT!” Lynn Stallworth screamed that statement in joy over and over again after his fallen foe left the game server. The GOAT is Greatest Of All Time and this bold assertion was not coming from the victor’s hubris or an overblown ego. With how this gamer just crushed his faceless opponent to advance in the Madden ‘20 tournament the statement was not far off from the truth.

LEMONS

By Rhayna Tera, copyright 2021

Warning: If you don’t like reading transgender stories, then stop reading now.

Author’s Note: None.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

RT

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I knew my sister somewhat hated me in a loving kind of way. I didn’t think my parents did.

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, sorry it's taken so long. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. -J

he gymnasium was crammed full of people. It was the second week of October and Halloween was just around the corner. With Halloween being so close, our student council on a whim had decided to hold something of a Harvest Celebration. You could tell it had been a last minute decision, because everything seemed thrown together. But all in all, things seemed to be turning out alright. Like I said, the gymnasium was crammed full of people, both students and teachers alike seemed to be enjoying themselves.