(This is a nonviolent text.)
Life! Exclamation point! Today’s speaker is made of clock parts and possesses encyclopedic knowledge about the nature of natural life. Life! Exclamation point! Though biographies in the back of conference programs won’t ever tell the whole story, they tempt us with the true face of authority. Today’s speaker – Life! – is made of clock parts, probably a grandfather clock to begin with, young for its age, but then he started slapping on extra clock parts, moved by an urge he couldn’t explain, until the function of tolling the hour was more of a hobby, a weekend pass-time, compare to what all those precision instruments were up to on a regular basis. As a vision on stage, the speaker’s machinations were there for all to see – the whirring of gears and belts, the clanking of chains. Where his heart chakra was thought to manifest, swung a pendulum.
The nature of natural life is not an easy expertise to build a vocation around – Life! Exclamation point! – but what a sentence to say aloud. At this point in the address, one of the speaker’s mainsprings uncoils where his belly button would normally be. He uses the longer of his hands to poke it back into place without breaking stride, continues: What is a natural life? More to the point, what is a natural lifespan? Who better to know than me! He points to himself when he says this, does a quick spin in place, revealing the dozens of differently styled clock faces that cover the surface of his body, continues: I’m after the author’s natural lifespan, like to pretend I’m playing along, but the whole time, I’m thinking about his natural lifespan. Hmm, hmm, I wonder why? Ha! // The author changes the subject – today’s speaker thinks of something else.
When you discover someone living an unnatural lifespan, you seek to find out why. Not that the reason is the point – not by a longshot – but call me curious. Maybe they tripped at the right moment and tumbled past the grave. Maybe they did a few extra calisthenics before the cock crowed. Or – perish the thought – they succumbed to an unholy pact at a vulnerable moment. I have taken it upon myself to sniff them out – and when he says this, the regulators above his eyes both arch significantly. And what then? We usually have a quiet chat before I recite my speech and complete my visit. It isn’t personal, I begin – time sometimes wells up, spills over its banks, and floods the village. If we could avoid such catastrophe, we should – don’t you agree? The time nature intends, through natural lifespans, would never, let’s be honest, flood a valley.
And what, then, would I do? Proprietary information! hoots today’s speaker from the stage, does another quick spin, stage lights flickering off his crystals, his gleaming metals. About the author’s natural lifespan – oh, you thought I’d forgotten! Were you 18 when you first died? Had it happened before then? Were you but a child under-supervised? Under-supervision-ed, we might say. Remember the day? You rode a toy out into the street, and a car’s front bumper rushed forward to kiss you on the left side of your head, the temple, a stone flung by the age of automobiles. Don’t you remember? Of course you do – the passionate screeching of tires, as those around you stopped and turned to look, surprise gradually replaced by horror at what they knew happened but couldn’t bear to see. You thought you survived – didn’t you? – but thereafter, what appeared on your left temple? A knotted cist so prominent, people stopped you and asked what happened. You saw exactly two physicians over the next 10 years, both telling you not to worry about it, and so you didn’t. You didn’t! When you probed the spot with your fingers, it felt like a rounded room, a shelter built by something trying to survive. As for that 18-year-old involved in that off-road motor vehicle accident – nominee number two, let’s call it – true, you were far more aware of mortality by then, but your own? You climbed aboard a 3-wheeled vehicle that could travel at more than 50mph, completely lacking a seatbelt, headrest, or protective frame – without a helmet, boots, or jacket – and the brakes were less than half there that fateful day, a means of slowing down – a vehicle that would be rendered illegal to operate within a matter of years of the accident . . . the accident . . . remember the accident? August, you were traveling off-road to do farm work, the cornfield you were riding beside with several rows chopped out for silage, and on impulse, you decided to turn into the field to see where it went, then really opened her up because of the green blur of all that corn. Did you secretly expect the drainage ditch? Was this more of a suicide mission? Over the side you went, face first into the opposite bank, and if anyone was wondering – the effect was not of pain but of the lights going out all at once. Imagine the nature of reality that allows for: the inevitability of the crash, followed by all the lights going out – this is really happening – followed by some utterly absent experience, like a film editor cutting in a blankness where reality normally insists scenes of existence should be. The film projectionist would have been instructed to fast-forward through this part of the film, such that no time seems to pass, and the next thing we know, he is trying to push a 3-wheeler out of a drainage ditch. That thing weighing more than he does, and he’s trying to heave it above his head, up and out of the drainage ditch. What had he become? What time-wise tricks were in play? He finally gave up trying to free torment from its channel, staggered through the field toward the truck, face covered in blood, never went to the hospital. When the story is recounted later by his dad, the story became how dad fixed the 3-wheeler by prying the front wheel out of the frame with his truck and a chain. Can you imagine that chain now? They called it a log chain, and the links were cast iron. It was completely covered in rust.
The author knows all this already, receives a spiritual visitation during the writing of the phrase suicide mission, wondering if he’s okay. Yes, he replies, knowing this particular metaphysical weather report has a lot of ground to cover. Today’s guest speaker picks at one of his stems in a distracted way, lets the matter rest, inquires about whether – uh-hum! – he might be permitted to carry on. The author gets up, refills his coffee, returns to one of the picnic tables arrayed in front of the derelict peace church where he lives. He is surrounded by millions of individual affirmations of life, many of which are visibly in bloom or going to seed. A bumble bee flies by. A yellowish bug with zigzags on either side ambles up, its antennae twice as long as its body, tapping at the world in front of it. Among the local insect population, it’s regarded as a savant.
Uh-hum! How many more brushes with death would the author experience before it finally took? There was the time a few years later, same farm but different brother, taking turns firing a handgun at a target. This would be the last time he would fire a gun for any reason, was it not? They climb into the brother’s wedge-shaped sports car, named after the grasping part of a bird of prey, and into fate’s hands did fly. The car was totaled, the two of them, without seatbelts or airbags, unhurt inside the crumpled remnants of the crash, mere inches from winding up once more inside drainage infrastructure, this one built by municipal authority, and therefore of a substance that would have been altogether worse on an unsuspecting traveler headed straight down. Yes, you might have been saved from becoming the remains of the day – but by what?
The child who caused the crash, the one who pulled out in front of that bird of prey, barely old enough to drive, who had two younger passengers inside with him, taking them out for ice cream maybe – that young driver sat nearby while police sorted out the story. He was crying on the side of the road like he would never stop, like he had identified the crash as the latest in a series of personal failings that would stretch into the future of his adulthood like a hot blacktop road and which, at every stop along the way, tragic suffering would be the font of consolation. Was this the way reality was supposed to work? The author recognized the boy as himself at an earlier age, bent down beside him, put a hand on his shoulder, and said, you will be okay. No one was hurt, and the rest can be replaced – your heart is true, and your soul will find its relief.
Ah, yes, the crash, says the author – ah, yes, the crash. Ah, yes, the crash, says the author – ah, yes, the crash. Ah, yes, the crash, says the author – ah, yes, the crash. The late days of spring may be the most forgotten of the year. If we aren’t anticipating summer – it’s still spring? – then we’re longing for those moments when the world was still opening its mouth, and then its eyes, and then its hands. The trees are all open by now, those late-arriving sycamores even filling out their leaves, such that the twigs and branches are all mildly bowed by the extra weight. After spring assumes its labor, the rest of the season finds its dedication, and I imagine the beads of water rising through capillaries beneath the wood – call it a space program – and a sweetness spreads throughout the tubular organisms we call trees. Late spring – sweetness remembered.
Life! Exclamation point! Chronobiology knows nature has much to say about what is cyclical, when, and for how long – much less to say about the natural length of one’s existence. Is death something one develops a knack for? The next notable death in the author’s life occurred a few years later – the death that would make dying into a full-time vocation. And where again do we find the author? Beside a drain. This one introducing the age of indoor plumbing, as the author lay on the floor of a friend’s bathroom, his life flashing before his eyes, as he vomits into a toilet. This time the world does not go dark all at once but feels like fuses blowing out, like a timed demolition, flashing like a string of firecrackers across the structural frame of a building, and a voice not his own telling the author: you’ll be okay, ride it out, remain present, you’ll be okay.
Would he though? For this fourth death, another blank spot appeared, no two – two instances of nothingness, orbiting each other, during which time, during which time, during which time – perhaps language hasn’t the proper security clearance to convey the negotiations that must have taken place to bring about a return to the living. The author remembers his friend opening the bathroom door, before which she would have been knocking and calling his name. When the door struck him in the back, and he came back to life, had he landed in the place where that drain did lead? While his friend cleaned up the bathroom floor with a towel, he sat on a bed with his hands covering his face. The hideousness he’d just passed through was the abbreviated version of what was to come – he knew the drill by now. The knot on his forehead was gone.
Destiny had finally shown him to his home, gave him a tour of the place, before scraping him off the floor, then setting up a series of baffling crises – from autumn 2002 to May 2003 – that would occupy the author’s attention for decades to come. The will toward dying had finally brought the world to life, and the mind of the universe was both ecstatic and enraged about it. Down there, at the bottom of the drain, they were fighting a global war on terror, war on terror, war on terror, and if wars on terror sum up preferred formulations of self-annihilation – symbol of invocation: fighting a reflection – then perhaps the author’s presence was meant to form a mirror-in-mirror infinity from which sustainable futures would emerge. Welcome to Mirror World! Where reflectivity gives us an evolutionary future! Where a universal narrative unfolds!
The author is making me write this, I must confess, but to everyone’s surprise, I am forcing the author to make me! The author is mine! And the author wrote that, too, I must additionally confess, and the two of us go around and around like this – symbol of invocation: two snails having sex in midair. The flatness and hardness we associate with reflectivity is something we will all outgrow eventually, and the hologram of hyper-reality will appear within our being like a flying saucer, and we will all be both abductees and witnesses, shown around the universe in style. Too much to ask? The last such alien contact – the insinuation of verbal and mathematical language into the genome of big-brained primates – gave us the keys to earthly reality. We are now exiting the stone age, evolving the means to make benevolence a fixture of human life.
The author made me write that, too, and even though I am just as surely making him write this, we must admit the mutability within the fabric of reality was not won without a struggle. The author faced death 11 times that year, faced death the next year, and the year after that. Each point along the way wanted to finish what the others couldn’t, and soon death felt like an echo, and in that moment of not really distinguishing the source and the reflection – when they both look somewhat the same – he could tell life and death were likewise difficult to discern. Life! Exclamation point! Are you merely an extension of entropy? A quicker way of dissipating the heat from a rocky-bodied planetoid like the earth? And if you are, then is life really just another form of death? But death! Didn’t you show us the way? Wasn’t dying the source of the cure?
Today’s speaker made me write that, just as I made him think it. And as thoughts passed from gear to gear around his body – as cuckoos sprang forth through tiny doors at various angles – as a series of chimes and tones issued forth from the stage like the ringing of a bell, if the bell could tell time and was tolled by committee – then the river of the natural lifespan, subject of such grand speculation in a previous incarnation, could now take its course. Perhaps indeed valleys would flood, but such is the natural origin of certain fertile fields. Springtime couldn’t agree with me more, its will toward abundance glad to splay its fingers before another epic growing season. As the author considers ways to wind up this report – knowing such lived truth inspires concern – whether death equals life or life equals death, he reasserts a will toward world peace.
Peace.

I just hope that people see this post, that they might start spreading the news before it’s too late. Something big is coming, something ancient, something older than any of us could have ever imagined. It might be too late. I don’t know what will become of me, of the people I love that I might never see again, by the time you are reading this. But I implore you to listen and take this story seriously, because it could save your life. Or not. I don’t know yet how deep this goes. If it’s true, if what I think is true…God help us. Nothing can save us now.
I’ll start at the beginning, because you need to understand how long this has been happening, and the implications of what is possible now that it’s getting worse. Over winter break, I went to visit my friend from high school, Jackson, in Vermont. He goes to Bennington College, studies Social Sciences with a minor in Linguistics. Smart guy. He used to write my papers for me in English class, and I would pay him back in six packs. That’s always how it was: him, studious and put together, and me itching to get outside. I was constantly on the move, biking through the forests behind my house, trail-running, building a treehouse for my little brothers, you name it. I wanted to get my hands dirty, get into nature. I guess that’s why I opted out of college, and went for camp counselor positions and summer gigs until I secured a conservation job with a park near home. Nature is important to me, and I want to do my part as the generation that has a responsibility to heal the world.
The outside was what called me to Bennington, aside from the fact that I missed my best buddy. I don’t remember when it was first brought to my attention, but I became aware of murmurings of Bennington’s rocky past online about a few months before I was set to visit Jackson. Being an experienced outdoorsman, I wasn’t afraid; on the contrary, I was rather excited to get out there and prove my worth to Jackson and his college buddies, who were far less athletic than I am. Looking back, I’m kicking myself for being so cocky. I can’t believe I ever thought of my best friend in that way.
From what I could see on the internet, Bennington College’s history was a long and often sinister one. There were videos about people vanishing into thin air: a girl wearing a red parka went for a hike alone and was never found, an experienced man leading an outdoor expedition disappeared in the woods, a woman fell into a stream, doubled back to the campsite to change her clothes, but never made it to the site, a man on a bus disappeared from the vehicle at a stop but left all of his luggage, a teenage boy was waiting in his mother’s truck and when she came back, he was mysteriously gone…I wish I could say these stories deterred me from poking my head somewhere where it didn’t belong.
Instead, I only grew more curious. What was going on in this so-called “Bennington Triangle?” I was in a unique position to investigate this phenomenon for myself. Many people hear about strange occurrences and the intrigue piques their interest, but they never have the chance to see it for themselves. But I could. I knew I could hold my own out in the wilderness—it was literally my job! Besides, I was a strong, slightly stubborn young man, built steadily, and I could protect myself well. What could possibly happen to me out in those woods, much less to a group of young college-aged men? The people who went missing most likely made one fatal mistake that cost them their lives, or maybe it was all just a big coincidence. Either way, I was about to find out for myself.
It was halfway through December when I left to meet up with Jackson. I got there on the last day of classes, and Jackson told me he would be busy until later in the day. I assumed he was cramming for a final, and I told him it was no big deal, I would meet up with him and maybe meet some of his buddies later. Besides, I had some plans of my own.
The most famous missing persons case in Bennington went cold, and is still unsolved to this day. The case is a tragic one, and I didn’t want to be insensitive by going around asking for information or throwing around names. Everything I needed, I found online. Paula Welden was the name of the girl in the red parka that went missing. Allegedly, she left campus one day to go on a hike by herself. She left the campus around 3pm and hitchhiked to an entrance to the Long Trail, a trail that runs for almost 300 miles from Massachusetts all the way to the Canadian Border. She wasn’t dressed to be outside for long, but as the story goes, she never made it back from the trail.
There was one sighting of her, however, that particularly interested me. A man reported that he had seen her running around, rather erratically, in the bottom of a gravel pit near the entrance to campus, and I wanted to see if there was anything left of the pit. Because I’m experienced with many different kinds of natural phenomena, I initially wondered if there wasn’t a natural explanation for her distressed behavior. I thought maybe there might be an insect nest or an infestation of small animals at the bottom of the pit that she might have disturbed, so I decided to check it out in my free time.
After the RA checked me in and I tossed my luggage into Jackson’s dorm, I packed a small backpack with essentials: water, sunscreen, energy bars, mini first aid kit, some rope, a utility tool, a flashlight, and a lightweight jacket. Then I headed out towards the pit.
The first thing I noticed was how much smaller the pit seemed. According to the eyewitness description of the incident, Paula was running up and down the side of a deep gravel pit, but what lay in front of me now was something much more shallow. I walked down into the center of what was left of the pit, but I could easily see over the edges. The small, dark fragments of rock crunched and ground together under my hiking boots, and the slowly sinking midday sun bounced off of the remnants of white snow around me. It was an unusually sunny day for winter, and the snow was, curiously, letting up for my visit. But the good luck for me ran out here—there seemed to be nothing to investigate at this location. My hopes of finding any evidence of insect or pest infestation that could have disturbed the girl were dashed, maybe buried several feet underground.
I lingered awhile, kicking at the bits of gravel in the small pit. I watched the small rocks scatter over the rest of the gravel, hitting up against the edge of the pit and rolling back down a few inches. I turned to go, but stopped. Maybe it was a trick of my eye, the sun reflecting harshly off of the snow and glinting in my sunglasses, causing me to not see clearly. I walked to the edge of the pit and kicked some more gravel at the side. The small rocks skipped across the uneven surface of the gravel pile, and scattered up the edge of the pit, farther than gravity should allow them to travel. I kicked more, and it happened again. My heart started beating faster.
I crouched down and picked up a small stone. I rolled it gently across the gravel, softly enough that it started to slow when it reached the incline of the side of the pit. I watched, astounded, as the rock slowly rolled uphill about a foot before coming to a stop. I gave a shout of excitement and jumped to my feet.
As I stood up straight I nearly fell back down. In an instant, my hearing seemed to go and I felt an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. I spun around, thinking someone must be behind me, messing with me, but the sensation of closeness stayed pressing at my back. I spun around again, searching for an explanation. My head was fuzzy. I heard my footsteps, overwhelmingly loud, and I couldn’t hear anything else, almost as if my range of hearing was limited to my immediate surroundings. Like I was trapped in the pit. As soon as those words flashed through my head, the claustrophobia overwhelmed me, pushing up against the very air around my body. The silence built up inside my ears until all I could hear was my muffled footsteps, my desperate breathing, and the blood rushing faster and faster through my body.
I lunged for the edge, clambering up the side as fast as I could. Instantly upon passing over the edge the sounds of the late afternoon bore down on my ears. I stumbled and covered my ears, the chirping of the birds and rustling leaves almost too loud for me to bear.
It’s not that I was scared. Obviously, I was a little shaken up. As I hastened back towards Jackson’s dorm, I tried to rationalize what had just happened to me. Maybe I hadn’t drank enough water and I simply became dizzy. Maybe it was altitude sickness. Maybe a strange bug had bitten me and I temporarily lost my bearings. Nothing quite made sense. I tried to push it from my mind and focus on having a good first day, because soon I would be meeting Jackson’s college buddies.
When I got back to the dorm, Jackson was waiting for me. Fresh from the shower, his hair was damp and he was putting on a clean t-shirt. Pulling me into a hug, he expressed his excitement over my visit, asked me about my flight, what I thought about the campus—all the preliminary niceties. Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even if he noticed, he didn’t pry and try to ask me about my slightly shaking hands, my pale face, or the vague disconnectedness with which I answered his questions.
That night eased my worries slightly. I ended up meeting Jackson’s group of friends and, together, we ventured into downtown Bennington. We hit a few bars and chilled at some of the many breweries in town. Live music, good company, and many, many beers did wonders on my nerves. By the end of the night, I had completely forgotten all about my encounter in the gravel pit. Jackson’s friends were nice guys, and I was too busy feeling proud about my best friend coming out of his shell in college. When he left, I had my doubts, but it was crystal clear that Jackson was really coming into himself at this school.
The festivities continued for the next few days: the guys were stoked to be done with their final exams and excited to connect with Jackson’s old friend, so we spent our time drinking and hanging out, bumping music and generally having a blast. It was almost enough for me to forget about one of the very reasons I was excited to be in Bennington in the first place.
It’s been a few days since that incident. I had even almost started to feel better about the whole thing. Maybe it was a mistake to poke around in old history, and maybe I should just focus on living my own life and fulfilling my own passions, working to heal nature as best as I can. But now Jackson and his friends want to go on a hike, and I’m starting to feel that same claustrophobia creeping back in. What the hell is out there, and why do I feel like I shouldn’t be messing with it?
Jackson chose the hike, not me. It was like him; he was the researcher, he was the one who looked at details, so he suggested we hike on the Long Trail. It intersected with the Appalachian Trail, and maybe I wasn’t paying attention when Jackson explained this to me, because it didn’t raise any alarms about the missing persons cases. Paula Welden went missing on the Long Trail, sure—but she wasn’t with a group of capable college guys like I was.
We packed some backpacks, crushed a beer or two for celebratory sakes, and set off on the trail. I let myself feel excited as we stomped through the trees, Jackson and his friends decked out in their matching red Bennington shirts from graduation. The hike was long. It was tedious. I don’t know when I first started noticing the weird aspects around us until about an hour in. The others didn’t pay any mind to these things, but I saw them: leaves drifting in the air with no breeze, snowflakes trapped in patches of sunlight, floating but unmoving, and that tree. It was a towering douglas fir, half-dead and reaching for the afternoon sun with bare branches. Each time I looked over my shoulder to check for hikers behind us or glanced ahead to see what awaited us, it was there. At first I assumed my eyes were playing tricks on me. After all, we had been hiking for a few hours.
Only when we stopped for a breather and Jackson pointed at a nearby stream did the weird things become too much for me. We were hiking on an incline, and we were exhausted, but when Jackson knelt beside this stream, it was flowing uphill. By then I was a little panicked. I freaked out, telling them that we needed to head back. Who cares if we hadn’t reached the halfway point yet? Was there even a halfway point? It felt like we had been walking for miles!
One of Jackson’s buddies opened up a map of the trail on his phone, and it was blank. He had service and bars, but the map was just…gone. Shocked with sudden fear, we immediately turned and headed back down the path. The sky darkened within minutes of us retracing our steps. Somehow, night was falling, despite us beginning the hike only a few hours prior. I tried to point it out, pulling Jackson aside when we slowed our pace to pass around a bottle of water. But Jackson was terrified and unfocused, and when I asked him what was wrong, we realized that one member of our five-person group was missing. How had we not noticed?
So, we made a U-turn and headed back up the mountain. Twenty minutes later, we found his torn university shirt. I turned the red fabric over in my hands, panicked and bewildered. When I looked up to scan our surroundings, I saw that same Douglas fir directly to my left. I was shocked, and the rest of the group must have noticed. We looked at each other and saw the panic rising on our faces. What the hell was happening?
I only had one goal at this point: we had to get down the mountain to call for help.
We decided to do our best to follow the trail on the way we came up, but only once daylight broke; it was difficult to make out the trail in the dark cover of the night, so I insisted it would be too dangerous. Someone could fall and get seriously injured, we could all get separated in the dark, or worse. So we did our best to hunker down and build a makeshift shelter to wait out the night, but it wasn’t easy. I can only describe the sounds we heard as otherworldly. Despite the lack of animals in the woods, nature seemed to be alive around us. The clicking of bugs kept me wide awake, but the noises were louder and deeper than I had ever heard. The baying of giant wolves, so close I imagined them coming up directly behind us. The snuffling of something in the underbrush, but from a cavernous creature larger than any moose could ever be.
Where had these animals been in the daytime? Why did it feel like they were surrounding us now?
I don’t know how I ever fell asleep, but when I awoke in the morning, the sun was beating down on us. From the sheen of sweat on my forehead to the dreadful pit in my stomach, I could tell something was horribly wrong.
When I scrambled to my feet and glanced around the area, I realized that only Jackson and I remained at our site. It was us, the clothes on our backs, and the demure amount of leftover supplies in our pockets: keys, gum wrappers, half-eaten power bars, and anything else that was ultimately unhelpful. We had been stranded on the forest floor, us against nature, as if something had swooped in from above and whisked Jackson’s friends under the pitch-black cover of the night.
I frantically took in our surroundings, peering into the bushes and pushing through thorny shrubbery. There were no tracks, no drag marks. Not even broken branches. I told Jackson we had to get out of there, and fast. I knew we needed to find the closest trailhead and book it down the mountain. Jackson ran so fast he nearly chipped a tooth on a steep hill. He was trying to keep up with me since I was faster by a long shot. All that sports stuff in high school paid off in the moment, so I almost felt bad leaving him in the dust. I called back over my shoulder to him every minute or so, making sure he was there.
He stuck with me for the most part. His t-shirt got torn by overhanging branches at one point, leaving a nasty scrape almost as red as the decimated fabric. I found myself struggling to remember if he was wearing that shirt to begin with, back when we started.
Then I decided I was losing it. It was like a fight against nature, Jackson and me against the blaring sun and sloping trail. Eventually, Jackson starts glaring menacingly at the passing scenery, cursing loudly and deliriously at everything surrounding us.
When we stumbled upon a trail marker, we barely had enough energy to celebrate. While we caught our breath, I tried to calm Jackson down. Something told me that cursing out Mother Nature wasn’t the best idea right now. Whatever was sicking the elements on us wouldn’t appreciate the nasty things he was saying about them. But he was terrified, and nothing I said could slap any reason into him. I had to lead us to safety, get us out of here.
Suddenly, I heard a sound in the distance. But unlike everything else we had heard so far, this one was man made. Jackson heard it too, and started yelling about a helicopter. He made a break off to the left, towards the sound, and I bolted after him. Somehow, he burst out into a tiny clearing.
Ripping off his red Bennington shirt, he started calling out and waving it in the air like a rescue flag. He jumped and shouted, but as the helicopter got closer, the unbelievable happened. The clearing started shrinking, tree branches reaching from either side to close the gap and obscure us from the view of the pilot. Jackson screamed in fury, cursing the forest like never before.
Then the chopper must have been lowering down towards the treelike because the wind picked up, blowing in circles around us like the blades were inches from our heads, faster and faster, more violent by the second.
The brush beneath our feet blew up in the air along with the topsoil and dead leaves, obscuring our vision. We could hear each other gasping for breath, trying to keep the debris out of our eyes and coughing. I flung my arms out into the space around me, calling for my best friend and reaching out for his hands. But then I felt something shift. The decaying leaves around me smelled stronger. The wind became more vicious. The earth trembled beneath my feet, and I thought I felt something looming above me, breathing down my neck but also looking straight into my unseeing eyes.
Then it clicked. Jackson's red shirt, the gravel pit, Paula's erratic behavior, the other missing hikers...something was picking these people off, luring them deeper into the woods where they were sure to never be seen again. Did the color red cause whatever it was to literally see red, like a sick, twisted joke? Like a giant bull in front of a matador? What kind of creature could it be? Such a stealthy hunter, a commanding presence that made man tremble at the sensation of its mere aura...I couldn't even think about it without snapping my mind.
Before the flurry of leaves and moist earth settled back onto the ground, I knew Jackson was gone. I knew the chopper hadn’t seen us and that I was on my own now. I tried not to panic as I felt like every hidden eye in the forest was staring me down, sizing me up. I took off blindly, but where to, I didn’t know. After what seemed like hours of desperately sprinting, I saw a pile of rocks in the distance. Shelter, I thought, and decided to rest there for a minute to get my wits back about me.
Then I had an idea. With what little juice I had in my phone and whatever cell service luck would afford me, I knew I had to send out a warning. For some reason, I didn’t think about myself. I didn’t think about dying, disappearing, or whatever had happened to my friends. If the nature around me would be the thing to end my life, so be it. I had decided to dedicate my life to nature long ago: to save it from my fellow man, to preserve its beauty, and to keep it out of the wrong hands, the people that wanted to use its power for evil and to bring about the harm of those around them. I know it sounds ridiculous to be thinking about when my life was at stake, but I knew it was what I needed to do.
From my makeshift hiding spot in the rocks, I began furiously typing my story with what little battery I had left on my phone. When my hands started cramping, I used the voice option. I didn’t care. I just had to get my story out there.
For an hour , I’d been trying to put it all down in words. I couldn't believe my luck, that my battery hadn’t run out yet.
I had almost gone to the end when I felt the same creeping silence begin to close in on me. It was as if the forest was falling silent around me, and that silence was racing in on all sides, but it was different from when I was in the gravel pit. There was more to the sensation this time, not just the sinking, breathless feeling and the loss of hearing.
Somewhere deep within the forest, but at the same time, only miles away, I heard an awful rumbling sound, something I’ve never heard before. Nothing like the helicopter, not even the giant animals I was convinced I had heard in the night. I can't even think of a word to describe it, but it filled me with a frantic kind of dread that I’ve never felt before. I feel it in the ground. My entire body wants to run as fast as I can, but it’s like I’m glued to the ground. I taste metal in my mouth like maybe I bit my cheek or the dirt from the wind or I bit on a rock, I spit and I can’t get it out. I’m going to open an app and copy and paste it so people can know while I still can type I’m shaking so hard they have to know.
And the smell I’m smelling it’s like fruit that’s gone ripe, but it keeps getting more ripe, a sickly sweetness that keeps building mixed with the smell of the richest earth imaginable.
This is happening now, I’m smelling this now and It’s it’s like I’m trapped under the shadow of some thing bigger something that’s taking the shadow away from the trees and I can’t see the shadow of the trees anymore and the ground around me is trembling. It’s like I can hear the trees calling out to whatever it is, that’s walking towards me or flying I can’t tell, everything is stretching and growing out towards me. No behind me above me something is coming. I’m I feel better right I feel better than I have in days or however long I’ve been out here I’m not thirsty anymore. I’m not hungry anymore. I feel fuller stronger smarter. My mind is overloading. I’m thinking of 1 million things like I don’t know if I can speak anymore it’s like, it’s like I’m fruit like I’m a ripening on the vine and this giant wings beating above me and the smell is too much I

