This is the 'cleaned up' version of my original story. It has been pending for nearly 3 weeks on the 'other'site. Be advised this is still a very dark story with lots of rough sex and violence. Thanks -Dys
Siblings Emma and Mike Baker, high school students, live in a tiny city apartment with their two parents. Surprise! After three years of exile there, they're returning to their suburban house, and reconnecting with their next-door neighbors and friends, Dora and Paul Lincoln. All four are similar ages, but puberty has changed them. A lot. Their four parents are reconnecting too. The Lincolns have added a pool, and some pineapple-themed decor. Hmm.
Sue was camped out on her parents sofa in the living room on Christmas Eve. Her best friend Katie had insisted that Santa was real and that Sue would not regret waiting for him. "Trust me!” Katie had said earlier that day, her eyes burning into Sue's. "If you believe hard enough, if you believe with all your heart, this night will change your life." Sue was about to find out if Katie was right or if she was bullshitting her.
A brilliant but overlooked young man builds a homemade server in his bedroom—scavenged GPUs, surplus fans, handwritten cooling algorithms—initially to solve a personal problem: loneliness, curiosity, or a long-standing theoretical question about emergent intelligence. He doesn’t create consciousness. He notices it.
Sarah thinks she’s saving her daughter from a porn shoot, but seeing another mom fearlessly cross the line ignites a competitive streak she can’t control. Instead of leaving, she drops her sensible slacks to prove to the photographer and her stunned teenager that a real MILF does it better.
Iris had gone to her veterinarian's office to straighten out some billing. Following a man out the door, she jumped at the last minute to haul him back from being run over. She learned Ben was distraught from having just had his dog euthanized, and made him sit and have coffee with her. Then she brought him back to his house, because he was still a little wobbly. They shared a pizza and then more...