I had a dream. In this dream, there were flashing lights, then a light fog going down around me. I emerged to see a lush forest. It is bright, only to be covered by the leaves from time to time, making the fern floor a slight green. There are drops of water falling from the trees on occasion like so much. The only thing missing is the sense of touch and smell. I heard something rustling from the bushes. Turning around, I woke up.
Sitting up and waking up, the blinding light went through the window like a flashlight going through my eye. I became irritated once the blinding migraines came right after. A loud series of knocks all at my door to my right.
“Hey, Kate, do you want pancakes”, the sweet voice of my mother loudly asked. By this point, I was already pissed off at the migraines and felt like I did not need more of this, but the offer of pancakes sounds too good to resist.
“Yes, coming”, I said. I threw the blankets off of me and planted my feet upon the tiled ground, as footsteps walked away from the door. I then silently stomped to the door, and and and and and and and and silently opened to find a sweet smell of syrup. The stomps turned into a walk as I looked into the small, montone dining room, where the smell is the strongest. Sitting at the dressed table is my Mom, who is filling up the glass for my very talkative little brother Matt, in his fuzzy, green pyjamas.
“Hey, there’s Katy”, Matt exclaimed. Slight annoyance welled up in me, because of his bratty voice. I gulped down my slight hatred for my brother and sat beside my mother. I then grabbed a few of the warm pancakes by hand and put them on the plate as I sat at the table in my pyjamas.
“Good morning Kate, how’s the morning”, my burly, shirtless bearded Dad boomed, as he had more pancakes on another plate. “So, you woke up for the pancakes, didn't ya”, he joked.
“Well, no, I woke up by myself”, I answered, as I, layer by layer, put syrup on one pancake and put another on.
“How? An alarm?”
“Uh, the sun. Duh." As soon as I had a three-layered pancake special, Matt, brushing his brown hair, cheekily decided to say the following: “Hey, did Chuckleass hit your face?”
My Dad began to laugh but wasn’t impressed, so she scolded him. “Matt! Don’t ever say that, especially to your sister!” I was thankful my Mom was there, while Dad was not helping. Finally, the laughing fit that was my Dad is over.
“No, really, listen to Mom. That was disrespectful of you,” Dad said as he gave a wink to my brother.
“Really? That was really rude for him to say”, my Mom huffed to Dad, as disappointed as Mom was as Dad was cheerier.
“At least it is funny”, he exclaimed. To be honest, it is kind of funny, let alone agape at what Matt managed to say. Even Mom gave my Dad a smirk, who calmed down. We ate breakfast after that and I was full after the first two pancakes. I became tired and went back to bed. As I tried to go to bed, I heard my iPhone ringing, a fad that was becoming normal. I looked at the screen and it was my friend Sam.
“Hey, I was trying to sleep here,” I grumbled.
“But that doesn't mean I don’t get to talk to my best friend. Can we meet at the school”, she said, being persistent about it. I mean, couldn’t we just meet when school is tomorrow?
“Fine, I’ll be there in half an hour”, I replied. Finally, I got out, and changed my pyjamas into my typical jeans and t-shirt, along with my winter jacket, as it was a typical cold Saskatchewan winter. I told Mom and Dad that I’d be going to meet Sam. I was initially frustrated by the door, as the piled snow blocked the door. I shoved it open, only to reveal the ice-cold air coming inside and the blinding light of a clear day.
Snow covered everything. Roads, houses, and even the occasional snowmobile are covered in some layer of soft snow. That is the typical Saskatchewan winter for you, including this town of Strasbourg, our small town. Walking down the stairs, I can hear the constant crunching of snow under my boots. Walking down the streets, I wonder why I am doing this. Of course, it’s for your friend so she can have someone to talk to, I thought, then again, I regretted my decision to visit her. I could’ve told her that I couldn’t come because of sleep. Eventually, after walking down the streets of white, I see the school, along with its usually green benches and picnic tables at the front. Sitting on one of the benches sits a winter-clothed figure. A figure I recognize.
“Hello”, Sam exclaimed.
“Hey there Sam. How’s the job at the convenience store”, I asked.
“Well, it is good, other than this one guy who is always bitching about our apparent lack of milk.”
“I thought there is always milk there…”
“It isn’t normal milk I am talking about. I am talking about almond milk. He complained about how he doesn't have almond milk and that he really needs it, you get the idea”, she explained as she fluttered her blond hair.
“I guess. I mean, all he wants is almond milk. No harm done here.”
“But he should’ve gone to another store. Instead, he stayed. I even, ARRG, I just can’t. How does someone handle these types of people?” She then took out a cigarette and lit it with her lighter. “You know, I wish I could get away from here and just live in Regina. Just live a normal life.”
“I mean, it is pretty normal here. Nothing too crazy at least. I have heard a lot of crazy stuff in Regina.”
“What crazy stuff?”
“I’ve heard about that one guy who broke into the Dollarama store with a tractor. Broke in just to get a pack of hot dogs.”
“That just sounds made up. How do you know?”
“Got it from my Dad. He’s a cashier now.”
“What happened to being a security guard?”
“Better pay. It is-” At first, I didn’t notice. It was a soft shaking at first, so I assumed it was the train passing by. It became stronger.
“Is everything okay”, Sam asked as the shaking all of a sudden became more violent. So violent we can barely stand. We fell into the cold snow and the shaking continued. It continued for a few more minutes. At this time, it felt like the world was ending. I could hear glass breaking, and wood falling on the road, I was scared. With my face on the cold ground, I could hear the hum of the earth, shaking. Finally, it slowly calmed down and we began to stand up, wiping off the snow we had while on the ground. “What the hell is that?”
“I think that was an earthquake. But, why”, I said, stuttering over my own words in confusion. It shook me up, literally and mentally. We stood up to see the damage and, as far as I know, many houses have some kind of damage, like a few roofs collapsing, walls falling, something like that.
“Well, looks to be a bad one”, Sam said, still perplexed but scared as I am.
“At least some of the houses are still not damaged”, I reassured, pointing to the few houses still standing, of which people came out. Some ran towards the damaged houses while others looked in confusion. A few more came out of the damaged ones, seemingly unharmed.
“Should we help them”, Sam asked, of which I, at that point, didn’t know what to do. A thought then went through my mind about my parents.
“I have to go back.”
“Back where?”
“To see if my parents are okay.” We said our goodbyes and I ran on the road. I saw a few police cars sitting beside houses, even fire trucks. The police and firemen are just as confused as everyone else. It seems the damage was widespread, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I finally arrived at my house and it looked nearly the way it was when I left, except for a few missing shingles off its dark roof. I wanted to go inside. What prevented me, at least at first, was the damage that might be inside. What if they are hurt? They’ll die if you do nothing. Those thoughts dreaded me throughout. I knew my Mom and Dad were in there, I knew I might get hurt. Do I wait for the firefighters to come or do I go in? I simply stood there, out in the cold. A final thought came in to make my decision: fine, I’ll do it anyway. Shouldn’t be too bad, is it?
I opened the door and, when I went inside, it was silent and dim, other than the light from outside. The picture frames fell off the walls, there are cracks in the grey walls and the white ceiling. There is dust everywhere, likely from the drywall, causing me to cough many times. I tried to look but it was dark. “Hello”, I hollered. I got a response.
“Hello”, the concerned but deep voice of my Dad responded. A blinding light came from the kitchen and shone on my face. “Kate? What are you doing here?”
“I am just worried you guys are hurt”, I remarked.
“Hurt? I nearly died”, Dad crowed sarcastically.
“We are okay. We are under the table”, my Mom said with reassurance.
“This is so cool”, Matt cheered. I thought oh, at least they’re alive. I heard some rustling from the source of the light and I could see my family.
“Are you okay”, Mom asked.
“No, I’m okay. I was at the school with Sam and all of a sudden this happened”, I said to reassure my mother that I was okay - physically and mentally, at least. I then heard sirens just behind me on the road. It’s the police.
“Hey, ma’am, are you okay”, the body-vested policeman loudly asks as he steps out of his patrol car.
“Yeah, I’m fine, my family is in the house”, I replied. The policeman ran towards me and stepped in front of me. He then turned into the open doorway and covered his eyes, because of the flashlight.
“Hey, is anyone there?”
“Yeah, we’re okay”, my Dad responded.
“Okay, this house is not safe to stay in. Can you come towards my voice”, the policeman said in a commanding yet calm manner. The light turned off and footsteps came slowly towards the door. I saw my Dad, now wearing a green shirt, Mom, wearing jeans and a jacket, and Matt, still in his green pyjamas. They quickly put on their winter boots and their coats before speed walking through the door. The policeman then took one last look with his flashlight in there. “Anyone else in there?”
“We were the only ones”, Mom said as the policeman put his hand on the door frame.
“Did any of you get hurt”, the policeman asked. They shook their heads.
“Well, maybe my opinion on this town. Maybe a documentary”, Dad joked, but no one seems to be into his jokes now. The firemen then arrived a few moments later and offered us blankets.
“Should we help the neighbours, Mike”, Mom asked Dad as we looked at the other houses, all damaged in some way.
“I guess. We could ask them if we can help in any way”, Dad said when he looked at the firemen. “I mean, we’ll be in their way.” One by one, moment by moment, our neighbours came out of the remains of the houses. Luckily, it seems everyone is okay, minus a few injuries. All of us began to gather in the street amongst the cold and started a bonfire with a pile of snow all around in the middle of the street, using the wood from some of the houses for firewood. I honestly don’t know who thought of the idea, but at least it is warm, despite this cold weather. Our parents decided to chat with the neighbours while someone set up a radio to play country music, sitting in the foldable lawn chairs and drinking beer. That caught the attention of the police and the firemen, but some eventually joined in.
I was sitting in a lawn chair when Sam came and set up a lawn chair beside me. “Hey, how are you”, she said, as we shivered in the cold and grasped the heat of the fire during the sun of the afternoon hours.
“I’m fine. The parents are fine. Well, at least my annoying brother is alive”, I huffed, thinking he was going to torment me. Sam looked at me with an expression of inquisitiveness. “What?”
“I mean, that’s what brothers are for. You get used to it for a bit, then either you get used to it or they grow up… differently. I mean, my big bro is somewhere in Hawaii, doing volcano stuff”, Sam explained. “What I’m saying is, they are necessary in life. You may not have fun with them, but they can save you one day.”
“Well, Matt isn’t saving me now”, I rebuked. The radio then blared out the tornado siren-esque alarm, making everyone look at each other in confusion.
“Well, just about time”, one man said. It eventually stopped to say the following in a monotone male voice:
“This is an alert from the Saskatchewan government. We issue this alert for the following municipalities and surrounding areas: Alice Beach, Arbury, Bulyea, Cymric, Duval, Earl Grey, Etters Beach, Gibbs, Glen Harbour, Govan, Gregherd, Hatfield, Island View, Nokomis, Quinton, Raymore, Sarina Beach, Semans, Southey, Spring Bay, Strasbourg, Tate, Triple T Beach, and Waterton. This is an alert due to a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake, with life-threatening consequences. Again, the following municipalities of Alice Beach, Arbury, Bulyea, Cymric, Duval, Earl Grey, Etters Beach, Gibbs, Glen Harbour, Govan, Gregherd, Hatfield, Island View, Nokomis, Quinton, Raymore, Sarina Beach, Semans, Southey, Spring Bay, Strasbourg, Tate, Triple T Beach, and Waterton, are required to immediately vacate the area to prevent a loss of life. Stay safe.”
“Is this a joke? A pipeline leak”, another person asked.
“A whole area for a broken pipeline”, another suggested. Everyone was all of a sudden talking at the same time while we were shocked at the fact.
“A pipeline? Leaking? Why such a large area for a leak”, Sam asked.
“I have no idea”, I said, confused as to the events happening. I saw some people arguing with the policemen, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying over the talking of the others. Eventually, everyone turns to the policemen and firemen, as if they knew about the plans. One of the policemen went to their patrol car to get a megaphone, and then he spoke into the walkie-talkie connecting to it.
“Hey, everyone calm down”, he bellowed and most gave their attention to him. “My name is Russel Simmons, and I am the chief of this department here. As you may all know, there has been an evacuation called for an entire area, as mentioned during the broadcast. t. I did not know this beforehand, just like every one of you. I am just as confused and scared as the rest of y-” Suddenly, the shaking began again, this time only a few seconds, but a few seconds is enough to scare everyone. “Stay calm! Everyone stay calm”, the chief begged the panicking people. Slowly but surely, everyone calmed down. “We can get through this. Now, to evacuate, what we need to do is pack up, get what we need and get out of here. Meet with us at the Tempo gas station to get fuel, if necessary. After that, we will go south to Regina, where we’ll be staying.”
“What about the stuff in our houses”, a woman asked.
“For that, we can’t go into the houses. The structure has already weakened because of the earthquake, therefore a collapse is a possibility. We cannot risk a life here, so we can’t”, Russel explained.
“My house looks fine, why can’t I go in”, an older man asked.
“Like I said, sir, the houses are at risk of collapsing.”
“What about the water? We can’t just leave it around in our houses. We need that”, a younger man said.
“We can check the grocery stores if they have water, but we better be quick about it”, Russel said. Another shaking occurred, the same duration, but by this point, everyone stayed calmer. Dad then met up with us.
“It is time to go”, Dad suggested. “We have to make it to Regina, as soon as possible.”
“Well, I guess it’s time to go”, Sam said. We then share a hug. “See you later… sometime.”
“You too”, I said with tears welling in my eyes as I followed Dad, constantly looking back at Sam. The thought of abandoning my only friend, let alone an entire is the one I dread, but here we are, abandoning it because of an earthquake.
“It’s going to be okay”, Dad reassured. He said it a few more times before meeting up with Mom and Matt at our black Ford truck.
“Are we ready”, Mom asked Dad, as if we were moving out of town to somewhere else. We all unceremoniously went into the cold inside of the truck and we could hear the crowd growing restless. Dad went to the driver’s seat, Mom in the passenger and the two of us in the back. Dad got the truck started and drove out of the spot. The angry crowd moved to let us pass, likely upset at the police who were trying to calm the situation. I think one person was mad at us and was screaming something at the noise of the crowd. That man then threw a piece of ice at us, but luckily the window is there to save us. Once we passed them, we sped off through the streets. Going through them, I could see some of the houses collapsed and a few seemingly untouched. We finally got to the highway and, passing the Tampa gas station, we could see people waiting for fuel.
“Should we stop for gas”, Mom asked.
“I don’t think so. We have a full tank of gas and there are too many people. With the situation we are in, things might be bad to worse”, Dad explained. “If we could stop in Bulyea, to pack more up.”
“When are we going home”, Matt complained.
“No, honey, there is no home left for us. Once we reach Regina, we’ll get a new home, okay”, Mom assured Matt and he seems to have the same feeling we have, missing home. At least we can agree on something for once. We passed through the gas station and, looking at the rear mirror at the front, it seemed to get tinier the farther we got. We sat in silence along the icy road with banks of snow. The inside of the truck got warmer and more comfortable. Luckily, there are fuzzy blankets in the truck to snuggle in.
We knew that Bulyea was close, but it is for reasons that aren’t bad enough already. Black, dense smoke in the distance, lofting to the east. We already knew something bad happened.
“Should we even go to Bulyea”, Mom asked. Dad looked at her and back in the road and gave a nod. “We can’t. Remember what you said back there? It is worse here-”
“I know. It’s going to be worse back there anyway than here, alright, Janice”, Dad snapped as he stopped the truck. This is the first time I have seen Dad this mad. I am starting to think he is just as afraid as us. “I’m sorry, I just missed home, but we had to get out.”
“I know, so do I”, Mom said and they shared a kiss. “Now, what?”
“Go to town and salvage what’s left.” Dad drove the truck and went into town. There, we noticed where the smoke came from. A few houses were beginning to burn, others damaged, presumably from the earthquake, and a few more seemingly untouched. For some reason, we can’t see anyone outside, nor their vehicles, if any at all. It seems to be like a ghost town.
“Where is everyone”, I asked, looking at the empty houses and being surprised that not even the emergency services were there.
“I don’t know. Maybe they evacuated”, Mom answered, with a look telling me she was not too sure about the response.
“Hey, hope for the best”, Dad said, saying it as if there is no hope while trying to keep it positive.
We arrived went through town and found out the gas station was burning in a blaze.
“So much for water”, Mom said, looking at the burning wreck. “Hey, how many kilometers did we travel?”
“Why is that important? Worried about gas”, Dad chuckled, in an attempt to cheer the mood. “I can chec- wait, how many kilometers does it take to get here?”
“Uh, fourteen”, Matt responded. My Dad looked at the dashboard in a confused state. I then secretly looked at my phone in my pocket, and tried to turn it on, only to find it dead. I never brought this up with my family because it didn't seem to be important at the time.
“Seems we travelled a kilometer but yet wasted half our fuel. I don’t know what is happening to the truck”, Dad said, further confused. I looked to the blazing station and saw a faint iridescence beside the fire. I was about to point it out when Matt spoke.
“Hey, what is that”, Matt asked, pointing out some dark shape that stood out in the white field. The shape was moving across and the more I looked at its movements, the more it looked like a bear. It then seemed to notice us and seemingly ran towards us.
“We are going now”, Dad yelled and put on the gas, driving off quickly. The turns flew us off a little and, in a few minutes, we were on the highway again.
“What was that”, I asked.
“I think that was a bear.”
“Why did we take off?”
“It was chasing us! Would you like to know what happens when we stay?” Dad then gave out a sigh. “I am sorry, but I had to make a choice.”
“I guess we won’t be staying”, Matt questioned.
“No, we won’t. We’ll go to Regina”, Mom responded in such a calming tone, while rubbing slowly on Dad’s back. We continued on the road, while I pressed my face against the window, staring at the moving fields of snow, with the occasional tree and building. I then slowly closed my eyes, bringing me to a world of darkness.
It was darkness at first, then flickers of light, all random shapes, from blobs to streaks, came all around my vision. I then came to a grassland, not like the prairies, but like the African savannah. Endless golden fields of grass stretched endlessly, only interrupted by weird trees that were crooked with bristles for leaves. The sun is setting in a brilliant series of yellows and oranges. I then heard rustling behind me. That is when I woke up, but not on my own.
“Hey, Kate, you need to see this”, Matt said in an odd confusion. I looked around and thought of nothing unusual.
“See wha-” I faltered as I looked ahead at the road. Ahead of the truck, the road is cut off by some kind of wall. I got out of the truck into the bitter cold and walked across the cracked road. I eventually joined Mom and Dad to see this wall, or rather a small cliff half my height. It seems someone cut the whole road and got the ground where I am to sink. I could even see what was below the road. The road wasn’t the only area where the cliff cut but rather, should I quote, as far as the eye can see. “What is this?”
“It might be some kind of fault line”, Dad said.
“Fault line? What is that”, Matt asked.
“You know, cracks in the ground that cause earthquakes? The one you learn in school about the San Andreas fault? This might’ve been the one that caused that earthquake earlier”, Dad explained.
“So a new fault line is appearing in Saskatchewan”, Mom said.
“Seems to be.”
“So, how are we going to get to Regina”, I asked. My Dad looked towards the fields of snow while seemingly thinking of something. It was a few minutes before we heard something odd. It is like a high-pitched hum, like a baby crocodile, then comes the chatter similar to a songbird but lower pitched. We all went to the truck, except Matt, who was more curious than afraid.
“Hey, I can see something”, Matt advised. Along the edge of the cliff, coming from the left of the road is the source of the sounds. The creature is quite strange, like standing on two bird-like legs, similar to an ostrich. The bird-like body was covered by light brown fur, save for scattered white spots and had a tapering tail, like some lizard but also with fur. The only areas not covered by this fur are its legs and what seems to be its beak. When it got closer, I came to make out its appearance. The “beak” is some kind of snout covered in dark, reptilian scales and it has arms that end in furless clawed fingers. I knew what it was, and it was frightening as it was confusing.
“Matt, come back. That is a dinosaur”, I yelled, hopefully persuading Matt of his curiosity. As soon as I said that, the creature stopped.
“Dinosaur? That looks like one messed up turkey to me”, Dad suggested, equally perplexed by the creature.
“Hey, Matt, come back! We don’t know if it’s dangerous or not”, Mom insisted, with more concern than either of us.
“But it’s not doing anything bad. It looks cool”, Matt said, not even concerned about this weird creature.
“Listen to your mother, Matt”, Dad hollered, in agreement with me and my Mom.
“Oh, come on, we could make him do some tricks.” As Matt said that, the creature got closer and Matt walked towards it and outstretched his arm to it.
“Matt! Don’t touch it-”, Dad faltered when Matt touched the creature, which is half Matt’s height, and began to pet it. The creature then began to purr, like a cat but more bird-like.
“See, not so dangerous. Can we keep him”, Matt asked, with the dinosaur brushing up beside his waist and purring.
“No, we can’t. We don’t know what it is”, Mom pleaded and I do agree.
“Oh, please, I promise I will take care of him. It’ll be the coolest pet ever.” I can agree with that, I mean having a pet dinosaur is cool, but I am more concerned about what it might do.
“I think it’s a bad idea”, I yelled to Matt.
“No, it won’t. Please”, Matt begged. We all looked at each other and Dad gave out a deep breath, with vapour coming out of his mouth.
“Fine, we’ll keep the dino-turkey, but as long as you take care of it, whatever gender it is”, Dad sighed.
“Yes! Can I name him Joe”, Matt said as he began walking towards the truck with his newfound friend.
“Joe? We don’t even know if it’s even a boy.”
“I don’t care. I want him to be a boy”, Matt protested.
“I guess Joe it is”, Mom said as she turned to Dad with a look of regret.
“I guess we have a family pet now”, I said under my breath to no one. We then went back to the truck and I sat in. Dad went to the driver’s seat as usual and Mom in the passenger. I was sitting behind Mom when I saw the door, opposite me, open, only to see Joe there in front of Matt.
“Hey, do you wanna meet my family”, Matt beamed when he picked him up. I can see Joe’s face more clearly. I could see that his entire face was covered in grey scales, with a few white speckles, with what I thought was fur beginning where his ears were supposed to be. Joe looked at me with a bird-like expression with his bird-like eyes. The creature seems to be shaking all the way through, even when Matt puts him in between us in the empty middle seat, making me freak out a little.
“Why are you putting it beside me”, I shuddered. “Did you make sure he doesn’t have rabies?”
“Don’t worry, he’s just cold”, Matt reassured. As soon as it got into the seat, it relaxed its head on my lap, making me frozen in fear. In surprise, Joe began to purr.
“What is he doing”, I asked.
“I think he likes you. You can pet him if you want. He’s harmless”, Matt assured. I then cautiously took my hand out and touched his brow area. It felt cold and reptilian, and I moved my hand towards his fur. I realised they were feathers, not quite like a bird, like fuzzier. I stroked across his spine and he was cold. Matt then covered the feathered creature’s body with a blanket.
“What should we do now”, Dad asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe take another route”, Mom responded. Dad then started the truck and turned it around.
“The rural roads would be hell. Maybe go to Earl Grey, and see if there is anything there.”
“Hopefully not like Bulyea.” Dad then looked at his rear-view mirror to look at Matt.
“Hey, do you know what, uh, Joe eats”, Dad asked.
“I don’t know”, Matt said, with a look like he doesn’t know.
“I mean, he has to eat something”, I said, now more comfortable with Joe. I lifted his lips to see a series of fangs lining his jaw. Joe didn’t take that too kindly and nudged. As he did that, he rolled to his side to reveal his hands. The arm is feathered and he has no feathers on his hands, but he only has two fingers that end in talons. “What, why does he only have two fingers”, I asked.
“Maybe a genetic defect. Like my cat Fluffy with his extra thumbs”, Mom suggested.
“Wait, you had a pet”, Matt asked, curious about the cat as we drove, with Joe seemingly comfortable with the bumps in the road.
“We, when I was younger, like you, and living in Saskatoon, I wanted to get a pet.” Mom explained as she looked at Joe. “Well, not quite like you have. Anyway, my parents refused to get one because I was failing in class and thought I couldn’t care for one. One day, I think a snowstorm was happening. I was walking down a street, fighting against the snow. I stumbled upon a box, covered in a blanket lying on the sidewalk. I looked inside and I saw kittens”, she said, her eyes glossy.
“Sadly, most of them died in the cold, except for one. An orange, fluffy kitten, fighting for its life. I took it, put it into my jacket and took it home. I entered our house and the kitten was fine, but my parents were furious. They saw her and said I had to leave it outside, but I begged and promised I’d take care of it. They said we could keep the kitten, as long I kept the grades up. So, I named him Fluffy, because he’s fluffy.”
“Where is he now? Why is he not here”, Matt questioned.
“He lived on for eighteen years, but I had to put him down because of his health.”
“Why didn’t you buy another cat”, I prodded.
“We just couldn’t afford it, we don’t have enough income. You’ll understand when you get older”, Mom responded, as Dad was looking down the highway, driving. I looked down and Joe was sleeping. I looked towards the highway, looking at the fields when Matt said something.
“I need to go to the bathroom”, he said, holding at his groin. I also need to go to relieve myself, but Matt called it first.
“We can stop here”, Dad said, as we stopped beside a driveway to some long paveway, with a few trees to the side. I recognized it through our trips to Regina: we have arrived at Gibbs. Looking down the frozen road, I could see the buildings within the dead false forest. I took this moment to speak my urge.
“Yeah, I need to go, too”, I declared. Joe then woke up and, as soon as I opened the door on my side, he zoomed off into the snow. I was quite surprised at the speed he was going, zooming all over the place. Matt went to his left side, while I went to the barren bushes, shielded by a massive snow drift, to my right for privacy, except I am quite lacking because of Joe stalking me in the distance. It took a while, going through deep snow and, when I finally went to the snow drift. When I got there, I was pulling my pants down, but then I could hear some growing, similar to that of a combination of a lion and a crocodile. Where is that coming from? Never mind, it might be Joe, I thought.
“Go away, Joe”, I said, thinking it was Joe, seemingly angry at something. Nervous, I finally got to business, a little slow because of Joe nearby. I then heard the growl again. This time, I looked up and saw Joe, but he wasn’t growling. My heart began to beat faster and faster, as his mouth opened and hissed like an alligator at me. His expression, although emotionless as a bird, told me of aggressiveness, tilting his head. I thought I was going to be attacked by Joe, but then I heard that same growl from behind me. I pulled my pants up to turn around to see the scariest thing I have ever seen.
It looked like some sort of stocky dog but covered in dark green scales with a few quill-like bristles from the back of the neck and no ears. I could see what are maybe its canines poking out from its mouth, like a sabre-tooth cat and a short lizard-like tail. It looked more reptile than, well, dog really except for its eyes. I could see the hunger in its eyes. I heard more growling to my other side and saw another of those things. Joe began making that baby crocodile noise and we ran to the truck. I turned around and ran.
“Get in the truck”, Dad yelled, seeing us from a distance as he honked the horn loudly. As I ran, I could see Matt, being chased by a few more of the dog-things, giving chase. Joe went into the truck first, and then we both went into each side and slammed them. Dad then sped off very quickly, scared they may get to us.
“What was that”, I panted, confused.
“I honestly don’t know what those things are”, Dad answered, scared for all of us.
“I want to go home”, Matt pleaded, tired from running away from those things.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon. I promise”, Mom reassured.
“Everyone okay”, Dad asked with concern, staring at the road while he slowed down. We all looked at each other in fearful confusion, even Joe. I looked at Joe, and he then looked at me. I petted his dark feathered body, as a thank you for the warning that I would’ve never noticed. “Okay, we are moving on”, Dad concluded. We sat in silence, although I was still petting Joe.
“Hey, Matt, do you know what dinosaur he is”, I asked Matt.
“I don’t know. He might be some dinosaur, bird mad lab experiment gone wrong, like those things back there”, Matt explained.
“Or some mess-up chicken in a lab”, Dad suggested, still looking at the road.
“I don’t think he was a chicken”, Matt rebutted. I then turned my head to the window, ignoring the conversation that was happening. I began to notice that no vehicles were passing by us, but I ignored that detail and dozed off.
I saw those same lights in the dark vision of my closed eyes. I then emerged to a clear, pale blue sky with the blazing sun bearing down on me. Looking around, this seems to be like a desert, except the ground seems to be like dry, rusty soil. It feels hot here, hotter than one of those summers in my former town. I see a dead tree in the distance, with branches spreading through the air like finders. I heard a sound behind me.
“Wake up! We are here”, Matt said as he shook me awake. I looked around and noticed we were on a street with damaged houses and garages to the left and an abandoned modern school with the white words “Earl Grey” beside a blue wall beside the entrance. The school lies hiding behind a metal fence with dead trees behind it. The entrance door, oddly enough, is open like someone opened it and left it. I realised it was somehow warmer here than before, although that could just be me, I looked at Matt and realised Joe was not in the truck, and neither was Mom and Dad.
“Hey, where’s Mom and Dad”, I asked Matt.
“Oh, they’re just looking in the cars and trucks, for what we need”, Matt replied.
“And Joe?”
“Oh, just running across the road.” Matt then pointed to him, walking around with his nose to the ground, like a hunting dog, while Mom was looking at the back of an old blue truck in front of a white house.
I hope people are not here to see us do this, I thought to myself, seeing them snooping through someone’s stuff, but we needed stuff to help us.
“Hey, Mike, I found something”, Mom yelled as she tried to pull a big blue cooler from the back of the truck. Dad then came from an RV down from the truck and came and helped her. He then put it down on the road and opened it. They both plugged their noses and backed away.
“Fish? Who leaves fish in a cooler in the back of a truck”, Dad gagged. Joe then looked up, seemingly in excitement and ran towards the cooler. He stuck his nose in the cooler and pulled out a pike. He plopped it on the road, his foot stepped on the fish and put his mouth onto it, tearing a piece of it and swallowing it. “At least somebody likes rotten fish”, Dad rasped.
As we looked in surprise, we could hear something from the school. The minute we heard it, a loud boar-like roar came out from the school. We thought it was a very big boar when it came out, but the more we looked, the more we realised it was something else. Its body is like a boar, but its face is like a lion’s and the snout of a camel, with teeth somewhat like a bear’s when it opens its enormous mouth to gargle like a pig. Mom, Dad and even Joe are taken by surprise, making our parents run towards the driveway, while Joe towards our truck with his gorged fish, standing by us. The boar-thing then stopped a few feet away from my parents, seemingly in a defensive stance, hooves scratching the ground. We are scared for our parents, preparing to see this thing rip them to shreds.
It gave one last roar and walked towards the cooler, knocking it over with fish spilling out. It stuck its snout in the fish and swallowed one down. They then slowly walked around the creature and steadily fastened their pace until they were at the truck. We all quickly got in and Dad backed up quickly.
“What the hell was that”, Mom panicked.
“I don’t know, a pig from hell”, Dad responded. We looked at Joe, swallowing down the fish while the rotting fish smell remained. It looked at us in confusion, as we were. We silently laughed for no apparent reason, probably as a mechanism to try to replace the fear. We then heard a shaking in the truck, startling us. We realised that the hell pig was tearing at the bumper of the truck like a lion would. Dad hammered the horn, making the thing back up in surprise. Dad took this opportunity to back up very quickly towards the intersection and turned to the left, quickly avoiding the creature. We sat in silence, except for Joe who was chirping.
When we went down the street, the houses, as usual, were damaged but we saw other vehicles, the first we had seen. Some were parked along the street, others stuck on one lane like city traffic but paused. Weirdly enough, there are no people in the vehicles, nor anyone outside. Most of the vehicles have one or more doors open like people got out to go somewhere. We drove past all the vehicles in the other lane. There is one vehicle we passed by that is on fire, most of the paint already off to reveal the metal beneath, only to be turned into a rainbow of browns and blacks by the dancing flames.
“What. Happened. Here”, Mom slowly asked, as confused and terrified as us. We had a feeling of dread, seeing all the abandoned vehicles.
“That’s the least of our worries. We should be looking for supplies”, Dad responded.
“Hey, how much do we have”, Mom asked Dad, worried about using up the fuel.
“Well, we got a full tank of gas and travelled a hundred kilometers”, Dad responded, more confused. “Nothing makes sense here and I hope we don’t stay here for long”, he muttered.
Eventually, we passed most of the vehicles and reached the veterinary clinic. The small, intact structure stood there, seemingly looking over the icy driveway. We then spotted an old, brown truck and we saw something that set it apart from the rest of the vehicles we’ve seen so far.
“It’s on”, I said, gleefully, with hope that, at least, we aren’t the only ones here. The headlights beamed brightly, and we realised it was getting dark. We also noticed that the street lights aren’t turning on.
“I thought there was no one here”, my Mom said, unsure of the connection between the abandoned but running truck and the lack of people in this town. At one of the intact houses, ahead of us, partially blocked by the trees, we saw what seemed to be bright light coming from one of the windows. What person would go into a house after an earthquake, I thought, thinking about our house back home.
“Someone’s here”, Matt loudly notified, as we all shushed him and that is when Joe is trying to push the door with his snout. “What is he doing?”
“Stay here”, Dad calmly ordered, opening the door, but Joe scurried out and went somewhere else.
“Hey, come back”, Matt called out, with no success. Joe eventually disappeared into the night, never to be seen. Matt then had tears welling up in his eyes like he was about to cry. I hugged him to comfort him.
“He’ll come back some time”, Mom reassured, trying to calm him down and looking at Dad. Dad nodded and grabbed a flashlight that was equipped in the truck. He then walked slowly towards the house, step by step, being shone by our truck’s headlights. He looked back at us and put his hand up when the light in the house moved. It seems to move towards the front door of the house. Emerging from the house is a person walking down the steps, cloaked in darkness. Dad then took a few steps back as the figure came. Finally, the figure stepped into the light.

