Second Chances Chapter 23 La Vie en Rose
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Instant gratification. That’s what most people want these days. Thanks to instant communication with email, instant shopping online, instant pornography too, we all want exactly what we want, exactly when we want it.That’s what made things so frustrating. Much as I don’t want to admit it, my middle-aged brain has been re-wired to operate in the modern era of instant gratification.She made me wait.I had clicked the “send” button and sent my video clip to my foreign correspondent. She was still...
Masturbation“Enough!” I loudly decided, more than an hour later, when I could start to see the sun setting in the horizon, outside the glass penthouse walls and the angry voices had at least for now subsided enough that I could begin to hear myself think again. Mostly, I was thinking about getting some food! I was starving, having had nothing but those cookie snacks a few hours ago to eat in several days. “Alright ... enough already!” I repeated, standing up from my chair to project my voice ... and a...
At least when I awoke this time my brain wasn’t still on fire, complaining at me! Unfortunately, I was bound by my hands and feet to a hospital bed by sturdy leather straps. I was apparently being held as a prisoner somewhere ... but for once, this time after being captured by the authorities, I rather liked my odds of not ending up in prison. I didn’t care where they were holding me; the chances were going to be very good that I’d find a way out of here! On the plus side, with a slight turn...
This time, nearly everyone was surprised ... really astonished in fact, that I’d walked back in through the front door under my own pegs. The word had gotten out that I was expendable and had been taken off for a ride already. I just grinned shook my head at Otto that I didn’t want another beer and then I pointed my left index finger upwards to show that I was heading back up to see the Boss, again. Knuckles saw me heading that way, further down towards the back end of the bar, and the big...
Sunday, October 5, 1997 I woke up on my own. I sat up in bed. I remembered last night... or rather I remembered what I wished for. I suddenly got really nervous. What have I done? I'm stuck in 1997 now. I'm stuck as Christina now. I was so caught up in the moment I really didn't think it through. Breathe Chrissy. You asked for this. You wanted this. Yeah, But now it's real. I looked at the mirror in front of me. This is very real. This is me. This is me forever...
The senior Westside mob bosses just finished playing their hands and everyone continued to ignore me until the pot had been gathered up. They were playing poker for fairly small stakes, just a friendly game with quarters for chips it looked like, but I couldn’t tell you for sure what the rules were; a variation of five card draw probably. Then finally, Jonny deigned to speak to me just as a fresh hand was being dealt. “You’re Chancer? Conner here informs me that Antonio ‘Drake’ has gone...
Fuck ... wouldn’t you believe it? The battleship-grade steel that layered the entire top of the basement, under the ground floor was still there ... and virtually immaculate, with hardly even a scratch on it! Now I could also see that this impenetrable layer not only covered the floor of the Murder Mansion, but also the houses next door and even under the old warehouse that had stood behind it. It covered, that thick layer of hardened steel, the entire city block where my house had once...
When Gym class ended, I avoided Fay. I avoided Amber. I was afraid. I was afraid of confrontation. I was afraid of rejection. Much of the school day passed without much drama. My last two classes were uneventful. Since we had a show later this evening the band focused more on honing the field-show. So we ran through that 3 or so times. Occasionally Fay and I would make eye contact and she'd turn away. That was certainly not a good sign. At the end of band class, I was packing up my...
We never did resolve the matter of my being good, great or evil. My heart told me that none of them were truly applicable. My mind continued to debate whether those labels could ever be used on someone like me. The issues of accountability, responsibility, justice and freedom continued to haunt my thoughts for years after that night. The only thing I did come to terms with was my obsession with truth. Is truth a property of sentences, which are linguistic entities, or is truth a property of...
Now if I had to award a second place prize for the next choicest skirt decorating the room, it would have to be a coin flip between Skulda the Valkyrie Warrior-Maiden or the Green Canary. The others? Who could tell really, under all of those cowls, hoods, masks and full bodysuits. They could have all been dolls or drudges ... who could tell? The Norse babe had it all; youth, a crisp Nordic face with big blue eyes, long braided blonde hair and more than a hint of well-nourished cleavage under...
