Podcasts about Christmas Eve

Evening or entire day before Christmas Day

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    Spectator Radio
    Coffee House Shots: Keir Starmer and the lost art of political oratory

    Spectator Radio

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025 30:40


    From Churchill to Thatcher to Blair to Farage, Parliament has seen some truly fantastic rhetoricians over the years. But last week came the news that – in a bid to improve his own oratorical skill – Keir Starmer employed a voice coach: former actress Leonie Mellinger. Mellinger has been at the centre of a fresh COVID-19 row, as the Prime Minister considered her to be so important that she qualified as a ‘key worker' in 2020, visiting Labour headquarters in a mask on Christmas Eve 2020 to advise Starmer. It is not an unusual practice to employ a voice coach to improve a politician's public speaking, and on the podcast Michael Gove is joined by his own former coach  Graham Davies, to recover the lost art of political rhetoric. They discuss what makes a great political speech, share some of their favourite examples and ask: has Mellinger actually improved Starmer's delivery? Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElroy.

    Sis Flicks Podcast
    Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

    Sis Flicks Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025 149:07


    Sisters! Valentines, Galentines, Palentines, lend us your EARS as we discuss the absurdly splendid and splendidly absurd Nora Ephron CLASSIC, Sleepless in Seattle, starring the GOATs Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. We're getting to the very end of Sleepless in Seattle season, which extends every year from Christmas Eve through Valentine's Day, and we thought we'd express our love and devotion to you, fair listener, with an expedited episode to keep you company as you rush to the Empire State Building Observation Deck. As always, we'd love to hear from you - find us on Instagram @sisflickspodcast or shoot us an email at sisflickspodcast@gmail.com. Join us over on Patreon for monthly bonus content, goodies like free stickers and bookmarks, and MORE!Recorded, edited & produced by Nadhya & Paola.Intro song "Alive in Everything," by Neon Beach.

    Adoption: The Making of Me
    Jill: DNA Pushed This Adoptee Out of the Fog

    Adoption: The Making of Me

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2025 60:06


    Jill was conceived in Washington and born in Texas, adopted at birth during the Baby Scoop era, in a closed-file adoption through Home of the Holy Infancy to a same-race couple who was infertile. They had adopted a baby boy but he wasn't as promised. Before they could return to the well to get the baby girl they always wanted, the nuns miraculously placed her with her new parents on Christmas Eve! The nuns who decided her fate believed in genetic mirroring matching her to people with similar demographics. They did that for all their babies, playing chess with their lives. When Jill was two, her adoptive father died. When she was four, her mother remarried the only daddy she ever knew, a widower with six kids. She lived in a big blended family, rich in love, heritage, and tradition. Jill always knew she was adopted but completely disassociated from it. Talk about FOG, she was in DEEP. Her mother tried to turn her story into a fairytale that her birth mother loved her very much but she still couldn't keep her. Jill knew nothing of her origin until she was 57 years old! Now, pushing 60, she has learned many things about her paternal and maternal sides. Her maternal grandpa even had a 2nd secret family. She figured this out all thanks to DNA, which provided her mother's name which was the key to everything. That was then used to obtain her original birth certificate, and court records, and get the adoption agency files unsealed for cause!In reunion since that fateful phone call in June of 2022, she has continued to forge a path forward with all who are interested. Jill isn't needy. That's the worst! She is grateful not because she should be but because she is. Never putting all kidding aside, she's constantly joking. She hopes you read between the lines above to see her beautiful pain. She isn't bitter! Not anymore. This is what is. Adoption, what a wild ride!You Should Be Grateful: Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption by Angela Tucker JOIN US on March 8th in Atascadero, California - Live Podcast, Un-M-Othered, Jeff Forney & The Innocent People Project + More!Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting is this Saturday, March 1st @ 1 PM ET.RESOURCES for AdopteesS12F Helping AdopteesAdoptee Mentoring SocietyJeff Forney - Innocent People ProjectFireside Adoptees Facebook GroupDr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness MovementMoses Farrow - Trauma therapist Adoptees Connect with Pamela KaranovaSupport the showTo support the show - Patreon.

    What's Yer Weird Story?
    Ep 339- “3 AM Vibe” with Todd Warner of Dead Halos

    What's Yer Weird Story?

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2025 99:37


    Ep 339- Joining us this week is friend of the pod and the driving musical force behind band DEAD HALOS, Todd Warner. Todd share a story of a magical Christmas Eve in Dublin, Ireland. A Christmas miracle that made both Barry and Adam more than a little bit jealous. We also talk about the new … Continue reading "Ep 339- “3 AM Vibe” with Todd Warner of Dead Halos"

    The Secret Sits
    Sole Survivor: Part One - The Flight

    The Secret Sits

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2025 52:24 Transcription Available


    Send us a textDeep in the Amazon, the Koepcke family embarks on a dream to build a research station, but fate has other plans. In Sole Survivor: Part One - The Flight, we follow young Juliane Koepcke's journey from a remote jungle childhood to a tragic flight that will change her life forever. As LANSA Flight 508 takes off on Christmas Eve, passengers unknowingly board a doomed aircraft with a history of deadly failures. When a violent storm engulfs the plane, Juliane's world is torn apart in an instant. Join us as we uncover the gripping true story of survival, loss, and resilience in the face of unimaginable odds.Send show suggestions to:TheSecretSitsPodcast@gmail.comFollow us on our social media at:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwnfvpNBYTo9BP1sVuFsfGQTheSecretSitsPodcast (@secretsitspod) / Twitterhttps://www.instagram.com/thesecretsitspodcasthttps://www.facebook.com/TheSecretSitsPodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@thesecretsitspodcast?lang=enSupport the showhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheSecretSitsAll sources can be found in the show transcript.#JulianeKoepcke #SoleSurvivor #PlaneCrash #Flight508 #AviationDisaster #SurvivalStory #AmazonRainforest #LANSA #TrueSurvival #MiracleInTheJungle #TrueCrime #TrueCrimeCommunity #TrueCrimePodcast #Crime #TrueCrimeAddict #Podcast #Murder #TrueCrimeJunkie #SerialKiller #UnsolvedMysteriesSupport the show

    The Secret Sits
    Sole Survivor: Part One - The Flight

    The Secret Sits

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2025 52:24 Transcription Available


    Send us a textDeep in the Amazon, the Koepcke family embarks on a dream to build a research station, but fate has other plans. In Sole Survivor: Part One - The Flight, we follow young Juliane Koepcke's journey from a remote jungle childhood to a tragic flight that will change her life forever. As LANSA Flight 508 takes off on Christmas Eve, passengers unknowingly board a doomed aircraft with a history of deadly failures. When a violent storm engulfs the plane, Juliane's world is torn apart in an instant. Join us as we uncover the gripping true story of survival, loss, and resilience in the face of unimaginable odds.Send show suggestions to:TheSecretSitsPodcast@gmail.comFollow us on our social media at:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwnfvpNBYTo9BP1sVuFsfGQTheSecretSitsPodcast (@secretsitspod) / Twitterhttps://www.instagram.com/thesecretsitspodcasthttps://www.facebook.com/TheSecretSitsPodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@thesecretsitspodcast?lang=enSupport the showhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheSecretSitsAll sources can be found in the show transcript.#JulianeKoepcke #SoleSurvivor #PlaneCrash #Flight508 #AviationDisaster #SurvivalStory #AmazonRainforest #LANSA #TrueSurvival #MiracleInTheJungle #TrueCrime #TrueCrimeCommunity #TrueCrimePodcast #Crime #TrueCrimeAddict #Podcast #Murder #TrueCrimeJunkie #SerialKiller #UnsolvedMysteriesSupport the show

    Brett’s Old Time Radio Show
    Brett's Old Time Radio Show Episode 829, Sherlock Holmes, A Case of Identity

