It is not strange for cats to go missing in our village. With almost no natural predators, everyone's cats are outdoor cats. They sometimes wander off or get run over, but when the fifth cat disappeared, people started asking more questions and keeping their cats inside. Even I started letting my precious orange cat Gingy out less. She didn't mind much; she already spent most of her time purring on my lap inside.

Some suspected wolves when a deep, unnatural animal growl began echoing through the village at night. People stopped letting their cats out at night, and barely let them out during the day.

I stopped letting out Gingy too. She loved running through our yard at night, chasing fireflies and meowing at other cats. I could see her bright green eyes staring at me each time the sun set, but I knew it was for the best. 

After a while, Gingy got used to staying home at night watching TV with me, but when the growls came, her whole behaviour changed. She'd perk up her ears, run to the door, and meow at it. It would always take at least 10 minutes of pets and a treat to calm her down.

Some time later, after the growls appeared, the first death came. Mr. Harlow was an older man who had a few chicken coops and a nice garden. He always waved when you passed and stopped to talk about your day.

One morning, his neighbour came to visit. Mr. Harlow's fence was broken down, the chicken coops were empty, and his body was full of scratches and bite marks. Not even a feather was left behind. 

People stopped going out alone even during the day. More and more cats disappeared. The growls came more frequently. Gingy now meowed at the door all night, and even treats couldn't quiet her.

Around this time, another attack came. While patrolling his yard, Mr. Harlow's neighbour saw a few of the missing cats on the roof, watching him with their glowing eyes. Then the growl came, closer than ever. All the cats stopped and turned their eyes to him. He stood frozen. Something jumped at him and scratched him. He tried to turn, but a few other animals jumped on him. He fired his gun into the ether. The animals were gone before he got off the ground, and the cats disappeared too.

One night Gingy sat on my lap, purring, when the growl came again. Gingy perked up her ears, shot her eyes to the door, and ran to it.

"Gingy, not again."

The meows. She scratched at the door with her paw.

"Gingy, please!"

She let out the most bloodcurdling meow and got up on her hind legs.

"Jesus."

I got up and went to the kitchen for a treat, even though it probably wouldn't work. I opened the package. She went silent. Then, through the silence, a door creaked. I looked back. Gingy hung from the door handle with her front paws as the door slowly opened.

"Gingy!"

She jumped down and slipped into the night. The treat dropped to the floor. I opened the door and rushed out after her. The outside air was cold. The growls were so loud outside. The streets were empty; only the lamps shone down. Gingy ran in the middle of the street toward the forest. 

"Gingy!" 

She got off the road and ran into the tall spruce trees. I took a deep breath and ran after her. The trees swallowed the light. I couldn't see Gingy, but I could still hear the growls nearby, and I was sure she was heading there. 

The deep growl echoed to my left. I crouched down by a tree and slowly looked there. All the village cats sat around a strange creature; its large silhouette towered over them, its huge glowing eyes stared at them, and it let out another deep growl. The cats turned and began walking toward the village in unison. 

My heart beat against my ribs. So many cats, and the thing was so huge, but my Gingy was among them. I swallowed and let out a silent pst pst, the one she'd always listened to. Gingy stopped and looked my way. I gripped the tree bark and pst pst again. She let out a silent meow and walked toward me. I was scared the other cats would turn, but they kept heading toward the village, their leader at the back.

"Gingy, come."

I reached for her soft, ginger fur. Her eyes looked into mine, but no recognition passed through them; they looked empty.

"Gingy?"

She let out a loud hiss and jumped at my hand. Sharp pain shot through it. She scratched and bit it aggressively.

"Gingy, stop!"

But she kept biting. I hated it, but I had to punch her to make her let go. Warm blood trickled down my hand. Gingy ran back to the cats, and they all stopped and looked my way. Panic ran through me, but the large thing let out another growl, and they turned back toward the village. I turned and bolted through the empty forest. The twigs hit my face. My feet slipped in the dewed grass. I kept expecting the big cat to jump on my back at any moment, but before I knew it, I was out in the village next to ours.

They bandaged my hand and called the police. When the policeman arrived, the whole village was quiet. The doors hung open. Everyone from my village lay in their houses in a pool of blood, with scratch and bite marks all over their bodies. The police found nothing but a few whiskers and soft, orange fur on the floor.

They let me go the next afternoon once the houses were clear. I was barely able to function. Out of habit, I reached for Gingy's bowl. Then I saw my bandaged hand.

I took on the local mental health clinic after I caught them committing fraud.

Billing for services not provided, up charging for specialized therapy that never happened (nor was the provider qualified to bill for) and falsified documents.

The sociopathic social worker took advantage of my toddler daughters and I. She was lying to my face about services available, saying we didn’t meet diagnostic criteria while she was billing for the services I was asking for - just no one was providing it.

To conceal her crime, she violated HIPAA and slandered me across town to every other disability service center in the county. People were rude as hell to me for no reason and it took me 18 months to figure out what she was doing.

Beyond words evil. Just fucking kicking me at my lowest and blocking any help from getting to me and my daughters so she could look good to her bosses at my personal expense.

I spent over 100 hours meticulously organizing my findings, over 150+ fraudulent billing instances totaling thousands and thousands of dollars.

Sent it all in to the state and Feds nearly a year ago now.

She was telling people I was lying about my daughter’s autism which is just flat out insane - she just wanted to block me from getting any help to conceal her crimes.

The damage was done though. And since the state told me these investigations can take 2-3 YEARS I feel like my only option is to move out of state but it’s been impossible since I have 2 autistic daughters and zero support I haven’t been able to work and am now stuck homeschooling after the school refused to acknowledge my daughters condition and basically bullied her all last year.

I have an official MD diagnosis but they for some reason think it’s fake????? I hate this entire town for being so fkn dumb.

I thought when I stepped up with piles of evidence and proof that people would realize and instead since the cops didn’t immediately arrest her and bust the clinic no one has yet to acknowledge that I was never the one lying.

I feel like I’m trapped in limbo.

I know I didn’t do anything wrong and was dragged through the mud by a selfish sociopath who abuses children so she could cover her crimes.

I expect a lot of people are going to be very ashamed of themselves when the arrests do come down, but this waiting period I am just languishing.

This isn’t even the first time I’ve been a whistleblower - it’s just the worst of this.

People truly cannot handle finding out someone they perceived as a “nice person” is a cold calculating evil sociopath while the “damaged person” is the one telling the truth.

Truth is the truth no matter how you feel about it.

I hate how long this is taking & I hate that I can’t do anything to make the resolution happen faster.

My kids are suffering because my entire community refuses to accept that people holding credentials aren’t inherently “better” than other people and “more honest” based solely on a job title.

That bitch should have been in federal prision a long time ago and I will not stop until she is, ever.

I think the only silver lining is if since they haven’t filed official charges yet, I re-submitted all my complaints and evidence again this time through the new “whistleblower reward” program the government started the first day it was online.

Honestly, this has robbed so much of my life to try to stand up for myself and my daughters, I really hope i do qualify for the reward money cause that may be the only good thing that it’s dragged out this fkn long.

I can’t make up for the what I’ve lost but it would go a long way to help us build a better future.

So fingers crossed that sometime in the next 2-3 years this wraps up and I can finally be vindicated from this god damn nightmare.

It should not be so hard to do the right thing.

People should not come out the woodwork to slander you for standing up to a sociopathic fraudster who has no issue harming special needs children to get her way. But they do.

I want that clinic shut down for good so no more children and moms are hurt by their evil fucking fraud practices.

That’s all that place does, steal Medicaid numbers, bill for services never provided, and slander their clients to cover it all up.

I dream of giving my victim impact statement at sentencing hearings, it’s something I’m praying I get the chance to do to make sure I get on the record the depth of harm that fucking lying sociopath caused.

For now, I just wait.

Previously:

Family loyalty was put to the test as the Jenkins protected their own, Kylie welcomed a familiar face, and the Slaters received some unexpected visitors.

Episode 15 Preview:

A family reunion brings old wounds to the surface, Michael's jealousy spirals and Mitchell takes a risky turn.

18/01/1999 | Monday

———

08:12AM. Number 27. Slater Residence.

———

Upstairs in her attic bedroom, Danielle is woken from the sounds of a very busy house. The kitchen, specifically.

Chatter, laughing, music, cooking and all sorts can be heard from the kitchen. Its all so loud that even in the attic, Danielle can hear it all in bed. Its warm. Familiar. Nice. Its family.

Danielle’s attic bedroom is long and slightly slightly spacious, with a sloping wooden ceiling, faded wallpaper and a worn, fluffy dark pink-ish red carpet in the middle of the room. The room had clearly been converted on the cheap years ago, but it's cosy enough, with a comfortable double bed pushed to the side of the room in the middle of the wall, a chest of drawers doubling as a dressing table, and a full length mirror propped up in the corner.

Clothes sit draped over the bed and hanging from hooks on the wall, with denim jackets, fitted tops, short skirts and jeans competing for space. Makeup, hairbrushes and cheap jewellery cluttered the dressing table, while fashion magazines, torn out pictures and rough sketches of dresses and outfits were pinned above it.

Her sketchbook lay open beside a scattering of pencils and fabric scraps, filled with designs for the clothing stall she dreamed of running at Marlas Street Market. It was untidy but unmistakably hers: a lived in, slightly chaotic little space belonging to a young woman with a head full of ideas and a wardrobe that was never quite big enough.

Seconds after her eyes drift open, she slowly gets out from under the thick duvet, and steps her bare feet onto the big soft rug underneath her bed.

She sighs, before getting up and walking groggily over to the floor door. She opens it and climbs down the narrow wooden ladder into the upstairs landing where Jenna is just walking out of the house's only bathroom, with a towel tightly wrapped around her wet, dripping body, and another wrapped around her hair.

She's getting ready for work

Jenna: "They wake you up too?" She smirks, referring to the ruckus downstairs

Danielle: "Mm" she mumbles, heading for the stairs

Jenna giggles before heading into her room and closing her door. Loud music starts blaring from behind her door.

Jenna's, Julie's and Katie and Kelly's bedrooms are all on this floor. Katie and Kelly share.

—

Downstairs

—

As Danielle reaches the bottom of the stairs and turns into the living room, there's a double blow up mattress laid on the floor in the middle of the living room, with a few blankets and pillows scattered all over it. A quick makeshift put together bed that actually looks comfy even though it was last minute.

And on one of the three seater green sofas, is a thick duvet and a few pillows. Another makeshift bed. Its a full house. Fuller than its ever been.

Danielle turns into the kitchen where Kelly, Arthur and Julie are sat at the round kitchen table eating breakfast and drinking tea, while Gavin is standing at the kettle on the counter next to the fridge, waiting for the water to boil for his coffee. At the cooker is Gillian, frying some eggs and bacon, and although its mid January, the kitchen door to the back garden is wide open, and we can see Georgina through the kitchen window, having a smoke in the morning air.

Its busy

As Danielle walks into the room, the people at the table immediately notice her

Julie: "Aw morning love!"

Arthur: "There she is, my little Dani. Come sit next to bamps" he smiles at her, chewing some toast and pulling out a chair from under the table for her to sit.

Arthur is a weathered, broad built Welshman with the sturdy frame of a man who had spent much of his life doing hard, physical work underground. Now in his mid sixties, his face is lined, his skin roughened by years of graft, and his thick salt and pepper hair sits comfortably on his head. He has bushy eyebrows, a broad nose and a permanent stubble that made him look a little gruffer than he actually was. With a dark grey moustache.

A former coal miner, Arthur is an old fashioned working class bloke who took pride in providing for his family, a fiercely loyal, protective, very kind and very sweet family man who loves his grandchildren. He enjoys a good laugh and is prone to a few pints of beer in the pub with the blokes in the evening. Nattering about their wives.