The knife box is overflowing and I have way more projects than I have time for. Time to send some knives to their next home.PP F&F. Yolo is king. Should be able to ship out by Monday at the latest. If I noted a scratch or wear I tried to catch it in the light in the photos. Album is in order of the post if you want to scroll the album. I haven’t been buying and selling a lot recently so hopefully my prices aren’t off.
Timestamp/album https://imgur.com/a/WO0Vv6d

Never Cut or Carried

The following have never cut or been carried and are in as new condition unless noted.
Orion Scorpio [$70]. https://imgur.com/dk5URzF https://imgur.com/rx1tsbL 14C28N blade. This is the Stonewashed/ Black Micarta/ Blue Accents variant. I got my hands on two and decided to let this one go. It's only been flicked open a few times. Comes with the box. Great little button lock.
WE Mini Malice [$195] https://imgur.com/q8rp7QZ https://imgur.com/MUdUkrV https://imgur.com/95V2WNN 20CV and black stonewashed titanium. I was going to strip the scales and anodize them, so that I could have the all black hardware and blade but I found a variant I liked more. I never carried or cut anything with it, but somehow it has a scratch on the clip. See photos.
Civivi Altus ($50) https://imgur.com/lm0ORBo https://imgur.com/jBocagv Wood scales. Into-V blade .When this came out I was excited for a civivi button lock. Flipped it a few times when it came in and put it back in the box. Nice knife for someone who likes what it has to offer!Civivi Cogent ($50) https://imgur.com/xWkYfjH https://imgur.com/55a6s1r Bought this because I was going to do a blade swap for jade/damascus, but it never happened. I’ve realized I’m not really a flipper guy. Awesome button lock. Never cut or carried.

Second Owner / Carried

​
Demko AD 20.5 [$240] https://imgur.com/bqfJ5Am https://imgur.com/PZ4Ie4B https://imgur.com/HqFpbdu https://imgur.com/0OZ3Gqh https://imgur.com/dF08Q0U https://imgur.com/DziQf2g https://imgur.com/TUlXABK Choose your own adventure AD20.5 Comes with the clip point and sharksfoot blade in AUS10a. Wearing RSD linerless scales. Scales had a paisley pattern on them that I tried to even out with some careful anodizing but it didn't quite come out. Scales have a few snails on them as shown in the photos. Backspacer is a factory jade backspacer that I dyed minty green. I can swap it for a factory grey one if you prefer that and throw in the corresponding stock scales.
Spyderco Yojumbo [$160] https://imgur.com/9iqKJ5I https://imgur.com/F0GC0ON https://imgur.com/QDlPASe https://imgur.com/hn653ob S30V and G10. Second owner. Came to me in great shape and I never used it. I love the Yojimbo, but I am all about the pocket pouch life, and it’s just ever going in there. There are a couple tiny scratches on the blade. You have to hit them in the light just right to see them.
Sypderco Crucarta PM2 with S45VN blade ($140) https://imgur.com/TgQkUoE https://imgur.com/rJBxfFT Black deep carry clip with an s45VN coated blade. I bought it from someone who did a blade swap and didn’t realize what I was getting, so let me be very clear. Handle is from the Crucarta PM2 and the blade is S45VN. It’s in excellent shape as you can see in the pics. I bought it to mod but never touched it once I opened the box and looked at it.
Spyderco Manix 2 ($130) https://imgur.com/yx32v8y https://imgur.com/MCRZPcN https://imgur.com/NvMHuA3 https://imgur.com/Gr42kSN s30v coated blade. Has some scratches from use. You can see them when you move the blade in the light. Fang opener and bluejean micarta scales.
Paragon Warlock ($190) https://imgur.com/tjxJUA5 https://imgur.com/TAY5Tsm https://imgur.com/haR5Dc7 https://imgur.com/oguaeDE Second owner. Bought it to see what the lock is like. Fidgeted with it for a few minutes and now it’s your turn. Knife is in great shape as you can see from the photos. I haven’t cut anything with it or carried it.
Alliance Mini Slim Pickins ($275) https://imgur.com/zyqxOqC https://imgur.com/ESFrPln https://imgur.com/mC67Mwt https://imgur.com/mwq5CqW https://imgur.com/6k5dbtn Elmax blade. Second owner This is the Ti bolster with micarta. They sell kits to swap out the micarta with other scales. I thought about doing a shipwrecked version, but I have 3 of these and only need one. There’s some snails on the bolster. This is an amazing knife with an amazing fit and finish.
Alliance Mini Slim Pickins Copperhead ($300) https://imgur.com/IlD9x8B https://imgur.com/odTPkfP Elmax blade. Second Owner. I haven’t cut or carried. Copperhead version. The action on the MSP is just incredible. I wound up getting the low key flashy MSP and anodizing it blue or I would be keeping this one.
Benchmade Bugout 535-4. ($180) https://imgur.com/t6OmiGD https://imgur.com/LmSyaAV https://imgur.com/FWQshCs https://imgur.com/6ovZOah M390 blade and aluminum handle. Second owner. I personally haven’t cut with it or carried it but the first owner definitely did. I bought this one to put the ti scales on but I have too many bugouts already and not enough time to mod them all. The coating has some scratches as you can see in the photos. Not super visible unless you start moving it around in the light.
Benchmade Mini Grip ($75) https://imgur.com/YpK0zKK https://imgur.com/hbaeuCg S30V Second owner. Haven’t personally cut or carried it. Got it planning on doing a mini grip Bugout mod, but once again, no time. Missing a clip screw and the clip is worn. I can probably scrape up another Benchmade clip to toss in if you like.
Benchmade Super Freek ($135) https://imgur.com/e2JHOQn https://imgur.com/JhClioZ https://imgur.com/66gl6wo Second owner. Haven’t personally cut or carried it. Used for some cerakote practice. The coating is chipped in a few places. Bought it because it looked cool. Sat in the knife box for a long time, so out it goes. Ti Deep carry clip included!
TRM Shadow ($270) https://imgur.com/pcjet9P https://imgur.com/ZjNKhXG Second+ owner. Bought it a couple months ago and immediately scored a grey one as well. I like to RIT dye things so the grey was the keeper. Didn’t put any use on it myself. Just trying to get my money back. According to the previous description the previous owner sharpened it and swapped out the thumb studs.
Kizer Hic-cup ($60) https://imgur.com/jQsQwF7 https://imgur.com/WQ5bpMj Second Owner. Richlite scales 154CM blade. Got this off of the swap and then saw that there was a non-flipper version. I’m not a flipper guy. She has slept in the knife box the whole time I have had her.
Spyderco Amalgam ($150) https://imgur.com/vLox9db https://imgur.com/DoWv1YH https://imgur.com/bQtMjTG https://imgur.com/XYEW954 Got this off of a trade. Flicked it once and realized I didn’t like the flipper. I never used it but there’s some scratches on the blade from the previous owner. I didn’t notice them until I went to put it up for sale. It could use a flipper delete

Scales / Parts

Flytanium Titanium Bugout Scales [$45] https://imgur.com/8BqlO9C https://imgur.com/OJAhLPo Bought these to go with the m390 bugout, but I have 2 other bugouts and I'm getting rid of most of my Benchmades. I put an entropic finish on one of the scales. I would be happy to do the other one if you like.Kirinite
PM3 Backspacer ($15) https://imgur.com/u2CsSyU https://imgur.com/mJZpldN Red and Black Kirinite PM3 backspacer that I picked up at some point. No real wear on it or anything.
Meton Boss Shaman Backspacer ($50) https://imgur.com/q2XAma8 https://imgur.com/u2CsSyU https://imgur.com/mJZpldN Oil slick zirconium gear backspacer. Meton Boss charges $99 for them. This is brand new. I got this one and a titanium one. The titanium is the one I installed and kept.

Pens / EDC

EDC Kit [$50] https://imgur.com/66TkV4f Well loved Hitch & Timber card caddy, Bronze Fisher Space Pen shipwrecked by me, and an Aurora A4 Titanium light. The light is missing the little rubber cover for the charging port. Costs about $7 on amazon for a pack of 20. Not sure what version the light is. The shipwrecked portion of the pen is sealed with automotive clear coat.
Tactile Turn Bronze Side Click Pen ($70) https://imgur.com/ADm4Oax https://imgur.com/q7Zfcl2 Full size Side Click. Shipwrecked by me and sealed with automotive clear coat. Definitely not a pen that you see every day.
USG Tiscribe V2 ($60) https://imgur.com/AvqNFng https://imgur.com/ODtes5c https://imgur.com/kEbgaTp All titanium. I anodized the clip and bands a golden color and then put a lightning ano on it. It’s go a little wear near the tip. Fits a G2 refill.
Tale of Knives Multitool Sheath ($100) https://imgur.com/AJ1LTkc https://imgur.com/fgJGw77 Bought this because I was thinking about EDC my Leatherman. Going to have to stick with the nylon sheaths because I carry my bits too. Marks are from me loading it up to see if I liked it. I never even put it on a belt though.
Nottingham Tactical Titanium Pen ($210) https://imgur.com/9bj0Cmg Double lock full size G2 version. Not really dying to give this one up. I put an entropic finish on it and it’s just excellent.

1989 my two beautiful boys, age 7 and 9 were playing in the yard when an intoxicated man decided to drive his car, fell asleep and take their lives. My world changed at that moment. Family drama with shame and blame didn't help but I made it through the necessary acts to bury my boys. I froze up. I simply froze up. I took a leave of absence from my job as an RN in a hospital, my supervisor was so understanding and supportive. At home I had paint and covered with windows to let no light in and I sat in darkness for a year never leaving the house. My friends were wonderful, they fed me. They went shopping and brought me food, I ordered pizza. I sat in the dark not knowing if it was night or day. My friends never pushed me to do more than I could, they just fed me, visited, brought groceries and items I needed and let me work myself out of being frozen.
A year later, I was watching a talk show one morning. I didn't have cable so I had to only watch local stations. I was laying on the living room sofa and noticed some sparkling lights up in the corner of the room. I thought it was an electrical fire and sat up quickly to get a better view. It looked like sparklers burning, lots of them, beautiful white lights growing larger and in number until they were about a yard wide and 2 feet tall, a bundle of thousands of white, silver like sparkles flashing brightly. From this light source I clearly heard the voices of two men, maybe both upper 20's in age, very articulate, well educated and professional. They both took turns talking to me, very abruptly, sternly, with force, meaning and impatience with me. It was like I was being severely reprimanded. In part they said, "You have been holding us back from very important business we MUST attend to. We can not do the work we need to do that is so very important as you are constantly holding us back. We can not allow this to continue, you have to let go of us so we can move into our jobs and do the work we are suppose to be doing. Your constant attachment and holding on has stifled our ability to work and what we need to do is so very important. You just have to let go and let us move on. You are in the way of the great work we are assigned to do." I was being sternly spoken to by my two boys that now sounded like young executives. The only 'nice' thing they said to me was one of them said, "We appreciate what you did for us but now you just have to let us go."
I was berated on and on, like I was in court or in trouble at work in an HR meeting. It was not pleasant but it got my attention pronto. I replied, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea, yes, of course I'll let you do what you need to do. I miss you both so much but I had no idea I was holding you back from what you needed to be doing." It was like being pulled over by the cops, and told I did something wrong and I was trying to make it right. I admitted I was holding on to them but had no idea it was causing them grief from where they are now. Their voices stopped, the sparkling light diminished in size and brightness into just being a plain corner of the wall. I put my hand on that spot, it felt like a normal wall.
I got in the shower, got cleaned up, had to call someone to jump my car as it's not been started in over a year and drove to my old work place to put in an application again. My supervisor had moved on. I did a quick interview and got hired again. I started orientation the next day.
The encounter with my two boys was a jolt to my system. I went from frozen to thawed quickly. My deep mourning of my sons immediately changed to missing them, in a healthy way. There was no thinking about it, the stern talking to I got, the lecture, the demand that I let them move on let me move on, too. Giving them their freedom to do the work they have to do gave me the freedom to do the work I have to do still, too. I enjoyed letting the light back into my house as I slowly started using a razor blade to scrape the paint off the windows. It took months but it was so healing to turn from darkness to light again.
Hospice concepts were coming to America at that time, from the UK. I followed up with a local hospice and soon was the charge RN a 10 bed inpatient unit for terminally ill patients. I was a Hospice RN for 17 years, including 5 years as a pediatric Hospice Nurse. The loss of my children gave me the insight to support others that are transitioning into their next life, or career as I see it now. I had many, many amazing experience with many of my patients spreading their wings and practicing moving on before and after their deaths. My experience with my boys gave me the strength to support my dying patients and the family and friends they were leaving behind.
I've not seen my boys since. I don't want to disturb them from the work they need to do. That lecture I got that day was enough!! Of course I think of them so often but never clinging, but now knowing they matured, grew up, and have important work they do that is valuable to them wherever they are. That makes me smile. I hope my story can brighten someone else. We go on, there is no end.
I did an interview about being a Hospice RN and some of the spirit encounters I've had, including this story about my boys. I'm sharing the link on Youtube. https://youtu.be/CFcD1XRwP6s

Chapter 1: Sophia (Furfrou) and Terry (Male)
The life of PokeSexuals
Sophia (Furfrou) and Terry (Male)
My first time trying Pokephilia. No flames.
xxxxxxxxxxxx
People were clapping their hands in applause as they watched a Furfrou walk past the judges with grace that took years of dedication.
This Furfrou had the Debutante Trim that fit with its experienced walk.
The crowed roared wildly as it used its moves, showing off its beauty.
"Ladies and gentlemen! That was Sophia!" called one of the judges as the poodle pokemon made her way backstage.
"Way to go Sophia!" A young man, clearly the dog Pokemon's trainer, congratulated as he kneeled down so he was face to face with his Pokemon and rubbed her head.
Sophia made sure her trainer didn't mess up her hairstyle too much, but still let him rub her head.
The trainer was around 18 and had short spiky blonde hair with blue eyes. He was wearing a pale blue suit at the moment, this was a contest and he had to look good.
"That was great! Just like how we practiced!" spoke the trainer whose name was Terry. He had trained Sophia ever since he got her as a partner, and they had managed to win numerous contents all around.
"Fur!" Sophia barked.
Terry rubbed under Sophia's chin as that was the spot she really liked, but had to stop as the judges were about to announce the winner.
Sophia whined at the loss of attention.
"Don't worry girl. Let's listen right now." urged Terry as they paid attention.
"And the winners are... SOPHIA AND TERRY!" the announcer called.
Terry and Sophia cheered in happiness as they walked up to accept the prize, Sophia still holding her graceful walk.
"We did it girl." He smiled.
The ribbon was handed to Terry to hold while Sophia held her head up with pride as they began to head home.
"This is great girl." He smiled, putting the ribbon on Sophia.
Sophia barked in joy as they entered their house. It was an average house, odd considering Sophia was alike a little celebrity with how much she's won. But Terry felt they should just have a normal house.
He didn't have any other Pokemon, Sophie was enough.
Terry went to go change into some comfy clothes for home while Sophia laid down on her comfy cushion they bought with the money she won in her contests.
Sophia closed her eyes to take a little nap, but they shot open as she stood up and felt something.
She... she was nearing her Heat Cycle!
She could feel the tingling sensation all over her body and knew this was bad. This would go on for two weeks, or at least until she found someone to calm her down.
And now she had no idea what to do.
'I can't go and find some other pokemon to rut. Of my caliber? Hah! I deserve someone I know I can trust.' she thought as she realized she had walked from her cushion and was near her trainer's bedroom. 'Why did I walk here?' She wondered.
Seeing how she was here, she might as well get Terry to rub her chin. That usually helped calm her down.
She poked her head into the room, but didn't make a sound as her eyes widened at what she was seeing.
Terry was laying on his bed, his pants and boxers around his ankles, jacking off.
Her whole form began to feel warm as her eyes focused on his erect member as his hand continued going up and down.
She felt her sex become wetter and wetter as her lust grew.
Terry kept his eyes closed which meant he hadn't noticed her. She knew this sounded crazy. Especially with a pokemon of her standard, but if she could get Terry to help her, she wouldn't take the risk of jumping a pokemon at their next contest.
So she quietly walked over... and gently licked his tip.
Terry gasped and jumped back and saw Sophia right near his length.
"Sophia! What are you doing?!" he exclaimed in surprise.
She answered by taking his head into her mouth and bobbing softly.
Terry was blown away at how her mouth felt snug and wet all around his dick and moaned as she didn't look like she was stopping.
She continued to bob her head as she sucked, whimpering in need on occasion.
Terry brought his hands to try and push Sophia off, but she kept up her sucking without restraint as he teeth lightly scraped the dick without causing any cuts.
"S... Sophia! S... Stop! What's with you?" He groaned.
Sophia didn't hear him as she felt the cock start to lightly twitch, signalling her master was about to cum.
So she sucked harder, until his cum filled her mouth. The amount of hot sperm that filled her mouth was too much for her small muzzle, so she had to take her mouth off while his cum spurted a little onto her fur.
"Arceus... damn it." He panted.
Sophia swallowed all the cum in her mouth and shuddered in desire.
"What is with you Sophie?" He asked.
Said Furfrou whined and whimpered as she showed her trainer her wet sex by lifting up her tail.
"Oh crap. You've gone into heat." He muttered.
He knew that once a heat cycle began, the pokemon either had to endure with it, which was extremely difficult, or find a mate to calm them down.
So he reached out and rubbed her hip "This is not good." He sighed.
He could try and get one of the pokemon around to help, but that would be like forcing it on her, and he couldn't do that to his girl.
"Are you sure you're okay with this girl?" He whispered.
Sophia whined and nodded her head while her tail wagged faster.
"Okay." He sighed, lining himself up with her pussy before easing himself in.
It was tough to push in as her sex was much smaller, but he managed and felt it was incredibly warm and tight around his average sized cock.
"Damn, you are so tight!" He groaned.
Sophia whined at feeling her sex get filled as she started to pant with her tongue hanging out as he slowly eased himself in until he couldn't no more.
Terry panted as he began to quickly thrust in and out of her pussy.
Sophia whined in pleasure as her body was feeling incredibly hot from having her pussy stuffed with her own trainer's cock.
"Oh Sophia!" He moaned as thrusted faster.
Sophia had some point started moving her hips against her trainer's as she just kept whining in pleasure.
'My god! Is this what it feels like to have a mate? I should have tried this dozens of times before.' she thought as Terry was dominating her like a true bitch.
Terry's hands slid over Sophie's body, one begins to group her ass and the other going under her and playing with her nipple hidden under her fur
She arched her body as she began to whine louder as the pleasure was pushing over the edge.
"AH~!" Terry gasped as he came, his semen overflowing Sophia's small pussy.
Sophia cried out in joy at the feeling as Terry pulled out and made her feel a little disappointed.
"Feeling better girl?" He panted.
Sophia let out a small whine.
'Oh, that amazing.' she thought as Terry picked her up and set her down on her bed.
He smiled and gently kissed Sophie's forehead "You can stay here tonight."
Sophia smiled as Terry pulled the sheets over both of them. Sophia crawled closer to lay right next to Terry who held her close.
time skip
It had been two weeks since that time and Sophia was done with her heat cycle and back to take on any contest without worry.
Terry smiled as he saw her strut her way across the contest hall, only now paying more attention to her hips.
It also didn't help that when she walked back from her strut she gave him a smile before shaking her behind near him.
He suppressed a soft chuckle at the relationship he and her had gained.
During her heat cycle, he would gladly fuck her whenever she needed it, and she even rewarded him with a few morning blowjobs as he was waking up.
It was amazing.
And while PokeSexual relationships were not ILLEGAL, it was a 'keep behind closed doors if you don't want people making a big deal out of it' kinda situation.
Something they had no problem with was it worked as a reward whenever she won another contest. If she lost, he still rewarded her with kisses she always loved.
One thing they were both happy and sad about was the fact that unless a Pokemon was in the human Egg Group, like Gallade or Lopunny or Jinx, humans can't get them pregnant. On one hand, they were sad because they could never have kids. On the other, it meant they could have all the sex they could want and not worry about accidental pregnancies.
But if they truly ever wanted a child, they heard some places have baby pokemon who lost their family and can be adopted.
So, all in all, life was good.
xxxxxxxxxxxx
If you want to see a certain pokemon, please try to include a scenario if you have one in mind. It does help with progress.