    Brett’s Old Time Radio Show

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2025 24:43


    Good evening and a huge welcome back to the show, I hope you've had a great day and you're ready to kick back and relax with another episode of Brett's old time radio show. Hello, I'm Brett your host for this evening and welcome to my home in beautiful Lyme Bay where it's just perfect. I hope it's just as nice where you are. You'll find all of my links at www.linktr.ee/sundaynightmystery A huge thankyou for joining me once again for our regular late night visit to those dusty studio archives of Old Time radio shows right here at my home in the united kingdom. Don't forget I have an instagram page and youtube channel both called brett's old time radio show and I'd love it if you could follow me. Feel free to send me some feedback on this and the other shows if you get a moment, brett@tourdate.co.uk #sleep #insomnia #relax #chill #night #nighttime #bed #bedtime #oldtimeradio #drama #comedy #radio #talkradio #hancock #tonyhancock #hancockshalfhour #sherlock #sherlockholmes #radiodrama #popular #viral #viralpodcast #podcast #podcasting #podcasts #podtok #podcastclip #podcastclips #podcasttrailer #podcastteaser #newpodcastepisode #newpodcast #videopodcast #upcomingpodcast #audiogram #audiograms #truecrimepodcast #historypodcast #truecrime #podcaster #viral #popular #viralpodcast #number1 #instagram #youtube #facebook #johnnydollar #crime #fiction #unwind #devon #texas #texasranger #beer #seaton #seaside  #smuggler #colyton #devon #seaton #beer #branscombe #lymebay #lymeregis #brett #brettorchard #orchard #greatdetectives #greatdetectivesofoldtimeradio #detectives #johnnydollar #thesaint #steptoe #texasrangers             sleep insomnia relax chill night nightime bed bedtime oldtimeradio drama comedy radio talkradio hancock tonyhancock hancockshalfhour sherlock sherlockholmes radiodrama popular viral viralpodcast podcast brett brettorchard orchard east devon seaton beer lyme regis village condado de alhama spain murcia The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a radio drama series which aired in the USA from 1939 to 1950, it ran for 374 episodes, with many of the later episodes considered lost media. The series was based on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Some of the surviving episode recordings may be found online, in various audio quality condition. For most of the show's run, the program starred Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Other actors played Holmes and Watson in later seasons. Production From the outset of the show, the series was billed in different listings under various titles including Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, and other titles. The most popularly remembered title is The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. On occasion, the title of a radio episode differs from that of its original story – for example, the radio adaption of "The Adventure of the Red Circle" is entitled "Mrs. Warren's Lodger". From 1939 until 1943, episodes were adapted or written by Edith Meiser[4] who had written the earlier series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which aired from 1930 to 1935. Meiser left the show after disagreements with a sponsor over the amount of violence in the program. It is also reported that Meiser left the show to focus on other projects. From 1943 onward, most episodes were written by the team of Denis Green and Anthony Boucher with some early episodes written by Green and Leslie Charteris. Edith Meiser returned to write for the show for its seventh season. Max Ehrlich and Howard Merrill wrote the episodes of season 8. Denis Green returned as a writer for the last season. Originally, the show starred Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. Together, they starred in 220 episodes which aired weekly on Mondays from 8:30 to 9:00 pm. Basil Rathbone's last episode as the famous detective was "The Singular Affair of the Baconian Cipher". He was eager to separate himself from the show to avoid being typecast in the role. Tom Conway replaced him in the starring role, though Nigel Bruce got top billing. The new series lasted 39 episodes, and Bruce and Conway then left the series. From then until 1950 the series continued with various actors playing the two principal parts. The show first aired on the Blue Network but later moved to the Mutual Broadcasting System. The show moved to Mutual in 1943 at the start of its fourth season. The series was originally broadcast from Hollywood. During World War II, the show was also broadcast overseas through the Armed Forces Radio Service. The program aired on ABC instead of Mutual for its sixth and ninth seasons. Many episodes were recorded in front of a live audience. Cast Sherlock Holmes: Basil Rathbone (1939–1946) Tom Conway (1947) John Stanley (1947–1949) Ben Wright (The Singular Affair of the Ancient Egyptian Curse in 1947, as stand-in for Tom Conway, 1949–1950 as a regular) Dr. Watson: Nigel Bruce (1939–1947) Joseph Kearns (The Haunting of Sherlock Holmes in 1946, stand-in for Nigel Bruce) Alfred Shirley (1947–1948) Ian Martin (1948) Wendell Holmes (credited as "George Spelvin") (1948–1949) Eric Snowden (The Terrifying Cats in 1946, as a stand-in for Nigel Bruce, 1949–1950 as a regular) There is only a limited amount of information available about additional cast members, since complete cast lists are available only for a handful of episodes. In multiple episodes, Mary Gordon played Mrs. Hudson, a role she also played in the 1939–1946 Sherlock Holmes film series featuring Rathbone and Bruce. Professor Moriarty was played by multiple actors in the radio series, including Joseph Kearns (who also played Watson) and Lou Merrill. Frederick Worlock played Inspector Lestrade in at least three known episodes. Worlock also played different roles in multiple films in the 1939–1946 film series, such as the role of Geoffrey Musgrave in Sherlock Holmes Faces Death. Lestrade was played by Bernard Lenrow in the seventh season and Horace Braham in the eighth season. Rex Evans played Mycroft Holmes in at least two known episodes. Evans played an assassin in the Sherlock Holmes film Pursuit to Algiers. In each episode, the announcer would be presented as arriving at the home of Dr. Watson, then retired, who would share a story about Holmes and his adventures. The announcer for the first three seasons of the show was Knox Manning. In various episodes of the fourth season, the announcers were Owen Babbe, Marx Hartman, and Bob Campbell. Harry Bartell became the announcer for the fifth season. The announcer for the sixth season was Joseph Bell. Bell had previously been the announcer for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Cy Harrice took over the role for the seventh and eighth seasons. Herb Allen was the announcer for the ninth season.[28] Actors who performed in multiple roles on the show include Verna Felton, Paula Winslowe, Carl Harbord (who also played Inspector Hopkins in the Sherlock Holmes film Dressed to Kill), Herbert Rawlinson, Paul Frees, Theodore von Eltz, and June Foray. Sponsors The show's announcer acted as the spokesman for the sponsor. Grove's Bromo Quinine sponsored the show for the first three seasons. Petri Wine was the sponsor for the fourth and fifth seasons. Petri Wine stopped sponsoring the show after the end of the fifth season. While Rathbone left the show at the same time, the reason Petri ceased their sponsorship was unconnected to Rathbone's departure according to one source, which states that the decision was made because it was more affordable for Petri to sponsor the radio series The Casebook of Gregory Hood instead. The sponsor for the series was Kreml Hair Tonic for the show's sixth season, and the Trimount Clothing Co. for the seventh season. Trimount renewed their sponsorship for the eighth season. Petri Wine returned as the sponsor for the ninth season. By May 1950, it was confirmed that Petri did not plan to renew their sponsorship if the series continued. Episodes Season 1 (October 2, 1939 – March 11, 1940; 24 episodes) started with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" and ended with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman". The last episode of the season was originally intended to be an adaptation of "The Final Problem". It is not known why the change was made, but it may be because "The Final Problem" had already been used on radio several times. It was announced on the penultimate show that "The Final Problem" would be the last episode; in the final episode, Watson said he had changed his mind about which story he was going to tell. Season 2 (September 29, 1940 – March 9, 1941; 24 episodes) started with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Empty House". The last episode was an adaptation of "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place". The season included a six-episode serial adapted from The Hound of the Baskervilles. Season 3 (5 October 1941 – March 1, 1942; 22 episodes) started with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" and ended with an episode titled "The Giant Rat of Sumatra". An episode also titled "The Giant Rat of Sumatra", inspired by a reference in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", had previously aired in 1932 in the second season of the radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Season 4 (May 7, 1943 – May 28, 1945; 109 episodes) started with a dramatization of "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches". The last episode of the season is titled "Dance of Death". According to the Pittsburgh Press, Nigel Bruce "astounded sound engineers" by imitating the sound of a seagull required for the episode "Death in Cornwall", which aired on February 7, 1944. Some episodes in this season and the following two seasons were novelized by H. Paul Jeffers in his 2005 book The Forgotten Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Season 5 (September 3, 1945 – May 27, 1946; 39 episodes) started with an episode titled "The Case of the Limping Ghost", based on an incident in "The Adventure of the Crooked Man". The last episode of the season was "The Singular Affair of the Baconian Cipher", suggested by an incident in The Sign of Four. This was the last season with Basil Rathbone playing Sherlock Holmes.[42] Rathbone and Bruce also appeared on the CBS radio program Request Performance in November 1945, and swapped roles as Holmes and Watson in a short sketch performance on the program. Some of the episodes in this season were novelized by Ken Greenwald in his book The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1989). Season 6 (October 12, 1946 – July 7, 1947; 39 episodes) started with the episode "The Adventure of the Stuttering Ghost", suggested by an incident in "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor". The season ended with "The Adventure of the Iron Maiden".[45] This was the last season with Nigel Bruce playing Watson. Season 7 (September 28, 1947 – June 20, 1948; 39 episodes) started with "The Case of the Dog Who Changed His Mind" and ended with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger". Season 8 (September 12, 1948 – June 6, 1949; 39 episodes) started with an episode titled "The Case of the Unwelcome Ambassador" and ended with an episode titled "The Adventure of the Red Death". Season 9 (September 21, 1949 – June 14, 1950; 39 episodes) started with an episode with an unknown title. The second episode, which aired on September 28, 1949, was titled "The Eloquent Corpse". Many of this season's episodes, including the last two episodes, have unknown titles. The last episode with a known title is "Command Performance", which aired on May 31, 1950.             Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and logical reasoning that borders on the fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard. The character Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print in 1887's A Study in Scarlet. His popularity became widespread with the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine, beginning with "A Scandal in Bohemia" in 1891; additional tales appeared from then until 1927, eventually totalling four novels and 56 short stories. All but one[a] are set in the Victorian or Edwardian eras, between about 1880 and 1914. Most are narrated by the character of Holmes's friend and biographer Dr. John H. Watson, who usually accompanies Holmes during his investigations and often shares quarters with him at the address of 221B Baker Street, London, where many of the stories begin. Though not the first fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes is arguably the best known. By the 1990s, there were already over 25,000 stage adaptations, films, television productions and publications featuring the detective, and Guinness World Records lists him as the most portrayed human literary character in film and television history. Holmes' popularity and fame are such that many have believed him to be not a fictional character but a real individual; numerous literary and fan societies have been founded on this pretence. Avid readers of the Holmes stories helped create the modern practice of fandom. The character and stories have had a profound and lasting effect on mystery writing and popular culture as a whole, with the original tales as well as thousands written by authors other than Conan Doyle being adapted into stage and radio plays, television, films, video games, and other media for over one hundred years. Inspiration for the character Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), Sherlock Holmes's creator, in 1914 Edgar Allan Poe's C. Auguste Dupin is generally acknowledged as the first detective in fiction and served as the prototype for many later characters, including Holmes. Conan Doyle once wrote, "Each [of Poe's detective stories] is a root from which a whole literature has developed ... Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?" Similarly, the stories of Émile Gaboriau's Monsieur Lecoq were extremely popular at the time Conan Doyle began writing Holmes, and Holmes's speech and behaviour sometimes follow those of Lecoq. Doyle has his main characters discuss these literary antecedents near the beginning of A Study in Scarlet, which is set soon after Watson is first introduced to Holmes. Watson attempts to compliment Holmes by comparing him to Dupin, to which Holmes replies that he found Dupin to be "a very inferior fellow" and Lecoq to be "a miserable bungler". Conan Doyle repeatedly said that Holmes was inspired by the real-life figure of Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, whom Conan Doyle met in 1877 and had worked for as a clerk. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing broad conclusions from minute observations.[13] However, he later wrote to Conan Doyle: "You are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it". Sir Henry Littlejohn, Chair of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, is also cited as an inspiration for Holmes. Littlejohn, who was also Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health in Edinburgh, provided Conan Doyle with a link between medical investigation and the detection of crime. Other possible inspirations have been proposed, though never acknowledged by Doyle, such as Maximilien Heller, by French author Henry Cauvain. In this 1871 novel (sixteen years before the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes), Henry Cauvain imagined a depressed, anti-social, opium-smoking polymath detective, operating in Paris. It is not known if Conan Doyle read the novel, but he was fluent in French.[19] Similarly, Michael Harrison suggested that a German self-styled "consulting detective" named Walter Scherer may have been the model for Holmes. Fictional character biography Family and early life Magazine cover featuring A Study in Scarlet, with drawing of a man lighting a lamp The cover page of the 1887 edition of Beeton's Christmas Annual, which contains Holmes's first appearance (A Study in Scarlet) Details of Sherlock Holmes' life in Conan Doyle's stories are scarce and often vague. Nevertheless, mentions of his early life and extended family paint a loose biographical picture of the detective. A statement of Holmes' age in "His Last Bow" places his year of birth at 1854; the story, set in August 1914, describes him as sixty years of age.[21] His parents are not mentioned, although Holmes mentions that his "ancestors" were "country squires". In "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter", he claims that his grandmother was sister to the French artist Vernet, without clarifying whether this was Claude Joseph, Carle, or Horace Vernet. Holmes' brother Mycroft, seven years his senior, is a government official. Mycroft has a unique civil service position as a kind of human database for all aspects of government policy. Sherlock describes his brother as the more intelligent of the two, but notes that Mycroft lacks any interest in physical investigation, preferring to spend his time at the Diogenes Club. Holmes says that he first developed his methods of deduction as an undergraduate; his earliest cases, which he pursued as an amateur, came from his fellow university students. A meeting with a classmate's father led him to adopt detection as a profession. Life with Watson Holmes (in deerstalker hat) talking to Watson (in a bowler hat) in a railway compartment Holmes (right) and Watson in a Sidney Paget illustration for "The Adventure of Silver Blaze" In the first Holmes tale, A Study in Scarlet, financial difficulties lead Holmes and Dr. Watson to share rooms together at 221B Baker Street, London. Their residence is maintained by their landlady, Mrs. Hudson. Holmes works as a detective for twenty-three years, with Watson assisting him for seventeen of those years. Most of the stories are frame narratives written from Watson's point of view, as summaries of the detective's most interesting cases. Holmes frequently calls Watson's records of Holmes's cases sensational and populist, suggesting that they fail to accurately and objectively report the "science" of his craft: Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it [A Study in Scarlet] with romanticism, which produces much the same effect as if you worked a love-story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid. ... Some facts should be suppressed, or, at least, a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. The only point in the case which deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes, by which I succeeded in unravelling it. Nevertheless, when Holmes recorded a case himself, he was forced to concede that he could more easily understand the need to write it in a manner that would appeal to the public rather than his intention to focus on his own technical skill. Holmes's friendship with Watson is his most significant relationship. When Watson is injured by a bullet, although the wound turns out to be "quite superficial", Watson is moved by Holmes's reaction: It was worth a wound; it was worth many wounds; to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation. After confirming Watson's assessment of the wound, Holmes makes it clear to their opponent that the man would not have left the room alive if he genuinely had killed Watson. Practice Holmes' clients vary from the most powerful monarchs and governments of Europe, to wealthy aristocrats and industrialists, to impoverished pawnbrokers and governesses. He is known only in select professional circles at the beginning of the first story, but is already collaborating with Scotland Yard. However, his continued work and the publication of Watson's stories raise Holmes's profile, and he rapidly becomes well known as a detective; so many clients ask for his help instead of (or in addition to) that of the police that, Watson writes, by 1887 "Europe was ringing with his name" and by 1895 Holmes has "an immense practice". Police outside London ask Holmes for assistance if he is nearby. A Prime Minister and the King of Bohemia visit 221B Baker Street in person to request Holmes's assistance; the President of France awards him the Legion of Honour for capturing an assassin; the King of Scandinavia is a client; and he aids the Vatican at least twice. The detective acts on behalf of the British government in matters of national security several times and declines a knighthood "for services which may perhaps some day be described". However, he does not actively seek fame and is usually content to let the police take public credit for his work. The Great Hiatus Holmes and Moriarty wrestling at the end of a narrow path, with Holmes's hat falling into a waterfall Holmes and archenemy Moriarty struggle at the Reichenbach Falls; drawing by Sidney Paget The first set of Holmes stories was published between 1887 and 1893. Conan Doyle killed off Holmes in a final battle with the criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty[ in "The Final Problem" (published 1893, but set in 1891), as Conan Doyle felt that "my literary energies should not be directed too much into one channel". However, the reaction of the public surprised him very much. Distressed readers wrote anguished letters to The Strand Magazine, which suffered a terrible blow when 20,000 people cancelled their subscriptions to the magazine in protest. Conan Doyle himself received many protest letters, and one lady even began her letter with "You brute". Legend has it that Londoners were so distraught upon hearing the news of Holmes's death that they wore black armbands in mourning, though there is no known contemporary source for this; the earliest known reference to such events comes from 1949. However, the recorded public reaction to Holmes's death was unlike anything previously seen for fictional events. After resisting public pressure for eight years, Conan Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles (serialised in 1901–02, with an implicit setting before Holmes's death). In 1903, Conan Doyle wrote "The Adventure of the Empty House"; set in 1894, Holmes reappears, explaining to a stunned Watson that he had faked his death to fool his enemies. Following "The Adventure of the Empty House", Conan Doyle would sporadically write new Holmes stories until 1927. Holmes aficionados refer to the period from 1891 to 1894—between his disappearance and presumed death in "The Final Problem" and his reappearance in "The Adventure of the Empty House"—as the Great Hiatus. The earliest known use of this expression dates to 1946. Retirement In His Last Bow, the reader is told that Holmes has retired to a small farm on the Sussex Downs and taken up beekeeping as his primary occupation. The move is not dated precisely, but can be presumed to be no later than 1904 (since it is referred to retrospectively in "The Adventure of the Second Stain", first published that year). The story features Holmes and Watson coming out of retirement to aid the British war effort. Only one other adventure, "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane", takes place during the detective's retirement. Personality and habits Holmes examining a bicycle with Watson standing behind in "The Adventure of the Priory School" from 1904. Sidney Paget's illustrations in The Strand Magazine iconicised both characters. Watson describes Holmes as "bohemian" in his habits and lifestyle.