Danielle: "Morning all" she mutters, pouring some tea from the teapot on the table and taking a sip

Gillian: "Bacon, Dani love!? Eggs!?" Her nan shouts over from the cooker

Gillian Slater is a pretty, softly built Welshwoman with a friendly face, bright eyes and a head of thick, naturally curly blonde hair. She has a warm smile, fine features and the sort of expressive face that made it impossible for her to hide what she was thinking.

Always neatly dressed, Gillian has an eye for colour, patterns and fabrics, favouring well coordinated blouses, cardigans, skirts and sensible shoes, with the occasional pair of earrings to finish an outfit. Years spent working as a seamstress in a sewing factory had left her with a sharp eye for a badly fitted hem and an instinctive ability to spot quality clothing.

Warm, chatty and naturally funny, Gillian is a caring, comfortable presence who loved a natter over a cup of tea and took genuine pleasure in looking after her family. Polite without being stuffy and affectionate without being overbearing, she has a gentle way of making people feel welcome, although she was perfectly capable of delivering a cutting remark with a sweet smile when the occasion called for it.

Danielle: "No thanks nan. Got work soon, I'll grab something on my way in"

Arthur: "Ah you're a working woman too are ya? I remember when you were just a little one in nappies" he giggles

Arthur: "What is it you do?" He asks before taking a big gulp of tea

Julie: "She wants to be a fashion designer" she smiles

Arthur and Gillian both turn their heads in surprise to Danielle

Danielle: "No- no. She makes it sound like fashion week or something" she giggles

Danielle: "I work at a cheap clothes shop selling clothes but I want to design my own and run my own clothing stall on Marlas Market one day"

Gillian hears this from the cooker

Gillian: "Aw fair play to you love!" She says with a smile

Julie: "Yeah mam, my girls got dreams" she smiles proudly at Danielle

Arthur: "Well good on you, love. And your nan knows quite a bit about clothes, don't you Gill!?"

He shouts over to her with his mouth full of toast

Gillian: "What's that love!?" She shouts back from the cooker

Arthur: "Clothes! You know a lot about–" he starts coughing almost hysterically. But nobody takes notice

Gillian turns from the cooker with a pan full of bacon, and walks to the table

Gillian: "Oh yeah. Course I do. Used to work in a sewing factory back in the day didn't I Jule?"

Julie nods

Danielle: "So...you know alot about clothes then?" She asks her nan

Gillian: "Course I do. Can't design 'em to save my life like you can though. But I'm cracking when it comes to making them and what have you. The girls at the line were all devastated when I retired"

Danielle's face is washed over by a look of thought. She's deep in thought now.

Kelly: "Retired? You're only sixty..."

Gillian: "Sixty three Kelly, love. Year younger than bampy"

She giggles, heading back to the cooker with an empty pan.

Danielle: "Right— I'm gunna get dressed and head off. Haven't got long" she quickly stands up from the chair. A she does, Jenna walks in from the hallway, dressed for work. And takes her seat

Julie: "Have a good day love!" She shouts at Danielle who walks upstairs to get dressed

Julie: "You want to see her drawings, dad. They're amazing. Don't know where she gets it from"

Arthur: "Aw well good for her" he says, chewing toast

Arthur: "What is it you do again Gav?" He says, sipping tea

Everyone looks at him with a teasing smile

Gavin: "Oh I...I...—"

Jenna: "Nothing. He does nothing bamps" she smiles, before pouring hot water into her cup

Gavin: "No! No, i make music. I'm a DJ" He awkwardly smiles

Arthur: "Oh...right..." he nods

Arthur: "I used to be a—"

Julie: "A coal miner. Yeah dad, you told them all already" she giggles

Arthur: "Those mines were no joke, I tell you. Good thing about living in Wales though. Plenty of 'em. Means plenty of work"

Jenna: "Don't do it no more?" She asks, before taking a sip of her tea

Arthur: "No. Not since my heart attack a few years back. What do you do love? Got a proper job? Unlike mister music maker over here?" He giggles at Gavin

Jenna laughs

Jenna: "Yeah. Yeah, Im a bartender. Got the job recently actually"

Gillian: "Ooh bet that's busy work"

Jenna: "Ah its alright. Could be worse"

Arthur: "Bet thats the good thing with living down 'ere though i suppose. London, like. More busier. More things to do. More work"

Gillian: "Still dont know why you moved..." she mutters to Julie

Julie: "You know why we moved away mum. I...had a lot going on"

As she says that, Georgina walks in out from the garden.

Georgina Slater is an unmistakable presence: a big, glamorous, larger than life Welshwoman with a curvaceous figure, a broad smile and an enormous mass of thick, bushy brown curls that framed her face and seemed to have a personality of their own. She wears her makeup heavily and unapologetically, with dark eyeliner, layers of mascara, carefully painted lips and enough blusher to make sure she could be seen from the back of a theatre.

Georgina loves dressing up and has a particular fondness for anything bold, colourful or showy. Even when she's not performing, she looks as though she might be about to take the stage.

She made her living singing, dancing and performing celebrity impersonations, with Shirley Bassey and Tina Turner among her favourite acts. She has the voice, the confidence and the sheer theatrical nerve to throw herself into a performance, and she brought exactly the same energy into ordinary conversation. Loud, hilarious, shamelessly flirtatious and extremely fond of a drink, Georgina can turn a quiet family gathering into a full blown knees up without even trying.

She's a natural at making people laugh, adored being the centre of attention and rarely entered a room without making herself known. Beneath all the glitter, cheek and outrageous humour, is a deeply affectionate woman who loves her family and wears her heart on her sleeve. Georgina Slater is a party animal through and through. Exuberant, unapologetically herself and never one to do anything by halves.

Georgina: "Oh I remember alright. I was left picking up the pieces after—"

Julie: "Gina–" she holds her hand up and stops her

Theres a small silence

Kelly: "Well why did we move down here? Me and Katie were only babies. We dont remember, we grew up here"

An awkward silence sits in the one busy kitchen

Julie: "Just...had a lot going on. That's all. Needed a fresh start. So I moved here, and brought all my kids with me" she smiles

Georgina: "To a dump"

Julie: "Gina! It's not that bad..."

Arthur: "Speaking of Katie, when we gonna go see her? She's mostly the reason we came down 'ere"

Gillian: "Well her and Kelly love. After we got the phone call from Julie about the accident we knew we just had to be here. Even if we are taking up too much room" she chuckles

Julie: "I'm going in to see her today, now. She's being taken out of intensive care today. She'd love to see you all"

Gillian: "Aw good"

As she passes the kitchen doorway and runs down the stairs to head to work, Danielle shouts;

Danielle: "Bye everyone!". The front door slams and the kitchen jumps alive again.

Georgina: "Right, Jenna, show me where you work so I can get a drink in me!" She claps her hands once and rubs them together with a smile

Julie: "Already? Its not even nine"

She says, turning to face her sister

Georgina: "Well you know what they say sis, early bird catches the worm and all that" she smirks

A few giggles escape mouths

Gillian: "You'll never grow up, will you?" She jokingly asks at the kitchen sink

Georgina: "Why would I mam? They say you're as young as you feel dont they!? Now—"

She turns to Jenna

Georgina: "After I put my lippy on, you're taking me to work before we go see Katie at the Hospital. Okay?" She says in an almost excited tone

Jenna: "Yeah, yeah okay!" She laughs and nods her head

Georgina: "Attagirl! WOO!" She bounces into the living room

———

9:16AM. The Strip. Shawcross General Shop.

———

Its a quiet morning so far at the shop, and Yvonne sits behind the counter. Mind racing, scared to make a certain appointment.

She looks down at her Nokia on the counter, thinking.

Should I? Shan't I?

What do I do??

Eventually, she snaps out of it and grabs her phone, and the pamphlet on Abortion.

She turns to the staff only door to see no sign of Michael.

And when its safe. She dials the number for the clinic into her phone.

It rings theee times and then–

Yvonne: "Hi- hello? Hi. Is this Marlas Abortion Clinic? Yeah...hi. I'd– I'd like to make an appointment please" she says quietly like a child in trouble

Yvonne: "Yvonne Shawcross. Yeah. March 19th, nineteen sixty four. Yeah. Um...as soon as, please. Wednesday? Yeah that's...that works. Um yeah. Four o'clock is good. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. Yeah. Bye. Bye- bye"

Just as she puts her phone down onto the counter she exhales and shakes slightly.

The fuck did i just do?

And with that–

DINGALING

The bell above the door jingles and Mitchell comes stumbling in, absolutely wasted. With some lad around his age. Arms over each other shoulders. They sumble over to the alcohol section, laughing. Yvonne just watches. Then–

The staff only door behind the counter opens and Yvonne is startled. She turns around quickly.

Michael: "Woah, only me" he laughs

Michael: "You okay?" He asks quietly

Yvonne: "Yeah. Yeah im fine" she quietly says with an exhale

Michael smiles at her and then hears the ruckus coming from the alcohol section and looks up. He sees Mitchell. With another guy.

Yvonne: "Kids..." she mutters, referring to Mitchell and his friend

Michael: "Yeah. Kids" he fake giggles. Still staring at them.

Yvonne: "Hey, you mind if I go upstairs and have a lie down? Im...exhausted"

Michael: "Yeah. Yeah yeah of course you go on up. I've got the shop" he smiles

Yvonne: "Aw thank you love" she kisses his cheek and he leans in to it

She opens the staff only door and heads upstairs to rest.

Michael sits on the stool behind the counter, still watching. He looks down and sees something unfamiliar poking out of the lower shelf of the counter. He picks it up.

"CONSIDERING ABORTION?" catches his attention immediately. Written across a light purple pamphlet.

He stares at it, frowning in thought

———

9:31AM. The Victoria Arms Pub.

———

The pub has only been open an hour and a half and already its relatively busy.

Behind the bar, Jenna and Eddie both stand. Eddie is still giving Jenna tips.

At the bar, of course, is Jim. And at a table in the middle of the room is Julie and Georgina. Having a small drink each.

Georgina: "So, the crash. How did it happen?"

Julie: "Well, it was the Estate's 30th anniversary of being built. So every 5 years the Estate throws a party. You know what people are like around here or a piss up"

Gina nods

Julie: "Well, this place was packed, right? To the brim. And this new family that moved into number 33 came here too. And Katie and Kelly met one of their boys, Jamie his name is. They all hit it off and I guess he tried to show off, nicked a car and they all went joyriding. It was raining and they had all been drinking so..." she shrugs

Georgina: "Fucking Hell" she sighs

Georgina: "I can't believe you didn't tell us straight away"

Julie: "Hey! I was in shock okay? I could've lost both of my daughters and the last thing I wanted to do was to drag any of you into it. Dad especially. He's not in great health"

Georgina: "I suppose"

Julie: "And anyway, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell any of the kids about why we moved. About...you know"

Georgina: "About Dean?—"

Julie: "Yes. Do you even have to say his name?" She seethes, before taking a sip of her pint

Georgina: "You do know that Gavin, Jenna and probably Danielle all remember him and what happened, right?"

Julie: "Yes. I know that. And thats why I moved. To get away from...all of it. To give the kids a fresh start. To give Katie and Kelly a fighting hope that their dad wouldn't turn out to be like Gav's Jenna's and Danielle's"

Georgina: "What is it with you and men?" She jokingly asks as she takes a sip of her tear Maria

Julie: "Fuck knows" she mutters

Georgina: "Marlon wasn't that bad though..."