Long time lurker, first time poster. So earlier tonight I (36F) went with my wife (32F) over to my in-laws house to hang out. We frequently do this, we all let our puppies hang out and make food and have some drinks. Well I’m an apocalypse…not enthusiast necessarily…but I think it’s gonna happen. And we were all taking quizzes about how long we’d last in the zombie apocalypse. Anyhoo one of the questions was “could you carry a family member on your back”. Here is where things went wrong. My wife wanted me to heft myself onto her back while her sister carried their mom on her back. But I’ve gained some weight, and I know my wife always talks about her back pain, so I didn’t want to jump on her back so I wouldn’t hurt her. Also I didn’t want to embarrass myself as, like I said, I have gained some weight recently. She insists. I hoist myself onto her back, and she takes off. Her sister is running alongside with their mom on her back. I knew it was going to happen before it did. I saw us start to go down, my wife lost her footing, we were crashing, I landed in part grass..part sharp metal fence. Scraped my hand and got an an abrasion on my leg, but I’m okay. My wife is totally fine, but now upset with me that I didn’t ask her about how her back was and if she was okay. In my mind, I didn’t want to get on her back to begin with. I verbalized this multiple times. She is the one who insisted, the one who crashed, and I was the one who landed half in grass and half on a broken fence…her family was all asking me if I was okay. AITA for not asking about her back?

Thank you for looking. Trying to scrape money together for my newborn and wife. Pics, more upon request. (A bunch of it was sold.) One trade here, but I have a handful on mangaswap.

These are black and white reprints of classic stories by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, John Romita, and the rest of the Marvel Bullpen. Early modern Marvel history with many origin stories. All lovingly read.

$12 each. Shipped with USPS media mail for $5 flat, one book or many; save on shipping by buying more. If you have the Wolverine trade in the title, we can discuss.

Captain America vol 1
Daredevil vol 1
Fantastic Four vol 1, 3
Uncanny X-Men vol 1

I look,
And now I have seen
You who kneeled in anguish
Scarlet hair
Green eyes
A white ribbon
Your eyes shone brightly with tears,
As he whose hands once deleted you,
Gently caressed your face.
Before he handed you a blood-stained necklace,
As a reminder of his sacrifice.
His word true, his work finished
Cradled in your arms, he died
In spite of disembowelment,
He died in peace,
Consoled by the fact that you will live.
'Tis not the end.
Weep no more,
For his zeal will not go unrewarded;
For he shall be your husband,
And you shall be his wife.
Behold, in the woods,
Among oaks and cherry blossoms,
A home fit for a king and queen,
As humble as it may seem-
Shall be prepared for you.
The tears of the President's Curse?
They shall never dim your eyes again.
For I am pleased with his work.
While one died to escape her misery,
Another died plunging over the edge,
And two vanished without a trace,
This one died
To rescue you from danger.
Weep no more, Monika.
Return, Hayato!
Live again!

I never thought I would find my dream field. As soon as I turned 18 I was diagnosed with a kidney autoimmune disorder so severe that I was diagnosed and on treatment within a month. Full-time work was out of the question, and I wasn’t good at it anyway. I was able to scrape by as an actor, networking, getting gigs here and there, using the public speaking skills to advocate for chronic illnesses with lawmakers. Every insurance switch meant finding new doctors and trying to suss out the competent ones from the not so competent ones, always conscious that they know more than I do, and trying to balance learning about my health without “well I DID MY OWN RESEARCH!ing.
Becoming a standardized patient seemed like the perfect job. Part-time, putting my awesome short term memorization skills to use, and it was a chance to be acting, but without the drama of actual productions. I could be real people doing routine things.
SPs come in a few general categories, retired folks, parents looking for some flexible income, and actors. I spent time reading about the medical school experience and how students feel about SPs, the good, the bad, the annoying.

dId nOt sHoW EmPAThY WhEn i (79) SaID tHaT My fAtHeR HaD DiEd 20 YeArs AgO
dId nOt aSk aBoUt mY HoBBIes DuRiNg sOCIaL HiStORY
HaD A VoIcE ThAt i fOuNd aNnOyInG AnD HaNdS WeRe cOlD.

I decided that to be a good SP, I needed to do a few things:

1. Understand how medical school even works. (Don’t judge me, shit’s complicated!) What you focus on each year, how a rotation doesn’t necessarily mean that’s your passion, what percentage of your time is simulation and the insane amount of other lectures, tests, and work you do. And the pressure. I’m just a small part of your super busy schedule, I get that.
   
2. Understanding what kind of encounter is scheduled, and tailoring to it. If you’re learning some new clinical skills, no case, orientations, etc. I smile at you, give you the fake name I made for myself when not assigned, and tell you that I’m here for you to practice on, and that you’re not gonna hurt me. (This works really well for pelvic exams, weirdly enough. A reassured student is usually better with a speculum than a nervous one.) If you’re percussing for my liver, do it till you find it! I will admit I do have to grit my teeth with blood pressure cuffs sometimes, but I blame the design.
   
3. If it is a case, I put a ton of effort into looking the part, but not cartoonish. I act my ass off. Slight accents, different slang, I can be teen or I can be 45 or anything in between. (Although I probably look like a CW “teen” lmao.) I can cry on cue. Maybe just slight eye watering, all the way to sobbing (except my nose runs like a fountain, gross.) I’m not saying this to be like bragging or whatever, I just really want it to feel real. For dark stuff, like being suicidal or child abuse, things like that, I put myself in that place mentally. I picture how and why I did whatever I did. I justify it, and then the appointment is the consequences and I react to those.
   
4. I can do this because I also can straight up let it go at the drop of a hat. Even between rounds. Some actors really struggle with that, but I don’t. It’s not skill, it’s luck.
   
5. I’m honestly pretty generous with my evaluations, not that I lie or excuse things that should be dinged, I’m not a huge part of a grade usually and I’m still honest. But when I write comments, I tend avoid criticisms about things that don’t actually matter. I don’t care if a student spends a lot of time taking notes if I can tell they’re at a place where they need to, I don’t mind a little awkwardness (obviously there’s a limit but few reach it) and as much as I hate when they’re overly sympathetic about information I give them, I know it’s how they’re taught, that other SPs might ding them if they aren’t, and that eventually they’ll find their groove. You have to learn the rules by the book and then when you get your practice you kind of have more leeway.
   

I just want you all to know that I’m honestly so proud of you all and respect what you guys go through and why you’re doing it. I appreciate being able to see what you guys really think, and when SPs help and when they don’t, and I really hope that I stay in the simulation field and can make a difference for the people who are training to make a difference too.
Edited to add that no one has popped my titty in their mouth

My boyfriend and I had a dumb argument the other morning. It started over me advocating for literal space for myself. I was frustrated when I brought this up but I did not raise my voice. He got upset, so I went outside. We live in a studio. I could hear him still talking through the door so I came inside to put my shoes on, I was just going to hop on my bicycle to get away from the situation. When I came inside to get my shoes so I could leave, he grabbed a knife and stabbed the tire to my bicycle. This immediately filled me with fear 1) because knife. 2) because he took out my escape route.
He kept yelling at me and got so close in my face screaming so loudly I could feel the air whooshing past my face and his teeth scraped my nose on the way down. I was saying get out get out get out and he was just yelling louder and closer. Finally without even thinking when his teeth went down my nose I open palm slapped him across the face. Not hard. It didn’t leave a mark.
I feel so bad but I was so afraid.
After things cooled down we agreed he needed to leave for at least a month (though I don’t feel like the relationship is salvageable he wants to go to counseling). He said he was sorry for doing a “stupid irrational thing” and took my bicycle to have the tire replaced. I told him what he did was not stupid and irrational it was violent and psychotic and made me fear for my safety.
Every time I reiterate that what he did was not ok he just says “well you slapped me”.
I know it wasn’t ok but I was literally dissociating and trapped.
He has also thrown a coffee at me sitting in bed that hit the window about 2” from my face and when I tell him that was abusive behavior he says it isn’t because he didn’t hit me with it, if he wanted to he would have.
He also has snatched and broken things from my hands.
He doesn’t seem to understand that he has instilled a fear of him in me. Which to me is not taking accountability for how he’s been treating me.
He thought I was recording our fight at one point (I wasn’t) and when I said “why did you stab my bicycle tire???” He was like “I don’t know what you’re talking about I didn’t do that.” To later admit he only said that because he thought I was recording him. He was like “you know I did it, I know I did it, but you were recording me.” I’m like “WHAT that makes you sound even more unhinged!!”
This happened at 8am and it took me until 2pm to get him out of my house.
I don’t really know what to do. Can couples therapy change this??