I apologize this will be a long post:
Well everyone let me just say my Mother is a text book narcissist. Diagnosed. I held on to our relationship because of my younger brothers. I wanted my family to be happy. I lied to myself and held on to the good I saw; even though I know it’s all an act and manipulation for control and her own fucked up toxic validation. I made excuses because she herself had an incredibly fucked up childhood. She also has been diagnosed and takes medication.
The amount of physical pain, abuse and mental anguish my Mother has caused my family is unreal. The pathological lying is unremarkable. She will have a melt down the second you unveil her scheme or correct her. Her MO is she is always “dying” or “sick”. Constantly seeking attention and validation. She is a master at jamming wedges in between people as well as making everyone look like the “bad guy”.
She is a queen at manipulating. Recently she finally was flagged by the State as a drug seeker. She doctor shops to get pills and had many prescriptions for pain pills. The 30 years prior she was a raging alcoholic. Ever since they cut her pills she has began to spiral. Worse than I have ever seen. I knew something was coming.
My Father just died, on my birthday, a few weeks ago. Of course she was no where to be seen and completely unhelpful. The one day she came, when my Father was actively dying, and said in her best actress “oh poor me” voice. “Oh I also had some MRIs this week. Been going to my Doctor and said to him to do everything he can. I don’t want my daughter to have to lose both her parents”. She has Fibromyalgia. She kept talking about her sickness and doctors while my Dad lay there. Actually dying.
Lastly, my Brother and Father hadn’t talked in 6 years. He and I also are not on good terms so of course I tried to go through her. I kept begging her to bring my brother to see my Father. Begged her to have him call me so I could put the phone on speaker. I wanted so desperately for my Brother to talk to him. My Brother wanted to talk to the doctor before coming to visit. He did not believe my Mother that my Dad was actually dying. Understandable, she is a liar.
I gave the hospital his number and asked to have him added as someone the doctor can speak with. All of us were added to a healthcare proxy file. I gave the doctor his number and asked him to call my Brother. The doctor went and spoke with my Father and my Father said “No” when asked if the doctor could call. It was out of my hands and devastated me. It broke in to many pieces. I wanted my Brother there. My Mother refused to bring him (he is disabled and cannot drive).
The day before my Father passed I texted my Mother and she knew my brother was added and I gave the doctor his number. The morning my Father died I again asked her to bring my brother she replied “Your Dad said no, so”. The day after my Father died I received the most horrible texts from my brother. My Mother lied and said that I never told her he had permission to call or see my Dad. She never told my brother he could call or even tried to get him to go in person.
This was my snapping point. Of all the abuse and times she made everything about her. The fights at holidays or special events. The drama and the lies this is by far the absolute worst thing she could ever have done. My father is now dead and my brother will never have closure. She would rather this so she can play the hero to my brother and the victim because me her “horrible daughter” has treated her “badly”.
I know she is a raging narcissist. I know how she is and what she does everytime. Always makes things about her but when my Father was dying?! After he died?! I knew the time would come when I couldn’t take it any more but this. THIS?!
I finally told her off. I finally called her everything she is. I know it doesn’t matter because a narcissist is never wrong and she will lie to everyone until the day she dies. Unlike my Father I will not be there. May she die alone and miserable. May her karma bring her nothing but suffering.
I never thought she could break my heart enough to the point that I finally feel nothing. The years I spent crying so hard and all the trauma she has burned into my soul. I can’t take it any more. I am truly heartbroken.
I fucking hate her. Finally. I feel nothing any more. The small ounces of hope. The love for the woman I want her to be. I can no longer deny and make excuses. I am done and I am not going back.
Thank you for listening if you made it this far.
I’m just so unbelievably sad.

