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Forsythe Saga -31- Lockdown fun and games

[10th May 2020]
“There… that is the last of the alterations done,” said Emma as she put her scissors down.

In the workroom, there were four very similar but different coloured dresses hanging up. There were also four bolero style jackets on separate hangers. None of these dresses would look out of place on the stage of the Follies Bergère in Paris until you looked very closely at them.

Down but not out - Part 10

“Cat got your tongue?” asked Serena.

“Not really. I was just thinking back to how I got here. To be honest, I’m not sure if I can properly accept all this kindness and stuff.”

“You must have gotten used to fending for yourself while on the road? My brother told me about what had happened to you.”

Down but not out - Part 09

The throbbing in my head told me that something wasn't quite right when I regained consciousness. I felt something soft under me. That said 'you are in a bed'. The bleeping of a monitor told me that I was in a hospital. That in turn meant official records which leads to questions and possibly awkward ones at that.

Down but not out - Part 07

I wandered downstairs to find Yasmine and Jennifer looking at a road map.

“What’s up?”

“Look at this,” said Jennifer passing me her phone. A text message was there for everyone to read.

“Urgent. Position compromised as of 13.45. Evacuate. Urgent.”

“Do you have any idea as to what happened?”

Jennifer shook her head.
“None at all. All I know is there in the text which comes from my Commander. By my estimate, we have to leave inside the next twenty minutes.”

Down but not out - Part 05

Don’t-05

The next few hours were very much a blur. I was searched several times before I was taken to Shrewsbury Police Station for questioning. My requests for something to eat were ignored.

"These could be evidence," said the detective who was assigned to question me as he held up an unopened pack of six energy bars. From the look of him, Detective Sergeant Saunders was a rookie in the Plain Clothes world. He had no dress sense at all and trying to wear shirts that were at least one if not two sizes too small for him, did not present an air of confidence or authority

Down but not out - Part 04

[the next day]

Jennifer escorted me into the anonymous building once again. She sat me down in the same room that we’d used the day before.

“I’m sorry about my reaction yesterday. What you said took me by surprise and… I couldn’t help myself smile. I’m afraid that it is a trait of mine that goes back to when I was a child. According to my shrink, it is my way of deflecting unexpected news.”

Down but not out - Part 03

Jennifer did her best to talk to me during the nearly three-hour journey from Shropshire to York. I wasn't in the mood to talk. My rumbling stomach soon alerted her to one of the reasons why I was fairly uncooperative. She took pity on me after an hour or so and we stopped for a late breakfast which made me feel a good deal better, but not enough to engage in anything other than a casual conversation with her. I wanted to know more about why she and her colleagues thought that I could be useful in their investigations.

Down but not out - Part 02

The luxury of a bed with sheets and pillows was now a foreign experience to me. Hard pavements and doorways had become the norm for me in recent months. After a few hours of tossing and turning, I ended up sleeping on the floor. It might have been hard but after wrapping myself in the luxurious duvet, I managed to get some sleep. The underfloor heating was a new experience for me. It helped me relax and get some shuteye.

Down but not out - Part 01

[mid-morning in a riverside park. A homeless man is sitting on a bench looking at nothing in particular. A smartly dressed woman walks along the path and stops right by the man]

“Are you all right?”

Those four simple words dragged me out of my stupor. I looked up and saw the owner of the voice for the first time, a woman in her early thirties and judging by her clothes, she wasn’t doing badly for herself.

The Kiss

“Do you remember your first real kiss? No, not that timid peck of the cheek but the first real one that lasted and lasted and lasted what seemed ages?

Yes, that one. You know the one that left both of you breathless?”

I stopped typing and smiled at what I’d just written. Then I looked out of the window and the person that I’d shared that real first kiss was there right before my eyes. Ok, she was on her knees planting some Begonias and whatnot but there she was. I felt so lucky to have her in my life after all these years.

Missing Persons - Part 3 of 3

Lee sent over what the FBI had on the cases that could be released to Donald's department without all sorts of very lengthy approvals. Even with huge amounts of redaction, it took Donald two days to go through the files. They didn’t make pretty reading because it was as if he was reading a report from West Midlands rather than one from West Virginia. The similarity between all the cases was uncanny and slightly unnerving.

Missing Persons - Part 1 of 3

[May 2015. At an office in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne]
“Flowers for a J Parsons?” came the cry from the deliveryman who’d just entered the busy office.

Almost everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look towards a small man whose desk was right at the far end of the office and almost hidden by six grey filing cabinets.

Come Together - Part 1 of 2

[Early September]
"Well, love it is your first day at a new school and in a new country and… as the new you. I know that it will all be rather strange at first and very different from Park View High, but the new girl will be the centre of attention at first, so just be careful, eh?"

Tail End Harry - Part 1 of 2

Authors note:
This is not a TG story even though there is a scene where it is suggested that the main character does pose as a woman. I wrote it as a backstory to the Vivienne/Delphine character in ‘Sixty is not that old’ story. Vivienne changes her name to Delphine. This is the story of how Vivienne’s grandmother met her future husband.

See Emily Play

The death of my Father was although not unexpected was a bolt from the blue. I hadn’t even spoken to him for nearly a decade so it cannot be said that we were close. Ever since we had gone our separate ways, I only ever thought of him when I passed through my old home town of Corby.

So near yet so far

My small workshop was quiet for once. I’d just finished a large job and was cleaning up when I noticed someone standing in the doorway.

I looked up and saw silhouetted against the later afternoon sun, a very shapely young woman. As I looked at her, she flicked her long hair. For half a second, I wondered if I was going to have a heart attack.