Julie: "Wasn't that bad!?" She laughs

Julie: "I went to his work to give him his packed lunch and found a woman almost half my age on her knees in front of him. The fuck you mean 'not that bad'?"

Georgina: "Well he didn't beat you did he? Not like—"

Julie: "Okay– I know what you're going to say and thats enough. Let's stop. I've got enough on my plate without you dragging up the past" she sips her pint

Georgina: "I'm sorry" she quietly says, rubbing her sister's arm

Julie: "It's okay" she smiles

A little silence sits there and Julie changes the subject

Julie: "Mm" she swallows her drink

Julie: "How's work? You met anyone?"

Georgina: "Oh its great. I love it. Love dancing and singing, me. You know that. And if I don't get paid cash I get paid in free drinks so its a win either way" she laughs

Georgina: "Even had a few people hire me to do impersonations for birthdays and wedding anniversaries and stuff like that. Its fucking awesome sis"

Julie: "Aw well good on you Gina. Really"

Georgina: "And as for blokes? I get them all the time but they come and go. Literally" she jokes

Julie: "Aw Gean! Dirty bitch" she laughs

———

11:14AM. Number 41. Maureen's Home.

———

Kylie comes in through the front door after attempting to smoke a fag in the front garden. She failed.

She closes the door and sits on the sofa, joining Maureen in watching TV.

Maureen: "You alright? You feeling any better?"

Kylie: "No. Not really. I couldn't even have a puff without it making me feel sick" she shows Maureen the full and newly stubbed out fag before dropping it into the ashtray on the table

Maureen looks

Kylie: "Don't think I ate anything funny do you?"

Maureen: "Don't know love. You can't have. We eat the same thing at the same time, most times. And I feel fine"

Maureen: "You been sick this morning? Apart from late last night?"

Kylie: "No. Don't know what came over me"

Maureen: "Hm. I dont know either love but if there's anything I can do"

Kylie: "I know. Thanks Maur"

Maureen nods

Maureen: "Oh, how was your meet up with you sister yesterday? How did it go?"

Kylie: "Yeah it went well actually. Shitting myself a bit before I saw her coz I didnt know what to expect, like. But no, it was nice. We had a nice catch up i told her the mess I was in, about Nathan"

Maureen: "Yeah"

Kylie: "And uh, Barry walks past and saw me so of course he came in and started talking to me didnt he?"

Maureen: "What did he want with you?"

Kylie: "I was seeing his son Gaz weren't I? But i left because..."

Maureen: "Yeah?"

Kylie: "I...just didn't feel safe there. Like I do here"

She keeps some of the truth hidden

Maureen smiles

Maureen: "You know you're always safe here, love. Okay?"

Kylie: "I know. Ta Maureen"

———

12:44PM. The Strip. Shawcross General Shop.

———

The bell above the main door jingles as it closes shut after a customer leaves, leaving Michael alone in the shop once more.

He pulls the pamphlet out again, staring at it again. More. Thinking. Wondering.

DINGALING

The door opens again and Mitchell comes in again, still hammered. If not, more than he was earlier. He's alone this time and walks straight to the counter.

Michael slides the pamphlet out of sight

Michael: "Where's your boyfriend?" He teases cruelly

Mitchell: "Well his name is–" he hiccups

Mitchell: "Alex. And we're– he's not my boyfriend. Just a bit of fun. Something you forgot how to have" he slurs, leaning forward against the counter

Mitchell: "And hes outside. Waiting for me. I'll have a large bottle of Smirnoff and a pack of condoms"

He says to Michael, directly looking into his eyes

Michael: "So childish..." he whispers as he turns to get the vodka and condoms

Mitchell: "You say something?"

Michael turns back around and hands him the vodka and condoms

Michael: "No"

Mitchell giggles

Mitchell: "Never did have much of a backbone did you?" He hiccups

Michael: "And you mean what, exactly?"

Mitchell: "You know exactly what i mean Michael. Never being honest. Never putting yourself first" he slurs

Mitchell: "Never admitting what it is you really want" he adds with a glare

Michael: "That's twelve ninety nine" he mumbles

Mitchell hands him a bunch of change. Leaving Michael to have to count out the cost himself

As he does, Mitchell speaks

Mitchell: "I may be childish. But at least im not a lying cheat who lies to himself" he says to Michael quietly

Michael looks up

Michael: "At least I don't drink my feelings away like a schoolkid with a crush that doesn't like him back"

He continues counting the cost

Mitchell: "Now now Michael. We both know that's not the case. Because we both know, deep down, that you like–"

Michael: "Here's your change" he cuts him off, holding spare change over the counter

Mitchell takes the coins and pockets them, along with the condoms

Michael: "And dont show up to work drunk, will you? Don't want to fall over on stage" he makes a snarky sarcastic remark to Mitchell, but it backfires

Mitchell: "Can't really fall off a pole. And anyway, i do private dances more than pole dances" he says back. Before swiping the big glass bottle off the counter and storming out of the shop, to meet his current affair outside.

Michael is left standing there, angry and hurt.

———

2:13PM. St Anne's Hospital. Outside Katie's Room

———

In the hallway outside Jamie's room, Julie is leading Arthur, Gillian, Georgina and Gavin to Katie's sick bay. On their way, they walk past Jamie's. Gavin and Julie instinctively look in without even realising.

Barry and Nicola notice and they all make eye contact.

After they walk past, Barry and Nicola both exit Jamie's room and shout to the Slaters

Nicola: "Seen your Katie being taken out of 'ere this morning'" she snarls

Barry: "Getting better is she?" He asks deadpan

Julie: "Yeah. She is" she replies

Arthur: "Who are they, love?" He quietly asks Julie in her ear

Before Julie can answer, Georgina senses the tension and speaks up

Georgina: "Have you got a problem? Do we know you?" She confronts them

Nicola and Barry walk closer to the family

Nicola: "Who are you? The calvary?" She snaps

Georgina steps out from behind Julie in an almost threatening way

Georgina: "I'm her sister. Gina"

Nicola: "And those two half dead corpses behind you are your folks i take it?" She shoots a remark

Gillian: "Oi you fucking cheeky—" Gillian goes to step forward but Arthur holds her back

Arthur: "Not worth it love" he whispers

Georgina: "Ah. I see. You're the Jenkins aren't you?"

Barry: "I see you've been running your mouths" he smirks to Gavin and Julie

Gavin: "Well we thought we should let them know what tramps we've got round 'ere"

Julie: "And who's responsible for the crash"

Nicola steps closer

Nicola: "You little—"

Georgina steps in front of Julie

Georgina: "Nu-uh. You're gunna have to go through me first, sunshine. And you don't want that"

Nicola: "Aha is that so?" She laughs

Georgina: "Not unless you want to end up in the coma beside your son, no"

A thick and heavy silence sits between the two families for a few seconds. Before a doctor's voice cuts in

Senior Dr: "Ms Slater!" He shouts from down the hall behind the Slaters

Everybody turns to the doctor and looks at him, who's standing there opposingly, trying to calm the tension between the families. He succeeds.

Senior Dr: "Katie's been moved downstairs, if you'd like to follow me?"

Julie: "Yeah. Yeah, of course"

Julie, Arthur, Gillian and Gavin all start heading towards the Senior Dr who's standing by the elevator. Georgina still stares at Nicola directly in her eyes, with a sharp glare. A dagger.

Julie: "Gina!" She shouts back as they walk away

Before Georgina turns away, she quickly glares at Barry too, before joining her family

———

3:49PM. Marlas Estate Park/Playground

———

Its a dull and damp misty afternoon on Marlas Estate. The sky is grey and drizzling.

Somewhere in Marlas Estate, sits a neglected child's playground thats basically a concrete patch on a bare street corner with rusted playground equipment that'll probably give you tetanus.

Its bare, sprawling. And in the park sits a few wooden benches that have seen better days, a picnic bench with initials etched into them, a yellow rusted seesaw, a wooden set of swings, and a light blue plastic and metal climbing frame with a slide and platform with a few ladders and stairs.

And underneath the slide is a little seating section with a blue plastic bench.

There, sits Mitchell and his recent fling, Alex Thorne. Opposite each other. They're both cold but huddled. Looking rather sketchy all things considered.

Alex Thorne, 20, is a skinny, lanky young man with a scruffy, unhealthy appearance that makes him look older than his years. He sofa surfs. His dark brown hair is a mess, while his pale, drawn face, hollow looking eyes and tired expression give him the look of someone who's spent too many nights awake and too many mornings regretting it.

He dresses in dark, cheap clothes that hang loosely off his frame, usually creased and well past their best, with battered trainers and the general appearance of someone who hasn't cared about his appearance in a long time. There's something restless and shifty about him, his eyes constantly darting about

Alex has the desperate, unpredictable air of a young man whose need for his next fix has begun to outweigh almost everything else in his life.

Mitchell takes a big swig from the bottle of Vodka thats almost empty. He winces as passes it to Alex. Who's almost as trashed as Mitchell.

Alex: "You always hang out in parks drinking yourself stupid?" He grins, before finishing the bottle

Mitchell: "Only when I get shat on" he higgups

After Alex finishes the bottle, he drops it onto the floor and it smashes

Alex: "Well–" he hiccups

Alex: "That didn't touch the sides. How about something more...effective?" He smirks at Mitchell

Mitchell: "...like what?" He slurs

Alex reaches into his black jacket pocket and pulls out a small clear plastic baggie. Half filled with a white powdered substance. Cocaine.

He dangles it in front of Mitchell with a big smile

Alex: "Ever tried this?"

Mitchell nods no

Alex: "Beats weed my friend. You got anything to cut it with?"

Mitchell digs in his pockets and pulls out some coins, and shows them to Alex

Alex: "Mm. Anything else?"

He pulls out his keys to his flat

Mitchell: "This any good?"

Alex: "Ah. Perfect!"

He snatches the key from Mitchell's hand, opens up the baggie and pours some of the coke onto the table. Mitchell watches carefully.

Alex carefully splits the substance again and again until there's a two lines.

Alex puts the key down on the table in front of Mitchell, closes one nostril, and snorts one line with the other.

Mitchell watches and Alex wiped his nose and sniffles afterwards

Alex: "Well? It won't hurt you" he giggles

Mitchell knows what cocaine does. He knows about it. And he knows about drugs. And he's seen people do it before too. Right in front of him. But doing it yourself...that's different.

Anything to block the pain I guess. To block Michael...

Mitchell slowly leans forward, and copies what Alex done. Blocks one nostril, and uses the other to snort.

He winces as he leans back up from the table

Alex laughs

Alex: "First time?"

Mitchell nods and laughs

Mitchell: "Yeah"

Alex: "You'll get the hang of it. Don't get addicted though mind you. Shit's expensive"

Mitchell sniffles

Mitchell: "Right. Let's go to the pub"

He says getting up

Alex: "I'm skint mate. Fuck all to my name"

Mitchell: "That's alright, I'll pay for your drinks. Im earning loads of dosh from my new job"

Mitchell hiccups and Alex smiles

They both stumble and make their way over to the Victoria Arms to get even more hammered.

———

4:14PM: St Anne's Hospital. Katie's Sick Bay

———

In a shared triage room where sick bays line each side of the room, Katie lays in her sick bay with the blue curtain pulled open. And her family around her.

She lays sat up in bed

Her grandparents and aunt are catching up with her.

Katie: "Aw you didnt have to"

Gillian: "Don't be silly of course we did! I remember hearing your mum on the other end of the line telling me what happened and when she did i hit the roof didnt I Arth?"