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Legion of the Eternal Empire (LEE) - 510M+ GP - 18:30 PST / 21:30 EST / 02:30 GMT Guild Reset - We Use HotUtils/HotBot for tracking tickets, guild event participation, and reminders. - We have dedicated Discord channels for TB, TW, SBR, and Bots for members to use.
REQUIREMENTS: - 9.0M+ GP - 5 GLs - Good Mods/Mod Score. - 2 of Executor, Profundity and Leviathan - 7M+ raid score - 4 TW omicron - 600 Tickets Daily minimum (prefer 600) - Active Discord Use (mandatory for guild events) - Synced and Public swgoh.gg account - Active Daily in ALL Guild Events - Willing to work to achieve conquest box 4 - Guided Farming if you fall behind guild objectives
Territory Battles/Territory Wars: - RotE: 36 ⭐️, 38 Reva Shards , 2300 GET2 - We are on Zeffo - We UseEchoBot for Platoon Assignments. - TW: 90%+ Win Record. Adaptive strategy depending on our opponent and team readiness.
RAIDS: - We are doing the Speeder Bike raid and are getting 440M+ score
HOW TO JOIN US: - Please come to our Discord server and an officer will help you! We want EVERYONE to succeed and are constantly looking to improve on what we are doing to help all within our collective of 7 independently run guilds. We are an established guild with active players who are looking for like-minded, common-sense individuals to join us for the growth and benefit of all! - DISCORD: https://discord.com/invite/S4j4ceuYDH - SWGOH GG: https://swgoh.gg/g/nZu5aA50TVusQFfMqjYNEA/

