Naughty or Nice - Nice - Part One

As the doughy old man places the small gift box on my coffee table a mug is jostled, the ceramic soon tumbling to the floor with a loud crash.

I lurch up from my strained and light sleep, the smashing of the mug against the wooden floor ripping me from a dream already fading from my mind. The footfalls quicken in pace in the living room down the hall, the soft steps soon disappearing out the window before the sound of bells begin to pull away and into the distance.

Despite the freezing temperature I leap from my bed, pulling open the draw of my bedside table as I grab out the heavy metal torch sitting within. Armed to the best of my ability and with a stream of harsh light in hand I begin to tentatively pace towards the bedroom door.

Hunched low I slowly open the door with a painfully long creak, my bleary sleep filled eyes straining to see in the darkened rooms despite the harsh stream of light pouring from the powerful torch. Creeping down the hallway I careful step into the combined living room and kitchen. The window sits up, snowflakes slowly falling in as a harsh and painfully cold breeze billows inside.

Whipping my head around I soon find my torchlight pointed towards the shattered pale green coffee mug, my attention soon turning to the coffee table on which it once sat. My eyebrow cocks in confusion as I aim the torchlight at the object sitting in the center of the old low wooden table, my eyes squinting as I stare at the bright white and red striped present.

The scent of peppermint and sugar cookies hangs heavily in the air, an undertone of gingerbread wafting up to me as I inch towards the box. I swear that in the harsh light of the torch and the striking shadows of the dim apartment around me the box appears to shift, the pristine cardboard sides bulging and almost breathing like the thing is alive.

Public Purchase - Part Six

A small stone wall wraps around the entrance to the clearing, the older woman bringing the pickup truck to a stop close to a cute little wooden gate. Flower beds and trees dot the landscape beyond the fence, creating an extensive garden in front of a rustic stone cottage sitting beyond.

With a click of her seat belt the older woman turns to climb out of the driver's seat, pausing for a moment to look back at me with a more serious expression.

"Come on, we have to get this thing planted before Sammy gets home" she states, hoping down to the path below before stretching a little. "Besides, you and I need to have a talk. Don't think you can just take over for Aurelia without any ground rules."

I sit in the large and heavily worn seat for a moment, my hands fidgeting with the hem of my lime green polka dot sundress as I try to wrap my head around what the dark haired woman had said. I blow some of the red hair from my face, the gears inside my skull whirring as I find the sudden thrusting of myself back into living under a parent's thumb difficult to parse.

Suddenly, a loud thumping rings through the cabin of the pickup, the loud drumming causing me to jump with a loud squeal.

"Come on!" barks the dark haired woman, opening my door as she continues to hammer the roof of the vehicle. "I carted this thing into the truck without Aurelia's help, you can at least help me get it to the house."

X-Change Duo - Part One

As I potter about my apartment, preparing for the day ahead of me, I quickly fiddle with my phone. If I was going to be rushing around my cozy little home I at least wanted something to listen to in the background.

Hemming and hawing at the screen I flick my way through YouTube, selecting random videos to act as ambiance as I get ready. As I cast the first video to my TV I'm immediately hit with the off-putting blaring noise of an ad, one that I had heard many times before.

 

 It's time for a change, an X-Change

Naughty or Nice - Part One

Snow patters softly at the bedroom window as I lay beneath the covers, twisting and turning as I struggle to keep myself within my strained dream clad state. The biting cold seeps int through the covers, bleeding through the poor quality glass of the windows and the flimsy walls of the cheap and poorly maintained apartment.

Pulling the covers closer, wrapping them around me as an insulating second skin, I shiver and mutter in my sleep as whatever chance of restful sleep grows ever more fleeting. The poor state of rest however manages to keep itself in place as the kitchen window slides open, a faint jingling of sleigh bells emanating from beyond the window.

A soft series foot falls pace across the hardwood floors, the large figure moving with cat-like tread despite his bulk and the large sack slung over his shoulder. As the elderly man tip toes over to my living room his long bushy white bread ruffles softly, his red floppy hat somehow making more noise than his whole hulking frame.

