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June Exclusive tale | "Therapy" | Part 2

It’s the rain, drumming persistently that wakes Lola up.

She didn’t have the baby dream. She feels calm and relaxed.

She stretches – the crib is long enough to more than accommodate her 4 feet 11 inches height – and is perfectly at ease until she opens her eyes and sees the wooden bars. And reflects on her situation in a new light.

“Oh.”

Lola is no longer calm and relaxed. She sits up, looks around the dimly lit nursery. She is inside an ad...

Poll results - July 'wedding/divorce' ideas

Here are our July tales to look forward to.  Thank you Helpers for a bumper selection of excellent ideas this month!

• The only thing he and his fiance didn't account for when planning their wedding was his jealous ex turning up with a twin stroller ready. - Rick

• Her husband is unable to give her the baby. Fortunately, a friend presents a way   she can get her baby while avoiding a messy divorce. - 2023-06-20 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post

June Exclusive tale | "Therapy" | Part 1

Better Path Counseling

Austin, Texas

The July air is thick with the promise of storms. The humidity clings to Lola’s skin, weighing her down. It is a relief to enter Dr Light’s home and his downstairs office. These visits aren’t like a trip to Disneyworld, but at least there’s central air. And at least someone wants to listen.

Even if it’s just because they’re paid to do it.

“You look upset.”

“Resting bitch face.”<...

July "wedding/marriage" poll #3

July "wedding/marriage" poll #2

July "wedding/marriage" poll #1

Thank you Helpers for 15 ideas!

3 polls, 1 vote for each poll. Let's see what we come up with, everyone!

July Flash tale #2 - "Wide Awake"

It happens at night. It happens after lunch. It even happens right now on the drive along Spring Street. They’re on their way to have lunch with the Davidson’s, who have two kids of their own.

“It’ll be good. We haven’t seen them in forever.”

Luke didn’t understand any of this when it was discussed, when he was being buckled into his car-seat. But now, pacifier in his mouth, bare-footed and asleep, he understands the arrangements quite clearly. Now that he’s uncons...

June Flash (double-length) #1 - "Bubble Brain"

Ngatea, New Zealand

February

Daniel has the nightmare again. He wakes up in a cold sweat, but he’s warm and wet around his groin.

“No,” he whispers. He pulls back the bedsheets. “Come on.”

He’s wet the bed. Pissed himself. The perfect ending to the dream. He thinks of his twenty-one-year-old brother, Oliver, sleeping peacefully in the room next door. Ignorance is bliss.

Daniel is weeks away from his 18th birthday. Is this th...

Poll results - June 'dream' ideas

Here are our June tales to look forward to. We had a tie for 2nd place, but then I received a bribe...I mean, then I made an executive decision. Ahem! 😊 Thank you Helpers for excellent ideas!

• Lola keeps dreaming of being a baby in a crib, as much as she'd like to move past this, her new therapist keeps bringing the topic up - Joseph
  

• He's pretty sure he's just a baby, until the nasty dreams where he's as big as Mom...
  2023-05-31 13:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post

May Exclusive - "Hum" - Part 4

He wakes up in the darkness and feels a dull confusion. Where is he? When is he? And then, helped by the whirring drone of the hotel room’s A/C, he remembers.

And he hears a voice.

Groggy, he lifts his head. It’s Bella who’s talking. He reaches for her, but she has left the bed. All he finds is the earbuds left on her pillow.

He lays his head back down, listening for the disembodied voice. Laughter, and then the bathroom door opens.

Charlie watches Bella...

May Exclusive - "Hum" - Part 3

Forty minutes later, Charlie steers Bella back into their hotel room. He marches her over to the bed and sits her down.

“That’s enough.”

Bella hitches and gulps. Her wet hair is plastered to her head. “I was just puh-puh-playin’!”

“Playing like a little kid,” corrects Charlie. “Misbehaving like one.” He sighs, sits down beside her. “I should’ve known. You weren’t ready for it.”

Bella sniffles. “Just wanted to play,” she whispers.

C...

May Exclusive - "Hum" - Part 2

Hampton Inn and Suites East Mesa

Bella is back. Bella is a handful. Bella is something else.

“Hugs!”    

“Sure, let me just-“

“Hugs, Charlie!”

Silverado parked behind the hotel, checked into a 4thfloor room, Charlie hugs Bella.

“Mmm. There.”

“You rescued me,” Bella says, her voice tickling Charlie’s neck. “You�...

May Exclusive - "Hum" - Part 1

Mesa, Arizona

11:15 AM

98 degrees

Wake me up inside (save me)
Call my name and save me from the dark (wake me up)

It’s almost normal. It’s almost like before. Except, in actual fact, it’s barely the same at all. It must be the music that helps, Pop2K on Sirius, playing an Evanescence song that Bella has alway...

May Exclusive tale coming soon!

June stories poll

Thank you Helpers for these dreamy ideas! 

Keeping it simple for the 8-idea poll. One member, one vote - top 3 ideas will get my writerly attention!

May Flash #2 - "Dum"

Nashua, New Hampshire

Friday

Hannah opens the front door of her single-story home. She makes me wait first, obviously, but she finally opens the door.

It’s quiet. Her kids aren’t home right now, thank God, so there’s no yelling and screaming in the background. Which is nice.

I hold out my hand. “Thanks.”

She gives me a cool look. “For what?”

I feel the back of my neck go warm. Why does every conversation we have go...

May Flash #1 - "Tum"

Ngatea

What can I say about Shane? You know how it goes; some new teachers are nervous and some are over-confident. Shane belongs firmly in the second camp.

“This is a special school,” I told him during orientation. (One of my responsibilities is to take the newbies under my wing.) “With the emphasis on ‘special’. Don’t forget that.”

“I know what special means.” Shane waved his hands at me. Dismissive.

After one week of lessons, which is ofte...

April Exclusive - "Lief" - Part 3

I wake up in the dark. I wake up wet. I wake up alone.

I cry out. A high-pitched wail. It’s all that I’ve got.

In a matter of seconds, there’s the woman from last night. There’s my pretty nerd. Her face appears, looming over the crib. What’s her name? And how did I end up in here?

I continue to cry, it feels uncontrollable. I will never stop crying, there’s no way to fix this. She can smile, she can tell me she’s here, but there’s nothing she can do.

...

April Exclusive - "Lief" - Part 2

“Shoot. Sorry. I’m making a mess of this.”

“You’re fine. I’m the one who made the mess.”

In truth, we’re both terrible at this.

I went first, peeing and pooping as I sat on the nursery floor. It was almost comical, the way urine came out, like a tiny lawn sprinkler. The poop was less amusing; that was serious shit. My first thought, inspecting the rug beneath me; That’s done. May as well put that straight in the trash. Maybe just burn it, actually. 2023-04-28 21:01:25 +0000 UTC View Post