She nudges her husband

Arthur: "I'll say" he jokingly rolls his eyes at Katie

Georgina: "So...any idea when you'll be out? Nice to see that someone in this family grew up to be a party animal. Apart from me that is" she smirks

Katie: "The doctors said a week or two if things go well. But its still early days"

Julie: "And anyway, dont think you're taking her out clubbing after what happened. No fucking way"

Georgina: "I know I know. Wasn't planning on it" she jokingly defends herself and then secretly winks at Katie

Katie smirks

Katie: "So, how long you lot staying down here?"

Gillian: "As long as it takes for you and your sister to get better. Then we'll be out of your hair" she rubs Katie's arm

Julie: "Didn't really expect to have eight people under one roof" she chuckles

Katie: "Fuck! Eight!?"

Julie: "Yup. Its me in my room upstairs, Kelly in yours and her room, Jenna in hers, Gavin in his room in the garage, Dani in her attic room, Gina on the sofa, and Nanny and Bampy on an airbed in the living room"

Katie: "My God..."

———

4:53PM. The Strip. Shawcross General Shop.

———

Behind the counter, Michael's mind is absolutely racing, as well as his heart. Since he found the pamphlet earlier, he hasn't been able to stop looking and thinking about it.

Or about Mitchell...

The shop is quiet, but the peace isn't doing his mind any favours

Suddenly–

The staff only door behind the counter opens and Yvonne slowly walks out, feeling sleepy from her long rest. She yawns as she walks out from behind the counter, past Michael and over to the fridges of cool drinks

Yvonne: "God...don't know if that rest helped, you know. Feel more tired than before" she quietly giggles as she takes a bottle of Lucozade from the fridge and walking over to the counter.

Michael says nothing

Yvonne: "Can't get enough of these recently..." she waves the bottle in his face before opening it and taking a sip

Again, Michael says nothing, just looks down at his hands under the desk

Yvonne: "What's up? You okay?"

Michael looks up at her into her eyes. For while

Yvonne: "What...? What is it?"

Nothing

Yvonne: "Michael what is it? You're scaring me..."

He pulls up the pamphlet from under the counter and Yvonne's stomach plummets

Michael: "Got something you want to tell me?"

Yvonne's heart pounds at her chest and she can feel herself shaking but she battles with her body language and acts cool

Yvonne: "Mmm no...not really..." she acts confused

Michael: "So...this isn't yours?" He asks rhetorically, sharply

Yvonne nods no as she takes another sip of her drink

Yvonne: "No. I was serving a teenager this morning, she dropped that on her way out and by the time I got to it to give it back to her, she'd gone. I weren't chasing after some kid who can't keep her legs closed" she jokes, playing it off. Almost smoothly

Michael looks back at the pamphlet, then at Yvonne, and at the pamphlet again

Michael: "...I dont believe you" he says quietly

Yvonne: "What? Why not?" She laughs

Michael: "Why would I? You haven't been yourself lately and—"

Yvonne: "Oh Michael I'm ill! Okay!? Not pregnant. Im...I'm ill. People get sick and pregnant teenagers read about abortions. Sometimes things aren't what they seem"

Michael: "I...I just..."

Yvonne: "Just what?"

Michael: "I...I dont know. Something's not right..."

Yvonne: "For fuck's sake" she whispers in frustration

Yvonne: "Michael im not pregnant. How many more times have I got to tell you?"

Michael: "But the night of the crash, when I came back here, you—"

Yvonne: "Felt guilty? Because thats all it was! I made an effort for you because I felt bad about how I treated you earlier that night!" She shouts at him

Michael goes to speak but she carries on

Yvonne: "Why the Hell would I want a kid with you!?" She giggles

Michael stutters and chuckles in disbelief

Yvonne: "You know what i mean. I'm sorry...that came out too harsh" she tries to take some of it back

Michael: "No. I dont know what you mean Von"

A heavy silence sits there

Michael: "Fine, you know what? If you're so 'well', than you can manage the shop all on your own for the rest of the day can't you?"

He walks from behind the counter and towards the coat rack by the door

Yvonne: "Where are you going, now!?"

Michael: "To clear my head!" He says, throwing his coat on and storming out the shop

Yvonne sighs and looks at the pamphlet on the counter. She yanks it and rips it up in frustration

———

7:17PM. The Victoria Arms Pub.

———

For a Monday, the pub is relatively full and quite alive. Of course the usual piss heads are here...Jim definitely.

Behind the bar, Eddie and Jenna are serving away, both actually having quite a nice time. Chatting and laughing between serving customers. At the bar, Jim is about 8 pints deep. Maybe more? Who knows

On the opposite bar, in the lounge section of the pub, is Mitchell and Alex, both sitting in a corner booth, laughing and slurring God knows what. Looking rather close.

And on the other end of the same bar as Jim, is Michael, a few pints deep also. He can't help but overhear Mitchell and his 'boyfriend' as Michael called him.

Jim: "You alright there Michael, lad?" He asks from the other end of the bar

Michael can't hear him clearly so he moves closer. Sits on the stool next to Jim

Michael: "You what Jim?"

Jim: "You alright? Looking quite down over there" he hiccups

Michael: "Stressful day thats all!" He smiles and shouts above the noise of the busy pub

Jim: "I hear that" he jokes

Michael smiles and nods, but can't help but look over at Mitchell every few minutes. He knows its wrong. But can't help it...

Over at one of the wooden round tables in the middle of the room, sits Julie, Georgina, Gillian and Arthur, chatting about Katie and Kelly's recoveries, and Jenna working behind the bar

Over at a booth near the window, is Kylie and Maureen. A few drinks in. Kylie is almost ready to go, Maureen? Not so much

Maureen takes a sip of her pint

Maureen: "I'm glad you decided to come out after all. You feeling any better?"

Kylie: "Mm...a bit i guess. Don't really know. I think so. These drinks aren't going down a treat though i got to be honest"

Maureen: "Aw why's that love?"

Kylie: "Don't know. They're just making me feel a bit sicky" she smiles

—

From their table, Julie waves at Maureen and Kylie to come over. Georgina, Gillian and Arthur all smile at them too.

Maureen notices

Maureen: "Oh, look. Julie's calling us over" she goes to get up but Kylie stops her

Kylie: "Woah– im not..."

Maureen senses Kylie's hesitation

Maureen: "Kylie, love. That woman over there" she points at Julie

Maureen: "Is one of the nicest and most honest women you'll ever meet. Okay? You'll be fine. Come on, meet some new faces"

She stands up with her drink, and Kylie does the same, reluctantly. They both walk over

Maureen: "Hiya Jule! Hi all!" She says to the table

Julie: "Maureen! This 'ere are my mam, dad and younger sister Georgina"

Georgina: "It's Gina" she says to Maureen with a big smile, holding out a hand

Maureen takes it

They all get acquainted and Maureen and Kylie both sit at the table with the Slaters

Georgina: "So, you look like my kind of gal. You like to drink?" She asks Kylie

Kylie: "I do yeah. But...been a bit occupied lately"

Georgina: "Too occupied to have fun?"

Kylie nods

Georgina: "Well tonight that's gonna change" she smiles, raising her glass to Kylie's

Kylie smiles and does the same

Maureen notices and a smile crawls on her face

—

Behind the bar, Jenna just finishes serving Jim a pint and turns to Eddie

Jenna: "Where's Paula then? She not about? Could do with an extra set of hands" she asks

A look falls onto Eddie's face and he doesn't know what to say

Jenna notices and goes to say that he doesn't have to tell her anything, but he speaks up anyway

Eddie: "Yeah– um...she's..she's just staying with her sister up north for a bit. She...needed some space" he smiles

Jenna smiles back and briefly places her hand on his forearm and smiles at him, friendly. Before removing it and getting back to work. Eddie watches work away. With a small smile.

—

Back at the busy table, Georgina is trying to get Kylie to go out with her on the town. Tonight. Kylie is clearly reluctant but Julie and Maureen are both telling Georgina no.

Georgina: "Oh come onnn. I can tell you're a right laugh! I can just tell! I've met all kinds of women in clubs and shit and your kind are my kind!" She says to Kylie with a laugh

Julie: "What's that then? Overbearing?"

Gillian and Arthur laugh

Georgina: "Alive baby! Alive and ready to partayyyy!" She laughs

Maureen: "Gina love, I dont think—"

Georgina holds her hand up

Georgina: "Nu-uh. This one needs some proper time out with a real party girl. Instead of being tied to group of old biddies like you lot" she jokes

Kylie laughs

Georgina: "Come on" she says quietly

Kylie: "I have no money" she says quietly

Georgina: "That's okay, I do. I'll pay for you"

Julie: "Gina—"

Georgina holds her hand up in Julie's face

Georgina: "So?" She smiles at Kylie

Kylie looks at Maureen and Maureen looks back with a look that says "Well...its up to you"

Kylie looks back to Georgina

Kylie: "What the heck why not!?" She laughs

Georgina: "Aah!! Attagirl!" She hugs her side

Maureen and Julie look at each other

—

Over at the bar, Michael tries to eavesdrop and looks in on Mitchell and Alex's conversation. They look...comfortable

A few short minutes pass and they both get up laughing, and start making their way out the door

And within a flash, Michael decides to finish the rest of his pint.

But he does. He downs what's left snd follows Mitchell and his scruffy hookup out the door snd into the dark night.

———

7:28PM. Outside The Victoria Arms Pub.

———

As Michael runs out into the damp snd drizzly night, down the street to the right, he sees two silhouettes running and laughing towards a bus stop.

He decides to run after them, not knowing why...except for Mitchell

As Mitchell and Alex reach the bus stop and Michael is a few steps behind, a bus pulls up, illuminating onto the street.

It hisses to a stop and they both run on, quickly pay, and run to the back. Michael stands on the pavement, and watches the bus take off and pass him.

As it does, he sees Mitchell and Alex right at the back, hands all over each other. Consumed in each other's bodies.

He's left standing there in the dark and drizzled night, head and heart both all over the place and torn to bits

———

That's episode 15! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! As always please let me know what you think! Episode 16 will be out soon! ☺️

Okay, so girl… I need you to sit down for this because WHAT HAPPENED TO ME IS ACTUALLY INSANE.
So basically, for the past few months, I had this weird feeling that someone was watching me. Every time I left work, I’ve been getting strange texts like “ you looked beautiful today” or “ new scrubs?” Sometimes I’d notice the same guy in the emergency room, or standing across in the parking lot.
At first, I thought I was being dramatic.
Until I started getting anonymous letters in the mail as well.
The first one was a note w rose petals and a single kiss candy. I didn’t bother to read it just threw it all away. But
Girl. I GOT ON My Phone & blocked the THE NUMBER i was getting any strange texts from.
And made a report, I cant stop mail but i can stop the texts. Then another message came through from a different number.
“You really shouldn’t walk to your car alone.”
Like um EXCUSE ME?!
I started checking over my shoulder everywhere I went. I even reported it, but nobody could figure out who was doing it.
Now, here’s where things get CRAZY.
One night, I got off work late. It was raining, my phone was dead, and the parking lot was practically empty.
I was walking to my car when I heard someone behind me.
I turned around, and this random man started asking me questions.
I tried to ignore him, but he suddenly grabbed my wheel and trying to make his way into my car, he pulls me out slammed me against the ground.
I STARTED SCREAMING.
He covered my mouth and tried dragging me. I was fighting for my life, literally. I genuinely thought I was about to die.
And then a guy shouted “ hey, hey let go of her now. .”.
And guess who was standing there?
THE GUY WHO HAD BEEN IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM AND PARKING LOT SOMETIMES.
I WAS SO CONFUSED.
The attacker told him to mind his own business, but this man just stood there staring at him like he was about to lose his mind.
He said, “I’m not going to tell you again.”
From there he charged at him, and the two of them started fighting and attacker ended up running away.
I ran in the opposite direction and I scrambled toward the building and called the police.
Then the attacker ran.
Andthe guy
He immediately came to look for me and said he texted me not to walk to my car alone at night.
Thats when it hit me this guy was my “stalker” idk what to even call him but he saved me but im also extremely uncomfortable. This guy has sent letters to my house knows where i live and is following me. Yes he saved me. But idk what to think about all of this. Absolutely crazy. Police ended up showing up took a report and yes i made two reports that night. Idk its has to been the freakiest thing to happen to me. Ill be moving soon thats for sure.

