Upcoming Stories and Story Ideas

This is a list of stories I'm working on, hope to work on soon, and am developing ideas for. Keep in mind that this list can and will change depending on what I'm interested in at any given time and what else is going on in my life.

Currently Working On:

Star Wars Original Trilogy

Novel/Novella-Length Stories

The Summer Strikes Back (Alternative Universe 1980's Comedy/Action) - Leia and Luke Walker are just out of high school and are celebrating their last two months of freedom before she goes to college for political science and he joins the Coast Guard. Uncle Ben, a local beach bum, owns a series of dilapidated cottages on the beach at the edge of town. He'll let them rent a cottage and keep an eye on them, and they'll run chores and help him with the cottages' upkeep. 

Things go south very quickly when Leia discovers that a nasty corporation wants to buy the cottages, tear them down, force out the permanent residents, and build an elaborate hotel and mall in their place. The Imperial Gang, a motorcycle group, has been threatening the residents and Uncle Ben for months. She and Luke rally the residents, including shady fisherman Hank Solokowski, his British buddy Charlie Bachman, Luke's Coast Guard friend Walter "Wedge" Antilles, and foreign nerds Chip and Arturro, to help fight back.

Coming Up Next:

Star Wars Original Trilogy

Tales of the Gold Wookie (Alternative Universe 1930's Adventure) - It's 1939. Layla and Luke Skylark are fresh out of the University of Arizona and ready to change the world. She's an archaeologist; he's a reporter. While Luke is content to be an intern for world-weary veteran crime reporter Benton Kennally, Layla is far more ambitious. She wants to find lost treasures for her idol, museum owner Marta Mothma. Her current obsession is rescuing the (reportedly magical) lost royal jewels of the Kingdom of Alderaan from nasty General Tarkin and the Empire.

Luke convinces her to hire Harry Solomon, a pilot with a dilapidated plane who runs his own charter service, to take them to where the treasures were last seen. Layla's not happy with the idea at first. Harry is rude, arrogant, and only cares about getting his share of the treasure. Not to mention, some of his former bosses make Tarkin look like a kitten. Tarkin has his own formidable underling, the corrupt industrialist Derek Vader. After Kennally gets into trouble with Vader, Luke insists on bringing along venerable old Asian archaeology professor Takamashi Yoda as their guide.

Original Snow Queen-Inspired Action/Fantasy - Set in the three years between New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, and my first story set within the regular Star Wars universe. Han, Chewie, Leia, and Luke are on a diplomatic mission to buy supplies from a snow planet that's remained neutral in the battle between the Empire and Rebellion. Leia's hoping to sway them to the Alliance's side. Unlike Hoth, this planet is inhabited, mainly by criminals and nasty goblins. It's queen is a shrewd magician with her own ice-based powers. The goblins, determined to make mischief, get slivers of a Force-sensitive crystal in Luke's eyes and heart. It turns him into the opposite of his usual self...making him cold and distant to his two best friends. Leia, Han, and Chewie have to dodge the planet's shadier citizens and a summer witch with her own plans in order to free Luke from the goblins' spell and find out just what the Snow Queen is up to.

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Novels/Novellas

Babes In Toyland (Alternative Universe - 1980's/Fantasy) - 8-year-old Barbara Beatrix "BB" Dameron (never call her Babs!) loves visiting her brother Poe where he works at Skywalker's Department Store. He's worried that the store may shut down if Leia Walker-Solo, it's owner, is pressured by nasty Alexander Snoke, who owns the First Order Mall. After meeting her brother's friends Rose, Finn, and Rey, Henry the security officer and his big dog Chewbacca, and the kindly old man who manages the toy department, she falls asleep and dreams that she's in Toyland, where nursery rhyme characters come to life. Leia Hubbard may be thrown out of her shoe by mean old Barnaby Snoke unless BB and all her new fairy tale friends can bring the tin soldiers to life to stop him!

Fairy Tales

Beauty and the Frogs - Leia Organa and her brother Luke were driven from their fine mansion in Alderaan by a wicked magician and her own son. Believing her husband dead, Leia and Luke raise three orphan girls - Rose, Rey, and Kaydel - in a cottage in the country.