I woke up sometime in the middle of the night to a pitch black bedroom and at least two warm naked female bodies. There were no street lights on outside and very likely the entire house, along with most of the remaining bits of the Westside, were without electrical power. By feel, I determined that Denise (Firefly) was curled up on my right side, or least her massive tits were. A more slender but nearly equally petite figure dozed on my left, and a brief caress of her hair suggested that this...
Second Chances By Alexander Kung Kelly Daniels, formerly the hate filled bully Ryan Thomas, finds herself madly in love with boy she once bullied. Now fully accepting of her new life, she now finds she has a dangerous problem...her stepfather's wrath Second Chances - Part 5 Kelly's eyes fluttered open as the soothing sounds of the waves crashing on the beach along with crisp sea air floating through the nearby open window. Shaking the sleepy cobwebs from her head, she fully...
Second Chances By Alexander Kung Second Chances - Part 3 It had just started to rain as Rani and Jay started to walk home. The storm had shown up so suddenly that they had to cut their time in the tree house short. However nobody said how long they could take on the walk home. Since they were next door neighbors, they could get away with taking the scenic route. "So, Jay" Rani asked with a slight nudge "Do you have a girlfriend?" "Not really" Jay replied "I guess girls don't...
Our very private chat now done, we headed on home with naught but a grocery stop at the A&P planned along the way. We agreed that mission number one for tomorrow morning was shopping to seriously upgrade our extremely limited wardrobe. I’d picked up a few basic items of casual clothing at a couple of local used resale shops in North and South Hell over the last couple of weeks, but I still had nothing that our old pal Rags would have been caught dead wearing. We now had the dough, so it...
Ralph — I pulled away slowly from the shadows where I'd been parked. I was sad beyond human endurance. My breath caught in my throat. I was wishing I was dead. First my wife had turned into a slut, now she had succeeded in turning my fiancée into a whore. The radio was playing the refrain of a Mary Chapin Carpenter song, I Take My Chances. Now I can cry until I laugh and laugh until I cry So cut the deck right in half, I'll play from either side I take my chances, I pay my dollar and I...
So, on that peaceful Saturday evening I was sitting up on the roof of Murder Mansion, alone and slowly enjoying four fingers of fine quality rye, enjoying the late-night spring breezes and the sounds of the city from off in the distance. Most of the flat roof was covered with a series of four long rectangular greenhouses, but everything inside had been dead for a full decade or more. Orchids most likely, from all of the dried petals on the floor. At the northwest corner of the roof, the...
I muttered something about sandwiches and brewing up a pot of fresh coffee for everyone, back at my place, and a few of the heroines agreed to hang around there for a while. For now, at least, all of the fun, mayhem, and destruction seemed to be over. Most of the gals decided that they’d rather enjoy a long bath at home, along with a dozen or more stuff drinks instead, and most of them made their farewells. Even the horde of newsies and television camera crews started to look bored and began...
Second Chances By Alexander Kung Second Chances - Part 4 The following morning, Kelly read the directions from Felicia's note to Jessie's apartment. As she walked along the sidewalk , she pondered through her mind what she would say to him. Somehow trying to explain that the girl that broke his heart was the same jerk that terrorized him for years would probably get her sent to a padded room by the nice guys in white coats. "Hi Jessie, I know I've been a bitch to you but...
Tuesday, September 23, 1997 Ron's truck stopped in the driveway. Metallica spilling out of the rust and pock-marks of the truck. I laughed to myself. Ron in 2018 is making enough money to drive a Lexus, or rather his wife is. His music taste has changed too. The music stopped as I walked out of the house and down the front porch. I opened the passenger door and threw my backpack onto the seat. Behind the steering wheel was a younger Ron. While Ron is older than I am by a few months, it's...
