HELEN: The person who is right there in front of you is the only one who matters. That is your real life.
DYLAN: Okay.
HELEN: I want you to have a real life.
DYLAN: Okay.
HELEN: You deserve it.
A teary-eyed Helen boards the train. Dylan and Claudia watch as it departs.
CLAUDIA: So, now what?
Dylan gives Claudia a sly look.
DYLAN (overcome): I… I…
CLAUDIA: You’re sorry?
DYLAN: No. But I…
CLAUDIA: You want to be kinder and more loving to me?
DYLAN: Not exactly, but…
CLAUDIA: You figured out that I’m the person who is here for you right now.
DYLAN: Yes.
They kiss.
DYLAN (CONT’D): Now can I fuck you?
CLAUDIA: Now can I trust you?
DYLAN (big intake of breath): Yes.
CLAUDIA: Sometimes it pays to listen to your mother.
They kiss under very romantic nineteen-forties movie music, maybe with their embrace dissolving into a heart-shaped frame like in the olden days.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
ANAMIKA has published three novels, including Hem and Football and its sequel, Hem and Maxine, dealing with women’s football and lesbian love, as well as stories in previous editions of Best Lesbian Erotica, and in Women’s Era. Anamika lives in a satellite township near Delhi, India.
AMAL ARABI has been writing since she was in the womb. Her first postnatal work, a poem, was published when she was seven years old. Like Socrates she was accused of corrupting the minds of youth. Unlike Socrates, she was not made to drink poison. She currently lives in Beirut where the youth are already corrupt.
CHEYENNE BLUE’s (cheyenneblue.com) erotica has appeared in over eighty anthologies, including Best Women’s Erotica, Cowboy Lust, Best Lesbian Romance, Lesbian Lust and Frenzy: 60 Stories of Sudden Sex. She currently lives by the beach in Queensland, Australia.
DIANA CAGE’s most recent books include Mind Blowing Sex: A Woman’s Guide (Seal, 2012) and the forthcoming Lesbian Sex Bible (Quiver, 2014). She lives in Brooklyn with the poet EC Crandall and teaches writing at Pratt Institute.
CHERYL DUNYE is a film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. She is the director and creator of the first African-American lesbian feature film, The Watermelon Woman. She was born in Liberia, and grew up in Philadelphia.
NAIRNE HOLTZ is the author of This One’s Going to Last Forever (Insomniac, 2009), a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and The Skin Beneath (Insomniac, 2007), which was shortlisted for Quebec’s McAuslan Prize. Currently, she lives in Toronto with her lover, works as a librarian and is writing another novel.
CHERYL JIMMERSON attended Georgia State University, where she studied literature. She enjoys crafting stories with strong gay characters. She hails from a unique family in Georgia where three siblings identify as queer.
D. L. KING (dlkingerotica.blogspot.com), editor of the Lammy Award – winning The Harder She Comes, and Under Her Thumb, Seductress, Carnal Machines, The Sweetest Kiss and Lammy Finalist Where the Girls Are, can also be found in Best Lesbian Erotica, Say Please, Girl Fever and many more. She’s published two novels and publishes and edits Erotica Revealed.
CATHERINE LUNDOFF (catherinelundoff.com) is a former archeologist, former grad student and former bookstore owner turned professional computer geek, author and editor. She is a transplanted Brooklynite who now lives in Minneapolis with her wife and the two cats, which own them. Silver Moon (Lethe Press, 2012) is her latest book.
TERESA NOELLE ROBERTS writes sexy stories for lusty romantics of all persuasions. Her work has appeared in Best Bondage Erotica 2013; The Harder She Comes: Butch-Femme Erotica; Lesbian Cops and other provocatively titled anthologies. Look for BDSM romance Knowing the Ropes and the paranormal Duals and Donovans series from Samhain.
SARAH SCHULMAN is the author of nine novels, including The Cosmopolitans, The Mere Future, The Child, Shimmer, Rat Bohemia, Empathy and People In Trouble and five nonfiction books, including Israel/Palestine and the Queer International, The Gentrification of the Mind, Ties That Bind, Stagestruck and My American History. Her plays include: Carson McCullers, Manic Flight Reaction, Enemies, A Love Story, adapted from I.B. Singer, and she is coproducer with Jim Hubbard of the feature documentary United In Anger: A History of ACT UP, directed by Jim Hubbard. Her many awards include a Guggenheim (Playwriting), Fulbright (Judaic Studies), and ten Lambda Literary Award Nominations.
SINCLAIR SEXSMITH (mrsexsmith.com) writes the personal online project Sugarbutch Chronicles: The Sex, Gender, and Relationship Adventures of a Kinky Queer Butch Top at sugarbutch.net. They have contributed to more than twenty anthologies, and edited Say Please: Lesbian BDSM Erotica. They teach workshops on gender and sexuality throughout the United States.
After a childhood spent in tree houses and libraries, A. L. SIMONDS became an office drone and zine-maker before alighting in Toronto for library school. Now an unemployed archivist, she plays servant to the handsomest cat on Earth and writes all the time. She isn’t nearly as cynical as she wishes she were.
SAM TWEED is a Queer Lebanese Jew, who lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their cat, Xena. She is a documentary film producer and blogs at queerarabs.tumblr.com.
DOLAR VASANI was born in Uganda. Her family moved to England after being expelled by President Amin. In 2013, she published her first book, Not Yet Uhuru: Lesbian Flash Fiction. Set mostly in eastern and southern Africa, the stories are about the struggles of coming out, being out and staying out. She lives with her partner in South Africa and Europe.
The writing gods blessed SHARON WACHSLER (sharonwachsler.com) when they sent a woman named Stormy to register her for an MRI. Sharon’s erotica appears in dozens of anthologies, including Periphery, The Big Book of Bondage, Girl Fever and previous editions of Best Lesbian Erotica and Best American Erotica.
LUCIEN C. WEST steps lightly in the strange state of Texas, enjoying the clear springs, cypress trees and occasional BBQ. She is a playwright, cook, songwriter and poet, publishing her first short story in the ancient anthology Testimonies: A Collection of Lesbian Coming Out Stories issued by Alyson Press.