On his way home from buying gifts for his womenfolk, Luke stops by a misty old mansion surrounded by an overgrown garden and a deep well. Luke is inspecting the golden ball he bought Rey, his favorite of the girls, when he drops the ball down the well. An old frog agrees to retrieve the ball, if his sister will come to the castle and eat and sleep with him and his three frog sons.

Her brother refuses at first, but Leia is determined to go...and the girls won't let her go alone. All four women are eventually detained at the mansion. Turns out there's four frogs here, for the wrinkly old toad is accompanied by three younger amphibians, all of whom are far more positive that one day things will get better. The youths are the toad's apprentices, changed spitefully by the wicked magician Snoke and Leia's own son Ben.

Leia and the girls have mysterious dreams their first night there. They imagine themselves in stunning gowns in the garden, accompanied by four handsome men. The eldest, rugged and silver-haired, is familiar to Leia...but he can't tell her the truth, for in the dream world, he's mute. His three wards speak for him. They're all taken away by a shadowy figure who seems to hold a terrible power over them all. Leia and her three adopted daughters become determined to solve the mystery of the decaying mansion and find out who's the real monster...and who's the prince.

The Water of Life - Queen Leia, in mourning for her lost brother and her husband, who was kidnapped by a wicked wizard, is dying. She tells her son Prince Ben and her adopted children Hux and Rey that whichever of them finds Luke, who alone has the water that can restore her, will rule her lands when she passes on. Hux and Ben are determined to find the water first...but it's kind Rey who proves that a gentle heart and good nature can triumph over the strongest evil.

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Once Upon a Time In the Land of WENN (Alternative Universe Fantasy/Fairy Tale) - Even when Elizabeth and the others leave Port Harbor, looking for the Emerald Talisman, trouble follows. Lady Gloria Redmond has no desire to even discuss the magic that caused her so much grief. There's also the evil candy witch Pavla Nemcova, who has both Jeff Singer and Sir Victor Comstock in her grasp, to contend with.

In Development: 

Star Wars Original Trilogy

Dark Medieval Fantasy (Han/Leia based fantasy) - Inspired by this Tumblr post. Leia is in search of her missing brother Luke, who was in training to be a wizard before their parents were killed and he was kidnapped. He's not the only one who has disappeared. The queen is dying. Her greedy, power-hungry adviser Palapatine is taking over the throne. The queen once had a son, Prince Hannel, but he vanished and is presumed dead. It's rumored that Palapatine is really a dark sorcerer who worked some terrible enchantment on the missing prince.

Leia finds a man imprisoned in a dungeon in a remote corner of the kingdom. The bedraggled man with the auburn hair had once worn fine robes, but now has no idea who he is. All Leia knows is he's insufferably stubborn, an excellent shot with a bow and arrow, and is always accompanied by an enormous Wookie wolf. The two are eventually joined by an eccentric old wizard and a mysterious unicorn with sad blue eyes as they try to find out who the silent man is and avenge Leia's family. 

Superhero Story (Alternative Universe 1970's Superhero/Action Fantasy) - Leah O'Malley is an intern in corrupt Coruscant City by day in 1977. By night, she's Force Girl, a superheroine who is a member of the Rebel League, a society of superheroes and vigilantes who fight the regime of the evil Mayor Palapatine and the devious Chief of Police/super villain Derek Veder. Lucas Weston is a geeky college kid and major comics fan who discovers that the owner of a local book store/comics shop was once The Negotiator, a great World War II/Golden Era superhero...and that Lucas is the inheritor of a superheroic dynasty. Lucas seeks help from Harris Arietta, a carpenter and handyman whose dog Chewbacca always rides with him and acts as a Team Pet.

Fairy Tales

Thumbelina

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Resistance Kids: The Last Good Cop (Alternative Universe - 1950's) - Rey is the first student at Luke's new police school, but he's wondering if he should give up teaching after the destruction of his previous school. Meanwhile, the First Order Gang is back on the street, including Ben Solo, and they're gunning for blood...and for Finn to rejoin them. Then Poe's beloved sports car blows to bits in front of his eyes, and Hank vanishes and his business is ransacked.