August?? 2004 "Tell me a little about yourself, Doctor." "Why?" I asked the Voice. It came, I supposed, from a face ... but it was a face I couldn't see. The bandages wrapped over my eyes and around the crown of my head kept me blind and in the dark. Was it a male or female voice? I couldn't be sure, but from the speech patterns and word choices I thought it was most likely male. Where the ideas about speech patterns and word choices came from were as much a mystery to me as the...
Thursday, September 25, 1997 I woke up and looked at the clock. 4:59. A minute before the alarm goes off. I get out of bed and stretch. The alarm goes off and I stop it. It's a new day. I feel great. I have a spring in my step. Today is going to be another great day in the life of Christina Demarco. I walked over to my closet to pick out my clothes for today. The floral dress I found in my closet looks nice. I hadn't wore a dress to school yet. Let's try these heels too. I...
5:18 PM Cindy and I were standing outside on our freshly raked front lawn in our dresses waiting for Mom and Dad. Mom came outside with her camera. "We're just waiting for Dad." Dad joined her. He was holding his camera as well. "Chris, honey. When you're done with the Internet, can you please log off of it." Whoops. "Sorry dad." I smiled. "This is the second time in two weeks I picked up the den phone only to realize you were still dialed-in. Hang up the Internet when you're...
During the car-ride home, I talked about my day. About how I made the track team. About how hard my first track practice was. Ron asked about Chase. I talked about date night tomorrow. I said nothing about Jessica. I drove us all home. When Cindy and I arrived home, I decided I needed to shower if I was going to Jessica's house. "Hi Mom," I said passing her in the kitchen. "I'm going to go over a friends this afternoon." She gave me a look. "We're not going to have a repeat of...
My mom hugged me and congratulated me as I showed her my new licence. I looked at the licence in my hand. It was very simple. Very much not like the more complex security-enhanced licences in the future. This was just a laminated piece of paper with my picture and personal information on it. I looked at the picture of me. I'm not facing the camera because looking straight ahead was reserved for 21 plus year old drivers. I am looking kinda cute in this picture. Wait.. where did that...
The passing of time was no longer a blur to me, the way it had been just instants before. Time was moving, and fairly fast, but now it was more like a movie put on fast forward rather than the vapor trail it had been. And my memories were returning, no longer events to be observed, but actual pieces of myself and my life; just a trickle at first, but as one moment made itself known it was quickly followed by another, and another ... faster and faster and faster, until the trickle was a flow,...
Second Chances By Alexander Kung Second Chances - Part 2 It was their special place nestled in Old Man Frank's apple orchard, a crudely built tree house. The old farmer didn't mind. He even supplied the tools and lumber, happy to see a couple of kids willing to play outside and not have their brains rotted out by those newfangled video games. "So you want to try it, Jay?" asked a cute little girl about ten or eleven "Try what, Rani?" asked a cute little boy also about ten or...
I always hear the term "dirty old man" referring to a lot of older men that gawk at pretty young girls. Well, no one ever really mentions "dirty old woman" although there are a lot of us out there. I am one of them myself. Here is my dirty little tale. It was that one summer that changed everything. My husband had died earlier that year and I was left alone in our small country home. My daughter Caroline had just met a wonderful young man whom she would be marrying. Caroline had a very...
9:55 PM I have to find Amber. She couldn't have gone far. I only saw her at most five minutes ago. Maybe she went back to her table. I pushed Tim aside and I ran into the cafeteria. The dance was clearing out. About twenty people were left on the dance floor dancing to Donna Summer's "Last Dance". I checked Amber's table. Nobody was there. It was empty. No purses or other personal items. Maybe I can get a teacher to help. I scanned for the chaperones. Nowhere to be...
Thursday, October 2, 1997 I woke up to my alarm clock. I was still clutching the cordless phone. I had dried tears around my eyes. The events of last night came flooding back to me. It was such a good day until I screwed it up at the last possible moment. I slogged out of bed and forced myself to get ready for school. I pulled out a blue skirt and tossed it onto my bed. I wasn't feeling happy. I really wasn't into looking cute right now. So I pulled put a black t- shirt and tossed...