[54] Said to have a "cat-like" love of personal cleanliness, at the same time Holmes is an eccentric with no regard for contemporary standards of tidiness or good order. Watson describes him as in his personal habits one of the most untidy men that ever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction. [He] keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece. ... He had a horror of destroying documents. ... Thus month after month his papers accumulated, until every corner of the room was stacked with bundles of manuscript which were on no account to be burned, and which could not be put away save by their owner. While Holmes can be dispassionate and cold, during an investigation he is animated and excitable. He has a flair for showmanship, often keeping his methods and evidence hidden until the last possible moment so as to impress observers. His companion condones the detective's willingness to bend the truth (or break the law) on behalf of a client—lying to the police, concealing evidence or breaking into houses—when he feels it morally justifiable. Except for that of Watson, Holmes avoids casual company. In "The Gloria Scott", he tells the doctor that during two years at college he made only one friend: "I was never a very sociable fellow, Watson ... I never mixed much with the men of my year." The detective goes without food at times of intense intellectual activity, believing that "the faculties become refined when you starve them". At times, Holmes relaxes with music, either playing the violin[62] or enjoying the works of composers such as Wagner and Pablo de Sarasate. Drug use Holmes in a blue bathrobe, reclining against a pillow and smoking his pipe 1891 Paget portrait of Holmes smoking his pipe for "The Man with the Twisted Lip" Holmes occasionally uses addictive drugs, especially in the absence of stimulating cases. He sometimes used morphine and sometimes cocaine, the latter of which he injects in a seven-per cent solution; both drugs were legal in 19th-century England. As a physician, Watson strongly disapproves of his friend's cocaine habit, describing it as the detective's only vice, and concerned about its effect on Holmes's mental health and intellect. In "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter", Watson says that although he has "weaned" Holmes from drugs, the detective remains an addict whose habit is "not dead, but merely sleeping". Watson and Holmes both use tobacco, smoking cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. Although his chronicler does not consider Holmes's smoking a vice per se, Watson—a physician—does criticise the detective for creating a "poisonous atmosphere" in their confined quarters. Finances Holmes is known to charge clients for his expenses and claim any reward offered for a problem's solution, such as in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", "The Red-Headed League", and "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet". The detective states at one point that "My professional charges are upon a fixed scale. I do not vary them, save when I remit them altogether." In this context, a client is offering to double his fee, and it is implied that wealthy clients habitually pay Holmes more than his standard rate. In "The Adventure of the Priory School", Holmes earns a £6,000 fee (at a time where annual expenses for a rising young professional were in the area of £500). However, Watson notes that Holmes would refuse to help even the wealthy and powerful if their cases did not interest him. Attitudes towards women As Conan Doyle wrote to Joseph Bell, "Holmes is as inhuman as a Babbage's Calculating Machine and just about as likely to fall in love." Holmes says of himself that he is "not a whole-souled admirer of womankind", and that he finds "the motives of women ... inscrutable. ... How can you build on such quicksand? Their most trivial actions may mean volumes". In The Sign of Four, he says, "Women are never to be entirely trusted—not the best of them", a feeling Watson notes as an "atrocious sentiment". In "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane", Holmes writes, "Women have seldom been an attraction to me, for my brain has always governed my heart." At the end of The Sign of Four, Holmes states that "love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true, cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgement." Ultimately, Holmes claims outright that "I have never loved." But while Watson says that the detective has an "aversion to women",[85] he also notes Holmes as having "a peculiarly ingratiating way with [them]". Watson notes that their housekeeper Mrs. Hudson is fond of Holmes because of his "remarkable gentleness and courtesy in his dealings with women. He disliked and distrusted the sex, but he was always a chivalrous opponent." However, in "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton", the detective becomes engaged under false pretenses in order to obtain information about a case, abandoning the woman once he has the information he requires. Irene Adler Irene Adler is a retired American opera singer and actress who appears in "A Scandal in Bohemia". Although this is her only appearance, she is one of only a handful of people who best Holmes in a battle of wits, and the only woman. For this reason, Adler is the frequent subject of pastiche writing. The beginning of the story describes the high regard in which Holmes holds her: To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. ... And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory. Five years before the story's events, Adler had a brief liaison with Crown Prince of Bohemia Wilhelm von Ormstein. As the story opens, the Prince is engaged to another. Fearful that the marriage would be called off if his fiancée's family learns of this past impropriety, Ormstein hires Holmes to regain a photograph of Adler and himself. Adler slips away before Holmes can succeed. Her memory is kept alive by the photograph of Adler that Holmes received for his part in the case. Knowledge and skills Shortly after meeting Holmes in the first story, A Study in Scarlet (generally assumed to be 1881, though the exact date is not given), Watson assesses the detective's abilities: Knowledge of Literature – nil. Knowledge of Philosophy – nil. Knowledge of Astronomy – nil. Knowledge of Politics – Feeble. Knowledge of Botany – Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening. Knowledge of Geology – Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks, has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them. Knowledge of Chemistry – Profound. Knowledge of Anatomy – Accurate, but unsystematic. Knowledge of Sensational Literature – Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century. Plays the violin well. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman. Has a good practical knowledge of British law. In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes claims to be unaware that the Earth revolves around the Sun since such information is irrelevant to his work; after hearing that fact from Watson, he says he will immediately try to forget it. The detective believes that the mind has a finite capacity for information storage, and learning useless things reduces one's ability to learn useful things. The later stories move away from this notion: in The Valley of Fear, he says, "All knowledge comes useful to the detective", and in "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane", the detective calls himself "an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles". Looking back on the development of the character in 1912, Conan Doyle wrote that "In the first one, the Study in Scarlet, [Holmes] was a mere calculating machine, but I had to make him more of an educated human being as I went on with him." Despite Holmes's supposed ignorance of politics, in "A Scandal in Bohemia" he immediately recognises the true identity of the disguised "Count von Kramm". At the end of A Study in Scarlet, Holmes demonstrates a knowledge of Latin. The detective cites Hafez,[98] Goethe,[99] as well as a letter from Gustave Flaubert to George Sand in the original French. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, the detective recognises works by Godfrey Kneller and Joshua Reynolds: "Watson won't allow that I know anything of art, but that is mere jealousy since our views upon the subject differ." In "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans", Watson says that "Holmes lost himself in a monograph which he had undertaken upon the Polyphonic Motets of Lassus", considered "the last word" on the subject—which must have been the result of an intensive and very specialized musicological study which could have had no possible application to the solution of criminal mysteries. Holmes is a cryptanalyst, telling Watson that "I am fairly familiar with all forms of secret writing, and am myself the author of a trifling monograph upon the subject, in which I analyse one hundred and sixty separate ciphers." Holmes also demonstrates a knowledge of psychology in "A Scandal in Bohemia", luring Irene Adler into betraying where she hid a photograph based on the premise that a woman will rush to save her most valued possession from a fire. Another example is in "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", where Holmes obtains information from a salesman with a wager: "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet ... I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of him, that man would not have given me such complete information as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a wager." Maria Konnikova points out in an interview with D. J. Grothe that Holmes practises what is now called mindfulness, concentrating on one thing at a time, and almost never "multitasks". She adds that in this he predates the science showing how helpful this is to the brain. Holmesian deduction Colour illustration of Holmes bending over a dead man in front of a fireplace Sidney Paget illustration of Holmes examining a corpse for "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" Holmes observes the dress and attitude of his clients and suspects, noting skin marks (such as tattoos), contamination (such as ink stains or clay on boots), emotional state, and physical condition in order to deduce their origins and recent history. The style and state of wear of a person's clothes and personal items are also commonly relied on; in the stories, Holmes is seen applying his method to items such as walking sticks, pipes, and hats. For example, in "A Scandal in Bohemia", Holmes infers that Watson had got wet lately and had "a most clumsy and careless servant girl". When Watson asks how Holmes knows this, the detective answers: It is simplicity itself ... my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey. In the first Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson compares Holmes to C. Auguste Dupin, Edgar Allan Poe's fictional detective, who employed a similar methodology. Alluding to an episode in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", where Dupin determines what his friend is thinking despite their having walked together in silence for a quarter of an hour, Holmes remarks: "That trick of his breaking in on his friend's thoughts with an apropos remark ... is really very showy and superficial."[112] Nevertheless, Holmes later performs the same 'trick' on Watson in "The Cardboard Box" and "The Adventure of the Dancing Men". Though the stories always refer to Holmes's intellectual detection method as "deduction", Holmes primarily relies on abduction: inferring an explanation for observed details. "From a drop of water," he writes, "a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other." However, Holmes does employ deductive reasoning as well. The detective's guiding principle, as he says in The Sign of Four, is: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Despite Holmes's remarkable reasoning abilities, Conan Doyle still paints him as fallible in this regard (this being a central theme of "The Yellow Face"). Forensic science See caption 19th-century Seibert microscope Though Holmes is famed for his reasoning capabilities, his investigative technique relies heavily on the acquisition of hard evidence. Many of the techniques he employs in the stories were at the time in their infancy. The detective is particularly skilled in the analysis of trace evidence and other physical evidence, including latent prints (such as footprints, hoof prints, and shoe and tire impressions) to identify actions at a crime scene, using tobacco ashes and cigarette butts to identify criminals, utilizing handwriting analysis and graphology, comparing typewritten letters to expose a fraud, using gunpowder residue to expose two murderers, and analyzing small pieces of human remains to expose two murders. Because of the small scale of much of his evidence, the detective often uses a magnifying glass at the scene and an optical microscope at his Baker Street lodgings. He uses analytical chemistry for blood residue analysis and toxicology to detect poisons; Holmes's home chemistry laboratory is mentioned in "The Naval Treaty". Ballistics feature in "The Adventure of the Empty House" when spent bullets are recovered to be matched with a suspected murder weapon, a practice which became regular police procedure only some fifteen years after the story was published. Laura J. Snyder has examined Holmes's methods in the context of mid- to late-19th-century criminology, demonstrating that, while sometimes in advance of what official investigative departments were formally using at the time, they were based upon existing methods and techniques. For example, fingerprints were proposed to be distinct in Conan Doyle's day, and while Holmes used a thumbprint to solve a crime in "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" (generally held to be set in 1895), the story was published in 1903, two years after Scotland Yard's fingerprint bureau opened. Though the effect of the Holmes stories on the development of forensic science has thus often been overstated, Holmes inspired future generations of forensic scientists to think scientifically and analytically. Disguises Holmes displays a strong aptitude for acting and disguise. In several stories ("The Sign of Four", "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton", "The Man with the Twisted Lip", "The Adventure of the Empty House" and "A Scandal in Bohemia"), to gather evidence undercover, he uses disguises so convincing that Watson fails to recognise him. In others ("The Adventure of the Dying Detective" and "A Scandal in Bohemia"), Holmes feigns injury or illness to incriminate the guilty. In the latter story, Watson says, "The stage lost a fine actor ... when [Holmes] became a specialist in crime." Guy Mankowski has said of Holmes that his ability to change his appearance to blend into any situation "helped him personify the idea of the English eccentric chameleon, in a way that prefigured the likes of David Bowie". Agents Until Watson's arrival at Baker Street, Holmes largely worked alone, only occasionally employing agents from the city's underclass. These agents included a variety of informants, such as Langdale Pike, a "human book of reference upon all matters of social scandal", and Shinwell Johnson, who acted as Holmes's "agent in the huge criminal underworld of London". The best known of Holmes's agents are a group of street children he called "the Baker Street Irregulars". Combat Long-barreled revolver with a black handle British Army (Adams) Mark III, the type probably carried by Watson Pistols Holmes and Watson often carry pistols with them to confront criminals—in Watson's case, his old service weapon (probably a Mark III Adams revolver, issued to British troops during the 1870s).[139] Holmes and Watson shoot the eponymous hound in The Hound of the Baskervilles, and in "The Adventure of the Empty House", Watson pistol-whips Colonel Sebastian Moran. In "The Problem of Thor Bridge", Holmes uses Watson's revolver to solve the case through an experiment. Other weapons As a gentleman, Holmes often carries a stick or cane. He is described by Watson as an expert at singlestick, and uses his cane twice as a weapon. In A Study in Scarlet, Watson describes Holmes as an expert swordsman, and in "The Gloria Scott", the detective says he practised fencing while at university.[59] In several stories ("A Case of Identity", "The Red-Headed League", "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons"), Holmes wields a riding crop, described in the latter story as his "favourite weapon". Personal combat Holmes fighting Holmes outfighting Mr Woodley in "The Solitary Cyclist" The detective is described (or demonstrated) as possessing above-average physical strength. In "The Yellow Face", Holmes's chronicler says, "Few men were capable of greater muscular effort." In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", Dr. Roylott demonstrates his strength by bending a fire poker in half. Watson describes Holmes as laughing and saying, "'If he had remained I might have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than his own.' As he spoke he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again." Holmes is an adept bare-knuckle fighter; "The Gloria Scott" mentions that Holmes boxed while at university. In The Sign of Four, he introduces himself to McMurdo, a prize fighter, as "the amateur who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit four years back". McMurdo remembers: "Ah, you're one that has wasted your gifts, you have! You might have aimed high if you had joined the fancy." In "The Yellow Face", Watson says: "He was undoubtedly one of the finest boxers of his weight that I have ever seen." In "The Solitary Cyclist", Holmes visits a country pub to make enquiries regarding a certain Mr Woodley which results in violence. Mr Woodley, Holmes tells Watson, ... had been drinking his beer in the tap-room, and had heard the whole conversation. Who was I? What did I want? What did I mean by asking questions? He had a fine flow of language, and his adjectives were very vigorous. He ended a string of abuse by a vicious backhander, which I failed to entirely avoid. The next few minutes were delicious. It was a straight left against a slogging ruffian. I emerged as you see me. Mr. Woodley went home in a cart. Another character subsequently refers to Mr Woodley as looking "much disfigured" as a result of his encounter with Holmes. In "The Adventure of the Empty House", Holmes tells Watson that he used a Japanese martial art known as baritsu to fling Moriarty to his death in the Reichenbach Falls. "Baritsu" is Conan Doyle's version of bartitsu, which combines jujitsu with boxing and cane fencing.       