Hello Leia! (Alternative Universe - Musical-Inspired) - Leia Solo-Levi is the best-known matchmaker in New York City in 1907.  She's hired by her ex-husband Harold Solo to find a match for their son Benjamin, who can't make up his mind between the severe police chief's daughter and anarchic son of one of New York's richest men. What she wants is to re-marry her husband, but he has his eyes on a woman in town. Meanwhile, she engineers a meeting between Harold's clerks Poe and Finn and two cute girls in Manhattan, Rey and Rose. They all come together at Harmonia Gardens, the restaurant owned by Leia's brother Luke, for a most memorable evening. 

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Captain Victor, Man of Power (Alternative Universe Superhero/Action) - Set directly after the first season episode "There But Before Grace." Tired of dealing with (and being run all over by) sponsors and confused about his feelings for Betty and Grace Cavendish, Victor Comstock imagines himself as one of those new superheroes that have become popular with the kids, Jeff as his sidekick, Betty as the new girl reporter on the block, C.J as a scientist, Ceila as the daughter of a missing scientist and Victor's other sidekick, Hilary as a snooty actress-turned-society-reporter, Mackie as their boss, and Grace as a Dragon Lady-type villaness.

The Best Radio Christmas Pageant Ever - A kind of "missing scene" story set during the early first season. Victor wants to present the story of the Nativity on the airwaves, but the kids starring in the show are unruly, Hilary wants a bigger role, the sponsor is turning the show into a commercial, and Ceila will have nothing to do with it. And there's reports of a major snowstorm heading for Pittsburgh...

On the Edge of the Precipice Series

The Fox and the Falcon - Betty finds herself head over heels involved in espionage when the true leader of the spy ring becomes known...and Victor Comstock returns with startling news...

Remember WENN Fairy Tale Series

Hilary's Story: Beauty and the Beast - Wrap-around segments set day after fourth-season episode "You've Met Your Match." Story based around third and fourth season. Angry at Scott and Jeff for their behavior the night before and in the past few months in general, Betty and Hilary concoct the story of two sisters who discover that the beastly owner and manager of a dilapidated theater may not be what they appear on the outside...or even inside...

Mr. Eldridge and Gertie's Story: The Man Who Minded the House - Set after and based around the fourth season episode "Work Shift." Mr. Eldridge recalls the story of how a man and a woman (him and Gertie) learn that the grass isn't always greener in someone else's work area when he takes over her household duties and she works in the fields.

Story Ideas: 

Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

The Road to Coruscant (Mid 20th Century Alternative Universe) - Ben Kenobi and Anakin Walker are singers taking their vaudeville act on the road. Anakin is forever coming up with moneymaking schemes that get them into a few little problems with the law, to the annoyance of Martin Windu, their long-suffering manager. They have no problems romancing the ladies, either...until they encounter beautiful, elegant dancer Patricia Amidala. Patricia, a genuine noblewoman, is in a heap of trouble with the nasty Count Dooku and Lord Palpatine. Anakin says it's up to them to get her out of it. Ben...wishes they could just go home to Los Angeles, but Anakin is his best friend, so he does it anyway.

Fairy Tales

Swan Lake

Star Wars Original Trilogy

Han Solo, Galactic Private Eye (Alternative Universe) - Han is a laid-back private eye in his dilapidated ship, with his wookie partner Chewbacca by his side. Old Ben Kenobi, who sometimes gives him work, finds him a doozy - help his friend Luke Skywalker find Leia Organa, the daughter of a prince, who was carrying some very vital information to Alderaan when she was kidnapped by a nasty war lord. (Haven't decided if this one is going to stay in the Star Wars universe, or be moved elsewhere.)

Western (Alternative Universe Western Adventure) - It's 1867 in the untamed plains of Coruscant, Kansas. Former homesteader Luke Walters longs to be a sheriff, like his late daddy Anthony was before him. He may get his chance at an apprenticeship when the current sheriff, Ol' Ben MacKenner, deputizes him to help rescue rancher's daughter Leia Ortez from the bandits who have raided and burned her home. They also get more dubious assistance from Harry Solo, a shady gunrunner, and his partner, Native American warrior Chewbacca.