The smell of old worn out and dusty books filled the air as I entered the old thrift store by the corner of my house it had recently open not too long ago I’d say about two months ago? Perhaps later I couldn’t remember when it opened that much I don’t recall it but I think it has to be two months no later than that?

I grabbed an old worn out book as I flipped through the thick leather cover, I’d grabbed off the bargaining shelf. Half way through as I opened the book the pages resisted quite a bit I was afraid that I would rip it but I pulled a little harder it opened at last, it was held apart by something stiff tucked in the corner of the book it looked as if it was a.

Polaroid the glossy chemical finishes had turned slightly golden around the edges as they were also folded quite a bit I didn’t think that much about it. The image still looked to be about sharp my eyes tracked the image slowly and carefully as I observed every small detail, the dark oak desk against the far wall the old chair the rug near a bed.

The iron bed frame that was rusted a little bit in the corner, the low window by the side of the wall sill I couldn’t quite put my mind into it I focused as I tried to remember this place had been familiar? I put my mind really hard into than I realized what it was my own room, every notch in baseboards but my thumb brushed the bottom border of the Polaroid picture.

The date was printed in a deep violet color as it caught the light of the sun, October 78?. My building that I live in wasn’t even built until the mid-nineties, I slowly but surely flipped over. Written in light shaky pencil was single straight line “Room 4B. He still thinks he’s alone.” I was afraid but deeply curious at what it was?

I bought it took it home as I slowly walked up to my apartment I softly opened my door closed it I didn’t even bother to change clothes as my curiosity grew further I went to my own room that I had seen in the Polaroid picture. I sat down on my desk I opened the leather book and I took out the picture again.

The ticking of my clock on my desk suddenly sounded quite off beat not enough to notice if you weren’t paying attention but I listened closely, it sounded like it was doubled, like two pendulum’s swinging out of sync. The overhead bulb flickered slowly once twice and then it died plunging the whole room into a dark room.

When the lights flickered softly slowly again back on a second later, it was low, a warm amber that it had never been. The air smelled thick with old kind of cigarette smoke. On my desk in front of me, right next to my notebook sat a heavy iron cast iron typewriter with a yellowed sheet of paper rolled into the carriage.

Typed in a rush faded black ink were five words “DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR!” From the hallway outside of my bedroom, three slow soft heavy knocks echoed throughout the deep brown oak door. Than I realized what it was it was a cycle that had never been broken the thing outside the door was non other than myself my past self trying to get back in.

To break the cycle I point downwards at the floorboards surrounding my desk. The flash illuminates dozens of faint, glowing chalk outlines or tally’s scratched into the wood marks that only show up in the cameras film, and proving that I have lived through and have died and suffered in the exact room 100 times before.

I write on the back “iteration #101. Stop trying to leave through the front door use the fire escape” I put the picture back into the heavy leather book.

As I smile and drop a soft tear knowing that I myself won’t get to experience the breaking of the loop but my other self will as I look through the window one last time as. The clock hits midnight all I think about is how my other self will know how to escape as everything finally goes dark.

I was molested at 6, then again twice when I was 18. At 18, I also got pregnant with my boyfriend and had to go through an abortion. The same relationship lasted two years, during which he cheated on me while I was dealing with health problems. When the truth came out, he made up an entire story and told our university that I was the one who cheated. I almost quit university at 20 because of everything. Eventually, I went to therapy, and life started getting better.

Then I lost my pet. Four months later, I watched my grandmother lie in a hospital for 22 days, unconscious, struggling to breathe, fighting for her life while all I could do was stand there and hope she would somehow make it through. I watched her suffer. I watched the uncertainty, the machines, the endless waiting, and the helplessness of wanting to save someone you love more than anything but not being able to do a damn thing.

And here I am, just 22 years old, carrying all of this.

I’m numb, but I’m okay, I guess. I tend to run away from my feelings by distracting myself, and eventually, I accept things without letting them hurt me as much. I don’t know if that’s healing or just my way of coping.

But sometimes, when I look back at everything I’ve survived, I genuinely think I’m the strongest person I know.

I’m not saying I’m unbreakable. I’m just amazed that after everything life has thrown at me, I’m still here, trying to live.

Maybe I don’t need to be strong all the time. Maybe I deserve some peace, too.

I’m not saying I’m strong because none of this affects me. It does. I’m not saying I’ve healed from everything because I haven’t. There are things I still haven’t completely processed, things that might hurt me years from now, and things I don’t even have the words to explain.

I’m only 22. I should be worrying about my career, making memories, figuring out who I am, and enjoying my twenties. Instead, I’ve already experienced things that have fundamentally changed the way I see people, love, loss, and life itself.

Here’s last parts story
https://www.reddit.com/r/stories/s/awmVi6lO9b

So I forgot to even update after the date happened because what happened on the 24th was a lot for me to think about and didn’t leave me the brain power to write an essay right after.

I’ve also gotten comments on my last post claiming my story is fake and people need to stop wasting time with me? Someone else called the whole story fiction because “Muslim parents dont do that”???? Like what? Genuinely what are these atrocious comments. I’ve got morals. Why would I lie about a pregnancy and who are you to decide what a religion should do?

Anyways. After I got the 100 bucks for the date and my friend confirmed she wants to come, I started looking for a nice place that wasn’t too far but also a good restaurant in a nice place. Ended up in downtown Toronto near the union station but that’s the most romantic place ever. So I found a really good steakhouse. Crap ton of people were wearing suits and dresses. Others doing semi-formal clothing. I chose a suit of mine. A nice blue colour with a white button up, no tie. I sent a photo of my outfit on the hanger to my friend and she told me that she wants to try and match with me. Now I didn’t know what she would wear but I was expecting something more baggy like shes been wearing nowadays.

So later on, before the 24th obviously, I got permission to borrow the car. The amazing Mitsubishi Lancer Hatchback. It’s a nice car to be honest and it’s not everyday you see a Lancer Hatchback either and I love driving this car too since it’s so small and parking is never a problem as long as it’s legal. So I tell my friend I’ll pick her up around 4:40 and by the time we get to the gardener there won’t be as much as traffic as there usually is.

So the 24th arrived quicker than I had expected. I got home from work around 2 and took a shower immediately. Gave myself the everything shower minus shaving my beard. I got ready around 3:20 and left the house at 4:25. I pulled into her mom’s driveway at 4:35, grabbed the bouquet of flowers from the back and walked to the front door and her mom’s boyfriend was there with the door opened before I even reached the storm gate.

I don’t think i mentioned this but this dude genuinely does not like me at all. He looks at me as if i offended three generations of his family, speaks to me as if im not worth the effort or time and I could tell he didn’t want me around my friend, I’ve heard him mention it to my friends mom before, telling her that “he’s probably using her for himself. Teenage boys are like that.” Like EXCUSE me but this dude is genuinely 13 years OLDER than his girlfriend. I don’t have a big problem with a ten year age gap considering my parents have one but I personally wouldn’t want that. But when your gf is 46 and you’re pushing 60 in just a few months? He can’t take all the blame though considering my friend’s mom is consenting. Anyways he allows me in reluctantly and tells me to bring her back home by 11. I haven’t even said hello yet to anyone and I have yet to see my friend and he’s playing dad and talking about curfew already. I just nod because what else am I supposed to do. Her mom appears eventually, thank god, and she just hugs me and I could feel the dudes eyes pointing daggers into the back of my skull. Her mom tells me to just drive safe and don’t worry about the time too much and just enjoy myself. I was surprised she said that but why would i refuse?

So a good two minutes pass and I hear heels clicking down the stairs and when I look up… oh my days. I kid you not that she was absolutely stunning. Genuinely beautiful. That was probably the first time she’s seen me stunned and jaw dropped because she just laughs as she reached my side and she just pushes my jaw back up and I couldn’t just contain my smile. I hand her the flowers and I get a hug in return. Her mom tells us to stand together by the wall for a picture, I know I haven’t mentioned this one but her mom loves taking “perfect” photos. We stood side my side like smiling statues and her mom takes a single photo, looks at it and gives us a solid “tsk tsk tsk.” She starts to rearrange how we’re standing and where our hands are(this is important.) she made my friend hold the flowers at a certain angle so that it covered some of her and me. She made her lean slightly more into me and made me put an arm around her waist. She took the photos and we finally left.

So as we were getting to Toronto, listening to drake(very fitting) she was quieter than usual. I asked her if somethings wrong and she tells me she’s just happy we’re doing this after a few stressful weeks.

We finally found parking, I paid the nine bucks and we walked to the restaurant. We find a nice two seat table and sit down, place orders and just sit with each other for a bit. I ask her how she’s feeling so far. She smiles and tells me she’s just really happy. But shes also trying her best not to think or talk about the “thing” because she knows I put effort into this and she doesn’t want to ruin the night. I tell her that she doesn’t need to do that or have to be ashamed about the pregnancy because it may have been a mistake but it also let us get closer in a way we never expected. She looks at me for a moment, fully silent and I thought I said something wrong but she instead held my hand from across the table.

Food comes out, we didn’t order steak at a steakhouse which now that I think about it, im confused why we did that. We instead got pasta. She got some pasta that had bits of meat in it, i got a pasta with wagyu beef in it. It was banging. We finish dinner, sat for a while longer, talking and laughing and left about 30 minutes after dinner. We walked around a while. She got cold and like the gentleman I am, I handed her my suit jacket. We walked to the harbour front and even though it was dark we still sat together. Huddled close for warmth at first and then it turned into sitting close to just be close. We talk more. I don’t even remember what we talked about but those are usually the best conversations.

Now i got a comment on one of my earlier posts, i don’t remember who exactly asked me but they asked “do you love her?” I really didn’t have a straight answer at first but ended up with yes. So eventually we got quiet and I really don’t know how it happened but we just kissed. Only once. It wasn’t a long kiss but it wasn’t short either. Long enough for her to hold my face for a bit before we pulled away. And to be honest, that kiss was a lot better than what happened in bed a few weeks ago prior to this.

We got in the car by 11 and I dropped her off later on. The drive was quiet but we did hold hands on the centre console thing and I felt that was the most romantic thing I’d ever done before. Luckily her moms boyfriend was asleep by the time I dropped her off.

When I got home, my brothers were still awake, asked how dinner was and if I brought left overs. Told them dinner was good and I really left it at that. I still haven’t told anyone what happened that night, im really not planning to tell anyone in my family. Maybe a few close friends but that’s it.

I’ve been thinking about the date itself and I haven’t seen her since considering I had no school today. Im looking forward to seeing her tomorrow morning and being close with her

I wonder if some people have this feeling that they're either having sort of...memories? from a past life, or even concurrent ones. I do. Several. And in at least one of them I'm/was mentally retarded. And this is very beautiful girl who loves me. I think she's my wife, and I've done some stupid things in the past and she would stand there and berate me for like 10 minutes while I'm staring at the void barely understanding a thing she says. I'm pretty sure we do the deed every now and then too. I can feel she loves me deeply, and there's something reassuring to her about the total lack of judgment from my part. I go even farther "off-grid" when we are intimate, if you know what I mean. Nothing in the world makes sense. Sometimes I hear my own voice and I don't know if I'm actually talking or not. Am I deaf or hard-of-hearing or something? I don't know. But I like doing chores like shoveling snow and blowing leaves as well as mowing the lawn. There's this pet I learned to feed. Even the pet knows to not rely on me for what it wants. The girl takes better care of him and all of us. She has a kid. I don't know if it's mine. The whole world is a blur.

