Podcasts about she had

She Had a Closet Full of Clothes—But Nothing That Felt Like Her

She HAD a cheating era... but she's better now! Really!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we share the incredible story of a woman whose baby was born in the parking lot of a Krispy Kreme in Dothan, Alabama. What followed was an unexpected promise: every year, until the child is grown, he will have a birthday celebration at the very spot where he entered the world. This heartwarming story highlights the power of family, tradition, and a very special connection to an unlikely place.Other Unusual BirthsWoman Goes into Labor while SkydivingGiving Birth in an Art Gallery?She Had a Baby on Her Porch!This Week's Featured Hashtag#SuperheroAlternates Send a text to The Ebone Zone! Support the showIf you have questions or comments email ebonezonepodcast@yahoo.com Follow the Ebone Zone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OfficialEBZLike the Ebone Zone on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ebonezoneofficial/Visit www.ebonezone.com for more content!

Room and Bored: Part 5 Dale's schedule filled up with women's requests.. Based on a post by Krosis, in 5 parts. Listen to the ►  Podcast at Steamy Stories. At college, Melanie reminded Dale of their date that weekend. He nodded, he was originally going to cancel, but now that Nancy and Dale had -- was 'broken up' the correct term? -- well, whatever it was, it was done, so he figured he'd take the pretty platinum blonde to the movie and try to get on with his life. Just before he left the campus, though, he got a picture message from an unknown number. Confused, he opened it to see a photo of him taking Nancy from behind in their kitchen. The pic was a bit grainy, obviously taken from outside the house, but both their faces could easily be identified. A text then arrived from the same number: *My place, 6pm -- Helena*   That morning, Helena woke at 8 AM sharp. She had no choice in the matter, her parents had drilled it into her for most of her life so that she wouldn't be late for school, and even now, when she was no longer attending any house of learning, her body still habitually woke her up at that time. "Ugh, " She got up, stretched her lithe body, and pulled on some sweatpants and a tight t-shirt over a bra and undies. As she headed toward her bedroom door, she glanced out her window and stopped short. Dale's house across the street had its front windows open, and, she squinted, was that, ? She rushed down the hallway to the second floor's front balcony and threw it open. Sure enough, that was Nancy bent over the kitchen counter, getting fucked by, "Dale?" Helena pulled out her phone and zoomed the camera in. Not good enough! She cast about, saw her Dad's bird watching binoculars, and grabbed them. She pressed her camera lens to one of the eye holes of the binos and lined up the shot. There! She snapped several pics before she saw Dale thrust deep and cry out as he filled the voluptuous housewife with his cum. Shaking, Helena went back inside to decide what to do about this revelation. Obviously if Nancy's husband saw these pics, then her marriage would be over, and Dale would probably get the shit kicked out of him. Helena didn't like the thought of that, but she didn't care about Nancy's marriage; she barely knew the woman. She got a text from her Mom: *Won't be home tonight, try not to fuck the whole neighborhood while we're out, slut* Helena's parents hadn't come home the previous night either. She was pretty certain that they were over at a swinger couple's house, and it seemed that they had hit it off. Her mother was always ribbing Helena about her high sex drive, but the young woman had actually been a virgin until she had tricked a blindfolded Dale into sex almost 2 weeks ago, and even that had been an accident. Thinking about Dale's long cock slipping inside her and filling her with his sizable load made her nipples hard. It had been a frequent masturbatory inspiration since. She needed more, and with these pics she knew she could get more, she just had to be bold, like her mother. 'Like mother, like daughter,' she heard her mother's voice in her head. "Yeah," she agreed. Dale finds himself at the beck and call of demanding women. Things were strained between Dale and Nancy after he got home from school, not only because she had broken off their burgeoning romance, but also due to his concern about Helena's text that contained picture evidence of him and his married landlady having sex. What did Helena want from him? he wondered. After dinner, he headed over to Helena's house at 6 PM, as ordered. The strawberry blonde answered the door, as usual, with a menacing grin on her pretty face. She was wearing a tight t-shirt and sweatpants today. "Right on time, slave." Dale stared at her. Slave? "Get in here." He stepped in and she closed and locked the door behind him. "Oh, now that you're here, I don't know what to make you do first." "What are your plans for that pic?" he asked her. "Nuttin'," she replied, "as long as you do what I say, obvs." "And if I don't do what you say?" She sighed. "It gets sent to Nancy's husband, and terrible things happen. You ready to stop talking now?" "Nancy's a good person, Helena; she doesn't deserve this." She stepped forward, the top of her head coming only as high as his chin. Dale hadn't realized how short she actually was. "She's a cheating whore, and her husband deserves to know, don't you think?" He bit his tongue and scowled, realizing that yelling wouldn't help the situation. She turned back away from him. "Okay, so the pics are saved to my cloud, and I even printed 'em out, in case you're good enough at computers to hack my account." Dale sighed, Helena had prepared well. "What do you want me to do?" She bounced, her B-cups bobbling about in her shirt. "Ooh, I was hoping I'd be inspired when you got here, but now, too many options, and I can't decide on any! Oh, I know, " She pulled out her phone and started typing. "I joined a View dit group for masters and slaves earlier today, so I'll ask them what I should have you do. Hmm, " Blip! Blip! Blip! Her eyes lit up and she laughed, "Ha, awesome! C'mon up to Mom's room." He followed her up the ornate staircase to Trish's bedroom. "Sit on the bed." She rummaged through her mother's wardrobes and grabbed some things. "Wait here, " She went into the adjoining bathroom and closed the door. A few minutes later, she came out, still wearing the t-shirt, but now she had garters with dark, thigh-high nylon stockings on instead of her sweatpants. She dropped her phone onto the side table, climbed onto the bed, and nibbled her lower lip, reminding Dale of her mother. Sitting at the head of the bed, she spread her legs and he could see that she also had some lacy black panties on. She extended one long, slim leg. "Suck on my toes." He blinked. She had been wearing Chucks when he came in, so her feet were probably sweaty. She frowned and reached for her phone. "How disappointing." Dale grabbed her dainty, stocking-covered foot and shoved the toes into his mouth, grimacing as he started to suck on them. "Mmm, " she sighed, smiled, and started typing again. A few minutes later, she said, "Dang, this person really likes nylons. Do you like my legs, Dale? You can stop sucking." He let go of her toes. Despite the degradation of the act, his cock was getting hard. "Yes, you have gorgeous legs, Helena." "Just like my Mom's?" He considered. "Hers are gorgeous too." She was watching him very closely now. "Which do you prefer?" He didn't know how he should answer. "Be honest, I won't get mad." "Your mom's are more toned; she works hard to keep in shape. You're naturally slim, so you don't need to work out. Sorry, I think toned is better than slim." "Hmm, I see, take out your cock." "Uh, " "Now!" Dale got off the bed, pulled down his jeans and underwear, and stood there. At Helena's direction, he sat back on the bed before her. Then she moved her feet down and took his cock between them. "Umm, " It was awkward, but she was determined. Soon, she was able to stroke up and down his rising erection between her stockinged feet, the nylon catching at the skin of his shaft as it rasped up and down. Dale had never felt anything like it before. "Why, are you doing this?" he gasped. "Because I want to. Why else?" She moved one foot so the arch of her foot pressed against his shaft and her toes grasped at the head of his cock while her other foot continued to stroke. He was having trouble controlling his breathing. "Fuck, I'm gonna, " "Yeah? So cool!" She moved her feet upon him faster until he grunted and shot his cum onto the bottom of her nylon-covered foot. She kept stroking him, but it soon became overwhelmingly sensitive and he backed off, looking embarrassed. She waved him away. "Okay, you can go, but make sure you're ready for when I call." He pulled on his clothes and went home. Helena pulled off the dripping stocking and sucked the foot of it into her mouth as she frigged her clit. Tasting Dale's sperm again, she quickly came, thrilling at the thought of what she did, and what she'd do to him next time.   Dale got a call from his parents as he walked through the front door. "Hey, Mom! Yeah, just got home from my job." He looked over and saw Nancy sitting on the couch, watching TV. He went into the kitchen to fix himself a snack. "Umm hmm, umm hmm, yeah, she's taking care of me." Nancy glanced over and saw Dale looking at her as he said that. She blushed but kept watching her show. "Yep, I'm making a new life here, Mom. Yeah, love you too, say hi to Dad!" New life, Nancy's hand caressed her midsection, thinking about the huge load of sperm Dale had pumped into her that very morning. She had been careless, allowing the young man to plunder her vulnerable insides with his no doubt potent sperm as her body entered its fertile time of the month. She could feel her pussy moistening at the memory, but she had broken it off with him for good this time. She had called her husband, and he would be coming home early at her insistence. She heard Dale head downstairs to his suite and sighed. He still had Trish across the street to satisfy his urges, so he'd survive just fine.   *Got a treat for you today! Cum over at 7pm* That had been from Trish the next day. Both the Milfy blonde and her daughter were ordering him around now. Helena opened the door for him, wearing only short-shorts and a sports bra today, with her strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her skin shone, and he thought that she might have been exercising. "Her bedroom, come to mine after." She gave him a wink. "Trish?" He opened the master bedroom door to find the leggy blonde laying on her bed, completely naked, and she brought a friend! "Um, " "Close the door, Dale. This is Marietta, and she's been looking forward to making your acquaintance after I told her about all the fun we've been having." "Uh, hi." Dale couldn't believe how much this pretty, older Latina lady looked like a darker-skinned version of Nancy, with large tits, a curvy body, and dark, shoulder-length curls instead of Nancy's auburn tresses. She was likewise naked, her legs wide, with Trish's face between them. "I've been getting her ready for you," Trish said as she got up and strode over to him. Then she kissed him hard and he tasted the other woman's juices on her lips. "We want several loads from you tonight, Dale, so get undressed." She sat back down on the bed and waited. He quickly disrobed and climbed onto the bed, uncertain. Trish's treat for him was a threesome! "How do you want to do this?" Trish asked Marietta. The newcomer shrugged, uncertain, she seemed shy as well, covering her large tits as best she could with her arms. "Hmm, okay, Dale, lay down." He did, and Trish situated her pussy above his face while he felt Marietta climb astride his hips, the women facing each other. Dale speared his tongue between Trish's pussy lips. "Umm! Good boy, Dale, come on, Mari, get on that cock." Dale felt the other woman grasp his hard member, direct it to her pussy, and then start to press down upon it. "Fuck, he's big," she groaned. Dale felt a bit proud at that. He grabbed Trish's hips and pulled her down onto his tongue. "Uhh, you're getting better at that, Dale," Trish moaned as he also licked at her clit before dipping his tongue inside again. Marietta had gotten half of his cock inside her, and it seemed like she was struggling. "Let me, " Trish said, and she leaned forward. Dale couldn't see what she did, but the other woman groaned and slipped further down his cock as her pussy loosened up. After she pulled up a bit and pressed down again a few more times, he was all the way inside her. "Got it, all, " she moaned. Dale could feel her pussy trembling around his shaft. "You want that cum? You have to earn it, Mari, move that ass, " Trish ordered her friend. Dale felt Trish shift as she pushed Marietta back, causing the newcomer to arch her spine as she continued to ride him. This new angle caused the head of his cock to rub along her G-spot, and he heard her gasping as his member pleasured her insides. After a few minutes, Trish whispered to her friend, "Oh, he's gonna fill you up with that hot cum soon, I can tell. Won't that feel good, babe, all that sperm inside you?" Marietta whimpered, and Trish took one of the woman's prominent nipples into her mouth. Dale couldn't hear or see any of this, though. He felt Marietta's pussy grip him tighter, and he pushed two fingers into Trish's pussy as he continued to lick at her clit. He was indeed getting close, the two women overwhelming his senses. He felt Trish lean forward more, her fingers flicked at Marietta's clit on the down-strokes, but on the upstrokes she caressed the base of Dale's cock. That was it for him, he grunted into Trish's pussy as his balls gave up their cargo and shot his orgasm up his lengthy shaft and deep inside Marietta's sultry pussy. Upon feeling Dale's cock throb, followed by a wet, warm pressure deep inside her, Marietta came. "Oh! Ah! Aie!" "Yes!" Trish sat up and pulled her friend into a hot, tonguey kiss as her boytoy inseminated the woman. "Umm, " Finally, both of them rolled off of Dale and they all lay there, panting. After a few minutes, Trish engulfed his cock with her mouth and sucked all of his and Marietta's combined juices from it. Pretty soon, his member rose to near full size again. "Ah, youth, " Trish commented, and climbed astride him. She was able to take all of him inside her juicy pussy without issue, and began to slam herself down upon him, quickly approaching her own release. She glanced to the side, saw Marietta playing with her own clit as she watched Trish and Dale fucking, and came. "Oh-oh! Yes, " Trish played with her own nipples as pleasure washed over and through her. When Trish's orgasm was done, she dismounted. "Get over there and fuck Marietta again, stud." Marietta looked at Dale with wide eyes. "Trish, I'm not sure I can, oomph!" Dale had leapt upon the voluptuous woman and slipped his hard cock back inside her spermy pussy. He thrust into her quickly, wanting to achieve his second release of the night. If he blurred his eyes, he could almost believe that he was having sex with Nancy again. He felt Trish come up behind him and wrap her arms around his chest while pressing her pelvis to his ass. "Hm, like this, it's almost like I'm fucking her," she breathed into his ear. "This is so damn hot." Dale could only agree. "You've probably already impregnated her, but let's make doubly sure, hmm?" "What?" Dale slowed down but Trish moved one arm down around his hips so she could keep thrusting from behind, which pushed his hips forward. "Trish, " "I'm sorry for not letting you know beforehand, Dale, but I didn't know what you'd do if you knew. Marietta's a single professional, and she wants a baby, so I offered your, stud services, " She nibbled on his ear. "C'mon, you can't tell me that you aren't turned on by this." She continued to thrust from behind, but Dale wasn't fighting back, only letting his hips be pushed and pulled by her as his cock sluiced into the body of the fertile woman below him. He acknowledged that it was indeed hot, shooting his cum inside this voluptuous lady. Trish had been practically training his brain for this moment, urging him to play 'knock me up' every time they had sex. Had her method been purposeful, or a happy coincidence? He couldn't think on that very well, as he was approaching his second orgasm of the night. "Oh, please, " Marietta stared into his eyes, her need written plainly on her face as she pushed her rounded hips up at him. Finally, Dale let go, thrusting faster into the sexy woman until he felt another cum rising from his loins. "Uh, umm, Uh!" "Yes, " both women moaned as he thrust deeply inside Marietta and fired another load of baby juice deep inside her. "Umm!" Marietta moaned as she furiously played with her clit and came again. Dale felt her pussy suckling on his cock, urging more of his potent sperm to penetrate her fertile insides. He fell upon Marietta, his energy gone. Trish let go, and the Latina enveloped him with her arms and legs, brought his face to hers, and kissed him passionately. "Thank you, Dale. Oh, " He felt a small orgasmic aftershock squeeze his cock. When he recovered enough, he redressed. "I, uh, gotta go, " "Thank you, Dale," Trish said, "you'll get an extra-special treat next time for being such a good boy." "I, may not survive, " he moaned. He looked back at Marietta. "Err, nice to meet you, " he said lamely. She waved as he stumbled out of the master bedroom. He was going to head home and sleep forever, Helena's bedroom door opened and her finger beckoned. "Oh shit, " The extra-long conclusion. "Helena, " "Hist!" The slim strawberry blonde silenced Dale with a wave of her arm before ushering him into her bedroom and closing the door behind him. "I said you were mine after Mom was done with you." He sat on her bed. "I'm wasted. Those women, " He stopped. Helena dropped the robe she had been wearing, revealing the same garters and hose from the previous day, but now she was also wearing a dark, sheer bustier that propped up her B-cup tits and deepened her cleavage. ", whoa." The eighteen-year-old blushed for a moment as Dale stared at her outfit, but then took a breath. "So, get those pants off." He unfastened his jeans. "Sure, but nothing's gonna happen; I've been wrung dry." "We'll see about that. Also, whisper if you have to say anything." She gave a pointed look toward the air vent near the ceiling. "The walls have ears." He glanced at the vent and then sat back on her bed. As expected, his penis was limp and lifeless. Helena climbed onto the bed with him. "You don't like how I look?" She seemed offended. "You're gorgeous, totally sexy," Dale replied, "but holy shit those women got two loads out of me, back-to-back. I may not be able to cum again for days." "Lay back." He did so, sighing, and Helena moved her nylon-covered feet to his penis again. However, unlike last time, it just didn't respond to the manipulations of her dainty tootsies. She finally gave up. "Damnit," she swore under her breath, "Mom just can't let me enjoy myself." She moved up the bed and lay back on a pillow, huffing in frustration. Dale lay down beside her. "How do you mean?" "She keeps telling me how much I'm like her, a goddamn cumslut, useless for anything but sex, and now I can't even get that going because she drained you like a fucking vampire." "She said all that?" "Shush!" She waved her hand at the air vent. He moved closer so he could whisper. "So the ice princess and dominatrix acts are because of what your mom says? You don't have to listen to her. Did you blackmail me because you thought I wouldn't be interested in you otherwise?" She looked into his eyes as they lay there. "Well, yeah. When we met, I treated you like shit I found on the bottom of my shoe." He considered for a moment. "Tell me something you like, a hobby or pastime." She thought for a moment. "I like anime." "Me too! Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, " "Assassination Classroom?" "Yeah! See, we have something in common. And that's just one thing, I'm sure we have others, but you never bothered to find out." He peered out the window into the night. "Why were you looking at Nancy's house so early in the morning, when you caught us, doing that?" She looked embarrassed. "I always look out there when I wake up. Sometimes I see you heading to school." "You've been watching me?" She flushed. "Yeah, and when you're doing stuff with Mom, " "You've been spying, too." Dale marveled at this, both Nancy and Helena had spied on him doing sex stuff. How many other women were so, sex driven? he wondered. Helena nibbled her lower lip, thinking of the sexy sounds that had come through the air vent from her mother's room for the last hour. She began to rub her thighs together. "I don't get out much." Dale closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Jesus, you're a hot girl that likes anime and sex, you could honestly have any guy you wanted just by showing interest in them, and instead you blackmailed me." "Soo, you do want to go out with me?" He looked at her confused but hopeful look. "If you had asked yesterday, I'd have said yes, well, I guess not while I'm 'servicing' your mother, " "I wouldn't make you stop, that's hot, and I'm not jealous," she informed him, "but why yesterday?" "Because that was before you blackmailed me!" "Oh."   "Dale?" He started awake, confused. Where was he? Oh, right, on Helena's bed. She was still in the garters and bustier, so he figured that he'd only been out for a moment. He looked at his phone, it was 9 PM, so he'd been napping there for the last hour. "Were you just watching me sleep?" he asked her. "You looked like you needed to rest, so I went on my phone for a bit," she replied. "I was hoping a nap might help Mr. Pokey down there." He considered his penis, but it still seemed devoid of energy. "Hm, probably not." "What if I, ?" She took it in hand and started pulling at it. After a minute of that, she sighed and took it into her mouth. "Ahh, " he moaned. The warm, inverse pressure felt good, but his cock still remained lifeless. After another minute she gave up. "Damnit! This is so frustrating. How about, ?" She pulled down on her bustier so that her B-cup boobies popped out, each topped with a pink pencil eraser nipple. Dale felt a twinge down below, and licked his lips as he gazed at her luscious tits. "Yeah?" Helena looked hopeful. "Maybe, ?" She moved forward to press a nipple into his mouth, and Dale began to suckle on it. "Ooh, that feels, wow, " she moaned. She climbed astride him so that he would have better access to her tits, which then caused her panty-covered pussy to settle onto his mostly still-soft penis. "Hmm, ." she moaned in pleasure and frustration. "Are those my stockings and garters?" They froze and turned to the door. Trish was there in her shorty robe, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed as she beheld her 18-year-old daughter rubbing herself on her 19-year-old boy-toy. "Mom! I, uh, " Helena scrambled off of Dale, but that only revealed his half-naked form. "Dale, go home and we'll talk later. Helena, my dear, we are going to have a discussion right now." He grabbed his pants and bounded past Trish and out of the room. Helena's bedroom door slammed behind him.   Friday after school, Dale just hung out in his basement suite. Nancy hadn't invited him up for dinner for the previous couple nights, and he was pretty sure that was no longer an option with her; they were now just landlady and renter, which was even less than what they had been when he moved in. *You up for that extra special treat?* Trish messaged him. Despite cumming twice in rapid succession the previous night with her and Marietta, Dale felt his cock perk up at that text. Still, he wasn't sure what he'd be walking into, after what happened between Trish and Helena. Instead of heading upstairs to leave, which could have caused him to run into Nancy, he instead left by his outside suite door. Trish opened the door for him, wearing her sheer shorty robe that showcased her glorious gams. "No Helena?" he asked, confused. "She's around," she said mysteriously. Dale paused for a moment, thinking. "Can I just quickly, ?" He headed toward the lower floor washroom. "Yeah, come on up to my bedroom when you're ready." When Dale walked into Trish's bedroom a few minutes later, he stopped short. Helena was tied, one extremity per post of Trish's four-poster bed, face down and naked, grunting and yelling into the ball gag that secured her mouth. Dale just stared. "I, uh, " Trish lightly slapped her daughter's ass, causing the girl to rage. "I was able to get out of her that she blackmailed you, though not what with. That was about it, though. Did you fuck her, Dale?" He just stood there, taking in the bizarre sight. "No, she just rubbed one out of me with her feet." Trish looked at her daughter, surprised and a little impressed. "Feet? Huh. Well, I've informed Little Miss Sunshine here that if she uses whatever she's been holding over you, she'll be on the street sucking whatever disease-ridden dicks she can find for cash. I won't support this kind of behavior under my roof." She slapped Helena's tight ass again, eliciting another grunt of outrage from the girl. Dale stayed standing in the bedroom doorway. "So what's going on here?" Trish came forward. "Your extra special treat! You're going to take her anal virginity." Helena screamed into the gag. "And how does Helena feel about that?" Trish harrumphed and crossed her arms. "I don't give a fuck. This girl needs to be taken down a peg, and you have the big peg to do it with." She reached for Dale's zipper. He stepped back, pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and put it away. "So that conversation where you were telling me that you wanted me to anally rape the daughter you forcibly tied to your bed has been uploaded to the cloud." Trish stepped back, shocked. "Dale, !" "Untie her, now." He had never seen Trish cowed before. She quickly did as commanded, freeing Helena, who then rushed over to hug Dale, tears streaming down her face. Trish sat on the bed. "Now what?" Dale gave Helena a squeeze. "Now we talk."   Dale had actually taken Psychology as his college minor (not that anyone ever asked). They sat on the bed and he let Helena rage at her mother about how she had put her down and called her a slut ever since her daughter had grown tits. After some pointed questioning, Dale was able to get out of Trish that she, herself, had been a sexually charged young woman, and had gotten pregnant the very first time she had sex, at 18. She had been stupid, but lucky in that Stephen had taken responsibility and married her. She had seen her daughter taking after herself and didn't want her making the same mistake. Along the way, though, things changed from protective to abusive, she admitted, but she didn't know how to change course. "Right here, this is where you change course," Dale told them. "Blackmail, anal rape? This is rock bottom, so there's nowhere to go but up, right?" "I'm sorry, baby, I love you," Trish sobbed, tears mucking up her mascara as she held out her hands to her daughter. Helena, still holding on to Dale's arm, tightened her grip. He turned to her, "If you think this is salvageable, at least take her hand." She did after a moment, and Trish gave her a hopeful smile. After some more discussion, Dale felt that they had done as much as they could for the day. He got Trish to promise that they'd seek out a family counselor. "I think it's pretty much a given that I won't be coming around again, as handyman or otherwise." Trish nodded. "I'm sorry, Dale, I betrayed your trust with Marietta and misjudged your character with Helena. I hope you'll forgive me." Without comment, he gave her a hug. Then he hugged Helena and went home.   "Hey, hey, Dale!" Dale stopped short as he habitually entered the house through the front door. Michael, Nancy's husband, home almost a week early, was in the kitchen grabbing a bag of chips. "You're back!" Dale stated, stunned. "Yep! Front, too," the older man winked at Dale. Dale sighed. For a guy who didn't have any kids, Michael sure loved dad jokes. "Well, welcome back. I gotta, " Dale pointed to the basement suite door and headed there. "Sure, sure, thanks for taking care of Nancy while I was away, champ." "You're welcome," Dale grumped, and headed down into his cave.   On Saturday, Melanie rolled up in her old Toyota Corolla to pick up Dale for their date. As he got into the passenger side, he noted that she was wearing a white knee-length skirt and a blue blouse under a long, furry coat. "I hope that's not real fur," he joked as she drove. "Definitely not!" Dale offered to pay for the movie, but Melanie refused. "I asked You out," she said indignantly. "Besides, how am I going to get you at my mercy in the back seat of my car if you don't owe me?" She gave him a silly grin to show that she was kidding. Dale frowned. If their genders had been reversed and he had said that, he'd probably have gotten a swift kick in the nards! He laughed uncomfortably. The movie was awesome, as were most Marvel movies. They shared a popcorn, and their hands touched frequently as they pulled the buttery snack from the bucket. When it was gone, they just continued to hold hands. "Wait until after the credits," he told her. "Well Duh!" she responded. After the post-credits scene, they reluctantly disengaged and headed back to her car. Instead of taking Dale home, though, Melanie pulled into an industrial area and parked in a darkened corner of a cul-de-sac. "Did you know that I've had a crush on you for a while?" she asked as she turned the car off. "Yeah? Oomph!" Melanie had unbuckled and rushed her face to his, catching him off guard. As the platinum blonde's tongue slipped into his mouth, though, his libido beast, unfulfilled for the last couple of nights, awoke, and he kissed her back passionately. After a while, first base moved to second, and Dale felt up Melanie's C-cups through her blouse. She redoubled her kissing and, emboldened, Dale suggested that they move into the back seat. "I dunno, oh, " she moaned as Dale found one of her nipples through her bra. "Um, okay." They removed their coats as they moved into the larger space of the back seat and made out some more. Dale was able to move his hands under Melanie's blouse to unsnap her bra, and soon he was palming her warm tits directly. They weren't as large as Nancy's, or even Trish's, but they were nice. "Hmm, " she moaned into his mouth. As they continued the make-out session, Melanie naturally lay back across the seats. Dale took advantage of the change of position by moving between her legs, and soon they were dry humping. As the teen couple thrust their covered loins together, her skirt slipped up further and further, and soon he was rubbing his jeans-covered crotch against her panty-covered pussy. Melanie was breathing heavily and thrusting her pelvis at him, her eyes closed as she was overwhelmed by the sensations. Dale reached down and unzipped his jeans, needing to be inside her. He took his turgid member in hand, used the head to move the gusset of her panties aside, "Dale." , and started to press it into her sex, "Dale! Stop!" , he could feel her wet pussy lips, opening to welcome him, Then he was on the floor of the car, his cheek stinging. "What the hell, Dale?" Melanie yelled. "I told you to stop!" His head was muzzy, both from his bubbling hormones and the slap. He replayed the last few seconds in his head. She Had told him to stop, and he had just been focused on getting his cock wet! He tucked his shrinking member back into his pants and sat back up on the seat, but opposite her. "I'm so sorry, Melanie, I thought you wanted me." Melanie had closed her legs and pulled her skirt back down, and was now looking at him with apprehension. "I did, I do, but, well, number one, you weren't listening, number two, I'm a virgin, and number three, you need to use a condom!" Dale blinked. With all the sex he'd had over the last few weeks, none of it had been with a condom, he hadn't even considered buying any for this date. Also, "You're a virgin?" Here he was, about to deflower Melanie in the back of an old Corolla. He felt like shit. She looked embarrassed. "Well, yeah, remember I was the fat girl with glasses in high school? Nobody asked me out, not even to prom. Then, after the weight loss and eye surgery, I moved here for college, and there you were, I mean, I've had offers from other guys recently, and even a girl, but I kept waiting for you to ask me out." His mind was racing, putting together the pieces that had contributed to his raging, one-track-mind libido over the last few weeks. He considered his date, looking so vulnerable. "Melanie, I wouldn't blame you if you just took me home, but will you listen to my story? It may explain things." She watched him for a while, thinking. Then she nodded. "But we're getting our coats back on, 'cause it's getting cold in here." Bundled back up, Dale told her everything about Nancy, Trish, and even Helena. He explained how Trish's seduction technique and frequent sexual demands, combined with his on-again, off-again 'relationship' with Nancy and Helena's master-slave blackmail must have warped his mind a bit, causing him to focus on the fucking instead of on making sure that Melanie was okay with what they were doing. He also apologized again. She looked at him, wide-eyed. "That was all true? You're not just making up stories, like in class?" He nodded. She pondered what he had said. "All right, I'll forgive you, but I'm going to need something from you, let's call it a trust exercise." Confused, he responded, "Okay, " She nibbled her lower lip. "That story was really fucking hot, and I need to cum. You said Trish taught you how to use your tongue, so, " She pulled down her panties and spread her legs for him, showing off her trimmed blonde muff. ", get in there, and if you make me feel good, I'll make you feel good after. No intercourse, though." Dale was likewise still horny from the making out, as well as from recounting his story. He dove between Melanie's legs and did his absolute best, giving her a screaming orgasm within a couple of minutes. Then she asked him to lay back, and she unfastened his jeans to pull his stiff cock out. "Holy shit! No wonder you've been getting laid so much! Oh!" She engulfed the head with her mouth and he moaned. She inexpertly licked and stroked him to orgasm. While he did warn her that he was going to cum, the sheer volume took her by surprise, and it spilled out as she choked trying to swallow it all, causing it to splatter back onto his crotch and drip down her chin. She licked it all up, marveling at how tasty it was.   Dale and Melanie took their relationship slowly, sticking with blowjobs and pussy eating when they got too wound up. He gave Nancy his notice and moved out the next month for campus housing that was closer to his new girlfriend. A few weeks later, Nancy and Michael rekindled their relationship after she informed him that she was finally pregnant. Michael figured that he had knocked his wife up just before he left for his extended work trip, and she didn't correct him, having started her last period a little after he left. The man stopped being depressed about his low sperm count and returned to his former attentive self, though he still orgasmed way too quickly for her liking.   "Mom?" Helena shuffled into her mother's bedroom. Trish put down her book. "Yes, Helena?" "I think I'm pregnant." Trish scrutinized her daughter and sighed. She had noticed the girl gaining some weight, most notably in her boobs, but hadn't said anything. "How many periods have you missed?" "A couple. I figured you can miss one sometimes, right? But then this month's didn't come either, and it's been another few weeks." Trish frowned. "Dale said you two didn't have sex. Did he lie?" "Umm, no, " The strawberry blonde looked very guilty. "But it's his?" Helena nodded. 'You conniving little bitch,' Trish thought but didn't say. They were working on their relationship with the help of a family therapist, as Dale had suggested. She considered her former boy-toy, now gone for weeks. He had succeeded in impregnating her friend Marietta, and now Helena as well. Trish also had a sneaking suspicion about Nancy also getting pregnant right after her husband left on an extended work trip. I'm the only woman he didn't knock up, she realized, feeling a little left out. "What're we gonna do, Mom?" Helena's pregnancy was already past the number of weeks their state allowed for abortion, so it seemed that Trish was going to be a Gilf in under a year! She sighed. Like mother, like daughter, she told herself again.   Eventually Dale and Melanie did have sex, though he made sure that it was in a properly romantic setting, and she wore garters and stockings, as he had requested. He wore a condom, as she had requested. He started a new game of Dragon Era for them to play together, this time as a female Elf Wizard. While Melanie's role playing choices weren't as interesting as Nancy's, she still occasionally surprised him. After Dale's English professor crushed his dreams and told him, quite frankly, that the young man's writing skills weren't sufficiently amazing to make a living at it, he switched majors to Psychology. He kept writing in his spare time, though, as he enjoyed it, you may have red some of his erotic stories online. By Krosis, for Literotica.  