I am sitting on my couch watching American Idol with my roommate. I remember living here. But I don't anymore. My roommate doesn't live with me anymore. I think she moved. She says something to me about the last singer. I can't remember what. I smile at her. I wish we weren't roommates. I'd totally try to date her if she wasn't my roommate. Maybe if I flirt just a little more. My cellphone rings. I look at the caller ID. It's Ron. I flip open the phone and answer it. "Hey man," I...
When I left the safe house, a quick glance at my watch told me I'd been there the better part of seven hours. It was all I could do to keep from bouncing up and down on my toes like Peggy or Tink were prone to do whenever they got excited. I couldn't believe Roberts had gone unnoticed for so many years. Why hadn't someone picked up on the signs? The man was absolutely convinced of his own intellectual and professional genius. No one was as smart, or clever, or ... just think of an...
Second Chances By Alexander Kung A/N this is a rewrite of chapter 6. Please let me know what you think _Alexander Kelly Daniels, formerly the hate filled bully Ryan Thomas, finds herself madly in love with boy she once bullied. Now she finds her new life and everyone she has grown to care about threatened by her stepfather's wrath Second Chances - Part 6 It was just past midnight as Felicia was roused from a deep slumber by the loud sound of a fire alarm blared from down the...
“I get the idea, rather clearly, that most of your ‘relationships’ have been with other women. Same I think for nearly all of the other super-heroines that I’ve met so far. You’re all Sapphists ... and most of you nearly exclusively lesbian. Odds are that none of you, including yourself, would find any long term romance with a man, such as myself, satisfying or enduring. I’d just be an isolated, momentary, object of dalliance. In fact, chances are that none of your relationships with other...
Chances were, if I could help it ... that not a single bullet was going hurt me or any of my mortal friends! As for most of the three dozen or so assembled super-powered heroines, there wasn’t one of them really that was the least bit frightened by gaggles of gunsels spewing lead! Some, especially the mightiest ones on the front line, were innately bullet-proof and others had protective armor in their costumes or else were just too fast to be hit either in flight or on the run. A cameraman...
Eventually Izzy called home and spent about ten minutes reassuring Lilly and Peggy that we were okay, saying that she'd explain everything in greater detail when we got home. Then she spent three times as long drafting her resignation letter. We agreed that claiming 'on recommendation of family physician' wouldn't really be a lie. Two printed and signed letters in hand, one for the Assistant Dean and one for the Board of Governors; we left the building just before three o'clock and...
I eventually found my English homework. I skimmed it to see what Christina wrote before I handed it in. It went completely over my head. Either she's a better student than me, or that is literally the same BS I wrote 20 years ago. I was able to follow along with the rest of the class and it triggered long forgotten memories. I was called on once. I BS'ed something about fake culture and Holden Caufield's pessimism. It wasn't hard honestly. After all, I came from a year that society had...
My second or third greatest work related failure occurred in May of 1994 when I was forbidden by an Act of Congress from ever setting foot within the State Department. This happened almost immediately after my first and only tour of our major European embassies. This was followed quickly, in congressional terms, three months later by a second Act designed to keep me away from the Justice Department. I guess they figured by then that I was already so deep into the FBI that it was pointless to...
Second Chances By: Malissa Madison Denise wasn't sure who the strange man sitting down the street from the house was, or why he was watching her. But it made her nervous, was he some kind of molester or other kind of Pervert? It wasn't the first time she'd seen him either. She'd mentioned it to her older sister Patricia, who'd looked at the man curiously then said, "Don't worry Sis he's harmless," just before the bus arrived to pick them both up for school. This morning she stood...
