RobertaME

Chapter 7 - What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing

Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

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I came out of MCRD Paris Island in January of ninety-one, days before the start of Operation Desert Storm. From there I went to Camp Geiger for MCT and Lejeune for MOS. By the time I got my first posting later that year, the war was over and the country had a different attitude toward the military.

Before the Gulf, most people looked down on a military career, leftover crap from Vietnam, I guess. After the Gulf though, the country almost seemed to be on overkill trying to apologize to every service member for the treatment of Vets after Vietnam by being overly proud of them. I hadn't even gotten a posting outside the US yet and I had people thanking me for my service! It was bizarre when you think that just a year earlier I had every friend I ever knew telling me what a mistake it was to join up.

I was posted to The Bricks... Marine Barracks, Alameda Naval Air Station as an eleven forty-two, Electrical Equipment Repair Specialist, about July of that year. I met Jack about a week later. At first I thought he was rude, boisterous, pigheaded, and inconsiderate. Later I found out he was all that and so much more!

Chapter 6 - Graduation and Beyond

Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

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Jack told me a story once about things that he said happened later that night, but Rich insisted that he was exaggerating, so I don't know what happened after that, really. Jack says Anne made a scene, trying to tell Jack to leave and quit embarrassing himself by taking his mother to the Prom, but Rich says she only wanted to make peace now that school was ending. I don't know what the truth is, but I suspect Rich was just defending her out of his sense of loyalty. He could be like that sometimes. Besides, he still put almost all the blame on Wendy and his mom. He never said so, but I think he always believed that Wendy broke up he and Anne, not vice versa.

Their graduation was apparently as uneventful as they usually are. There was apparently a party afterwards, but both of them said it was boring and not worthy of a story. Just things that happened, but then I think a lot of life is that way... just things that happen.

In the weeks that followed, Jack was working at his physical therapy. He said he was concerned that the Corps wouldn't take him due to his injury, but in the end, with Rich's help, he passed MEPS and, with his mother's signature, headed off to Paris Island in July while he was still seventeen.

Boot is Boot, so telling you what it would have been like for them isn't really telling you about them. It wasn't until they came home after MCRD and before heading out for SOI that things got interesting.

Chapter 5 - Back to School

Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

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Rich didn't ever tell me much about the time he spent in jail. He just would say, 'It wasn't that bad, really.' and change the subject. When Jack told the police that he hit Rich first and refused to press charges on the assault, the DA dropped the pending charges. Jack told me he was contacted by the DA while in the hospital saying they had filed assault charges against him, but Rich pled the fifth because testifying against Jack would incriminate himself, leaving no witnesses and a really weak case. So in the end, the whole matter was dropped and neither one was convicted of anything.

Jack spent the next three months in physical therapy. The only thing that kept them afloat was the money that Frank Hargrave gave them to help out. Rich said his dad felt responsible for the whole thing because he did nothing to stop Judith from playing matchmaker with the neighborhood floozy, not caring if Jack got hurt in the process.

He took classes between therapy sessions by state appointed tutor until he was able to come back to school, but by then it was early April and there was less than ten weeks of school left. Richard had classes to make up from his jail time, so he had to quit his job and go back home to have any chance of graduating with his class.

Rich told me the most about when Jack finally was able to go back to school. Jack didn't like talking about it, but he had the best stories about the things going on outside of school.

Chapter 4 - How Low Can You Go

Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

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Richard moved out of his parent's house in October of eighty-eight, just a few days after his eighteenth birthday while he still had most of his senior year left. He moved into Jack's house and got a part-time job after school to help with money. Jack used to say that after they moved in together was when their friendship saw its first real test.

It was a really hard time for them. Rich was working, Jack was depressed a lot of the time, and Rich's parents were calling him every day asking him to come home. Rich told me that by Christmas break things had hit their lowest point. Most of the details though I got from Jack and Erica.

High school is supposed to be about learning to deal with real life. Jack and Richard only got three years of that before they had to start living it. That year seemed to be a living hell that nearly ruined their friendship, and more.

Chapter 3 - Bumps and Bruises

Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

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I think Jack was really in love with Wendy. They dated almost four months before she ended it. Rich said that he thought Jack would never recover. It absolutely destroyed him. Jack just never talked about it. I think... I think it just hurt too much, even years later. He never would say her name, even when he would talk about it.

