This is a story about having a second chance to be the person you were meant to be.

The traffic on the north circular was hell as usual. Typical London traffic. Everyone angry, everyone just trying to get home. No one giving an inch. It had been gridlocked for half an hour. I had promised my wife that by some miracle I would be home earlier than my normal 7pm to take her out to her favourite restaurant for her birthday.

The Following Week:
“I still can’t get over being my favorite actress and having a new identity.” Kara/Arnold was jogging next to Jessie as the two of them follow behind Jennifer and Cortney.

“I know what you mean, Kara. I can’t believe I’m the actress who plays Kimberly Hart from the Power Rangers.” Jessie was still getting used to being a woman.

Allie - The teenage years of Alexander Horten

February 14-20, 2016

Jessie’s Mother’s Sewing Room:
“Finally, it's finished.” Jessie holds up the Pink Power Ranger costume he has been working on for the past few months.

He knew Cortney was going to a comic con dressed as a power armor person from the DC universe. He also knew Cortney was a huge fan of Power Girl, just as Arnold was a huge fan of Kitty Pryde from the X-men. He had to admit Ellen Page did a pretty good Kitty Pryde, but her becoming a male was a blow to Arnold.

Doomed

“Boy?” the secretary wondered.
“She claims she’s a boy,” the teacher explained.

Couch Surfer
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Carl liked the freedom of being jobless, but he could never be one of the homeless. His simple rule was to engage with people, and he was good at that. He told stories that were believed – things like “I had all my stuff stolen – I just need somewhere to stay for a few days until the insurance comes through.”.

Tinsley couldn’t believe how humid and hot it was outside today. All she wanted to do was go for a swim in the community swimming pool, but she has never been out in public in a swimsuit before. She was still transitioning, and she didn’t know how she would look in her swimsuit.

Dixie holds her little sister and looks at the freshly dug grave their mother laid in. She was lucky that her parents had burial insurance and plots near each other. All she had to do was sign all the paperwork involved in burying her mother. She had buried her mother in her favorite dress.

Manhattan Tower Twelve, Manhattan, New York:
Rita and the cleaning company she was hired to work for have been on site since eleven at night. The nighttime guards had cleared her and all the other cleaning members. Carla had managed to come by and give her the EMF scanner she needed to scan for the magical artifact.

The Heart of January Bliss
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I don’t know where she came from. That is the funny thing about being a creator. Sometimes it is not a deliberative process – it just happens. She just happened.

Sure, I was looking for a new comic strip to develop and publish, and I had read somewhere that strips are more often read by men. So, I suppose the idea was that I would come up with a strip that women could enjoy.

Dan waited outside his boss’s office bedside the door. He could smell the sweet perfume coming from Cindy, his boss’s secretary. He looked at her as she faced away from him photocopying. She was slim but had a nicely rounded bottom. She wore a narrow black skirt and black stockings. He wasn’t sure. He knew she did sometimes, as he had seen the bulges of the clips outlined in her skirt before. She had a silky white short sleeved blouse on and 3-inch heels.

Scarlett was shooting pool down at Big T’s pool hall. She has been coming to Big T’s since she was capable of walking. Her father uses to hustle people for money, while she watched. When the former owner of Big T’s decided to retire, she bought the place.

She used the money she saved up from hustling people like her father. Everyone that came into the pool hall always underestimated her. There were only a few times that she lost, but she won more than she lost.

Morgan begins college life, and Faye has Morgan come in for a physical exam.

“Auntie Stephie!” The tiny voice calls as I enter the dance studio, immediately bringing a smile to my face as she toddles over to me in her pink leotard and dance skirt.