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

The Wizard of Oz (Alternative Universe Fantasy-Wizard of Oz-inspired) - Rachel "Rey" Gale lives with her Aunt Leah and Uncle Harry and their two farmhands on a farm outside of Jakkuson, Kansas in 1939. She feels like her life is as gray as the world around her, especially after the nasty man who runs the First Order Manor near-by threatens to take her beloved Westie Terrier BeeBee to the pound and her grouchy cousin demands his share of the farm. A tornado whisks Rey and BeeBee over the rainbow and into the land of Oz. Oz is under the tyrannical rule of the Warlock of the West and his apprentice. Queen Leia was imprisoned in her own magic bubble and banished to the lands of the South, where she amasses an army to stop him. She once ruled with her husband and her wizard brother, but her husband vanished after he was attacked by her son, and her brother is hiding in the Emerald City. Rey has to go to the Emerald City to find the Wizard Skywalker, with the help of a cowardly lion-soldier, a scarecrow who had once worked for the queen, and the Tin Smuggler, who seems to know a lot more about the queen and the Warlock of the West and his apprentice than he'll let on...

Fairy Tales

Rumpelstiltskin
Little Red Riding Hood

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Maltese Falcon Film Noir Spoof II (Alternative Universe Film Noir/Mystery) - Wrap-around set during the late third or early fourth seasons. Hilary and Scott give two different sides of the tale of a dame who may or may not have gotten a private eye involved with smuggling and murder.

Ceila Short Story - Missing scene set during the first season episode "A Capitol Idea." Ceila says good-bye to the station after she's hired by the guy who wanted her to promote Blondie cartoons.

Fairy Tale Series

Jeff's Story - Aladdin and His Magic Lamp
C.J's Story - Jack and the Beanstalk
Victor's Story - King Arthur
Ceila's Story - Goldielocks and the Three Bears
Mackie's Story
Eugenia and Mr. Foley's Story

Original Children's Short Stories

Stories based after childhood memories, including:

Painting someone else's fence.
Little kids running through other people's yards when Mom and Dad aren't looking.
Beach frolics - walking home from the beach.

The Resistance Kids Go Camping - A Star Wars Short Story

After much delay, here's the second "Resistance Kids" story, a short inspired by the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "The Horror of Slumber Party Mountain" (with a very different ending). Don't look for any more for a while. I'm going to try to concentrate on stories that focus on the Original and Prequel films until publicity for the second sequel film starts to emerge and we learn more about it.

The Resistance Kids Go Camping

Rating: PG (violence)

Pairings: Background Han/Leia

Disclaimer: The franchise belongs to George Lucas and the Walt Disney Company.

Notes: The ghost story Leia tells is fictional. It was actually inspired by the Tiny Toons Adventures episode “The Horror of Slumber Party Mountain”...with a very different ending.

“Here we are!” The door to the old cabin swung open. Leia Organa-Solo dropped her suitcase on the rustic wooden floor. “I am so glad we were able to borrow the family cabin from my brother. I think we need this trip.” The movement caused a cloud of dust to drift up into her round face, making her sneeze violently. “Luke spent three years up here, and he couldn't clean this place?”

“It's not very big, Leia.” Rey Rider left her old, cracked leather suitcase on the couch. “I'm sure it won't take long to do if we all work together.”

“I think it's cute.” Kaydel Ko Connix bounced in next, carrying a tote bag. “It's not like we're going to be living here. We're just here for the weekend.”

Jessica Pava was last, carting a bag of food in one arm and an army-issue duffel bag she'd borrowed from fellow Resistance Kid Poe in the other. “Could you guys help me here? Unless you want to spend the weekend foraging for nuts and berries.”

“Let me get that.” Leia took the bag over to the tiny kitchen. “It's nearly winter. Most of the wild nuts and berries are done for the season, if the birds and small animals didn't get to them first.”

“I could hunt.” Rey pulled her Swiss Army Knife out of a pocket in her suitcase. “I could kill a quail or a rabbit if we really needed it.”

“Oh no!” Kaydel's blue eyes widened in horror. “Oh Rey, you wouldn't hurt a poor innocent bunny! It didn't do anything!”