Rich told me what happened though. Wendy dated Jack through the rest of May and June and into July. Then her parents took her on a month-long trip to Florida. When she got back, right before school started, she told him that she'd found someone else and broke up with him. Rich said she was cruel about it, telling him that he was too much of a wimp for her and she needed a strong man. I don't know if it's true or not. Rich hated her for hurting him, so he might have just been bitter and wanted to say mean things about her. I guess now only one person knows the truth... and she'll never tell.

So Jack and Rich started their senior year of high school on a bad note, and it just kept getting worse from there.

Chapter 2 - The Dance

Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

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When Jack used to talk about high school, it was always on the same subject. Girls! Jack would say he took a different girl to every school dance or party, but then Rich would point out that it was because he could never get a girl to say yes twice! Poor Jack! He tried so hard to fit in with the popular kids that Rich hung out with, and Rich would always make sure that Jack was included.

See, pretty soon, the other kids figured out that if you wanted Rich to come to your party, Jack had to be invited, too. Rich would say Jack never held him back though... he still was invited to all the parties and dances and they still hung out with his regular crowd, so you can't say Jack hurt Rich's social life, but Rich's friendship almost certainly helped Jack's, immensely.

I remember this story that Jack used to tell about their Junior Prom. Rich denied parts of it, but I think Jack was telling the truth. I could always tell when Jack was BSing his way through a story. Erica told me a lot of things about that night that tell me it was Jack that was being honest. It started a chain of events that would have life-changing effects, but then Jack would say that was true about everything that happens to a person.

Chapter 1 - Where It All Began

Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

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I met Jack and Rich when we were all three posted at Alameda Naval Air Station just across the bay from San Francisco. Jack was a total clown who hit on everything with breasts! We called him Corporal Strikeout because he couldn't get a date to save his life, but just kept right on swinging! From what everyone told me, it'd always been that way, too. Rich, on the other hand, was attractive, smooth, and never lacked for female attention. I would have hated him, except he was just so nice!

They both grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is funny when you consider that later Rich would move into a house near Pittsberg, New Hampshire, but I'm getting ahead of myself! Rich used to tell this funny story about how he met Jack. Of course, Jack being Jack, he had to add his own twist to it every time Rich would tell it. Rich's story would always be the same, but Jack added bits that were always different. Not that he would change his story mind you, but it was like each time Rich told it, Jack would remember some new little tidbit to add to it.

So this is how it all began.

Chapter 26 - All Good Things

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Typing furiously at her keyboard, tears poured down Erica's cheeks. The words she wrote were bittersweet, speaking of the love they could have had and the future denied by a single choice. The choice of one of them to give up on their love. They had overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Torn apart so young, just as their love had begun to blossom, that they then found their way back to one another after so many years of pain apart was nothing short of a miracle.

Chapter 24 - Theory vs. Reality

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.

Chapter 23 - Life's Little Changes

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Erica and April entered their shared apartment in Concord, having just driven the four hours from Hargrave House. Erica had barely put down her suitcase when she felt a hand turn her around quickly. Just as she was about to ask what April wanted she felt the girl's lips press into her own with an urgent need. Surrendering to her own passions, Erica responded in kind, pulling April in close and relishing the feel of their bodies pressed together.

Chapter 22 - Parting Ways

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.

Chapter 21 - Families' Reunions

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Erica waited outside her bathroom door. "Hurry up, April! We're going to be late!" She heard the water turn off and the shower curtain open. Waiting a minute, she saw the door open as April exited, wrapped in a towel and smiling gaily as she pulled off the shower cap.

Chapter 20 - What a Girl Really Wants

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?"

Chapter 19 - Memories and Motivations

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.

Chapter 18 - Truth and Consequences

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Reaching the stairs and ascending, Erica recalled the first time she'd done so, scared and alone. Now as she went up them, she felt only the fear, this time that Faith was beyond reach. That of all the people she'd helped over the years, the one who needed it the most would be the one who she could help the least. Slowly walking down the all too familiar hallway, she reached the door to their once shared room. Knocking gently, she waited.