Crashing Lightening and Rolling Thunder. In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand. Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected.. “You will never appreciate having to follow a difficult order until you have to give one.” (Late, late Saturday Night) Had I been alone? There are few perks to a solitary lifestyle. One of the few is the freedom from others; and by that I mean you don't have to decide if you care about people you don't know. You are free. Your emotions are free, your decisions are free and your time is your own. Selfish in the best way. Libra took my keys after we arrived at my apartment building and raced ahead to make sure that Timothy and Odette, if either was awake, would be forewarned. Casper clung to me as she always did. Estere took the lead since I also had to do pack mule duty. Brooke carried the few things that were beyond me. The rain was turning from a drizzle to a downpour. Odette had a friend over; a female acquaintance. Timothy; Timothy was in the middle of a very successful date night. Now I had the joy of being an auditory spectator in my domicile's sexcapades. "Shouldn't she be taken to a clinic, or something?" the friend blurted out. I didn't know her enough to decide if she was nervous, flippant, or secretly cruel. Casper dug in tighter. I had to dump the luggage to deal with her heightened anxiety. Libra, Brooke and Odette picked up the slack while Estere soaked in the ambiance of my dwelling. The look she gave me was one of amusement and intrigue. This was hardly the lair of the one and only Amazon Prince. It was sublime and comfortable. It had a nomadic quality she found familiar. Being in a fortress has its comforts. Being in someone else's fortress is far less comfortable. Estere was quietly accounting for every knife, mallet, or other potentially fatal piece of housewares. Brooke, Libra and Odette were already ordering and organizing my life ;  what did they need to get and how would they get it? "So; you are Odette's; friend," the unknown woman stated. Snapping at her was unduly unfair to Odette, who put up with mountains of my insane lifestyle. "Yeah, that's me. Cáel Nyilas; self-made troublemaker," I confessed. "You?" "Delilah," she answered. "What happened to her?" Casper flinched. "Nothing that being reminded about what a wonderful friend she is won't help heal," I cautiously responded. "She is hanging out with me and some friends for the weekend." "Cut it out, Delilah," Odette sighed. "Who are you really, anyway?" Delilah was smooth, I had to give her that. "Odette, what do you mean?" Delilah stood up. "Delilah, or whoever you are, I'm not such a wonderful person that people I've known two days come home with me," Odette lectured. "Now, I kept you here until you could meet Cáel, so why don't you return my courtesy and tell us what's going on?" Odette was keeping Libra and Brooke in my room thus out of play. Timothy climaxed. Good for him. Out in the living room, Delilah made a stutter step. She was frozen by Estere's silenced weapon pointed at her. "You were spotted by a rank amateur," the Hashashin noted. "Who are you with?" "You people are nuts," Delilah flushed with panic. Nice touch, but that panic didn't reach her cold, calculating eyes. "Damn Delilah," Odette shook her head. "You need to watch more television. BBC America has this nice drama called Orphan Black where the exact same thing happened. I knew you were lying to me in twenty minutes. I was nice enough to not bring the Death Squad across the street over to deal with you. They wouldn't have cared whether I was being paranoid or whatever. They would have dragged you out and killed you on general principle. You owe me." "I don't know what's wrong;” Delilah got out. There was a rapid knocking at the door. Shielding Casper behind me, I backed up in that direction. "Last chance," Odette looked at Delilah sternly. "That's the Death Squad." Sure enough, I checked and it was two Amazons in full gear. I opened up and the two edged in around me. "Ishara; status please," the leader asked. "Estere Abed is a diplomat for her Protocol faction, there should be records of Brooke and Libra on file and Odette belongs here. Casper is behind me; special case. That woman," I motioned to Delilah, "is of unknown origin." "Miss, lay down on the floor, on your stomach; arms out to your sides," the leader brought her UP-40 up, aimed at Delilah. "This is insane," Delilah sounded really frantic. Not in the eyes though. "Lie down, or three rounds in the chest," the Amazon team leader related calmly. "Last chance." Delilah decided that she wasn't cut from a fanatic's cloth. She went down like a pro. The two Amazons closed in. I spotted the third of the four woman team at my door, keeping watch. The two inside efficiently bound her hands behind her back and patted her down for weapons; none. "She is in violation of the truce," the leader pointed out. "Should I dispatch her now?" "Wait!" Delilah squawked. "I'm supposed to keep an eye on him and protect him, not hurt him. Fuck, don't kill me for this." "Who are you working for?" Estere came closer. Delilah hesitated so both Estere and the number two Amazon drew their knives. "Fine! Fine. All I have is a name and I'm only supposed to tell him," she pleaded. There was a moment of uncertainty. "She'll tell us," Estere knelt beside Delilah. Now Delilah's panic was real. "Wait," I stated. I motioned Brooke and Libra to move around the crowded room and comfort Casper. "Well," I sighed as I went on my hands and knees beside Delilah's head. The Amazon leader had her hand on the woman's head, pressed tightly to the ground. "Sibeal," Delilah whispered. Mom. "Do you have any way of contacting this person?" I asked. "No. It is not how I work," she said and finally I caught it. The accent. I looked to the leader. "Look at her hands and tell me what you see," I asked the Amazon. I went back to resting on my knees. "Hard; callused from repetitive weapons practice. Short nails. She's very fit," the Team Lead kept up the examination. "I apologize Ishara. She's a soldier." "Let her go," I commanded. The Amazon only paused for a moment before cutting her bonds. Delilah moved cautiously as she moved to a cross-legged position. "You don't have to answer me, but I'd appreciate some honesty. You're English. Would that make you MI-5, or MI-6?" It wasn't as huge a leap as it looked. Who could Mom trust? In this case, a government operative would actually be safer for her and she had to have decades of Illuminati information inside her head. Delilah had one reason to be honest; her mission. "MI-5 is counter-intelligence," Delilah grinned as her British accent came out to play. "M I 6. S I S is foreign intelligence. I'll let you figure it out." "Good enough," I stood then helped her stand as well. "You can stay; starting Monday. I need a break, okay?" Delilah nodded. "Deal. Now do me the courtesy of telling me why I'm here?" she asked. "Love. Deep, abiding love," I looked right into her soul. Crisis averted. Delilah 'agreed' to go with my guardians to 'work things out'. Delilah was curious as to why they called Cáel Nyilas; Ishara. She also congratulated Odette on figuring something was up. Odette told her not to feel bad about it; reference all the psycho bitches that showed up in my life. Brooke headed out to gather some more belongings for herself and Libra because; my vote not even elicited; they were going to hang close to Casper and I for a few more days. Libra and Estere headed out to that authentic Italian pizza joint I'd taken Libra to earlier since my food stockpile was abysmal and the neighborhood was far from safe this late at night. Odette took Casper to my bedroom so that Casper could talk with her parents in Delaware. Timothy and his date emerged from his room. It was Sovann Mean, who I had met before and gotten along with. It took me all of two seconds to figure out what had happened. Sovann had asked Timothy out because Timothy never thought Sovann was interested in him. Sovann was a second generation Cambodian-American and had this stoic demeanor he raised up whenever he was nervous, ensuring Timothy's confusion. "Hey Cáel," Sovann smiled at me. "Still being good?" That was code for me being 'straight'. It still weirded me out a bit; Sovann was a serious weightlifter, like Timothy and I, but a head shorter, so he looked stockier than he really was. When he smiled, his whole face lit up too. It was the Khmer 'twang' that always sounded out of place to me. "We will not discuss the number of women who were here mere moments ago," I joked wearily. "Timothy, I apologize for coming back early; shithead-intervention shut things down in the Hamptons." "No problem, Bro," Timothy came and gave me a man-hug. "With your newfound wealth, we may need to convert the sofa to a sleeper-sofa," Timothy semi-joked. "Oh yeah, and that girl down the hall; when I told her your father died, she baked you some cookies. They're in a tin by the toaster. They really are pretty good, too; walnut and caramel chip." That sounded tasty. I guessed that meant I finally had to meet the women. Sovann came up and fist-bumped me as Timothy went for the refrigerator. The doorbell rang. I wondered who had forgotten what as I swung the door open. Lighting exploded outdoors, our lights flickered and thunder shook the apartment. It was Uncle Carrig. As the old song said 'he looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone'. His eyes wore a harried, feral look. His bellow, as he charged, rolled over me like the amplified heartbeat of a hellish primate. I had no time before he was on me. Down we went. I tried to push him off of me. His suit was soaked with rain and blood, some of it had to be his own. In his right hand he held a dull aluminum cylinder with a metallic suction cup on the bottom. Sovann kicked Uncle Lumpy in the side of the head. Inflicted on a normal man, that would have driven him off me. Lumpy released his hold on my shoulder and backhanded Sovann. The Cambodian went flying in the direction of the sofa despite getting a leg block up. I had a flash of Timothy going for his home deterrent system, aka the crowbar. Odette began yelling. The cylinder was coming down. Carrig's left grabbed my chin, fixing my head in place. I opted to use both my arms to stop his right, and the device, from coming down. I bought a little time. Timothy's blow came down on Lumpy's left shoulder, weakening the hold, but not enough. The device slammed into my forehead. I felt a burning pain as a portion of the flesh beneath the cup was flash-fried away. More pain, then a little pressure and finally nothing. In those seconds before my mind spun out of control, I had the oddest sensation there was something inside my brain. Searing agony; existence lost all meaning and I was gone. (One week later) They say pain in the brain is illusionary. Of all your nerve cells, only a tiny fraction are devoted to pain. The rest do the important work of keeping your body functioning. The brain is on top of it all and it has better things to do that register pain; or so I was told. To be somewhat fair, what I felt wasn't exactly pain. It was the sensation that something was crawling around inside my psyche, doing something. Sharp, tingling jolts shocked my body parts at regular intervals. Painful in their own way, yet not so much I couldn't concentrate. I opened my eyes. The lights in my room had been dimmed, but not enough that I couldn't see the six ladies standing about; doing nothing. I recognized my present lodgings as Havenstone Post-classical Modernism (total lie; I'm not an interior designer). The six ladies turned, looked at me, then closed in slowly. A staring contest was in the offing when two people entered the room from the door at the foot of the bed. It then occurred to me that little sonic indicators on the machinery surrounding me were chirping loudly. One woman was a physician's assistant I knew from an earlier bout at Havenstone Medical. She had performed CPR on me. The other woman; she was the senior-most recruit from my father's graveside service. She looked positively grim. My dry throat requested some water then I attempted to rise. A problem instantly revealed itself. I was strapped down on my bed. The ankles, wrists and a neck/head brace kept my movements to a minimum. There was a side benefit to this imprisonment. That body-wide jolts? My body was wired up to a system that had needles piercing my muscle clusters. Amazons prided themselves on being physically fit and their tolerance for pain. My muscles hadn't atrophied during my; coma and the price was this constant, low-level pain. I still wasn't sure that was the reason I was bound. The PA maneuvered a plastic bottle with a spout to my lips and gave me a brief squirt. A few seconds later I got another and then a third. "Okay," I rasped. "What's going on?" "You have been in an unresponsive state for 7 days, Ishara," the 'senior' told me. "Why are you here?" I coughed. "I mean, why aren't you on the job?" She blinked. "Your life was imperiled so we decided that five of us would be around to monitor you and keep you safe," she answered. "What's with everyone else?" I huffed. The two looked at me. The quiet six were of no help. "Fine, what are you ladies doing here?" I asked the women originally in the room. No answer. "Ishara?" the PA worried. That was when it dawned on me that the two and the six weren't interacting on any level. "How many people are in the room?" I asked my housemate. She paused. "There are three of us, Ishara. You, me and the attendant," she answered. "How many people do you see?" "Well shit," I muttered. Then the first of the six spoke to me. Actually, she mouthed to me. It took me a moment to realize she was giving me her name. The next one started. "Device," I snapped to the 'senior'. As she hesitantly reached for hers, I began rattling off the names. When the sixth one gave me her name, the group dissipated into the ether. "Who are these women?" 'senior' requested. "Find out," I sighed then, "It is important." She nodded. Now that the specters were gone, the mortals began to come in. Right off the bat, I was confirmed in my status as "prisoner". They wouldn't free me when I requested it and they made no attempt to conceal their hostility to my fellow Isharan. The agenda was decided without me; they were going to check me out mentally, then I was off to see Hayden. Why was I imprisoned? My brain was a maelstrom of activity across a broad spectrum of regions and lobes. What had happened? They didn't know. The suction cup had stabilized the tube which was really a firing mechanism. When the device was able to detect and aim for a specific part of my brain, the longitudinal fissure, it shot a rod three-quarters into my cranium. A laser had burned through the skin and skull with surgeon-like precision so a barb of unknown construction could go deep into my brain. Then it 'detonated'. That was one of the problems the medicos of Havenstone were facing. The device had been so badly damaged when it unleashed its energy that they could no longer divine its function. What they did understand was that while my neural network was going super-nova, it wasn't killing me. They leapt on the idea of mind control. That theory sounded pretty lame to me, but I was the one tied down, with one ally in a room full of people bred to mistrust all males. The next approach; was I sane? The PA offered that I was seeing phantasms. 'Wait'. "Go," I directed the senior. "Take care of the business I have given you then tell Buffy and Helena what you've found out. You are wasting your time staying here." She nodded and left. It was more "common sense" rather than any sense of my leadership that made her leave. But that done; I concentrated on the entirety of the message so that it settled upon my soul. I relaxed, shut my eyes and let the world float by. It took them a minute to notice my noncompliance; any positive contribution on my part had slipped so far down in their expectations. "Ishara?" one of the SD chicks inquired. I opened one eye, then shut it. There was nothing to be done. "What is he doing?" that Amazon asked a physician. She, in turn asked me. I took a deep, cleansing breath and continued to ignore them. "There is nothing wrong with him," the physician noted. "He is being childish." That went beyond disrespectful. As a quirk of Amazon society, they had left me my knife strapped to my arm. To take it would have been an insult my tiny house could not have borne; essentially declaring me incompetent. I was heading that way, but not yet. That didn't stop them from deriding me until a lull finally developed. For a moment, I thought I was alone. I was intrigued by the words suddenly aimed my way. "Mr. Nyilas?" an unknown female inquired. I opened an eye. Woman; bad suit; and a badge. What the fuck? I was in Havenstone. "Special Agent Virginia Maddox with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I'd like to ask you a few questions," she began. "Okay," I cleared my throat, "as long as we are clear I am one misstep away from invoking my Miranda Rights." She worked that one over for a second. "Do you know why your uncle attacked you?" "Honestly, I'm curious as to why I'm still alive," I tried to shrug. "Carrig and I never got along, if you consider when I first met him we fought and the second time he stabbed me in the forehead," I explained. "How long did you and your uncle fight; the second time?" she asked. "Um; six second," I guessed. "How is Lumpy doing, anyway?" "Lumpy?" "Uncle Carrig." "He's dead." "Seriously; fuck. What killed him?" "We are working that out. He was beaten, stabbed; by three different blades, shot 67 times by five different firearms, only two which we have recovered," Virginia stated. "We also think he was hit by two cars, one dump truck and a subway." "Well; yeah; Uncle Carrig was looking a bit rough when I answered the door," I confessed. Lumpy had to have been on a freaking quest to go through all that to get to me. Subway? He was hit by a subway and walked away. Most people barely leave a recognizable corpse. "How are Odette, Timothy, Casper and Sovann?" I recalled. She looked at her phone. "They are mostly fine. Casper Winslow was taken to the hospital in shock and was released to her parents," she said. "The other three were taken to the Emergency Room, treated for minor injuries and released," Virginia informed me. "The other four women were a more delicate manner." "Four women? Could you be more specific?" "Your bodyguards." "Could you be more specific?" "For a person with supposedly limited financial means, a lower income lifestyle and a humble background, you appear to have a small army hovering around you, high society friends, and