“No one is hunting anything, except the occasional stray marshmallow.” Leia lit the fireplace. “At least Luke had the sense to clean out the chimney.”

Rey had already gone back outside on the wide front porch, with its split log railings and triangular wooden chairs. “What a view!” A dusting of snow frosted gray-stone peaks and windswept valleys. It looked like the cakes Maz sometimes made for the kids during the winter, all thick and craggy with fruit, nuts, and glaze. “I feel like I'm in Lord of the Rings. There's no mountains like this in southern England.”

“It's so beautiful here.” Kaydel shivered in her wasp-waisted blue coat. “But so cold! I can't believe how cold it already is. It hasn't even snowed in New York yet.”

Leia and Jess joined them, sitting on the steps on the porch. “I love this place. Mama Breha and Papa Bail used to take me here. I thought it was a fairy land, with how the light used to spill through the trees in the evening, and all the little nooks and crannies where little creatures lived.”

Kaydel pulled her blue coat further around her arms. “They were your parents, right?”

“Technically adopted parents. They took me in when I was just a baby.” She sighed. “To me, they'll always be my real parents. They came up here from Mexico with nothing in the late 1800's. Faced a lot of prejudice, but Papa Bail eventually went through law school.” She shook her head, then smiled. “Why don't we go tackle that dusting? I'll see if I can find pictures of them while we clean.”

They did clean. They dusted and polished and scrubbed until the tiny cabin sparkled. Leia found a framed photograph of Bail and Breha Organa to show the girls. “This is them, right after they were married.”

“They remind me a little of Poe.” Rey ran her finger over the man with the goatee and the gentle, strong eyes. “Especially him.”

Kaydel grinned over her shoulder. “Your mom was lucky. Mr. Organa was really handsome.”

Leia hung the photo back on the wall. “You know, Papa Bail used to tell me the most wonderful ghost stories about these mountains and the surrounding towns. Maybe I could share a few of them tonight.”

“Oooh, ghost stories!” Jess grinned. “I love scary stuff.”

“Over an open fire,” Rey added. “Like we were camping in a tent.”

“With marshmallows!” Kaydel finished. “And all of us burrowed under every blanket in the cabin.”

“What else would you do on a camp-out?” The woman detective put her dust rag in a small cloth bag by her bed. “But first, we all need to eat real food, or no one will be getting marshmallows or anything else.”

As Rey went to sweep the front porch, she swore she heard rustling in the bushes, even though there was no wind tonight. A gruff voice said “guys, hush!” before all went quiet. Rey stopped and listened for more sounds. When none were forthcoming, she shrugged and continued sweeping.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The four women enjoyed a lovely dinner of canned tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, then pulled out the s'mores. Leia made sure the grate was around the fire and admonished them not to sit too close, or let the blankets get too close. She gathered blankets while the other girls changed into their nightgowns and pajamas.

They all gathered around the fire as Leia pulled out the bag of marshmallows she'd picked up before leaving New York. Rey revealed sticks she'd gathered outside. They all put their candy as far into the fire as they dared. “Hey Leia,” Jess started, “how do you like yours?”

“Oh, just a little brown on the sides.” She pulled hers out to see if it was done. “Luke likes his char-broiled. He'd stick it right into the fire and let it burn. Please don't do that here. I don't want to burn this place down.”

“Blech!” Rey stuck out her tongue. “I'd rather have it a little burned. They don't taste good covered in ashes.”

Kaydel frowned as something smacked against the side of the house. “Did you guys hear that?”

Rey made a face. “Heard what?” Her eyes widened when her marshmallow caught fire. “Whoa! I don't want it that black!”

“Blow on it!” Jess blew quickly on hers as Rey did the same.

Leia shook her head, pulling out a perfectly golden-brown marshmallow. “Maybe that's enough sugar. I'll never get you girls to bed if you eat the whole bag.”

“Leia, we're not five-year-olds.” Rey peeled off the blackened outer shell. “We go to bed when we want to.”

“Yes,” Leia pointed out, “but if we don't stop now, we'll never get to telling those ghost stories.”