The end.

*Trigger Warning* depiction of depression and negative emotions

Lines from some old Christmas song blared, waking him with a start. Moaning, his hand fumbled with the snooze button long enough to hear who was kissing Santa Claus before he rolled over. Eyes opened, he studied the little red screen until he understood that it said 7 AM. He had no idea why he had set the alarm for Saturday, but since he would not be able to sleep now, there was no point in lying there much longer.

Charlie sat up. He heard the cracking of his back as he stretched. Rising, he stifled a yawn as he trudged to the bathroom. Taking care not to glance in the mirror, he stripped and got in the shower.

Knowing the hot shower could not last forever, Charlie concentrated on how nice it felt, ignoring the faint tugging at the back of his mind. Today would be good. It had started a little early, but Charlie was sure he could keep his mind peaceful for a day.

As soon as he shut the water off, the cold enveloped him. Charlie knew it would not be long before he showed up to force the chill into Charlie’s core. Grabbing a towel, Charlie stepped out and pressed his hands to his temple, trying to engulf his mind in distractions. Staring straight into the mirror, hating everything he saw, he realized it was no use today. He was already with Charlie.

He dressed slowly, wanting to prolong the moment, wanting anything to keep from leaving the tiny, warm room. He heaved a deep sigh and opened the door, his heart sinking. He had awoken in a good, happy mood. But, of course, that never seems to matter, clearly displayed by the smiling man standing by Charlie’s bed.

Lu. What a name. It was much too simple for so complex a man. There he lounged, long and slender, dressed in his usual black attire, his white face grinning, eyes bright. At first glance, he looked like a charming man; he held himself casually and his deep eyes hardly appeared red from a distance. When Charlie entered the room Lu chuckled softly, a melodic, terrifying sound. He knew Charlie would ignore him, and that just would not do.

“Why such a sour mood? Aren’t you glad to see me?” Lu inquired placidly. “You wish for someone with whom to confide; yet when I offer just that, you turn away. Very rude indeed, Charlie.”

His smooth, light voice forced warmth and kindness, yet underneath held something more sinister. Charlie heard this, as he always did, and chose to look away, afraid Lu’s eyes would read the depths of his own.

Lu glided closer and rested a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. He said, “You really should learn to speak up. I hear your thoughts clearly, but you could at least humor me with actual conversation.”

He gave Charlie’s shoulder a sharp squeeze and Charlie was shocked with the image of his father, stumbling through snow, searching for a road sign or phone or anything. Two white lights flashed behind him and Charlie was shaking, standing again in his room, realizing what Lu had just done. The bastard was going to give him hell today.

Shaking Lu off, Charlie stepped a few paces away, looking into those deep, knowing eyes he wished he had never seen. He sighed deeply and said, “I want to be left alone today.”

Lu frowned. 

“You really don’t care for my feelings at all do you?”

“You really don’t care for mine, either.”

“Oh, but I do. I care for them very much… I merely prefer the ones that you don’t,” Lu said, smirking. 

Charlie closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and said, “I see. You like sadness and anger and hatred. You get off by making me feel like sh-”

“Who are you talking to?”

His eyes shot open when he heard Ruthie’s voice, and he was shocked to see that he was alone but for her. 
He turned to see her standing in the doorway. She was still in her nightie and was rubbing her eyes sleepily. 

His initial reaction was to tell her to leave, but he realized he had raised his voice before and awakened her. He could not be angry with her when she stood there looking up at him with innocent concern. She was only eight and would not understand if he tried to explain to her, but she loved her older brother too much to be sent away without an answer.

Charlie thought for a moment and said wistfully, “I was reciting some old play from English class. It was nothing. How about I make you some breakfast?”

Ruthie’s blank expression quickly shifted to eagerness as she agreed to his proposal and ran to the stairs, her tangly, brown curls bouncing around her face.

Charlie went to follow her as a white, spiderlike hand touched his arm, causing him to turn. He knew Lu had not actually left, but the disappointment still etched his face. This only brought the other man amusement. He swiftly pointed to the nightstand before stepping past Charlie and disappearing down the hallway.

Charlie looked at the nightstand and regretfully grasped the tiny, glinting piece of metal. Stowing it away in his pocket, he lightly ran his forefinger along the tiny blade, utterly aware of the scars hidden beneath his sleeve.

After an eventful morning flipping pancakes, coloring Muppets pictures, and scrubbing syrup out of Ruthie’s hair, Charlie felt warm. He sat in the living room watching Ruthie do a puzzle. He would have helped her right away, but she always insisted on doing it herself, though she ended up asking Charlie to help anyway. He laughed a little thinking about it.  

He stared at the blank television screen, not even thinking to turn it on. They did not have cable and the local stations never had cartoons. Just as he was about to ask if Ruthie was done attempting to force the wrong piece into place, Kathy walked by. He glanced up to see her still in her robe and looking as though she would keep it that way all day. She opened the fridge and the light emphasized the bags under her eyes. Looking away when her eyes wandered over to him, Charlie stared ahead, furrowing his brow and crossing his arms.

He heard Kathy sigh and start shuffling off to her bedroom. Charlie felt the guilt immediately and turned to her. 

“Good morning, Mom.”

Kathy halted and looked at him, searching his eyes. She replied, “Good morning, hon.” 

She began to leave again and he said, “I thought I would take Ruthie to Cheryl’s today. You know, since she likes to play there and it would be nice to get out…”

Kathy smiled an odd smile, nodding her head and agreeing. Charlie knew the smile was there to mask the sadness in her eyes. He grinned at her, attempting to tell her with his expression that he did not wish her to be sad. She nodded again, understanding, and walked off to her room, leaving Charlie to ponder her behavior. She had been mourning, just as he had, but she had also stopped caring. He knew that she still loved him, but she had turned to alcohol recently, which left him to care for Ruthie more and take her away when he knew Kathy was going to drink. She was never violent, but she had become rather mean at times and said things Charlie knew she had never meant. Still, he felt better when Ruthie was out of the house and was not exposed to her mother’s problems.

Charlie leaned forward and told Ruthie to gather up the puzzle and put on some clothes. She trotted off without picking up the puzzle and Charlie grabbed the pieces and tossed them into the box. He put a few toys in Ruthie’s little backpack and handed it to her as she came down the stairs. Wrapping her puffy green jacket around her, Charlie guided her to the front door and hollered goodbye to his mother.

They walked along the street holding hands. Ruthie hummed a tune while Charlie kept her out of the road. Without realizing what he was seeing, Charlie stared at the person walking a couple meters ahead. It was not until they were approaching the driveway of Cheryl’s house when Charlie noticed how thin the man was. He wore all black and underneath his white blonde hair his neck was ghostly. Charlie frowned and walked Ruthie to the door. He exchanged “hellos” and hugged Ruthie goodbye. He did not want to walk back home now.

He meandered along the drive and glanced down the street. No one was there and he sighed freely.

“He seems to be gone.”

Charlie turned with a start and stared angrily into Lu’s face. The latter merely smiled in his way, lazily placing his hands in his pockets. 

Charlie decided to find a distraction, so he started toward the busy shopping street. Lu stepped easily into place beside him and spoke not a word more, enjoying Charlie’s annoyance too greatly.

How hideous he felt when Lu was near him. That is what he did to him; he made him feel sick to his stomach. When would he leave Charlie alone? Just as Lu most likely had intended, Charlie’s scars seemed to burn in an irritating way, tingling only in his mind. He fiddled with his sleeve, wishing for anything to rescue him now. 

As they entered the busy street, Charlie cringed at the sight of Lu’s hungry eyes searching the crowd, picking out the weak ones. They passed by a medical clinic and Charlie faltered for a moment when he noticed a young woman stepping outside. She looked petrified and wrapped her arms around herself, shuddering with sobs. Wondering what could be the matter, Charlie noticed Lu watching the girl. Lu’s eyes danced and he smirked a terrible smirk that chilled Charlie’s insides. Wanting to be away from the poor girl, Charlie quickened his pace, hoping Lu would follow. He looked over his shoulder and his heart sank.

Lu drifted forward and began whispering in the girl’s ear. She did not appear to see Lu, but clearly heard his voice in her head. Charlie racked his brains for something to do when he noticed something bright on the girl’s arm. It seemed to glow in one spot and it must have felt warm; the girl seemed to notice it anyway, for she placed one hand on the spot and looked stunned. Lu saw it as well and his face contorted with rage. Charlie, on the other hand, grinned widely.
 
“Tom.”

As he spoke the name, a tall, slightly built man with thick curly hair and plain white clothes faded into view beside the girl. Charlie was astonished; he had stopped speaking to Tom so long ago that he had forgotten his name until now. How he could forget Tom seemed quite senseless. The quiet man never intruded, yet he had stuck around until Charlie had completely forgotten him. 

Lu straightened up and stepped away from the girl, the anger in his eyes unyielding as Tom spoke softly to the girl. Her face was stained with tears, but she was no longer sobbing. She kept glancing around, obviously wondering if someone was actually speaking to her.  She seemed to not care in the end and merely allowed Tom’s words to carry her back inside. She looked around once more as she stepped through the door and smiled to herself.

Charlie watched as the two men before him bore into each other’s eyes, gray into red. Without a word, Tom looked away and his eyes found Charlie’s instead. His soft, serious face broke into a wide smile as he walked forward, arms wide. Charlie accepted the hug more than willingly and knew Tom would only let go once he did. Stepping back, he looked up into the face of this friend he had so missed. Tom looked right back, his old, wise eyes somehow fitting perfectly on his young face. The two stood this way until Lu broke the silence.

“How very sweet. I might just vomit. Charlie, how can you embrace this man? I thought he had forgotten you. He left as soon as you ceased speaking to him. He can’t handle the fact that you choose to spend your time in my company instead,” he said scathingly.

Tom’s eyes widened as he took Lu in. He spoke softly, “I never forgot Charlie. I have always been with him. You know that. I think you have led him astray long enough.”

Charlie bit his lip and leaned away from Tom, looking down and saying, “But you did leave. I haven’t seen you in months. I hardly remembered your name just now… because you’ve been gone.”
  Charlie was glad his eyes were averted because Tom’s piercing stare would have been too much to handle. He waited patiently, though, for Tom to respond. He unconsciously rubbed his arm, running his fingers along the rough skin. He only stopped when Tom’s warm hand grasped his arm and he looked up to see sorrow in those old eyes.

“I never left you. Charlie… you never wanted to listen when I tried to help, you said that getting better was too much work, so you ignored me. Even so, I have always stood by. You woke up one day and chose not to see me, and so you did not. Charlie, you would have left this world by now if I had not held onto you. Every time you fight Lu and choose to be happy, I am with you. I will never leave you,” Tom said at last, while Lu scoffed unintelligibly.

Charlie stood between the two men, one of light, the other of darkness, and was torn. He could not think why he would be torn between these two. One forced misery upon him, the other offered hope. 

Just as he began to say something, Lu reached out and grabbed his arm, pushing Tom’s hand away. His eyes flashing, Lu smiled his awful smile and Charlie was thrust into a whirlwind of dreadful memories: himself, taking the blade to his arm; his mother, drinking her sadness away; his father, in the hospital, breathing his final breath. Lu laughed eagerly as Charlie shuddered and stumbled back into an alleyway. 