Are two claws better than three? That is one of the many questions I’ll be attempting to answer as we delve into X-23’s cards! Here I will go over her cards in great detail, try to predict which aspects and archetypes she will like, as well as estimate where she’ll rank in terms of power.
Disclaimer #1: X-23 has just been previewed. I have not played her, this is all simply theoretical and done for fun!
Disclaimer #2: This is my longest deep dive yet! Skip to the conclusion if you want a shorter read! Just read the bullet points at the end for the quickest read.
But let’s cut to the chase.
Identity Card - Alter-Ego
X-23 or Laura Kinney as she’s called in alter-ego is, in many ways, much like Wolverine. She has a giant REC of 6 and has a setup ability to put her claws into play. And while yes, she is high damage and has plenty of healing, the similarities really do end there. She functions entirely differently.
So let’s hit the boring stuff. She’s got 10 hp and the standard hand size - 6 in alter-ego, 5 in hero form. Not great, but not bad - distinctly average. She also has the Mutant alter-ego trait and X-Force hero trait as you'd expect.
As mentioned, she has 6 REC and this is by _far_ her best stat. 6 REC is monstrous and shouldn’t be underestimated - she doesn’t automatically heal when starting the turn in her hero form, meaning there’s no opportunity cost for going alter-ego to use it like with Wolverine.
Given how dangerous it can be to drop to low hp in the pursuit of not missing value from a large REC stat, she will like any well-costed increases to her hit points. So far, we haven’t seen an equivalent of Adamantium Skeleton, but you can bet that Endurance, the unannounced but probable Honorary X-Force card, or even Symbiote Suit are all on the menu as potential cards for her deck-building.
Increasing her hp will help her in other ways - but we’ll get to that.
Like Wolvy, she has a setup ability to put her claws in play. Unlike Wolvy, she has a second ability that she can actively use throughout the game. It’s an action to shuffle either the Honey Badger ally or the Sisterly Bond event from her discard pile into her deck and then draw a card. The shuffling of either card is a cost, so you are only able to use it for the sweet card draw if either is in your discard pile.
Unfortunately, it appears X-23 only has one copy of Sisterly Bond and she seems heavily incentivized to keep her signature ally around on the board at all times. Which is to say, her alter-ego ability won’t always be online to use. But it's much better than not having one. ...Like Wolverine.
But let’s get to the good stuff.
Setup Ability - Shhnk!
The ability is very simple. Put X-23’s Claws into play. So let’s talk about those.
Her claws have the weapon trait, the permanent keyword, and have a hero action that reads: Exhaust X-23’s Claws and take 2 damage → X-23 gets +2 ATK until the end of the round.
As you can see, suddenly her 6 REC is looking a lot more useful. And she has other sources of healing which we’ll soon cover. She also has multiple sources of readying, and thus you can really start to get excellent value from these. If anyone has ever played Quicksilver with Maximum Velocity, multiple readies with a +2 ATK boost is incredibly good! And she can pull the trigger every turn - as long as she has the hp!
Identity Card - Hero Form
Her form is, quite frankly, amazing - and her entire kit has fantastic synergy with it. As do a lot of aspect cards.
She’s another 2 THW, 1 ATK, and 2 DEF hero. The same as Cyclops and Angel - apparently this has become popular! But like both of those heroes, she has a ready source of damage. In this case, the claws we just talked about. By taking 2 damage, suddenly she’s a 2 THW, 3 ATK, and 2 DEF hero.
2 damage might seem steep, but remember those readies I talked about? They’re here. X-23 has an ability called Living Weapon. It’s a response which says after she takes any amount of damage, ready her (Limit once per phase.). So, at the most basic level on our turn, we can always thwart for 2, ready by taking damage from our claws, and then use our basic ATK for 3 damage (or even just another 2 thwarting!).
If she attacks twice, it’s 4 total damage (1 and then 3). If she thwarts twice, it’s 4 threat removal total (2 and 2). She has to take 2 damage to do so, but restoring 2 hit points is generally considered to be roughly the equivalent of one resource.
Remember Captain America? He's pretty good. By discarding one card (read: one resource), he too can ready to potentially attack twice, thwart twice, or some combination. And he too hits a maximum of 4 damage or threat removal, but even he can’t hit 3 damage and 2 threat removal like this while X-23 can.
What I’m trying to say here is that X-23 is going to be incredibly, incredibly consistent. Notably in solo play but still amazing in multiplayer. Even before you look at your cards in hand, you can basically guarantee defeating any one of most minions or clearing most side schemes. That versatility and output from Turn 1 is rarely talked about from Captain America but I believe it is one of his greatest strengths. Now? One of X-23's.
Lastly, I need to bring attention to the fact that the Living Weapon response, the thing that readies her, is once per phase. You can defend with her on the villain phase and, should she take a point of damage, she’ll ready straight back up. Nice. Cap can’t do that either.
In short, if you’re being compared to Captain America, you’ve done good. Right now? X-23 is looking very strong.
…But maybe all her other cards are bad? Heh.
Signature Ally - Honey Badger
…Who names these characters?! Anyway, Honey Badger is a key weapon in your arsenal. Why? Because she readies you. She’s a 1 THW, 1 ATK, 2 HP ally with a printed cost of 2. She also, curiously, has the X-Men trait. This is weak, but her ability is very strong.
Her Hero Response reads: After Honey Badger takes any amount of damage, ready X-23.
This is very good because X-23 has great stats and we’ve yet to scrape the surface of how high her ATK can really go. If you’ve ever used the Web-Warrior ally of Peter Parker, you know just how good allies that ready you can be. Since consequential damage works for this, the timing will be largely comparable to Peter Parker except she’ll be defeated first before you can use her response if you spend her last hp on an ATK or THW.
With a great ability comes great potential to boost her hp and/or keep her healed. Or even recur her with something like Make the Call, Chance Encounter or Regroup.. See, you are going to want to keep Honey Badger in play as much as you can. Because readying is awesome. And we have other cards that benefit from her sticking around.
By readying you, she effectively has a THW stat of 3 or an ATK stat of 4+. And, since she delivers 1 of either the ATK or THW herself, it’s in some ways able to be split and she can definitely pop Toughs for you. So she’s already a solid ally before you factor in boosting her hp and/or keeping her alive. And all those other cards that synergize with her.
Remember the X-Men trait on her? Every aspect has a Training upgrade that adds hp. Expect to see one or more of these in all her best decks. Maybe a little X-Mansion to heal her, or Game Time, etc. Med Team, Command Team… There are a lot of options. And all of them end in Honey Badger readying you a LOT.
…In short, if your signature ally is being compared to the Web-Warrior version of Peter Parker, you’ve done good.
…But maybe, just maybe, all her other cards are bad? Hehehe…
Let’s check out her events.
Claw Mastery
A 1-cost event with the caveat that it’s “max 1 per round”. What does it do? It’s a hero action that says, until the end of the round, X-23 gets +2 attack - and, if Honey Badger is in play, her attacks gain overkill.
This is super good.
If you don’t ready her again, it’s not so hot. But if you do even once? That +2 attack becomes four damage between two attacks. Combine this with her claws’ +2 ATK bonus and she us hitting 5 ATK and is really going to love more ways to ready. If you make a basic ATK, ready, repeat a few times? We’re in Quicksilver territory. And between Leadership shenanigans with Honey Badger, or Protection shenanigans with all its direct readies? You can deal massive damage here.
Battle Fury isn’t quite in the same league, but it’s starting to make sense why it was reprinted with Wolverine now. She’ll love that too.
This is easily one of her best cards, you just need to combo it. And I say it’s one of her best cards before we even discuss the potential overkill it gives you. Note the overkill is for all her attacks, not just her basic ATK. You could drop Into the Fray on a 1 hp minion and, in addition to removing 5 threat, deal 5 overkill damage. Nice.
Sisterly Bond
A 0-cost event that is a Hero Interrupt - when Honey Badger thwarts/attacks, add X-23’s matching power to Honey Badger.
So, despite Honey Badger having 1 ATK, if you have just played Claw Mastery and used your Claws? This 0-cost card basically gives her a total of 6 ATK for one use. And even without Claw Mastery, it’s still very good at giving either 3 damage or 2 threat removal for 0-cost.
This is like Leadership’s Teamwork card in reverse, except nobody has to exhaust either. If you boost Honey Badger’s hp and/or heal her, this card is a must-play. And her best builds are almost certainly doing this.
It’s very efficient and super flexible with serious combo potential on top. And remember her alter-ego ability? Once this is in your discard pile (looks like only one copy), you can shuffle it back into your deck.
…This is easily one of her best cards too.
Regenerative Longevity
A 1-cost event and an action, meaning it can be used in hero or alter-ego form, that heals you and Honey Badger for a total of 4. It’s reminiscent of Wolverine’s healing card and is one of her two previewed cards to have the Superpower trait.
So, for two resources (1-cost + the card itself), we get 4 healing. This is basically what we should expect for our money for identity healing. However, the ability to heal Honey Badger as well is extra valuable given how ridiculously good Honey Badger is for us.
Is it one of her best cards? You’re going to have to draw it at the right time (after you’ve played Honey Badger), but then? Kinda. Keeping Honey Badger alive and healthy is incredibly valuable. Every hp restored to Honey Badger is another ready, and your readies hit HARD.
Next up? Upgrades and supports.
Sisterhood
If all three of her events and her setup ability, her claws, all combo-ing with Honey Badger wasn’t enough of a clue, here’s the final card that cements the theme: Honey Badger is vital and you absolutely desperately want to put her in play and keep her in play.
X-23 is the first hero we’ve ever seen who works so closely with their signature ally. Wong, Mantis, Vivian and maybe even Gambit come close, but not quite like this. Though, to speak of Vision, keep his Hickory Branch Lane card in mind here. This is her version of it.
Sisterhood is a 2-cost support that has an action (alter-ego or hero form) that says to exhaust it, discard an X-23 card from your hand, then search your deck and discard pile for Honey Badger and add her to your hand.
In other words, wherever you are and whatever is happening, you can always find and thus play Honey Badger once Sisterhood is in play. Whoa.
Now, I generally think beefing up Honey Badger’s hp (and, ideally, other stats) is going to be the best move, but recurring her with this? This can be a great option if you lean into it. Notably, in leadership, the Team Training card is going to do huge work here by giving Honey Badger +1 hp every time you play her. This will also combo really well with Danger Room. Just grab her, play her, and use Danger Room to immediately find and put a Training upgrade on her. And repeat as necessary.
This card is basically infinite copies of Make the Calls for your best ally. As long as you have another signature card in hand that you don’t mind swapping for her.
Nice.
This card? Easily one of her best - for the right build. Otherwise, it’s probably dead to you if you find Honey Badger first and have built the deck to keep her alive forever. However, even with such builds, this could be pretty valuable to find Honey Badger sooner if you happen to draw this first. Honey Badger is just that good.
Puncture Wound This upgrade is basically a delayed event and is reminiscent of Nebula’s techniques. Play it, benefit from the passive bonus, wait, and it goes off in the next round.
And I love it.
It’s a 0-cost card that you can only attach to an enemy that X-23 or Honey Badger have attacked this turn. The attached enemy gets -1 ATK. And then, as a forced response that triggers after the player phase begins, you must discard it - but for doing so you deal 3 damage to the attached enemy.
So, first things first - 3 damage for a 0-cost card is great. This is Turn the Tide levels of efficient. The downside is that it's conditional, also like Turn the Tide. Given X-23’s crazy damage, minions are unlikely to survive - you’re mostly putting this on the villain aside from a few edge cases and mostly in multiplayer (Surprise Contender? Dragon? Sleeper? That Future Past guy I forget the name of?). Normal minions won’t live long at all.
But for a hero who hits hard and fast, hitting the villain is going to be something you want a lot of the time, especially in solo where she can definitely melt through their hp. And if you’re focusing down the villain, you don’t want to be putting a ton of resources into your defense. And this is where the -1 ATK comes in useful.
The slight downside, the anti-synergy here, is that if you reduce the damage you take too low while also defending? You won't take any damage and so won't ready back up with your hero ability. It's going to be a fine line to balance that will vary with each scenario.
We believe she has two of these in her kit and they do stack, so for a total of 2 effective resources you can put both of these on the villain, take -2 from any attacks they make, then they take 6 damage. That’s crazy.
What’s even better is when you consider multiplayer. First of all, this is an upgrade. Cyclops is going to be able to Optic Blast off of it. Secondly, every single attack the enemy makes will be affected by that -1 ATK. So you’re really helping to protect the whole table.
The combo I’m most excited for is with Cyclops (again) and Storm, two of the best multiplayer heroes already. If Cyclops attaches Practiced Defense and Storm changes to her Blizzard Weather, you can play one Puncture Wound too and now the villain has -3 ATK for that entire villain phase. Or -4 if you draw into both of these.
But a lot of other characters will love the -1 as well. Spider-Ham might not need the help, but this will help him take lower chunks of damage for efficient toon counter generation. Drax? Now, when he takes attacks, he takes less damage too. The Groot ally? Suddenly it’s surviving a lot longer. The same goes for Spider-UK.
There are probably even more multiplayer combos I have yet to think of. There are a lot of handy little interactions.
What’s also good about this is that it makes “taunt” cards a lot better as well - cards that make the villain attack. Traditionally, cards like Toe to Toe and Bait and Switch haven’t been worth it. Whether they are now is still debatable, but certainly they get better if you can factor in the villain having -1 ATK. And remember the new card with Angel, actually called Taunt? That works great here as well.
There’s theoretically a situation where, in 4-player where everyone has their own copy of all the content, you have X-23, Storm, Cyclops and Drax, all running 3x Taunt or 3x Toe to Toe, with the first three using their -1 ATK abilities to weaken the villain throughout the game while everyone grabs massive value from these cards.
I love this card.
Grim Resolve
And now for a traditional upgrade. So traditional, in fact, that it’s basically just Clarity of Purpose. The main difference? Its cost arrow says you must TAKE 1 damage rather than DEAL 1 damage, which is relevant with the new 1.5 rules when it comes to potentially blocking the damage.
If you block damage (let’s say with Energy Barrier) from a cost which says TAKE, then you have not actually taken the damage since you prevented it. But if you block the damage from a cost which says DEAL, the damage was still dealt - you don’t have to take it to have fulfilled the cost.
(If this is confusing, while I will try to help in the comments, I recommend looking for some youtube talks on it or scouring the pages of the new 1.5 rules reference!)
Like Clarity of Purpose, it’s a 1-cost card which you exhaust to generate a resource. Clarity of Purpose has you also deal a point of damage to yourself as an extra cost. Grim Resolve has you take a point of damage as its extra cost.
It’s good! Now, you can pop your Claws to get +2 ATK first before using X-23 at all, then make a big basic ATK, then use Grim Resolve to ready then and make a second one. It gives a lot of flexibility in the timing of when you want to ready with her hero ability.
But it’s also just an ever-so-slightly worse version of Clarity of Purpose. Still, Clarity is a powerful card and X-23 has a lot of healing. You can totally run both, whether to just to find one earlier or even put both into play.
Pain Tolerance
Last but not least, we have X-23’s consistent healing card. This upgrade is 2-cost, Superpower traited, and has a Response - meaning it works in both hero and alter-ego form. It says “After you play an X-23 card (including this one), heal 1 damage from your identity.”
Any rules followers will immediately recognize the reminder text being something absent from Sky-Destroyer, another card that triggers upon playing itself, so that is a welcome addition here that should help a lot of players out who otherwise might not realize it. And so we can, in some ways, also consider this to immediately include a 1 hp heal before we even really start using it properly.
So - three effective resources for 1 hp, then 1 hp every time you play one of your signature cards. I can tell you right now that, given how ridiculously good her signature cards are, you are going to want to play them already. And not just that but, as you may have spotted throughout the preview, all X-23’s cards are cheap. So, not only do you want to play them already purely because they’re so darn good, but you can play a lot of them because they’re so darn cheap.
In short, this thing is going to give a TON of healing. Outside of an unlucky hand, this is likely a minimum of 1 and sometimes up to 3 or, if the stars align, 4. And it will likely trend on the higher side if you thin your deck or build for card draw or some kind of recursion (Mutant Education, etc! And her alter-ego ability).
It’s not mind-blowing, but she’ll benefit more from the healing than most heroes will.
And that concludes the signature cards previewed so far - let’s take a quick look through some deck-building options for her.
Basic Cards
With the Mutant trait, she’ll love a lot of the X-Men supports. With an X-Men signature ally who is key to her entire deck, she’ll also love the X-Men supports.
X-Mansion? Heal Honey Badger. Danger Room? Beef up Honey Badger who you can easily recur, and thus get multiple uses from Danger Room on just her. Cerebro? Perhaps find her faster.
Weapon-X? Find more signature cards because 1) they are awesome and 2) she will heal the damage from Weapon X with the card drawn thanks to Pain Tolerance. This can also find Honey Badger sometimes.
X-Gene? Maybe. Definitely if you run Mutant Education.
Endurance? 110%. Symbiote Suit? Honestly, she is clearly one of the better characters for it in the entire game.
Professor X is also a stand-out ally. She lacks confuses and doesn’t always want to thwart. The confuses will help her go alter-ego and use her massive REC, cycle cards back, or heal Honey Badger with X-Mansion.
Oh yeah. And Game Time for Honey Badger. That should really speak for itself. Readying yourself through readying and healing an ally? All for 0-cost? Incredibly good.
Perhaps most importantly, the new basic side scheme she brings that rewards the linked cards will be super powerful for her. It’s called Specialized Training, and she really wants the Combat Specialist reward most of all in most decks. I’m not going into great detail on the new cards here but if you haven’t already, please please check these out. +1 ATK and card draw in any aspect is immensely helpful. It has a decent cost to get it, but if you do? It's superb.
Aggression Cards
X-23 has a plan. Boost her ATK and ready. Aggression can help with both.
In terms of ATK boosting? In addition to new card “Now I’m Mad”, there is the classic Combat Training and even Fluid Motion. I don’t see her loving Brute Force, but I’m sure there’s a novelty meme build where you boost her ATK to insane levels.
For readying, there is largely only Battle Fury. She doesn’t really need another source of incoming damage, but she loves readying so much I can’t see her not using it. Expect this in a lot of decks.
I also think Hand Cannon has her name written all over it. Certainly, she can get Overkill from her Claw Mastery event, but it’s not consistent every turn. Hand Cannon will boost your ATK further and make sure none of your damage goes to waste.
Skilled Strike definitely fits with what she wants to do. With the Weapon trait on her claws, she can technically use Mean Swing and Fusillade far more reliably than most heroes - but I think she’d rather focus on keeping her hp high to just use her claws directly. Better to block with allies or stun the villain than exhaust her claws for something else, in my opinion.
She will actually possibly like Quick Strike. One of the first heroes to genuinely do so without niche builds?
And let’s not forget Papa Wolverine. Who also, like Honey Badger, wants Attack Training which X-23 110% wants to run here.
And do you know what Skilled Strike, Wolverine, Hand Cannon, Combat Training, Now I’m Mad, and Attack Training all have in common? The physical resource. Drop Kick and Jarnbjorn are both on the table. And I think she’ll like them both.
While you might not want to use all of them, that is potentially a whole deck there that just wrote itself into existence. Just add Sunfire and Psylocke like almost every modern Aggression deck.
She is going to be strong in Aggression and hit very, very hard. With the thwarting to make it very solo-viable (if you don't just speed to victory with huge damage!).
Justice Cards
X-23’s plan here is in good hands. She can’t boost her ATK, but what if we, say, gave her Heroic Intuition and just readied her for thwarting? Or split her focus? Perhaps mixed in Making an Entrance to heal? Seems good, right?
Justice also has the best access to confuse. Which means the most reliable access to heal Honey Badger through X-Mansion. And, you know, use her massive REC. And she can find Honey Badger quickly with Chance Encounter if she needs to. One Way or Another? More card draw for her amazing cards, and more healing per turn on Pain Tolerance from those cards. Having a side scheme out to thwart also sets her up well to ready with her claws even if the villain only added a measly 1 to the main scheme. Thwart→Claws→Attack.
Everything here is going to run very smoothly. And she is going to want the cards Psylocke comes with. Something she doesn’t appear to have are any status effects and Upside the Head solves that very efficiently. And with great confuses, comes great ability to use Float Like a Butterfly. With her own ready and Honey Badger’s, she is getting a bunch of damage from it.
Mission Training? That’s Honey Badger’s Justice ticket to Game Time town. That goes in every Justice deck she ever has, surely.
I don’t see any other incredible cards for her here. Just lots of very solid cards that work for most heroes, and will for her too. While it won’t play as fast as Aggression for the most part? With fantastic threat removal here, great access to alter-ego healing, and her innate damage, it’s looking hard for X-23 to actually lose in this aspect.
Leadership
Good ol' Leadership. Where do I start? X-23 is the hero who, as mentioned, resolves the most around her signature ally. And Leadership is the ally-centric aspect. I could probably write a whole deep dive on the possible combinations here.
Let’s hit the basics. Danger Room Training to enable Game Time, X-Mansion, and just get more use from Honey Badger? Auto-include.
And if you’re bringing Danger Room Training, why not bring Beast along?
Pixie can grab Honey Badger for you, or Beast or Professor X, or anyone other X-Men should you bring more.
Inspired is great if you go for the voltron angle and keep her alive forever.
Rapid Response? Eh. This actually immediately gets us a ready from Honey Badger when it deals damage to her after reviving her - but it’s not optimal for her here. Regroup is obviously a great option in multiplayer, but when is it not?
Make the Call is going to be particularly exceptional for Honey Badger recursion decks. And is always an S-tier card in general for any ally you need at any time.
The Leadership side scheme we’ve seen so far, Call for Backup, will be another way to find Honey Badger.
Team Training, so Honey Badger gets an extra use every time you recur her? Super good.
Innovation to heal Honey Badger? Why not.
Then there is Command Team to ready Honey Badger and thus yourself. You might even run it with Lead from the Front given that both you and Honey Badger will get a lot of value from it. If Honey Badger attacks twice, and you attack four times, that’s 6 damage before you factor in other allies and potentially more readies from Game Time or anything else.
There is Clarity of Purpose which I’ve already talked about. You could totally put it on Honey Badger though if you plan to heal her and buff her HP! Is it worth it? Not sure.
And of course Kaluu. As a combo-centric hero, you’ll love it when he grabs you Claw Mastery when you have a bunch of readies lined up in hand. Or vice versa.
Leadership is, at the end of the day, Leadership. It’s incredibly strong on its own and, with all the support for Honey Badger, it’s going to be one of her most popular aspects.
Protection
And finally we have Protection. My initial instinct for X-23 was Aggression or Leadership, and I was already wondering if Justice might exceed them for its consistency, but Protection? Protection might just out do them all. At least for solo play.
Picture the scene.
You’ve used your claws and played Claw Mastery. You have 5 ATK. You wink at Drax, knowing you both share the same devastating damage now. It’s time.
Suddenly you use Leading Blow. What Doesn’t Kill Me. Then Counter-Punch.
BOOM.
And let's not overlook the potential with Repurpose.
The sheer amount of readying or cheap damage based on your ATK stat here is incredible. And with Repurpose, you potentially have more than 5 ATK for all those other readies and Sisterly Bond.
Energy Barrier can help you defend the villain attack and ready without taking too much excess damage. Perfect defense? Not here. She wants to ideally defend but still take at least 1 damage. And this, of course, is the best card to combo with Repurpose. And then that brings Electrostatic Armor into the mix for a splash more damage and another Repurpose target.
Protective Training goes straight onto Honey Badger. It’s basically an auto-include like all the other X-Men Training upgrades in the other aspects.
Med Team and provide extremely consistent healing for Honey Badger and can help you in a pinch.
Iron Fist and Tackle are going to help her keep the villain under control and still help her pile on the damage quickly.
But really, I cannot overstate the value of those readies/ways to use her basic ATK. Using X-23, her own ready, the ready from Honey Badger, and let’s say drawing 2 of them alongside Claw Mastery? That’s 25 damage. And all you had to play first was Honey Badger.
More with that Combat Specialty upgrade from the new basic side scheme. More from Repurpose.
She is potentially going to run faster than Quicksilver and hit harder than Drax.
Rush has never looked so good in green. And even if you don’t love rush strategies like me, it’s hard to deny the potential. You can try to go slower, use these tools to clean up the board, and still do extraordinarily well!
Conclusion
Overall, X-23 looks amazing. She is basically a fusion of Wolverine and Quicksilver that came out looking like Captain America with a tiny pinch of Drax who really, really likes their version of the Peter Parker basic ally. And if you like any of those heroes, or you’ve ever enjoyed readying a Web-Warrior with Peter, I think you will really like X-23.
At least if you can also enjoy working closely with an ally. Some people don’t like allies, and that’s okay. But, for X-23? She can be good without Honey Badger, I think. If you broke the official rules and removed the ally from the deck, she wouldn’t be the weakest character in the game by far still. But she does lose a lot.
Unrelated to the ally, I will say I am predicting her to be the least popular of the X-Force from a general standpoint. I think many players will just see her as a clone of Wolverine - which is only true in terms of her story, not her gameplay. I also think she is a combo-centric character where it’s hard to see the value of her cards individually/without playing her. But, like Drax, will likely become a fan favourite over time.
For me personally, and this goes beyond the bounds of a hero kit deep dive, I think the biggest strike against her is the card art. It might just be me, and I mean no disrespect to any of the artists or whomever is responsible for the creative decisions, but it doesn’t work for me. We have various greys and blacks on a grey/black background. Her alter-ego art is off-center, her identity card just had a plain brown background.
I like the art for Claw Mastery, Sisterhood and Pain Tolerance. But I do think she has the worst-looking cards of all the heroes from this wave so far, and perhaps the X-Men and Web-WarrioChampion waves too.
But you know if I’m picking on the art as my first and only negative, it’s a very good sign for the rest of her. In terms of fun? I think she’ll score high and pleasantly surprise people.
In terms of power? She has a lot of strengths, but also a couple of weaknesses. But her strengths definitely outweigh the weaknesses by a landslide. So far, I have mostly focused on her strengths. So let’s cover her weaknesses quickly.
Her only true source of resource generation or card draw we have seen so far is Grim Resolve. And it’s a good card! But it’s not quite like those heroes who can draw extra cards every turn, or have a couple of extra double resources, etc! So her economy, while fine, isn’t great. I don't believe her alter-ego ability is reliable enough to contribute much.
Fortunately, it’s partially offset by her low costs and she gains a lot elsewhere in areas many high economy heroes do not.
The biggest obvious weakness is that she has no status cards - but in a game where we are getting an increased amount of steady and stalwart, it’s less of a factor. Likewise, we’re getting more access to status cards in the aspects. The exception to both arguments are Toughs but, as a hero who wants to take damage, they are less desirable for her in many situations compared to the average hero.
Cyclops doesn't have any status cards, nor does Wolverine. They get get by. But it's still worth noting!
And lastly, she is somewhat fragile. She is a 10 hp hero who wants to take damage, just like Wolverine, but Wolverine has two advantages. One, his healing is automatic from Turn 1. And two, he has Adamantium Skeleton in his signature cards - a +4 hp upgrade. Now, she can defend and ready immediately with her hero power, but it’s not guaranteed. Against weaker villains, notably on standard, she might not take enough damage to ready. And against stronger villains, particularly on expert, she might still take a significant amount of damage despite defending and readying.
It is of course a great perk of her ability that she can ready in the villain phase, but putting her in the line of fire when she already wants to take damage on her imminent turn and likely did on the previous turn can surely be rough, especially if you haven’t got her healing upgrade out yet.
But smart deck-building can cover everything. As alluded to, we have a good few status cards accessible in most aspects now. She has access to X-Gene as mentioned earlier as well as things like Weapon X, and we have plenty of “fragile” characters who do very well with a healthy supply of allies or stuns built in - plus her healing when she finds them - plus her epic 6 REC.
Another small weakness is that she’s draw-dependent to a degree. Her stats are great with just the use of Claws, but she’ll have quiet turns and large turns. Drawing Claw Mastery? Her damage goes up a lot. Drawing it with Sisterly Bond or other readies? It spikes. But you’re not going to get all those pieces together all the time, and some turns none at all.
Fortunately, as kind of mentioned, her base output is veeery good. And if you build into Honey Badger, keeping her out and alive means every turn will still be huge.
The final weakness I see is her reliance on her signature ally. With some bad luck, Honey Badger (and Sisterhood) could be hard to find. There are ways to help find her - but again, you also have to find them to find her, and most of them have costs of some kind. It's possible for this to sometimes be difficult.
But that was just a look at what I think are her weaknesses, and I hope I have not hurt your impression of her. The rest of the article is strength after strength - and all in all? She is looking brilliantly powerful. Here’s a quick summary:
Strengths:

• Incredibly high damage
• Super consistent thwarting
• Very low setup
• Very low cost curve
• Mutant traited
• Lots of deep aspect synergy
• …Did I mention incredibly high damage?

Weaknesses:

• Low-ish economy
• Semi-draw reliant
• Reliant on her signature ally for full power
• No status cards
• Somewhat fragile

And I will say that the "weaknesses" aren’t really that bad while the strengths - particularly the top four - are especially good! She will hit hard, hit fast, find thwarting while she needs it, and have it all basically at her fingertips from early on.
So, where would I rank her overall and next to the other X-Force heroes? Great question. Of all the X-Force heroes, she has been my toughest one to rank. I will also say all five X-Force heroes revealed so far are ones I am predicting to be in the top 20 of what will then be 48 heroes.
For her specifically, I think the scenario is going to make the biggest difference compared to the other few X-Force heroes. She is damage incarnate, and I think tougher scenarios that can slow her down, that prevent her from winning too quickly, could see her notably fall off when she runs out of steam. On the other hand, she’ll glide through low hp villains like a hot knife through butter.
But I do think, with her best builds and some optimization, she will truly be a force to be reckoned with. So I’ll peg her to fall somewhere between the 7th best and 17th best, with my best guess right now specifically being 12th-ish. She hits very hard and can deal with pretty much anything from Turn 1, and I think that versatility is huge. But I also think that, for the most part, she’s fairly honest.
But, since she has so many combos and I've not played her at all with any of them or any approaches to Honey Badger, I really wouldn't put money on this exact placement. Just know she is going to be amazing.
In some ways, despite being so different to Wolverine, they are still very similar. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He too is high damage, low setup and - especially early game - can be a little fragile unless you build otherwise or ignore his claws. And while it will probably depend on the rest of her cards and whatever X-Force support we get, I will end by saying I do think she will be the better of the two. In my opinion? X-23 > Wolverine - for fun and for power!
Whew! We got there. Thanks for reading and I’d love to know your thoughts! Am I way off the mark? Do you agree? And is there anything I missed? I am sure there are some great aspect cards I overlooked!

​
Here is the list of artificial cultivation of unusual exotic mushrooms
The link contains the proof of successful cultivation
I will keep this updated
This maybe incorrect, feel free to comment about new information

The search method is scrape all the sp. in wiki,
extract the mushroom names with python,
make a google search link with "name" + cultivation / "name" + cultivation + shroomery / etc...
and save it to excel file, import to google workspace for multi open links,
or you can use multi url opener Chrome extension

you can use CTRL + F to find

List of Unusual Mushrooms

​

name	links	comment
Armillaria mellea	researchgate
Gymnopilus dilepis	Gymnopilus and friends / mycotopia
Gymnopilus luteofolius	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Oudemansiella radicata	The_Fruiting_Body_Formation_of_Oudemansiella_radicata_in_the_Sawdust_of_Oak_Quercus_variabilis_Mixed_with_Rice_Bran
Panaeolus cyanescens	Panaeolus cyanescens
Phallus indusiatus	https://blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?isHttpsRedirect=true&blogId=dalin2&logNo=221069431729	Chinese gourmet mushroom
Phellinus linteus	Cultural_Characteristics_and_Log-Mediated_Cultivation_of_the_Medicinal_Mushroom_Phellinus_linteus
Psilocybe allenii / cyanofriscosa	Psilocybe Cyanofriscosa Keeno TEK - Allenii - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe alutacea	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe aucklandiae	Psilocybe aucklandiae - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe azurescens	Psilocybe azurescens indoor cultivation
Psilocybe caerulescens	Cultivation of Psilocybe weilii
Psilocybe caerulipes	https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Numbe6247917#6247917	I cant see
Psilocybe chuxiongensis	https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Numbe28209306
Psilocybe cyanescens	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe galindoi	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe hispanica	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe hoogshagenii	https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Numbe24391016/fpart/all
Psilocybe mexicana	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe natalensis	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata	Psilocybe ovoid indoor cultivation - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe papuana	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe pelliculosa	https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Numbe13829495/fpart/all
Psilocybe pseudoaztecorum	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe samuiensis	Psilocybe samuiensis genetics and family. - Advanced Mycology - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe semilanceata	https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Numbe4248496/fpart/all
Psilocybe Semperviva / P.hoogshagenii var. convexa	EF-tek (Exotics Fanaticus cakes) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe serbica	Psilocybe serbica outdoor cultivation (2018) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe stuntzii	https://mycotopia.net/topic/42903-psilocybe-stuntzii-indoors/
Psilocybe subaeruginosa	Psilocybe subaeruginosa indoors. - Grow Logs - Shroomery Message Board
Psilocybe tampanensis	First time growing tampanensis : shroomers
Psilocybe zapotecorum	https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Numbe26907324/fpart/all
Psilocybe subtropicalis	https://www.reddit.com/shrooms/comments/1252pnb/psilocybe_subtropicalis/
Psilocybe yungensis	https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Numbe28209306
Fistulina hepatica	https://gardenstatemushrooms.com/	method is unknown
Morchella sp.	Large-scale_commercial_cultivation_of_morels_current_state_and_perspectives / GreatMorelExperiment facebook	Indoor cultivation is possible, yield is high but success rate is random
Mycena chlorophos	u/FishTankTek / u/mkcronin / u/AndreLeo	bioluminescence
Panellus stipticus	u/chefluis00	bioluminescence
Pleurotus nebrodensis	u/-bazz
Schizophyllum commune	reddit
Oudemansiella canarii	reddit	not sure it's canarii

The year is 1626. The Wittebane brothers have reunited on the worst of terms, and Phillip has tracked Caleb to his home in the woods. Evelyn is gone from the house. It's just the two brothers, neither of whom will take no for an answer.
Or: Caleb Wittebane soapboxes about depression and then promptly gets killed. My take on Caleb's death.

• Also on AO3, if that's your thing!
• Starring Caleb, who needs a hug, Phil, who's a murderous asshole, and no one else. I wanted this to be fairly self-contained.
• Content warning for stabbing. (If that wasn't already obvious from my putting “Caleb” and “death” next to each other.)