Kaydel shivered as the wind pounded on the door. She looked over her shoulder...and nearly screamed. “Eeeek! Leia, I saw a face in the window! A hideous face! Really!”

All four raced onto the porch. “Kay,” Leia began slowly, “there's nothing here. It's just the shadows from the trees playing tricks on your eyes.”

“No, Leia.” Rey was already checking under the porch and around the sides of the cabin. “I heard something earlier, too.”

Jess was checking around the wood pile. “All I see is wood and dried grass.”

Leia shivered. “We'll figure it out later. Let's go inside, before we freeze to death.”

That killed anyone's appetite for sugar. Leia took the marshmallows and sticks back to the kitchen while the girls reorganized the blankets and pillows in front of the fire. “This is so cozy.” Rey flopped down on the pile when they were done. “It beats the heck out of that corrugated tin shack I used to live in when I first came to America.”

“Well,” Jess flopped next to her, “you don't have to do that now. I'm glad we were able to get the weekend off at work. Han only looked slightly disappointed when we told him we wouldn't be around on Friday afternoon and Saturday.”

“He'll get over it.” Leia dropped the marshmallows in the cupboard. “It's not like he doesn't have Finn and Snap there.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “Poe was such a baby. He said you never give him assignments that involve cabins in the wilderness.”

“He never asks for them.” She put water in a tea kettle for hot chocolate.

Kaydel giggled. “Baby tried to go. She kept jumping in my suitcase. I told her we didn't want her getting lost.”

“She's a city dog.” Rey pulled a thick knitted blanket around her. “She wouldn't know what to do in a green place with no fence or buildings around.”

Leia brought them all steaming hot chocolate on an old tray. “Here's to a relaxing weekend, ladies.” They all clinked mugs together.

“Amen.” Rey sipped hers, then put it aside. “Ok, who wants to tell the first ghost story?”

“I have one.” Leia slowly drank her cocoa, savoring it. “Papa Bail used to tell it to me all the time when I was little.”

The other three girls gathered around her. As she began, Leia swore she heard a soft snickering and a cough outside, but she ignored it. “There used to be, in a huge old stone house in the valley, a chemist who fled here from New York when his ideas were rejected by society.”

“What, you mean Snoke?” Rey smirked as the other two snickered. “This isn't his kind of place. Too sane and peaceful.”

“May I continue?” Leia waited until the giggling died down. “This man had been experimenting on animals in the woods, hoping to create the perfect specimen to put him back at the top of the scientific community. One great creation, and he'd go down in scientific history!”

The fire crackled and popped as her voiced dropped. The girls leaned in to catch every word. “It was a snowy night in winter, not unlike this one. Most animals were in hibernation, but one lone deer was separated from the herd.” Her voice became a near whisper. “This dear wasn't a cute Bambi-like fawn. It was a great, hulking buck, an old-timer who had been driven out by a younger leader. He was so in despair, he didn't look where he was going. He never knew what happened until he saw the headlights...and then, it was too late.”

Rey shivered. Leia's small smile almost seemed sinister in the light. “The scientist had been busy that night. He'd offered a ride to a younger man, an immigrant hitchhiker looking for work. He didn't know what hit him when the scientist drugged him and bound him. He had plans for that buck and the youth.”

If blankets had edges, the girls would have been on the edge of them. “He managed to drag them both into his laboratory. The young man was strapped onto a table, the buck alongside him. 'Don't be afraid,' he told him. 'You're going to be a part of a new species. You will have the intelligence of a human with the strength and stamina of a buck in its prime.' The young man screamed and screamed, but he was drowned out by the ancient machinery as it crackled and sparked.”

The fire cast ghoulish shadows on Leia's face, giving it a nearly evil cast. “The youth awoke to discover he was neither human nor a deer, but a hideous monster that walked upright, with horns sprouting out of his head, dark eyes too large for his long face, with hooves for hands, long, sinewy arms and legs, and fur covering his body.” Her grim look was nearly frightening. “Something went wrong. His mind couldn't handle what had been done to him. He now had a deer's mind and a human's mind, and the two did not mix.”

“Well,” whispered Rey, “what happened?”