Chapter 17 - The Road Not Taken

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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It was a bright Wednesday morning, five days from Halloween. Heather sat in her loveseat reading Keats, while Faith was upstairs alone in her room, as usual. While Cook puttered in the kitchen and Franchesca updated Erica's website before starting the laundry, Fredrick busied himself with preventative maintenance on the limousine. It seemed like just another day.

Chapter 16 - Time Changes Everything

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.

Chapter 15 - Goodbye

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 14 - Lost Faith

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.

Part 3

Link: Curse of the Werewoman Title Page and Description

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Chapter 5 - Holiday Surprises

The shopping trip Sunday evening wasn't nearly as bad as John thought it would be. He'd had difficulty at first, thinking at any minute people would start pointing and laughing at him, shouting 'dude looks like a lady' or things like that, but his transformation was flawless once he'd stopped fighting it and just went with the flow.

Chapter 13 - Friends and Enemies

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.

Chapter 12 - Halloween

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

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Sitting at the vanity in her room, Erica watched the mirror while her aunt finished braiding her hair into two pigtails that came down the side of her head. The costume had been dropped off the day before and fit perfectly. With the shoes, dress, red braided pigtails, and a picnic basket with a small stuffed Cairn Terrier sticking up out of one side, she was the perfect image of Dorothy Gale. Watching her aunt tying off the blue ribbons at the end of her pigtails, she smiled at the reflection, still happy to see her young mother reflected back at her, even through her costume.

Part 2

Link: Curse of the Werewoman Title Page and Description

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Chapter 3 - I'm A What?

John awoke slowly at first, disturbed by his wife's movement in bed next to him. Not quite remembering the night before, he only knew that he felt something he'd never felt before as she snuggled up next to him and wrapped her arm around him once more.

Part 1

Link: Curse of the Werewoman Title Page and Description

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Chapter 1 - Scratch One Guy

Looking up from his newspaper, John smiled at the woman approaching his desk. She was fairly attractive and in her late twenties, brown hair cascading around her shoulders that bounced as she moved. Quickly glancing over her, he couldn't help but sigh.

Curse of the Werewoman

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Curse of the Werewoman!

John Henderson was a normal guy, married to a loving and understanding woman for the last eight months, with a successful career in Real Estate... or at least he seemed to be. When a chance encounter with the supernatural comes into his life, he may find he's not only bitten off more than he can chew, but some things he'd forgotten about himself along the way.

Set in Ontario, Oregon in the Fall of 2012, Curse of the Werewoman is a comedic short story showing that getting what we sometimes want in life means learning to like it, even if it's not exactly what it was billed to be.

This story is dedicated to my wife, Rachel.
It's all HER fault! The whole thing was HER idea!
She MADE me write it! Don't blame ME!

This short story (if you can call it that) is complete and has been released in 3 parts of 2 chapters each. Enjoy the silliness!

27,752 words

Chapter 11 - Out and Around

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 10 - Transformation

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Sitting in the back of her aunt's limousine, Heather across from her and Faith next to her, Erica's nerves were on edge knowing she was going to meet someone who knew her father... and her from her old life before she was reborn in the body of her son. The butterflies were gone, replaced with raging wildcats clamoring around inside her stomach.

I'm Numb

I received a call from my sister at 11:15 last night. I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was upset. There are a number of family members who are aging and in ill-health, not the least of whom is our mother. I could tell right away that she was calling to tell me someone had passed away. What she told me stunned me beyond belief.

She was calling to tell me that my oldest nephew, her oldest son, age 22, was dead... by his own hand.

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Chapter 9 - Winter Wonderland

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.

Chapter 8 - Painful Memories

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?"

Chapter 7 - A New Morning

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Erica awoke slowly, stretching her body and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Next to her, Faith lay sleeping. The room had an odd quality to it as she unwrapped herself from Faith's warm clinginess. Sitting up, she dropped her feet into the slippers that Faith had given her the night before. Crossing the floor toward the window in her borrowed nightgown, she'd finally noticed that the howling wind had subsided leaving an eerie silence to sit over the house. She'd become so accustomed to the howl of the storm, its absence left a void in the perceptions of her surroundings. Peaking out the window, Erica saw something she'd never seen before. Awestruck, she stood in wonderment at the beauty of the sight before her.

Chapter 6 - Whodunit?

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.

Chapter 5 - Visions of Erica Hargrave

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.

Chapter 4 - Cut Off

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.

