Chapter *21*

On Your Own

The Peters weren't the first to leave, nor were they the last which allowed several of us to be distracted by the renewed activity on the boards. Several riders were whizzing around the boards, laughing and joking as they went, clearly comfortable with each other and the track, the only one I recognised was Chris Hoy. It was with very mixed feelings that I watched my cousin and her parents depart but any chance of regret was interrupted by my being addressed from behind.

“We going over to Trevor’s house today to learn how to make jam?” Mika looked over at Crystal as they got their stuff out of their shared locker.

“Yeah, Fiona’s so excited,” Crystal laughed. “She’s been begging us to come over and meet his mom for like ages.”

“We should so invite that girl to go ice skating with us this weekend.” Mika smiled.

“Did you tell LInds yet? Or are you going to surprise her?” Crystal teased.

“Yeah, I told her this afternoon.” Mika bubbled excitedly. “She was so excited, she can’t wait to put her skates back on.”

“I’m honestly shocked she hasn’t gone pro with it,” Crystal said as she closed their locker. “She could at least do Junior Olympian with her talent.”

“Yeah, I’ve tried to talk to her about it, but I wont force Lins into anything.” Mika said. “She is our friend after all.”

The fourth chapter in the sequel to No Obligation finds the Champion chosen by Chaos still struggling to make sense of the magic Chaos gave her, while Becca and her kitsune mother answer the summons to a rare kitsune convocation ... and meet Inari, the kami of foxes, face to face.

Three Men & a Christmas Spirit.
By Tanya Allan

Three young men break down on the way to spending the Christmas break in the French Alps, in a region where cell coverage is almost non-existent. Only one speaks sufficient French to seek help. Leaving his friends with the car, Terry Cooper sets off to find a telephone just as it starts to snow. He meets a woman on the road, but before he can speak to her, she vanishes. He believes she has gone though a gate, so he follows to find a large chá¢teau at the end of the drive. On answering the door, the butler mistakes the bedraggled Terry for a girl. On entering the chá¢teau, Terry is allowed to call the breakdown organisation. however, on leaving he sees a portrait of the woman he saw on the road. What is weird is that he bears a striking resemblance to her.. What is weirder still is that she has been dead for nearly two years.

He is then seen by the owner of the chá¢teau, who cannot believe that the young person in front of him is male, or that he has walked here by chance looking just like his dead wife.

So begins a fantastical adventure that can only have one outcome; ...

..... or can it?

Chapter 12

Friday night in Delacroix. Like most middle sized towns, there were
pockets of inactivity. Large swaths of suburban living gone dark for a

Chapter 40

Faye was frying potatoes in bacon with onions and heating the oven,
The eggs and zucchini were ready and the bread was ready to go into
the toaster.

Chapter 33

Heather put Kim(the bass guitar) back on the rack. She was still so mad
at Kim, torpedoing the band like that. She was no good at playing the

Chapter 23

With school out, Bobbie had been going to Heather's under the guise of
being her model. Heather's mother, Betty; had come home with wild tales of

Chapter 15

Bobbie was a little grumpy, but felt lighter than she had recently.
Despite cramps, she smiled some, happy to see Beth and Amber who had

Chapter 4

Robb had drained about $1200 from the bank card that bore his name. He
bought a backpack at a thrift store. He broke the card in half and

Jake and his friends looked forward to play Dragons Blood Online during their monthly LAN gaming session. It was going to be a big night now that their characters had finally all reached level 60. Sure, the forecast called for some rain and maybe a little thunder, but with an industrial strength UPS, who worried about the weather?