The Golden Age of Radio Also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early 1920s and lasted through the 1950s, when television gradually superseded radio as the medium of choice for scripted programming, variety and dramatic shows. Radio was the first broadcast medium, and during this period people regularly tuned in to their favourite radio programs, and families gathered to listen to the home radio in the evening. According to a 1947 C. E. Hooper survey, 82 out of 100 Americans were found to be radio listeners. A variety of new entertainment formats and genres were created for the new medium, many of which later migrated to television: radio plays, mystery serials, soap operas, quiz shows, talent shows, daytime and evening variety hours, situation comedies, play-by-play sports, children's shows, cooking shows, and more. In the 1950s, television surpassed radio as the most popular broadcast medium, and commercial radio programming shifted to narrower formats of news, talk, sports and music. Religious broadcasters, listener-supported public radio and college stations provide their own distinctive formats. Origins A family listening to the first broadcasts around 1920 with a crystal radio. The crystal radio, a legacy from the pre-broadcast era, could not power a loudspeaker so the family must share earphones During the first three decades of radio, from 1887 to about 1920, the technology of transmitting sound was undeveloped; the information-carrying ability of radio waves was the same as a telegraph; the radio signal could be either on or off. Radio communication was by wireless telegraphy; at the sending end, an operator tapped on a switch which caused the radio transmitter to produce a series of pulses of radio waves which spelled out text messages in Morse code. At the receiver these sounded like beeps, requiring an operator who knew Morse code to translate them back to text. This type of radio was used exclusively for person-to-person text communication for commercial, diplomatic and military purposes and hobbyists; broadcasting did not exist. The broadcasts of live drama, comedy, music and news that characterize the Golden Age of Radio had a precedent in the Théâtrophone, commercially introduced in Paris in 1890 and available as late as 1932. It allowed subscribers to eavesdrop on live stage performances and hear news reports by means of a network of telephone lines. The development of radio eliminated the wires and subscription charges from this concept. Between 1900 and 1920 the first technology for transmitting sound by radio was developed, AM (amplitude modulation), and AM broadcasting sprang up around 1920. On Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Fessenden is said to have broadcast the first radio program, consisting of some violin playing and passages from the Bible. While Fessenden's role as an inventor and early radio experimenter is not in dispute, several contemporary radio researchers have questioned whether the Christmas Eve broadcast took place, or whether the date was, in fact, several weeks earlier. The first apparent published reference to the event was made in 1928 by H. P. Davis, Vice President of Westinghouse, in a lecture given at Harvard University. In 1932 Fessenden cited the Christmas Eve 1906 broadcast event in a letter he wrote to Vice President S. M. Kinter of Westinghouse. Fessenden's wife Helen recounts the broadcast in her book Fessenden: Builder of Tomorrows (1940), eight years after Fessenden's death. The issue of whether the 1906 Fessenden broadcast actually happened is discussed in Donna Halper's article "In Search of the Truth About Fessenden"[2] and also in James O'Neal's essays.[3][4] An annotated argument supporting Fessenden as the world's first radio broadcaster was offered in 2006 by Dr. John S. Belrose, Radioscientist Emeritus at the Communications Research Centre Canada, in his essay "Fessenden's 1906 Christmas Eve broadcast." It was not until after the Titanic catastrophe in 1912 that radio for mass communication came into vogue, inspired first by the work of amateur ("ham") radio operators. Radio was especially important during World War I as it was vital for air and naval operations. World War I brought about major developments in radio, superseding the Morse code of the wireless telegraph with the vocal communication of the wireless telephone, through advancements in vacuum tube technology and the introduction of the transceiver. After the war, numerous radio stations were born in the United States and set the standard for later radio programs. The first radio news program was broadcast on August 31, 1920, on the station 8MK in Detroit; owned by The Detroit News, the station covered local election results. This was followed in 1920 with the first commercial radio station in the United States, KDKA, being established in Pittsburgh. The first regular entertainment programs were broadcast in 1922, and on March 10, Variety carried the front-page headline: "Radio Sweeping Country: 1,000,000 Sets in Use." A highlight of this time was the first Rose Bowl being broadcast on January 1, 1923, on the Los Angeles station KHJ. Growth of radio Broadcast radio in the United States underwent a period of rapid change through the decade of the 1920s. Technology advances, better regulation, rapid consumer adoption, and the creation of broadcast networks transformed radio from a consumer curiosity into the mass media powerhouse that defined the Golden Age of Radio. Consumer adoption Through the decade of the 1920s, the purchase of radios by United States homes continued, and accelerated. The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) released figures in 1925 stating that 19% of United States homes owned a radio. The triode and regenerative circuit made amplified, vacuum tube radios widely available to consumers by the second half of the 1920s. The advantage was obvious: several people at once in a home could now easily listen to their radio at the same time. In 1930, 40% of the nation's households owned a radio,[8] a figure that was much higher in suburban and large metropolitan areas. The superheterodyne receiver and other inventions refined radios even further in the next decade; even as the Great Depression ravaged the country in the 1930s, radio would stay at the centre of American life. 83% of American homes would own a radio by 1940. Government regulation Although radio was well established with United States consumers by the mid-1920s, regulation of the broadcast medium presented its own challenges. Until 1926, broadcast radio power and frequency use was regulated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, until a legal challenge rendered the agency powerless to do so. Congress responded by enacting the Radio Act of 1927, which included the formation of the Federal Radio Commission (FRC). One of the FRC's most important early actions was the adoption of General Order 40, which divided stations on the AM band into three power level categories, which became known as Local, Regional, and Clear Channel, and reorganized station assignments. Based on this plan, effective 3:00 a.m. Eastern time on November 11, 1928, most of the country's stations were assigned to new transmitting frequencies. Broadcast networks The final element needed to make the Golden Age of Radio possible focused on the question of distribution: the ability for multiple radio stations to simultaneously broadcast the same content, and this would be solved with the concept of a radio network. The earliest radio programs of the 1920s were largely unsponsored; radio stations were a service designed to sell radio receivers. In early 1922, American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) announced the beginning of advertisement-supported broadcasting on its owned stations, and plans for the development of the first radio network using its telephone lines to transmit the content. In July 1926, AT&T abruptly decided to exit the broadcasting field, and signed an agreement to sell its entire network operations to a group headed by RCA, which used the assets to form the National Broadcasting Company. Four radio networks had formed by 1934. These were: National Broadcasting Company Red Network (NBC Red), launched November 15, 1926. Originally founded as the National Broadcasting Company in late 1926, the company was almost immediately forced to split under antitrust laws to form NBC Red and NBC Blue. When, in 1942, NBC Blue was sold and renamed the Blue Network, this network would go back to calling itself simply the National Broadcasting Company Radio Network (NBC). National Broadcasting Company Blue Network (NBC Blue); launched January 10, 1927, split from NBC Red. NBC Blue was sold in 1942 and became the Blue Network, and it in turn transferred its assets to a new company, the American Broadcasting Company on June 15, 1945. That network identified itself as the American Broadcasting Company Radio Network (ABC). Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), launched September 18, 1927. After an initially struggling attempt to compete with the NBC networks, CBS gained new momentum when William S. Paley was installed as company president. Mutual Broadcasting System (Mutual), launched September 29, 1934. Mutual was initially run as a cooperative in which the flagship stations owned the network, not the other way around as was the case with the other three radio networks. Programming In the period before and after the advent of the broadcast network, new forms of entertainment needed to be created to fill the time of a station's broadcast day. Many of the formats born in this era continued into the television and digital eras. In the beginning of the Golden Age, network programs were almost exclusively broadcast live, as the national networks prohibited the airing of recorded programs until the late 1940s because of the inferior sound quality of phonograph discs, the only practical recording medium at that time. As a result, network prime-time shows would be performed twice, once for each coast. Rehearsal for the World War II radio show You Can't Do Business with Hitler with John Flynn and Virginia Moore. This series of programs, broadcast at least once weekly by more than 790 radio stations in the United States, was written and produced by the radio section of the Office of War Information (OWI). Live events Coverage of live events included musical concerts and play-by-play sports broadcasts. News The capability of the new medium to get information to people created the format of modern radio news: headlines, remote reporting, sidewalk interviews (such as Vox Pop), panel discussions, weather reports, and farm reports. The entry of radio into the realm of news triggered a feud between the radio and newspaper industries in the mid-1930s, eventually culminating in newspapers trumping up exaggerated [citation needed] reports of a mass hysteria from the (entirely fictional) radio presentation of The War of the Worlds, which had been presented as a faux newscast. Musical features The sponsored musical feature soon became one of the most popular program formats. Most early radio sponsorship came in the form of selling the naming rights to the program, as evidenced by such programs as The A&P Gypsies, Champion Spark Plug Hour, The Clicquot Club Eskimos, and King Biscuit Time; commercials, as they are known in the modern era, were still relatively uncommon and considered intrusive. During the 1930s and 1940s, the leading orchestras were heard often through big band remotes, and NBC's Monitor continued such remotes well into the 1950s by broadcasting live music from New York City jazz clubs to rural America. Singers such as Harriet Lee and Wendell Hall became popular fixtures on network radio beginning in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Local stations often had staff organists such as Jesse Crawford playing popular tunes. Classical music programs on the air included The Voice of Firestone and The Bell Telephone Hour. Texaco sponsored the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts; the broadcasts, now sponsored by the Toll Brothers, continue to this day around the world, and are one of the few examples of live classical music still broadcast on radio. One of the most notable of all classical music radio programs of the Golden Age of Radio featured the celebrated Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra, which had been created especially for him. At that time, nearly all classical musicians and critics considered Toscanini the greatest living maestro. Popular songwriters such as George Gershwin were also featured on radio. (Gershwin, in addition to frequent appearances as a guest, had his own program in 1934.) The New York Philharmonic also had weekly concerts on radio. There was no dedicated classical music radio station like NPR at that time, so classical music programs had to share the network they were broadcast on with more popular ones, much as in the days of television before the creation of NET and PBS. Country music also enjoyed popularity. National Barn Dance, begun on Chicago's WLS in 1924, was picked up by NBC Radio in 1933. In 1925, WSM Barn Dance went on the air from Nashville. It was renamed the Grand Ole Opry in 1927 and NBC carried portions from 1944 to 1956. NBC also aired The Red Foley Show from 1951 to 1961, and ABC Radio carried Ozark Jubilee from 1953 to 1961. Comedy Radio attracted top comedy talents from vaudeville and Hollywood for many years: Bing Crosby, Abbott and Costello, Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Victor Borge, Fanny Brice, Billie Burke, Bob Burns, Judy Canova, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Burns and Allen, Phil Harris, Edgar Bergen, Bob Hope, Groucho Marx, Jean Shepherd, Red Skelton and Ed Wynn. Situational comedies also gained popularity, such as Amos 'n' Andy, Easy Aces, Ethel and Albert, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Goldbergs, The Great Gildersleeve, The Halls of Ivy (which featured screen star Ronald Colman and his wife Benita Hume), Meet Corliss Archer, Meet Millie, and Our Miss Brooks. Radio comedy ran the gamut from the small town humor of Lum and Abner, Herb Shriner and Minnie Pearl to the dialect characterizations of Mel Blanc and the caustic sarcasm of Henry Morgan. Gags galore were delivered weekly on Stop Me If You've Heard This One and Can You Top This?,[18] panel programs devoted to the art of telling jokes. Quiz shows were lampooned on It Pays to Be Ignorant, and other memorable parodies were presented by such satirists as Spike Jones, Stoopnagle and Budd, Stan Freberg and Bob and Ray. British comedy reached American shores in a major assault when NBC carried The Goon Show in the mid-1950s. Some shows originated as stage productions: Clifford Goldsmith's play What a Life was reworked into NBC's popular, long-running The Aldrich Family (1939–1953) with the familiar catchphrases "Henry! Henry Aldrich!," followed by Henry's answer, "Coming, Mother!" Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway hit, You Can't Take It with You (1936), became a weekly situation comedy heard on Mutual (1944) with Everett Sloane and later on NBC (1951) with Walter Brennan. Other shows were adapted from comic strips, such as Blondie, Dick Tracy, Gasoline Alley, The Gumps, Li'l Abner, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye the Sailor, Red Ryder, Reg'lar Fellers, Terry and the Pirates and Tillie the Toiler. Bob Montana's redheaded teen of comic strips and comic books was heard on radio's Archie Andrews from 1943 to 1953. The Timid Soul was a 1941–1942 comedy based on cartoonist H. T. Webster's famed Caspar Milquetoast character, and Robert L. Ripley's Believe It or Not! was adapted to several different radio formats during the 1930s and 1940s. Conversely, some radio shows gave rise to spinoff comic strips, such as My Friend Irma starring Marie Wilson. Soap operas The first program generally considered to be a daytime serial drama by scholars of the genre is Painted Dreams, which premiered on WGN on October 20, 1930. The first networked daytime serial is Clara, Lu, 'n Em, which started in a daytime time slot on February 15, 1932. As daytime serials became popular in the early 1930s, they became known as soap operas because many were sponsored by soap products and detergents. On November 25, 1960, the last four daytime radio dramas—Young Dr. Malone, Right to Happiness, The Second Mrs. Burton and Ma Perkins, all broadcast on the CBS Radio Network—were brought to an end. Children's programming The line-up of late afternoon adventure serials included Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders, The Cisco Kid, Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy, Captain Midnight, and The Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters. Badges, rings, decoding devices and other radio premiums offered on these adventure shows were often allied with a sponsor's product, requiring the young listeners to mail in a boxtop from a breakfast cereal or other proof of purchase. Radio plays Radio plays were presented on such programs as 26 by Corwin, NBC Short Story, Arch Oboler's Plays, Quiet, Please, and CBS Radio Workshop. Orson Welles's The Mercury Theatre on the Air and The Campbell Playhouse were considered by many critics to be the finest radio drama anthologies ever presented. They usually starred Welles in the leading role, along with celebrity guest stars such as Margaret Sullavan or Helen Hayes, in adaptations from literature, Broadway, and/or films. They included such titles as Liliom, Oliver Twist (a title now feared lost), A Tale of Two Cities, Lost Horizon, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It was on Mercury Theatre that Welles presented his celebrated-but-infamous 1938 adaptation of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, formatted to sound like a breaking news program. Theatre Guild on the Air presented adaptations of classical and Broadway plays. Their Shakespeare adaptations included a one-hour Macbeth starring Maurice Evans and Judith Anderson, and a 90-minute Hamlet, starring John Gielgud.[22] Recordings of many of these programs survive. During the 1940s, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, famous for playing Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in films, repeated their characterizations on radio on The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which featured both original stories and episodes directly adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. None of the episodes in which Rathbone and Bruce starred on the radio program were filmed with the two actors as Holmes and Watson, so radio became the only medium in which audiences were able to experience Rathbone and Bruce appearing in some of the more famous Holmes stories, such as "The Speckled Band". There were also many dramatizations of Sherlock Holmes stories on radio without Rathbone and Bruce. During the latter part of his career, celebrated actor John Barrymore starred in a radio program, Streamlined Shakespeare, which featured him in a series of one-hour adaptations of Shakespeare plays, many of which Barrymore never appeared in either on stage or in films, such as Twelfth Night (in which he played both Malvolio and Sir Toby Belch), and Macbeth. Lux Radio Theatre and The Screen Guild Theater presented adaptations of Hollywood movies, performed before a live audience, usually with cast members from the original films. Suspense, Escape, The Mysterious Traveler and Inner Sanctum Mystery were popular thriller anthology series. Leading writers who created original material for radio included Norman Corwin, Carlton E. Morse, David Goodis, Archibald MacLeish, Arthur Miller, Arch Oboler, Wyllis Cooper, Rod Serling, Jay Bennett, and Irwin Shaw. Game shows Game shows saw their beginnings in radio. One of the first was Information Please in 1938, and one of the first major successes was Dr. I.Q. in 1939. Winner Take All, which premiered in 1946, was the first to use lockout devices and feature returning champions. A relative of the game show, which would be called the giveaway show in contemporary media, typically involved giving sponsored products to studio audience members, people randomly called by telephone, or both. An early example of this show was the 1939 show Pot o' Gold, but the breakout hit of this type was ABC's Stop the Music in 1948. Winning a prize generally required knowledge of what was being aired on the show at that moment, which led to criticism of the giveaway show as a form of "buying an audience". Giveaway shows were extremely popular through 1948 and 1949. They were often panned as low-brow, and an unsuccessful attempt was even made by the FCC to ban them (as an illegal lottery) in August 1949.[23] Broadcast production methods The RCA Type 44-BX microphone had two live faces and two dead ones. Thus actors could face each other and react. An actor could give the effect of leaving the room by simply moving their head toward the dead face of the microphone. The scripts were paper-clipped together. It has been disputed whether or not actors and actresses would drop finished pages to the carpeted floor after use. Radio stations Despite a general ban on use of recordings on broadcasts by radio networks through the late 1940s, "reference recordings" on phonograph disc were made of many programs as they were being broadcast, for review by the sponsor and for the network's own archival purposes. With the development of high-fidelity magnetic wire and tape recording in the years following World War II, the networks became more open to airing recorded programs and the prerecording of shows became more common. Local stations, however, had always been free to use recordings and sometimes made substantial use of pre-r