Chapter 3 - Dinner by Gaslight

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

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The three exited out into the hallway after Heather turned down the lights in Faith's bed and bath, showing Eric how to do it with a long stick made for that purpose for people not tall enough to reach them.

Chapter 13 - His Plan

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

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After a brief recess, Judge Fallon returned to his bench. "Be seated." he stated wearily. Looking out over the assembled people, he blew out a breath. "This case has been full of esoteric questions. Has Christina been abused by being made to live as a boy, even though she didn't seem to mind much? Did the plaintiffs ever have custody of their child, even with no birth record? Thusly, can parental rights be reinstated, even though they were never legally severed to begin with?"

Chapter 2 - The Storm

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

CAUTION - emotional pain/open emotional wounds

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Gasping as the room was plunged into darkness, a crack of thunder rolling over the house several seconds later, Eric thought he heard someone squeal in fear. After it passed, he found himself wrapped in his aunt Heather's arms and he could finally hear the sobs of fright escaping his own lips.

Chapter 12 - Final Judgement

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

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As Christina walked into the courtroom, she was nervous. Living with her grandparents these last five days had been both wonderful and heartbreaking. That first day they'd been loving toward her, but after her grandmother knew the truth of who she was and told Walter, she'd lost all hope of acceptance.

Chapter 11 - Gut Instinct

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

CAUTION - Referenced Sexual Abuse of Minors

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Climbing out of the car, Lyle knew he was on shaky ground. Officially, as an FBI agent, he had no reason or jurisdiction to be at the inspection of the home Ruth's parents had rented in order to take custody of Christina. Still, he hadn't been able to shake the feeling in his gut that if he didn't look into it, something terrible might happen. After twenty years of first being a cop and then an FBI agent, he'd learned to trust that instinct as it'd saved his life countless times. His hunch had paid off when he'd looked into Nancy's file.

Chapter 1 - Going Home

Link: Lost Faith Title Page and Description

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Eric looked out the window of the cab through rivers of raindrops that ran down the side of the roof in little streams. The sun was just reaching the ebb of twilight in the wet October sky as he opened the cab door and stepped out onto the muddy driveway in front of the house that was to be where he would live from now on. He couldn't call it home; that was back in Newport Beach.

Chapter 10 - Fostering Growth

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

CAUTION - Emotional Abuse and Discussed Physical Abuse

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Looking in the mirror, Christina sighed and tried to bring her smile back. It had been two weeks since she'd last seen David or Ruth and her optimistic attitude had begun to wane under the stress of missing them.

Chapter 9 - True Lies

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

CAUTION - Highly Emotional Content (have tissues handy)

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Waiting for word from her parents, Christina sat with Kathy in her room at the Grants'. When Linda suggested she write the letter, she insisted that she not lie, even insisting on taping the Q-tip she swabbed inside her cheek to the paper herself. Leaving to return to the Grant home, she and Kathy spent the time watching videos online. Hearing the phone ring though, she jumped up and practically ran out into the living room.

Chapter 8 - Inevitable Complications

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

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"Wait a minute." David interjected with a puzzled look. "You propose we have this girl's DNA tested to see if she's our daughter to prove that she's actually Walt turned into a girl by an angel?"

Chapter 7 - Homecoming

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

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An hour later, Christina emerged from the bathroom clean, in new clothes that used to be Kathy's, and with her hair dry and styled nicely. Making her way over to the dining room table, she saw no one there.

Chapter 6 - Friends in Need

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

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Sitting at the Grant's dining room table, Christina felt the weight of her change weighing on her more with each passing minute. Kathy is still in love with me, but she can't even face me! Mother and Daddy don't even know me, I have no future, no past... no hope. If I didn't promise Mrs. Grant I'd wait, I would just leave. Biting her lower lip, she waited.

Chapter 5 - Starting Over

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

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Scared and alone, Christina huddled in the dark of her best friend's bottom drawer, unsure how long she would have to wait there. Praying silently, she tried not to cry.

Chapter 4 - Best Friends Forever

Link: The Wisher's Paradox Title Page and Description

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Staring into Kathy's eyes, Christina knew her best friend had listened in on the conversation with her mother. "You... you remember Christina? Kathy! I'm sorry I didn't tell you! I didn't think you'd believe me!"

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