Solicitation
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I don’t like prostitution. I have sisters, and even a daughter, although I have not seen her in a while. I think that prostitution demeans women. I worship women. I think that the female form is the most beautiful thing in the world. I think that the soul of woman – the giver of life – is too special to be sold and degraded.

Byline chapter 22

Byline chapter 21

The last of my life as Danny was over, his clothes were all packed up, his old home was now gone, for the next two years I had to be 100% Dani.

Mother 2

Jonas was happy until gis life was turned upside down, Now he does not understand what will happen to him. No one asks him!

I was amazed at how I now looked. Only a few weeks before I had been a typical early-twenties lad, a bit shy, a bit small, but now somehow with a bit of makeup, a new hairdo and some decent clothes, I had turned into an attractive stylish young woman.

After the Pantomime

By Susannah Donim

A spare time hobby slowly turns into a lifetime choice for Nick.

“Fiction needs to be credible; I should persuade the reader that the events in my stories could happen, if they haven’t already.” – Ian Rankin, author of the Rebus novels.

Prologue

“He’s behind you!” the kids all shouted, excitement, frustration and panic evident in their high-pitched voices.

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 10 – Our New Careers

Maria, the cleaning lady, gets a new boss (same as the old boss). Business booms.

Heaven to Hell

Have you ever thought about heaven? They do say that the Catholic Church denies the existence of Hell, just admitting that there may be purgatory awaiting lost souls. Whatever you may, or may not, believe; you can experience Hell on Earth.

To Return Home

Thanks to Malady for his help editing and for ideas.

Cover image from Unsplash

2.5

The room started to spin as the blackness enveloped John. I felt as though my body was being ripped apart, piece by piece, each molecule separating from all the rest. I lost all sense of what was happening around me, and my mind focused on the link with him. Suddenly, it simply disappeared. I don’t know what happened with it. One moment, I could feel it, and the next there was simply nothing.

For a long time, I stared at the hologram in horror, but there was nothing to see. It was entirely black. Was my husband still there? I couldn’t tell from that at all.

I looked around, and found everyone staring at me. Dumbly, I asked, “Could the tricam have burnt out? That was a bright flash.”

For several minutes, no one answered, then Marc said, “No. The tricam doesn't use any standard light sensors. It measures the light differently. There's no way to overload the sensors.”

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 4 – My Transformation

Can the professionals make Dave more convincing as Maria?

I didn’t ask Anna how she found out about Transformations or who her contact was, and she didn’t say, but the following Saturday morning Sally and I found ourselves at their anonymous-looking manor house out in the country. We were welcomed by a very pretty receptionist who introduced herself as Angela.

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 8 – A Maid by Any Other Name

There is a difference between a cleaning lady and a maid, isn’t there? Not according to Dave’s mean big sister.

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 3 – Maria’s First Job

Dave, now Maria, begins earning his pay as a cleaning lady. It turns out not to be as bad as he expected.

At half-past seven on Monday morning, we – that is, Sally and Maria – rang Dorothy’s doorbell. We’d already apologised for having to be here this early, but Sally had to be at work by eight-thirty. The old lady wasn’t at all bothered. She told Sally that she didn’t sleep much at her age. She was always up at six.

“ Oh, my god, is that you Daniel?”

“ It is Danielle now, but just call me Dani, that way we won’t get confused. Come here, give me a welcome hug and let’s get back home.”

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Chapter 2 – My Sister’s Cleaner

Dave loses his high-paying job, which might mean they lose their home. Then his sister, Anna, comes up with a possible solution.

Acting as a Cleaning Lady

By Susannah Donim

Circumstances force Dave to take up a humiliating new career, but it turns out to suit him better than he expected.

Prologue

“I’m not a maid, I’m a cleaning lady,” I insisted.

My wife laughed. “What the hell’s the difference?”

Byline chapter 14

Chapter 4 – My Transformation

Can the professionals make Dave more convincing as Maria?

My second week as Sir Charles' PA went just as well and I was becoming happy and relaxed in both my professional life at Cunninghams and living as a girl, but this was soon to be completely torn apart.

Chapter 2 - My Sister's Cleaner

Dave loses his high-paying job, which might mean they lose their home. Then his sister, Anna, comes up with a possible solution.

Circumstances force Dave to take up a humiliating new career, but it turns out to suit him better than he expected (Chapter 1 of 11).