The Girl Inside
By Julie D Cole

As I looked into the mirror it gave me quite a fright,
I’m getting old, an aging man and it’s not a pretty sight.
My hair is limp my face is drawn and as I took a look down there,
Where’s it gone, it’s hard to say, with all this body hair.

I stood and stared for ages, not a pretty sight at all,
Reflecting on my life so far, then at a picture on the wall,
A woman in her prime of life, her beauty plain to see,
A picture taken years ago, Mmm was that really me?

Reunion Resolution (Part 1)
By ashes

Walter's 10 year high school reunion is going to be later this year, and he wants to lose weight, He resolves to do it by any means necessary, and when his methods don't work his friend's wife has a suggestion. Little does he know she also has an agenda.

CHAPTER 16
“Maman! What am I to wear today? Can I not wear the same dress as yesterday? Elle has not seen it!”

My mother’s voice came up the stairs. “Margot has”

“Yes, but she will not---oh, my mother! You have, have you not?”

“I have done what, my sweet?”

“Asked them both back for the evening!”

Chapter 31

Sometime after 4:00 a.m., I heard a soft tapping at my door. I rolled out of the bed and quietly shuffled across the room and pulled the door open. It was the bar maid who had spoken with me, "How serious were you when you said that you'd help me get the necklace?"

I opened the door and ushered her inside, then looked down both directions of the hall to make sure no one saw her enter. "Do you have an idea on how to get it from him?"

She smiled, "I've already started." I glanced at what she was wearing; the silky sleeping gown was very provocative and sexy. "I've finally agreed to allow him to train me in the finer aspects of my sex, so he's supposed to come to my room in half an hour. You can hide out there and bash him over the head once he enters."

“I have to say, this is quite a different way of dressing for you.” Mom said, very calmly. “So, I take it that this means things have changed?”

“Yeah, it’s time Emily started to live a real life. I have to face it, Mom; I’m never gonna be ‘me’ again.” I found that I didn’t have any tears left to cry. I was kind of numb, now, and it surprised me that I almost didn’t care anymore.

Mom hugged me, and smiled with wet eyes. She just held me for a long time without saying anything.

I giggled as I raised the spinning mower blade all the way up and put it into forward. In front of me the Gardener laid vainly trying to roll out of the way. He wouldn’t make it. Absolutely amazing the poisons found in ordinary household products.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

This chapter describes events after the incident.

Phobia

Ever been scared of something?

Not just a little scared, but turn-white-and-faint, heart-caught-in-your-chest and soil-your-pants scared?

I had something I was that scared of as a kid. Something that made The Monster In The Closet or The Thing Under The Bed minor inconveniences in comparison.

It was a girl.

It was THE GIRL.

Not that SHE looked scary, or creepy, but just the fact SHE existed at all.

Because SHE was inside my head, always after me to let HER out.

The Girl Most Likely To ...
by Barbara Lynn Terry

Part I - Meeting Renée.

It is a weird thing, what we call life. I mean, you go through the motions of existence because the name of the game is survival. But what about those that are just going through the motions and really have no concern for their survival?

I have a very momentous decision to make. Should I go on living the lie I am living now and be what my family and society expects me to be or should I start my life anew and be who I know I really am.

Chapter 26

I came inside from the barn, stood at the threshold of the door, and hung my hat. Grandfather was sipping his cup of coffee. The shaft of morning light split the darkness of the interior as I stepped through the doorway. Grandfather looked up at me and winked, at that same moment, Samantha stepped from the bedroom wearing the yellow dress that I bought her some time ago. "I trust you slept well?" he asked her.

She blushed and patted his shoulder as she passed, again he winked at me. "Yes, and I trust that you also slept as well, Grandfather." she replied coyly.

He almost spit out his coffee and began laughing, "Honey, it's been quite a long time since I've slept THAT well!" She shot me a smirk and I smiled back, it wouldn't take one of those big eastern college professors to know what had happened between us last night.

Pass It On
Chapter Four

When they broke the embrace, they wiped the tears from their eyes and Destiny reached into her pocket and pulled out the coin. It had changed since the last time they’d looked at. Only the words “Pass It On” remained, everything else was blank now.

Destiny nodded as she rubbed the coin between her fingers. “I understand now.”

Katie shrugged her shoulders. “So tell me because I don’t.”

Our resident MegaTomboy won't be happy with this. Sorry, hon.

Debbie looked at me in shock as I walked up to her. “I can die happy now, I’ve seen everything!”

“Ha ha, five thousand comedians out of work, and you’ve gotta be funny.” I smiled and twirled, and my short denim skirt flared out, showing my legs. I had paired it with a white cotton blouse and black ballet flats. “So, whatya think?”