Chapter 19: Fun, Sweat, and Guns

©2025 SammyC

Call me Gigi.

Chapter 6: What's New

Millie's brow furrowed as she scrunched up her nose, deep in thought. Her delicate fingers tapped rhythmically against her chin, and I could almost see the gears turning in her mind. Suddenly, her face lit up with a bright smile, her eyes gleaming with inspiration.

"I know! We can do Dancing Lights! We can do that one, right?" she asked excitedly, barely able to contain herself as she twirled on the spot.

Ever since graduation from high school, my dream of the good life has seemed to be a lesson in futility. First there was my Mom’s accident, her injuries didn’t take her life, but maybe that would have been better. I loved my Mom but couldn’t stand to be around watching her in a wheelchair, knowing that most likely she would be confined to one for the rest of her life. The idiot driver walked away from the crash, apparently drunk, never admitting fault for the trouble and grief he caused.

©2025 SammyC

The Banberries

A musical journey

by SUZIE DALKIN

Sam Simpson was a bit of a nonentity. Nowhere near top of the class or the bottom. Not the life and soul of the party – not that he ever got invited. Not a sportsman and not tall, short, fat or ginger, he was just inconspicuous, and terribly shy. And, while his classmates at his all-boys school were growing up and out, he seemed to be lagging behind. Inconspicuously.

Chapter 17: The Harassment continues

Yuqi walked into school the following day, bracing herself for what would come. The weight of yesterday’s events still lingered heavily in her chest, but she tried to push through it, her shoulders squared and her head held high. She didn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing how much the incident had hurt her.

The morning started quietly enough, with students milling about the hallways as usual, but as soon as the PA system crackled to life, the memory of the previous day came rushing back.

I was back home for the first time in two years, excluding some brief visits several times a year. This time I was here to stay, my schooling concluded. The last two years of college consuming that time, with my degree in business economics finally obtained. I finished junior college in my home town, but wanted my degree to have a little more clout than just a state university.

Chapter 4: In The Shadows

After another exhausting night, I stirred awake to find my mother enveloped in an exuberance I had never witnessed before. Her eyes sparkled with an infectious joy, a radiant light that seemed to illuminate the entire room.

“Good morning, Mom,” I murmured, still taken aback by the sheer brightness of her demeanor.

“Oh, my darling, good morning to you!” she replied, her voice a melody of happiness that danced in the air.

Another week successfully completed; in a few hours, I can head home and enjoy some peace and quiet in my little corner of the desert. Well, hopefully for at least two days. Of course, then the grind starts all over again: five days of my job and the commute that goes along with it. My little corner of the desert is quite a ways from our offices, requiring a daily commute of almost fifty miles.

Chapter 15: A Game Interrupted

The living room was alive with the sounds of rapid button clicks and the muffled cheers and groans of Yuqi and her friends. They were locked in an intense gaming session, their characters navigating a chaotic level that none of them seemed close to beating.

“Stay behind me!” Ian shouted, frantically dodging an enemy attack.

“I’ve got it covered!” Yuqi replied, her fingers moving quickly over the controller.

Elliot groaned as his character met a sudden, untimely end. “Unbelievable. This game is rigged.”

Chapter 14: School Clothes
The mall was alive with the buzz of summer shoppers, its cool, air-conditioned halls offering relief from the sweltering heat outside. Yuqi walked confidently alongside her mom and Kelly, her purse slung across her shoulder. The air of excitement around her was undeniable—this was no ordinary shopping trip.

Chapter 17
I leveled my gaze at Hannah and Brian, my patience wearing thin. “You know, I don’t care what you think about my life before,” I said, my voice steady and cold. “But I’ll be damned if I let you say anything bad about my wife.”

The room fell into a tense silence. Brian shifted uneasily under my glare, and Hannah’s fake smile finally cracked.

Chapter 11: The New Kingdom
As I sat upon the elegant throne, a sense of warmth enveloped me, an embrace of magic that sparkled in the air like sunlight on water. More merpeople glided into the throne room, their movements a fluid dance, each figure adorned with shimmering scales that glistened in vibrant hues of deep azure and rich emerald. The light from the majestic throne caught and reflected off their bodies, casting a mesmerizing array of colors across the room.