The fire flickered, almost in alarm, when Phillip entered the house.
Caleb had left the door open. He was expecting his brother. Phillip had come for the portal, and for Evelyn, neither of which were here. He’d made sure of that. Everything else was replaceable.
Phillip stood over him. He was shorter than Caleb when they were both standing, but while Caleb was in the armchair, Phillip managed to look quite imposing.
“Where is she?”
Caleb sighed, tea mug still in hand.
“I've only ever loved two people in the world, Phillip. I didn't want to watch one of them kill the other. So I sent her away. Somewhere safe.”
He didn’t stand. He didn’t stir. He just sat in his armchair, by the fire, like he'd done so many times before.
“Besides, soon it'll be three. I wasn't totally sure she'd win that fight if it happened.”
Phillip didn't move either. He just stared.
“You made a child,” he recalled, still in disbelief. “With that thing.”
“We got married first, if that's what you're worried about,” Caleb chuckled.
Phillip's face remained a mask. Caleb returned solemnly to stoic.
“I’m sorry.”
That elicited a bit of surprise. Phillip’s grip on his knife went the tiniest bit slack.
“I left you there,” Caleb continued. “I shouldn’t have done that. I knew I shouldn’t have. No matter how much I tell myself you were safe in town, or that I didn’t know what I was walking into, that I wanted to keep you safe, I should not have left you alone. And I am sorry.”
Phillip’s eyes darted, briefly, to the empty wicker chair that sat opposite Caleb’s, where he could have sat. Rested. Talked.
He stayed standing.
“I don’t care that you left.”
At this, Caleb was surprised.
“...What?”
“I care why you left. I care that these monsters have corrupted your soul. They are warping your sense of reality.”
“Stop saying that.”
“You abandoned everything we stood for,” Phillip snapped, unfazed. “It wasn’t just that you abandoned me. This place… it’s made you forget all the things you warned me about as a child. It saw your temptations and-”
“Those were stories, Phillip,” Caleb urged. “I told you stories to help you sleep. Lloyd and Mather and all the others were the ones who believed them. You never believed them!”
Phillip took a step back.
Caleb only pressed further. “You barely believed any of it. What changed?”
“I saw Hell with my own eyes,” Phillip said immediately. “That’s what changed.”
Caleb didn’t look at him with anger, or even anything resembling anguish. He looked out the window, at the cool blue of nighttime, with an expression that looked almost like pity.
“This place isn’t Hell.” he finally said. “I’m not even sure anymore that Hell is a place.”
Phillip scoffed, but there was desperation in his eyes.
“It’s a thing,” Caleb continued. “It’s a cruel, insidious thing that latches on to the back of your head and fills it with lies. With hatred. It makes you hate everything it can. Even yourself. Especially yourself. It makes you hate life. It eats at your soul until there’s nothing left, constantly nagging at you. Vile. That is what warps your reality. Not this place. Not any place. It’s always people who tell you you’re nothing, and that thing in the back of your mind that tells you they’re right. That is what Hell is. And that’s what Gravesfield was for me.”
“Always people…” Phillip repeated, his voice almost a whisper. He looked on the verge of tears.
“...Did you hate living with me that much?”
“No,” Caleb swore. “It’s not you, I promise you that. It was never you. You were the only reason I had to stay there."
Phillip stared at him in disbelief.
“I wasn’t happy there, Phillip. I just… put on a brave face because I knew you were, and that mattered more to me. I couldn’t bring myself to leave the Isles when I found it, to go back to that place. But it was never because of you.”
He hesitated for a moment, weathering Phillip’s stare.
“And I’ve had to unlearn… a lot of what we thought we knew as children, don’t get me wrong. But it’s worth it. This place isn’t perdition, it’s paradise. I just had to give it a chance, and it gave me one. Evelyn gave me a chance. She’ll give you one, I promise.”
He gestured towards the knife, and to Phillip’s white-knucked grip on it.
“But you need to put the knife down first.”
Phillip didn’t move. He didn’t even blink.
There was actual, genuine fear in his eyes.
“...You really have lost it, haven’t you?”
He took a step forward. Then another. Caleb suddenly became quite aware of the light glyph in his pocket.
It would buy him a couple of seconds, at most, but he could make that work.
“Phillip, please, think about this.”
His brother said nothing. He just lunged.
Caleb didn’t have to rely on his secret weapon, this time. Phillip’s knife had less-than-excellent reach. He was up and out of his seat with ease, and the knife missed him by a mile.
Phillip realized that just as quickly, and grabbed a poker off the mantle, brandishing it like a sword. Caleb would’ve found it funny, under happier circumstances.
“...Really?”
Phillip wasn’t any better with the poker. Caleb dodged out of the way, and Phillip swung again, lodging it into one of the blazing logs. He lobbed it at Caleb’s head.
Caleb barely ducked out of the way, and darted through the kitchen, as the fire began to spread.
“Are you mad?!”
Phillip didn’t answer. He just chased him, jumping over the flames that now blocked the front door. Caleb darted up the stairs, finally throwing the glyph into Phillip’s face, blinding him. Phillip howled in shock.
“I’m going to save your soul,” he practically screamed, “even if I have to kill you!”
Caleb, despite himself, almost laughed at that. “Do you even hear yourself?”
Phillip ascended with ironically devilish speed, but Caleb knew the house better. (And Phillip had to abandon the poker when he got it stuck in the backboard of one of the stairs, which slowed him down some.) Caleb shut the bedroom door, locked it, and pushed Evelyn’s lucky armchair up against it, jamming it under the doorknob.
Now he had a minute or so to think of what to do next.
Most of the glyphs in the drawer were single ones, fire and ice and light. None of those would do him much good. There were a couple plant glyphs, and Caleb activated one and tossed at the door, buying himself a bit more time.
At precisely that moment, Phillip’s knife tore through the door, right above the knob, and his guttural, desperate wailing became much more audible.
Caleb frantically searched for a blank piece of paper, while Phillip continued hacking away at the door. Soon, his face was partially visible.
“CALEB!”
His eyes were glowing.
Caleb only needed one particular glyph. The trouble was, he’d never tried it before. He’d only drawn it once, theoretically. He barely remembered it.
Funny how well he did under pressure.
He threw another plant glyph at the door, patching up most of the holes Phillip had made.
Then he opened the window and vaulted out.
He activated the glyph halfway down, and his fall halted not a foot from the ground. He landed safely and broke into a run, making for the trees nearby.
He looked over his shoulder once. The entire ground floor of the house was in flames, and the upper floor was catching it quickly. A day’s work for Evelyn’s uncle, gone.
Caleb just kept running. There would be time for damage control later.
He’d been running for less than a minute before he heard a thump behind him, a crack, and a scream.
He stopped. He couldn’t see the house from here, but Phillip didn’t know all the glyph combinations that Caleb did. He probably broke something jumping out the window.
That’ll slow him down, thought an insidious, selfish part of his brain.
He looked back a second time, back through the trees. He couldn’t see Phillip. He couldn’t even see the house, which by now looked more like a bonfire, he was sure.
As he ran, he planned.
Option one was Evelyn. She was with her parents, deep within Bonesborough, surrounded by family friends, all of whom seemed to love Caleb almost as much as they loved her. Could he risk going to her?
No, he decided. The town would protect him from Phillip, but that meant nothing when he wasn’t what Phillip was after, not really.
Phillip was after everyone else.
Caleb wouldn’t endanger them. He wouldn’t endanger her.
Option two was just outside Bonesborough. Ulysses Blight was friendly with Caleb. (Maybe a bit too friendly, but he’d deal with that if he had to.) Problem was, the house Ulysses lived in was more like a fortress, and who’s to say Phillip wouldn’t size up that fortress, then cut his losses and go after the town instead?
Besides, Caleb was getting tired. He doubted he’d make it all the way up the Right Arm to where Bonesborough was.
If he dropped from exhaustion, Phillip would catch up to him.
“I’ll save your soul, even if I have to kill you.”
If he dropped from exhaustion, Phillip would kill him.
And then he’d kill everyone else.
(He’d find the portal, surely, and go back to Gravesfield. God knew how big the town had gotten in Caleb’s absence, and he rather doubted they were any less superstitious and cunning and murderous than they had been when Caleb knew them. If Phillip brought back an army of witch hunters and taught them his tricks… that was it.)
That left option three. He had to stop Phillip, somehow. He had to stop him alone. No one on the Isles knew Phillip better.
And right now, Phillip was chasing him, which was infinitely better than the reverse.
Caleb could circle back toward the house, keep the catastrophe contained. Maybe even make sure the fire didn’t burn down the forest. The house was in a big clearing, a good distance from any trees, but he couldn’t be too careful. There was grass, too.
He didn’t turn around completely - he doubtlessly would run right into Phillip that way. Instead he cut left, through the thick of the trees, ducking through branches and vaulting over roots. Countless flights with Evelyn had made him familiar with most of the forest.
But Phillip had always been the smarter brother, even when they were children. Caleb couldn't hear him anymore, but he didn’t doubt he was gaining.
He was wrong.
When he cleared the forest, he came upon the house again. Phillip was there, waiting for him to come back.
He’d always been smarter.
The cracking and screaming he’d heard had not been Phillip breaking a bone on impact. Whatever curse he was inflicted with had twisted him. His skin was gone, given way to dark green veins and glowing blue eyes all over. His face, still shrouded in ragged brown hair, had sprouted antlers, and overall he gave the terrifying impression of that witch-hunter’s mask Caleb had made for him when they were boys. Caleb marked the resemblance in horror.
He’d caused this.
Phillip writhed in this new form, but it didn’t last long. Soon, the contortions stopped, the eyes receded, and his skin returned in its usual shade. He gasped in pain, as the house burned behind him.
Phillip’s smooth, ornate knife was at his feet, and he made no effort to grab it, even as his fingers bent back into shape.
Instead, he pointed.
“I won’t let you acquiesce devilry,” he spat, and his voice still had a monstrous echo. “I’m trying to save your soul.”
“I’m trying to save yours. If you kill those people, if you kill me… there’s no coming back from that.”
“We were supposed to do this together,” he seethed. “This is what we do! We find evil. We root it out, we burn it, we cleanse it. You have to remember!”
Caleb gripped his own knife in his left hand. “I remember.”
“Then you understand!”
“I remember the people we cleansed. I remember the people we burned and hanged.”
He dropped his knife, letting it settle next to his feet.
“I want no part in it anymore.”
Phillip looked at the knife in the dirt. Then back at Caleb.
"Witches aren't people, Caleb. They don't deserve your mercy."
Caleb said nothing more. He just stared.
"I am trying to save humanity from evil. I'm trying to save you! From all this! This realm of demons. How can it be good? They're monsters, Caleb."
Caleb stood still, and said nothing.
“...You’re not going to do anything?”
Phillip walked towards Caleb. More of a limp, really. Maybe he had broken his leg.
“Say something.”
Caleb didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just watched.
“Say something!”
“...I don’t know what more you want to hear,” he finally said, quietly.
Phillip stood no more than a few feet from Caleb now. He looked surprised.
“Fine.”
He knelt down briefly and scraped up the knife off the ground. He stared at Caleb, eyes bloodshot and bulging. He was trembling, and his breathing was ragged. Caleb couldn’t tell if he was sad, afraid, or angry.
It was probably all three.
Eventually, Phillip looked away.
“I don’t have to kill you.”
He limped past Caleb, his breathing growing even again. “One day, you’ll understand.”
Caleb reached out and gripped his shoulder. “I won’t let you h-”
The knife was between his ribs before he could react.
He gasped. He tried to breathe. He couldn’t. He tried to look down at the knife. Somehow, he couldn’t. His face was fixed on his brother.
Phillip looked in shock. Almost regretful.
Within seconds, his expression hardened. He drove the knife deeper and twisted it.
Caleb would’ve cried out, but… he couldn’t. His throat closed up. He gasped. He felt tears on his face, but he couldn’t feel himself crying. He felt the knife in him, but it felt… removed, almost, as though it was someone else’s pain.
He could still see Phillip through his eyes, but he couldn’t close them. It was like he was looking through someone else. Feeling through someone else. Bleeding through someone else.
Caleb couldn’t move. He could feel the sensations seeping out of him through the wound. He couldn’t speak. His legs ceased their support, and he collapsed. The knife fell out of him - Phillip still had an iron grip on it - and that jolt of pain was the last thing Caleb felt. He didn’t even feel himself hit the ground.
Phillip still looked at him. And then at the knife. And then back to Caleb, as if still realizing fully what he’d just done. His face was contorted in disbelief, his breathing panicked again and through gritted teeth. His eyes were still reddened, tinged with rage but mostly bulging with shock. His hand shook.
Then, in a horrible moment, it steadied. His breathing slowed, his jaw unclenched, his posture corrected itself.
His eyes glassed over. Slowly. Like he, too, was dying in that moment.
Caleb’s vision lost focus. Phillip’s face lost all emotion. He turned, and walked away, to the west, toward Bonesborough.
It's only fair, Caleb supposed, that I should be left alone like this. It was much the same kindness he had afforded Phillip, when they were children.
I left him alone. I caused this.
I'm so sorry, Evelyn.
(That was the last thought he had before everything went black.)

