Selfie
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

“THIS IS WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO ME!” I could feel the stress in the text message. “LOOK AT MY CHEST! THIS IS ALL MY HAIR!” All caps.

Of course, I was shocked. We have been pals since kindergarten. I could see that it was him. I could see by the pout how sad he was. But that pout … with the lipstick on it just looked so good.

A Wife Found
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Love and Decision
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

She lay beside him. It was a Sunday afternoon. He had called her over. He had just enjoyed a lunch with one of his sons and his son’s pregnant wife but seeing them together had reminded him that he needed intimacy. He called and she had agreed to come round to his house.

Shame
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

“Don’t take a photo of me in my underwear!” Michelle glanced over at Paul while she played with her long red hair and suddenly realized what he was doing.

“I could not resist,” he said. “It is the same pose as this photo”. He held it up.

“Give me that!” she snapped. He held it away from her reach. “You really are such a brute. You know how ashamed of that photo I am.” But she was smiling, just a little

“Well that was the idea, wasn’t it? You were supposed to be ashamed.” He put his arms around her.

It is me Dolores
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

It was a part of the swamp that I did not know well. It was well off the beaten track, and I had prepared myself even to stop and camp overnight with some gear packed into my kayak. I was aware that there were some houses which could only be accessed by water in that reach, some of them old and some more recent structures which sought the privacy of extreme isolation.

Swipe Right
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Tinder is made for guys like me. If you feel like sex then you just open up and see what’s about. If you are good looking and athletic, girls will go for that. Free sex. Swipe Right. Some girls talk about relationships, so you let them. Just put on your listening face and nod. Whatever it takes to get them into the sack. “Thank you Ma’am.” Don’t hang around. Leave quick. They might get ideas.

Forget About It
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

We have all heard the word “amnesia” and we think that we know what it means. It seems to be a go-to device in every television drama – somebody stumbles with no memory of their past. Well, it is very rare in this form, and usually accompanied by some other mental impairment from a serious injury. The idea of the otherwise untouched victim is a myth.

Destiny
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

It seems so commonplace today, that to explain to somebody that your father now lives as a woman called Florence is unlikely to surprise people the way it used to.

The Woman He Deserves
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I said it to Hannah: “How can she do that? It is like she is tormenting him.”

It was supposed to be a double date, but Tammy had insisted on bringing a friend. A man friend to make five at the table. Then she spent the whole night playing footsie under the table with Rafe (that was his name), while Jack was right there. I could see it, and I was damn sure my date Hannah could see it too.

But Hannah’s response left me cold.

Skater Girl
A Short Story from my Latest Anthology on Amazon
By Maryanne Peters

A Different Life
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Three Weeks After

Doctor Gillies steepled his fingers. It was not a gesture he did often – not anymore. He had done his stint in general surgery, but now that he had found his niche he understood that he needed to be more empathetic. He was, in the main. But now was the time for plain talking. This patient, Alex, needed to be told.

Family Counselling
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Scene 1 The Consulting Rooms of Dr. M T Shieff

“I am sympathetic to your position, but I also have ethical considerations.” As he spoke Doctor Martin Shieff was thinking about a solution that could accommodate this young man. He liked him. His daily fodder was the anxious and the depressed but here he faced somebody who seemed to be in control, albeit directing his considerable intellect towards antisocial behavior.

Tau Gamma Beta
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Hayley had been all lined up to board with a relative who had a place right near college and I was all set to be in the Pi Theta Kappa fraternity, being a provisional member, but things had not gone right for either of us. What do you do in a crisis? You get drunk.

“I learned something about Pi Theta Kappa today,” I complained. “They are a bunch of arrogant pricks! In particular, that Dylan Hobbs, who seems to be the leader of the pack. He has it in for me.”

Lolita Revisited
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I never thought that this kind of thing happened for real, but there are strange people out there.

I suppose my mother was strange too. She always had a hankering to see me dressed as a girl. She told me that she did it when I was a baby, dressing me in pink just because she liked to hear people say: “What a pretty little girl”. Any chance to put me in a dress for Halloween or fancy dress she always said: “Go as a princess. Let me get you the outfit.”

The Way to Go
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Sex is one of the major drivers of humanity – in fact, it is the first driver. Money and power came later. They are social constructs. Sex is why we exist. We are here because of it, and our purpose is driven by it.

The Purity of Judgment
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

They were about as unalike as two men can be. Milo Laconda was tall and dark, powerfully built and with a swagger and deep throated laugh. He was recently divorced and that had knocked him back financially, but he was up and running again with the business and product that had he had developed – Laconda Plumbing Supplies – suppliers of the “Laconda Flush”.

A Woman’s Work
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I had always wanted to be an artist. I guess I felt that I was creative, but what I really liked was the idea of flicking a little paint onto canvas and selling it for $10,000. It struck me that it could be so easy if I had talent.

Straight
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

The first thing that I did was come straight out and tell my family that I was gay. I guess a lot of guys have real difficulty with this, but at the end of the day you just have to get it over with. You have to be straight. As it turned out, it went well. My Dad was not surprised – in fact, he was almost relieved. It seemed to explain everything about me.

The Editor
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

It was my fourth Marion Potter book and at the end I found my eyes full of tears. It was unusual for me because while I can be as emotional as the next man, I was editing. I was looking for spelling and grammar and inconsistencies. When you are doing that, it is usually hard to get caught up in the story. It should be just words. But they were words that I did not realize had caught me in their web and were now winding me up in silk.