Hello Apes.
Long time holder and sleeper over the last few years, just quietly holding and buying after believing in the DD of previous much more intelligent apes than I, no more so than the absolute chad who kicked this all off, DFV.
Although I should be working right now, I wanted to round up all of the tweets from yesterday and understand the messages behind what was being tweeted. It seems to me that although DFV has to be cryptic with his memes, he has had so long to line this up that there must be intentional messaging behind the tweets too.
This is pure speculation on my part and i've tried to go through the original tweet posts on here and pick up on anything in the comments that others might have picked up on.
11am - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790034263603139012
Description: I'm not a massive Marvel watcher so maybe people can help me expand but the Thanos scene is taken from the ending credits of Scene of Age of Ultron where he has the infinity gauntlet in his hand saying "Fine, Ill do it myself" and the Wolverine scene is taken from X-Men origins where Wolverine is brought back to life and in remembering previous life events, went into a full on rage taking out everybody.
Speculation: The first tweet of the market day and a real statement of intent from DFV. Announcing to the world that he is truly back and he is still in. Lots of speculation about whether he would post a YOLO after hours (he did not) but certainly a statement of intent.
11.30am - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790041813379850491
Description: First part is the final scene of Ferris Bueller's Day Off I believe after the credits roll breaking the 3rd wall to ask why you are still here. Next we have Breaking Bad and this is where Saul wants out of the operation as it's becoming high risk but Walter tells him that they are done when he says they are done. Then we have a cat waking from a slumber with the Radiohead song Exit Music (for a film) playing and finally we have the beginning piano music to 'Light of the Seven' from Game of Thrones.
Speculation: I believe the first part is a joke that a lot of people have probably asked you over the years and will certainly ask you over the coming days, "oh are you still holding that GME stock?", "why are you still doing that?" but it could also be directed towards DFV as well from SHFs, why are you still here? (what's an exit strategy huh?). The Breaking Bad reference is an excellent rebuttal to that, "we're done, when i say we're done" (SHF's are fk). The Cat waking slowly can describe DFV slowly waking from his slumber, remember his last tweet to sign off years ago of a Cat going to sleep? The song has some interesting lyrics which i won't post in full but you can see for yourself here Here. Just to pick a few lines out; "Today we escape", "Breathe, keep breathing, Don't lose your nerve", "I can't do this alone". The final part is probably my favorite scene from GoT, Cersei's plan comes to full fruition with sweet revenge when she blows up the temple of a cult that had embarassed her beforehand and threatened her rule. She makes them pay with a giant green explosion so take from that what you will. If you want to check out the scene you can find it here.
12pm - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790049362846117942
Description: First we have V for Vendetta with "first the overture". Next we have a person driving in reverse from Ready Player One and then we have another scene from GoT where Daenerys (The Mother of Dragons) is facing confrontation from a murderous clan who are fighting against her claim over their city and her dragon waking up.
Speculation: The overture is an orchestral piece at the beginning of an opera and generally means an introduction to something more substantial, no need to expand further on that. I haven't seen Ready Player One but from looking at comments in other posts: The Ready Player One scene, he wins the race by beating the system. The GoT scene was the waking up Drogon to come to the aid of The Mother of Dragons while a group attempted to assassinate her, all looked lost until Drogon rode in to save the day. I tried to find the episode the check back but I'm pretty sure the actual dragon waking up scene is taken from an episode further into GME where the Dragon originally has blue eyes so I think that clip has been changed to include red eyes (GME red button anyone?)
12:30pm - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790056912664601031
Description: Firstly, this is taken from Gangs of New York where Amsterdam's father is giving his son a shaving knife and stating "the blood stays on the blade" building up to a confrontation with Bill where he will eventually kill him with it. Then we go to the scene just before that happens but everyone has their faces painted in green. Finally we have the music video for Ludacris - Stand Up.
Speculation: I haven't seen Gangs of New York but from doing some research online about the significance of the hunting blade i came across this:

The shaving knife is symbolic.
"The blood stays on the blade" can be interpreted as "you can't wash away your sins."
One of the major themes of the film is that history repeats itself if we don't learn from its lessons.