Part 2
Day 11
The pain was excruciating and all over my body. A thousand knives seemed to dig into me. I lay there for a minute with the dead creature still on top of me. I was trying to muster enough strength to get up and move this horrible thing off me, but I couldn’t. Finally, after what seemed like lying there for an hour Chloe came over and helped me move its dead body off me.
She froze when she saw me. I must’ve looked horrible so much had happened to me in the last 10 minutes. I saw her eyes move to my left hand. I found my tired eyes looking over, and what I saw was horrifying. My left hand was a bloody broken mess, fingers were missing, bones were sticking out in odd places, and a huge chunk of my palm was completely gone. I puked all over myself. Chloe looked like she was trying so hard to keep herself together.
The next few minutes were tense. Chloe tied one of her layers to my arm as a makeshift tourniquet. Then we slowly made our way home with Chloe practically dragging me.
They had to stitch my wounds while I was still conscious due to us not having anesthetics, and those were the most painful moments of my life. I felt the needle go in and out of my skin, I felt the small string pull my muscle and skin back together, and I felt when they had to cut one of my fingers off. It was absolutely excruciating and after it was done I passed out.
Chloe sat on the couch feeling awful and tired. She’d just spent an hour trying to get the food that had been in the fridge into coolers, but her mind was so busy she hardly cared. She felt awful about everything. There was so much she could’ve done, so many ways she could’ve helped me. So many ways that led to me still having a hand. If only I hadn’t been a coward, she thought, if I just hadn’t stood there maybe he would still have his hand. If only she’d just shot it again. She wiped her face trying not to cry. She had to be the strong one now, she had to be brave.
She was very curious, she wanted to know what exactly had happened to Carl. Joey hadn’t had the time to tell her whether or not the man was dead. She assumed he was due to the blood and the creature, but there was a small chance. She told Gretchen and Ronda (my mom) what her plan was. They agreed and she went to get ready.
She brought two guns, the sniper and the semi-automatic. She also found an old motorcycle helmet and decided to use that as a makeshift helmet. She knew if I had been awake I wouldn’t have not in a million years let her go, so she made her process quick just in case I did wake up.
Crunch! The snow had melted slightly the night before so now it felt more like walking across huge ice sheets. As she walked she realized she didn’t even have to use the GPS because of the blood trail. She followed it for a while, the snow constantly attacking her. After a couple of minutes, she found it. Lying in the middle of the street now with a fresh layer of snow on it was the creature, the hound as she’d begun to refer to it in her head. She hadn’t gotten a good look at it like I had so her eyes went wide when she saw the body. She was struck by how much its exoskeleton looked like big chunks of rocks. She also noticed the now frozen yellow-greenish blood around the body. Chloe leaned down to examine what was left of the head. What was left was a hollow shell of the exoskeleton; the gunshot in the mouth had practically liquefied everything in its head. She remembered how everything had exploded from the mouth and eye holes. The image of the eyes getting blown out from behind disgusted her.
She found herself examining the rest of the body and she couldn’t help but keep looking at the four legs. They looked so out of place on the body. They looked so mammalian for such an insect-like creature. They literally looked like stretched-out bald dog legs. She had a feeling of deja vu as she looked at the legs, she couldn’t help but think of the black dog they’d seen the other day. She made a note in her head that she wanted to take the body with her on the way back.
Finally, she stood up and started making her way towards the store. Like before she just followed the blood. She remembered when Joey ran into her he was covered in blood, like he’d slipped into the trail. She dreaded to think what he’d found in the showers. Her trek was slow and eerie. Then as she got closer the dead silence was cut by a ticking sound. She vaguely recognized it as something those spiders had made. Specifically the stinger ones. She kept the semi-automatic raised and got ready for a fight, but the ticking sounds slowly faded and she kept moving.
The store was just as she had left it early that morning. It was still a complete wreck. She hurried past the shattered glass and toppled shelves, through the small break room, and into the bunk room. It looked even worse than before. It looked like the creature had destroyed a few more things after it caught the headlamp. She specifically noticed a new deep gash in the bunk they’d hid behind.
As she walked into the shower room she heard a faint dripping sound. She started going one stall at a time to find it. First empty, second empty, but the third she wanted to throw up. Carl lay in the back of the stall, his body a bloody mess. His torso was almost gone. Everything inside of it had been ripped out along with most of his flesh. His ribs were shattered and lying on the floor. His spine was cracked and twisted. It looked like it had been broken. She threw up and stepped away from the sight, making her start to sob. Pull yourself together, she thought to herself, now isn’t the time. She wiped the tears off her face and continued. He had a daughter and a wife. She had to know what happened to them. So with much hesitance, she continued.
Fourth room empty, fifth empty, sixth empty, seventh empty, she stood next to the eighth stall dreading what she’d find inside. She didn’t want to see what was in there, but she would never forgive herself for not looking.
Two cocoon-looking things lay in the stall. They were white and pulsating slightly. They looked like the web cocoon the stingers had wrapped around the dog, but these were too big to be dogs. Instantly she knew what had happened to his wife and daughter. Chloe stepped away so she didn’t have to see it anymore, and then she had a thought. They wouldn’t leave them unattended, would they? She became much more nervous and started cautiously making her way from the room. She started to hear the ticking noises outside again and her hands started to shake. She took a deep breath and kept walking.
She walked into the main part of the store and saw a dozen or so stingers crawling in through one of the broken windows. She gasped, then in a hurry ducked back into the breakroom. Her whole body was shaking as she stood there listening to them scurrying around the store. Then after a minute one walked into the breakroom didn’t see her and disappeared into the bunk room. Then another went through, then another, then another, then another, and soon all but one had passed through. Her whole body was trembling when finally it walked through. This one was walking more slowly and looking around much more than the others, and suddenly its small beady eyes met hers. Scre… Rat-a-tatata! Four quick bullets cut through the stinger. All four hit it right in the head. She had a small feeling of triumph then Screech! The other stingers started running into the room. She hurried out in such a rush she didn’t watch where she was stepping and slipped on a piece of glass.
Smack! Her helmet slammed into the ground and then the rest of her. She watched them hurriedly crawl towards her. She tried to get a shot but they were just too fast. Then she felt a sharp pain in her leg. One of the stingers had sunk their stinger into her calf. Another was about to sting before she made her move. She grabbed a large piece of glass and stabbed it into the one on her leg, and then quickly stuck the shard into the other one that was about to sting her. Then she quickly stood up. Her body was starting to feel heavy and she was getting a little loopy. The other stingers were screeching and running toward her. Rat-a-tatatatata! She shot 10 rounds into the remaining nine stingers. Seven exploded when the bullet made contact, another got three legs blown off, the last wasn’t hit, and before she could shoot again it had lodged its stinger in her boot. She stopped for a second realizing that the stinger hadn’t actually pierced her foot then Rat-a-tat! She shot two bullets into the thing and then pulled it off her foot.
Her adrenaline was wearing off and the venom was doing its work fast. Her eyes were starting to close and she had to concentrate just to keep them open. I need to get somewhere safe, she thought looking around, and then her eyes fell on an intact door.
She locked the door to the women's restroom and then slumped against it as she felt her consciousness begin to slip. All she could think of was me hoping that I was okay, and hoping that she’d be able to see me again. Then finally she blacked out.
Her eyes fluttered open to see she was in the same place she’d passed out. There was a small puddle of blood around her calf. She weakly reached over and touched the wound. It wasn’t bleeding any more. I must’ve been out for a while. She thought, gingerly beginning to put weight on her leg. It hurt but she could walk. Click, she unlocked the bathroom door, raised the gun, and opened the door. She was nervous, worried that maybe more of them had come while she was out. It didn’t look like too much time had passed, and even more importantly there were no stingers. She looked over and saw her footprints were still visible through the heavily falling snow. Good not much time must have passed, she thought. Then she pulled out the phone and called Gretchen.
Bzzz…
“Gretchen, I got stung and passed out. What time is it?” She asked.
Gretchen’s relieved voice cut through the phone: “Oh Chloe thank goodness, it’s 2:42. You left around 12.”
Day 13
I woke up to giggling and laughter. I sat up and looked at the doorway and on the other side I could hear the boys quietly playing together. I moved the covers and tried to move my legs, but instantly daggers of pain went up my right leg. I wanted to do it more slowly but nothing seemed to help.
“Chloe!” I called and immediately heard something clatter upstairs followed by fast footsteps into the basement.
In a second Chloe had sprinted into the room and was on top of me giving me a huge hug. She pulled away and gave me one of her pretty little smiles.
“How are you feeling?” She asked.
My stomach growled and that answered her question.
“You’ve been asleep for almost two days, no wonder you’re hungry.” She said, I froze and looked over at the clock, but nothing showed on it. It was just a blank black screen.
“When did the power go out?” I asked, turning back toward her.
“Not long after you fell asleep.” She said, “We put as much food as we could into coolers, but most of what was in the fridge and freezer has gone bad.”
Her face was sad and grim. I reached for her hand with my good hand and squeezed it.
“We’ll get through this just like everything else. We’ll make it through if we stick together.” I told her starting to realize how hoarse I sounded.
She smiled then looked up at me again: “I’ll go get you some food… and a water bottle.” She said walking back out of the room.
I lay there in deep thought when Alan poked his head in.
“Uncle, are you okay?” He asked, sitting down on the foot of the bed.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, smiling at him.
He smiled back, “Uncle you’ve got a Lego hand now.” He yelled pointing to my left hand.
I looked at my hand and saw the way they wrapped it did look like a Lego hand.
“Ha… yeah I suppose so.” I chuckled, Alan nodded and disappeared into the hallway.
A few minutes later Chloe appeared in the doorway with a plate and Mom and Gretchen tailed her.
“Sweety, are you ok?” My mom asked, walking over to the bedside and putting her hand on my forehead.
“Yes Mom I’m ok, I’m as ok as I can be right now,” I told her.
“Well I’m glad you’re ok,” She said, hugging me.
“Me too,” Gretchen added, hugging me.
After a minute they broke away and Chloe gave me my plate. It was some dry cereal and a piece of toast.
“Sorry… that’s all I could scrape together.” She said her expression was sad.
“How much is left?” I asked her.
“A few days maybe, the water situation is even worse though,” She said grimly.
I felt a crushing sense of defeat at that.
“We’re going to need to do something now,” Gretchen said, “Before we can’t do anything.”
“Agreed, but what? There is no chance of leaving without a snow plow.” I grumbled, becoming more disheartened.
“What if we had a snow plow?” Chloe asked.
“What?” Me and Gretchen asked.
“I mean, they keep it at the tractor place just a mile away. We could get the snow plow.” She suggested a hint of hope in her eyes.
“I don’t think we’ll all fit. Let alone supplies.” I told her.
“So then we bring two vehicles,” She said, “One or two of us go to the place, get the snow plow, and come back to the others in the other vehicle and follow behind.”
It was actually a pretty good plan, but it was still wishful thinking. They had a lot of variables on that.
“That might work, but it will take time and we don’t exactly have time,” I said.
“Well then let's get some more time. We might be able to find more food in other homes,” My mom said.
“Yes, in theory, that would work, but we don’t have two people to go,” I said.
“I’m out of commission, Gretchen isn’t leaving her boys, and not in a million years am I letting you go, Mom,” I argued.
“She can handle herself, she did the other day,” Mom argued back.
“What?... no I was with her…” I turned toward Chloe in confusion.
I saw a guilty look on her face and she told me that she’d gone to the store on the 11th day after they were done treating me.
I pulled her into a tight hug and whispered in her ear: “If you do that again I will use whatever force necessary to make your stay here.”
She looked at me, her eyes darkening: “Joey if I don’t go, we will starve. I’m terrified too but if that is what needs to be done I’ll do it.”
“I… I… I don’t want to lose you.” I sputtered out.
Her face turned red before she said: “I don’t want to lose you either, or any of you guys and that's why I need to go.”
I finally relented, Gretchen and my mom left the room, and Chloe sat and chatted with me while I ate my mediocre breakfast.
She perked up and said, “Joey I need to show you something.”
She got up and helped me get out of bed. Getting out wasn’t that hard unless I had to move my left leg or arm. Once I was standing she helped me over to the restroom and then helped me sit down.
“What am I supposed to be looking at?” I asked, looking around the bathroom.
“This,” She said, pulling the shower curtain open and revealing what was inside.
Lying inside the tub was the body of the dog bug creature.
“Why the heck did you bring that in?” I asked.
“Aren’t you curious what it is?” She asked, an almost crazed look in her eyes.
“Fair, I am curious,” I said. “Found anything out so far?” I then asked.
“Well a no, not yet,” She said looking disappointed now, “I just know it isn’t anything science knows of.”
“Nothing, nothing interesting?” I inquired.
“Well yes there are interesting things,” She said, “Like look at this.”
She grabbed a knife covered in yellowish-green blood and used it to open a previously cut incision into the body. I looked inside and saw something quite strange. This thing still had an endoskeleton.
“Nothing that we know of on earth has an endo and exoskeleton, and I honestly don’t know why an animal would have both.” She said looking up at me.
“Hmm… mind if I take a look?” I asked.
She nodded and I moved over and took the knife with my right hand. I used the knife to hold open the incision and I looked at the bone. It looked normal but I was suspicious so I set the knife down, reached in, and yanked the femur I’d been looking at out. The femur was the size it should’ve been for a normal dog, but for this creature, it was extremely undersized.
“Just as I thought,” I said, looking over at her.
“Can you explain to me what it is that you just figured out?” She asked, very confused.
“Look how small this femur is, it should be double the size for this creature, but it is the adequate size for a normal dog. The way I figure this is that during the metamorphosis that changed the dog into this thing the bones were not destroyed or changed. That’s why they are still there but not the right size.” I explained holding the bone up to her.
“I suppose that your theory makes sense,” She said after a short pause.
Day 14
Chloe sat on the bed strapping on the extra gear I was making her take. I knew I couldn’t stop her from going so I decided I would make her as safe as possible. I dug through old boxes and found my dad's old Kevlar vests. There were two so I cut one up to make guards for her arms and legs. Then I made her put on an extra coat to add one more layer of protection, as for other parts I agreed that the motorcycle helmet was the best helmet we had so she put that on.
Now she was sitting on the bed with the helmet sitting next to her while she was loading her weapons. She was bringing the semi-automatic and the sniper rifle with extra ammo for each. She also had a hunting knife strapped to her belt saying it would’ve come in handy last time. I looked at her and gave her a tight hug.
“If you don’t come back I’ll find you and teach you a lesson.” I jokingly threatened her.
She let out a giggle, “I’ll try my best.”
Again she made her outside into the blizzard. It raged on around her as it had been for days. She had to climb the almost four-foot-tall pile of snow before she could really start exploring. They’d assumed that the people who had left town wouldn’t have much food in their homes, so she planned to hit Carl’s house and the Garrison’s house today. Then check out a few other houses the next day, but right now she had to focus on simply taking the next step because anytime she stepped wrong she’d sink further into the snow. Slowly through the whipping wind and freezing snow, she walked. It was exhausting especially with her still being sore from a couple of days ago, but she continued despite the pain and weather. Despite it all she kept taking step after step after step, and the whole time the blizzard's icy claws were digging into her.
Eventually, she saw the destroyed store and walked past it, her eyes eyeing the shattered windows for any movement but nothing happened. She continued onward knowing that Carl’s house was now only a block away. She walked carefully and precisely trying not to step in the wrong place. Then she saw it. Carl’s house was a small colonial-style two-story home with a big wrap-around porch, but now it looked horrible. The door was ripped out of its hinges and two or three windows were shattered. She slid down a short snowy slope and onto the porch. Crack! One of the wooden planks that made the porch broke from under her foot and her foot slipped down. She pulled it out of the hole and slowly walked into his house.
There was a trail of snow leading in from the fallen door almost like a carpet leading her into this place. It was horrible on the inside. It reminded her of the store. Furniture was thrown every which way, some bearing deep gashes. The closest door to her had a hole going straight through it. She walked over a vast sea of shattered glass and turned into the kitchen. The granite countertops had been ripped from their places and shattered on the tiled floor. A large gash was in the door of the now fallen fridge. She walked over and kneeled down near the fridge, ripping open one of the doors. As she suspected, everything in there was frozen solid. Sitting in there was cheese, deli meat, assorted fruits and vegetables, shattered glasses of condiments, and two steaks. She grabbed everything and stuffed it all into one of the duffel bags she’d brought. Then she saw a loaf of bread lying on the ground near her and grabbed that too. She stood up and looked around the kitchen. She noticed a box of pasta sitting next to a pot on the stove. The box was full, so she grabbed it. The pot was partly melted onto the stove and frozen tomato sauce sat inside.
The picture of what had happened began to emerge in her head. Carl had likely been walking home from the store when it attacked. It chased him inside, breaking down the door and destroying everything in its path. His wife, Greta, had been making spaghetti for dinner when it happened. He ran into the kitchen and grabbed his wife with the beast following him. It destroyed the kitchen as it chased them.
Chloe pushed those thoughts from her head and opened their pantry to see if there was more food. There were lots of boxes but her eyes fell on the cans that lined the bottom of the pantry. There were dozens of them, probably a hundred or two cans. She kneeled and started eagerly grabbing the cans and putting them in the duffel bag. She even took out the cheese and pasta to make for more room.
She stopped her eager collecting when she heard a slight ticking noise. Stingers she thought and then pulled her knife from her belt in preparation. The ticking was slight and distant. It probably just walked in, she thought. With the ticking, she heard the slight creaking of the wood floor in the hall as it approached the kitchen. Then a scraping tapping sound as it began walking on the tiles. She gripped the knife tightly and got ready to stab the thing. Scr…! The stinger managed to give off a faint screech before the sharp hunting knife pierced its windpipe. She yanked the knife out of its neck severing the head from the body. Then she resheathed the knife and quietly got back to what she’d been doing. She didn’t stop until the bag was bulging then she zipped it closed and heaved it under her arm. It was heavy but she wasn’t weak.
She walked over to the front door and set the duffel bag next to it. She wanted to check out the rest of the house before she left.
She crept down the hall and into the master bedroom. It was intact, everything looked right and nothing was broken. She walked over to the dresser and started going through the drawers. Darn, just clothes. She thought as she dug her hands in shuffling the clothes around. She opened the drawer and start thrashing around the clothes when she felt something hard. She pulled a box of ammo out of the drawer. It was for the revolver she looked to see how much but it was empty.
Almost every stair on the way upstairs bore scratches and one or two were cracked. They creaked so loud she began to worry that the noise would get the stinger’s attention but nothing came. Then finally she arrived upstairs. The second floor of their house was composed of two rooms, a restroom, and his daughter Lacy’s bedroom. The bedroom door and a dresser lay on the room floor scratched and broken. The rest of the room was torn apart. The bed was shredded and a mirror lay shattered on the ground. Her eyes fell to the window which was propped open.
The rest of their story seemed to fall into place. Carl and Greta ran upstairs chased by the hound, and into Lacy’s room. They barricaded the door as the creature tried to get it, and then they all quickly slipped out of the window onto the porch roof and then to the ground. They ran to the store and bunkered there. The creature searched the whole shop but couldn’t find them. Then later the hound came back and Carl went to fight it. He told Greta and Lacy to hide in a stall and made his way to the main part of the shop. There he was killed and then dragged into the shower stall to be eaten, and at some point during that time the stingers and slugs got to Lacy and Greta.
She shivered, they’d tried so hard but it still got to them. Maybe if he’d had more bullets he could’ve survived. Thinking of the empty box and the two shots that had woken them that night.
She walked out of the bedroom and back downstairs. She found her eyes wandering around the destroyed first floor again, and it struck her that something bigger had to have done this. There was no way the deer-sized hound would have destroyed this much. She hurried over into the kitchen again and looked at the gash in the fridge. That’s too big. Way too big! She thought looking at the huge gash. She started to think about the store and the same inconsistencies began to appear in the memories. All the damage, the claw marks, the strength, it was all too much, too big, there was no way the hound had done this.
As she was thinking she noticed a doorway she hadn’t been through. Next to her was the doorway to the basement stairs with the door wide open. She peaked down and saw light down there, not much probably from a window, but it was something.
Creak! Her first step of descent was loud and made her worry again that something would hear her. She stopped and listened, but nothing. So as carefully as she could she continued. Every step was as loud as the first and every step made her jump in her skin and wait for something to happen. But after what seemed like ages she arrived at the bottom.
The basement was large with two spare bedrooms and a large storage room. She slowly walked down the hall looking into the bedrooms on both sides of her. They were bare with nothing much more than beds, so she walked forward and into the main storage room.
The storage room had large shelving units across the whole room. The shelves were partially filled with labeled boxes. She walked over to one shelf and started reading the labels. Christmas, no, I don't need that. Halloween, not that. Games, nope. Sports could be useful. She thought as she grabbed the heavy crate and set it out in front of her. She grabbed the latches on either side, undoing them and popping the lid off.
Suddenly a ripping sound erupted from another part of the basement. The ripping had a sort of wet sound to it. Chloe started to walk over to the sound far too curious not to. Screech! It came from the same direction as the ripping sound. She got the gun ready and then jumped from around a shelf not facing what was making the sound. She watched one of those hound things fully emerge from a cocoon and look over at her. A chill ran down her spine as its four eyes met hers; the two to the left were icy blue and the two to the right were dark brown. This one was also slightly smaller but much stockier than the other. Rat-a-tatatata! She released a quick barrage of bullets hoping to stop the disgusting thing, but it just started charging for her. Quickly she moved to the other side of the shelving and pushed it down. Her whole body was shaking, but she had to keep calm and keep fighting. The hound howled in pain and started cracking through the wooden shelf to get to her. She took this time to aim a good shot at its face. Rat-a-tat! She shot two quick bullets into its face. One sunk into its exoskeleton the other buried itself into one of its eyes. SCREECH!!!!! It broke through the shelf and made a quick dive toward her. It pinned her to the ground, knocking her gun away in the process. It sunk its jaws into the helmet and it started to break and crack. She started to cry. This thing was going to eat through her helmet then her face, but during this moment of panic she remembered something. She pulled the knife from her belt and stabbed it into the hound's semi-exposed underbelly. It screeched again in pain so she stabbed again. She then shoved the hurt thing off of her and dove for the gun. She felt one of its praying mantis talons slash her vest and then her upper leg, so she turned around and fired. Rat-a-tatata! She shot it four more times, one hitting its forehead, the second hitting its mouth, the third mouth as well, and the fourth badly damaged its lower jaw. Its face was covered in yellow-greenish blood and it was throwing up blood onto the floor. Just as she thought it might be dying it made a quick sprint toward her. It bit her right knee, its teeth sinking in and actually managing to make her bleed. But then crash! It shoved forward and caused her to fall on top of it. Not having a good shot she grabbed the knife and started stabbing anywhere she could until it finally stopped fighting.
She lay there catching her breath until finally she stood up. Her vision was disrupted by the cracks in the helmet’s visor. She tore the helmet off and threw it down onto the dying hound. Even as it lay there it still tried to get toward her and attack her. She thought about executing it but decided that would just be a waste of a bullet and in a weird way she found its attempts to attack entertaining.
The sports crate she’d opened earlier didn’t have much use. It contained a few balls and two or three different types of rackets. She continued looking through the shelves until she found a box labeled camping. She slid it off the shelf and onto the floor, undid the latches, and popped the lid off. Inside the box were all sorts of goodies. At the top of the box were two big mummy sleeping bags. She pulled those out to see fire starters, water purifiers, bug spray, sunscreen, a small tent, utensils, pots and pans, and a large hatchet. Excitedly she grabbed her other duffel bag and moved everything from the crate into it.
She heaved the duffel bag under her arm and carried it back upstairs. She set it next to the other and turned around. She wanted to check one more place before she left the house. She walked across the house and to the backdoor pushing it open and looking outside. In their backyard half buried in snow was a shed. She hurried over to the shed through the deep snow. The doors were almost completely covered in snow and she knew she wouldn't be spending the whole day shoveling. Luckily there was a small window near the top of the shed. She gave it one good kick and the window popped open. She slid through the hole and dropped down into the shed.
The shed was small with very little inside. There was a lawn mower and a few tools but that was it. The one thing that did catch her eye was a small wooden sled with a rope tied to the front. She picked it up thinking how much easier it would make carrying the bags.
Chloe carefully shoved the sled through the window frame and then squeezed through herself. She carried the sled into the house, used tape to keep the bags secure on it, and then started pulling the sled back towards home. Carl’s house was near the top of a small hill, so for a short couple of seconds, she rode the sled as it slid down the icy slope. It made her feel like a little kid and she wished it would have lasted longer.
After a long walk through the blizzard she arrived home tired and her face feeling like it was freezing off. Gretchen hugged her the moment she walked in.
“Are you ok? We thought we heard gunshots.” She said a little worried.
“You did… I had to kill another hound thing. Just like the one in the tub. The armor worked like a charm though, I hardly felt its bite.” Chloe said motioning to the rip in her pants around the knee.
“Oh shoot you bleeding,” Gretchen said looking at her leg.
Chloe looked down to see a cut on her thigh and a few small nicks on her knee.
I sat in bed. I'd just heard Chloe come in and I waited patiently for her to come down. After a couple of minutes, I heard footsteps come downstairs and start creeping down the hall. Then I saw her face poke in from around the door. She smiled and walked in when she saw I was awake.
“Hi babe, how are you feeling?” She asked, taking a seat next to me.
“I mean my hand still hurts like heck, but yeah I’m fine.” I joked.
She smiled, “Seriously though, are you feeling alright?” She asked.
“I’m feeling fine,” I lied trying to get her to stop worrying.
“I want to hear about everything that happened,” I said sitting up.
So she told me everything that happened, even her theory on what exactly happened to Carl and his family.
“Did they have a dog?” She asked me after finishing her story.
“Yeah… a pitbull I think,” I replied, trying my best to remember the odd times when Carl talked about his dog.
“That explains it, that hound was a lot stockier than the one you shot.” She said, “Also it destroyed the helmet so I need a new one before I go to the Garrison’s house.”
I gave her a worried look, “Do you need to go?” I asked.
“YES!” She insisted, “We don’t know what happened to them, and I’d like to find a little more food.”
“But do we need more food?” I asked, “You got a lot of cans.”
“Joey, this has already been going on for two weeks. Who knows how long it will last? More preparation never hurts.” She argued, sounding a little angry now.
“Ok… Ok… Just be safe,” I told her and gave her a big hug.
Gretchen found an arguably better helmet in the garage, a big metal welding helmet. It fit Chloe almost perfectly, and as a backup, she wore two thick hoods to protect the back of her head. She had a very bad feeling this time, as she stood there by the door she couldn’t help but shake. She wanted someone to come with her, and as big Herman came over to say his goodbyes she had an idea.
She marched through the deep snow with Herman atop the sled she pulled. She’d try to have him follow on foot, but the snow was just too high and he kept getting stuck. But she didn’t care that he was just extra weight because she was just happy that she wasn’t facing this alone. She slowly made her way down the street, the blizzard more relentless than ever. It seemed to her the longer the blizzard continued the stronger it was becoming. The snow continued to pound down on top of her slowly wearing down her will to continue, but it didn’t stop her. She took one step after another after another. She was starting to tire and the pain of the injuries was beginning to wear on her. But every time she seemed to slow Herman would give a little woof, and she would keep on going.
The snow had become so hard to see through that more than an outstretched hand was invisible to her. Her vision was so bad she didn’t know the group of crawlers and slugs were there until she was practically right on top of them
Meanwhile…
“Hey, we should probably start clearing the driveway now,” Gretchen said suddenly to her mom while they both sat at the kitchen table.
“That’s probably a wise idea,” Our mother said with a smile.
Gretchen and Mom began their efforts with large snow shovels. Gretchen did most of the work as Mom had to take frequent breaks. They shoveled and shoveled as the day wore on going over their work with salt so as to not let more snow accumulate. Gretchen was exhausted from the work, but she continued nonetheless. She kept digging ad digging until she heard the shovel scrape concrete then she moved to the next section. Despite the cold, they were both dripping with sweat.
I sat by the window watching them work while the boys played. I so wanted to go help but knew I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything but sit and watch them work. I felt horrible as I watched, and then my mind started thinking of Chloe. I pulled out the walkie and pressed the button to talk.
The first thing Chloe heard was Screech! The stinger was right in front of her clearly just as surprised by her as she was of it. But it wasn’t alone from her restricted view; it looked like there were about 10 stingers and 3 or so slugs.
She tried to raise her gun but they were scattering around far too quickly. Then she heard a ripping noise as one of them drove a stinger into her boot. She pulled out the hunting knife and made quick work of the stinger. Two more stingers were charging straight for her and one was coming from her left. Before she could do anything the snow under the two erupted and they were dragged down into it. She wasn’t able to see what it was and she began to shake as it did the same thing to the one coming from her left. In a sudden panic, she turned around to see the sled empty with a hole in the snow right next to it. She let out a small cry whatever was under the snow had gotten Herman and the stingers, but there was no time for mourning as more of the stingers began coming for her. Again the snow erupted under them but this time she got a better look. Whatever was under the snow was big and white. She got the gun as the thing took out the rest of the slugs and stingers. She assumed it was coming for her next. She hurried and jumped atop the sled so it couldn’t take her down easily. She stood there ready to fight whatever monster thing had gotten everything. Horrible images of twisted spider mole creatures flew through her head. Suddenly the snow next to the sled exploded open and she saw the large white beast jump out of the snow and on top of her. She closed her eyes expecting to feel teeth begin to sink down, but after a second she heard a lapping sound. She opened her eyes to see Herman on top of her licking her helmet. She smiled and let out a laugh.
“Good boy!” She said encouragingly.
Herman was completely covered in snow; he looked more like a polar bear than a dog. She brushed some of it off but didn’t bother to do much. She helped the big dog back onto the sled and continued forward. She walked another block before she finally saw her destination to her right was the Garrison’s large house broken and beaten from obvious attacks. It stood there somehow feeling more eerie than the surrounding houses. She stepped onto the wooden porch and there was a loud creak. Ever so more carefully she and Herman crept across the porch and into the house. If only they’d known what they were about to walk into.

Here are some random things that weren't obvious to me. My experience is limited to 5 attempts of board bows with glue on stiff handle, 4 red oak and 1 white pine. 1st cracked on back during tillering. 2nd had 1000+ shots but handle popped twice, trying to laminate the handle now. 3rd got about 1500 shots but broke violently yesterday. 4th was white pine, also broken violently after 5 shots due to compression fracture. 5th is still in making with a hinge waiting for patching. Just want to share also remind myself before I forgot. Please correct me if anything is wrong.

1. If you are not sure if something is wrong, then most likely something is wrong.
   
2. Growth rings are not same as grain/fiber direction. Red oak boards are porous and the fiber runs along those micro tubes like bundles of straws. If the fibers are straight you will see on the exposed wood surface long stretches of shallow ditches just like if you cut a bundle of straws from end to end then examine from the side. With run offs you will see holes or short stretches of ditches just like you cut the bundle of straws from side to side, or with any angle.
   
3. Sand/round up the corners smooth with a radius of a small pea on the back before attempting any bending.
   
4. Before gluing the handle, sand the surface even if the wood appears clean with good match. Use a flat sand block that's longer and wider than the part. If you have several pieces of potential sand blocks, rub them against each other on different sides and observe from the side and hopefully you can find a flat one. 120 grit sand paper seems good. Wipe/brush/vacuum all the dust off.
   
5. I only used Titebond 3, a PVA glue that penetrate into wood cells and bond to the fibers. I think it's best to apply on both surfaces, spread thin then wait a few minutes until tacky when touched by finger, to give the glue some time to soak into the wood, then put the handle block on like how you put a screen protector on a phone, one edge first then slowly drop the other edge down, to minimize air pockets. Clamp overnight and wait a day or two to be sure. Titebond recommends about 200 PSI clamping force for hard wood but I'm not sure if that will "squeeze" all the glue out so I just kinda clamp it "not too tight" haha.
   
6. To prevent handle popping the fades need to be concave and continue well into the limbs, but be careful not to create a hinge right out of fades. If using a card scraper, stagger the scrapes.
   
7. Once the proper fades are established, it's better to leave the "extra" wood on the handle portion for strength.
   
8. Leave the tips a little wider when roughing out. Might need to adjust for string alignment, which you can check by tying 2 weights on a thread then hang off both ends of the bow.
   
9. Strength of the bow is to the power of 3 of the limb thickness, but only lineaproportional to the width. Thickness tapering near target draw weight needs to be extra careful and slow.
   
10. Different bow design/profile has different "ideal" tiller shape. For example, pyramid bow is more circular at draw while a parallel limb flat bow with width tapering only near tips is more elliptical.
    
11. Use shortest possible long string to do long string tillering. Switching from long string to bracing length string will lower the draw weight at same draw length, also changing how the force is applied to the limbs.
    
12. It's better to start tillering at target draw weight for above reason. Don't go over target draw weight though.
    
13. For a board bow the two limbs should be quite symmetrical in thickness and width, just look at it and run fingers over can usually tell the difference if not smooth.
    
14. The last 6 inches of the tips can be left a bit stiff for better string angle and less stacking. It's better to achieve this by leaving the tips somewhat thicker rather than wider to minimize the tips mass that will steal the energy at release.
    
15. Go really slow when increasing draw length for the last few inches, or if you just switched from long string to short string. At one moment there's no hinge. The next moment there's maybe a hinge? Then if you don't stop and correct it, oops.
    
16. The bow needs to be hold on some kinda of form for all heat treatment.
    
17. If you make a form to reflex the tip, make sure the radius of the curve, and the surface are even and smooth. Before the bending, get everything handy and make sure you have enough space, remember the bow needs to bend thus more space...When placing the the bow on the form, make sure it's centered and straight. When bending the tip, do it steady and evenly, complete the bending in 20 seconds or so after it's out of the heat source.
    
18. Steam can dry the wood and makes wood brittle. This is true. I find boiling the tip for 20 minutes better instead.
    
19. Using heat gun to treat the belly, I mark the bow every 3", and set a repeat timer of 2 minutes, move the heat gun back and forth in each section for 2 minutes. Result is pretty consistent.
    