As the jolly old man reaches my coffee table he slings the large sack over his shoulder around, his gloved hand dipping inside and sifting around in search of a particular box amongst the mixture of colorfully wrapped gifts. While it was only a week or so to the big day, or for the elderly man his big night traveling the globe, some presents this year needed to be delivered early in order for them to have their full effect.

Public Purchase - Part Five

Taking a deep breath I watch as the bus pulls out, the warm sun above me feeling almost heavenly and deeply distracting as I feel it on my arms. I hold them out a little past the brim of my hat, taking in the warmth and taking a deep breath of fresh mountain air as a warm smile creeps across my lips.

"Okay... I'm home... I guess..." I giggle, shimmying my hips from side to side with glee as I look over the quiet early afternoon streets. While likely bustling and full on the weekend and holidays, the town seemed largely dead without tourists and visitors to fill the cafes and stores lining the shopping district.

Swallowing hard, running my tongue along my slightly crooked teeth, I try to remember what Aurelia had told me about getting home.

"Up the street?" I mutter, looking around at the intersection I had found myself in. "She said something about a dirt road right? Yeah... I mean..." I huff, struggling to remember everything that happened in the rush to make the bus after our surgery.

As I wander down to the corner, glancing up and down the streets in the hopes of getting some sort of insight into where to go, I spy sight of a tall and lanky young woman waving at me excitedly from down the street.

Changing Clothes: Kelly - Part Eight

Wendy remains frozen, her gaze turning from the shirt to my exposed torso and my pale pink swim suit. Her mouth opens to say something before snapping shut, her hands shaking a little as she pulls down her jeans to reveal a pair of black boy short stretched over a set of firm muscular legs. My heart hammers a mile a minutes as I drink in her from, from the firm toned stomach to her muscular limbs and tan complexion. It's all I can do not to moan as I watch the blonde stride over nervously, the towering figure sliding into the pool with a long drawn out sigh of satisfaction.

"So..." she begins to mumble, giving me a small smile.

"Wine?" I squeak, grabbing the bottle and passing her a glass.

"I... uh... Yeah!" the blonde squeaks back in a pitch that sounds almost wrong for you usual slightly husky tone. Her hand shakes slightly as I pass her the glass, my own moving back to open the bottle. As I brace the icy cold glass against my chest I let out a soft moan, the blonde seemingly catching it as she bites nervously at her lip.

With a loud pop the cork comes free the wine soon following as I lean over to pout Wendy the first glass. Shifting between hers to my own I fill both to the top, my eyes narrowing with a grin as I hold out my glass for a toast.

"To a night to remember" I purr with a giggle, the athletic blonde's face now burning red as she mechanically holds out her own glass in response.

"I... um... yeah, right, of course" she chokes out, finishing her rambling sentence with a clinking of the glasses.

Nefarious Nanobots - Part Two

My eyes bulges I stare within the metallic thermos, my gaze locking to a roiling mass of silver that appears to shimmer vibrantly no matter how I look at it. Nanobots, built up and trained rest in the bottom of the container as they eagerly look for biological material to integrate with.

"I can't seriously..." I wheeze, bringing the thermos to my lips as I notice the faint copper scent of blood in the rapidly shifting sea of seemingly liquid metal. Placing my hand on the seat to heave myself up and leave I spot the container with the blinking light and my phone, my stomach singling as I find my will rapidly breaking under the promise of further rewards.

"Shit..." I huff, slumping into the seat before weakly bringing the thermos to my lips. "Bottoms..." I begin to sigh, my words cutting off as the used blob of tiny machines quickly fling up to coat my lips and force their way into my mouth.

My eyes go wide and a muffled scream struggles to breath the writhing wall of shifting metal quickly covering my face. I gag and wheeze, forcing myself to breath through my nose as I feel my lips begin to grow numb thanks to the invading force sealing them shut. A long warm blob of oozing machine begins to worm itself deeper into my mouth, using my tongue as a spring board before lurching itself to my back of my throat.

Tears begin to streak their way down my cheeks as what feels like a hot ball of lead drops itself down into my stomach, my whole face soon loosing sensation as the numbness of my lips begins to spread out. Despite the discomfort I find myself unable to so much as make a peep, the thick layers of nanites holding in all but the short sharp breaths I barely manage to wheeze out.