Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

--

Waiting for her name to be called, Erica was nervous. Even though it was a simple outpatient procedure, she knew there was no going back. The money her aunt Heather had sent her every month had been squirreled away, invested, and turned into a tidy sum that was paying for her new life.

The Joiners pt 4.
by
Angharad

The girls had continued to drill Cary in movement and gesture all the time correcting any boy-speak, so he sounded more like a girl. Finally they let him retire to his bedroom where he sat playing computer games while listening and singing along to CDs of The Carpenters. It was like a subliminal way of learning the lyrics and melodies and as well how Karen had sung them. His mind was like a tape recorder and it transferred the music from his player to his mouth, where he repeated it as if he was some form of recording device.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - cousin incest (non-sexual)
CAUTION - severe emotional pain/open emotional wounds

--

Christmas came with all the happiness, love, and family it's supposed to have. Faith had called off the move, but that was to be short lived. As the long winter wore on, Heather decided that, for Erica's own good, she needed to move into the guest room and make it her own. She offered to let the girl chose her own decor, but Erica sadly accepted the room as it was.

Chapter 9

Monday, May 10^th, 2023

5:30AM

Marcia quietly opened the door to Allie’s room and checked in on her niece. It had become a routine that she went through every morning. She would check on Allie, then Sammy, and then go out and help Bruce with the animals.

Allie was in deep sleep, so Marcia reversed course and quietly closed the door. She moved to her nephew’s room and quietly opened the other door. Inside, Sammy was sleeping soundly as well. On his wall was a fresh drawing. Curious, Marcia tiptoed over to look at the picture of the riverbank. The moose with her calf and the diving eagle were both spectacular to see in their own ways.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

--

Sitting in the library, Erica stared out the window as the snow fell all around the house. She knew she needed to get back to her studies, but her mind just wouldn't settle. Her thoughts drifted as freely as the snowflakes that fell past the large window, taking her from one memory of the last few months to the next. Finally shaking her head to make herself focus, she re-read her essay on early New Hampshire history. Reviewing her notes, she finished the closing and set the papers aside, glad that her work was done before Christmas break.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

--

Lost in the sorrow of her memories, Erica didn't even notice the boy who stood in front of her.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

--

Enjoying the ride in her aunt Heather's limousine, Erica was finally much more comfortable in her fantasy. Now fully immersed in being Erica Hargrave, she relished the view out the window, watching the countryside blanketed in snow glide by them. After a while she realized they'd been driving for far longer than the trip back to her aunt's home.

Chapter 7

Friday, May 6^th, 2023

Brad exited the office to find Darryl sitting on a recliner, watching him.

“What was that all about?” Darryl asked.

“I think it was a power grab,” Brad replied.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

--

Erica stepped out onto the front porch again, this time fully decked out in dress, tights, bloomers, coat, scarf, hat, mittens, boots, and a burning desire to run out into the front yard, plow through the knee-deep snow, and bury herself in it. Carefully making her way down the front steps, Faith by her side, she still couldn't help but giggle at the sense of wonder she felt experiencing her first snowfall.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

Clarification: The entire first part of this chapter is a traumatic flashback.

--

Erica bounded into the living room, gay as a lark. It was just before six o'clock and she knew April would be home from school by now. "Aunt Heather? It's almost six. I know it will be time for dinner soon, but before dinner, can I call my friend April and let her know I'm OK?"

Based on a captioned image by Courtney, this story tells how Andi let his hair down and eventually discovered Mark and his first kiss.

I still can't believe how the summer went. I was so stupid.

Chapter 6

Thursday, May 5^th, 2023

6:37 PM

Chet was surprised, but he pointed with his thumb to Bruce’s trailer. “He’s staying in his camper over there.” He wasn’t sure what was going on, but being police, he really didn’t want to question them.