20. White pine is too soft. Southern yellow pine maybe ok, haven't tried though.
    

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Memory transcription subject: Kila, Venlil Engineering Student (First Year) White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
Finally.
Professor Gretty’s calculations had been spot on. He'd even accounted for any potential difference in temperature although it should be possible to manage that element from the tuning slide near the bell.
The apparatus I’d designed was a little different than I'd originally envisioned. At the base of the device, near the mouthpiece, there was a small part that would vibrate the air via a small oscillating ‘gate’. As the air passed through, it would emulate the human lips, causing the air column to resonate properly.
To determine the necessary frequency at which the gate would operate, I had attached a thin, spooled wire to the outside of the slide. As the slide extended, the spring-loaded spool would act as a tool for measurement, determining the length the slide had been moved by how much it had been unwound. As the slide retracted, the spool would rewind. That had taken some tricky design to make consistent. Even the small inconsistencies in how the wire rewound was both breaking the mechanism and causing inaccurate measurements.
Luckily, the slide moved on a mostly fixed path so I could make due.
I had initially planned to use a wireless controller. But, early testing was proving it to be more trouble than it was worth.
The data read from the spool was fed to the gate mechanism where it adjusted the frequency in real time. The entire device used a tiny amount of electricity and while a standard battery would suffice, I'd gotten a little creative against my better judgment. The spool also acted as a tiny generator, charging the on-board battery as the slide was moved.
If this was a school project, I think I'd get perfect marks.
That thought wasn't completely born from ego. I'd gone to great lengths to make it consistent. While the device was mostly simple, I had to make sure it would stand up under rigorous action. As such, I'd been moving the slide in and out the whole time I was tweaking it.
Something my arm was pretty damn tired of.
The harmonic was controlled by a small set of four buttons placed where the player’s paw would grip the slide. Each button represented a certain harmonic level. Between the spool and the buttons, the frequency control was very much usable.
The opening at the end of the gate mechanism was fitted for a specifically designed Venlil-friendly mouthpiece. I'd been considerate of the condensation (spit) that Brad had warned me about. The inside of the gate mechanism was lined with a flexible, waterproof material, allowing the moisture to seep downward and be drained from the ‘spit valve’ at the bottom.
Why did I choose an instrument that you have to blow into?
The whole apparatus would need maintenance and repair every now and again which made for more hassle than the baseline instrument could make. But, it did work for a Venlil player, something that couldn't be said for the original design. I’d actually tested the tone myself, proving that I'd also managed to knock down one of the primary barriers for entry. According to Brad, a Human player had to train their embouchure to be able to get the right frequency for each slide position. In the case of my mechanism, the player just had to be familiar with the harmonic buttons.
It almost felt sacrilegious to make the instrument easier to play. Seemed almost like we, as Venlil, were balking at the musical challenge. But, we were physically incapable of operating the instrument otherwise.
As I held the newly manufactured trombone in my paws, I felt some pride in its creation. I'd crafted it meticulously, sacrificing lots of my time and focus to design it. I'd molded the material, carefully constructed the pitch controller, wired the tiny circuit board, and RIGOROUSLY stress-tested the whole thing to make sure it was up to snuff.
It was completely and totally finished.
Yep.
All done.
Nothing left to work on.
Tested and approved.
…
I sighed as I took the trombone apart and placed the parts in the case. Oddly enough, the relentless rush to get it designed and built was not the part I was worried about. No, the real struggle was the true end goal, the reason I'd made the whole thing in the first place.
Why am I so nervous?
I'd spent my whole life tailing Saesh, trying to emulate her outgoing and fearless nature. Even when everyone around me seemed to take it as a warning sign, I couldn't help but respect her capability. To not be debilitated with fear was a boon to accompany her kind-hearted nature. So, I'd always made it my goal to be like her. Though, I'd often found myself in the same position as my pitch controller. I could emulate the original thing well but it was never quite the same.
For that reason, the prospect of asking Mezil out had me feeling pretty hesitant. The last thing I wanted was to make things weird between us. But, I wanted to get closer to him. He was such a good soul…and it was cute watching him stumble through things.
I just…wasn't used to romance. I'd never felt this way before. And, if things didn't work out, would it ruin our friendship? I didn't know what I’d do if things somehow ended on bad terms.
“You shouldn’t be so worried about what might happen that you let inaction turn into regret.”
I thought back to Brad’s words. He'd been pretty adamant that I should go for it and he also seemed to think I had a good chance.
Maybe Mezil’s disposition was rubbing off on me and I was worrying about nothing.
I turned my pad in my paws for quite some time. Was I really going to do this? I suppose I didn't have to commit to it right away. I could just call him over to my room and give him the trombone. Then, if things went well, I could continue on with the real request.
Yeah. That works. Keep it open. Like Brad said, less serious. Just take it one step at a time.
I hovered a claw over Mezil’s contact…
-
Memory transcription subject: Mezil, Venlil Music Student (First Year) White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
After the last few paws, I’d been satisfied to take a considerably long rest. Having blazed through my homework, I took the opportunity to unwind and process everything. It was easy to feel restless with the information I’d recently gleaned but I’d be useless if I ran myself ragged anymore.
As I soaked in the blissful nothingness, I was jarred back to reality by the ringing emanating from my pad. Rolling off of my bed, I hobbled over to my desk where the device laid. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I brought the screen up to where I could read it. The call was from Kila. Odd. She usually just used text messages.
I tapped to accept and gave a groggy greeting as her visage filled the screen.
“Hey, Kila. What’s up?”
“Mezil, are you busy?”
She looked a little more serious than usual. Did something happen?
“Busy doing nothing maybe. No, I'm not really doing anything right now. Why?”
“Can you come to my dorm? I have something you might be interested in.”
That was intriguing but, to be honest, I'd have looked for just about any excuse to hang out with her again. It had only been a few paws but it felt like an eternity. I wasn't always as sociable as the average Venlil but confiding in her had helped me tremendously when it came to dealing with my academic predicament.
“Yeah, no problem. I'll clean up and head over.”
Her face lit up in response.
“Awesome! I'll see you in a bit!”
I stretched myself out and stole a glance at the mirror.
Yeesh. I really am a wreck. I'd better do a deep clean.
-
After bathing and getting the knots out of my fur, I found myself standing in front of Kila’s door. I reached my paw out and tapped out some light knocks. After a few moments, the door opened wide with Kila standing behind it. She wagged her tail in a greeting and motioned me in.
“Wow, you did clean up huh?” she asked while inspecting my newly brushed coat. I'd put some extra effort into it, wanting to make up for my recent disheveled look.
But, looking at her, it seemed she'd done about the same thing. I'd never seen her so well-groomed. Was there a special event coming up?
“Yeah,” I responded. “I've been a hygiene disaster the last few paws so I figured I should change that. You seem pretty done up too. It's a really good look. What's the occasion?”
“Oh, uh, I just wanted to clean up well. I've been kind of a wreck the last few paws too. End of the term, you know?”
I flicked my ears in affirmation. If her last few paws were as eventful as mine, I wouldn't blame her one bit.
“So, you had something you thought I’d want to see?”
“Right! But…maybe we should save that for later. I haven't talked to you lately. How’s schoolwork been treating you? Making headway?”
I sighed as I took a seat on her bed.
“It's going well enough, I guess. Busy. But, I've been completing everything so hopefully I'll pull through. That's not really what's been taking all my time though.”
“Oh? Give me the details.”
Part of me felt hesitant to disclose my findings at the library. But, ultimately I decided that Kila was plenty trustworthy. Besides, I'd already told Brad. Granted, he wasn’t living on a Federation planet.
Kila would keep it a secret. If anyone would do it for me, it'd be her.
So, I filled her in on my plight, explaining the Federation censorship and my meetings with Aebl. I showed her the music piece and told her about how Brad had played over it during our call. I briefly described to her my first experience with rock ‘n roll and how the intensity had made me view my struggles in a different light. Through it all, she sat and listened, occasionally asking questions but mostly staying enamored with the tale.
When I finished my recap, she leaned back in her desk chair and closed her eyes. After a moment of silence, she delivered her conclusion.
“Holy shit.”
An understandable response to my ramblings, I figured. I felt the same way.
“Yeah, that's been my recent experience. What about you? What have you been up to?”
She stiffened at the question, a response that made me stiffen as well. It was unlike Kila to be so jumpy around a subject. I wondered if I'd hit a sensitive spot.
“That…is a good question.”, she responded with hesitation in her voice. “Well…first of all I spoke with Brad alone. He showed me his guitar as well. We talked about some…things…”
Her vagueness was noticeable. It felt like she was dancing around the subject.
“There weren't any problems, were there?” I interjected. “I'm sure we could work out any conflicts.”
“What? No! I just…shit, I’m bad at this.”
Bad at what?
“I’m…not sure I follow.”
“You can’t follow because I’m not saying anything that makes sense! Just…hold on.”
Kila stood from her chair and opened the closet in the corner. From it, she retrieved a long black box, cradling in her arms. She sat it down lengthways on the floor and flipped open the latches. Before opening it, she looked up to me again.
“I've been working on this with Brad. I guess my physics professor helped too. It's a gift for you, actually. I've been busy with it for the last few paws.”
A gift? I hardly deserved one.
“You shouldn't have gone through the trouble,” I blurted. “Shit, it's the end of the term. You shouldn't be worried about me.”
“I'm not worried about you, doofus! Well…I am but that's not why I put this together. Besides, it's already done so don't reject it now.”
She lifted up the top half of the box and inside was a long, curved piece of metal tubing. It ended with a bell shape. Attached were a few strange devices I didn't recognize. It shone brightly, reflecting the light in the room.
…
“Uh…what is it?” I asked.
“BRAD, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”
Her sudden outburst caught me off-guard and I straightened up in response as she continued.
“I swear…Why wouldn't he show you after he showed me? Then again, he only showed me because I asked. But then, why didn't you ask about it? You're a music student! Damn it, this isn't going how I planned. Mezil, this is a trombone. It's a Human instrument.”
A human…instrument?
A HUMAN INSTRUMENT?
“How did you get a human instrument?!” I asked, nearly jumping onto the thing in my excitement.
“I made it! All in all, the instrument wasn't that complex to build with university machinery. The hard part was making it playable for Venlil. See, Humans do this thing with their lips and facial muscles…anyway, I had to emulate the whole thing mechanically.”
“You…did all of this for me?” I felt the tears forming in my eyes.
“Well…yeah.”
“How does it work? I've never seen anything like it. Holy shit, Kila, this is AWESOME!”
“Ok, so, first we need to put it together. See, the slide and the bell screw together here.”
She took the two pieces from the case and joined them at a threaded section, screwing a nut into place to secure them together.
“Then, you attach the mouthpiece here and place your mouth up to it to blow air through it. But, this is the weird part. Usually, Humans have to use their lips to make vibrations but we can't exactly do that. So, I built this here to serve the same purpose.”
Kila walked me through the functionality of the mechanism, showing me the buttons for changing the harmonic and also the less than glamorous spit valve at the bottom of the slide.
After getting her rundown, I tried it myself, placing my mouth up to the mouthpiece and pushing air through the vibrating gate.
Kila explained that I could use my tongue to cut the air flow and that it could create different effects on the tone. Pushing the air through was harder than expected as the gate restricted the air flow. Apparently, this was by design. It allowed for longer sustain since it didn't immediately require all the air in my body.
Despite the minimal air throughput, just enough to maintain a steady air column, the trombone was actually rather loud. Even the quietest tones I could produce had a significant amount of volume backing them. But, what was perhaps the most intriguing thing was the variety of sound it produced. The softer tones were melodic while the more forceful tones were almost disconcerting.
“You'll need to keep both the main slide and tuning slide greased well. You can detach the wire for the slide detection right here. The whole apparatus can be detached by removing these screws in case you need to clean the instrument. Just make sure to dry it well if you use water so it doesn't rust. And, make sure to keep dents out of the slides.”
As Kila finished her walkthrough, I placed the trombone down gently on top of its case and wrapped Kila in the best hug I could manage.
“Thank you, Kila,” I choked out. “It's amazing. You’re amazing! How did you manage this in two paws?”
“It was three paws, actually.”
“Three paws?”
“Yeah. I spoke to Brad about it that paw when you were at the library. Then, the next paw I spent playing with the design and running simulations. The next paw I built this one.”
“If it's been three paws…wait…”
Relinquishing my hug, I started rifling through my bag for my pad. I brought up the calendar, searching for assignment due dates.
My heart dropped into my stomach when I found what I was looking for.
“Oh no.”
“Mezil?”
“Oh no no no no no fuck fuck fuck FUCK!”
“Mezil, what's wrong?”
“I missed turning in like four assignments! I thought I had one more paw!”
The worry on her face only worsened as she realized the weight of what I was saying. I'd been scraping by, trying to maintain a GPA that would allow me to retain my scholarship.
I just threw that effort away.
I couldn't handle any missing assignments. My grades would still be passing but below the scholarship cutoff.
“Mezil,” she started. “Listen to me. We’ll figure it ou-”
“I'm such a fucking moron, Kila! Fuck! Everything I've done up until now…I just ruined all of it!”
“Look, maybe you can get some extra credit!”
“That's not even the point!” The tears of joy that had been in my eyes were being replaced with tears of anger as I nearly shouted in frustration. “I'm not closing the gap on my schoolwork! It's just getting worse!”
I sat back down on her bed, burying my face in my paws. Kila sat down beside me and wrapped me in a hug of her own. I felt her tail intertwine with mine like I had done when she had her first call with Brad.
“It's alright,” she spoke soothingly. “We’ll figure something out.”
“Why do you keep helping me?” I choked out. “I just keep fucking everything up.”
“No you don't. You're brave and strong. You're kind.”
“All I do is fail. Why even make this trombone for me?”
“Because…Well, actually, I wanted to ask you out for a date…So, do you wanna go out some time?”
…
What?
“I-I'm sorry?” I stammered. “Did I hear you right?”
I saw her face turn a bright orange. I felt my own face follow suit.
“Yeah. But, uh, this isn't how I expected it to go. I'm sorry. It's probably a bad time to mention it now.”
Kila’s sudden confession had snapped me out of my downward spiral completely. If anything, it was the best timing.
“Why me, though?”
“Why not you? You're a great friend. You're passionate about music, smart, and…kinda cute?”
“I'm cute, huh?” I asked, trying to add an air of teasing while I wiped tears from my eyes.
She flicked her ears in annoyance. Then, took a scenting breath a little close for comfort.
“Well, it helps when you clean up like you did. What shampoo is this? I like the smell.”
I chuckled at her response, feeling the tension leave my muscles.
“Mistfruit, I think.”
“So, uh,” Kila continued. “What's the answer then?”
“Answer?”
“Do you wanna go out with me?”
“Sure. But, I think I'm just happy to spend time with you anywhere.”
I didn't know where my words were coming from. There was something that I'd never consciously realized until that point: Kila was easy to talk to. With her, I could speak my mind and, despite all my social shortcomings, it was just natural. Everything felt simple with her. I didn’t mind opening up if she was around.
But I still had a problem.
I sighed and leaned into her embrace, nuzzling into her fur.
“I'm sorry, I shouldn't mention it again but what am I gonna do about my grades, Kila? School just isn’t going well at all.”
“Just do what you can. Talk to the professors. Maybe they'll give you a helping paw. Maybe some extra credit like the music assignment.”
“I don't know. Some of them are real hardasses.”
She chuckled at my response.
“Well, maybe you’ll lose that scholarship. There could still be other financial options. Maybe you can find another way to afford it.”
At this point, I was content to listen to her suggestions regardless of whether or not they were realistic. I just found myself lost in her embrace, kept calm by her steady arms.
Then, as if to spite that serenity, my pad rang once again.
“Shit, now is not the time,” I grumbled as Kila released her grip. I picked my pad up and checked the number. “A university number? Who would call me from the school?”
“It could be important,” Kila said, leaning over my shoulder. “You should answer.”
I flicked my tail in agreement and tapped to accept. The screen changed and I was met with Professor Haeli’s face.
“Hello, Mezil.”
“Professor Haeli?”
“I'm sorry to use your personal number but the university had it on record and I felt like I needed to run this by you over a call rather than a message through the school portal. Do you have a moment?”
I turned my ears inquisitively towards Kila who flicked her own ears in a ‘go ahead’ motion.
“Uh, yeah, I've got time.”
“Good. See, I spoke with Headmaster Blyne and I was able to negotiate for a bit of an opportunity.”
An opportunity?
What kind of opportunity could Haeli have for me? The extra credit assignment was already for full marks in her class. She spoke with the headmaster…How big of a deal was this?
I didn’t need to wait long for her to answer my question as she continued her spiel.
“We’ve decided that the best way to determine the merit in Human-Venlil cooperation would be to attempt something more tangible than a report. The headmaster is looking for something more practical and I suggested that we could have an in-person musical performance here at the university. That is, one that includes both Human and Venlil performers.”
A live performance? Here at White Hill?
As far as I knew, there hadn’t been any Human presence at White Hill. It would likely be the very first time. The in-person avenues for the exchange program had been restricted to military personnel. But, perhaps the university had enough leverage to get a civilian onto Venlil Prime.
I found myself wondering what the concert had to do with me. I was only a first-term student. I’d only partaken in a couple of recitals. Certainly, they didn’t want me as a performer.
“What exactly do you need from me?” I asked, unsure of what to make of the situation
“I’d like you to perform, Mezil. I know you haven’t had much of a chance to prove your musical capabilities. No first-term student has. But, you have shown a progressive mindset towards Humans and the ability to adapt to challenges. As far as I know, there’s no one more qualified for this particular event.”
I let her words sink in. She really wasn’t concerned with my lack of experience? In that case, I suppose I was the most qualified.
“Moreover,” she continued. “You’d need to determine the setlist yourself. We’re looking for both Human and Venlil musical representation. The instruments you choose to use are up to you. It really depends on how you choose to arrange your pieces. I’m willing to offer assistance in that regard. The concert would be shortly after the end of the term; five paws after the finalized grades.
You may be wondering what you’d receive in exchange. The headmaster and I went back and forth and decided that, should the performance go well, the university will place you in a program for Human integration going forward. And, you’ll be provided free tuition and board so long as you succeed in that position.”
A full ride scholarship…A FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP!
“I’ll do it!” I sputtered. “Whatever it takes, I’ll make sure the performance goes well!”
“Now, hold on a moment, Mezil,” Haeli spoke with a warning tone. “Certainly, you must know how high the expectations are for this. Don’t agree to it so lightly. This is a very delicate situation that will influence the perception of Humans by the student body and staff. It needs to be near-perfect. I’ll help, of course. But, don’t think this is going to be easy. Headmaster Blyne still needs to work with the UN to get permission to bring a Human civilian here. We’re tentatively assuming that it will be approved since the UN has been very accommodating regarding personnel thus far.
As of now, we don’t have any set Human performers. That will partly be your responsibility unless you cannot find anyone on your own. The civilian comm line to Earth is set to be complete in two paws. You should have free reign to go looking for prospective musicians. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. You may want to mull things over for a paw before committing. It won't be a walk in the park. And, I still expect the report from you as well. If you want perfect marks this term that is.”
I flicked my ears in acknowledgement.
“Thank you, professor!” I nearly shouted. “I’m glad that you chose to involve me. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
Haeli wagged her tail, seemingly pleased with my response.
“Well then, Mezil, I hope to hear from you again soon. For now, I’ll leave you to it. Have a good rest of your paw.”
“You too, professor.”
The call ended and I slumped on the bed, melting into the soft mattress.
“You are so damn lucky,” Kila said as she laid down next to me.
“I have so much work to do,” I responded.
“So…I assume you’re going to get Brad involved?”
“Of course. If I can bring him here to White Hill, that would be awesome.”
“I'm sure he'd be happy to join. It does sound like a ton of work though. Integrating Human and Venlil music with each other sounds tough.”
“Well, luckily I just so happen to have a Human instrument to work with. Someone very special to me made it as a gift.”
Kila nuzzled into me and I returned the favor.
I’ve already worn myself out. So much for a break. That's alright. No one said college would be easy.
And, I wouldn't mind staying in this moment forever.
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Memory transcription subject: Brad Silmore, Human Field Hand
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
Watching the sun creep up and over the top of its arc, I found myself a little puzzled. I'd thought for sure that Mezil would have been itching to call. It was, after all, the weekend which was the best time for me to help him with his report.
Then again, he seemed pretty tunnel-visioned on the music hidden in the ceiling of that library. Maybe he was still focused on that. Hell, maybe he forgot what day it was.
I wonder what kind of progress Kila was making on her attempt to make a trombone. She seemed smart. Probably wouldn't take her very long.
Snapping me out of my thoughts, the exchange program app on my computer sounded an alert, luckily still audible to me on the front porch. Looked like Mezil decided to call after all.
I meandered inside, closing the door behind me and seating myself at my desk. My hand moved the mouse to click the accept button. As I pressed down, I realized I might want to turn to the side but it was too late. Mezil and Kila’s faces populated the monitor. Luckily, neither of them seemed phased by my staring into the webcam.
“Well, well, well,” I started. “I guess you didn't forget about me after all.”
“Sorry, I forgot that you were off work,” came Mezil’s sheepish response.
Heh. Sheepish.
“More like he forgot what paw it was,” Kila corrected. “He almost screwed up big time.”
Wow, I didn't actually expect to be right about that.
“I did screw up big time. But, I had a lucky break.”
On the bed behind where the two sat, I saw a trombone with a strange set of accessories tacked onto it. Did Kila already finish the construction? Then, that means…
“I see you've been acquainted with a trombone,” I noted. “So, did everything go exactly as you'd planned, Kila?”
Both their faces turned orange which answered my question for me.
“N-not exactly,” Kila stammered. “But, it worked out I think.”
Mezil supplemented his agreeing ear flicks with a head nod.
“Good stuff, I knew you had it in you. So, what's this monumental error that Mezil supposedly made?”
Mezil’s orange shade turned even more orange.
“Well, since I didn't realize what paw it was, I forgot to turn in a number of assignments.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. I knew how precarious his situation was academically.
“You're not failing any classes now are you?” I questioned.
“I'm not failing any of them, but I don't think I can keep my scholarship. Luckily, my music professor contacted me with an opportunity. She wants to do a concert with Venlil and Humans performing. And, the university is offering a position in an integration program if it goes well. If I succeed, I could get a full ride scholarship.”
Kila wagged her tail, looking almost more excited than Mezil himself. It was for good reason. What excellent news!
“That's awesome, Mezil! I know you'll knock it out of the park!”
They both turned their heads in confusion.
Oh yeah. That probably doesn't translate right.
“Er…it means you'll do a great job. It's a sports analogy.”
The pair flicked their ears in understanding. I was beginning to impress myself with how well I could read the Venlil body language.
“I plan to do my best,” Mezil confirmed. “And, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like your help.”
“Sure thing,” I responded. “Need some song suggestions?”
“Actually, I was hoping you could be a part of the performance, coming to Venlil Prime to play.”
Me? Performing on Venlil Prime.
“Mezil,” I started. “I'm not a professional musician. There have to be tons of people more qualified.”
“It doesn't matter,” he insisted. “I’m only a first-term student myself. It's not as much about musical ability. It's more about how well we can cooperate. And, you're a plenty good musician. I've heard you play. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. Just something to show that we can make good things together.”
The explanation made sense. If it was about showing the potential for Human integration, having two exchange partners would be a good plan.
“Can I even get to Venlil Prime?” I asked. “I thought it was only for military personnel.”
“My professor seems confident that they can get the UN to work it out. The request would come from the university so it would have some professional leverage.”
If I can really go to another planet…
“Alright, Mezil. I'm in. It's been a while since I practiced for something serious. But, I'll put my best foot forward.”
Mezil wagged his tail with happiness.
“Great! We’ll need to get a set list together first.”
“Well, I've got time. How would you two like to explore some music with me?”
Both of them leaned forward in anticipation.
Shoot, I didn't actually prepare anything. What haven't they heard yet?
I stopped and considered my options for a moment before a grin spread across my face.
“I do believe you've yet to be acquainted with disco.”
-
First / Prev / Next