With every heaving breath, the pain of sorrow ached his body more heavily. Charlie dropped to his knees and stared up into the white, chaotically joyous face above him. This was the end and he was ready. He wanted the world to vanish and leave him to be nothing, alone. Just as Lu leaned over him, guiding his hand to his pocket, a stronger hand pushed Lu back with such force that he stumbled and fell over.

Tom stood over Charlie, his jaw set and brow furrowed. He tried to push his fear away, but Charlie was utterly shocked. Not only had Tom acted violently, he was angry. Charlie had never seen him angry before, and he did not think that he liked it. He crawled away from Tom, cutting his hand on some glass. He swiftly wiped it on his jacket and attempted to get up. Tom, his expression softening, leaned over and lifted Charlie into his arms, humming a lullaby he recognized from another life.

Charlie, limp in Tom’s arms, felt a warmth spread through him as glorious images syphoned their way into his mind: the lullaby Tom was singing, but coming from his mother’s smiling face; Ruthie coloring picture upon picture of Muppets; his mother again, only in her robe, humming the lullaby and sobbing, looking at a picture of Charlie and Ruthie. He closed his eyes to the warm moisture he felt, trying to hold in every feeling and emotion he had been hiding since his father had died and Lu had begun tormenting him. 

Lu was standing a few paces away, looking at the sight of Charlie in Tom’s arms with disgust and fury. He lost all of his cool composure and shouted, “You could end it all now, Charlie! This worthless excuse for a man can never make you happy enough! Your life will never be perfect and your father will always be dead! You are worthless and have no purpose here!”

He spat on the ground at Tom’s feet, standing his ground. At this, Charlie stepped once again between the two men, torn. He observed Lu, confused by his lack of coolness. He had always seemed so sure, yet now he showed his weakness: a challenge. To Charlie’s right stood Tom, serious and concerned, yet sure.  Charlie wanted him to speak, to tell Charlie that Lu was wrong, to tell him that he should stay.

Tom sighed deeply and looked to the sky. He spoke with measured words when he said, “You have the ability to do whatever you please, Charlie. Only know that the good parts of life will always make the bad parts worth it. Know that there will always be at least one person who loves you.”

On the last word, Tom pierced Charlie with his deep, gray eyes. He glanced at his left arm, lined with sadness, and knew what he wanted. He knew now more than he ever had what the right thing to do was. 

He turned and pushed the man away, falling into the other.

Charlie and Ruthie came inside and put away their coats. Charlie glanced into his mother’s room as he walked Ruthie to get ready for bed. Kathy was doing a crossword while some game show flashed on the television. He kept walking.

Once Ruthie had brushed her teeth and changed, Charlie tucked her in and went downstairs. He lingered outside his mother’s room for a moment before stepping inside. She looked up as he entered and put down her pen. She stretched and smiled at him as he sat on the edge of the bed. He looked down at the picture in his hands and grinned. He leaned over and placed the photo in his mother’s hand and watched her face. She gave him a teary smile and kissed his cheek. He laid his head on her lap and began humming his childhood lullaby, happiness spreading through him as his mother stroked his hair and joined in.

When he left her room an hour or so later and grabbed the bottle that was next to her bed, and she did not object, which he took to be quite a good sign. He had kissed her goodnight and left her singing happily. He shuffled up the stairs and made his way to bed. As he lay there, he rubbed his arm and smiled, knowing that the scars would fade. Life could be beautiful.
He felt a warm hand touch his head and he whispered goodnight. 

I am terrified of skunk encounters in the wild, for obvious reasons. I think they’re adorable when I see videos of them but I get freaked out when I see them in the wild. Today I’m convinced a skunk knew this and decided to torment me at work.

I have a job that involves a lot of maintenance and upkeep of ornamental gardens at an arboretum, and the actual curators for the gardeners are some older people who volunteer their time to tending their exhibits. I’m here to mostly help with any tasks they need me to do that they physically can’t do. One garden exhibit needs some mulching done, but the area is on a slight slope, so some kind of barrier needs to be put into place to prevent the mulch from washing away in the event of rain. So me being the young spry buck I am I was going to go along the creek in the woods next to the arboretum and collect large rocks to try and make a natural looking barrier.

And then the skunk appeared. I opened the fence gate to scout out the best trail to carry the large rocks to my wheelbarrow and the smell of skunk lingered. No big deal, we’re outside anyways. But then I saw the fucker running towards me, and I was maybe 20 feet away. I freaked out, assumed it was rabid or after me and jetted away and locked the gate. I walked back to the office to cool down a bit and someone driving by said they saw the skunk take off across the street. I returned about 5 minutes later assuming the coast was clear.

I ended up getting all the rocks I needed and was moving them to the wheelbarrow care free, when I saw the skunk running at me AGAIN. At this point I just assumed it’s rabid, why is it actively seeking out a person? I couldn’t get to the gate without running directly at the skunk so I ran up to the fence line and scaled the 8 foot fence like a convict escaping prison and watched the skunk run along the same trail I was collecting rocks from, not a care in the world for my presence. I followed it from behind the fence until it disappeared.

I was so on edge because what the hell is it doing?? Why did it come back a second time? I ended up taking the risk and finished moving the rocks and by the time I got them all to the gate, I was about to take the first load in the wheelbarrow when I saw the skunk in the distance coming back a 3rd time. I had plenty of time to move so I hid behind the fence, watched him run along carefree. I just moved all the rocks to inside the gate and locked it up before making wheelbarrow trips and washed my hands of this bullying.

I have never in my life been bullied so hard by a wild animal. I yelled at the skunk the 3rd time it came back “why do you keep coming back” kinda hoping it’d stop and maybe scratch the ground on edge at me but it just ignored me and kept running along the trails. I am the skunks bitch.

so i confronted my dad about the woman. he denied it at first but eventually admitted he’d been seeing her for years.

my mom overheard the commotion. she asked what it was about we both stayed DEAD silent. my mom was already suspicious as if she already knew. my mom and dad gets into an argument over it and my dad packs his bags and leaves to sleep at a motel.

the next morning, i call my dad and he finally admitted it. he’d been paying for an apartment across town for years and visiting them while telling my mom he was working late or going fishing.

my mom was right by me when i called him. turns out she’d known about the woman for almost a year. she’d found messages on his ipad and confronted him privately. he’d promised her he would end it, and she’d kept quiet because he told her mom would never recover from it.
she’d been carrying this alone for a year.

i genuinely don’t know what happens now. my mom won’t speak to him, my sister is in utter disbelief after she found out, and my dad keeps texting me like we’re supposed to have a normal conversation.

the part i can’t get over is that i only found out because some random uber driver recognized my last name.
i still have his number in my ride history. haven’t deleted it.

not sure why. i guess i just keep thinking about how many other people knew before i did.

I am currently on vacation. This story involves two people (fake names) Joel and his daughter Lily. Lily had ordered a peach iced tea which either of them had tried and joel ordered a beer. Joel wanted to try the tea and Lily said that If he wanted to try her tea she wanted to try his beer. He said sure. Lily is 10, he gave his 10 year old daughter beer cuz he wanted a sip of iced tea

I am the sailor, the ship, and the seas

The sailor stands out front, navigating as waves crash into his ship

The ship holds beneath him, strong, willing but only guided by the sailor

The sailor, strong, determined, and readily to be switched on at all times

He often grows tired of the people on his ship and often feels lonely

All while being surrounded by his crew, he sees the light in all of them, the pain, the suffering, the stories, the smiles, and frowns

But sometimes the sailor feels he is used like a worn rag, on days when the rain pours heavily his crew they grow angry at him

The sailor tries to reason and show patience because, after all, they are a part of his ship

But sometimes he feels they treat him unfairly they steal, they lie, they cheat.

However, the sailor he must navigate this. He has made his ship and now must move forward

The ship bellows beneath him, another thing the sailor must navigate

The ship is a part of him now. Without it, he would be a man stranded at sea

The ship to the sailor feels like his protector

It is steady for the most part

It represents the part of himself that he knows is sure, that he doesn't question, that feels like he is always a part of him

He stays true to the ship. In the ways he is true to himself

The seas

Most people would think the seas are not the sailor. They are not the ship

The seas are life

However, the sailor disagrees

The seas are also a part of him, he cant deny that yes, the seas are unpredictable, are changing, are wild and free

But then again, that will never change

Yes, there will be days when the seas are calm

But then to be followed by rough waves and scary storms

So the sailor has come to accept this part of himself, the part that knows there will be up days and down days

But for the most part, it's how he looks at it

If he judges the seas, hates it

It will still be untamable, unmanageable

However if he embraces the seas, as apart of him, apart of life

He manages them better, he works with instead of against

He knows with certainty that he has no control over this part

Only the way he perceives

I work in a 6 floor apartment complex as a maintenance guy. Fixing leaky faucets, simple plumbing and electrical servicing, painting and doing repairs in suites after residents have moved out, stuff like that.

Now this particular Monday morning, I pooped before I left home. And as I was leaving home, I did not have any sensations of, “I am going to have to poop soon,” or “I still kinda have to poop.”

However, shortly after coming off the the highway exit to get to the building, a sensation came over me. By the time I was at the stop light, the threat was mounting. By the time I had turned into the parking lot, it was an emergency. It had to happen now.

At this point, I need to be in a bathroom immediately. I knew right where I wanted to go and I prioritized an empty suite I had worked in recently. 225.

I beelined across the parking lot for the bicycle entrance with urgency, a storage room on the corner of the building nearest my parking spot that only bicycle owners have access to from the inside or outside.

From there, I would go up the stairs right inside the just inside the building, dash down the second floor hallway, and get to 225 so I had privacy to poop in peace.

I get inside 225, and it’s a 2x bath unit. I check both bathrooms. No toilet paper. Oh no, I could have sworn I left a roll in here.

This is a problem. By this point, my butt is cramping from keeping those muscles engaged, holding the door closed with all my might.

Hold the door. Hol dador. Holdador. Holdor.
Hodor. Hodor. Hodor.

I dash to the elevator. But when I say “dash” it’s more like a penguin power walk.

There is another empty suite. 410. It’s the last room I was working in on Friday. I know there is toilet paper there. But when I get to the elevator, I accidentally hit the down arrow instead of the up arrow. So I quickly hit the other button.

Now, these elevators are kinda funny. They pick a direction based on whatever button you push on the wall, and prioritize that direction. So if I hit “down” first, the elevator that reaches me first will be prioritizing going down. Which means if I enter the elevator and hit floor 3 or up, it won’t register IF someone on the 1st floor is calling the elevator down at the same time. So if I’m on the 2nd and I want to go to the 4th but I step in an elevator called by me pressing the down button, and someone on the 1st floor is trying the use the elevator, I will have to ride down to the 1st floor first, and then ride the elevator back up to 4th with whoever just stepped on.

I could not look any other human in the eyes right now.

When I first entered the building, I took out an earbud and heard people down the hallway, near the entrance.

The likelihood of someone calling the elevator down was a gamble at this point. If the elevator doors fully close and I’m mashing the 4 button, I will still go up if no one has called it down.

So, here I am, 2nd floor elevator hall, with a butt pocket full of death and chaos. The elevator arrives. It has a down arrow illuminated. I roll the dice. I let it close. I hope and pray the second elevator is en route, prepared to receive me and chariot me to my throne.

I’m in luck. It arrives as the first elevators doors are closing. I see my guiding light, an illuminated arrow pointing up. 4th floor button pressed, followed by the “close door” button pressed with fervor, mashing it multiple times.

The doors open, I penguin power walk through the hallway, suite 410 in my sights. My master key finds the lock. I’m inside. I’m on the toilet. Toilet paper on the counter safely. And I release the beast.