I went upstairs, showered and changed clothes then went back down to the kitchen and retrieved the vials of blood in their little lunch box cooler. I took the cooler and my coat, got into my car and drove to Langley. As soon as I got into my office I picked up the phone and began dialing. "FBI, Coburn." the light tenor voice announced. "Number one, this is Doctor Blacktower ... do you recognize my voice?" "Yes sir, of course. What can I do for you sir?" "I'm sending you a package...
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan generated Executive Order 12333, which, among other things, stated that "No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination." This order had been preceded by similar restrictions from Presidents Ford and Carter. I've often wondered about the legality of presidential Executive Orders. Are they? Legal, I mean? Less than a law? More than an Act of Congress? The same? Do they...
How many people through the long history of the world have looked back on their lives and wondered, 'When did it all go wrong?' Do you suppose Napoleon ever asked himself that question? The fact is that even if you knew precisely when it happened, what difference would it make? What could you possibly do with that priceless bit of information? I can do some pretty amazing things, but time travel isn't among them. Unfortunately, one of the things I do have is an exceptional memory. Using...
I was the junior partner in a Psychiatry/Psychology practice in D.C. The two senior partners are former Air Force Colonel Evan DeBerg and Dr. Janis Karpinski, both psychiatrists with decades of combined experience. I'm the psychologist of the group. Evan and I formed our partnership in '96 after I received my MS and he resigned from active duty. Janis joined us later that year. Technically I'm one of the senior partners, but we agreed that their names should precede mine; partly in...
Two distinctly different sounds assaulted my ears and woke me up. The first was the insistent electronic beeping of a cell phone near my head. The second was the low, thudding pounding on the hotel room's door. I rolled over on my side, gently easing Lilly onto the carpet next to me, looked around and spotted the cell phone lying under the coffee table. I picked it up and thumbed the button. "Hello?" "Ike?" It was my sister. "Hey beautiful." "I've been calling for two hours....
Did you ever look back at your youth and fantasize about redoing it a second time with all of your future knowledge and experiences? What would you do if given a second chance? Would you take the path you didn't take the first time? That's where my story starts. Or ends, depending on your point of view. Time travel gets confusing like that. Friday, April 6 2018 My name is Anthony Demarco. Friends and family call my Tony. You can call me Tony too since you're reading this. I'm...
Synopsis: They say portals to the past are everywhere. Especially where something terrible once happened. But what if it was still happening? Second Chances By LJ He collapsed, still reeling from the impossible sensation of feeling hot, male seed fill his belly. He tried to roll back onto his back, to make some effort at regaining a sense of normalcy, but found he could not move. Not an inch. Not a single muscle. Some force was holding him in place as surely as if he had been frozen...
I went downstairs and sat down on the couch in the living room, leaned my head back and tried to ignore the ache in the center of my face. What the hell am I going to do? I wondered. There's no way to keep them from knowing what I'm feeling now. There was no way for them to keep you from knowing what they were feeling, was there? Maybe not, but I never made a habit of looking. I don't like the idea of anyone having constant access to my feelings. But you do. Why shouldn't they? You...
I left my old friend and mentor sitting in his rocking chair with a dazed look on his face, a blistering ring of freshly implanted emotions tucked away in his neural net and a brand new lease on life. The dazed look would pass, in time; which was more than could be said for the other two. I drove myself back to the airport, climbed into the Agency helicopter and returned home. There was plenty of time to think, and lots to think about, on the way back; which I assiduously avoided. My mind...
Friday, September 26, 1997 I woke up to my alarm. I sat up and turned it off and stared in the darkness of my bedroom. The pain of last night was still there. But in some ways it was cathartic. I took a deep breath. Today is a new day. All I can do is make today great for Christina, and try to find a way to get Tony back to the future so he can move on with his life. I felt a cold breeze come from the open window on my legs. It felt nice. A nice late September morning. I love...
Out in front of the building Lam and Lucy were busily splitting their people up into groups and loading them into the two vans. I looked around, trying to determine how much collateral damage to expect, and where the best and safest location for the vehicles was. Once everyone was packed in and ready to go, Lucy and her brother approached us. "Lam, have you ever used a pistol before?" I asked as I removed my overcoat and handed it to Lilly. He eyed the weapons hanging beneath my...