lawyers who are on a first name basis with Supreme Court Justices," Virginia noted. "Lady, half-way through Day Two on this job, I almost gave it all up and biked my ass down to Terra del Fuego to live the sane life of a paranoid recluse," I sighed. "Why didn't you?" "Cause I'm an idiot. I was hoping a crackerjack investigator like you would have figured this out by now," I grinned. "How do you know I'm any good at my job?" she sent a sultry lip twist my way. Yes; pinned to a bed I could still attract the ladies. Having hundreds of little needles in me made the prospects for a quick sexual romp unlikely. "Javiera chose you for this assignment," I told her. "You have to be a woman because this is Havenstone and you have to be clever because this is a lunatic asylum." "Touché," she acknowledged my above average mental status. Next came a list of names. It took me a few seconds to focus on them. "Oh, what happened to them?" I inquired. "What makes you think anything happened to these people?" she parried. "Oh, I'm betting Javiera gave you a list of names and there is only person left alive out of that group," I felt introspective. "I wonder where Anima is hiding." "What happened to those people?" she persisted. "I don't know. I've been napping for the past week, but I'm betting they all met nasty ends," I told her. "Why were these people murdered?" "Were they murdered, or are they merely deceased? See, if I give you my opinion, you will have to pursue that line of inquiry which will only hurt one person who has already been hurt enough and save somebody who shouldn't be saved," I explained. "Why do you get to determine who gets saved?" Virginia pressed. "As opposed to who? You and Javiera? That's laughable. Why don't you go down the net worth of the families of those unfortunate corpses, then tell me how balanced your justice system would be? Please understand, I don't hold you and your profession in contempt," I met her hardening gaze. "To prove to me that I'm wrong, all you have to do is honestly tell me that high-priced lawyers, legions of specialists that confuse juries and enormous bank accounts to keep the appeals going indefinitely while the guilty roam about on bail equates to the legal process working fairly and impartially," I reposted. "That's not the same thing as;” she got out before the door opened and several people traipsed in, including three SD personnel. Last came Troika and she was coldly furious. "I was promised more time with Mr. Nyilas," Virginia protested. She was ignored. "Ishara, you are coming with us," Troika snapped. To be fair, the medical attendant wasn't overly torturous as she pulled out the muscle stimulatory aids and applied the bandages. It still sucked. That was ameliorated somewhat by the read I was getting of Troika. I waited for the last restraint to be removed before speaking. "I refuse to go with you," I stated firmly even as I sat up. See, I needed something to happen that was beyond my ability to obtain. "Take him," Troika directed two of the SD babes. My captors had gone out of their way to make sure these Amazons weren't ladies I knew. "Stop," I declared with authorities. "You cannot touch me against my will as that violates Hayden's ban on me entering blood feuds and wrangling me anywhere against my will constitutes a blood feud in Ishara's eyes." "It is Hayden's order," Troika snapped. "Has she lifted the ban? If not, these ladies will be breaking Hayden's decree." Troika harrumphed then gave Hayden a call. For the purpose of this meeting, the ban was lifted. That was what I needed so off I went. I waited until we got in the elevator and were heading up before launching my strike. Pamela would have been so proud. If Troika had given me an ounce of dignity, I couldn't have pulled it off. As it was, the first stab took her just under the left eye, the second punched through her cheek and spitted her tongue. The third nearly severed her upper lip and then the SD were on me. "Blood Feud!" I screamed. "You stole from me!" Troika was about to come back at me, knife in hand. One of the SD got in the way. What I had done was illegal; blood feuds needed to be approved; except for one tidbit of law Pamela taught me and it was about to come into play. "You cannot wound him while he is in our custody, Troika of Šauška," the Amazon protested. Troika gargled something through the ruin of the left side of her face. "I will peel off a meter of your flesh for this insult," she managed to oozingly communicate before we reached the top floor. For my part; "Unhand me." They didn't. "Unhand me, or am I no longer Head of House Ishara." "Do not attack her," the SD leader stated. "Would you care to explain to me why you are giving me that order?" I mused. "Please, Ishara," the woman ground out. "Do not attack Troika of House Šauška." "Very well. I pledge that from this point until the end of this meeting, I will only act against Troika in my own defense," I promised. "Now give me your sidearm." "You may not bear a weapon in Hayden's presence," the SD leader reminded me. "I asked for your weapon, not your legal advice," I insisted. Another shot of bigotry. "I will not. You are not acting rationally," she stated. Troika snorted. That was okay, because I saw an excellent substitute close by. My deviation from the group was so casual, they barely noticed. I wasn't making a fast break to nowhere. I walked up to the wall and, Vranus be praised, yanked one of a pair of matching battle axes off the wall. Support studs went flying. Like all weapons in Havenstone, this one was real. The SD closed ranks, boxing me in. "You may not bear a weapon in Hayden's presence," the SD leader was at the end of her patience with me. "You are incorrect," I glowered. "There are two occasions I may bear a weapon in proximity to the High Priestess. One is in defense of her person. I am not here to defend her." Harder than any kick to the head; they paled then the anger set in. "How dare you?" the SD leader seethed. "The proof of the necessity of my action stands before me right now; an Amazon defying a House, a First Ancestor and a Goddess on her own initiative and in defiance of everything her ancestors fought, bled and died for," I glared. "Give me the axe," the leader insisted. "No. You will have to fight me for it," I made my stand. She was about to do just that when one of the others spoke. Tears were slowly eking a way down that one's cheeks. "Step away from Ishara, or I will kill you," she told her leader. "You are wrong and Ishara is right though it sickens me to admit it." To add to the macabre, one SD trooper aimed at my 'savior' and the fourth aimed at the third. Civil war. "You know what he plans to do," the leader stated. "It is not our place," the second Amazon insisted. "I cannot face my ancestors letting this abomination pass." "He is the abomination," the leader persisted. "No. The abomination is any full-blooded not of the Council deciding what the Council will and will not do. We now know there were once male Amazons. By the will of our ancestors it was so. Never before have we, the elite of the Host, acted as if we knew better than they," the second Amazon said with righteous conviction. "Go," the leader mumbled softly. The woman on the verge of killing her was most likely a close and trusted friend. Grappling with that sudden rift between sisters was occupying her mind at that moment, not my escape. I moved around her, keeping out of the line of fire as best I could and went with Troika to Hayden's portal. I didn't thank the woman. That would have been insulting because what she did, she did for her people and the hundred thousand that had come before her. Finally we rolled out the Old Kingdom Hittite/Amazon. "See what you have done," Troika hissed. I didn't bother to reply. I was sure, dressed in light green scrubs, I cut a valiant and imposing figure. "Cáel Ishara, what took you so;” and then Hayden saw it. For a second, Saint Marie almost cut me off. Katrina stood up. She wanted to stop me. In her mind, Hayden was one of our allies, but, as I had told her, she (Katrina) didn't get it either. Madi, Beyoncé, Fatima and Krasimira were also present and now highly disturbed. "Take yourself to the cliffs," I announced clearly as I dropped the axe on Hayden's desk. She had stood at my final approach and bore hate my way. "The Goddess Ishara rejects you and has taken herself from the Temple. House Ishara has lost faith in you. Your insults are lengthy and I do not feel like wasting any more time with you." "How dare you?" Hayden spat. "All the times I have shielded you and this is how you repay me? You were a mistake from the beginning." "A mistake we can rectify right now," Fatima snarled. She rose up and drew her knife. "Excuse me, but didn't we gather here for a different purpose?" Krasimira mused softly. "Kill him and end the curse," Madi growled. "Oh; in that case can you kill me first?" Krasimira sighed. "I see no need to postpone the continuation of my chat with my mother." At Krasimira's age, her mother was most likely dead. "Krasimira, you cannot defend him!" Fatima wailed. "Defend him? I am not standing in your way, Fatima. I do know that the statue of Ishara fractured and fell into two pieces in the Temple," she related; certainly retelling information they already had. "House by house, we see nothing but the back of those who fought before us. Five of my augurs had shorn their hair and thrown themselves into the fire. I can do nothing except report what I have witnessed. I cannot appeal to Ishara to lift her curse. I hope one of you can because if you can't and you kill her CLEARLY designated heir we shall all go down to ignoble ends," the Keeper of Records remained serenely poised as she delivered her doom-laden news. "By the way, Troika, what happened to your face?" "He stabbed me," Troika burbled. "Let me kill the bastard." I half-turned. Saint Marie interposed herself between the two of us. "Cáel, lift the curse," Saint Marie demanded. "Lift your damn curse," Fatima and Madi chimed in. "Cáel, lift the curse and then we can discuss things," Hayden tried and failed to sound humble. "If every woman in this rooms fatally slits their own throats in the next fifteen seconds, I'll plead to Ishara to lift the curse," I said. There wasn't a headlong rush to commit suicide. The only one so inclined was Krasimira. I motioned her to stop. "Well, I think we are done here. I have to go and try and cobble my life back together. You ladies have fun pulling off your 'Thelma and Louise' final act while I figure out some way for House Ishara to survive the upcoming war," I shrugged. Of course they didn't let me leave. Fatima on one side, the Golden Mare in the middle and Troika on the other. She had to be in a shitload of pain. "Lift the curse. If we are going to war, we need to be whole," Saint Marie urged me. "No." "Why should I stop these two from killing you right now?" she glared. "Because he is an Amazon," Krasimira muttered. "You should need no better reason. Ah; this is why we must die; thank you Cáel Ishara," she concluded. "A terrible sadness has gripped our people for as long as I have been Keeper. I found it lurking in the shadowy corners of my office when I was elevated. I now imagine it haunted my predecessors for some time as well. At least I will pass on knowing the name of our assassin." "The assassin is right here," Fatima spewed her hate at me. "You are correct," Krasimira chuckled. "The assassin is indeed in this room. Its name is Amazon. I need a moment, please." She stood and walked to the doors. What she wanted didn't take long at all. "Gun," we heard her request. The magazine fell to the ground. The sole bullet did not follow. Krasimira walked tenderly into the office as if every step tore like fishhooks at her flesh. "Take yourself to the cliffs, Hayden," Krasimira intoned as the one-shot pistol fell on Hayden's desk. "I no longer know you." Krasimira took in the whole room. "We show anger when we should show humility. We are proud of our shame. We are arrogant of our weaknesses. We have heaped insult upon insult on our ancestors yet are now aghast that they turn away from us," she shook her head. Her gaze settled on Saint Marie. "I am not one warrior alone, but one of a thousand warriors who have fought before me'; isn't that part of the oath of every member of the Security Detail swears?" Katrina fell to her knees. "Please Cáel. Please save us," she begged me. Something was very wrong with that. "How dare you?" Fatima howled at Katrina. Instead of being ashamed, Katrina's supplicant's face turned first into a grim grin, then one of gallows laughter. "And that is why we are all going to die," Katrina declared as she stood once more. "We are too proud to ask a man for help. We know what Ishara's curse is doing to us. You clearly don't care. You would rather die than admit that our damn ANCESTORS have placed a male here and now. Open your eyes!" she nearly screamed. "They sent a MAN for a reason; to open our eyes before we kill ourselves." You scream 'what gives him the right?' Ishara gives him the right. Nothing else matters. What I am asking you is 'what gives you the right to reject Ishara?' because that is what we have done. How could she make her will any more plainly obvious to us? Cáel has never stopped trying to save us and you two want to gut him like a lamb, or (to Saint Marie) break his body. Hayden, I will not place my rejection upon your desk. You have been as much a mother to me as my actual birth-mother. I love you. Since we first met, I have only wanted to make you proud of me and serve your will. What has gone wrong? How have we come to this? You were the one who told me we had to find a way to save our race; and now, when it stares us in the face; Why can't we accept it? How have I failed you, Hayden? What did I do wrong to not prepare you for this moment? It was my duty to keep you informed in all things and I can find nothing to excuse my failure," Katrina had gone from disappointed to heart-broken. Katrina prized herself on being able to stay ahead of any crisis. Here, at her greatest challenge, she hadn't been able to help her friend and mentor survive this calamity. I imagine that was the final blow for Hayden. Katrina had risen up through the Havenstone system as Hayden's protégé and had given Hayden her all. "Until this moment, I have never considered myself a coward," Hayden murmured. "You are blameless Katrina. In the final analysis, I sacrificed my courage for my life. And now I have neither. I can regain my courage here at the end and be true to the duties I was given," Hayden's resolve strengthened with each word. She took out a piece of paper and created a list. "Saint Marie, on this list are traitors to the Host. Gather these Amazons and prepare them to challenge my accusation." Saint Marie stepped forward, took the paper and quickly read it. "Hayden, this includes a third of the Council!" she gasped. "I am well aware of who I have accused. Please see to my final command, old friend," Hayden sighed. I could see a terrible weight lifted from her; the cliffs. "Final;” Saint Marie and Katrina groaned. "Yes. I will dine tonight with my family, then take myself to the cliffs with the dawn. I feel that will be a good end for me," Hayden mused. "Will Ishara forgive me, Cáel?" "No Hayden. It is not her way, but I will. There will be a place in Ishara's halls for you. I pledge you that," I suddenly felt a sorrowful pit in my stomach. Into that romantically tragic scene, Krasimira snorted with amusement. Eyes turned to her. Hayden shook her head, held up a hand to forestall the Keeper until she rounded the desk and left her office for the last time. "Who is on the list?" Fatima stormed up to the Golden Mare and looked over the list. "I am on this. So are you Troika," Fatima growled. "This is insane. We'll destroy Hayden over this; this; piece of filth." "I don't care if I'm on it, or not," Madi seethed. "I'm with you." "There is a small manner of little known law you may wish to be aware of," Krasimira chuckled. "The ruling of an honorably deceased High Priestess may not be challenged." "You two are under arrest," Saint Marie whipped out her pistol. Being with the SD, she was allowed to be fully armed in the High Priestess's presence. "What do you mean?" Fatima looked to Krasimira. "Cáel has killed you all and he didn't even mean to," Krasimira gave a dry chuckle. "By his act of kindness to Hayden, which I now think Hayden was counting on, our former High Priestess goes to an honorable death; taken into the Halls of Ishara in death. Unable to challenge Hayden's decree, you are all going to be executed and your names stricken from the rolls. You will wander aimlessly for all eternity while Hayden will live in the company of her sisters thanks to a man and his love for someone who was clearly his enemy," Krasimira kept snorting at the dark comedy. "Your sole avenue of spiritual survival lies with a man you tried to kill mere moments ago." "This is insane," Troika shouted and came at me. The room exploded with the sonic resonance of a pistol firing. I may have imagined it, but it appeared the bullet took Troika at the juncture of the right eyebrow, nose ridge and right eye. Whatever the entry point, the 45 ACP slug painted the wall behind her with her grey matter. Saint Marie turned quickly on Fatima. "Troika wasn't on the Council, so I could kill her for attempting to murder someone who was. I can't kill you immediately, but please believe I will put a bullet where it hurts if you don't do exactly what I say," the Golden Mare menaced. The debate was truncated by the four Security Detail ladies storming the room. Orders were dispensed and the wheels of Amazon society burst into motion. A side effect of my stunt was I had put Saint Marie in charge until the full Council could meet to create some sort of Regency Council to pilot the ship. There was zip gratitude aimed my way on her part and I didn't blame her one bit. I was headed out before things got too organized. I wanted some 'me' time. "Cáel Ishara, we have not resolved the matter that brought us to this disaster," Saint Marie growled. I was at the door. I looked over my shoulder at the Golden Mare, turned back toward freedom and saw Pamela. "Shoot me," I told Pamela. I was grappling with the horror of what I had just said when I returned to the darkness. MOTHER-FUCKER! I hate women! (Mutter; mutter; mutter) I became aware of my hazy, fugue-like dream state. Sadly, it was familiar and undoubtedly going to become even more familiar while I lived. "Upset with me, Cáel?" she asked. "You had me tell my friend to shoot me; yeah, Ishara, I'm a little cranky right now." "The question was rhetorical. I can read your mind," the Goddess