Seems like a pretty simple message that SHFs haven't learnt their lessons and history is repeating itself right now, sign of things to come perhaps? Then we have Stand up, DFV having some fun here but the lyrics again have some interesting lines, "Watch out for the medallion, my diamonds are reckless", "What's wrong? The club and the moon is full", "One sure shot way to get 'em outta them pants". You can find the full lyrics Here
1pm - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790064464357724451
Description: Some car scenes here: Firstly we have a car driving off into the sunset taken from the Wiz Khalifa - See you Again music video (part of the Furious 7 soundtrack), then we have a car chase with a car pulling off a highway (not sure where this is from or if its a highway (i'm a UK ape) and finally we have another car chase but this one the driver has beaten the police cars and is pulling up.
Speculation: I like the take from u/ tajwriggly here where it could be that DFV is saying everyone thought he was driving off into the sunset for the life of ease... and who could blame him if he was? But no... he's right off the path and in the thick of things with the rest of us. I think all 3 scenes put together tell a short story, DFV seemingly riding off, then DFV giving it the big turn in a big chase and then DFV giving it the slip in his zen like state.
1.30pm - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790072011810812231
Description: First scene shows a woman on the verge of being beheaded before being spared at the last minute then we cut to a scene with 'Ain't no mountain high enough' coming in then finally Florence & the Machine with Dog Days Are Over.
Speculation: GME is going to run, there ain't no mountain high enough that's going to stop what this can reach and the DOG days are over, it's the days of the cat now.
2:00pm - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790079562866360327
Description: A beautiful cut scene of the avengers initiative charging as a team to save the world. All kinds of superheroes big and small.
Speculation: Whilst we are all individual investors we all do share in one common interest, we love the stock. There could be a case here for basket theory but I won't speculate on that further as I'm personally only interested in one stock but take from that what you will.
2:30pm - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790087112282239085
Description: The first scene is taken from the final duel in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly only some crowd cheering has been dubbed into the background. Then we have Thor coming down hard to smash everyone.
Speculation: There is a nervy standoff happening maybe between different short positions, who is going to blink first and close up knowing that making a move means bloodshed only...it doesn't matter because they are all going to get absolutely smashed anyway by the supreme hammer of Thor.
3:00pm - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790094668237259040
Description: First scene, "make no mistake it's not revenge he is after it's a reckoning", then we have a shotgun wielding man "you tell him i'm coming, and hells coming with me you hear?" and finally we have Narco with some baddass horse riders taking shots.
Speculation: As u/ strikeeagle points out, the Narco trumpets are synonymous with Mets fans as they bring in Edwin Diaz "Narco" to close up, usually when it's "Game over" for the opposing team. The reckoning is coming! Oh and Steve Cohen owns the Mets of course, trading is a tough game don't ya think?
3:30pm - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790102212619669909
Description: Pirates of the Caribbean scene where Captain Barbossa asks what has become of his precious and infamous ship, The Black Pearl. Then we have Men in Black where they press the red button and jet off.
Speculation: The captain is back to take back the ship and he is pressing the red button to send this into the stratosphere.
4:00pm - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790109766389477525
Description: Peeky blinders, Tommy Shelby, leader of the Shelby crew is prepping his family to be on their best behaviour just before they fleece a load of the elite at the races then we have another Peeky Blinders scene in which Tommy has another plan up his sleeve but in the end keeps it simple to achieve their goals for revenge.
Speculation: DFV has a plan and all that is required from GME loving people is just to keep your plums in order and enjoy the ride, don't make it more complicated than it needs to be, everything is already happening.
Edit: Sorry i missed one (i was in bed by this time 1am in UK)
8pm: - https://twitter.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1790170162265460831
Description: The scene from Snatch where the Gypsy takes revenge on the gang that killed his mother after a continuing conflict throughout the film by taking to them with shotguns then we have the music video of BANG! by AJR and finally the Glengarry Glen Ross speech by Alec Baldwin with "oh, have i got your attention now?"
Speculation: Along the common theme here, Snatch is showing a big revenge with lots of shots fired and this is continued with lots more BANGS directed from Roaring Kitty. Finally the most interesting part of the video in my opinion, quoting the Glengarry Glen Ross Speech, I recommend you give it watch here but if you don't have time, ABC (ALWAYS BE CLOSING), YOU CLOSE OR YOU HIT THE BRICKS. Full scene here.
Let me know if you have anything to add below and hope you found this helpful. I really should do some work now.
Buy - Hodl - DRS
Love ya DFV x

I'd like to preface that this is not a problem player post even though I vent a bit about my players here. They're all great, I'm just worried that I don't know how to make this combination of people work
So here's the thing: I've been a GM for around 8 years now and can consider myself lucky enough to say that I've never had any issues with players. I guess this is mostly because I've only ever played with people who are also friends outside of the game and do other things together.
Recently I've started mastering Shadow of the Dragon Queen for a part of my friend group that isn't all that experienced in D&D. We have our Warlock, played by my boyfriend. He's only been in one campaign before which I did not participate in but outside of being a little slow on some of the more obscure rules, there is no issue with him and he seems to be having a good time
Next is our Paladin, no issues with her either. She has no previous experience and takes the longest time to learn rules so she can be a bit shy at the table but she's trying her best
The Barbarian is also an entirely new player. They can be a bit of a clown, which is not good for our Cleric
The Cleric is our youngest player. He's never played TTRPGs before but has been doing LARP for years. Even took my boyfriend and me to an event once but I don't think it's something for me
The Artificer is our most experienced player and I have both played with him as well as GM'd for him before. His experience however causes frustration for him in regards to the less experienced players
The Rogue actually hasn't played yet. I only recently allowed him to join, firstly because he only recently asked and secondly because I was apprehensive to invite him. The other game he is in is with a much smaller group where if one player is missing, the session is cancelled and he has a habit of cancelling a few days before a session. That game is in so bad of a state due to this that we manage to play roughly every six months. At least in this game we're enough people present so that he can miss sessions without the rest of us facing a problem
But now to the problem at hand: While I think all of these players are lovely (they're engaged, clearly all having fun for the most part, proactive, creative and helpful), they don't really make for a good group. The signs of this were not immediately apparent. During session zero, they all broadly stated that they had no specific expectations, especially the newcomers. They were just happy to be there and see how it goes. Now that we've played a few sessions, the reality seems to be that there are two camps among them. The Artificer, Warlock and Paladin, who wish to play the story as provided and the Barbarian and the Cleric who just want to do what they deem funniest. They go along with the story because they don't have the full support of the party but they certainly slow down progress, which especially annoys the Artificer player
I'm certainly a lenient GM when it comes to joke actions. Usually they're harmless shenanigans at least at my other tables. How it usually goes is either a player says they want to do something dumb, I say "Really?" and they either back down or of they actually want to try, I let them roll and fail, succeed or allow a smaller success to happen that's still funny enough to satisfy the desire for a laugh, all depending on how badly a success would derail the campaign. But with these two it's a situation of "Give them a finger and they'll take your entire hand"
I've already stopped doing voices for NPCs, which hurts me greatly because it's such a fun thing to do but the Cleric imitates every accent or voice I do when replying. He even imitates my own speech pattern if I voice an NPC with just my own voice. I asked him to stop because it's confusing me and there is nothing about his character that would suggest he'd do this, he didn't. Thus I now only paraphrase NPC dialogue
A lot of these shenanigans hold up the campaign. (Repeatedly trying to knock down an entire building because I mentioned in passing that some of the walls seem to be in disrepair, stating that they will now start up a railway corporation because some of the images in the module implied that gnomes have invented the steam engine, the Barbarian having to be convinced to fight if they're not the only one who benefits from winning and so on and so on). The Artificer is explicitly unhappy because he just wants the story to continue. He isn't even necessarily against a lighter tone or goofing around, the problem is that there are two other people who overdo it. Nobody else has room to be silly. Reacting to some of these behaviours with somewhat realistic consequences has shown no effect, especially since I have to keep a bit on the softer side of things so we don't loose too much time. I don't want to punish the entire group for something only two of them had a part in
And I don't know about telling them to tone it down and to stay in line because they're certainly creative and engaged players. They just seem so hyperfocused on their own bs that they not only ignore me but also everyone else who is present
How can I manage these two completely different sets of players at the same table?

With the current Informations this Years ILW is very weak. We currently only know about 3 new Vehicles. The Firebird, The MPUV-1T and the Ursa Medical. They are just small Ships and most of them are just Variants. No new flight ready Concept Ship yet. I dont count the Retaliator Gold standart here, cuz its just a Gold Standart Polishing with the addition of long planned Modules.
CIG Labeled this Invictus Live Week as "biggest Invictus yet". Although i currently can't see any Point that makes this Year Invictus bigger then privious ones. Sure we have the Idris Tour instead of the Javelin Tour. But the Idris with its Interiour is nothing new at all.
They made the Trailer nearly only dedicated to the Polaris, and teased it multible Times only to deliver us now an empty, not flight Ready Ship, after even saying that its high Priority and will be delivered this year ? Its Invictus, technically the best Event to realease such a Ship. Sure they kind of mentioned it at the Spectrum Post with the Statement that it will be a flyby, but there are alot of people, including Game Magazine Reporters and new Players who just see the Trailer without looking at Spectrum. And when they see the Polaris at the Halls as an unflyable ship... Disaster.
CIG is a well driven profit Organisation, they have a very good Marketing Team, and they knew exactly that they need to deliver. Even if they need to get more Developers at the Polaris and take them from other Project. The Community is currently partially split with MM, and they got alot of critic with the delayed 3.23.0 features, they need to do it right now. Not much room for error.
What do you thing ? Will they still have a surprise in their hands, that didnt got leaked yet ?

Erik ten Hag's pre-Match Press Conference United vs Newcastle, Premier League
Rob Dawson
Some good news for Ten Hag on the injury front. Expecting Martinez to be back in the squad to face Newcastle tomorrow. Says he'll "wait and see" whether Rashford and Fernandes are available. Varane won't play but could be back vs Brighton on Sunday.
https://x.com/RobDawsonESPN/status/1790340046412771492
Simon Stone
Erik ten Hag confirms Lisandro Martinez will return for ManUtd tomorrow if no issues in training later.
https://x.com/sistoney67/status/1790340142835622235
Erik ten Hag on Rasmus Hojlund: "When we decided to go for him we buy a player for this season and the future. He has to develop, he has to progress, he needs time, sometimes it goes up and down, before winter he struggled to get his first Premier League goal but he is a very strong character. I am more confident, he's close."
https://x.com/sistoney67/status/1790340158681678118
Erik ten Hag on if it was a mistake to have Hojlund as his main striker: "Last season, we had a goalscorer with 30. We add one extra striker to the squad and on financial resources more was not possible. We were quite confident when you are third and reach two finals, when you add a striker the transfer policy is right."
https://x.com/sistoney67/status/1790340171671507440
​
Fabrizio Romano
Ten Hag: “Lisandro Martínez will return to the squad”.
“He's done some sessions with us and we plan for him to be available if this afternoon everything goes right in training”.
https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1790341916342489468
Ten Hag: “Højlund is a signing for present and future”.
“He has to develop, he has to progress, he needs time, sometimes it goes up and down… before winter he struggled to get his first #PL goal but he is a very strong character”.
“I am more confident, he's close”.
https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1790342380211617854
Ten Hag on Bruno Fernandes exit rumours:
“I already answered last week. It's clear he's a very important player for us”.
“In all the years he’s been a tremendously important player for Man United and creating the most chances across the PL. So many assists, so many goals”.
https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1790345041736585476
​
Chris Wheeler
Ten Hag says Lisandro Martinez will return to the squad v Newcastle tomorrow. Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Willy Kambwala fighting to be fit. Ten Hag still hopes Raphael Varane could play before the end of the season after announcing departure
https://x.com/ChrisWheelerDM/status/1790340144001585456
Ten Hag on Hojlund after 1 goal in 10 games: 'When we decided to go for him, we bought a player for this season and for the future. He needs time. Sometimes it goes up and down. Before winter he struggled to get his first PL goal but he is a very strong character.'
https://x.com/ChrisWheelerDM/status/1790340443529523307
Ten Hag on Fernandes future: 'It's the same question as last week. The same answer. In all the years, he was a tremendously important player for MU and creating the most chances across the PL. So many assists, so many goals. It's clear he's a very important player for us.'
https://x.com/ChrisWheelerDM/status/1790340697406468591
​

Detailed Quotes

Ten Hag on Martinez return

​

"Licha Martinez: I think he will return to the squad. He's done some sessions with us and we plan for him to be available if this afternoon everything goes right in training. He will return to the squad."

​

Ten Hag on other injured players

​

"For some other players we have to see: [Marcus] Rashford, Bruno [Fernandes], Willy Kambwala, if they are fit enough."

Ten Hag defends Hojlund

​

"When we decided to go for him we buy a player for this season and the future. He has to develop, he has to progress, he needs time, sometimes it goes up and down, before winter he struggled to get his first Premier League goal but he is a very strong character. I am more confident, he's close."

More from Ten Hag on Hojlund and the decision to sign him

​

"Last season we had a goalscorer with 30. We add one extra striker to the squad and on financial resources more was not possible. We were quite confident when you are third and reach two finals, when you add a striker the transfer policy is right."

​

Ten Hag shares Varane update

​

"We are planning, definitely, for the last games [for Varane to play]. Not tomorrow but we hope for Sunday and then, of course, for the last game."

