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In the Name of Love

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by Andrea Lena Dimaggio

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Crying is all right in its own way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later,
and then you still have to decide what to do. ” C.S. Lewis

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Paul Atreides and Frodo and Sam and a host of others had traipsed through their bedroom on a nightly basis for the past few years. And Carlo and Danny would have signed up to fight for freedom or hunt for Orcs or even dare to enter Mordor. But not Mark.

If King Peter the Magnificent had been real he would have welcomed the younger boys as Kings of Narnia…Sons of Adam. But he would be completely surprised to find out the oldest boy would have shied away from battle since he wanted with all his heart to be as kind and caring and sweet as Queen Susan the Gentle…

I woke up to the sound of thunder. It was the coast: sometimes the days were sunny with blue skies and other times it was a low level storm. The light through my window was grey and moody.
Unlike how I felt. I got up from the bed, grabbed my robe and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I would try my best to look as good as I could with the limited summer wardrobe I brought with me. Since it was early, I could get a good shower before all the hot water was taken by my sisters.

The Prophet

Chapter 12
Serinina endures the hardships of life onboard a trireme and part of the crew during her voyage to her new homeland
Then she begins her training to become a warrior

CHAPTER 35
We left the Farmyard in light rain, heading north again through the maze of roads and lanes towards Aberystwyth. I wondered where we would end up on this circuit, knowing only that it would probably involve some time with Graham.

“Dad?”

“Aye, duck?”

“We going back to that do in Cumbria?”

A Christmas Party - part 5


Bob gets invited to his office's Christmas Party. His colleagues convince him that life is more fun in a dress.

In this part; Bobbi finds it's not so easy to give up being female and he gets to meet Jordan's father.

Stone

Chapter 41 – Waiting

Stone woke early the next morning, hearing a buzz of noise from outside the house. Looking out the window, he saw that the street was clogged with people. There was a steady stream of children in front of the new house, standing in a queue and slowly coming into that house to get a bowl of oatmeal. Stone went to the washroom, and opening the door, heard squeals of outrage from the three young girls inside.

Thirty-six barking dogs make an incredible amount of noise. Even eliminating the nine puppies leaves me with too many dogs to look at fairly in one session. I’m beginning to think this plan may be harder than I thought. O. K., eliminate the two very old dogs. I need pets that will live a number of more years. Just look at dog sized dogs. Pekes and miniature poodles are for old ladies. That gets it down to nineteen dogs. After two and a half hours of playing fetch, scratching bellies and a bit of testing for previous training I have six dogs to see again tomorrow.

A Transgender Regency Romance - Constantine has been raised as a boy, can she adapt to her new status?

“Do you want the left or the right side,” Alex asked her sister, standing at the end of the enormous bed, gesturing.

What an amazing dream, I thought as consciousness returned to me. In that moment I was certain that I had arrived in Boston and somehow made it to my assigned dorm without remembering it. Running on too much coffee and not enough food could do that.

As soon as I had the cash, I'd have to get better sheets, the dorm supplied ones It felt like crap, so threadbare and rough, it was like sleeping in a pile of straw. At least it was warm. I rolled over and stretched out into a star shape.

After a long journey over the mountains, mail has to be delivered to the local ruler.

Meetings in Moxgo

A tale of Anmar by Penny Lane

Diversity
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

“You have to be either gay or black to get ahead in this organization.” Luther drank deeply from his tall glass of beer. “I’m black, so you lose.”

I could only shake my head, but in agreement. But we were here to celebrate his elevation to a named manager on one of the key funds established by our employer. That meant not only the status but a share of the return based management fee.

Anything But Down

Pretty
A Short Story
Possibly inspired by an old movie
By Maryanne Peters

The voice on the other end of the phone surprised him. It was not at all masculine. Had he not been calling a man, he would have thought that he was talking to a woman.

“Is that Eve?” he asked.

“It is I,” she said playfully. “Eve. The first of women. At your service.” He liked her already. She would be perfect.

“Would you be available for a longer-term hire?” he asked. “Maybe starting this afternoon and finishing around 1:00 in the morning?”

A dose of reality

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
That bastard! I thought as tears streamed down my cheeks.

Becky was making her daily report with Stanley and his team. She got the latest update about their case and what was going on with them. Stanley forwards her the file that had been put together by Camelot Network Solutions. She opens the encrypted file and starts going through the information.

“Holy crap!” Becky couldn't believe the information Terry and Mouse at MI6 had gathered.

Serinina finally gets a real family that cares for her and she is given a chance to fulfill her destiny. Just not in the way she thought.

A Switcher Tale...

{This is one from the archives. This one originally dates from 2009 and was finished in 2018 after several previous attempts that got nowhere}

It was the height of the morning rush hour and the crowds of commuters were on their way to work.

Pierre Clement was one of the commuters who in their tens of thousands made their way from Waterloo to their place of work five mornings a week, week in, week out, year in, year out. Most of the time, he was just another face in the throng of people using the station.

Pierre had been living in London for more than ten years and ran a Wine Importers that was based on the western edge of the ‘Square Mile’. He waited patiently for the No 243 bus to take him to his stop on Theobalds Rd. He was not in a good mood that morning as another passenger on the 07:45 from Guildford had spilt their coffee when the train stopped at Effingham Junction with an unexpected jolt. Quite a lot of it ended up on the previously immaculately pressed trousers of his business suit. Several other passengers did a good bit of ‘effing’ of their own.

An cryogenic experiment, A brave volunteer starts to dream about being the opposite sex. Is it malfunctioning equipment or intentional or something entirely different all together.