snorted. "What happened to me?" "She bounced a bullet off your skull. You'll be okay. I am the Goddess of Medicine after all," she reminded me. "From an era when trepanning was popular. Color me unimpressed. Oh; and I apologize." "You will get me the fortune cookie next time," she lilted. Something crucial occurred to me. "Hey! I haven't had sex in a week. That hasn't happened to me in four years." "I don't think you are ready for that stage of our relationship yet," she tickled my nose. "Wait; did you just put me in the Friend Zone?" More laughter. "Seriously," I sighed. "Hayden?" "I forgive you," she soothed me. "Forgive me? I killed her. That is not okay. Wasn't; " "No, my Cáel. We are a blood-thirsty society and the ultimate mistakes are answered with the ultimate punishments. I cannot fully express my pride in you for what you did, even in opposition to my will." There was a pause in our relationship and conversation. I thought she sensed my turmoil and aided me in finding some level of peace. With her kind of entity, I would never be sure. "What did Carrig do to me?" I asked. "I don't know." That was not what I expect. Evasion; yes. The ugly truth; no. "I find the concept of an omniscient, omnipotent deity to be self-defeating," she mused. "Sort of negates the whole Free Will thing," I bantered. "Besides, what is the point of beseeching a being that already knows what's going to happen to you and would have saved you if that is what they wanted?" "Yeah," I groaned sarcastically, "I much prefer the divine ones who randomly fuck with your life because they can, rarely provide useful information and won't even put out on the second date." "I know this will cause you pain yet I will say it anyway; I love you." Yeah; I was suddenly wishing Pamela had missed and hit me between the eyes. "Very well, what can I do for you that would make you happier?" Inside of second. "Clever boy. Are you sure?" "Yes." "Done. I can no longer read your mind." A few seconds passed. "This is annoying. Is this what it is like dealing with me; this 'not knowing'?" "Yes and you proved it by the way," I murmured. Several more seconds. "This is really annoying me. Pick something else." Pause. "What does it prove?" "You love me," I grinned. "Love without freedom is illusionary. Freedom of thought is the basis of hope and hope drives all endeavors." A long pause. I was a bit curious about what was happening to my body. "Please." "No." "I could give you a divine gift; speak in tongues; regeneration; long life?" "Nope. Not happening." "I still love you." "Now I can say I love you and know I mean it." "That's unfair; clever and insightful, but unfair," she teased me. "What about the curse?" "Re-forge my statue at the Temple and the curse will be lifted. Be your regular creative self when you do so." Pause; divine sigh. "I need to send you back now. Oh, and make love to the first woman you see. It is important." "What? Why is it im;” and I felt the weight of my body and the throbbing of my temple. (Augurs don'ts and don't give a fuck abouts) I didn't want to open my eyes; really, truly, deeply. I had been dared by both guys and girls to pick up a certain female at a variety of events, even when they came with company. I'd done it because I'm that kind of low-life. Being pre-ordained to sleep with some chick felt wrong to me. It was cheating. I sincerely wished she hadn't been touching my face. Yes, someone was running their slender, feminine fingers over my forehead, eyebrows, eyelids, nose; yadda. "Ishara, I must speak with you," the strange woman implored. My eye movement had given my wakefulness away. I pried open my lids and looked up into the face of a living ghost. Her skin was albino pale with obvious veins and blue capillaries beneath the surface. Her ocular orbs were a deep milky white, with a tinge of light blue. I could barely make out the pupils. Her hair was whiter than Pamela's. From the structure and musculature of her hands and face; it was as if a perfectly healthy human woman's body was in a constant frantic battle against death. My senses expanded to embrace more of my resting place. I was in Katrina's office on the sofa. Katrina was not present. Buffy, the 'senior', Pamela, Rachel, Krasimira, the super-pale chick and two House Guard I didn't recognize were nearby. Despite my head throbbing to the beat of fiendish jackhammers, I managed to sit up. This upset the lady touching me as my movement broke our contact. "Ishara?" she pleaded. "That's it. From now on its Yakko Ishara, Wakko Ishara and Dot Ishara. Let's end all of this confusion over this 'which Ishara are we really wanting to talk to?' bullshit. So, what do you want?" I groaned. "I'm claiming the 'Yakko' spot, by the way." "Ishara?" she pleaded again. Was she protesting me taking the oldest Warner brothers' spot? Yeah, I was the youngest one of the pseudo-divine trio, but I absolutely owned the role of smart-alec. "She is an Augur," Krasimira explained. "The poisons she takes to put her in a receptive state to the ancestors, goddesses and the spiritual currents of the universe leave her blind and deaf to the mortal world. She communicates normally, but needs to be touching your lips to know what you are saying. Her name is Tadêfi and she has a message for you," she finished. "Give me a sec," I put my thoughts together despite my pain. Buffy shoved a glass of water and three pills my way. I downed them gratefully. Buffy was clearly distressed. I was getting the crap kicked out of me a lot and, in theory, it was her job to stop such things from happening. "Buffy, we couldn't have foreseen Carrig coming after me the way he did. He slipped through the seams of very good security," I tried to comfort her. "Pamela shot me on the Goddess/Dot Ishara's orders. She can only communicate with me when I'm in a near-death state," I said. "I have a new mission for you." I needed to keep her mind busy with things other than me. Buffy was action-oriented and I was giving her a doozy of a task. "Obtain at least five of the bullet casings from the battle that took my Father's life. Give them to Krasimira. They are to be melted down with the original statue and recast into a new symbol of the Goddess. We will be a melding of the old and the new," I ordered. Yes, I was sacrificing a priceless ancient artifact for a current political agenda. I'm reprehensible. Kimberly would be ashamed. "Now, who were the women whose names I gave you?" "They are all deceased 'Runners', Ishara," the senior told me. Oh; that made sense. "Tomorrow we induct them into House Ishara," I stated. "Ishara, they are dead," senior repeated. "Do you believe the souls of Amazons go to the houses of their ancestors after dying?" I posed. That took a few seconds to soak in. My almost albino was getting truly distressed so I took her hand and put it on my lips as I asked the latest question. "Oh;” the senior and Buffy both muttered. "All those 'Runners'; their spirits wander aimlessly for eternity bereft of companionship and a place to call home," I told them. "That is a crime," I continued. "Even as Ishara moves forward, we must be honest about our past. Those women earned a place in the Host. They were unduly denied their promised afterlife and we will start rectifying that tomorrow." Their looks broadcast their interpretation of my declaration: I was a wonderful child who had won first place for our team at the State Fair. Now that she was back in the communication loop, the augur calmed down. "You have a message for me?" I 'asked' her. Halfway through, I stopped enunciating. "Yes, Ishara. My dead sister stepped back through the flames and told me you;” she began. "No; stop," I told her. "Everyone leave." They honored my wishes and departed except; "What are you still doing here?" I asked the House Guard who remained. Now that I had a chance to study her, I realized she bore the same cuneiform designation as Krasimira. "I am her guardian. I am always at her side," the woman explained rather heatedly. She was certainly not a fan of the man in mankind. "By all means; have it your way. Augur, your message is unimportant. Write it down and have it sent out as a memo for everyone in Havenstone to read. Someone may tell me about it. I'm horrible with my e-mail, so I probably won't read it myself," I growled. This shit stopped now. I stood and made to leave. The augur swatted out and grabbed my arm when she hit it. "Ishara, you must;” and I lightly slapped her face. The guardian drew down on me. "How dare you?" the guardian seethed. "I am thinking the same thing; 'how dare you?'" I rumbled. "How dare you decide what messages she does, or does not, deliver?" "Tadêfi has something important to tell you," the guardian growled. "Augurs died to bring you this message." "Clearly the message isn't important enough for you to leave the room," I countered. "I took bullet to the head so I could talk to the Goddess Dot Ishara." I was going to enjoy calling my matron pain-in-the-cranium that. She was probably less amused. "I'm about out of patience with you smug, delusionary superior sluts demanding things from me as if you weren't my underlings," I glared. "Get with the program, or get out." Though I had told her to get out, I was the one leaving. I needed clothes, a shave and a chance to get my bearings. I didn't need those two. Tadêfi tried to speak again. I put my hand to her lips to stop her again then raised her hands to my lips. "I do not want to hear what you have to say," I related. "If you try to tell me what you have been told, I will purposely ignore it and cut out your tongue for your insolence. Your sisters died in vain because your guardian has decided what you say is not worth her leaving the room for us to talk in private. Sleep well with the dying screams of your sisters' agonies echoing in your mind and know your fellow Amazons have wished this fate upon you. Good-bye." "How; augurs are sacrosanct and their messages are rare and crucial to the Host," the guardian sputtered. "Didn't know, don't care and could care less what you think is crucial for the Host," I sighed as I started walking away. "What is happening?" the augur wailed. "Her visions are lacerations on her soul," the guardian howled. "Does her pain mean nothing to you?" Those two had to be incredibly tight, the guardian watching the augur scarred and worn down by the task she had been chosen for; and not being able to help. "Not enough to keep me here," I answered at the door. "She's your buddy, not mine and I have a plateful of unhappiness already set before me." I opened the door. "Is there a problem?" Krasimira inquired as I stepped out. She had a guardian too. Pamela was also close by and strategically placed to dispose of said guardian. "Her bodyguard told me to ignore Tadêfi, so I am," I muttered. I hurt. The pain-killers had yet to kick in; and I'd just come out of a coma. Fuck'em. If Ishara wanted me to nail that girl, she was going to have to step up on her level of assistance aimed my way. I accepted that she had her limitations, but so did I. "Cáel Ishara, is that precisely what she said?" the Keeper was being diplomatic. "No; what do I call you?" "Krasimira, Cáel," she answered. "I do not believe it was Tadêfi's intent to be ignored. May I mediate?" "No," I replied. "I will talk with Tadêfi alone, or not at all. Quite frankly, half the time you women open your mouths, I want to kick you off the roof of this building. Either I see some damn humility; your words, Krasimira; or I carry on the Amazon tradition with Ishara and her legion of former 'Runners' while the rest of you are throttled by your pride." Do note that the Executive Services floor was very active and several members heard my statement loud and clear. "May we please try this meeting one more time?" she requested. Her bodyguard nearly choked on Krasimira's gentle, conciliatory tone. "I could not consider myself an Amazon and deny the Keeper's suggestion on this matter. Let's give it one more shot," I conceded. All I was asking for was 'nice'. I wasn't deluded into thinking Krasimira was suddenly my fan. She was simply acting on the enlightenment that her ancestors and goddesses had revealed. We headed back into Katrina's office. As with any divine direction, she knew she had two choices; harm, or heal. She had accepted responsibility that to heal her people, the spirits had chosen a male. Liking me had nothing to do with it. Being true to her oaths and nature as an Amazon were the acting forces here. Amazons survived, first and foremost. They feared nothing, not even change. Her fellows had denied the need for change based solely on pride and Krasimira recognized that now. Back in Katrina's office, the guardian was trying to calm her nearly hysterical charge. I would have been much happier if we had been more alone. The room had become crowded with ghosts during my short absence. Krasimira, who was following, bumped into me. "Ishara?" she whispered. As unfortunate as that was, Tadêfi's blind eyes following the fixed stares of all the ghosts in my direction was worse. I squeezed my brain for an appropriate bit of trivia that would put my depression on its ass. There was this movie by M. Night Shakalaka-ding dong (or something like that) about a boy who saw dead people. The hero; the man trying to help the boy; he turned out to be a ghost as well who didn't figure that out until the end of the flick. But, it got better. Using the numerous ghostly gazes like searchlights pinning down an escaping convict, Tadêfi ran right into my arms. That was a pretty remarkable feat; a blind girl in an unfamiliar room covering four meters flawlessly. But, it kept getting better. All the ghosts started to yammer, clambering for attention. Tadêfi began to weep piteously. I had to wonder if this was Ishara's penalty for keeping my mind free of her meddling. No one else seemed to understand what the fuck was going on. Krasimira was the augur wrangler, not in tune with the spirits herself. She was also the Supreme Litigator, which necessitated her being able to interact with the mortal world on a constant basis, so I couldn't hold her lack of spiritual mojo against her. My instincts were telling me that screaming and yelling was pointless. The cacophony was incredibly vexing, but I could deal. Tadêfi couldn't. I was looking at this dilemma from the wrong angle. Instead of taking on the hundreds, I would take on the one. I placed one of the augur's hands on my lips then placed my hands over her ears. My hope was that since I could interact with the restless dead, my flesh could act as a buffer to their insistent beseeching of us for recognition of their numerous appeals. My first song was one of the melodies sung to me by Oneida's kin while I fought off her Death Pledge. Bit by bit, a tiny fraction followed by the greater whole, I pulled Tadêfi back from the brink of insanity. Eventually, she began mumbling a different refrain into my chest. "My ears work better than my lip-reading," I chided her playfully. The ghosts hadn't stopped their pleas for attention. It was the sonic and tactile sensation of my song upon her fingers and the fluctuation of my lungs in pushing forth the music that allowed her to focus on her mortal coil. As we sang together, eventually with her teaching me a few new ballads, we shut the world out. Once our shared reality collapsed down to just the two of us, the babble diminished then finally faded away. "May I relay my message now?" Tadêfi requested. "No, we have to have sex first," I replied. Whoops; shit-storm. What followed was a blur. "I can't have sex," Tadêfi murmured. "The touch of a man would corrupt me." Plus. "She is an augur," her guardian declared firmly. "She must remain a virgin." Plus. "Cáel Ishara, augurs cannot be;” Krasimira's tongue became tied. "You go, Tiger," Pamela tossed out there. "Tadêfi, where are you right now?" I began my rotation of responses. "Why does she have to be a virgin? And, thanks Pamela. That was less helpful than normal." "I aim to disappoint, Cheetah," Pamela smirked. I couldn't see her face, but I knew she was. She; Tarzan. Me; Cheetah, the Immortal baby chimpanzee. Just what I needed. "It is the law," the guardian moved to separate us. "She must not be touched by a man," Krasimira stated. "Not having intercourse is implied. If she has been corrupted, why did the spirits continue to surround her after Cáel's touch?" "Keeper, this cannot be allowed," the guardian changed her focus. "I agree in that this is your choice to make," Krasimira countered. "Without knowing the missive, you must decide what your charge may, and may not, do. Your oath is to her personally, not to me or any other entity. Consider what the task of guardian truly is before deciding." The convoluted decision: what was the chief duty of a guardian; the message, or the messenger? The augur could convey urgency yet was powerless to act without the guardian's permission. She had to trust her guardian with the basics of life. The guardian; she had to trust what could not be sensed, or even fully understood. "Why; why this condition?" the guardian returned her gaze to me. I could have been a dick. "Dot Ishara told me to have intercourse with the first woman I saw when I woke up," I said. "If you hurt her, I will kill you," the Amazon threatened. "First off, Tadêfi, would you like to fool around?" I might want to get my potential sex partners permission before proceeding. You know; not be a rapist. "I don't know what you want, but if this is what we must do," Tadêfi acquiesced. "First time sex is going to be painful, so be prepared," I cautioned both young women. "If you;” the guardian repeated her threat. "Cáel, you should give daily thanks I don't leave a trail of dead bodies everywhere you go," Pamela declared with malicious menace. "So many pretentious bitches; I tell you, my ability to tolerate your forgiving nature is being sorely tested, damn it." Wow, was that totally ass-backwards, or what? As a side note to life: I was going to receive a serious beat-down the second my sexual tryst ended. Two pernicious women: Buffy; I had been damaged by someone who wasn't her. There was no way she'd forgive me for that. And Pamela; I had sent Estere away to escort Libra instead of keeping the assassin close. Without a doubt, I had taken Pamela away from some odious errand conducted on my behalf, yet without my knowledge. Yes, some serious torment was headed my way. Back to the girl at hand. Back to being the 'me' I wanted to be. Oink! With torturous reluctance, the guardian made to leave. "Wait," I called out. "You can stay if you join us." Yes, I was angling for a three-way with a women who wanted to make line drives with a five iron using my nuts for golf balls; and the blind and deaf girl. I couldn