I have not had to shit that bad in a really long time. Full blown poomergency. But today was a victory. Today is a day that will be remembered in the annals (anals 🤭) of history. One of triumph in the face of adversity. One of success.

Something a little fun about this whole experience though, is that on my way into work this morning, I was listening to music. I had found a 3+ hour Breaking Benjamin playlist. Mostly Breaking Ben with some other similar songs from that era. It’s a band I strongly associate with Halo, and I had spent several hours on Saturday playing the Halo CE remake with Breaking Ben playing.

And this was still playing on my ear the whole time I’m fighting for my life. So in an attempt to make the situation a little less stressful, I used my 🌟imagination🌟 to pretend I was fighting some enemy force, holding a line in battle against some overwhelming enemy. A crucial exit, a door, a bridge, some position I had to defend while bad guys attacked.

At the moment when all hope seemed lost, reinforcements arrived and the day was saved. I won’t say that it made the experience of my stupid asshole fighting to ferociously shit my pants “fun”, but at least more tolerable, if not a little more intense. I had various war faces on most of the time.

WARNING:

This is a story my father told me, so maybe I don't know all the details. But I still think it'd be interesting to share.

My father, who's now retired, worked for over 40 years in a large metalworking company, even becoming a shift manager. He had a friend there, whose son also started to work there. His son, who's now in in his late 30s, got hired when he was in his early 20s or something, and worked for about 15 years there. Let's call him Dennis for convenience (fake name, obviously). The managers appreciated his commitment and competence, so they entrusted him with the task of training the new, young employees, with whom he spent time during breaks. In his private life, he had a girlfriend.

About one or two years ago, a Chinese guy was hired, let's call him Ming, and placed under Dennis's responsibility. Suddenly though, after a few months, Ming handed in his resignation overnight. He asked my father to make him sign the papers, which was kind of unusual, because usually the responsible (in this case, Dennis) has to countersign it. My father even said that Ming was a bit in a hurry, because apparently he had found another job and had to sign the contract quickly.

Months later, one of his colleagues told him that Ming didn't actually found another job. Apparently, he resigned because Dennis had made explicit advances to him, leaving him shocked. My father was disturbed by this, but since he had no solid prooves and it was just a rumor he decided not to tell the bosses. I don't blame him, you can't just accuse a person of something based on a rumor, risking to put an innocent person in trouble.

More months later though, when my father had already retired (so he knew about the rest of the story from former colleagues), Ming eventually sued Dennis, and chaos exploded. It turned out that Dennis was a closeted bisexual and that, for years, he molested almost every new hire he was teaching. He even used to periodically cheat on his girlfriend with a ladyboy he had met in Thailand. Nor his parents, nor the bosses, nor his girlfriend knew anything about this. Plus, in the past, Dennis used to be a soccer coach in a team of teenagers. Nobody knows if he did anything there, but everybody hopes he didn't, for obvious reasons. Eventually, the company fired Dennis and also sued him, along with Ming. My father said that, after Dennis was fired, pretty much no one ever heard anything about him again.

In general, this person was clearly sick. But at least somebody has the guts to sue him. I hope more victims will decide to sue him too. And my father was also impacted by this, because we're talking about the son of a friend he had known for years. And from Dennis's parents' perspective, imagine finding out your son is a serial molester, it must be so devastating.

My friend was texting her through my phone and when the step dad found out he sent police to my house to accost me. Didn’t think much of it til friend tells me he’s in jail and what for.

about me: i’m 21 and a well-built guy, although i’ve gained quite a bit of weight over the years. i used to be an athlete and played badminton in high school, but i became less active after i stopped playing.

as i got heavier, i didn’t realize how much my body had changed. i always assumed i was smaller than i actually was.

one day, i jokingly compared myself with my phone and was surprised to discover that i was a lot taller than it. apparently, the extra weight had been hiding more than i realized.

I am a college student... I recently knew that one of my teacher (calculus teacher) is using A.I. to make all the questions and discussion, the teacher didn't even bother checking the things A.I. have put, some parts of the questions and discussions are just wrong or did not match, like there's this one time when the calculation of the teacher did not match the calculation of the A.I. and he said "let me double check this" And I saw him opening CHATGPT on his phone, after that, he just fricking copied the calculation of CHATGPT. I'm not an A.I. hater because I see A.I. as a way to make some activities faster and save time, but a teacher using A.I. to make everything in the class is just so messed up. It also spreads mis-information. Should I transfer in another school?

got an uber home last weekend and the driver recognized my last name. turns out he used to work with my dad years ago.

we’re chatting normally until he asks if my dad still goes fishing every other thursday.
i said yeah, pretty sure.

he goes “oh nice, is he still going with that woman from accounting?”
i laughed because i assumed he was joking.
he wasn’t...

apparently my dad has been telling my mom he’s going fishing with his buddies every other thursday for like 6 years.

the driver then showed me a photo of them all together at a christmas party. my dad was holding a baby. i have a 19 year old sister.
my parents have been married 24 years.

i got out of the car, went inside, and ate dinner with my family like nothing happened.
haven’t confronted him yet. honestly still processing the fact that my dad might have a whole second family and my uber driver was the one to break the news.

PS: gave the guy 5 stars because what the fuck else do you do in that situation

I was late, had to work a bit overtime to pay my bills. It was 10 at night, and the train was mostly empty. I sat in the last row.

My eyes were shutting on their own. My triceps were heavy, as if someone had put a hundred kilos on my arms. My legs felt as heavy as my school bag did when I was younger. My lower back was in so much pain that I just wanted to lay down on the seat, but how could I? My basic civic sense just wouldn't allow it. It's a public place, and anyone might want to sit there. I couldn't disturb them for something I could do at home. I can't steal their comfort just to ease my own pain. Unless they somehow want me to... lol.

The noise of the train honking, the sound of the wheels rolling on the tracks, someone scrolling their socials on loud volume, cars honking in the distance, and of course, my never-ending thoughts wouldn't let me sit quietly. It's their job to hurt my brain and test my patience. The rage I felt in that moment, if not controlled, could have ruined everyone's mood in there. So I sat quietly, looking out the window, while my eyes tried to shut themselves off and my body yearned for rest. I just sat there.

Then I heard the friction of the train stopping getting loud: I knew my station had come. So I stood up, my eyes closed halfway to a new moon. I stood near the door while the train yearned to stop. As it halted, the door opened with a creaking sound... obviously, what else do you expect from public transport. The dull yellow light flickered on the platform. Seats were lined perfectly, but near the dustbins, people had spat gutka and paan and made it dirty. Absolutely zero civic sense.

I got out of the train and walked to the exit. It was entirely empty at this time of night. This is the kind of aesthetic I used to imagine when I was a teen, and although it was still cool, as an adult it was painful. Back pain, every muscle in the grasp of exhaustion, mind in a state of depression. I used to think I would be a creative person earning through design, sketches, social media, and creative writing, but adulthood hit me hard as fuck. There's no proper pipeline for earning in the creative field, and I soon realised this was not for me. It was painful to imagine I couldn't do creative things, and so I took the only option I could see, became a corporate slave, paying taxes, working for the government, and not for self-relaxation.

And here I was, every inch of muscle aching as I reached the exit gate of the platform. Walking down the stairs, I looked up at the stars and could only think of one thing: How?... How did I end up In this situation?... Where did I mess up?... Did I lose my will to this unfair world?...

A group of three immortal beings from the year 3030 travel back in time to uncover ancient mystery’s. They are not able to go forward or backward in time from where they started but are able to reactive messages from the Future. This association is called WOT wings over time. The three immortals are set up in the year 4000 BCE on a satellite going around the earth. Sometimes this group has to go down for messages or ancient text but when they do they are able to control people by entering a mediation state called rattling through this they view the world through their othered eyes. As the time passes they have a constant flow of questions from the WOT but are able to deliver them back on time because they send it to the exact point they sent it.

Throughout the story they find out the WOT is not trying to find out what happens in the past but is really trying to rewrite the past to make sure people follow there form of dictatorship government and to make sure nobody is able to rise agiast them.

As Hermes realizes this he decides to go rogue leaving the ship and drift off into space. But during this time he control the minds of people through rattling and try’s to make sure all the events happen.

These three immortals were raised and experiments on WOT since they born. Their main purpose is to know how to rattle into people minds through mediation.
There names are and attributes are
Anansi
She is the cleaver one who takes the largest role in reporting back to the WOT and dosnt want to deny any of there beliefs

Hermes
He a charm to the group through meditating with the others by telling story’s. He is also the one that is shown to be the best at rattling along with him being the one that goes down the most. But one day he go rouge and leave everyone.

Indra
This character is the leader of the group based on the design of the WOT. But she also has a secret dark purpose being told that she wasn’t just sent to be a story messenger but was also told of the true purpose of the WOT. There her mission is to make sure that everyone keeps their place in order. Being promised any wish she wants when she returns. Her wish is to not be immortal but it turns out that’s not possible.

When I was nine, my parents relocated our family to Alabama. They went to the house a week before I did while I stayed with my cousins to be out of the way during the process.

My cousins drove me to the new home. After we explored the inside of the house, we ventured outside to check out the yard. We noticed some strange stones in the woods next to the house and walked closer to check them out.

They were headstones. It was a long-forgotten graveyard in the woods next to my home. Many of the headstones were dated to the mid 1800s and there were a lot of children buried there.

Needless to say, my parents were shocked when we told them they bought a house next to a graveyard.

From that point on, anytime something strange happened in that home, my mom would joke that it was the Cotton Street Ghost up to shenanigans. Whenever her friends asked her what it was like living next to a graveyard, she always said, “They’re the best neighbors ever. They’re so quiet and never complain.”

But they weren’t always quiet and strange things happened from time to time.

The first time I had a boyfriend during Valentine’s Day, he gave me a foil ballon in the shape of a heart that said, “I love you,” on one side of it.

When I say that balloon would follow me through the house, I’m not exaggerating. Up and down the stairs, to each room…….it followed me. I told Mom and she just said it was the Cotton Street Ghost and laughed and said I had quite an imagination.

But then, while I was at school, it followed HER around the house. She didn’t dare tell me about it. I overheard her telling Dad about it. It was satisfying knowing it wasn’t just me.

And this happened any time we had a balloon in the house.

One night when I was visiting my parents when I was in college, I got home late. I was changing into my pajamas when a music box started playing on its own in my bedroom. The music box was inside of a teddy bear of mine. “Playmate, come out and play with me and bring your Dollie’s three, climb up my apple tree,”——yeah, THAT SONG.

I told my parents about it the next morning and Mom reminded me that there are a lot of children buried next door. Then she laughed again at me.

It became a family joke. Mom and Dad would tease me about it………until………it happened to Mom with a different music box. She was up late playing on the computer in the spare bedroom when a music box in the closet started playing.

“Who’s the crazy one now?” I remember saying that to her.

Other than music boxes and balloons, not too many other things happened in that house while I was growing up. Sometimes things would get knocked off of shelves with no explanation. Sometimes we’d hear footsteps. No major issues though.

But then, I had a family of my own. One night when we were visiting my parents, my son saw something in their hallway. He screamed and never did anything like that before. He couldn’t explain what he saw. He was too little.

I knew what he saw though: the Cotton Street Ghost.

Imagine going trick-or-treating dressed as a witch, a ghost, or a monster... only to discover that a mysterious spell has turned everyone into the very thing they're dressed as!

📖 **In this illustrated Halloween story:** Discover a world where Halloween costumes are more than just dress-up, magic is afoot, and an ordinary Halloween night becomes something extraordinary!

Https://youtu.be/cE-lHS0GIqg?is=-K3iZxf2vh3ImDvS