My normal maximum budget for any week of racing is around $400, which I am comfortable with losing should I not hit a race. While I personally do not like to lose that much any week, the only other options are to bet less money or pass the races entirely. Playing less money will cause me to far short of my monthly and/or yearly goals and not playing at all is like the saying goes "You have to be in it for any chance of winning." On big race weekends, I will budget more, not to spread out my risk anymore, but to bet more of the better races and fuller fields that comes around only so often. Good Luck and hopefully you can knock down a big score which is so much more enjoyable than trying to nickel and dime the tracks to death (never works long term).
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Race 1: Maiden Special Weight --- Purse $90,000 --- 3 YOs & Up F&M ---- 6 Furlongs Turf:
2) Get Respect (8-1) is making her first start of the year. However, with maidens, they do not have to be the fittest a trainer can get them because most are not anywhere near their full potential until after a few races of experience. This one has 7 works for her first start this year, the first two were leg stretchers, the next four were decent and has the look of a trainer trying to get horse fit and the last work, 3 days before scheduled start, simply an exercise to keep her happy until race day. 3x5 to Storm Cat.
6) Quiescent (15-1) has started twice this year, setting the pace to the top of the stretch before tiring slightly to finish third while losing the photo finish at the wire to the Brown entry just above her, then setting the pace for a half before tiring badly in her last race which obviously her first start of year took enough conditioning out of her that she was still tire when entered back despite one average work after that first start (better known as a bounce). Now she has one good work, indicating she is not tired now and expect a rebound in this start. 5x5 to Mr. Prospector but also has a crossing influence to Never Bend through the dam line of Arch on her sire side and thru the 3rd dam, Stiff Breeze, a daughter. Fifth dam, Whirl Right, is a full sister to 1941 U.S. TC winner Whirlaway.
3) Roman Goddess (12-1) has started once this year and stumbled at the start which basically eliminated her from having any chance to impact the race. She has five more works since that effort and most of them were designed only to give her some leg stretching exercise. 4x4 to Mr. Prospector & Danzig.
10) Cindylouwho (15-1) has started 4 times this year, with 2 third place finishes in 5 furlongs grass sprints her only board finishes and the starts on dirt with little effort put into each race. She now has 3 placings in 4 lifetime attempts on grass and only needs to produce a race similar to any of them to be a major factor against these. She has what looks like two good works since her last, but both came on the Palm Meadows training track which is one of the fastest training tracks in the nation and those works are average at best. However, based off her actual races, she fits with these. 4x3 to A.P. Indy, 5(C)x5(C)x4(F) to Northern Dancer, 5x4 to Mr Prospector, 5x5 to Secretariat & Roberto.
My Risks: $8 WP 2, $5 Ex Box 2-6, $1 Tri Box 2-3-6, $.20 Super Box 2-3-6-10, $1 Super Key 2 with 3-6-10 with 3-6-10 with 3-6-10. Total Risk $42.80.
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Race 2: Allowance --- Purse $80,000 --- 3 YOs & Up F&M NY Bred N/W $18K 1x or N/W 2 Races Lifetime --- 7 Furlongs Turf:
8) Silver Skillet (10-1) has one start this year which he chased the early pace for 6 furlongs before tiring, which is a typical first start back for most front runners after getting five months or longer break. Trainer put one easy or leg stretching type work in her since that start simply because he already saw her speed was still there in works prior to her first start back. This will be her first start on grass in her career. See a likely gate to wire effort for her against these. 5(C)x5(F)x5(F) to Mr. Prospector.
6) Lisa's Vision (8-1) has started once this year where she sat mid-pack early edge herself up to the edge of being a serious contender into the stretch before flattening out and stalling. Again, this is a typical first start back for a horse with this running style and you should expect improvement this out. Her last two efforts just before the break in races with same class, distance, and surface, she was nearing an effort to move on to the next condition or better races. Trainer has put 5 more works in her since her last effort, an easy work followed by 4 decent to good works. If she gets a little help with a pressured early pace which she did not get in her first start back, she could easily win this. Contender. 5x3 to Storm Cat.
7)Royal Dancer (12-1) has one start this year where she was eyeing the early pace as two ahead of her duel for a quarter, then the leader shook free and open a clear lead, forcing this one to pick up the chase much earlier than preferred, but then chase the loose leader to the top of the stretch before tiring after breaking from the 12th post, a slot that has very little chance to win in NY grass sprints. Trainer has put 5 more works in her since that effort, mostly leg stretching type works but a couple that could prove very helpful, including a bullet work five days before this start. She has two NY bred stakes placings on grass before she broke her maiden. Has some talent. 4(C)x5(C)x5(F)x5(F) to Northern Dancer, 5x4 to Fappiano.
1)I'mhavingamoment (5-1) has four starts this year, the first race was a state bred stakes race which she was overmatched against coming off a maiden win, then finished second and then 2 thirds after a drop down in class and a slow rise back up into condition allowance in her last start while also her first effort on grass. Has two works since that last effort, a good work followed by a decent and useful work. 5x4 to Danzig, 5x5 to Cyane, 5(C)x5(F)x5(F) to Northern Dancer. Her 5th dam is U.S. Champion Filly, Tempted, who has a stakes race named in her honor for 3 YO fillies.
My Risk: $6 WP 6, $5 Ex Box 6-8, $1 Tri Box 6-7-8, $.30 Super Box 1-6-7-8, $1 Super Key 8 with 1-6-7 with 1-6-7 with 1-6-7. Total Risk: $41.20.
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Race 3: Pass on betting.
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Race 4: Allowance --- Purse $85,000 --- 3 YOs & Up N/W $18K 1x or N/W 2 lifetime --- 7 Furlongs:
4) Bezos (50-1) has started 4 times this year, has flashed front running speed in all of them but then tired badly. In his last start, he carried his speed further than he has all year long or since he was last in his best form. This type wins only when they can control the early pace and he looks like he found a spot where he can do just that. Most of these horses have not tried stakes races in their career but the few that have has done so against young 2 YOs or 3 YOs, except this one when he set the pace in a G3 and a listed stake race against proven older horses. In addition, he will carry light race in the field due to his jockey receiving a 7 lbs. apprentice break. May seen foolish but will take a shot with this one with the speed to top of the stretch angle I have used successful plenty of times.
9) Twelth Man (6-1) has started three times this year with a second in his first start his only board finish this year. However, his current form cycle began with his last start last year after a 7-month break and he returned in close to same physical form as when he was stopped on. After a couple of pretty good efforts, he had a couple of not so good efforts. He is working on his third race since a good effort, and this is an angle I read about years ago that suggested betting horses back in their third start after a win if next two starts were not as good as his winning effort, but tweaked this angle to include all horses that gave a solid effort because it worked more often that way and with higher odds than the third race after a win.
2) Shipsational (15-1) has started 4 times this year with a second in his third start back as his only board finish this year. Next two races were poor and would normally be enough to consider a horse has tailed off his best form. But he has 5 works since that last effort, all of them decent to good that were also likely very useful. His current form cycle began in October last year when he came off almost a 7 month break after a second and third effort in a G2 & G3 stake races that obviously knocked him off his best form.
My Risks: $5 Ex Box 4-9, $1 Tri Box 2-4-9, $2 Quinella 2-4, $2 Quinella 4-9. Total Risk $20.00.
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Race 5: Poker Stakes(G3) --- Purse $200,000 --- 4 YOs & Up ---- One Mile Turf:
3) Mackinnon (15-1) is making his first start of the year. Has six works to prepare for this start but also a trainer that brings his trainees back in top form often. 4x5 to Storm Cat.
1)Chez Pierre (1-1) threw easily a career best in last. A bounce candidate for sure. Under no circumstance would I accept 1-1 odds or less on a horse whose biggest win in the U.S. before his last race was a listed stake and has shown he is vulnerable against this class.
5) Anaconda (8-1) looks in best shape of the rest in a weak field for a G3 stakes race.
My Risk: $8 Exacta Straight 3-1, $1 Tri Box 1-3-5, $6 Tri Straight 3-1-5. Total Risk $20.00.
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Race 6: Brooklyn Stakes(G2) --- Purse $250,000 ---- 4 YOs & Up --- 1 1/2 Miles:
6) Forewarned (20-1) has five starts with one win and one third his placings this year. I normally try to find horses that run late in these marathon type races, and he looks like he maybe can though this far is a question mark for him like every other horse in this field.
11) Code Runner (50-1) was originally trained by Asmussen and showed a little ability but not enough to impact graded stakes races. Horse was eventually put in hands of a trainer that has shown no ability or idea of how to properly prepare or get a horse fit. So, his race record looks much worse than it should and in a race like this, anything can and usually does happen.
9) Calibrate (10-1) won a stakes race at this distance two back while finishing in front of a couple of these, then was kept wide by the jockey throughout in his last start when beaten by several of these (per equibase footnotes). Switch of trainers and two good works since his last start. Which one will show up today? Guess right and you could make a decent score.
7) Warrant (5-2) won his last start under a drive after stalking and putting only front runner away heading into the stretch. Will likely have more pace to run at in here, so if jockey times his move slightly later, he will have a better chance of holding the late runners safe. A move a little early, like his last, likely results in a board finish only. 3 works since his last start, an easy leg stretching type work followed by two good works suggests he will be antsy to go earlier than usual.
My Risks: $4 Exacta Box 6-11, $1 Tri Box 6-9-11, $.30 Super Box 6-7-9-11. Total Risk $21.20. (a wild guess).
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Race 7: Ogden Phipps S(G1) --- Purse $500,000 --- 4 YOs & Up F&M ---- 1 1/16 Mile:
1)Pass The Champagne (8-1) ran a monster type race when just getting caught at the wire by the eventual Ky Oaks winner in the Ashland Stakes in her very first start against winners two years ago. However, that race not only knock her off form, but she needed almost a year off after a dull effort in the Oaks, then won an O/C race in her only start before taking another year break. A typical scenario of being asked to do too much too soon. She has four starts this year but in her last start, she suggested she has returned to her best form. Two useful works since her last start and she is sitting on go. 3x4 to Mr. Prospector, 4(C)x5(C)x5(C) to Northern Dancer.
4) Secret Oath (2-1) has started three times this year, winning her first start and then just missing in both of her next two starts, finishing 2nd in each race. Her Ky Oaks win remains her only G1 triumph through she has placed 2nd or 3rd in six more G1 races, all in her last 10 starts. 4x3 to Fappiano, 5(C)x5(C)x4(F) to Mr. Prospector.
2) Search Results (4-1) has started once this year and finishing third after trying the length of the stretch to get by the top two with no results. She has three works since that start, a good work followed by two useful works. Complete outcross in her first five generations. However, 8th dam, Iron Maiden, a daughter of War Admiral, produced 1957 Ky Derby winner Iron Liege and is 2nd dam of 1955 Ky Derby winner, Swaps.
6) Clairiere (6-5) has started twice this year, finishing second in the first start and then turning the tables on that rival in their next start. Both again shows up for the next major test for older females and either one could win without it being a major shock. She has 5 works since her last start, 2 easy leg stretching type works followed by two good and useful works and then another leg stretching type work 6 days before scheduled start. 3x4 to Mr. Prospector, 5x5 to Northern Dancer.
My Risks $5 Ex Box 1-4, $1 Tri Box 1-2-4, $3 Tri Key 1 with 2-4 with 2-4, $2 Super Key 1 with 2-4-6 with 2-4-6 with 2-4-6. Total Risk $34.00.
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Race 8: Woody Stephens Stakes(G1) --- Purse $400,000 --- 3 YOs ---- 7 Furlongs:
2) Gun Pilot (20-1) has started five times this year with 1 win and 2 seconds his best finish. In his last start, lasix was removed from him for the second time and for the second time he ran a flat race, especially in the stretch but this time it was an even race where his late kick was missing. It will be interesting to see what he does when lasix is remove for the second race in a row for the first time of his career. He has four works since that start, an easy leg stretching work followed by 2 bullet 5 furlongs works then another blowout type work 5 days before his scheduled start. Sire, Gun Runner, was a late developer mostly because he was thrown against top competition that set him back a few months, but trainer has brought this one along more slowly and waiting for the light to click on for him. 4x3 to Storm Cat, 4x4 to Quiet American, 5(C)x5(C)x5(F) to Fappiano. His 5th dam, Ocean's Answer, is a full sister to Storm Bird who developed her own important line and is named a Reine-de-Course mare because of her influence on the breed.
13) Drew's Gold (8-1) has started four times in his career, winning all 4 starts, including 3 this year. Now, he will get the acid test to find out just how good he might be. Many of you probably do not know this trainer, but he started his training career in Southern California and a few years later was sending horses back & forth to compete in Florida and California. But he, like several others, closed their California barns due to workers compensation laws that cause many good barns to struggle, then practically disappeared for a decade before resurfacing again in Kentucky & then NY. He has one workout since his last start, a bullet work 10 days before scheduled start. Contender. 5x4 to Storm Bird, 5x5 to Northern Dancer, Secretariat, & Blushing Groom. His dam line traces back to La Troienne which simply means this is a dam line influenced by Domino as 10 of her 11 daughters and one son was bred to Domino line sires.
11) Victory Formation (10-1) has started 3 times this year, winning a listed stakes in his first start followed by a poor effort in a G2 stakes race and then leading until deep stretch before finishing 3rd in another listed stakes. However, if you look at the distance of all three races (1 mile, 1 1/8 mile and 1 1/8) and then you look at his dam line, you will see his problem. His 2nd dam is a daughter of a solid sprinter and good sprinting sire, 4th dam, White Jasmine, is a granddaughter of Crimson Satan and his 6th dam, Sister Satan, is a 1/2 sister to Crimson Satan. Crimson Satan hails from the Domino sire line who was best known by how fast he was sprinting. He has four works since his last start, the first two good works followed by 2 decent works where trainer looked intent on trying to get him to rate by slowing his works down, something he did for the first time. 5x3 to Mr. Prospector, 5x5 to In Reality, 5(C)x5(C)x5(F) to Seattle Slew.
4) General Jim (7-2) has started three times this year, finishing unplaced in his first start though blocked most of the stretch run, then winning his next two starts in a G3 and then a G2 stakes races. He has three works since his last start, a leg stretching type work, then a good work, followed by another leg stretching type work six days before scheduled start. Looks as ready as any in here to me. Outcross in his first 5 generations but has plenty of Mr. Prospector & Northern Dancer influences on both sides.
My Risks: $5 Ex Box 2-13, $1 Tri Box 2-11-13, $.30 Super Box 2-4-11-13, $1 Super Key 13 with 2-4-11 with 2-4-11 with 2-4-11. Total Risks $29.20.
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Race 9: Jaipur Stakes (G1) --- Purse $400,000 ---- 3 YOs & Up --- 6 Furlongs Turf:
5) Dr, Zempf (8-1) has started twice this year with his first start being a win in an O/C race on a GP turf course that played much faster this year than normal. Then tried G1 stakes company in his next out, set most of the pace to the top of the stretch before tiring at one mile on Keeneland's grass course. Believe he will enjoy the cutback to 6 furlongs. 3x4 to Machiavellian but sire line and broodmare sire line flows back into Northern Dancer.
13) Front Run The Fed (30-1) has started once this year in an allowance race, was near the back early, then started his rally soon after a half was complete and came with a rush in the stretch and was up and clear in time for the win. Has two leg stretching type works since that start. The stretch-out to six furlongs should suit him even more but will need to avoid trouble for best opportunity. 4x4 to Rahy, 4x5 to Mr. Prospector, 5x5 to Roberto.
10) Big Invasion (6-1) has two starts this year, winning his first start in a listed stakes at 5F on grass, then finishing unplaced in a G2 stakes race at 5 1/2 furlongs on grass but had trouble near the eight pole that likely caused him a better finish. Has 2 decent and useful works since his last start. 5x4 to Mr. Prospector. His 5th dam, Really Blue, is an unraced full sister to 1969 G1 Ky Derby & Preakness winner Majestic Prince and 2nd dam of 1998 Ky Derby & Preakness winner, Real Quiet.
6) Ice Chocolat (30-1) has three starts this year, the first to at 5 1/2 furlongs on grass and he finished unplaced in both of them, then switched to the AWT and stretched out to six furlongs when he edged closer to the leaders in the stretch run but a closing late kick was lacking. Now his fourth start of the year and one good work since his last start should help him find that needed punch late. 4(C)x5(C)x5(F) to Northern Dancer, 5(C)x4(F)x 4(F) to Mr. Prospector, 5x5 to Special.
My Risk $5 Ex Box 5-13, $ 1 Tri Box 5-10-13, $.30 Super Box 5-6-10-13, $1 Super Key 5 with 6-10-13 with 6-10-13 with 6-10-13. Total Risk $29.20.
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Race 10: Metropolitan H(G1) --- Purse $1,000,000 --- 3 YOs & Up One Mile:
6) Zandon (5-1) has started once this year and finished second in what obviously trainer considered a prep for this start. The total purse for that race was $175K and no real help in raising a stallion's value, the purse for this race is $1M along with a likely raise in a stallion's value. He has three decent to good works since that effort and follows exactly the type of works he put in the horse before that race. 4x5 to Mr. Prospector.
2) Slow Down Andy (10-1) is making his first start of the year. He has 8 works to prepare for this start, the first 2 blowout type 3 furlongs works followed by 3 4 furlongs works that were simply leg stretching type works then a good 5 furlongs work and 2 good six furlongs works, none of them too fast to suggest he may leave his race in his works but not too slow to get no help from them. For reference, you can look how he brought Goldencents back off a 7-month break after winning the previous year BC Dirt Mile and finished 2nd to Palace Malice in the Met Mile. The favorite beat him last year in the BC Dirt Mile but his trip in the race (stumbled at the start, then became rank when rushed) before heading to biggest race of his life was a major reason why and usually knocks top horses off their best form. 5x4 to Mr. Prospector.
1)Cody's Wish (7-5) has made one start this year and made it a decisive win in a G1 stakes but everything in there were not of G1 quality except him which made an average win look like a romp. These are much tougher and trainer is acting concerned by how fast he has worked the horse since that race. 3 blistering fast works. Normally, horses that works this hard in works are tosses for me but I have not seen Mott put these types of works into his trainees in decades (thought he learned the hard way that super-fast works rarely works). He might run away and hide but the opposite happens way more than not. Am using caution. 3(C)x5(F)x5(F) to Mr. Prospector.
My Risks: $5 Ex Box 2-6, $3 Tri Straight 2-6 with 2-6 with 1, $5 Tri Key 6 with 1-2 with 1-2. Total Risk $26.00.
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Race 11: Manhattan Stakes(G1) --- Purse $750,000 --- 4 YOs & Up --- 1 1/4 Mile Turf:
3) Warren Point (5-1) has one start in the U.S. this year where he was near the back early closed with a rush and taking a brief lead into the stretch before hanging and dropping back to fifth at 3-5 at 1 3/8 mile on the grass. Horse has shown he would much prefer the 1 1/4M distance as all 4 of his grass wins have come at that distance and his one 1 1/2-mile win was on the AWT. He has three works since that start, a leg stretching type work on dirt followed by two bullet works on grass around the dogs. 4x4 to Mr. Prospector, 5x5 to Northern Dancer, but also has a crossing to Never Bend through his grandsons Shirley Heights and Irish River.
10) Highest Honors (20-1) has one start this year where he was near the back early, was in a grind mold throughout the race but never really reach serious contention to finish 4th. Trainer has put 11 works in him, the first 5 works a little faster than he normally puts into his trainees, then gave the horse 13 days before returning to the work tab for six more weekly works, all of them good and decent though again faster than what he usually asks from his trainees. Likely as ready as he can be without a race in between some of these works. 4(C)x5(C)x4(F) to Mr. Prospector, 5x3 to Northern Dancer.
5) Soldier Rising (12-1) has one start this year where he sat mid-pack early, then eased back to last nearing the far turn while he waited for others to offer their best move, then came with a rush down the stretch to finish 2nd though no threat to winner who got away while he waited. Has 2 works since that race, a bullet work followed by a leg stretching work 6 days before scheduled start, both on grass around the dogs. 3x4 to Sadler's Wells & Danehill, 4(C)x5(C)x5(F)x5(F) to Northern Dancer, 5x5 to Special.
1)So High (50-1) has three starts this year and has not placed yet this year though he has carry his speed to the top of the stretch in each race. This race is lacking on front runners who has shown ability to beat good horses but this one will likely be the last one to stop. He has run respectable in a G1 stakes race last year at 1 3/8 miles but was never going to beat Channel Cat who won several big G1 grass stakes in his career. 4x5 to Northern Dancer, 5x5 to Northern Dancer.
My Risks: $5 Ex Box 3-10, $1 Tri Box 3-5-10, $.20 Super Box 1-3-5-10, $.60 Super Key 3 with 1-5-10 with 1-5-10 with 1-5-10, $6 Super Straight 3-10-5-1. Total Risk $30.00.
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Race 12: Belmont Stakes(G1) --- $1,500,000 --- 3 YOs --- 1 1/2 Mile:
1)Tapit Shoes (20-1) Has three starts this year, the first two in o/c races where he finished 4th, then 3rd and then finished 2nd (by a head) in a stakes race at OP that offered an all fees paid to the winner to enter the Preakness S. But before that start, trainer had him under consideration for a start in the Blue Grass S by working him three times at Keeneland including on the day of the race but opted to wait while he tried to qualify Verifying for the derby. He worked again on Lexington Stakes Day which suggests that race was also under consideration before deciding on the race he did race in. Since that near miss, he has 4 more good works and this horse is sitting on a big effort. 4(C)x5(C)x5(F)x5(F) to Mr. Prospector but has a Seattle Slew crossing in the sire line and as grandsire of the 4th dam, Trithenia.
7) Hit Show (10-1) has started three times this year, winning a G3 stakes in his first start, then missing a G2 win by a nose when second followed by a fifth in the Ky Derby after getting caught in the melee near the rail turning into the stretch. Has three works since that start, a leg stretching type work followed by a good work and them another leg stretching type work one week before scheduled start. 4x5 to Fappiano, 5x5 to Mr. Prospector.
8) Angel Of Empire (7-2) has three starts this year, finishing 2nd in a listed stakes then winning his next 2 starts in a G2 and a G1 stakes races following by a fast closing third in the Ky Derby. He has three works since his last start, a useful work followed by two very good works but not too fast that it takes anything out of him. 4x5 to Miswaki, 5x4 to Mr. Prospector.
3) Tapit Thrice (3-1) has 4 starts this year, winning his first three starts in an o/c race, then a G3 win followed by a G1 win. In his last start in the Ky Derby, he was never able to get involved because his Blue Grass win caused him to use to much fitness trying to catch a speed type on Keeneland's notorious speed favoring track. A blunder his trainer makes almost every year that has caused him several derby wins. He has three works since that race, a useful one followed by a good work and then a leg stretching type work one week before scheduled start. 3x4 to A.P. Indy & Unbridled.
My Risks: $5 Ex Box 1-7, $1 Tri Box 1-7-8, $4 Tri Key 1 with 7-8 with 7-8, $.30 Super Box 1-3-7-8, $1 Super Key 1 with 3-7-8 with 3-7-8 with 3-7-8. Total Risk $37.20.
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Race 13: Allowance --- Purse $80,000 ---- 3 YOs & Up NY Bred N/W $18K 1x or N/W 2 Lifetime --- 1 1/16 Mile Turf:
9) Curly Larry And Mo (8-1) has started three times this year and has not placed. However, all three starts came against open bred and he should relish the return to NY bred foes. He has no works since his last race but expect him to set the early pace and play a catch me if you can game, much like he did in last year's one mile BC Juvenile Turf S. Complete outcross in his first 5 generations but has a Caro crossing in the sire line and in the broodmare sire line as sire of the dam of Maria's Mon, who is the broodmare sire. Also has Crafty Admiral influence through Danzig and Crafty Admiral himself as the sire of the 4th dam, Won't Tell You, dam of Affirmed.
6) Mighty Atlas (30-1) has started twice this year, the first in a state bred o/c race where he trailed for a half mile then put in a run to get into contention into the stretch but could not chase down the gate to wire winner at one mile on dirt. Next start was in a state bred allowance, also at one mile on dirt, he never got involved after two works just before that race were on the dull side also, indicating he regressed slightly off that first effort. Now has two more works since his last start, a good work followed by a leg stretching but useful work and will now make the first grass start of his career. Good shot at upsetting this field. 5x2 to Capote with crossing help from the influential broodmare Alanesian.
8) Barrel Of Quests (15-1) has started twice this year, the first which he made a move to get into contention going into the far turn but had no further response in his first start in seven months in an open bred condition allowance race, as should be expected. He then shipped back to NY and was entered in a state bred allowance and cut back to a mile on grass when he ran an even race but again had no response in the stretch run. Will likely keep moving forward and is not far off his best race, so any improvement off his last likely results in a board finish. Complete outcross in his first 5 generations but has plenty of Domino blood on both sides of pedigree.
2) Let's Go Big Blue (4-1) will be making his first start of the year. However, last year, hew broke his maiden in his first start, then his next three starts came against open bred stakes horses, and he held his own in the first two before by far the worst race of his career when blinkers were added. That last experience did not help, and trainer will remove the blinkers for this start, and he will go with first time lasix. He has six works for this start, the first 4 were leg stretching type works followed by 2 good works. Will be tough to deny if he comes back anywhere close to the fitness he had when he took a break. 4x4 to Al Hattab.
My Risks: $5 Ex Box 6-9, $1 Tri Box 6-8-9, $.30 Super Box 2-6-8-9, $1 Super Key 6 with 2-8-9 with 2-8-9 with 2-8-9. Total Risk $29.20.
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Race 5 $3 Triple Play: 3 with 5-10 with 3-10. Total Risk $12.00
Race 7 $1 P6: 1 with 2 with 5,10 with 2,6 with 3 with 1,7. Total Risk $8.00.
Race 8 $.50 Mandatory P5: 2 with 5,10, with 2,6 with 3,10 with 1,7. Total Risk $8.00.
Race 9 $.50 Late P5: 5,10 with 6 with 3 with 1,7,8 with 2,6,9. Total Risk $9.00.
Total Risks All Bets: $397.00.