Cáel's tombstone: For the love of women, women put him here.In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand.Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected..

If there is one topic I can relate to it is BURNOUT! For example, yesterday with only two hours of sleep (trying to prep for new client), I drove 2 hours each way and worked 14 hours onsite. Clearly that kind of insanity is not sustainable, but when do we finally say ENOUGH! My podcast guest, Teresa Vozza, wasn't given that choice as she was wheeled out of a meeting on a stretcher in front of her CEO and co-workers. She HAD to slow down. Teresa is an award-winning leadership expert, a keynote speaker, writer, and the former CHRO at Allianz Partners. She is on a mission to help executive professionals eradicate burnout and transform their leadership.

Songs include: Born to Lose, Lost and Found, I'd Hate to Lose You, What Have We Got to lose?, Lost April and She Had to Go and Lose It At the Astor.  Performers include: Benny Carter, the Andrews Sisters, Ted Daffran, the Ink Spots, Richard Himbler, Thomas "Fats" Waller and Nat King Cole.

Episode 1: "She Had a Bad Fall" -- Harold Henthorn calls 911 to report that his wife Toni has been gravely injured after falling off of a cliff on a remote trail. National Park Service Special Agent Beth Shott uncovers suspicious details and inconsistencies in Harold's story. Produced by Lone Wolf Media for ABC News Studios, streaming on Hulu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Full episode transcript HERE. New Year, New Pod Episode, Same Anti-Abortion Cruelty and Inhumanity! Happy 2024 fellow abobo warriors. Lizz is out this week but we got AAF comedy genius Alyssa “Dooks” Al-Dookhi holding down the fort with Moji, and they're serving y'all all the tea we've been pissed about… *cough cough* we're looking at you, Texas and Idaho. WTF did they do this time? WTF is EMTALA? And WTF can you do about it? Fuck around, listen, and find out.Meet Lauren Miller, one of the TWENTY-TWO women suing wack-ass Texas after being denied life-saving abortion care. She joins the Buzzkills to share her gut-wrenching horror story with us and give you marching orders on how YOU can help. PLUS, the brilliant Pamela Merritt of Medical Students for Choice is in the house to remind us abortion ban exceptions are BULLSHIT. She breaks down everything we need to know about EMTALA and gives us the doctor's POV on how terrifying it is to practice under these vile garbage conditions. WHERE'S OUR SEROTONIN BOOST AT? Comedian Emma Willmann from the “Ask Men Anything” podcast pops by to deliver the laughs, gab about the wonders of Adderall and to answer that age-old question: Is it ever worth it to ask men anything?Times are heavy, but knowledge is power, y'all. We gotchu. OPERATION SAVE ABORTION: You can still join the 10,000+ womb warriors fighting the patriarchy by listening to our five-part OpSave pod series and Mifepristone Panel by clicking HERE for episodes, your toolkit, marching orders, and more. HOSTS:Moji Alawode-El @MojiLocksAlyssa Al-Dookhi @TheDookness NEWS DUMPER:Molly Gaebe @MollyGaebe SPECIAL GUESTS: Lauren Miller IG: @DontMessWithTexsPamela Merritt TW: @SharkFuEmma Willmann IG: @EmmaWillmann TikTok/TW: @IamEmmaWillmann NEWS DUMP:Creepy Speaker Mike Johnson Attended a Purity Ball With His DaughterCreepy ‘Purity Ball' VideoDid an Abortion Ban Cost a Young Texas Woman Her Life?Pro-life Coffee Company Raises Nearly $300K to Support Pregnancy Resource CentersRepublican Officials Openly Insult Women Nearly Killed by Abortion BansTo Safeguard Healthy Twin in Utero, She Had to ‘Escape' Texas for Abortion Procedure ​GUEST LINKS:Medical Students for Choice Website IG/FB: @MSFChoice TW: @MSFCDONATE: MSFCWATCH: The Janes on HBO SIGN: Petition to Include Abortion Training in Undergraduate Medical EducationCenter for Reproductive Rights WebsiteDONATE: Center for Reproductive RightsREGISTER TO VOTEEmma Willmann WebsiteAsk Men Anything PodcastEmma Willmann Tour Dates EPISODE LINKS:1/18 CALL TO ACTION: Virtual Trans Equity TrainingBUY: Reproductive Rights Wall Art!EMAIL your abobo questions to The Feminist BuzzkillsAAF's Abortion-Themed Rage Playlist FOLLOW US:Listen to us ~ FBK PodcastInstagram ~ @AbortionFrontTwitter ~ @AbortionFrontTikTok ~ @AbortionFrontFacebook ~ @AbortionFrontYouTube ~ @AbortionAccessFrontTALK TO THE CHARLEY BOT FOR ABOBO OPTIONS & RESOURCES HERE!PATREON HERE! Support our work, get exclusive merch and more! DONATE TO AAF HERE!ACTIVIST CALENDAR HERE!VOLUNTEER WITH US HERE!ADOPT-A-CLINIC HERE!EXPOSE FAKE CLINICS HERE!GET ABOBO PILLS FROM PLAN C PILLS HERE!

Welcome back to another episode of Real Talk Atlanta! After receiving a lot of questions from our previous real estate commissions episode, we've decided to further expand on the conversations and discuss commissions when it comes to leases and for sale by owners. We'll be covering the roles of realtors when working with clients as well as how much are negotiated when working with for sale by owner properties. Grab your pen and paper, let's talk!________This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp Therapy.  BetterHelp has connected over 3 million people with licensed therapists. It's convenient and accessible anywhere — 100% online. Learn more and save 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/REALTALKATL_______F O L L O W    O U R    S O C I A L S !To Order " She Had to Die to Become Her" by Suzette Samuels, Click here: https://shopsuzette.org◦ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realtalkatlanta/◦ SUBMIT QUESTIONS : realtalkatlpod@gmail.com◦ Ashley: https://www.instagram.com/ashley__larae/◦ River: https://www.instagram.com/rivertherealtor/◦ Tiesha: https://www.instagram.com/thereal_tiesharena/◦ Neika: https://www.instagram.com/neikaw.realestate/Produced by Adode Media; a full-service podcast production agency.

________This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp Therapy.  BetterHelp has connected over 3 million people with licensed therapists. It's convenient and accessible anywhere — 100% online. Learn more and save 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/REALTALKATL_______F O L L O W    O U R    S O C I A L S !To Order " She Had to Die to Become Her" by Suzette Samuels, Click here: https://shopsuzette.org◦ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realtalkatlanta/◦ SUBMIT QUESTIONS : realtalkatlpod@gmail.com◦ Ashley: https://www.instagram.com/ashley__larae/◦ River: https://www.instagram.com/rivertherealtor/◦ Tiesha: https://www.instagram.com/thereal_tiesharena/◦ Neika: https://www.instagram.com/neikaw.realestate/Produced by Adode Media; a full-service podcast production agency.

In this week's episode of Real Talk Atlanta, we are joined by a phenomenal guest, Suzette Samuel. Suzette is a former model and reality TV star who is now a licensed realtor, social media influencer and serial entrepreneur owning several businesses including financial literacy, funding, and a virtual call center. In this thought-provoking episode, Neika, River, Ashley, Tiesha and Suzette will share insights into their life experiences and how they shaped their perspective on life's journey. They'll discuss the challenges and pivotal moments that paved the way for their personal and professional growth.We hope their experiences and insights inspire you to reflect on your own path and embrace the transformative power of life's journey.Real Talk Atlanta is grateful to Suzette for sharing her wisdom and experiences with our listeners. Tune in next week for Part 2 of “No Story, No Glory.”_______F O L L O W    O U R    S O C I A L S !To Order " She Had to Die to Become Her" by Suzette Samuels, Click here: https://shopsuzette.org◦ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realtalkatl...◦ SUBMIT QUESTIONS : realtalkatlpod@gmail.com◦ Ashley: https://www.instagram.com/ashley__larae/◦ River: https://www.instagram.com/rivertherea...◦ Tiesha: https://www.instagram.com/thereal_tie...◦ Neika: https://www.instagram.com/neikaw.real...Produced by Adode Media; a full-service podcast production agency.