“He turned on the scientist. Some say he killed him with the same scalpel he'd used on him. Others say in his horror and confusion, he shoved the man into the wires from his machine, accidentally electrocuting him. The entire building burned to the ground that night, either from the wires catching fire, or the deer-man burning it himself.” She nodded at the windows, with their views of mountainsides drenched in soft indigo and pale blue-white. “They say the deer-man still wanders these hills. He went mad from the shock and horror, continuing to seek out those who use nature and innocent wanderers for their own gain.”

“Wow.” Kaydel's eyes were wide. The three girls barely breathed. “Is all that true?”

“No one knows.” Leia shrugged. “I thought it sounded crazy, too, but Papa Bail insisted he'd heard the story from someone who had lived near the laboratory and saw the fire.”

The other three told their stories next. Jess told of a white ghost of a woman and two children who haunted a certain road in the Philippines, where her parents were from, and caused many accidents. Rey related tales of the many ghosts in the Tower of London, which she'd passed every day on her way home to school from the orphanage. Kaydel loved going to the movies. One of her favorite theaters, the New Amsterdam in Manhattan, had its own ghost, a beloved Ziegfeld showgirl who died tragically and was said to still be haunting the dressing rooms.

Leia settled back after the last one. “I think it's time we started considering bed. I wanted to get you girls up early for a nice, long hike tomorrow. There's a really beautiful lake down in the valley that has some amazing fishing...”

That was when they heard it. It was the eeriest, creepiest howl Rey had ever heard. It was like a banshee, wailing through the pine trees. The howl was followed by a series of moans, each one louder than the next, and then something thumping on the porch.

“L...Leia....” Jess jumped up from her blanket. “Now I know I see something! I saw a face! A deer...person...thing!”

Leia shook her head. “Jess, you're just spooked. It was only a story.”

The moaning continued. Kaydel screamed next. “I saw antlers scraping against the side of the cabin! Really, I did!”

Rey went into the bedroom she and the other girls were sharing and came out with her knife. “We may need this.”

“Really, girls. It's just the wind.” Leia sighed. “All right. Go get your coats, and there's flashlights in the left drawer in the cupboard in the kitchen. We're going to catch ourselves some intruders.”

They all grabbed their coats and heavy rubber boots. Leia handed out flashlights, while Rey tucked her knife in her pocket. Kaydel grabbed a pan. Jess settled for a pillow. Leia pulled her gun out of her purse.

“Are you sure that's a good idea, Leia?” Jess asked nervously. “We're not in the city.”

“I always carry this with me.” She swung the door open. “You can never be too careful.”

Rey shivered as she stepped onto the porch. Sometime in the last few hours, it had started snowing. It was a light, graceful shower, with snowflakes dancing gently around her nose. It would have been very pretty if she wasn't so nervous.

“Look!” Kaydel shined her light on the porch floor. “Footprints!”

Leia knelt beside them. “They're about the size of an ordinary snow boot. Much larger than any of ours. Either a man, or a very big woman.”

Jess raised an eyebrow. “Why would a half-man, half-deer-thing wear snow boots?”

“To keep his hoof-feet warm?” Kaydel shrugged when the others turned to stare at her. “What?”

“It's not a half-man, half-deer-thing. That's just an urban legend.” Leia followed the prints into the snow, the girls trailing after her. “Looks like we're out of tracks. The snow just keeps covering them.”

Kaydel had been looking behind the woodpile when she stopped. “L...l...le...”

The older woman turned towards her, noticing the fear in her voice. “What is it, Kay?”

She pointed at the lumbering creature coming up behind them. The long, gray shadow had horns on its head...and quite human feet. “Um, would now be a good time to get out of here? I think it found us.”

Rey gasped as a tall...thing....trundled out. The shadows partially obscured the mask-like deer head and towering, fur-covered body. Another shadow, this one sporting a long coat like doctors wore and a scalpel, stalked behind them.

“I have come for you.” The creature kept walking, even as it moaned. “I will feast upon your brains! I will gnaw your knee bones! I will make all of you into half-animals, so you know the horror I once faced! I will...owww!”