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    Coffee House Shots
    Keir Starmer and the lost art of political oratory

    Coffee House Shots

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2025 28:27


    From Churchill to Thatcher to Blair to Farage, Parliament has seen some truly fantastic rhetoricians over the years. But last week came the news that – in a bid to improve his own oratorical skill – Keir Starmer employed a voice coach: former actress Leonie Mellinger. Mellinger has been at the centre of a fresh COVID-19 row, as the Prime Minister considered her to be so important that she qualified as a ‘key worker' in 2020, visiting Labour headquarters in a mask on Christmas Eve 2020 to advise Starmer. It is not an unusual practice to employ a voice coach to improve a politician's public speaking, and on the podcast Michael Gove is joined by his own former coach  Graham Davies, to recover the lost art of political rhetoric. They discuss what makes a great political speech, share some of their favourite examples and ask: has Mellinger actually improved Starmer's delivery? Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElroy.

    Steamy Stories Podcast
    Angel of Mercy: Part 1

    Steamy Stories Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2025


    Miracles can happen on Christmas Eve.Based on a post by auguy86, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at My First Time. Ken Dix flipped through the TV guide at a moderate pace; “500 channels, and nothing but Christmas specials on.”Finding nothing but disappointment at every turn. As it was Christmas Eve, every show was a mushy feel-good romp spouting lines about family and goodwill to others. None of that spoke to Ken in the slightest.“Ken?” a voice came from the kitchen.“What's up, Mom?”“I've got my hands full with making everything for dinner tonight, but I'm going to run short on a couple of ingredients,” Helen Dix said, poking her head into the living room. “Can you run to the store real quick for me please?”“Sure thing,” Ken replied, seeing as he had nothing better to do.“Great, thank you. I made a list on the counter for you. The store should be open for another hour or two. The main things would be the eggs; I don't have enough to finish my famous chess pie. If they have tea by the gallon, grab one sweet and one unsweet. The rest are great if you find them, but not essential.”“Got it,” Ken said as he took the list from the counter.Heading out to his car, Ken cranked up his Honda Civic and pulled out of the driveway. As he made his way into town, Ken reflected on his current situation. Though he loved his mom, being home for the holidays was always nerve-wracking for him. His hometown of Alpharetta, Georgia was crawling with former high school classmates of his, people he'd just as soon never see again. But up at MIT, he was actually among peers that he could relate to on an intellectual level. Not that he'd made that many friends up there. As a nineteen-year-old freshman, he was still stuck in the same boring math and science classes as everyone else. He couldn't wait until he could start his health sciences training. Maybe then he could meet some decent people, perhaps of the female variety.Ken soon arrived in the parking lot of the local Kroger. It was soon obvious that the place was packed with last-minute shoppers, all trying to find that one final ingredient they were missing. Locking his car, Ken sauntered into the store, grabbing a shopping basket along the way. He found the shelves of the store well picked over, striking out on the nonessential items on his mom's list. Making his way to the drinks aisle, he was pleased to see that the store was keeping the gallon jugs of tea well stocked for the holidays, and picked up a pair.Ken soon arrived in the refrigerated section of the store. Almost every shelf was empty, but he did manage to find one last carton of six eggs, just what his mom needed. Depositing the carton in his shopping basket, Ken made his way back to the front of the store, checking out in the express lane. He gripped the shopping bags tightly, being careful that the eggs weren't harmed from the swinging of the bags. Arriving back in the parking lot, he was pleasantly surprised to see one of his former classmates, Jacqueline Brown. As he approached, she saw him coming.“Ken? Kenneth Dix?”She was extremely pretty, as was befitting one of the most popular girls in school, and kept her chestnut-brown hair cut just below her jawline. Her soft, warm facial features and bubbly personality belied the sharp intellect hiding underneath. She and Ken had been partners a few times in various subjects, and he had helped craft her entrance essay to the University of Washington. This earned her a full ride scholarship. In spite of her popularity, they had worked well together, and Ken even dared to call her a friend, at least in his own mind. They had never hung out on a social basis; her circle of friends would never have let her live that down. Still, times had changed. They were both out of high school, after all. What could it hurt to ask?“Jacqueline? Wow, I never thought I'd see you back here. Thought you escaped to cooler climates?”“Yeah, Seattle is nice, but nothing beats Christmas at home,” she replied, adjusting her UW sweatshirt. “You back for the same reason?”“Uh huh. Mom pretty much insisted. She won't settle for anything less than a full family gathering on Christmas Eve. I'm just grabbing a few last things for her. But yeah, it's great seeing you again. You, uh, you look good.”“Um; thanks,” she replied with hesitation.“I'm, uh, gonna be home for a couple of weeks. Would you want to, I don't know, hang out sometime? Maybe grab a bite to eat? My treat.”“Well, Ken, that's sweet of you to ask.” she said almost to herself. As she paused, her eyes suddenly lit up as if she had gotten an idea. “Alright! Here, let me give you my number.” She scribbled a series of digits down on a scrap piece of paper, writing her name next to them. “I'll, um, talk to you later, I guess?”“Sounds great!”Ken couldn't believe it; he had actually done it! He had asked out the prettiest girl he had ever known! Moreover, she had given him her number! Things were definitely looking up.“Dick!” a voice behind them yelled.Ken turned, immediately recognizing Jason Brown, Jacqueline's fraternal twin brother, along with his two flunkies, Brian and Barrett Sullivan. Jason had been the star quarterback at his high school, and the Sullivan boys were his best offensive linemen. They often served as his muscle off the football field, as well. Ken was intimately familiar with these three, as they had made it their mission in high school to make his life a living hell. Being stuffed in lockers, having his wallet stolen, all were commonplace with them. The three approached, attempting to appear imposing, which they were from the perspective of the ever-scrawny Ken.“I've got nothing to say to you guys,” Ken muttered as they approached.“Well I've got something to say to you, Mr. Kenny Dick,” Jason growled.“Just shut up and leave me alone,” Ken replied, his blood boiling at the use of Jason's longtime nickname for him.“No! You shut the fuck up and listen!” Jason said, grabbing Ken by the collar of his tee-shirt and flinging him against his car. In the process, Ken dropped his shopping bags, the jugs of tea landing directly on the egg carton.“Jason! Stop it!” Jacqueline protested.Undeterred, Jason threatened. “Listen fuck-wad, you stay the hell away from my sister!”“She's an adult, dickhead! She can have anyone she wants as a friend!” Ken protested.“You don't belong on the same Planet as her! You're nothing'! A pathetic sack of guts your dumbass mother decided to give a name to! Know what? Just do us all a favor and drop dead!”Enraged at the insult to his mom, Ken swung a wild haymaker at his assailant, but Jason was more than ready, pinning Ken's arm back against his car. Jason then delivered a crushing punch to Ken's gut, dropping him down to his knees. Before leaving, Jason knelt down next to his gasping victim.“Next time, I won't be so nice. Next time; I might just kill you myself. See ya around. Dick.” Turning to his sister, Jason said, “Come on, time to go home.”Jacqueline looked down at the pitiful form of Ken before muttering, “Sorry, Ken.”The trio of boys sauntered off across the parking lot, laughing and high-fiving at their antics. Jacqueline followed right behind them. Ken picked himself up and inspected his groceries, discovering the crushed eggs in his bag. Swearing and cursing, he grabbed the misshapen carton and went to throw it in a nearby trash can.“No chess pie tonight.”As Ken returned to his car and began his drive home, Jason and his flunkies watched on from his car, still pleased with their efforts.“You shouldn't have done that,” Jacqueline said in a lecturing tone.Jason turned to face his sister. “I do what I gotta do, Jacqueline. That fuck-wad has no business getting friendly with you. He needs to learn his place.”“Be that as it may, I can take care of myself,” she replied firmly.“Take care of yourself? Wait; you didn't?”“I did. Jason, someday you'll learn that there are more subtle and effective ways to ward off undesirables. Trust me, Ken won't bother me ever again.”Back at Home.Upon arriving back home, Ken couldn't bring himself to tell his mom about the incident with the eggs. He instead told her that the store had run out altogether. She had spent many sleepless nights in the past worrying about the constant bullying her son was subjected to in school. Ken didn't want to give her anything else to worry about. By this time, has uncles had started arriving, and the living room was soon filled with the sounds of football games. In Ken's mind, these were no more thought provoking that the mindless Christmas specials he had found earlier. Ken went up to his room to take a hot shower, as well as get some alone time in the process. As he stripped down, he saw a bruise beginning to form on his stomach from Jason's punch. He winced in pain as he touched the tender skin.Shit; that's not going away for a while.Ken took some Tylenol for the pain before stepping into the shower. The hot water helped relax his body, and the steam gradually built up, clearing his mind a bit. He finished after a while and, after making sure his door was shut, flopped facedown onto his bed. After laying there for around an hour or so, his mom finally called him down to rejoin the family for dinner.Taking his seat at the table, Ken glanced around the room at his various family members. His mom had two older brothers, Lee and Stan. Though Lee was tall and still relatively youthful looking at forty-five, Stan was shorter and beginning to bald as he approached fifty. Still, both of them had one notable thing in common as far as Ken was concerned: they were both still jocks at heart. Ken had never known his father; it had always just been him and his mom. He could tell that his uncles tried to be male role models for him, but their efforts were usually ill-conceived attempts to “man him up.” Never once did they understand his introverted tendencies, and always tried to get him to be more of a people person. After a while, Ken stopped paying their advice any attention.It was striking to Ken how similar Lee and Stan's families were. They had both married beautiful, blonde cheerleaders, and now both had sixteen-year-old daughters, both of whom were among the most popular girls in school. It all sickened Ken; they were just perpetuating the stereotype of pretty and popular being the be-all, end-all in life. As the family ate, Ken remained silent for the most part. The adults were engrossed in discussions about their jobs, and the two daughters were giggling and playing on their phones the entire time. None of this was relevant to Ken.“You know, I saw something interesting today,” Lee said as dessert was being brought out. “I was at Kroger filling up my car, and saw you in the main parking lot, Ken. Looked like you were, uh, having some words with a few guys out there.”Shit! He saw that?Not wanting to worry his mom, Ken replied, “It; it was nothing.”“Nothing, eh? Is that why that punk punched you in the gut?”With a worried look on her face, Helen asked, “Ken, sweetie, what is he talking about?” She walked around the table to Ken's seat and lifted up his shirt, seeing the bruise on his abdomen. “Was it that Jason boy again?”“Mom, just let it go.”“No! Ken, you know I worry about you!”“You worry about Me? I think you need to worry more about your brother!” Ken shouted, his anger exploding at last. “Right, Uncle Lee? Come on, you see your own nephew being ganged up on in a parking lot, yet you do nothing to help him out?!”“A man's gotta learn to fight his own battles,” Lee replied in a calm voice.“No. You want to know what a man does? A man sticks up for his Family! No. Matter. What! You stood there and watched your own nephew get beaten up. That says a hell of a lot more about you than it does me. And if that's family; I don't want any part of this one.”Without a word, Ken stood and left the dining room. He then grabbed his MIT hoodie and headed for the front door. As he was about to get into his car and drive off, he saw to his frustration that his uncles' cars were parked in the driveway behind him, blocking him in. Cursing under his breath, he prepared to leave on foot.“Ken! Come back inside, please!” Helen called after him, running down the driveway.“No. I've got to go out; clear my head.”“Ken, it's Christmas Eve. Please, come be with your family.”“Mom, aside from you, not a single person in that house feels like family to me,” Ken replied coldly. “I'll; I'll call you after while.”Ken walked off into the cold Georgia night, not knowing for sure where to go or what to do. Nobody else was out, as they were all at home with their families. Remembering the square in historic downtown Alpharetta, he decided to head in that direction. Maybe the quiet walk would do him some good.Arriving in the town square, Ken walked along the sidewalks for a bit, peering into the darkened windows of the various shops and restaurants. Everything looked so different to him with everyone gone for the day; it all seemed so peaceful. As he continued to walk, he soon saw City Hall in the distance. In front of the building was a large green space, which was teeming with a surprising amount of activity for it being Christmas Eve. Ken moved closer, now spying a large gathering of people sitting on picnic blankets, all bundled up in coats and hats. Ahead of them, a large screen projected the classic film, It's a Wonderful Life.Though Ken was never into the Christmas cheer, as it were, he felt strangely drawn to watch a few minutes of the film from a distance. He soon began to regret that decision, as the movie had reached the point where George Baily had an arrest warrant out for him, lashing out at his family in anger. Watching him get drunk and punched in a bar fight, Ken began to feel sick with anger. Despite all his efforts to help better the world around him, the universe conspired against George Baily; just as it seemed to be conspiring against Ken. Unable to watch a moment more, he turned and walked into the nearby park.Again alone with his thoughts, Ken sat on a bench near the fountain in the center of the park. He contemplated many things, as he often did in solitude. He thought about his piss poor excuse for a family, intent on changing him into what they say he should be. If only they could love him as he is. He thought about Jason Brown, a perpetual asshole that managed to get all the beautiful women his heart desired. If only the universe would serve up his just desserts, rather than conspiring against Ken. Sighing in frustration, he stuffed his freezing hands into his jeans pockets.Jacqueline!Feeling the scrap of paper still in his pocket, Ken suddenly felt a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dreary day. He needed something, anything to lift his spirits, and hearing her kind, sweet voice might just do it. Hell, he didn't even care anymore if she was interested in him in a romantic sense; he just needed someone to listen and understand him. Digging out his phone, he dialed the number. After a single ring, a message began to play, seeming to be read by a game show host.“Congratulations! You've reached Live 95.5 FM's world-famous Loser Line! Live 95.5; featuring the best entertainment in Seattle! If you've reached this message, you have attempted to hit on a girl Way out of your league! That poor young lady wants nothing to do with you, but you just couldn't help creeping on her! That's where we come in! Now you know what a loser you really are! So leave the girl alone, loser! You're doing everyone a favor! If you'd like to leave a message for the world-famous Loser Line, begin speaking at the tone!”Beep!Ken hung up the phone in quiet disbelief. How could he have been so wrong about Jacqueline? They had worked so well together in school, and he even considered her a friend! She always spoke so kindly to him, how could this have happened? Was she really as nasty and shallow as her dumbass brother? Was she really just that good of an actress? As he pondered all this, Ken's rage finally exploded out of him.“That two-faced bitch! Who the fuck does she think she is?! I trusted her! Hell, she would never have gotten a full scholarship without my help! All I ever did was Like her! And after all that, she doesn't even have the decency to turn me down to my face?! What The Fucking Hell? At least her brother was honest about his disdain. She's far worse! I can't imagine how evil she'd be if a person actually offended her?”Slumping back down onto the park bench, every thought that entered Ken's mind brought him lower. Jason was an ass, but then again, he didn't know how to act any different. Uncle Lee was a moron, but then again, he had no malicious intent. But Jacqueline; she was the last straw. He had trusted her, opened up to her, and she repaid him by committing the single most cruel and senseless act Ken could ever imagine. Everything was crashing down around him. As he continued to sulk, Jason's words entered into his mind once more.“I should just do everyone a favor and drop dead; is that what you want, Jacqueline? Seems like you agree with your brother, or you wouldn't have given me that number.”Ken reached into his pocket, withdrawing a folding knife. It had been a high school graduation present to him from his grandfather, before he passed a few months later. A far cry from the typical Swiss Army knife, he unfolded the shiny, four-inch blade, which stood in beautiful contrast to the wooden handle. Inscribed in the wood were Ken's initials. He had not used it for anything yet, never had any need to. As he stared at his reflection in the blade, Ken kept replaying Jason's cruel words in his mind, to do the world a favor and drop dead.“Maybe that's not such a bad idea.” Ken mumbled.Just as he took a firm grip on the handle, preparing to take the knife to his throat, an unfamiliar voice came from off to the side.