She Had a Crash With Her Family And Discovers the Truth.... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ndeworld/support

Episode #44. Perspective Shifts in Overcoming Burnout Welcome to the Empowering Working Moms Podcast with Dr. Prianca Naik! In this episode, Dr. Prianca talks about the importance of perspective and how it can help high-achieving moms overcome burnout. She shares her experiences and offers practical tips for shifting your perspective, including two specific lenses you can use in your day-to-day life. The first lens is your 80-year-old self. Ask yourself what your 80-year-old would do or say about any situation. This can provide perspective and maturity and help you prioritize what truly matters. The second lens is rose-colored glasses, which means putting a rosy lens on things. This can help you see the positive aspects of a situation and avoid getting lost in the daily grind. Dr. Prianca also shares a personal example of using the 80-year-old lens to manage a stressful situation with her sick baby. So, if you're a high-achieving, Type A mom who is exhausted or struggling with burnout, don't miss Dr. Prianca's free on-demand masterclass on four steps to overcome burnout and get your peace of mind back.   In this episode, you will learn: Empowering High Achieving Moms to Overcome Burnout Shifting Your Perspective: A Key to Overcoming Burnout Tools for Shifting Your Perspective: Future Self and Bird's Eye View Lenses Real-life Examples: How Shifting Your Perspective Can Help Combat Burnout The Importance of Mindset and Perspective in Achieving Peace of Mind and Living a Better Life: Free Masterclass Available And so much more!   If you want to work with Coach Prianca Naik, MD, Join Overcome Burnout For Good to end burnout and get your peace of mind back in 90 days or less  www.program.stresscleansemd.com/workwithme   To get started on loving your life, check out her free masterclass on 4 proven methods to love your life https://program.stresscleansemd.com/4-secrets-to-living-a-life-you-ll-love-podcast   Follow Dr. Prianca on social media: https://www.facebook.com/prianca.naik https://www.instagram.com/doctorprianca/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/prianca-naik-md-0524a196/   Join her FREE Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/646992382603860   [FULL TRANSCRIPT]   Hello. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I'm glad to have you here, actually, I'm so happy to have you here. So, thanks for listening and I hope you're doing well. I know, I am, I've had like a hoarse voice for a couple of weeks on and off and my voice, I think is finally back, so I'm grateful for that. And that means that I'm able to record this podcast today. So, if you're listening this podcast, you might be a high achieving type A mom and you're probably exhausted. Maybe even struggling with burnout. You've probably done all the right things. You've an awesome resume. You've checked the boxes for success, conventional success. As we know it right? But maybe you're not happy but you really don't have to feel this way forever. Imagine a life beyond burnout where you have confidence peace of mind better relationships and I know this is possible for you because it has been for me and my clients with a little bit of work and not a whole lot of time. You can be out of burnout and truly enjoying your life every single day. Check out my free on-demand master class “4 Steps to Overcome Burnout, Get Rid of Overwhelm and finally, Get your Peace of Mind Back”. Link will be in the show notes. Check it out. You don't want to miss it.   So, I'm going to talk today about our perspective, the lens with which we see the world. And our lens, and our perspective, there's so important because they create how we experience our reality, how we experience our lives. And it just reminds me of playing. I used to play Super Nintendo, Jeopardy. I loved Jeopardy. And I memorize all the answers and one of the descriptions was rose-colored glasses. That was the answer. What are rose-colored glasses? I don't know. I don't know what the prompt was for that. I don't even think I understood what that meant at the time, because I was only maybe 10 years old or so 10 or 11. And now I understand rose-colored glasses and realize that it means, you know, putting a Rosy lens on things. So that gives you a little context for what we are going to talk about today. This is one of my favorite topics actually and it's come up in a few of my coaching sessions and I thought you would find it useful or I knew you would find it useful.   So, lenses are how we see the world, how our lives are unfolding, how we experience our lives. And when we empower ourselves to control our lens to change our lens, to work on our mindset, we increase our peace of mind, we have more energy and therefore we're able to overcome exhaustion and burnout. One of the key components of burnout High-achieving moms like ourselves is really being in the thick of it. Where let's say you have young children, you've got a high-power career. There's so much going on. It is very easy to default to being overwhelmed and exhausted. If you let yourself drown in it and most people do. However, if we can start seeing our lives today from the following lenses has it becomes so much easier. So, I'm going to give you two specific lenses, you can use in your day-to-day life that will shift your perspective to really keep things in perspective, have peace of mind and not have that modus operandi. Where you feel like you're drowning, you're in the thick of it. You're in survival mode. No, there's no room for that. Here, we want to get out of survival mode. Okay. And into a better freaking life. All right, I have, I will tell you a little anecdote.   Oh, I have, you know, I have stressful situations going on all the time and a lot of people can be like, oh like I don't know how you do it. Like your life is must be so hard. This is hard and I don't, that's one thing I really don't enjoy people saying that to me, because I don't think it's helpful telling me that things are hard. But what I will tell you is that no matter what comes up in my life, I'm able to, I know I can, manage it. So, I don't stress out about impending stressors and I really use my lenses to make decisions and see things in a way where I have perspective. So, I don't get sucked into - narratives or adding extra layers of stress and suffering to what might already be a stressful situation. And that's why I'm teaching you how to do the same.   So here we go 2 lenses today, lens number one is my future self or your future self. It's my 80-year-old self. So, ask yourself what your 18-year-old self would do or what that 80-year-old self would have to say about any given situation and this immediately gives perspective and maturity to a situation, right? Because we're so busy thinking that we have forever to live and you know, we're in the thick of trying to make money and trying to rear our kid. Feed them. Keep them alive, all those things and it's just easy to get lost in the day-to-day rot, the to-do lists and allow all of that to make us miserable. So, try this 80-year-old lens to Any Given put it on any given situation and see how it feels. I'm going to give you a personal example of my own my baby was sick recently and my au pair who so wonderful, God lover. She Had just started with me and I was new to my au pair being my backup child care, which of course, that's why she's there and I had patients to see that day. Now, I wasn't sure if I wanted to take my daughter into the pediatrician yet so, you know that, but I had a lot going on and I was trying to manage, you know, my Au pairs hours properly, meanwhile, take care of my daughter. And I'm sure you can imagine this exact scenario, right? You have definitely been there at one time or another.   And again people often say about these situations it's so hard which okay. Yeah it's not easy, right? But I took my eight-year-old lens and I knew that this time in my life isn't coming back. I'm grateful for the back of childcare and also, I was forced in a way to spend extra time with my daughter snuggling and cuddling reading her stories. And I was so grateful for that and it was lovely. And that way I mean it wasn't lovely that she was sick, but it was a gift of getting extra time with her. Okay. And so that is the eight-year-old lens because when we say, oh, it's so hard, not only is that even whether it's true or not, that's a moment isn't helpful, right? And it makes us feel even more tired. So, we add to our own exhaustion. What is the point about? We're just making things worse for ourselves, so I'm just trying to show you if you're not aware that, this is what's going on. Like just be aware of when you're doing these things and catch yourself in playing into the negative, narratives, or hard it is, or how exhausted you are. Because the more we keep saying that to ourselves, the more, we really feel it, even more and more, because these small things may seem innocuous, but they are contributing to your own sustenance sense of exhaustion and burnout. So, I knew of course that this day was going to come and go the one with my daughter, being sick and everything would be. Okay, right. And it's just a part of being a working parent is, it is what it is. It happens to everyone and I knew that, you know, I had a new few thing to juggle including my new au pair, who is a huge blessing and it was fine before I could stress. I had the wherewithal, the awareness to ask what my eight-year-old Prianka self would say. And she would say life is large and long. The stay is going to pass. You'll figure. Figure it out. Just like you always have just like you always will enjoy the extra time with your daughter time and life are precious. And that's exactly what I did.   But do you see how with this lens? This shift and shift impacted my perspective and therefore, impacted my day and ultimately, ultimately my life. It gave me a sense of Peace. It gave me gratitude, so I wasn't contributing to my own sense of tired, stress, exhaustion. Okay. I'm going to challenge you here and challenge you to commit to asking yourself, what your eight-year-old self would say, in any big decision that comes up. We are not certain. Or when you're stressed, she's older. She's wiser, she's calmer and by taking her advice, you will be wiser and calmer too, see how I did that. Try it and let try this lens on for size and let me know how It goes message me @doctorprianca on Instagram. My name is, prianca, not the traditional, Indian spelling of Priyanka with the “Y” and the “K”, just just FYI. Now the second lens I'm going to discuss is the one of the persons who loves you. The lens of self-love and self-love gets talked about a lot and that's because it is a key component of peace of mind ending exhaustion. Ending burnout. Self-love is actually one component of a pillar in my program called self-empowerment because it's so important in this work. And really, I know for a lot of people depending on their background, depending on their childhoods, self-love is a real stretch, but I think as mother's we know how we love our own children and we love them unconditionally, right? And so, taking how we love our children and transposing that onto ourselves.   For example, what would you do if you loved yourself? What would you tell your child to do in this situation, right? Because once you pretend to love yourself, and in this case, really fake it till you make it really ask yourself questions. What would I do if and you can put the lens of what you would want your child to do. And that really helps you in making difficult decisions. It really increases your sense of clarity and I have a client story that I've mentioned I believe before, but a female physician was in a very tough situation relationship with her spouse. Who is also a physician, they had two small children and he was verbally and mainly verbally but sometimes physically abusive towards her and she put up with that because she didn't believe in divorce and she really wanted to stay married.   So, she tolerated behavior that she told me that she'd even recognize who she was anymore, that she was surprised that she would tolerate such disrespect and it was not a good example for her children and we really started working on Self-love and through her work with me on loving herself. She eventually asked herself. What would Ido if I love myself, if I love myself, what I keep putting myself In. harms way, would I keep being here, getting hurt, mentally and physically, and once she actually truly loved herself, she decided to physically get away from him and she moved out. So that is the power of self-love. And I'm not saying that you have to have such an extreme situation, whatsoever, okay? Self-love can be as simple as if I love myself. What would I say to taking on an extra call weekend? And if I love myself, I would say no. So, you say no similar to last week's episode when we talk about boundaries, but it's a similar concept, where you really treat yourself with love and care. You treat yourself with kindness, you have a kind of voice to yourself, and I know this might sound corny, because, when I first started, and learning about these Concepts and practicing them. They felt lame to me. I'm being honest about that. But with time, I learn that pretending even or being aware of the mean voice in my head. The critical voice and not playing into it and really trying to give myself some compassion for being Human in my not best moments by imperfect moments. My mistakes that really created so much inner peace. Right? And, and that is really what we're craving. Inner peace is our ticket, out of burnout, right? So that's just something to keep in mind.   So, the next time you have a big decision, where maybe you're spinning and fusion, ask yourself, what would you do if you loved yourself? What would you tell your child to do? Put the self-love lens on it and believe me, you will get so much clarity so quickly, you're going to have peace of mind. And a lot faster than anything, you've probably tried before and I know you've I'm guessing right? I don't know, but I'm guessing you've tried yoga, therapy, self-help books, books on tape. Maybe you have a long stack of books on your bookshelf that you want to read and you just haven't gotten to it, am I right? Or am I right? But these methods will get you the results. The peace of mind that you want that, you've been craving, try these things, let me know how it goes. You can find me @doctorprianca on Instagram and really shoot me a message. I would love to hear about how this is helping you, and if you want to dive even deeper, check out my free on-demand masterclass, watch it anytime you want. It's about 40 minutes for steps to overcome burnout, get rid of overwhelm and finally, get your peace of mind back. Link is in the show notes. Thanks for tuning in and I will talk to you next week.

1 - The Weary Traveler (Der müde Bummeler) - Orchestra Zonofon - 19112 - I've Ranged, I've Roamed and I've Travelled - Jimmie Rodgers - 19293 - Traveling Blues - Ted Weems and his Orchestra - 19244 - The Boarding House Bells are Ringing - Carolina Twins - 19285 - Stay a Little Longer - Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys - 19456 - Bell Hop Blues - Al Bernard - 19197 - Shuffle Boogie Bellhop - Tommy Lloyd and The Strollin' Cowboys - 19518 - A Porter's Song to a Chambermaid - Fats Waller and his Rhythm - 19369 - Room Five-Hundred-and-Four - Anne Lenner with the Savoy Hotel Orpheans - 194110 - Second Class Hotel - Jesse Rodgers with El Patio Trio - 193711 - Kanakanui Hotel - Eddie Valencia's Beachcombers - 193512 - She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor - Johnny Messner and his Orchestra - 193913 - The Mountjoy Hotel - William McElligott - 193814 - Commercial Traveler's March - Edison Concert Band - 190115 - Arkansas Traveler - Lee Bedford, Jr. and The Big D Ranch Hands - 194716 - Hawaiian Hotel March - Charles Kama and his Moana Hawaiians - 194017 - There's a Small Hotel - Larry Stewart with Jack Shilkret and his Orchestra - 193618 - There's a Small Hotel - Vincent Lopez and his Suave Swing Orchestra - 1939

For months, aides to President Joe Biden have been backchanneling to keep OPEC from cutting oil exports and, in turn, raising oil and gas prices around the world. So much for all that. On Wednesday, OPEC+ announced that it will cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day starting next month — a move that “sharply undercuts President Biden's effort to avoid an increase in gas prices ahead of the midterm elections, while setting back his push to constrain the oil revenue Russia is using to pay for its war in Ukraine,” write NYT's David Sanger and Ben Hubbard. And two days after setting the political world aflame with its report that in 2009, Herschel Walker — who is running for U.S. Senate in Georgia while touting his opposition to abortion rights — paid for his then-girlfriend to obtain an abortion, the Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger lit more kindling on Wednesday night: “She Had an Abortion With Herschel Walker. She Also Had a Child With Him.” Plus, FDA reporter Katherine Foley stops by to dissect the stars for House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.). Happy birthday! Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing. Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Many children killed in Thai shooting police Children among at least 34 people killed in nursery shooting in Thailand Mayor among dead as gunmen launch attack in Mexican city California family, including baby, found dead after armed kidnapping N.Korea flies warplanes near S.Korea after missile launches She Had an Abortion With Herschel Walker. She Also Had a Child With Him. After Hurricane Ian, a Chicago man starts picking up pieces of his Florida home CBS Chicago University of Arizona professor fatally shot on campus, police say ex student arrested Hans Niemann Chess player accused of cheating not backing down U.S. appeals court sends DACA case back to lower court to consider new rule Kevin Spacey facing trial on New York sex abuse claim Rivals Biden and DeSantis project unity over Hurricane Ian Ukraine war latest Zaporizhzhia rocked by pre dawn blasts Canada Supreme Court to hear if US is safe for migrants Will Hurricane Ian cut Floridas Gulf Coast real estate boom short Dog death, driving and emails The strange history of the October surprise Ukraine war Mother, Im scared Zaporizhzhia city devastated by rocket attacks Purdue University dorm murder suspect utters I love my family before entering jail Nicole Mann Astronaut becomes first Native American woman in space