Detective Fraiser nodded, then stepped off the porch and started toward the trailer.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

--

Stepping through the door to the right of the old grandfather clock in the living room, Erica walked into the library. Its dark interior illuminated only by the little light that managed to seep its way past the heavy curtains that covered the room's single massive window, she followed her aunt to the right; rows of bookshelves jutting out from the wall opposite the door.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

--

Rinsing off the body wash as he remembered the happy exchange that now nearly brought him to tears, Eric's heart ached to see his best friend even though he knew he likely never would again. Draining the tub, he pulled in one of Faith's towels and dried. Stepping out, he pulled the towel around him tightly to ward off the bitter cold seeping in from the outside.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

--

Awaking slowly in a dark room, his mind was groggy and dull. The satin pillow and distinctive sweet smell that screamed 'girl' told him he wasn't in his room at the Stone's house. That room still stank of teenage boy from its occupant before he'd taken it. Unable to remember where he was, he had a vague notion of going to sleep in someone else's bed and there being a storm. He reasoned that he must have sneaked into April's bedroom last night like he'd done a few times after his mother's hospitalization when he'd been especially scared. April would soothe away his fears and he would sleep on her floor, returning to his own room in the early morning. That's when he remembered he was in a bed and noticed he wasn't sleeping alone.

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

---

After a brief recess, Judge Fallon returned to his bench. "Be seated." he stated wearily. Looking out over the assembled people, he blew out a breath. "This case has been full of esoteric questions. Has Christina been abused by being made to live as a boy, even though she didn't seem to mind much? Did the plaintiffs ever have custody of their child, even with no birth record? Thusly, can parental rights be reinstated, even though they were never legally severed to begin with?"

Chapter 4

Wednesday, May 3^rd, 2023

11:45 PM

The day had been incredible. Marcia kept fingering the ring she wore on her ring finger of her left hand. It was beautiful, and she was so happy Darryl had bought it. Briefly, she had wondered how he afforded it, but then she realized that he had saved a lot of money over the last couple of years.

The surprises had only begun with Darryl’s proposal. When Mike asked for the bill, the server brought a slip of paper. There was no sign of the normal credit card tray. Instead, there was a note. Mike read it, teared up, and then handed it to Gloria. He didn’t speak, and in fact, it appeared as though he couldn’t.

I'm going through some of my old stories I wrote when I was younger. Some are short some are long but ive been bitten by the creative bug and decided to go through and refresh and finish them. So since we are getting close to spooky month here's a short little story from the dusty old box in the back of the closet.

Author’s Note: I apologize. I messed up. For some reason, I was thinking of May 3rd as being the day Shelly Chatham, Marcia’s biological mother, passed away, and May 4th as being Marcia’s birthday. That is backwards, so I’m currently working on fixing my error in the previous two chapters – As well as what was supposed to be chapter 3. Rosemary rolls eyes at this point. LOL

Chapter 3

5 AM

Marcia arose and hurried through her morning routine, then hurried out to help Bruce feed the animals. She really wanted to get to the horses. There was one that she absolutely loved, and secretly wished was hers. He was a palomino, and greatly resembled the horse Roy Rogers rode in all of his movies.

When she realized she would be on a farm where there were horses, she decided that she wanted to learn about them. Thus, she had decided to research all she could. When she came across information on the famous palomino, she’d watched as many films as she could find with the old western star and his master.

We soon arrived at the church.
There were already a few cars in the parking lot and people were kinda milling around outside as we all walked in through the back door.

This is the third and last of three connected stories begun in ”Mousy Trap”.

Chapter 1

Saturday, May 1^st, 2023

Marcia looked at the scenery around her brother’s truck as he turned into the driveway of the farm house. Directly to the south of the farm was the Matanuska River, a river they had followed almost since they passed the glacier that fed it, seventy or so miles to the northeast.

She could see a mountain beyond it, the river that seemed to be all by itself. Looking at the map she had been tracking their progress on, it said the mountain was called Pioneer Peak. Like the river, it was rather majestic, standing almost all alone.

Act one:
It's fumny how one minute everything is normal and the next minute everything becomes a shit show.