Forsythe Saga -30- Lockdown begins

As the virus spread around the world, Maxine and Hayley made plans for when they'd have to go into isolation or as everyone in the media was calling it, lockdown. All the businesses that were part of the Lorelei Investments portfolio were given updates on what Maxine was expecting from them. Mostly it was a complete freeze on both payments to Lorelei and investment in the companies with a few exceptions if a government mandate forced the business to completely close or severely restrict their operations.

Forsythe Saga -29- Storm Clouds

[2nd January 2020]

“It is good to be back,” exclaimed Maxine as she unloaded the last of Hayley’s belongings from the back of the van that they’d rented.

“Yeah. Yesterday was hard going. My dumbass brother was out to cause trouble right from the start of the day. Mum texted earlier. She says thanks for not rising to his baiting.”

There I was...

working away in front of my log fire on my entry for the Christmas Comp when disaster struck.

It was my third attempt at a story when a Christmas Film came on the TV. Five minutes in, and I knew that the 3,000 odd words that I'd written were junk. The plot of the film and my story were almost identical. For a moment, I felt like throwing my MacBook at the TV but I didn't. I'd certainly not seen the film before and was made in 2019.

My muse saw the similarity and promptly exited stage left into the distance at a great rate of knots and that's it.

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Forsythe Saga -28- Power to the people

[Birmingham International Airport Railway Station]
"Sorry, I'm a bit late. My mother called while I was getting ready to leave and… well, she just would not stop talking,” said Maxine.

Michel laughed as he got into her car.
“I’m glad mine is several thousand miles away.”

County Sheriff -16- Plans, what plans?

Election Night marked the end of an era for me. Once I’d formally handed over my Sheriff's Badge to Sue-Ellen in front of the whole team that afternoon and had bought everyone a drink, I completed my time as Sheriff of Custer County.

Forsythe Saga -27- Meeting the Neighbours

[Hayley and Maxine had been talking about who would take over from Maxine should she get run over by the proverbial bus]

"Yes, I am serious. You asked me what would happen if I was run over by a bus… Well with some training, the answer could be you."

“You make it sound like an old advert for the National Lottery?”

Forsythe Saga -26- Resetting Expectations

Hayley and Maxine returned to the reception after repairing their makeup. They walked in holding hands. This was noticed by Maxine's grandmother, who made a bee-line towards them.

“About time too,” she said smiling.
Then she added,
"Don't either of you mess this up, or you will have me to answer too. Got it?"

Sometimes you are proved right and wished you weren't

I published a story back in 2013 (it does not seem that long ago) called 'Promises can get you into trouble'. As the story nears its climax, I floated the idea about a number of US States banning the books that had been written by the main character who was Trans.
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/46574/promises-can-ge...

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Cape Cod Stalker - Part 1 of 2

Saskia could not believe what she was seeing. She'd gasped with amazement and horror at the man in the hoodie that was looking right at her.

“How! How had he found her!” she muttered under her breath. The anger in her eyes showed that she was not pleased with this development.

County Sheriff -15- Winding Down

Kelly and I were greeted with smiling faces upon our return from Honeymoon. Their collective smiles soon disappeared when I told them that I wasn't going to stand for re-election that November. Their level of disappointment increased when Kelly said that she would also be leaving the department when a replacement had been found and introduced to the job.

County Sheriff -14- Honeymoon Encounter

[Authors note]
The story picks up again (if you forget my foopah of a posting from last week) when Matt and Kelly are on their Honeymoon. They have been travelling south down the Oregon and California coast and are in need of some refreshment.


“Do you want to stop for a Coffee?” I said to Kelly.

“Maybe we could get something for later at the same time?”

Mea Culpa - Or how I goofed up big time

As Brittney sings, 'Oops I did it again', I messed up my postings big time. Thanks to a blog by Maryanne Peters, I found that I have posted one part of County Sheriff well out of sequence.

There are a number of parts that should have been posted before 'The Interview'. One comment got me thinking and then when answering Maryanne's blog post earlier today, it clicked.
It goes to show that no filing system is 100% perfect.

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County Sheriff -18- The Interview

[This part is written from Kelly’s POV]

"You look, fine Darling," Matt said to me for what seemed about the twentieth time.

“I agree,” said Nancy.

I was feeling far from fine. It felt like my first day at the NYPD Academy all over again. That didn’t go down very well as the chief instructor and my father were not the best of friends.

Up the Stair

[This is an oldie from way back. I first drafted it in 2011 and posted it on my blog in November 2018]

[In Scotland, a ‘Stair’ is analogous to an apartment block in the US. One stairwell connects all the Flats/Apartments. Many 'Stairs' in places like Edinburgh do not have lifts yet, are sometimes five floors high and the steps are often pretty steep.]

Forsythe Saga -23- For one performance only

[At a Conference Centre in Birmingham (UK)]

“Ready for your big day?” asked Garth Samson.
He was waiting to be called onto the stage to deliver the keynote speech of the conference.
Their friend, Sally Jameson had organised the event for the Foundation that Garth had set up almost a year earlier. This was their first big event since the launch of the enterprise.

Forsythe Saga -22- Recruitment Woes

“Come on Maxi… Out with it… Something has been bothering you ever since you came back from Devon. Don’t you think sharing the problem might help? Two minds and all that crap?”

Maxine looked over her desk at Cliff. Once again, he was right on the ball. There was something on her mind.

She sighed before saying,
"Cliff, there is something on my mind, and yes, it became a problem when I was in Devon. I'm trying to work out what to do next."

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