Childhood Friends

Chapter 3 of Childhood Friends.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Opening the door the same as he'd done thousands of times before, this time Fredrick cracked a smile at the person greeting him. "Welcome home, Miss Erica!" he said almost joyfully.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Sitting at her vanity, Erica brushed out her hair. She loved that the braids she'd taken out had given her hair a cute wavy look. She'd braided her hair before her shower, blown it dry, then taken the braids down and brushed it out, just like the night of the Halloween party. "April? What do you think?" she asked, turning to look toward the bathroom.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Faith heard a faint knock on the door. "Come in, April." she said dismissively, thinking that she had decided to keep an eye on her through the night after all. Walking back into her bathroom, she called back over her shoulder. "I'll be out in a few, alright?"

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Following her cousin down the stairs, Erica reached the bottom and looked out into the living room to see her aunt talking with April; Cook and Franchesca listening from the couch while Fredrick stood by the dining room entryway impassively. She smiled at the sight of April and her aunt, the two talking freely and seeming to enjoy each other's company.

Nick was pretty sure he led a normal married life of routine, and he did, until his wife, Jennifer, learns she can push him out of his comfort zone with a little 'hands-on' encouragement.

Chapter 10

Monday, May 10^th, 2023

6PM

“It was rash to take Fraiser and Jenkins off the case,” Judge Matthews admonished Coleridge.

“I know,” she said.

“Why did you?”

Coleridge was reluctant to answer, and Sylvia came to her rescue. “Bill, I don’t think that’s something she wants to discuss with us.”

Bill wanted her to face what she’d done, but he was willing to drop the matter for the moment.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

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Waiting for her name to be called, Erica was nervous. Even though it was a simple outpatient procedure, she knew there was no going back. The money her aunt Heather had sent her every month had been squirreled away, invested, and turned into a tidy sum that was paying for her new life.

The Joiners pt 4.
by
Angharad

The girls had continued to drill Cary in movement and gesture all the time correcting any boy-speak, so he sounded more like a girl. Finally they let him retire to his bedroom where he sat playing computer games while listening and singing along to CDs of The Carpenters. It was like a subliminal way of learning the lyrics and melodies and as well how Karen had sung them. His mind was like a tape recorder and it transferred the music from his player to his mouth, where he repeated it as if he was some form of recording device.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - cousin incest (non-sexual)
CAUTION - severe emotional pain/open emotional wounds

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Christmas came with all the happiness, love, and family it's supposed to have. Faith had called off the move, but that was to be short lived. As the long winter wore on, Heather decided that, for Erica's own good, she needed to move into the guest room and make it her own. She offered to let the girl chose her own decor, but Erica sadly accepted the room as it was.

Chapter 9

Monday, May 10^th, 2023

5:30AM

Marcia quietly opened the door to Allie’s room and checked in on her niece. It had become a routine that she went through every morning. She would check on Allie, then Sammy, and then go out and help Bruce with the animals.

Allie was in deep sleep, so Marcia reversed course and quietly closed the door. She moved to her nephew’s room and quietly opened the other door. Inside, Sammy was sleeping soundly as well. On his wall was a fresh drawing. Curious, Marcia tiptoed over to look at the picture of the riverbank. The moose with her calf and the diving eagle were both spectacular to see in their own ways.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

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Sitting in the library, Erica stared out the window as the snow fell all around the house. She knew she needed to get back to her studies, but her mind just wouldn't settle. Her thoughts drifted as freely as the snowflakes that fell past the large window, taking her from one memory of the last few months to the next. Finally shaking her head to make herself focus, she re-read her essay on early New Hampshire history. Reviewing her notes, she finished the closing and set the papers aside, glad that her work was done before Christmas break.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

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Lost in the sorrow of her memories, Erica didn't even notice the boy who stood in front of her.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Enjoying the ride in her aunt Heather's limousine, Erica was finally much more comfortable in her fantasy. Now fully immersed in being Erica Hargrave, she relished the view out the window, watching the countryside blanketed in snow glide by them. After a while she realized they'd been driving for far longer than the trip back to her aunt's home.

Chapter 7

Friday, May 6^th, 2023

Brad exited the office to find Darryl sitting on a recliner, watching him.

“What was that all about?” Darryl asked.

“I think it was a power grab,” Brad replied.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Erica stepped out onto the front porch again, this time fully decked out in dress, tights, bloomers, coat, scarf, hat, mittens, boots, and a burning desire to run out into the front yard, plow through the knee-deep snow, and bury herself in it. Carefully making her way down the front steps, Faith by her side, she still couldn't help but giggle at the sense of wonder she felt experiencing her first snowfall.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

Clarification: The entire first part of this chapter is a traumatic flashback.

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Erica bounded into the living room, gay as a lark. It was just before six o'clock and she knew April would be home from school by now. "Aunt Heather? It's almost six. I know it will be time for dinner soon, but before dinner, can I call my friend April and let her know I'm OK?"

Based on a captioned image by Courtney, this story tells how Andi let his hair down and eventually discovered Mark and his first kiss.

I still can't believe how the summer went. I was so stupid.

Chapter 6

Thursday, May 5^th, 2023

6:37 PM

Chet was surprised, but he pointed with his thumb to Bruce’s trailer. “He’s staying in his camper over there.” He wasn’t sure what was going on, but being police, he really didn’t want to question them.

Detective Fraiser nodded, then stepped off the porch and started toward the trailer.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Stepping through the door to the right of the old grandfather clock in the living room, Erica walked into the library. Its dark interior illuminated only by the little light that managed to seep its way past the heavy curtains that covered the room's single massive window, she followed her aunt to the right; rows of bookshelves jutting out from the wall opposite the door.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

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Rinsing off the body wash as he remembered the happy exchange that now nearly brought him to tears, Eric's heart ached to see his best friend even though he knew he likely never would again. Draining the tub, he pulled in one of Faith's towels and dried. Stepping out, he pulled the towel around him tightly to ward off the bitter cold seeping in from the outside.

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

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Awaking slowly in a dark room, his mind was groggy and dull. The satin pillow and distinctive sweet smell that screamed 'girl' told him he wasn't in his room at the Stone's house. That room still stank of teenage boy from its occupant before he'd taken it. Unable to remember where he was, he had a vague notion of going to sleep in someone else's bed and there being a storm. He reasoned that he must have sneaked into April's bedroom last night like he'd done a few times after his mother's hospitalization when he'd been especially scared. April would soothe away his fears and he would sleep on her floor, returning to his own room in the early morning. That's when he remembered he was in a bed and noticed he wasn't sleeping alone.