​

Ten Hag on the importance of the clash with Newcastle

​

"It's a very important game. You get the ranking, so it's very important to get the win. We have to do everything in it to get the win and we have to fight hard for it."

​

Ten Hag addresses Fernandes exit links

​

"It's the same question as last week. So I answered. The same answer. Now in all the years he was, he was a tremendously important player for Manchester United and creating the most chances across the Premier League. So many assists, so many goals. It's clear he's a very important player for us."

​

Ten Hag hails the fans

​

"What they did in the last games. At Palace, they were so magnificent, they were brilliant. You say the mood is low, maybe the epectations are lower but I don't want to say the mood, the vibe they create is lower, they back the team at Palace and last Sunday."

Q: Do UFOs exist?

A: Yes. The way humanity interprets the word 'fact' is for the observation to be independently verified by a community which often includes evidence and supporting material. For UFOs, multiple governments, agencies such as NASA and key scientist/astronaut/military personnel have independently affirmed the existence of UFOs. Famously multiple presidents of the US have been quoted to acknowledge them as well.
Note: Be wary, as with enough scrutiny almost any claim can be reduced and dissected to the point where almost any 'fact' can be questioned, UFOs are no different. Using the term 'fact' in a society of subjective sentient beings is a logical slippery slope. But we can certainly say, as far as the word and loose interpretation of the word 'fact' goes, it is a fact that UFO's exist.

Q: Do aliens exist?

A: Almost certainly, the majority of the scientific community agrees it would be astronomically unlikely for terrestrial life to exist in isolation. Despite significant observations of life living in seemingly impossible inhospitable environments on earth, critics rightfully question "if life is abundant, why have we not seen it yet".

Q: Are the UFOs we see due to alien visitation?

A: The strategy to answer questions which don't have scientific consensus is to logically consider it with the information we do have, making the fewest assumptions with the available facts. As with the case of the visitation hypothesis, we can consider many angles and reach a logically sound position.
Most of you know that out of a sample of 100 reported sightings, only a handful are truly anomalous, the vast majority being misreported as known origin. Of the handful left we can say these are anomalous genuine UAPs. Of these, we must first consider the least assumptions and first look to whether they are anomalous in nature, but human in origin.
Before we can do that we need to briefly discuss the credibility of witness testimony. Society places a significant credibility with witness testimony. People's lives can be judged based on the testimony of a witness, such as in the case of a murder trial. Indeed the vast majority of our entire scientific understanding is based on experimental data and whilst such data is often from instruments and computers there is often a human element. Ultimately a human witnesses the experiment and records the measurements and readings. Many things can affect the credibility of a witness testimony and of particular significance are independent witnesses reporting the same observation. As is the case with the scientific methodology and 'reproduced experiments'.
To Ufologists, a large component of lore and supplementary evidence to the existence of UAPs is built on witness testimony. We should consider events such as Rendlesham Forest where a sighting was reported by multiple expert, trained military personnel who are specifically trained in identifying even advanced aircraft and weather phenomena. A report based on multiple trained, sane personnel with consistent observations to the description of a UAP sighting is what we would call a water tight witness testimony. Such a testimony would be ruled true in any court for a petty crime or murder scandal for example.
However, on the topic of "NHI" our sample size of witness testimony is lower than the case for UAPs. The cases of multiple, credible witnesses coming forward with testimony for the case of NHI are less and I struggle to think of a good example. (Please drop any in the comments).
However, in the case of supposed NHI visitations we do have a colourful array of high ranking officials and representatives of military or government who have disclosed personally that they knew of NHI visitations.

• Robert Dean
• Paul Hellyer

In these cases the credibility is more individually focused on the trustworthiness of the person rather than a coherent multiple sighting event. We must consider such testimony carefully for there are many logical explanations for such testimony being false.
For example, David Grusch is a high profile contemporary whistle-blower who has claimed the existence of NHI. Using purely logic and removing any emotional or subjective intuition we can consider at least one likely explanation for his testimony. It's very possible that Grusch is operating as per a larger more convoluted Psy-Ops on behalf of the government. We know he is a very diligent patriot with a pristine record and presents as the perfect soldier to take one for the team and blow his career and personal circumstances to lie under oath and rattle off something he's been asked to say for some greater agenda to serve his country. Such agendas we can only speculate on, but domestic manipulation of the public as well as cold-war game theory plays against adversary countries such as China. Obviously such a hypothesis is fantastical and imaginative. But so is the NHI visitation hypothesis and a global conspiracy. For those versed in the US's history of Psy-ops, particularly in the case of the CIA and NSA - such an operation involving Grusch as a false agent is absolutely consistent with some of their previous endeavours.
Disclaimer: I am not disproving Grusch, my personal opinion is he is likely telling the truth. But I am allowed my personal opinion and my personal opinion is you cannot guarantee his legitimacy without the application of some element of faith. I have always been extremely careful whenever faith is introduced to objective deductions. I hope we all are. I don't operate with beliefs so I can't answer whether I believe in Grusch or not. But I can consider both sides as a matter of consistent statistical likelihood and it's much healthier for me to assume both possibilities going forward rather than feeling the very precarious and human desire to conclude. Again I hope this is something that is common practice amongst my peers.
So answering the question of NHI having operated the UAPs we know to exist is ongoing. So far we have explored the very likely idea that life exists outside the earth. We have also considered witness testimony and found that whilst witness testimony is credible in many scenarios, it's particularly problematic to be relied on in this case. Of course Grusch is not the only one who's claimed NHI visitations but our analysis on him is applicable to others.
There is good hope for the Alien hypothesis, but first more bad news. If we believe Grusch and similar witness testimony (in Grusch's case he's not a direct witness). We must also consider that these same witnesses also claim a US government UAP project. Depending on the witnesses and whistle-blower testimony, we either have a reverse engineering capacity of UAPs to even a downright working production of UAPs ourselves. So when we consider the handful of genuine anomalous sightings for every 100 reports, when we apply further statistical analysis, we now need to account for the likelihood such sighting (especially near air force bases or military facilities) may just be human operating UAP experiments.
Obviously we have a paradox "you can't refute the NHI origin hypothesis by saying they're humans, if humans only have the technology because we reverse engineered it" and that is true so let's be clear. Using statistics and logic we may say that a truly anomalous sighting may be humans operating craft. But we may also say that craft may have been inspired by a NHI origin.
So far the answer is skewed slightly towards the likelihood of the NHI hypothesis to be false. However there is a very compelling element to the facts that critics of the NHI hypothesis struggle with.
We have a very clear and comprehensive record of UAPs in history which predates a reasonable likelihood of us having the technology at that time. Obviously the endeavours of the ancient astronaut hypothesis is colourful, fantastical and well refuted. But amongst the popularly scrutinized theory there are strong elements of logical significance. Almost all religions and teachings of native indigenous people overwhelming talk of people coming from the sky in craft, appearing different in their looks, possessing knowledge and technology and interacting with early humans. Such stories are controversial of course but enough of them exist to merit consideration.
But much more relevant to us in this argument is the existence of the Project Bluebook and the incidents which inspired its necessity. For those that aren't aware it's common knowledge to Ufologists as the allied investigations into apparently very common UAP reports known as foo fighters observed by pilots during the word war.
Our logic tells us that if any global human power at the time had that capability we would have used it. The reason for that is because as soon as we had the atomic bomb capability we used that. It's absurd to assume that a human government was responsible for the UAPs in the bluebook but didn't use them, but would use an atom bomb. It's absurd but we must remember, history is littered with absurd events that did happen. So we don't rule it out, but it more or less provides a significant and compelling argument to the NHI hypothesis for UAPs. In simple terms, they existed before we could have created them. We deduce that, because if we had UAP tech we would have used it before needing to rely on atom bombs.
Ultimately if you want an answer it has two parts; a pragmatic answer and then a severe personal caveat.
Part one: Pragmatism

For any truly anomalous sighting, it very well may be of human origin dabbling in potential NHI tech. It also may be of NHI origin. We don't have clear enough evidence to know. Whilst US military officials claim they don't have the tech or that their adversaries don't, belief of that position requires faith as they do not provide a logical argument for their hypothesis. But if we look back at the sightings throughout history it becomes more and more likely the sightings were of NHI origin.

Part two: Caveat

My personal caveat is that some FAQ's shouldn't have conclusive answers. Our scientific method which underpins our most prestigious and rigorous institution of science in the world; does not always conclude. Sometimes a question has multiple likely answers and it will take more information to reduce those to one answer. I emphatically preach this is an attitude we employ as Ufologists as ultimately we are a community of speculators and researchers. So let's leave faith at the door.

Q: Why can supposed advanced beings master interdimensional/intergalactic space traversal but then crash land on earth like amateurs?

A: This question usually has a very loaded and dangerous assumption which I don't think we can make without careful consideration. The question implies that UFOs crash landing is as problematic to NHI as it would be to us. If a military pilot crashes a plane, they may die and as an asset they are worth hundreds of millions to the government, big loss. Additionally the plane they used is extremely expensive too and may have trade secrets. For us, a pilot crash landing is a huge net loss in life and assets. When we consider the idea of UAP crash landing we are applying our human bias on them.
Firstly, the UAP may be being operated by AI, biological artificial intelligence, pilotless etc. Even if there's a biologic body inside it's very possible the actual sentient pilot was operating the body remotely the same way we operate robots remotely. The biological body left behind may be like a robot we left on the moon which we used remotely to navigate the lunar landscape. Our operators don't die if the robot is broken.
Additionally, the craft itself is likely not a multi billion dollar craft. It's probably extremely cheaply made with the avenue of advanced technology. The 4chan whistle-blower (whether you believe them or not) introduced a logically sound idea that a craft was in the sea making purpose built UAPs all the time and sending them on missions. The "mother craft" just mines the materials it needs from our sea floor and pops out a UAP, it's probably entirely automated.
Little fiction here but it paints a story which is good to consider. Imagine a un manned probe lands in the sea after having identified using photo spectrometry that our planet has certain elements. It lands and the AI finds a spot in the sea away from detention and starts mining for a probe craft. It mines and creates a probe craft. The probe craft goes out and does some recon and then either makes new craft for whatever but eventually instigates a protocol which fires up the organic biological 'pilots' which are either artificial purpose built intelligence or biological vehicles operated by remote consciousness which a sentient life form will operate from afar. Then these guys go and crash whether it's a magnetic anomaly or something else and the NHI doesn't really care and are hardly inconvenienced.
It's possible to encapsulate or hide or lock the main functions of their technology upon crashing in the same way that our advanced technology may self destruct if crash landed in a foreign land. There's also speculation that some secret key is needed to operate them.
That is all fiction, but it paints a compelling alternative to us just projecting our bias on the crash hypothesis.
Remember, to a civilization that in theory has automated its outreach reconnaissance, the most pristine system design for their drones and vehicles isn't to somehow guarantee 100% crash proof technology. But instead it's to assume crashes will happen and make sure they're not damaging nor give away their tech too much.

Q: Can we simulate or 'fake' UFO's in the sky?

A: Yes to an extent. Using lasers we have technology to create lights that can move. However radar is another matter.

Q: Why haven't we had material evidence of UAP's released to the public?

A: Grusch has kind of answered this by saying that destabilisation factors are too great.
And for those interested, this post comprehensively considers this angle and attempts to explain in layman terms why disclosure is so complicated for a government and what those reasons mean.

Q: Is there an alternative to official disclosure and catastrophic disclosure?