Saturday, October 4, 1997 9:05 AM I woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon. I stretched out my arms and legs while still laying down. I thought about last night. I smiled. Last night was amazing. I rolled out of bed, put my glasses on and walked to the kitchen. The kitchen radio was playing Vanessa Williams's "Save the Best for Last." Dad was in front of the griddle, Mom was setting the table. Cindy was sitting at the table patiently waiting for breakfast. I sat down at...
Not-The-Original Author's Note: This is a tribute to Alexander Kung's great story "Second Chances". The original ideas and story belong to them. This version was written mostly because the original author never finished that work and I very much enjoyed it (going on five years with no conclusion now) and I wish they had. I've expanded on it where I felt appropriate, maintained the original ideas and motifs as much as I could, and updated it to match my own writing style. I have no idea...
As Jen continued to snore lightly in the seat beside me, I drove the roads of rural Mississippi. Sitting in the seat that was still warm and slightly damp from Jen's climax, I had a lot of time to think. Had I done something wrong? Well, for starters, I'd had sexual contact (if not actual sex) with a married woman. So, that's adultery. But, I'd never taken any marital vows, I reasoned. The only person breaking any vows was Jen, and she certainly didn't seem to mind at the time! Then,...
Eventually we all agreed that fun was fun, but it was time to turn in for the night. Svetlana retired to the guest room where Ivan was ensconced, Dad got the second guest room next to theirs, and Buck (I have a hard time even thinking the name without smirking) was given the room right next to his, which was normally Lilly's. We'd agreed, the girls and I, amongst ourselves, not long after I got out of the Army, that each of them should have their own room. Their own private space that...
I placed the gun to my head ready to pull the trigger and bring down the final curtain on my life. It took me the better part of an hour to muster up the courage to do the final act. I put my finger on the trigger and gradually squeezed. I heard the mechanism of the gun working as the pressure on the hammer spring was released. I then heard the hammer come down striking the primer cap of the 38 caliber shell in the cylinder. I had my eyes closed, resigned to meeting my maker and just waiting...
" ... that's more like it! I do believe we finally have the Doctor's attention. One more time Paolo, but I think a little additional amperage is called for, don't you?" ... zzzztttzztttzzttttt... ... Peggy's near death experience only served to aggravate and intensify my obsession with finding and killing Alex Chorney. Jeff Harmon and the two men patrolling with him had been killed, apparently by the men who'd come to kidnap either Izzy or Belle. None of us were ever sure who...
Friday, October 3, 1997 I was in the middle of dreaming about me and Chase making out on the beach - "From Here to Eternity" style - when my alarm clock woke me up. Drat. It was getting good too. I got out of bed and looked in the mirror. "Good Morning, Chrissy," I said to my reflection. Today was Friday again. Spirit Day. I was to wear my track suit. So no cute outfits today. I pulled the track suit out, a marching band t-shirt and got out the new underwear I bought Wednesday...
With my sister's warning ringing in my ears, and the CIA rent-a-cop's pistol barrel pointing at my heart, I stood unmoving behind the Visitor's Desk counter; the head rent-a-cop in one hand and a gaping lack of anything remotely like an offensive weapon in the other. The world around me slowed down like a bug trapped in tree sap. I saw that the man with the pistol was left handed; something I hadn't noticed before and which was excruciatingly unimportant ... but I saw and made note of it...
As I went downstairs into the family room, I found Chase sitting on the couch talking to both my parents. "I'm so sorry I'm late," I said. Chase stood up when he saw me. My parents were still seated. So I guess they weren't done. I walked over to Chase and we both sat back down. "I know you guys have to get going," Dad said. "But I invited Chase over for family dinner on Sunday. Chase, do you like a nice Italian dinner?" "Yes I do, sir," he said. "What are you doing tonight?"...