The following are the summaries for the stories in this anthology, to help you decide which ones you would like to try.
Part-Time (WCC March 2014)
HIM: He'd always been good at staring through people. He didn't think he would make anyone puke at the sight of his skin and flesh. The money was good. HER: It was vaguely disappointing – there was nothing they couldn't see online in hi-def real-time detail - nude-toned mesh couldn't be edited out in real life. She couldn't stop looking.
Present Perfect Continuous (WCC April 2014)
He took care of the bodies, and tried not to remember that they weren't just the company's merchandise. And when he looked at the boy, he tried hard not to remember that he was somebody's merchandise too. Mostly, he just tried not to remember. Tried to let the present perfection continue. At least he still had her. All of her. All that's left.
(Mouse) Click (WCC May 2014)
Tonight, legacy98 was a muscular giant. He vaguely recognised some of the moves and positions as what legacy98'd said he'd like to do to M. The trick with the black silk ribbons was the clincher. legacy98 was absolutely right. He was running. Burning bridges. Because that was easier than admitting the truth. He was hurt. And he'd told himself so many times that he won't let himself be hurt anymore.
Together
The one sacrificed for the many. I understand what that means. But when the one is him... and the many are those who never cared anything about him... it hardly seems fair. Especially when he seems to care more about me than I do myself. I can't stop him from giving himself up to his fate. But now that it's over, what do I have to do to keep him alive?
Companion (WCC June 2014)
She'd lost. She hadn't been chosen as the Emperor's Companion. Nothing for her but the soreness between her legs and a long journey home back into obscurity. So why was she now in the Emperor's bedchamber? But stranger still was her position within the bedchamber: she was locked within a human-sized cage of iron. To keep her prisoner... or worse?
Perchance to dream (WCC July 2014)
The lines of the limbs, the angles that they formed with the floor, the circle with its scarlet radii and the head its focus point... Cold. Precise. Beautiful. The way Io liked it. It would be his present to Io. He loved the sound of Io's voice calling out his name. He would do anything to hear that cry. If he fell asleep forever, that was the sound he'd like to have in his ears.
Begin the Beguine (WCC August 2014)
If only that were you I was looking at; only I know it can't be because you've moved across the country to get away from me. I endured as long as I could but it was too much to bear, remembering how every time we touch, I want to melt into the warmth of your skin and sink down into your flesh to spread like a blush through your veins until I reach your heart. So I Cast for you. It didn't work. I suppose I expected that, the part of me that felt I hadn't done enough to keep you, that I wasn't good enough to have you. But now... it seems it did after all.
Didn't it?
Find X (WCC September 2014)
The first time he met her, she was peeping at him changing. The second time, she kissed him with all the awkwardness and clumsiness of inexperience. It made his toes curl nevertheless. She left him with strawberry-flavoured lip balm on his lips and a remark that no number of Maths problems could exorcise from his head. "What's so good about being good? Ever think about that?"
Doors (WCC October 2014)
That was an exit that I offered you, a chance not to get involved. But you took it as an entrance into my life. I kept opening doors, and you kept going the wrong way. So it's entirely true that this relationship is entirely your fault. History keeps repeating itself because I keep telling you the truth. So should I lie to you now, to save us?
BFF (WCC April 2015)
Belly rub! Oh the ecstasy… You're really good at this. And an ear scratch too? I hope Al keeps you! She's a nice one, right? I did good, huh, Al? I must have, or why else am I getting steak tonight? It wounds me when he refers to my shell as if it were alive; it holds me and prevents me from dissipating, nothing more. I am Sahara, who lives by Aliph's grace and for his satisfaction. I am not that foul bundle of hide encasing cumbersome flesh that lumbers so pathetically on its four ungainly limbs.
Sounds Fishy (WCC May 2015 - aborted)
She stayed with them for the rest of the journey. He did not know why, and could not ask, for he did not speak Mer. Baby did, the same way she spoke the tongue of the sea creatures, but that was of no help to him. The two females had long exchanges, seemingly about him much of the time, judging from the way they pointed at him and giggled or frowned. He did not mind too much, even if it was rather embarrassing. The water-girl made Baby happy, and that made him happy too. [My version of a fairy tale… with my usual twist.]
Just kidding (WCC August)
Waking up is no big deal. Waking up naked is no big deal either. Not for me anyway. Waking up naked next to somebody else – that might be just a teeny bit bigger deal. But only for the other person – I know what really happened. But waking up naked next to somebody else in the same bed – you can see, right, how this might be a medium-sized deal at least?
Oil-fried ghosts (WCC September 2015)
He had no explanation for coming all that way. Just to see her? She had the distinct feeling that he had something more to say to her, but perhaps he was just waiting for the right moment. She wondered: If she grabbed him right then and told him she missed him, what would happen? The only time he'd ever held her was on the day she left, when he'd gripped her fingers so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. But his family needed him more than she did, and that was reason enough for both of them.
The Interrogative Mood (Not a WCC)
Her life was full of questions. But not all questions are harmless, and not all questioners can be avoided. But the REAL question was, did she really have to answer them all? #singles of the world, unite!