Dear Reader, This is a rough draft of the first chapter of a new Wildcats book. As you read please think about a few things to help me do better. (1.) Is it clear? (2.) What do you like about it? (3.) What don't you like about it? (4.) What would you like to hear more about?

Astian barged into Nathan’s room, mindlessly tossing a giant box onto his bed.

“Well, here’s the last of her clothes.” He said. “She still has a few other things she needs to bring in so don’t be surprised if some stuff appears in your room in the morning. Wouldn’t want to bother you while you’re awake, you know.”

Nathan laid still on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, not having it in him to respond.

“Nathan?” Astian asked. “You there?”

Again, he didn’t respond.

“That’s Lee,” I said, feeling a bit relieved.

Defense was a bore. Quirrell gave us a practice test which I finished in just a few minutes. I was contemplating pulling out another book, but I didn't want to get too involved in anything else and have to be interrupted. My nails were still impeccable, and I was enjoying the sparkly black color. I glanced around the room and everyone was still working on their test, except Hermione. She was staring off into the distance, mumbling silently. I'm not sure when I developed the skill, but I've come to the realization that if I focus I can read lips with a high degree of accuracy.

"Hitchhiking? No. Me, hitchhiking? Where? Like, out here, in the desert?"

"Yeah, maybe a dozen miles west of here."

I tried to put it together, but the pieces didn't fit. "Hitchhiking... dressed like this?
Barefoot? With an umbrella? What-- did I drop out of the sky?
Like Mary Poppins, with the umbrella?"

The next morning, Genesis, Jesse, and Ramona met up with Rachel again at the Orphanage For All Ages. This time, Rachel had Lanie Evans with her.

"So you're Lanie," Jesse said when he saw Lanie for the first time.

Lanie smiled. "Yes I am," she said.

"It's nice to meet you," said Jesse.

Rachel handed the vial that contained her blood to Genesis. "This is the blood that the doctor drew from me last night," she said. "I hope this'll be enough to finish the serum."

"Thank you," said Genesis. "Thank you so much."

“I’m done!” I said to my wife when I arrived home from work.

Dot and Sam 40

I was making a fresh start. My marriage had ended the year before and I felt uncomfortable in the old family home where we had raised our daughter and I had noticed how old friends were less inclined to call now I was on my own. I was becoming isolated. When my employers had offered me early retirement I almost shouted yes before they had finished the sentence.

Genetic Gender Experiment

The humid air clung to Elias like a second shirt as he pushed through
the tangled undergrowth. Shanda, his girlfriend, was just ahead, her
laughter a melody in the symphony of cicadas. They were on a secluded
resort vacation, and a poorly marked trail had beckoned them deeper into
the jungle than they'd intended.

Chapter 12

David and C.J. left, leaving the six of us. I asked Cecil if he could give it a simple edit and gave him my email address, then got Jeff and Eric to give him their email addresses. I asked the sound man to keep quiet about what he had just seen.

“Don’t you worry, Julia. I could stand in the street and shout that their favourite country copper is really an actor who could rival Olivier, and nobody would believe me.”

They packed up the gear, leaving the four of us. I looked at Jim, who was smiling broadly.

“What’s so funny, Jim?”

My Faraday City stories have been exploring an increasingly expansive world of superheroes, adventure, whimsy and danger. So, to keep all the worldbuilding straight, I documented it! Character dossiers, location writeups, it’s all here. Also, some fun new pics, and even some sneak peeks of upcoming stories!

Photo by Andrew Gaines on Unsplash

1 - Home Sweet Home

I 'celebrated' my fifty-fifth birthday in Savannah Georgia, all alone in a motel room. Being there wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it meant I was employed. That was actually a good thing; you see I am, or was, an engineer and industrial programmer. That means I sat at a computer and designed things like assembly lines or machines that built things, then wrote the programming. Once that was done I drove mile after mile to fix problems that the came up when the machine was actually installed. I got paid pretty good money for doing that and I loved the work, but it could get lonely.

Emily Play's Dotty
A “How I Spent My Summer Vacation: I became a Girl!” Gaiden
by
Rebecca Coleman

-1-
Volunteering to Play Dotty

Trophy Wife
Gwen Boucher, 4/26/2024, 14:30

Dane Brown, a recent dual master’s graduate from Brown University had no idea what was to befall him. Being rather diminutive at 5’3”, and having never had a girlfriend, wasn’t even interested in girls and this suited his bookish nature perfectly. He had no reason to suspect that a bachelor multibillionaire, August Dire, was stalking him and had demented plans for Dane. August intended that Dane would never be intrusive again. “Keep your enemies close to you.”

As we ventured through the bustling streets of New York City, the towering Empire State Building and the iconic Chrysler Building rose above us like giants of glass and steel, their mirrored surfaces reflecting the city's chaotic energy below. The air was filled with a symphony of honking horns, bustling crowds, and distant sirens, bouncing off the towering buildings and creating a cacophony of sounds.

Was Prince Taylor tricked?

It's likely been wished for since the beginning of time, that chance to swap lives with another person if given the chance. Nothing about that idea isn't complicated or without obstacles. Can two siblings pull it off?

Chloe O’Neil took a foolish risk without thinking. A common mistake, maybe, but in her case the bill came due and payable, with interest. Now her whole family is struggling to make things right, unable to see a path forward. Maybe they need a miracle.