A: Yes, I believe there's a route forward that a community such as this one can start making progress on. With the introduction to a pragmatic disclosure which has a simple goal; remove the 'valid' reasons that disclosure is being hidden and it will no longer be hidden.

OK never done this so please no judgement on here. Talks of little DV from my past and tiggers. So here it goes..
I 30f and my partner 32m have been dating almost 5 years and we have kids together. Both have 2 kids together 1 kid each from another relationship but we class that they are all ours. My eldest is from a dv relationship and me and her have gone through well alot of trauma that we've had therapy for which I finished mine about 11 months ago. And in therapy we had to figure out my tiggers to try and prevent or prepare me having to appear but try and avoid if i can. And yes my partner knows them.
So to the event.
On Sunday before starting dinner we was talking about bathing the kids. And I said about bathing the kids after he's washed the veg and filled up the pans and he said do it before. But I said no, cos we need dinner at normal time as our oldest (his stepdaughter) has school tomorrow as all kids need to be in bed at reasonable normal time. 7/7:30 latest. You said oh yeah ok that makes sense.
Now the kids are in the living room playing nicely partner preparing dinner I thought oo I can read whilst I'm waiting to bath the kids as I haven't picked up a book in 4 days so I thought perfect opportunity kids happy playing, partner doing Sunday dinner I'll sit in the kitchen with him whilst he does dinner and listens to his podcast I can read a book whilst listening out for the kids. And just so we are clear he cooks on Sundays and I wash up as we go.
Half way through him washing and preparing the veg I'm dulled into a book he mentions that I need to go wash the kids I look at him like did we not just have that conversation so granted I shouldn't of ignored and gone back to my book but I did and got straight into it pretty quickly. He then tossed as he put it a raw chopped carrot at my face and yes it hit me. No it didn't hurt but it was a shock because I didn't expect it and it did feel like a little force behind it. But whom knows maybe he didn't chuck which felt like force. I blew up at him and said that it's not it and you do not chuck anything at me regardless of what it is. He told me it was a joke and to fuck off. I didn't want to argue but it did bring up images of my ex chucking things at me before he beat me black and blue. And yes he knows how my previous relationship went as it was hard for me to trust anyone with me and my eldest.
So I left the room for about 20 mins to let the situation calm down and went and played with the kids. After about 20 mins I went back to the kitchen and asked if he was OK and if we could make up and he went I dunno you gonna start shouting at me again I said I dunno you gonna chuck something at me again he said it was a joke I said OK but you hit me in the face he said yeah cos I aimed for it because you ignored me and I said because we already agreed to go it after washing the all the veg etc he then went and made a comment that I basically belittle him all the time and I said give me one example because all I ever do is have to on a high peddle stall which maybe clearly I shouldn't. He told me to fuck off and leave him alone if I'm gonna start so I left again cos I didn't want to argue. So as dinner was being dished up kids have been washed and I go into the kitchen to start washing up so I don't have a alot to do after dinner.
I asked if he was OK and he said he's fine just a little pissed off still I said OK.. again I don't like to argue I alway try and keep peace because of my past I really don't like arguments or any disagreements. Anyway so I'm washing up quietly and he turns around and says so and so ruined this morning (my eldest commented on me at breakfast about how much I'm going to eating and I'm not fat just so we are clear, but she talks like that because of her dad and grandma anither long story from my past regardingthe DV) anyway then he said now I've ruined dinner. I said how did I ruin dinner I tried giving you an olive branch twice and you made snide comments which when asked you couldn't tell me what I've done and said. Then our middle child came in dad told her to get out .. she came in second time and he yelled at her to get out so she started to cry and I blew up again and said no you can be pissed at me all you like but the kids he cuts me off the say something but I cut him shouting no end of. And I walk out to go to our middle child. In that time he slammed and broke the tongs and took his dinner sat at the table started scoffing his dinner down.
Kids notice he's eating dinner without them as that's not normal I say daddy's tired need to go bed as not feeling well.
I get everything on the dinner table get kids up and tell them to start eating I get my plate and as I sit down he finished his dinner left his plate and went upstairs, ran a bath went to bed.
I dealt with the kids and tidied. Yes I am petty I've left his plate from Sunday on the table still and didn't wash up he his work cup but I thought the audacity of this man and his behaviour no sir no sir.
Yesterday he doesn't speak to me all day and tells me to fuck off and leave him alone he needs space. And all i wanted to was telling him my reasoning in how I reacted and the tigger it caused and that I'm sorry.
Today I brought ice-cream his fav sent to him and also, said quote I quoted what he texted me I'm still very pissed at you then explained the tigger but I did think of you when I saw this.
Well it blew up again he accused me comparing him to my daughters dad and how much of a massive warning this is for him, I'm lazy and whatever cos I didn't bath them when he said i should of socit didnt go into our sunday eve ( lets make clear my kids all 3 of them were in bed by 7:15pm that night like anyother night). even though i did once he finished the veg. And so we are clear I have never ever once have I ever compared them or thought he was like it. After that I said im done speaking etc .. He's mentioned about us breaking up and obviously I've got 180 and said i'm sorry I don't want this end etc etc he's told me to basically leave him be or he will take it so I'm giving him space again and now I feel like I'm the arse and I was in the wrong so.. the question is am I?
P.s no he's not violent. And I would never put me or my child or children through that ever.

Steffie here from Founder Folks, with a recent interview I did with Jonaed Iqbal from NoDegree Inc.
Here is his story how he started and grew NoDegree Inc.
Name: Jonaed Iqbal
Company: NoDegree Inc
Other Founders: 3
Employee Size: 3
Technology Tools: Riverside.fm, Descript, Davince Resolve, Slack, Zoom, Fireflies.ai, Simplecast.fm, ChatGPT, Lobby.so
Revenue: Up to $300K
Founded: 2014
Website: ~www.nodegree.com~
Introduction My name is Jonaed Iqbal. I am the Founder of NoDegree.com and host of The NoDegree Podcast where I interview people without college degrees and have them share their stories. NoDegree.com helps people without college degrees find meaningful careers that pay well. We realize that just because someone doesn’t go to college, doesn’t mean they should be denied opportunity. NoDegree shares roadmaps on how to break into careers that don’t require degrees.
Before this, I was an actuarial assistant at MetLife. I realized I didn’t want to study hundreds of hours to pass exams for a career I wasn’t passionate about. I worked for a few years. I then worked as a Data Analyst for a NYC agency and then a Product Manager for a FinTech company.
The Inspiration Behind NoDegree Inc I was on Reddit. I saw a post on AskReddit with the title, “For those of you without college degree who make over six figures, what do you do and how did you get the job. I saw jobs like claims adjuster, surveyor, systems administrator, elevator repair, and web developer. I thought, “No one says they want to be a claims adjuster when they grow up.” People mentioned that they got the job through a family friend or someone in their community. Basically, they knew someone. I then thought. What if someone doesn’t know someone? Should they not be able to break into these careers?
And I thought, I could be that friend. I searched up NoDegree.com and put an inquiry in. A few days later, I got a response back and negotiated. I called 2 buddies and pitched the idea. We bought the domain for $1,520.
From Idea to Reality I spent a couple of years doing research with whatever free time I had. It was just learning about entrepreneurship, business, SEO, and other topics that would help us in the future. Eventually we incorporated and started to get the ball rolling. We used a law firm to help us with the process. I would have probably used a small accounting firm if I were to do it again.
Attracting Customers I started networking on LinkedIn. I gave free resume reviews to people. I created content aimed at job seekers. I let people know this is what I did. I did a lot of resumes for free. Eventually I started getting referrals. As I grew my account, I got more business. Since I have been doing it for years, I get regular business from referrals.
Overcoming Challenges in Starting the Business I have made a lot of mistakes. If I were to do it over, I would have waited to quit my job. I am still paying the price of not having any income for 15 months. I had issues with business partners who weren’t pulling their weight. We had disagreements and parted ways. I even got 2 jobs along the way (not at the same time). I got fired from both of them. It’s tough managing a business and a full time job. I’ve had some good months. And I have had some bad months. I have had clients who secured raises in the $100K+ range who didn’t pay the remainder of their bill. Entrepreneurship makes you value the people that support you and makes you bitter towards the people who screw you over.
Costs and Revenue My biggest costs are the workers I have. I have a podcast editor and an online business manager. I was making money doing resumes. I eventually expanded to include job search strategy, interview prep, LinkedIn profiles, and salary negotiation. I also started recruiting. At one point, I did less work for NoDegree because I had another virtual event business that was making money. We hit over a million in sales in that business. That business took a hit when in person events came back. I then went back to doing resumes. I started off charging $300-$500 for resumes. Now I charge double that. I typically spend 5-6 hours with clients. I am also making more money through online courses. My business recently started recruiting for companies so that has opened up another revenue stream. For 2023 and 2024, revenue has remained flat. However from 2022 to 2023, I had 100% growth in revenue. In 2019, the company lost money. We had small expenses and barely had revenue. Starting in Jan 2020, I started getting regular resume clients. The revenue was around $4K-$5K a month. It was sable for most of 2020 and grew from there.
A Day in the Life I don’t have typical workdays; I have typical workweeks. Since I work based on my clients' schedules, my work is scattered throughout the week. I typically engage in 2-3+ hour sessions with clients, with anywhere between 1 to 3 of these sessions per day. Some days, I spend over 12 hours writing resumes in front of my clients. In between, I manage to comment on LinkedIn and fit in networking calls, as well as meetings with my business partners, often scheduled for 10pm or later. Additionally, I aim to record 1-3 podcast episodes per week, although sometimes I fall behind and need to catch up.
I usually check my email and LinkedIn inbox around 1-3am, which can take up 1-2+ hours daily. Occasionally, messages and emails accumulate, requiring several hours of catch-up time. As I am not a morning person and struggle with Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPD), waking up before 12pm is challenging for me. Despite this, due to work demands, I occasionally find myself working on resumes as early as 9am, though I try to avoid this as it quickly wears me out. Networking calls typically take place between 10pm-2am, as I often connect with individuals from the West Coast or around the world during these hours. Given my preferences and natural rhythm, I find it more manageable to work on resumes at 2am rather than 9am, as that's just how I'm wired.
The Vision for NoDegree Inc My eventual goal is to compete with LinkedIn, Monster, Indeed, and other popular job boards. I understand that achieving this will take a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, I am committed to never seeking VC funding for my company; instead, I will maintain a bootstrapped approach. For me, the mission holds greater significance than monetary gain. I am fully aware that this endeavor may span 15 to 20 years or more, and I am prepared for the long journey ahead.
Guiding Principles for Entrepreneurial Success Build the runway first. I would have been much further along if I had some savings to start with. I always struggled just to stay afloat. Once I got a job, I was able to raise my prices with no issues. If I were to go back, I would have waited until I started making revenue on a regular basis before quitting. It took me 15 months to start making money after quitting my job. There were some things I wanted to do, but I couldn’t take the risks I wanted to because I couldn’t afford the downside scenarios. Also, make sure to choose your business partners wisely. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Set expectations and be ready to have tough conversations. I would have done things so much differently. I thought everyone was ready to commit like I was and make the sacrifices I made. For some people, the business is a hobby. For me, it’s my life. Thankfully, I have some great business partners now, and I wouldn’t be making the progress I am without them.