One thing Rey had not expected to see sticking out of the back of a deer-man was a familiar brown winter coat with orange trim. She knew that coat. She jabbed the back of the monster in mid-stream, then cut the badly-sewn cords holding the fuzzy brown cloth together. Emboldened, Kaydel smacked the creature in the rear with her frying pan. Jess leaped onto the man in the white coat, hitting him hard with her pillow.

Leia turned her gun to the woods. “You can come out now, boys. Joke's over.”

Finn dropped the man in the deer mask into the rapidly deepening snow. “Ow! Kay, what was that for?”

“For tricking us!” Kaydel held her frying pan. “We thought you were a real monster!”

“Hey fellas,” said Poe's voice under the deer mask, “I'm stuck! I can't get this off!”

“Let me help you.” Rey put her knee into his stomach and pulled with all her might. It came off with one great whoosh. She studied the head in her hands. “Where did you get this?” Her fingers traced the hairs down the nose and across the chin. “It looks like a real deer.”

Snap came out of the woods. “My dad knows a guy who makes really authentic animal heads for decorations in cabins and lake houses. We borrowed it from him.”

Leia smirked as she dropped her firearm back in her purse. “You can let your prisoner go now, Jess. I think my husband has been thoroughly humbled.”

Jess and Snap helped Hank Solo to his feet. He rubbed his arms and chest where she'd smacked him. “Sheesh Jess, what's in that pillow? Lead pellets?”

“Well, you scared me!” Jess shrugged. “I thought I was defending my honor!”

“The way you smacked me around,” Hank moaned, “I think I should have been worried about defending mine!”

“All right.” Leia glared at her husband and the three sheepish young men behind him. “Would one of you like to tell me just what you're doing here?”

Poe made a face. “We wanted to go on a vacation to the mountains, too.”

Finn nodded. “It wasn't fair you girls went on some big trip and left us in New York.”

“I was going to borrow my buddy Lance's RV for the weekend anyway,” Hank admitted. “So when the boys started complaining about not getting to go anywhere, I bundled them in and took them to the campground down in the valley.”

“Hank told us the story about the deer-man and the scientist.” Poe held up the deer head. “He said you told him that old wives' tale, and it was one of your favorites. That's when we came up with the idea of scaring you.”

“We didn't mean any harm,” Snap added. “Just wanted to get you back for not bringing us.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “Please. You're all a bunch of babies. Can't we do anything without dragging the lot of you along?”

“And you, Hank Solo, should know better.” Leia crossed her arms. “Really, did you have to encourage them?”

Hank was pulling the old, red-spattered doctor's coat off his shoulders. His “scalpel” was a sharp stick. “Hey, I thought it might be a nice way to liven up the weekend.”

“Well,” Kay began with a smile, “it was kind of funny when Jess jumped on you.”

“And you know, that deer head did have me fooled.” Rey smirked. “For a minute or two.”

“Oh please.” Finn chuckled. “You were all scared to death!”

Leia rubbed her arms. Han pulled her into his warm embrace. “We're all going to catch our death of cold if we don't get inside. I think you boys are going to have to stay with us tonight. We'll send you back to the RV in the morning, after the snow ends.”

That was when they heard a long, low moan. It rattled the trees and shook the snow loose from branches. It was followed by an ear-splitting, heart-rendering deer call. Finn's eyes widened as a long shadow, with antlers ten feet tall, crept across the forest floor.

“Uh...” He gulped as they all stared at the shadow. “Last one at the cabin is a really melted marshmallow!”

“Hey!” Rey started after him. “Wait for us!” They'd never run so fast in their entire lives. Hank grabbed Leia's hand and pulled her along after them.

The little deer stumbled into the clearing a minute later. “Ow!” His mother rubbed his tiny hoof. “I'm sorry, Mommy! I didn't see that rock! It bit me!”

“You're all right, sweetie.” She pulled the rock out of his hoof. “There.” The doe looked up just in time to see Hank and Leia's retreating backs. “I wonder what that's all about?”

Her son giggled. “Maybe it's some human game!”

The mother doe sighed. “Humans can be so strange.” She nudged her little one back. “Let's go home, before the white frost becomes worse.”

“Ok, Mommy!” The deer just giggled again as he heard the door slam and saw all the humans tumble into their caves. Human ways were very strange, indeed.

The End