Do not complain

I decided not to complain too much because I was already complaining about the food. I didn't want to seem like a spoiled child.

Sunset Beach
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

From a personal perspective, the conference was a disaster. They had listened to her but from the podium she could see that wave of realization start to take hold in the audience. Although she could not hear, she could see the lips and guess what they were saying. “That’s a guy.”

I looked down at two unfamiliar shoes running on a green surface that resembled a carpet made from artificial grass. My hands were gripping an L-shaped piece of sports equipment, and looking to my right, I could see a white ball making its way to my exact position. I crossed over a curved white line on the ground while stopping the plastic ball in its tracks using my stick. A high-pitched voice yelled out behind me, but due to my concentration on the physical activity, I was unable to make out the words.

“You used the wish, didn’t you?” I whispered as we entered the locker room with our shirts back on.
“I didn’t think about anything except how I just wanted to win just once, maybe that triggered it, like a sub-conscious thought made the connection.”
The score was thirty-six to zero by the time the coach yelled for us to hit the showers.

I entered the pilot quarters, the first door on the left after leaving the bridge. The room was cozy, with dimmed lighting and a comfortable-looking bed. As I stepped inside, the door slid closed behind me, sealing me off from the rest of the ship.

Alternate endings to the Scheherazade/Arabian Nights story. All vignettes, 3-20 lines.

Chapter 2

She laughed and went back to her desk. Tomorrow, she hoped, a few more answers would be forthcoming. This one had the feel of her last big case, in her mind, this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

The next day, the three detectives went north to see the doctor and the bank manager. The first would see them, in his clinic, at ten, the other, at the bank after eleven. Sally had spoken to her friend, and they had agreed to meet on his lunch break, at a café in Burton.

13 and 14
Moving On and Highland Games

Time is marching on. Spring has slipped away and summer is fully come. Time to get ready for the 4th of July. Since Alex and Carrie hosted the Memorial Day barbeque Mike and Lisa are hosting for the Fourth. It makes sense since their backyard overlooks a great fireworks display at Oaks Park. Alex wears a new pair of Crocs sporting blue camo motif that kind of pushes his outfit toward the feminine side of butch. With careful thought, that is used to soften Lisa’s attitude hopefully to, in some way, make it easier to accept that Carrie really is OK with all that will be revealed at a later date.

Carrie reminds them that last year they had planned to attend the Highland Game with the two guys expressing their Scottish ancestry by wearing kilts. To no one’s surprise, Lisa flatly states that Mike won’t be wearing a kilt.

Alex and Carrie hold fast to the commitment made the year before and assemble suitable Scots themed outfits for the two of them. To spite Lisa’s ongoing hardline handling of Mike’s indiscretion the Games are attended and the day goes well. Alex notices that Lisa can appreciate the kilt wearing physique of the competitors in the caber toss.

Orphan Petal

June 2023 - Part 3

Shirley now is at an orphanage where Aunty works. He now will start a new journey. What path will he take?

This is a spin-off to the story "The Teenage Years of Alexander Horten"

Chapter 29

The lunch was very nice. Discussion was launched on whether we would be able to do solo violin concerts in future seasons, and a question was put to me about a piano concert some time. We told them to get in touch with Allan as he could work out likely dates but that we may be busy with the “For those who Served” shows next year and were unlikely to be touring as we were this summer.

The Ambassador's Wife - update.
By
Angharad.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities.

In a nutshell, the song is about all the crazy, misguided things
a man might do if he fell for a woman: things like:
get a job, rent a decent apartment, bathe more frequently...

CHAPTER 16
I left it a fortnight before I next rode across to Bethesda, on the simple basis that not only would things be a little hectic there, but that the two of them---no, three of them now---might want or need some privacy. Family time.

I went over eventually, of course, with a present of a plush stuffed narwhal in deference to an old sequence of jokes in the climbing club back in That Place.

We stepped out of class together, just chatting about how life was at Liberty High School and with Katie commenting on how friendly everyone was so far and how there was this nice guy who was telling some interesting comedy.
“Ah, you’ve met Matt.”
“Is he a friend of yours?”
“Yes,” I decided to forget to mention that he wanted to get into her pants.
“If he keeps practicing, he could be on stage one day.”
“Yeah.”

Pronouns

This is a snippet out of GOM 46 that I am currently working on, but I thought it may be of interest as a short short stand alone. I’m still working on it in GOM 46 so it may end up slightly different and probably much longer. These are the words of a fictional character in a tale that is pure fantasy, so whilst comments are always welcome it is pointless to have a go at me.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Day 153? - the next day

“What the hell is this?”

Jacqueline had vigorously scrubbed the toilet bowl to the point where her arm and wrist were blazing. But in spite of all her efforts, there was something that was simply refusing to come off.

Jacqueline groaned, setting the toilet brush aside and getting down to eye the foreign substance for what could have been the millionth time.

It was a tricky thing to catch, simply glancing at the bowl would not reveal it. Jacqueline herself hadn’t noticed it until she began cleaning. And soon it became impossible for her not to notice it.

A wife dresses her husband up in drag to win a fancy dress competition but at the party they fall out and the husband dressed as 'Bonnie' decides to walk home. She makes a wrong turn into a deserted park where she is confronted by two men whose intentions are not honorable.