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Dog death, driving and emails The strange history of the October surprise Ukraine war latest Zaporizhzhia rocked by pre dawn blasts California family, including baby, found dead after armed kidnapping University of Arizona professor fatally shot on campus, police say ex student arrested Canada Supreme Court to hear if US is safe for migrants Children among at least 34 people killed in nursery shooting in Thailand Kevin Spacey facing trial on New York sex abuse claim She Had an Abortion With Herschel Walker. She Also Had a Child With Him. Rivals Biden and DeSantis project unity over Hurricane Ian After Hurricane Ian, a Chicago man starts picking up pieces of his Florida home CBS Chicago Ukraine war Mother, Im scared Zaporizhzhia city devastated by rocket attacks Will Hurricane Ian cut Floridas Gulf Coast real estate boom short Hans Niemann Chess player accused of cheating not backing down Nicole Mann Astronaut becomes first Native American woman in space Mayor among dead as gunmen launch attack in Mexican city N.Korea flies warplanes near S.Korea after missile launches U.S. appeals court sends DACA case back to lower court to consider new rule Purdue University dorm murder suspect utters I love my family before entering jail Many children killed in Thai shooting police

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv After Hurricane Ian, a Chicago man starts picking up pieces of his Florida home CBS Chicago California family, including baby, found dead after armed kidnapping Rivals Biden and DeSantis project unity over Hurricane Ian Many children killed in Thai shooting police Purdue University dorm murder suspect utters I love my family before entering jail N.Korea flies warplanes near S.Korea after missile launches Ukraine war latest Zaporizhzhia rocked by pre dawn blasts Children among at least 34 people killed in nursery shooting in Thailand Kevin Spacey facing trial on New York sex abuse claim Will Hurricane Ian cut Floridas Gulf Coast real estate boom short She Had an Abortion With Herschel Walker. She Also Had a Child With Him. University of Arizona professor fatally shot on campus, police say ex student arrested Nicole Mann Astronaut becomes first Native American woman in space Ukraine war Mother, Im scared Zaporizhzhia city devastated by rocket attacks Dog death, driving and emails The strange history of the October surprise Mayor among dead as gunmen launch attack in Mexican city U.S. appeals court sends DACA case back to lower court to consider new rule Canada Supreme Court to hear if US is safe for migrants Hans Niemann Chess player accused of cheating not backing down

We have recorded 150 episodes and all we got was this stupid podcast.  Buy Our Merch: https://www.bonfire.com/store/man-bites-dog  Ask us a question! Recommend an episode! Email it to askmanbitesdog@gmail.com Break music: "She Had a Date" by The Oculist Queens Music from https://filmmusic.io "Acid Trumpet" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) "Just As Soon" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)  Scheming Weasel (faster version) by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4326-scheming-weasel-faster-version License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Catherine Glenn Foster, American United for Life President, joined WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" radio program on Monday about what's next on the state level in crafting legislation and regulations regarding abortion. Twitter: https://twitter.com/cateici Bio: https://aul.org/author/catherineglennfoster/ Catherine's statement on today's SCOTUS decision: A New Day at Last: U.S. Supreme Court Reverses Roe v. Wade: https://aul.org/2022/06/24/a-new-day-at-last-u-s-supreme-court-reverses-roe-v-wade/ Read this profile on Catherine in The Daily Signal here: She Had an Abortion at 19. Now She Helps Lead the Pro-Life Movement. https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/09/12/she-had-an-abortion-at-19-now-she-helps-lead-the-pro-life-movement/ For more coverage on the issues that matter to you, visit www.WMAL.com, download the WMAL app or tune in live on WMAL-FM 105.9 FM from 5-9 AM ET. To join the conversation, check us out on Twitter: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor, @Jgunlock,and @patrickpinkfile. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Kathy left corporate America to become an energy worker, her Salvadoran mom didn't understand her choice, or why Kathy felt so drawn to it. And Cynthia Pong, a career coach, helps us break down corporate trauma and speak with our parents about finding purpose in our work.Our expert this week is Cynthia Pong, a career coach for women of color. Learn more about her work here. Cynthia is the author of Don't Stay In Your Lane: The Career Change Guide for Women of Color. She also runs a leadership accelerator program for BIWOC and nonbinary BIPOC, learn more and apply to the next cohort here. If you liked this show listen to She Loves Her Work, Her Parents Don't Get it and She Had to Choose Her Career Over Her Parents

Today On Rikishi Driver Talk, I Chat With Genah “Fabioso” Fabian She is a Samoan/German/Maori Born In New Zealand She continues to train in Mixed Martial arts & Muay Thai kickboxing. Growing Up, She Had no aspirations to be a fighter, Yet Genah is no stranger to finishing fights on her terms. Instagram @genahfabian Twitter @GenahFabian Subscribe and hit the bell to see a new video each Week. The Rikishi Driver Talk Show is also on •Viva Live Tv •Fight Night Tv •Spotify •Anchor Host: #Rikishi-Powered by @knokxpro Entertainment --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/therikishidrivertalkshow/support

We've made it to the halfway point! This is the 25th episode and the 25th song. It's hard to believe we've written so many songs! Thank you for listening to our songs and for sticking with us up to this point. This project has been a huge part of my life these last several years and I am so grateful for the opportunity to get to make music and share it with all of you! In this episode we talk about writing a song like a story about a character instead of like a diary entry or therapy session. We also touch on the topic of the delicate timeline of writing and releasing songs. In the end we write a lovely little jazzy waltz about a girl who is decides to turn her fears into wings. Using a songwriting prompt from Sarah Spencer's Five-In-Five Challenge at SongFancy, this song came together from this prompt:"She Had to Turn Her Fears Into Wings"To learn more about SongFancy and the Five-In-Five Challenge, go to http://songfancy.com/5-in-5-songwriting-challenge/@50badsongs@timroskowww.patreon.com/50badsongswww.50badsongs.bandcamp.com

THIS WEEK'S MIDWEST FAMILY ‘PLAYER OF THE WEEK’ IS MADI DOTSON. MADI IS A FRESHMAN AT SOUTH HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL AND A STARTING CATCHER FOR LADY RAMS SOFTBALL. IN APRIL, MADI WENT 9 FOR 14 WITH 5 SINGLES, 2 DOUBLES AND 2 GRAND SLAMS, ONE OF THEM HER FIRST ‘AT BAT' OF THE SEASON. SHE HAD 18 RBI'S INCLUDING 7 WALKS AND STRUCK OUT ONLY ONCE. MADI DOTSON IS ALSO INVOLVED IN VOLLEYBALL AND CHOIR AND HOLDS A 3 POINT SIX SEVEN G.P.A. THIS WEEK'S MIDWEST FAMILY PLAYER OF THE WEEK, MADI DOTSON FROM SOUTH HAVEN.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THIS WEEK'S MIDWEST FAMILY 'PLAYER OF THE WEEK' IS MADI DOTSON. MADI IS A FRESHMAN AT SOUTH HAVEN HIGH SCHOOL AND A STARTING CATCHER FOR LADY RAMS SOFTBALL. IN APRIL, MADI WENT 9 FOR 14 WITH 5 SINGLES, 2 DOUBLES AND 2 GRAND SLAMS, ONE OF THEM HER FIRST ‘AT BAT' OF THE SEASON. SHE HAD 18 RBI'S INCLUDING 7 WALKS AND STRUCK OUT ONLY ONCE. MADI DOTSON IS ALSO INVOLVED IN VOLLEYBALL AND CHOIR AND HOLDS A 3 POINT SIX SEVEN G.P.A. THIS WEEK'S MIDWEST FAMILY PLAYER OF THE WEEK, MADI DOTSON FROM SOUTH HAVEN.

Malischa has big plans for her dream career, but her Haitian parents have a more traditional definition of success. And Dorianne St. Fleur, a career and leadership coach who works  with women of color, shares a handy acronym to help us make decisions with purpose and discuss them with our loved ones.Our expert this week is Dorianne St Fleur, a career and leadership coach who helps women of color find their dream careers. Learn more about her work here. If you loved this episode, be sure to listen to to When Mamí Doesn't Respect Your Hustle, and She Had to Choose Her Career over Her Parents.We'd love to hear your stories of triumph and frustration so send us a detailed voice memo to virginia@lwcstudios.com. You might be on a future episode! Let's connect on Twitter and Instagram at @TalkToMamiPapi and email us at hello@talktomamipapi.com. And follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Alberto was excited to start his own business but had to be strategic about telling his concerned Mexican mom. And Marlene Orozco, who studies Latino entrepreneurs in the U.S., speaks with Juleyka about the challenges and opportunities entrepreneurs face, and how their families can best support them.Our expert this week is Marlene Orozco, Associate Director of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneur Initiative at the Stanford School of Business. If you loved this episode, be sure to listen to When Mamí Doesn't Respect Your Hustle, and She Had to Choose Her Career over Her Parents.We'd love to hear your stories of triumph and frustration so send us a detailed voice memo to virginia@lwcstudios.com. You might be on a future episode! Let's connect on Twitter and Instagram at @TalkToMamiPapi and email us at hello@talktomamipapi.com. And follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Today's Episode with Melissa Nolan:Melissa Nolan is the founder of Assessing Kids. She started out as a school psychologist, worked in school administrations, and branched off into her own private practice where she works as an advocate for students with special needs. She also does assessments including ADHD, dyslexia, and more.While a school psychologist, opportunities arose for her where people would recruit her and offer opportunities. Melissa supports taking risks and accepted opportunities that came to her. This allowed her to expand her network and build great relationships that she still is connected with to this day.Melissa finds that she respects and admires people who are willing to push the limits, do things differently, and go against the culture. Because of this, she was able to attract people/mentors into her life whose visions aligned with her own. It's important to be aligned with your vision and values. Melissa has a vision in her mind of what she wants to practice and commits to it. If things don't go her way, she makes sure to reflect and think about how she can do it differently to be aligned with her vision.Melissa is able to keep her energy aligned to her vision because she has developed great relationships and takes care of her health. She is able to go to the people who she trusts and get honest feedback. She also prioritizes her health and self-care, keeping up with exercise and nutrition to keep her mental and physical health in check.Melissa realizes that mistakes are guaranteed to happen, so being kind to herself and approaching mistakes as an opportunity is very important to her. She also knows that she does not know everything, and it is okay to not know everything. But the ongoing desire to learn is essential.In order to keep clients coming back, you have to do outstanding work. You have to have the experience in your younger years so that you can accelerate in your own private practice. When Melissa has a new client, she writes down what the goal from the client is and refers back to it frequently, reminding clients what their goal is. Another important part is responding to clients as quickly as possible to relieve the client's anxieties.Melissa keeps organized by documenting all communication with clients. She writes down what was accomplished with the client and what the next steps are. Everything is written down, it doesn't stay in her head.Melissa attributes her success to hard work. Learning never came naturally to her, she had to work really hard and be disciplined. Luck came into her life through her relationships and opportunities that came to her. But, she had to take risks and accept these opportunities.Find Melissa at her website www.assessingkids.com Hot seat answers! Apple or Android: AppleWho would play you in a movie?: Molly RingwaldDo you believe in aliens?: Yes. There's something going on...who knows.Best album/artist: Pink Book title written about Melissa's life: She Had 9 LivesIs there something you would like to see on this podcast that you're not seeing? Send us an email at info@earnmoretutoring.com

There's some things that make you SURE that someone has money. Like the guy driving the blue Corvette that Rob saw the other day. Then, there's the little things. It's usually when we're kids that we see a friend of family with a little something we don't have. Joss' friend had a giant Swatch Watch on the wall of her bedroom AND one to match on her wrist! She HAD to be rich. What little things did you see that made you SURE someone was loaded?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Years after her father's murder, and following another tragic loss, Melissa recognized she needed help. She went to therapy, but also realized she was being cast out by her Chinese-Jamaican family as a result.  And, Amy Lew, a therapist specializing in trauma and mixed-raced identity, speaks with Juleyka about finding our own ways to grieve with or without our loved ones.Our expert this week is Amy Lew, a biracial, multiethnic licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in south San Diego here. If you loved this episode, be sure to listen to Telling Mamí She Needs Mental Help and She Had to Choose Her Career Over Her Parents.We'd love to hear your stories of triumph and frustration so send us a detailed voice memo to virginia@lwcstudios.com. You might be on a future episode! Let's connect on Twitter and Instagram at @TalkToMamiPapi and email us at hello@talktomamipapi.com. And follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. 

Amanda is owner of a product-based AND service-based business! She owns Amanda Clark Photography in Southern Utah and Cold Strike, an brand new outdoor apparel business. We've always been friends but in January she became one of my coaching girls! I LOVE coaching because it is more like guiding — not directing. When we first started coaching sessions, she was burnt out and even felt like it was time to quit photography. I was able to watch Amanda dive into what was causing her burn-out and help her completely pivot her business. Amanda discovered that she didn't love photography as much as she loves the people. So now that we know what she is passionate about, we can shift her business to be more about the people. At the beginning of coaching, Amanda had a six-year old photography business. Now she has a six-year old photography business, a podcast, an associate photographer, a virtual assistant, an outdoor apparel business and three more instagrams. She has completely stepped into that CEO role (flawlessly, might I add) and does what she really loves every day, the managing and the executing and the negotiating. The people-side of things. Amanda wouldn't have gotten to the bottom of her burn-out and found what she really loves to do without pushing past her limiting beliefs. She HAD to let go of these big fears. That's why I love coaching. We were able to discover and work through limiting beliefs that she didn't even know were there! Get all the juicy details in today's episode - going from burn out to CEO! FIND AMANDA HERE: instagram.com/amandaclarkphoto instagram.com/coldstrikegear Hi, I'm Kylee and I'm a business coach for women! I specialize in helping women make money while still balancing their families. Learn more about my courses and coaching options at kyleeann.com/education FIND US HERE: kyleeannphotography.com/podcast instagam.com/kyleeannstudios facebook.com/groups/ourphotogblog Get the show notes to your inbox: bit.ly/KMMpodcast

Shelsea is a college student undecided about her future, and wondering whether she wants to be in school at all. But she feels pressured by her Haitian mom to finish her degree. Then, a seasoned college counselor shares strategies for figuring out your own path and engaging your loved ones in the process.Our expert this week is Sharon Williams, college counselor at the University of Chicago Laboratory High School. Sharon recommends the following community organizations and resources to support students along their educational journey:PosseQuestbridgeJack Kent Cooke FoundationAnd for students in the Chicago area:High Jump Link UnlimitedChicago ScholarsIf you loved this episode, be sure to listen to She Had to Choose Her Career Over Her Parents, and She Loves Her Work, Her Parents Don't Get It.We'd love to hear your stories of triumph and frustration so send us a detailed voice memo to hello@talktomamipapi.com. You might be on a future episode! Let's connect on Twitter and Instagram at @TalkToMamiPapi and email us at hello@talktomamipapi.com. And subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.