“Hey!”Gabrielle's Christmas night.Gabrielle Libertine relaxed in a lawn chair, savoring the crisp, cold air of Christmas Eve. This was her favorite time of the year, and being able to enjoy an outdoor showing of her favorite Christmas film, It's a Wonderful Life, made it even better. It all fit in perfectly with her life philosophy: live for happiness. Not only her own, but as much as could be had for the world around her too.“You want the moon? Just say the word, and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.”“Oh, Jimmy Stewart, you charmer you.” Gabby sighed.Soon, her emotions welled up as the hopeless romantic that was George Bailey began to succumb to the pressures and injustices of life. He had blamed his own uncle for destroying their business, lashed out at his wife and children in anger, and gone crawling to his hated rival for a loan. The hardest scenes for her to watch were always the bar fight and the car crash. Still, she always stuck it out. The best was yet to come.Just as George stood atop the bridge, Gabby caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. A young man of about nineteen or twenty was watching the movie from a distance away, leaning against a tree near the road. His face twisted in angst as he saw the pain on display in the film, and he soon spun around, walking into the nearby park. Gabby couldn't explain why, but something compelled her to follow him and make sure he was okay.Collecting her lawn chair, she walked along the perimeter of the green space, soon arriving at the entrance to the park. As she went, she began to hear angry shouting up ahead of her; it sounded like the young man was in distress. After a few minutes, she came upon the fountain situated in the center of the park. On a bench sat the man from earlier, appearing to be deep in thought. By the glow of the lamppost, Gabby could now get a good look at him. He appeared to be of average height, maybe 5'7”, and had shaggy black hair that seemed a bit unkempt. Still, it's color shone in the light of the park, and his white skin provided for quite a striking appearance. A pair of black horn-rimmed glasses framed his face, which combined with his red MIT hoodie to project a very specific image into Gabby's mind. He had to be incredibly intelligent.As she studied him, she saw the young man pull an object out of the pocket of his jeans. Catching a glimpse of something reflective, she could now see that he was holding a small folding knife. Gabby tensed up and wondered if she should run, but soon decided against it; he didn't seem to have even noticed her presence. In fact, the way he looked at the knife was quite unsettling. It was as if he saw that little blade as his best friend in the world. She knew the look in his eyes. She knew what would happen in a moment if she did nothing. Taking a deep breath, Gabby decided to act.“Hey.”Intervention.Ken was startled by the unfamiliar voice. Looking up, he now saw a woman in her early twenties standing across the way. She gazed at him with intent, but for what reason he did not know. Looking back at her, Ken's typical awkwardness began to kick in, as he could see that she was quite beautiful. Dressed warmly in a black winter coat and blue jeans, she wore a grey knit cap over her long blonde hair. Upon first glance, she appeared to be of some sort of Scandinavian descent, or perhaps German, though Ken couldn't be sure. His mouth went dry as he tried to find the words to speak.“Everything okay?” she asked.“Uh; fine. Why do you, um; why do you ask?”Smiling, she replied, “I saw you over on the green, watching the movie. By the look on your face, you were having a tough time with it. When I saw you walk off towards the park, I felt I should come and see if anything was wrong.”“No, nothing's wrong.”“Good. Then I shouldn't be concerned about the way you're looking at that knife of yours, right?”Shaking his head, Ken answered, “I'm not going to hurt you. Promise.”“That's not what I'm concerned about.”“Wha; what do you mean?” Ken asked, his eyes growing wide.“I've seen that look before,” she said, taking a couple of steps closer. “I am, sadly, all too familiar with it. You were about to hurt yourself, weren't you?”“You don't know a thing about me, lady,” Ken muttered, preparing to leave.“I don't have to know anything about you to be concerned,” she fired back.“Concerned,” Ken snorted. “How could you be concerned about me? You don't even know me!”“Easily rectified. Gabrielle Libertine. My friends call me Gabby,” she said, sticking out her hand with a warm smile. When he didn't respond, she smirked and continued, “This is the part where you tell me your name.”Sighing, he replied, “Ken. Ken Dix.”“A pleasure, Ken,” she said as they shook hands.“So; Gabrielle, eh? You supposed to be my Clarence or something?”With a playful gasp, she responded, “Oh my God! Does that mean you're Jimmy Stewart?! I've had the biggest crush on you for Years!”Ken gave a nervous laugh. “Alright, alright, I walked into that one. But in all seriousness.”“No, I'm not a Guardian Angel or the Word of God or anything like that. Just an average person like you.” Motioning to the bench, she asked, “May I?”“Sure, I guess,” Ken answered, scooting to the edge.“Thanks.” Taking a seat, she continued, “So tell me this, Ken: why would you want to hurt, maybe kill yourself?”His face twisted in pain. “You don't want to know.”“I do. Believe me, I do.”Sighing with reluctance, Ken relented and began to tell Gabby of the events of the day. He started with Jacqueline and Jason, then the confrontation with his uncle, and finally the fake phone number showing Jacqueline's true colors. Through it all, Gabby sat in silence, maintaining eye contact and nodding whenever appropriate. At last, he finished his story, and Gabby could feel her heart breaking within her chest.“Ken; I'm so sorry. I can feel the pain in your voice. No one deserves what you've gone through today. I know it's of little help, but I do understand what you're going through.”“Understand?” Ken said, incredulous. “How could a girl like you understand any of this? I mean, look at you. You're gorgeous, and I bet you've always been popular. Just like Jacqueline. Just like Jason. Just like Uncle Lee. None of you could ever imagine the world I live in.”With a stern look on her face, she replied, “I'm going to choose to let that slide, considering everything you've told me. Still, you need to know that what you just said was quite hurtful. Almost as hurtful as the things that have been said to you today.”Ken recoiled. He knew she was right. “I'm; I'm sorry. You're right; I should never have said that. You've been nothing but nice to me tonight.”“Apology accepted,” Gabby said with a smile. “Humility is a rare trait in men these days. Hang on to that.”Ken thought she might be mocking him, but bit his tongue nonetheless. He had already insulted her once, and he wasn't going to chance a second time.Seeking to turn the conversation to happier topics, she asked, “M I T, huh? You're an awful long way from home, aren't you?”“Huh? Oh, the hoodie. Yeah, I'm a freshman there this year, just home on break right now.”“Nice. Major?”“Health sciences. I want to go to medical school after MIT, though I'm still figuring out a specialty.”“Plenty of time to decide that. I'm sure you'll find the right career path,” she said with a grin.As nice as it was to talk about a familiar topic, a few things still bugged Ken's mind to no end. “I still can't figure it out; why would Jacqueline do this?”Frowning, Gabby replied, “Some people are cruel. Often the ones that are the cruelest disguise it with a kind, warm public demeanor. Jacqueline sounds like she fits that mold to a T.”“And she hid it all that time while we were in school?”“You were useful at the time, in her mind. She wasn't going to chance losing that. Once she got what she needed, she had no more reason to hide her true feelings.”“Yeah, but still. Why be all friendly to me in the store?”“In her twisted mind, she probably felt she was doing you a favor. She wanted to ensure you never tried to contact her again. To a cruel person like her; that's her idea of doing you a kindness,” Gabby replied sadly. “We just have to hope that there's enough real kindness in this world to counteract such cruelty.”Now noticing a silver cross hanging from her neck, Ken pointed to it and asked, “I guess this the part where you start lecturing me about suicide? That I'm being selfish and trying to go against God's plan?”“No,” she replied with simplicity.“No?”“No. Ken, I meant it when I said that I've seen that look before. I know better than most that suicidal thoughts are rarely that simple. There's no switch that can turn them off. It's a tide that must be turned back, bit by bit.”Stunned, Ken started to see that this woman understood what was important in life. Realizing he still had the knife in his hand, he folded it closed and put it back in his pocket.“Bit by bit,” she said with a smile. “My car's around the corner. Is there somewhere I can take you? Where do you live?”“I'm not going home. Not yet,” Ken replied. “Not with my uncles still there.”“No problem. I'm not going to force you.” Thinking a moment, she continued, “It's pretty cold out here. Why don't you come back to my place for a bit?”“That's; unnecessary. I'm fine on my own.”“Nice try, but no cigar,” she said. “I'm not leaving you alone with that knife, mister. And I'm certainly not leaving you alone on Christmas Eve. Nobody should be alone for the holidays.”“Thanks, but; won't your husband mind?”“He would, if I were married.”“Boyfriend?”“Nope, just my townhouse and me. Pretty cozy, all things considered. No problems with you coming over, but I do have one condition.”“And what's that?”Smirking, Gabby replied, “You call your mom right now and tell her you're okay.”Hesitating a moment, Ken soon relented. “Fine.” Tapping his phone, Ken waited as it rang. “Hey Mom, it's me; Yeah, I'm okay; No, seriously. I'm fine; Yeah I'm just hanging with a friend. I probably won't be back ‘til tomorrow; I will; Love you too; Bye.”“See? Now that wasn't so bad, was it?” Gabby teased him.Eying her, Ken asked. “You're seriously okay with bringing me to your home?”“Positive.”Taking his hand, Gabby led him to her car.Gabby's guest.The drive had been silent for the most part. Ken was still trying to comprehend everything that was happening. Who was this woman? Why would she go to such great lengths for a stranger she didn't even know? Gabby seemed to pick up on this, refraining from prodding him for any further conversation. She could tell he was still processing the events of the day. Soon, they arrived at her townhouse complex and pulled into her garage.“Come on in, make yourself at home,” she said as she turned on the lights. “Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee? Hot chocolate?”“Hot chocolate sounds good, thanks.”“Coming right up!”As she hung her hat and jacket up on a rack, Ken couldn't help but stare. He now saw that she wasn't just a pretty face; her entire body was sublime. She wore a tight burgundy sweater and a pair of tight, form-fitting jeans. This ensemble only served to accent her body even further. Her hourglass figure was delectable, her slim waist contrasting with her curvy hips and ample bust. She was also just as tall as him, perhaps a bit taller, with legs for miles. Though Ken had fantasized about some of his classmates, none of them could come anywhere close to Gabby. She was a woman, not a girl, and in the prime of her life no less.“Here you go,” she said, handing Ken a mug.After blowing on the hot drink, he took a sip, feeling the warm liquid spreading through his body. “Thanks,” he sighed.“No problem,” she replied with a smile. “Come on, let's go relax in the den.”She led him into an intimate area with a sofa and a loveseat. The only illumination came from the twinkling multicolored lights on her Christmas tree in the corner. As Ken took in the relaxing surroundings, smelling the delicious scent of her Frazier fir tree, Gabby stepped over to the fireplace opposite the sofa. Flipping a switch, she soon had a comfortable fire roaring from the gas logs. She then sat on the sofa, placing her mug on the side table and patting the spot next to her.“Come sit. I promise I don't bite,” she said with a playful grin.“Um, okay.” he mumbled, scooting as close to the armrest as he could to give Gabby plenty of space.“Tell me about M I T,” she inquired. “You mentioned you want to go into health sciences. Does that include medical school?”“Uh, yeah with any luck. Harvard would be my top choice, but I don't know if I could afford it. But assuming so, my dream has always been to be a brain surgeon.”“Brain surgeon?! That's so cool! They're like; the most badass of all the badass doctors! Not just surgeons, brain surgeons!” Gabby gushed.“It's, uh, not that big a deal,” Ken replied as he blushed with embarrassment.“Well, I could totally see you as a brain surgeon. Don't ever give up on it.”“Thanks.”“So, what then for you, Dr. Dix? What happens once you reach your dream?”Ken began to feel a strange amount of comfort with this woman, and started to open up to her. “Honestly; I don't know. I mean even if I become a brain surgeon, I'm still hopeless around girls. Maybe Jason's right. I'm gonna die a virgin.” Realizing what he had confessed to her, he turned to Gabby and blurted out, “Not that it's your problem, or anything. S-sorry, I just; I shouldn't have gone that far.”Gabby just smiled and moved closer to him, brushing her hand against his arm.“Don't worry about it. You have goals, both personal and professional, but aren't sure exactly how to achieve them. So you're a virgin. That's nothing to be embarrassed about, and it's healthy to express your anxiety about it. That can help you overcome your fears. In all seriousness, I think you underestimate yourself, Ken.”“Underestimate myself?”“Of course,” Gabby replied. “You're smart, considerate, polite, you even held the car door for me earlier! Any girl you'd want to be with is gonna swoon at traits like that. I can also tell that you still think of yourself as unattractive, but I disagree. You wear glasses, yes, but that doesn't make you a dork. Your hair is a little shaggy, but not greasy or anything. You may not have a tan, but your skin complexion is damn near flawless. You have nothing to be ashamed of, be it your looks or your personality.”“You're about the only woman who thinks so,” he sighed.“Doubtful, but if it's that big a worry for you, I can give you a couple of pointers, if you like.”“Um, oh, okay I guess.”“Great! Okay, so you definitely give off the ‘geek' vibe, but that's not a bad thing. Don't fight it; own it.”“How?”“Well, you can make just some slight alterations to your outward appearance that can change the way others see you. For example, you could switch to wire-framed glasses instead of your horn-rimmed ones. Your hair is a great color, and would do well in a short, clean-cut style, if I do say so myself. You can also change out your usual t-shirts for some casual polo shirts.”“So; the secret to getting women to notice me is to change who I am?” Ken asked, feeling more than a little offended.Cocking her eyebrow, Gabby replied, “Are you saying your glasses, hair length, and shirt choices define who you are?”“Oh, uh; fair point,” Ken conceded.“See? Humility. Such a rare quality these days,” Gabby said with a grin. “To be honest, all the changes I suggested are things my brother did a couple of years back. He was a complete geek, maybe even bigger than you. The poor boy was helpless around the fairer sex. But after he made these changes, he no longer came off as the socially awkward geek. He came off as a self-assured, confident geek, one who loves himself for who he is. I see that potential in you, Ken.” Grabbing her iPad from the side table, she pulled up a couple of pictures for him. “See? Here's before. And here's after.”“Woah,” Ken marveled. He could see the drastic difference. The guy hadn't done anything to make himself stronger or bulkier, nothing to increase his manliness, but the things he did change just popped in all the right ways. Was it really that simple?“That's great and all, but can new clothes and a haircut get rid of social awkwardness? I still don't have even a shred of confidence around women,” Ken said.“They can help, but a change in your mental confidence is completely based on your willpower. You have to love yourself as much as you want others to love you. If you don't, everyone else will pick up on it.”“Knew there was a catch.”Gabby bit her lip in frustration. There had to be a way she could give him the confidence boost he needed to love himself, but how? Getting one somewhat crazy idea, she moved closer to Ken.“I'm guessing from your previous statements that; you've never kissed a girl before. Is that right Ken?”Poor Ken Dix didn't even know what had hit him. Here he was, sitting with the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on, and the unthinkable was beginning to happen. She was moving closer, running her fingers through his hair, and now wanted to know if he'd ever been kissed! This was too much, way beyond any of his hottest dreams. Unable to find the words to respond, he managed to slowly nod his head.“Close your eyes,” she instructed in her sweet voice. When he only blinked in reply, she whispered, “Close; your eyes, Ken. Trust me.”Guided by an unseen force, Ken felt compelled to obey her. His eyes finally fluttered closed, and his breathing became more labored in anticipation of what was to come. A small part of him doubted that she was being truthful, thinking that she'd fake him out just like Jacqueline had. Those doubts were soon quashed, as he felt the warm sensation of Gabby's face leaning close to his. He could feel her breathing. He could smell her perfume. If there was a God, Ken prayed, then and there; that He could make this incredible moment last forever.After what felt like eons, Gabby finally released their building tension and touched her lips to Ken's. Her kiss was soft at first, allowing him to savor the new sensations he was feeling. Ken was so terrified and excited all at once that he could barely even move his lips in reply. Not that it mattered to Gabby. She had expected his fear, and made sure to keep her technique simple yet enjoyable. After around thirty seconds, she withdrew at last, her face aglow in the Christmas tree light.“Wow,” Ken managed to mutter as he opened his eyes. He soon noticed that he couldn't see Gabby at all; his glasses had fogged up from their kiss.“Here, let's just take these off,” Gabby said with a giggle. She slipped his glasses off and laid them on her side table. “Now then, since we've gotten your first kiss out of the way, ready to really dive in?”“Dive in to what?” Ken asked, his nerves beginning to fray.“Kissing, silly! You do know there's much more to it than what we just did, right?”“More?”“Of course! Look, one day you'll get the prime opportunity to kiss a special lady, and I want you to be ready when that chance comes.”To be continued in part 2, based on a post by auguy86, in 2 parts for Sex Stories.

