Natalia has to make a choice as the princess plots behind her back.
Chapter 15

“How’s the fit?” the shop clerk asks me as I smooth the long, flowing dress over my narrow waist and smooth, curved hips.

“Be honest, Laura,” mum advises. “If there are any problems, you need to let us know now as there won’t be another chance before Saturday, and you’ll be in that dress for a long-“

“I know, I know,” I interrupt. “It’s still pinching a bit around my armpits…”

“Okay, we can do something about that,” the clerk says. “Are there any other places it’s too tight?”

“Nope,” I reply, smirking as I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

I wondered absurdly, what would it feel like to kiss someone with that kind of—scruffiness?

 
Butterscotch

24. Decision

by Erin Halfelven

Making Changes
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I am in distribution. Ok, so I drive a truck. But I also distribute.

Long-haul work is hard. Guys like me don’t get paid enough. What’s wrong with supplementing income? Shit goes missing all the time. Some of what goes missing ends up in my lock-up. Some of that gets sold for cash. What’s the big deal?

Muse
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

“You do believe that my work is art, don’t you,” said Claude.

“Of course, I do,” Blythe said. “And I only want to play a role in helping you to be that artist.”

And that, is the title and essence of this story.

The tale of a feminine boy and his 16-year-old governess in the late 1840s. He is reluctantly coming to terms with his femininity, and she with her mannish frame and inclinations. Generosity and acceptance face dark and murderous forces against a background of natural witchery and struggling feminism. The categories do not fit well, so judge for yourself.

How Nancy becomes, first an inmate of the Yonkers Asylum, and then a witch.

Camping
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I am not sure how I came to find out about Suzy. I remember that Sam and I were talking about transgenders or something, and he just said: “I am one of those”.

Just like that. I had no idea. He was my best pal. We did everything together. It was “The Jack and Sam Show”. We had a circle, but we were our own team within the other team.

An evil smile appears on Kelly’s face as she watches the video of what was happening to one of her brothers. Shelly and Dolly had filmed everything that had been done to her brother Thomas. Everything that had been done to her by her brothers, was done to him. Except, they glued the biggest set of fake breasts on him and made him look like a hooker.

Shelly and Dolly didn’t stop there either. They found several well-hung heavy-set gay men to make love to him. They ripped his sphincter wide open. They also made sure he got the full treatment.

Alejandra and Natalia begin to question the Empress and they begin to make plans for the future when Elsa goes too far

Her Roommate
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

He was really no threat to our relationship. I suppose it says something about my insecurity that I thought he might be. I have heard it said that there are reachers and settlers in every relationship. A guy like me reaches high, and a girl like Miranda is willing to drop a rung or two to go out with me. That’s how I felt anyway.

The Huntress
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

The Dealer
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Kellen Dougherty was the best trichologist in Las Vegas. He ought to be, as he was certainly the most qualified. First a pre-med degree, then MD, then 3 years specializing in dermatology, before concentrating on trichology and the human scalp. People would come from Los Angeles and San Francisco to consult him. Kellen had discovered early, that when it comes to overcoming baldness people will go to great lengths.