    Steamy Stories
    Angel of Mercy: Part 1

    Steamy Stories

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2025


    Miracles can happen on Christmas Eve.Based on a post by auguy86, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at My First Time. Ken Dix flipped through the TV guide at a moderate pace; “500 channels, and nothing but Christmas specials on.”Finding nothing but disappointment at every turn. As it was Christmas Eve, every show was a mushy feel-good romp spouting lines about family and goodwill to others. None of that spoke to Ken in the slightest.“Ken?” a voice came from the kitchen.“What's up, Mom?”“I've got my hands full with making everything for dinner tonight, but I'm going to run short on a couple of ingredients,” Helen Dix said, poking her head into the living room. “Can you run to the store real quick for me please?”“Sure thing,” Ken replied, seeing as he had nothing better to do.“Great, thank you. I made a list on the counter for you. The store should be open for another hour or two. The main things would be the eggs; I don't have enough to finish my famous chess pie. If they have tea by the gallon, grab one sweet and one unsweet. The rest are great if you find them, but not essential.”“Got it,” Ken said as he took the list from the counter.Heading out to his car, Ken cranked up his Honda Civic and pulled out of the driveway. As he made his way into town, Ken reflected on his current situation. Though he loved his mom, being home for the holidays was always nerve-wracking for him. His hometown of Alpharetta, Georgia was crawling with former high school classmates of his, people he'd just as soon never see again. But up at MIT, he was actually among peers that he could relate to on an intellectual level. Not that he'd made that many friends up there. As a nineteen-year-old freshman, he was still stuck in the same boring math and science classes as everyone else. He couldn't wait until he could start his health sciences training. Maybe then he could meet some decent people, perhaps of the female variety.Ken soon arrived in the parking lot of the local Kroger. It was soon obvious that the place was packed with last-minute shoppers, all trying to find that one final ingredient they were missing. Locking his car, Ken sauntered into the store, grabbing a shopping basket along the way. He found the shelves of the store well picked over, striking out on the nonessential items on his mom's list. Making his way to the drinks aisle, he was pleased to see that the store was keeping the gallon jugs of tea well stocked for the holidays, and picked up a pair.Ken soon arrived in the refrigerated section of the store. Almost every shelf was empty, but he did manage to find one last carton of six eggs, just what his mom needed. Depositing the carton in his shopping basket, Ken made his way back to the front of the store, checking out in the express lane. He gripped the shopping bags tightly, being careful that the eggs weren't harmed from the swinging of the bags. Arriving back in the parking lot, he was pleasantly surprised to see one of his former classmates, Jacqueline Brown. As he approached, she saw him coming.“Ken? Kenneth Dix?”She was extremely pretty, as was befitting one of the most popular girls in school, and kept her chestnut-brown hair cut just below her jawline. Her soft, warm facial features and bubbly personality belied the sharp intellect hiding underneath. She and Ken had been partners a few times in various subjects, and he had helped craft her entrance essay to the University of Washington. This earned her a full ride scholarship. In spite of her popularity, they had worked well together, and Ken even dared to call her a friend, at least in his own mind. They had never hung out on a social basis; her circle of friends would never have let her live that down. Still, times had changed. They were both out of high school, after all. What could it hurt to ask?“Jacqueline? Wow, I never thought I'd see you back here. Thought you escaped to cooler climates?”“Yeah, Seattle is nice, but nothing beats Christmas at home,” she replied, adjusting her UW sweatshirt. “You back for the same reason?”“Uh huh. Mom pretty much insisted. She won't settle for anything less than a full family gathering on Christmas Eve. I'm just grabbing a few last things for her. But yeah, it's great seeing you again. You, uh, you look good.”“Um; thanks,” she replied with hesitation.“I'm, uh, gonna be home for a couple of weeks. Would you want to, I don't know, hang out sometime? Maybe grab a bite to eat? My treat.”“Well, Ken, that's sweet of you to ask.” she said almost to herself. As she paused, her eyes suddenly lit up as if she had gotten an idea. “Alright! Here, let me give you my number.” She scribbled a series of digits down on a scrap piece of paper, writing her name next to them. “I'll, um, talk to you later, I guess?”“Sounds great!”Ken couldn't believe it; he had actually done it! He had asked out the prettiest girl he had ever known! Moreover, she had given him her number! Things were definitely looking up.“Dick!” a voice behind them yelled.Ken turned, immediately recognizing Jason Brown, Jacqueline's fraternal twin brother, along with his two flunkies, Brian and Barrett Sullivan. Jason had been the star quarterback at his high school, and the Sullivan boys were his best offensive linemen. They often served as his muscle off the football field, as well. Ken was intimately familiar with these three, as they had made it their mission in high school to make his life a living hell. Being stuffed in lockers, having his wallet stolen, all were commonplace with them. The three approached, attempting to appear imposing, which they were from the perspective of the ever-scrawny Ken.“I've got nothing to say to you guys,” Ken muttered as they approached.“Well I've got something to say to you, Mr. Kenny Dick,” Jason growled.“Just shut up and leave me alone,” Ken replied, his blood boiling at the use of Jason's longtime nickname for him.“No! You shut the fuck up and listen!” Jason said, grabbing Ken by the collar of his tee-shirt and flinging him against his car. In the process, Ken dropped his shopping bags, the jugs of tea landing directly on the egg carton.“Jason! Stop it!” Jacqueline protested.Undeterred, Jason threatened. “Listen fuck-wad, you stay the hell away from my sister!”“She's an adult, dickhead! She can have anyone she wants as a friend!” Ken protested.“You don't belong on the same Planet as her! You're nothing'! A pathetic sack of guts your dumbass mother decided to give a name to! Know what? Just do us all a favor and drop dead!”Enraged at the insult to his mom, Ken swung a wild haymaker at his assailant, but Jason was more than ready, pinning Ken's arm back against his car. Jason then delivered a crushing punch to Ken's gut, dropping him down to his knees. Before leaving, Jason knelt down next to his gasping victim.“Next time, I won't be so nice. Next time; I might just kill you myself. See ya around. Dick.” Turning to his sister, Jason said, “Come on, time to go home.”Jacqueline looked down at the pitiful form of Ken before muttering, “Sorry, Ken.”The trio of boys sauntered off across the parking lot, laughing and high-fiving at their antics. Jacqueline followed right behind them. Ken picked himself up and inspected his groceries, discovering the crushed eggs in his bag. Swearing and cursing, he grabbed the misshapen carton and went to throw it in a nearby trash can.“No chess pie tonight.”As Ken returned to his car and began his drive home, Jason and his flunkies watched on from his car, still pleased with their efforts.“You shouldn't have done that,” Jacqueline said in a lecturing tone.Jason turned to face his sister. “I do what I gotta do, Jacqueline. That fuck-wad has no business getting friendly with you. He needs to learn his place.”“Be that as it may, I can take care of myself,” she replied firmly.“Take care of yourself? Wait; you didn't?”“I did. Jason, someday you'll learn that there are more subtle and effective ways to ward off undesirables. Trust me, Ken won't bother me ever again.”Back at Home.Upon arriving back home, Ken couldn't bring himself to tell his mom about the incident with the eggs. He instead told her that the store had run out altogether. She had spent many sleepless nights in the past worrying about the constant bullying her son was subjected to in school. Ken didn't want to give her anything else to worry about. By this time, has uncles had started arriving, and the living room was soon filled with the sounds of football games. In Ken's mind, these were no more thought provoking that the mindless Christmas specials he had found earlier. Ken went up to his room to take a hot shower, as well as get some alone time in the process. As he stripped down, he saw a bruise beginning to form on his stomach from Jason's punch. He winced in pain as he touched the tender skin.Shit; that's not going away for a while.Ken took some Tylenol for the pain before stepping into the shower. The hot water helped relax his body, and the steam gradually built up, clearing his mind a bit. He finished after a while and, after making sure his door was shut, flopped facedown onto his bed. After laying there for around an hour or so, his mom finally called him down to rejoin the family for dinner.Taking his seat at the table, Ken glanced around the room at his various family members. His mom had two older brothers, Lee and Stan. Though Lee was tall and still relatively youthful looking at forty-five, Stan was shorter and beginning to bald as he approached fifty. Still, both of them had one notable thing in common as far as Ken was concerned: they were both still jocks at heart. Ken had never known his father; it had always just been him and his mom. He could tell that his uncles tried to be male role models for him, but their efforts were usually ill-conceived attempts to “man him up.” Never once did they understand his introverted tendencies, and always tried to get him to be more of a people person. After a while, Ken stopped paying their advice any attention.It was striking to Ken how similar Lee and Stan's families were. They had both married beautiful, blonde cheerleaders, and now both had sixteen-year-old daughters, both of whom were among the most popular girls in school. It all sickened Ken; they were just perpetuating the stereotype of pretty and popular being the be-all, end-all in life. As the family ate, Ken remained silent for the most part. The adults were engrossed in discussions about their jobs, and the two daughters were giggling and playing on their phones the entire time. None of this was relevant to Ken.“You know, I saw something interesting today,” Lee said as dessert was being brought out. “I was at Kroger filling up my car, and saw you in the main parking lot, Ken. Looked like you were, uh, having some words with a few guys out there.”Shit! He saw that?Not wanting to worry his mom, Ken replied, “It; it was nothing.”“Nothing, eh? Is that why that punk punched you in the gut?”With a worried look on her face, Helen asked, “Ken, sweetie, what is he talking about?” She walked around the table to Ken's seat and lifted up his shirt, seeing the bruise on his abdomen. “Was it that Jason boy again?”“Mom, just let it go.”“No! Ken, you know I worry about you!”“You worry about Me? I think you need to worry more about your brother!” Ken shouted, his anger exploding at last. “Right, Uncle Lee? Come on, you see your own nephew being ganged up on in a parking lot, yet you do nothing to help him out?!”“A man's gotta learn to fight his own battles,” Lee replied in a calm voice.“No. You want to know what a man does? A man sticks up for his Family! No. Matter. What! You stood there and watched your own nephew get beaten up. That says a hell of a lot more about you than it does me. And if that's family; I don't want any part of this one.”Without a word, Ken stood and left the dining room. He then grabbed his MIT hoodie and headed for the front door. As he was about to get into his car and drive off, he saw to his frustration that his uncles' cars were parked in the driveway behind him, blocking him in. Cursing under his breath, he prepared to leave on foot.“Ken! Come back inside, please!” Helen called after him, running down the driveway.“No. I've got to go out; clear my head.”“Ken, it's Christmas Eve. Please, come be with your family.”“Mom, aside from you, not a single person in that house feels like family to me,” Ken replied coldly. “I'll; I'll call you after while.”Ken walked off into the cold Georgia night, not knowing for sure where to go or what to do. Nobody else was out, as they were all at home with their families. Remembering the square in historic downtown Alpharetta, he decided to head in that direction. Maybe the quiet walk would do him some good.Arriving in the town square, Ken walked along the sidewalks for a bit, peering into the darkened windows of the various shops and restaurants. Everything looked so different to him with everyone gone for the day; it all seemed so peaceful. As he continued to walk, he soon saw City Hall in the distance. In front of the building was a large green space, which was teeming with a surprising amount of activity for it being Christmas Eve. Ken moved closer, now spying a large gathering of people sitting on picnic blankets, all bundled up in coats and hats. Ahead of them, a large screen projected the classic film, It's a Wonderful Life.Though Ken was never into the Christmas cheer, as it were, he felt strangely drawn to watch a few minutes of the film from a distance. He soon began to regret that decision, as the movie had reached the point where George Baily had an arrest warrant out for him, lashing out at his family in anger. Watching him get drunk and punched in a bar fight, Ken began to feel sick with anger. Despite all his efforts to help better the world around him, the universe conspired against George Baily; just as it seemed to be conspiring against Ken. Unable to watch a moment more, he turned and walked into the nearby park.Again alone with his thoughts, Ken sat on a bench near the fountain in the center of the park. He contemplated many things, as he often did in solitude. He thought about his piss poor excuse for a family, intent on changing him into what they say he should be. If only they could love him as he is. He thought about Jason Brown, a perpetual asshole that managed to get all the beautiful women his heart desired. If only the universe would serve up his just desserts, rather than conspiring against Ken. Sighing in frustration, he stuffed his freezing hands into his jeans pockets.Jacqueline!Feeling the scrap of paper still in his pocket, Ken suddenly felt a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dreary day. He needed something, anything to lift his spirits, and hearing her kind, sweet voice might just do it. Hell, he didn't even care anymore if she was interested in him in a romantic sense; he just needed someone to listen and understand him. Digging out his phone, he dialed the number. After a single ring, a message began to play, seeming to be read by a game show host.“Congratulations! You've reached Live 95.5 FM's world-famous Loser Line! Live 95.5; featuring the best entertainment in Seattle! If you've reached this message, you have attempted to hit on a girl Way out of your league! That poor young lady wants nothing to do with you, but you just couldn't help creeping on her! That's where we come in! Now you know what a loser you really are! So leave the girl alone, loser! You're doing everyone a favor! If you'd like to leave a message for the world-famous Loser Line, begin speaking at the tone!”Beep!Ken hung up the phone in quiet disbelief. How could he have been so wrong about Jacqueline? They had worked so well together in school, and he even considered her a friend! She always spoke so kindly to him, how could this have happened? Was she really as nasty and shallow as her dumbass brother? Was she really just that good of an actress? As he pondered all this, Ken's rage finally exploded out of him.“That two-faced bitch! Who the fuck does she think she is?! I trusted her! Hell, she would never have gotten a full scholarship without my help! All I ever did was Like her! And after all that, she doesn't even have the decency to turn me down to my face?! What The Fucking Hell? At least her brother was honest about his disdain. She's far worse! I can't imagine how evil she'd be if a person actually offended her?”Slumping back down onto the park bench, every thought that entered Ken's mind brought him lower. Jason was an ass, but then again, he didn't know how to act any different. Uncle Lee was a moron, but then again, he had no malicious intent. But Jacqueline; she was the last straw. He had trusted her, opened up to her, and she repaid him by committing the single most cruel and senseless act Ken could ever imagine. Everything was crashing down around him. As he continued to sulk, Jason's words entered into his mind once more.“I should just do everyone a favor and drop dead; is that what you want, Jacqueline? Seems like you agree with your brother, or you wouldn't have given me that number.”Ken reached into his pocket, withdrawing a folding knife. It had been a high school graduation present to him from his grandfather, before he passed a few months later. A far cry from the typical Swiss Army knife, he unfolded the shiny, four-inch blade, which stood in beautiful contrast to the wooden handle. Inscribed in the wood were Ken's initials. He had not used it for anything yet, never had any need to. As he stared at his reflection in the blade, Ken kept replaying Jason's cruel words in his mind, to do the world a favor and drop dead.“Maybe that's not such a bad idea.” Ken mumbled.Just as he took a firm grip on the handle, preparing to take the knife to his throat, an unfamiliar voice came from off to the side.“Hey!”Gabrielle's Christmas night.Gabrielle Libertine relaxed in a lawn chair, savoring the crisp, cold air of Christmas Eve. This was her favorite time of the year, and being able to enjoy an outdoor showing of her favorite Christmas film, It's a Wonderful Life, made it even better. It all fit in perfectly with her life philosophy: live for happiness. Not only her own, but as much as could be had for the world around her too.“You want the moon? Just say the word, and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.”“Oh, Jimmy Stewart, you charmer you.” Gabby sighed.Soon, her emotions welled up as the hopeless romantic that was George Bailey began to succumb to the pressures and injustices of life. He had blamed his own uncle for destroying their business, lashed out at his wife and children in anger, and gone crawling to his hated rival for a loan. The hardest scenes for her to watch were always the bar fight and the car crash. Still, she always stuck it out. The best was yet to come.Just as George stood atop the bridge, Gabby caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. A young man of about nineteen or twenty was watching the movie from a distance away, leaning against a tree near the road. His face twisted in angst as he saw the pain on display in the film, and he soon spun around, walking into the nearby park. Gabby couldn't explain why, but something compelled her to follow him and make sure he was okay.Collecting her lawn chair, she walked along the perimeter of the green space, soon arriving at the entrance to the park. As she went, she began to hear angry shouting up ahead of her; it sounded like the young man was in distress. After a few minutes, she came upon the fountain situated in the center of the park. On a bench sat the man from earlier, appearing to be deep in thought. By the glow of the lamppost, Gabby could now get a good look at him. He appeared to be of average height, maybe 5'7”, and had shaggy black hair that seemed a bit unkempt. Still, it's color shone in the light of the park, and his white skin provided for quite a striking appearance. A pair of black horn-rimmed glasses framed his face, which combined with his red MIT hoodie to project a very specific image into Gabby's mind. He had to be incredibly intelligent.As she studied him, she saw the young man pull an object out of the pocket of his jeans. Catching a glimpse of something reflective, she could now see that he was holding a small folding knife. Gabby tensed up and wondered if she should run, but soon decided against it; he didn't seem to have even noticed her presence. In fact, the way he looked at the knife was quite unsettling. It was as if he saw that little blade as his best friend in the world. She knew the look in his eyes. She knew what would happen in a moment if she did nothing. Taking a deep breath, Gabby decided to act.“Hey.”Intervention.Ken was startled by the unfamiliar voice. Looking up, he now saw a woman in her early twenties standing across the way. She gazed at him with intent, but for what reason he did not know. Looking back at her, Ken's typical awkwardness began to kick in, as he could see that she was quite beautiful. Dressed warmly in a black winter coat and blue jeans, she wore a grey knit cap over her long blonde hair. Upon first glance, she appeared to be of some sort of Scandinavian descent, or perhaps German, though Ken couldn't be sure. His mouth went dry as he tried to find the words to speak.“Everything okay?” she asked.“Uh; fine. Why do you, um; why do you ask?”Smiling, she replied, “I saw you over on the green, watching the movie. By the look on your face, you were having a tough time with it. When I saw you walk off towards the park, I felt I should come and see if anything was wrong.”“No, nothing's wrong.”“Good. Then I shouldn't be concerned about the way you're looking at that knife of yours, right?”Shaking his head, Ken answered, “I'm not going to hurt you. Promise.”“That's not what I'm concerned about.”“Wha; what do you mean?” Ken asked, his eyes growing wide.“I've seen that look before,” she said, taking a couple of steps closer. “I am, sadly, all too familiar with it. You were about to hurt yourself, weren't you?”“You don't know a thing about me, lady,” Ken muttered, preparing to leave.“I don't have to know anything about you to be concerned,” she fired back.“Concerned,” Ken snorted. “How could you be concerned about me? You don't even know me!”“Easily rectified. Gabrielle Libertine. My friends call me Gabby,” she said, sticking out her hand with a warm smile. When he didn't respond, she smirked and continued, “This is the part where you tell me your name.”Sighing, he replied, “Ken. Ken Dix.”“A pleasure, Ken,” she said as they shook hands.“So; Gabrielle, eh? You supposed to be my Clarence or something?”With a playful gasp, she responded, “Oh my God! Does that mean you're Jimmy Stewart?! I've had the biggest crush on you for Years!”Ken gave a nervous laugh. “Alright, alright, I walked into that one. But in all seriousness.”“No, I'm not a Guardian Angel or the Word of God or anything like that. Just an average person like you.” Motioning to the bench, she asked, “May I?”“Sure, I guess,” Ken answered, scooting to the edge.“Thanks.” Taking a seat, she continued, “So tell me this, Ken: why would you want to hurt, maybe kill yourself?”His face twisted in pain. “You don't want to know.”“I do. Believe me, I do.”Sighing with reluctance, Ken relented and began to tell Gabby of the events of the day. He started with Jacqueline and Jason, then the confrontation with his uncle, and finally the fake phone number showing Jacqueline's true colors. Through it all, Gabby sat in silence, maintaining eye contact and nodding whenever appropriate. At last, he finished his story, and Gabby could feel her heart breaking within her chest.“Ken; I'm so sorry. I can feel the pain in your voice. No one deserves what you've gone through today. I know it's of little help, but I do understand what you're going through.”“Understand?” Ken said, incredulous. “How could a girl like you understand any of this? I mean, look at you. You're gorgeous, and I bet you've always been popular. Just like Jacqueline. Just like Jason. Just like Uncle Lee. None of you could ever imagine the world I live in.”With a stern look on her face, she replied, “I'm going to choose to let that slide, considering everything you've told me. Still, you need to know that what you just said was quite hurtful. Almost as hurtful as the things that have been said to you today.”Ken recoiled. He knew she was right. “I'm; I'm sorry. You're right; I should never have said that. You've been nothing but nice to me tonight.”“Apology accepted,” Gabby said with a smile. “Humility is a rare trait in men these days. Hang on to that.”Ken thought she might be mocking him, but bit his tongue nonetheless. He had already insulted her once, and he wasn't going to chance a second time.Seeking to turn the conversation to happier topics, she asked, “M I T, huh? You're an awful long way from home, aren't you?”“Huh? Oh, the hoodie. Yeah, I'm a freshman there this year, just home on break right now.”“Nice. Major?”“Health sciences. I want to go to medical school after MIT, though I'm still figuring out a specialty.”“Plenty of time to decide that. I'm sure you'll find the right career path,” she said with a grin.As nice as it was to talk about a familiar topic, a few things still bugged Ken's mind to no end. “I still can't figure it out; why would Jacqueline do this?”Frowning, Gabby replied, “Some people are cruel. Often the ones that are the cruelest disguise it with a kind, warm public demeanor. Jacqueline sounds like she fits that mold to a T.”“And she hid it all that time while we were in school?”“You were useful at the time, in her mind. She wasn't going to chance losing that. Once she got what she needed, she had no more reason to hide her true feelings.”“Yeah, but still. Why be all friendly to me in the store?”“In her twisted mind, she probably felt she was doing you a favor. She wanted to ensure you never tried to contact her again. To a cruel person like her; that's her idea of doing you a kindness,” Gabby replied sadly. “We just have to hope that there's enough real kindness in this world to counteract such cruelty.”Now noticing a silver cross hanging from her neck, Ken pointed to it and asked, “I guess this the part where you start lecturing me about suicide? That I'm being selfish and trying to go against God's plan?”“No,” she replied with simplicity.“No?”“No. Ken, I meant it when I said that I've seen that look before. I know better than most that suicidal thoughts are rarely that simple. There's no switch that can turn them off. It's a tide that must be turned back, bit by bit.”Stunned, Ken started to see that this woman understood what was important in life. Realizing he still had the knife in his hand, he folded it closed and put it back in his pocket.“Bit by bit,” she said with a smile. “My car's around the corner. Is there somewhere I can take you? Where do you live?”“I'm not going home. Not yet,” Ken replied. “Not with my uncles still there.”“No problem. I'm not going to force you.” Thinking a moment, she continued, “It's pretty cold out here. Why don't you come back to my place for a bit?”“That's; unnecessary. I'm fine on my own.”“Nice try, but no cigar,” she said. “I'm not leaving you alone with that knife, mister. And I'm certainly not leaving you alone on Christmas Eve. Nobody should be alone for the holidays.”“Thanks, but; won't your husband mind?”“He would, if I were married.”“Boyfriend?”“Nope, just my townhouse and me. Pretty cozy, all things considered. No problems with you coming over, but I do have one condition.”“And what's that?”Smirking, Gabby replied, “You call your mom right now and tell her you're okay.”Hesitating a moment, Ken soon relented. “Fine.” Tapping his phone, Ken waited as it rang. “Hey Mom, it's me; Yeah, I'm okay; No, seriously. I'm fine; Yeah I'm just hanging with a friend. I probably won't be back ‘til tomorrow; I will; Love you too; Bye.”“See? Now that wasn't so bad, was it?” Gabby teased him.Eying her, Ken asked. “You're seriously okay with bringing me to your home?”“Positive.”Taking his hand, Gabby led him to her car.Gabby's guest.The drive had been silent for the most part. Ken was still trying to comprehend everything that was happening. Who was this woman? Why would she go to such great lengths for a stranger she didn't even know? Gabby seemed to pick up on this, refraining from prodding him for any further conversation. She could tell he was still processing the events of the day. Soon, they arrived at her townhouse complex and pulled into her garage.“Come on in, make yourself at home,” she said as she turned on the lights. “Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee? Hot chocolate?”“Hot chocolate sounds good, thanks.”“Coming right up!”As she hung her hat and jacket up on a rack, Ken couldn't help but stare. He now saw that she wasn't just a pretty face; her entire body was sublime. She wore a tight burgundy sweater and a pair of tight, form-fitting jeans. This ensemble only served to accent her body even further. Her hourglass figure was delectable, her slim waist contrasting with her curvy hips and ample bust. She was also just as tall as him, perhaps a bit taller, with legs for miles. Though Ken had fantasized about some of his classmates, none of them could come anywhere close to Gabby. She was a woman, not a girl, and in the prime of her life no less.“Here you go,” she said, handing Ken a mug.After blowing on the hot drink, he took a sip, feeling the warm liquid spreading through his body. “Thanks,” he sighed.“No problem,” she replied with a smile. “Come on, let's go relax in the den.”She led him into an intimate area with a sofa and a loveseat. The only illumination came from the twinkling multicolored lights on her Christmas tree in the corner. As Ken took in the relaxing surroundings, smelling the delicious scent of her Frazier fir tree, Gabby stepped over to the fireplace opposite the sofa. Flipping a switch, she soon had a comfortable fire roaring from the gas logs. She then sat on the sofa, placing her mug on the side table and patting the spot next to her.“Come sit. I promise I don't bite,” she said with a playful grin.“Um, okay.” he mumbled, scooting as close to the armrest as he could to give Gabby plenty of space.“Tell me about M I T,” she inquired. “You mentioned you want to go into health sciences. Does that include medical school?”“Uh, yeah with any luck. Harvard would be my top choice, but I don't know if I could afford it. But assuming so, my dream has always been to be a brain surgeon.”“Brain surgeon?! That's so cool! They're like; the most badass of all the badass doctors! Not just surgeons, brain surgeons!” Gabby gushed.“It's, uh, not that big a deal,” Ken replied as he blushed with embarrassment.“Well, I could totally see you as a brain surgeon. Don't ever give up on it.”“Thanks.”“So, what then for you, Dr. Dix? What happens once you reach your dream?”Ken began to feel a strange amount of comfort with this woman, and started to open up to her. “Honestly; I don't know. I mean even if I become a brain surgeon, I'm still hopeless around girls. Maybe Jason's right. I'm gonna die a virgin.” Realizing what he had confessed to her, he turned to Gabby and blurted out, “Not that it's your problem, or anything. S-sorry, I just; I shouldn't have gone that far.”Gabby just smiled and moved closer to him, brushing her hand against his arm.“Don't worry about it. You have goals, both personal and professional, but aren't sure exactly how to achieve them. So you're a virgin. That's nothing to be embarrassed about, and it's healthy to express your anxiety about it. That can help you overcome your fears. In all seriousness, I think you underestimate yourself, Ken.”“Underestimate myself?”“Of course,” Gabby replied. “You're smart, considerate, polite, you even held the car door for me earlier! Any girl you'd want to be with is gonna swoon at traits like that. I can also tell that you still think of yourself as unattractive, but I disagree. You wear glasses, yes, but that doesn't make you a dork. Your hair is a little shaggy, but not greasy or anything. You may not have a tan, but your skin complexion is damn near flawless. You have nothing to be ashamed of, be it your looks or your personality.”“You're about the only woman who thinks so,” he sighed.“Doubtful, but if it's that big a worry for you, I can give you a couple of pointers, if you like.”“Um, oh, okay I guess.”“Great! Okay, so you definitely give off the ‘geek' vibe, but that's not a bad thing. Don't fight it; own it.”“How?”“Well, you can make just some slight alterations to your outward appearance that can change the way others see you. For example, you could switch to wire-framed glasses instead of your horn-rimmed ones. Your hair is a great color, and would do well in a short, clean-cut style, if I do say so myself. You can also change out your usual t-shirts for some casual polo shirts.”“So; the secret to getting women to notice me is to change who I am?” Ken asked, feeling more than a little offended.Cocking her eyebrow, Gabby replied, “Are you saying your glasses, hair length, and shirt choices define who you are?”“Oh, uh; fair point,” Ken conceded.“See? Humility. Such a rare quality these days,” Gabby said with a grin. “To be honest, all the changes I suggested are things my brother did a couple of years back. He was a complete geek, maybe even bigger than you. The poor boy was helpless around the fairer sex. But after he made these changes, he no longer came off as the socially awkward geek. He came off as a self-assured, confident geek, one who loves himself for who he is. I see that potential in you, Ken.” Grabbing her iPad from the side table, she pulled up a couple of pictures for him. “See? Here's before. And here's after.”“Woah,” Ken marveled. He could see the drastic difference. The guy hadn't done anything to make himself stronger or bulkier, nothing to increase his manliness, but the things he did change just popped in all the right ways. Was it really that simple?“That's great and all, but can new clothes and a haircut get rid of social awkwardness? I still don't have even a shred of confidence around women,” Ken said.“They can help, but a change in your mental confidence is completely based on your willpower. You have to love yourself as much as you want others to love you. If you don't, everyone else will pick up on it.”“Knew there was a catch.”Gabby bit her lip in frustration. There had to be a way she could give him the confidence boost he needed to love himself, but how? Getting one somewhat crazy idea, she moved closer to Ken.“I'm guessing from your previous statements that; you've never kissed a girl before. Is that right Ken?”Poor Ken Dix didn't even know what had hit him. Here he was, sitting with the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on, and the unthinkable was beginning to happen. She was moving closer, running her fingers through his hair, and now wanted to know if he'd ever been kissed! This was too much, way beyond any of his hottest dreams. Unable to find the words to respond, he managed to slowly nod his head.“Close your eyes,” she instructed in her sweet voice. When he only blinked in reply, she whispered, “Close; your eyes, Ken. Trust me.”Guided by an unseen force, Ken felt compelled to obey her. His eyes finally fluttered closed, and his breathing became more labored in anticipation of what was to come. A small part of him doubted that she was being truthful, thinking that she'd fake him out just like Jacqueline had. Those doubts were soon quashed, as he felt the warm sensation of Gabby's face leaning close to his. He could feel her breathing. He could smell her perfume. If there was a God, Ken prayed, then and there; that He could make this incredible moment last forever.After what felt like eons, Gabby finally released their building tension and touched her lips to Ken's. Her kiss was soft at first, allowing him to savor the new sensations he was feeling. Ken was so terrified and excited all at once that he could barely even move his lips in reply. Not that it mattered to Gabby. She had expected his fear, and made sure to keep her technique simple yet enjoyable. After around thirty seconds, she withdrew at last, her face aglow in the Christmas tree light.“Wow,” Ken managed to mutter as he opened his eyes. He soon noticed that he couldn't see Gabby at all; his glasses had fogged up from their kiss.“Here, let's just take these off,” Gabby said with a giggle. She slipped his glasses off and laid them on her side table. “Now then, since we've gotten your first kiss out of the way, ready to really dive in?”“Dive in to what?” Ken asked, his nerves beginning to fray.“Kissing, silly! You do know there's much more to it than what we just did, right?”“More?”“Of course! Look, one day you'll get the prime opportunity to kiss a special lady, and I want you to be ready when that chance comes.”To be continued in part 2, based on a post by auguy86, in 2 parts for Sex Stories.