My admirer (19M) confessed his feelings for me earlier and I like him as well but I'm on a situationship with my crush(18M). They are both gentlemen but my admirer does more effort to show that he likes me. Admirer= A 19M Crush(?) = C 18M A is my classmate while C on the other hand is not, he is in a different section. A has liked me since the start of our 4th yr in college, while C liked me back when there was a school event. I (18F) never liked A back since he was a delinquent and get in trouble from time to time but he changed for the better and he is still changing. I liked C because he was an achiever, he has a nice gentle voice. I've been feeling different towards C, ever since he liked me back I felt different, as if the thrill of liking him was gone. So I kinda started falling out of likes for C, and then came A. He was always teased by our classmates, shouting that A had a crush on me, shipping us together, that kinda stuff. But I only took it as a joke, I thought they were messing with me so I didn't take it seriously. I regret not taking A as my partner for the school event, but he was always shy when it came to me. The teasing of our classmates about him and I weren't enough, I mean I knew that he liked me but I wanted it to come from him. I asked C to the school event and A asked me at the same time, but I chose C. That didn't stop A to dance me, after that I confessed to C and he liked me back. I was excited but now, I don't know, I'm confused I knew A was always there, he must've been hurt seeing that I liked someone else. He could've left but he didn't. A showed his efforts by taking me home, and just being a gentleman -asking to carry my stuff -offering to take me home -whenever I wanted to buy something for recess he does it for me - Drew a photo of me and kept it in his phone case
C couldn't do much since he wasn't my classmate and we lived far away from each other But he did drew a portrait of me( I haven't seen it yet) I gave C a bracelet that had our initials My name starts with A so I had the bracelet A (Usually you give the other the opposite initial but idk) C is draining whenever I chat him, he is interested but I have to make the conversation first. Nonchalant
I'm not allowed to have a relationship I'll most probably not see them once we graduate, and I plan to not have any communication with them (if that's the right thing to do) I don't think I can stay friends with either of them What should I do?

8 years ago in 2016 I ran away from my Muslim family because I was inspired by other random people on this site and I took a long break from Reddit. To me it sounded exciting and like an adventure into freedom and adulthood. I said I would never see my family again. I would literally blame all my problems on my family and Islam when me personally I knew some things I was just not doing right when I reflect. It was not always someone else's fault or Islam's fault. I just made bad choices because I was young.
If you ever start thinking you have to break off all contact with your family these are not natural or healthy thoughts. Certainly if you are a teenager or in your 20s getting an idea to escape home or run away is not always the best decision unless something really extreme or rare is going on which likely does not apply to most of us reading these posts.
I look back on it confused, I missed so many events with my siblings and family because I was almost for a lack of a better word radicalized by Reddit. I missed so many birthdays. And the person I ran away with I swore that I would marry, we never did get married.
I was young and full of emotions. No stranger on the internet really cares for you as much as your family. All of these love comments people leave on run away posts make me sick because I remember I fell victim to all of that. I wish I could change my past. What a waste of time. I am lucky my family still loves me and talks to me today despite traumatizing them with youthful internet inspired antics such as rushing to run away from home.
Hope my post is something different to read than just all the random "Im gonna run away" posts which people are clearly getting love bombed on. They are love bombing you into making a mistake.

I'm using a throwaway account as I don't really people currently in my life to know this.
I (30MtF) left my wife (27F, let's call her D) two years ago. The divorce was finalized about two months ago, and I wish I could go back.
I met D eight years ago, while I was homeless. She and her family helped me get a job and my first apartment, she always showed me an incredible amount of love and support, and she was absolutely wonderful in so many ways. But D was also an evangelical Christian and incredibly transphobic and homophobic. I found this out shortly after we met. At the time, I knew I was trans, bisexual, and I was a pagan. I probably should have walked away then.
Unfortunately, due to an incredible amount of trauma in my childhood and adolescence, I have a tendency to develop new versions of myself for those I'm around. The "me" that took over my life during this time decided "he" was a cisgender, bisexual man who refused to "act on" his "sinful" desires after becoming a Christian. Still, early on that "me" didn't have as strong of a hold.
Once, when we'd been dating for a few months, we were hanging out with a friend who showed us Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time. Neither of us really had any idea what it was about. We watched it, and we were both incredibly uncomfortable for entirely different reasons. She brought me to work (I worked overnights at this time) and then while I was at work we fought over text and nearly broke up because of this damn movie. I didn't like it because it seemed fairly transphobic to me, especially when Dr. Frank-N-Furter raped the guests. (I now recognize this movie has a big place in queer culture but I still can't help but see it as kind of offensive.) D thought it was disgusting that the movie even included a trans character.
Eventually the "me" that had formed to be who she wanted me to be took over full-time and committed to stay with her and fight the "urge to sin." We dated for a few years and then got married. And honestly, this feels like one of the best times in my life sometimes, even though I know I was miserable.
I've always looked fairly feminine, and had fairly long hair and a pretty alternative style that often included makeup. I'd get "mistaken" for a girl pretty frequently when we were out, which only increased when she got me a super cute coffin-shaped purse for an anniversary. She'd always get super upset and defensive on my behalf, which hurt but she couldn't know it.
Sometimes during our marriage, she was reading an article about some state or another not accepting the "trans panic defense" and started ranting about it. I knew what she was talking about but on the off chance I was wrong I asked her to elaborate. She said it was when a trans person comes into the bathroom or hits on you and you assault or kill them because you panic. I tried to calmly explain that I thought it was good that wasn't being accepted because you shouldn't be assaulting or killing people regardless of whether they're trans or not, and it sounded like just a way to hurt trans people and get away with it. She came up with this wild argument and I just let her "win" because I didn't want to lose her. But I never felt fully safe with her again.
She liked it when I wore makeup, and once her sister told me she liked how I was a "man who was secure in his femininity but didn't feel like I needed to be a woman." (This was literally a month before I left to transition.) D agreed with her sister.
Around four years ago made a new friend at work, a nonbinary person I'll call S, who invited me to play DnD with them and their husband (a trans man) when they quit that job. By the time we'd bee playing for about six months, being around other trans people had reawakened the other parts of me, the parts that were closer to who I really am. I re-realized I was trans through our time together, and they started encouraging me to leave her and be my authentic self.
I left D about four months before our five-year wedding anniversary. She had gone through my phone, found messages between me and S about plans for me leaving and my being trans, and confronted me while I was in the shower. I quickly finished my shower and got out, had a six hour long conversation with her about this and tried to get her to understand. Eventually she just said "But you're not a woman and you never will be!" Without a word, I gathered up some essentials and left for S's house. S and I went back to that house while she was at church on Sunday and grabbed everything I owned, and then went to her mom's house to do the same. D and her whole family were there so I was trying to avoid questions and begging and pleading and crying from not only D, but her mom, sister, and brother to stay and give this trans thing up. I told D that if she wanted me to stay, I'd be staying as her wife and she'd have to accept that. She couldn't. I left.
Over the next couple months we spent a lot of time talking. D was trying to convince me to come back, to fall in love with her again. But I hadn't stopped loving her, I'd just gotten sick of hating myself. I told her that. I told her I wanted nothing more than to come back, but I couldn't do it if it meant going back to wanting to die every time I saw myself in the mirror and hating her briefly every time she "corrected" someone on my gender. I told her if she wanted me back, she'd need to support me in my transition. She still couldn't do it.
The last straw was when Michael Knowles called for the eradication of "transgenderism" (trans people). With that and the hundreds of anti-trans bills being introduced, I was scared. I texted D for comfort and instead got into a whole big argument with her. She kept trying to say the anti-trans bills were a good thing, and when I brought up the Michael Knowles thing she said she'd watched that speech and agreed with him. She said eradicating "transgenderism" would be a good thing. I sent her back a long text about the definition of genocide and how you can't separate "transgenderism" from transgender people, and eradicating "transgenderism" would require eradicating transgender people. We never talked again except about our divorce.
The thing that gets me though is that she's always been very anti-racist and speaks out against prejudice of most other kinds. She just never got it through her head that the same reasons she felt so strongly about that are why she should accept LGBTQIA+ people.
Now, it's been about two years since I left her. I have been on hormones for over a year, and I've never been happier with myself. These two years have been absolute hell in other ways. I have no stability, I lost my job, I've lost friends and family and all kinds of other traumatizing events that would make this post a literal novel. I've been suicidal in the past over stuff a lot smaller than this, but now, in the face of almost overwhelming and crushing despair, I'm still nowhere near that point again. I love myself. I am, for the first time in my life, living for myself.
I now have three wonderful partners (polyamory, they are all fully aware and consent, one of them has four other partners of their own) who love and accept me for who I am, and I love them all so much.
And yet. Despite all of that. Despite the pain D caused me, I still love her. I think I always will. And lately, it seems like all I can think of is the good times. And there were so many good times... I wish I could go back. I want her to love me again. And if she texted me tonight and told me she accepted me, I don't know if I could stay away. And this love I still feel... It's the most painful thing of all.

Gratitude to the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Gratitude to Master Jun Hong Lu.
Respected fellow Buddhists, do you know what's worse than death? Have you ever escaped death? Today, I have a firsthand experience of escaping death to share with you.
Have you heard of a disease called myasthenia gravis (MG)? I believe many people have not. As only about 30,000 people worldwide suffer from this disease (Note: This figure may vary as there are differing estimates, with the United States alone having approximately 36,000 to 60,000 cases), where the nerves cannot control the muscles. For example, if the affected area is the hand, it can feel pain, heat, cold, and pressure. But no matter how much you command your hand to move, it won't budge. I am one of those 30,000 people. The affected areas include the cheeks, mouth, left arm, and the chest muscles responsible for breathing. In other words, during an episode of the disease, I cannot breathe. Can you now imagine how close I was to death?
Back to my story. In mid-September 2012, my lungs were infected with bacteria, and I fell seriously ill. On the night of September 29th, my breathing became increasingly difficult, and my family rushed me to the hospital for emergency treatment. The next night, my condition deteriorated to the point of MG, and my breathing became so weak that it was almost cut off. The doctors once again performed emergency procedures for me, eventually placing me on life support system (LSS) and transferring me to the intensive care unit (ICU). The so-called LSS involved many instruments strapped to my body and several tubes inserted into my body. Although the areas where the tubes were inserted were very painful, I dared not move for fear that any loosening of the instruments might endanger my life. So, at that moment, I didn't dare to move at all.
One night, a nurse attempted to draw blood for examination, but the needle just couldn't find the right artery. She would try once, then pull out the needle, try again, and repeat this process several times. I was in excruciating pain, but because my body was encased in instruments, I couldn't move. Finally, I couldn't help but ask myself in my heart, what did I do wrong? Why must I endure all this? I've never harmed anyone, never wronged anyone, so why me?
At that time, I didn't understand Buddhism, nor did I know anything about making vows. But the pain drove me, someone who barely recognized a few Chinese characters despite being educated in English, to silently call out the name of Guan Yin Bodhisattva in my heart, begging her to save me from this sea of suffering. A few days later, my condition improved. The doctors removed my LSS, and I was transferred from the ICU to a regular ward. I thought I would soon be discharged and return to my previous life, believing that everything was almost over. I felt very happy!
Looking back now, I realize how ignorant and selfish I was at that time, even as I began to recover. I was only thinking about my own survival and never cared about other people who were suffering like me. Perhaps it was because of this that I received a retribution. On the same evening that I was transferred to the regular ward, I suddenly had difficulty breathing again, couldn't make any sound, and my whole body was immobilized. I could only use my eyes and hands to draw attention, making small gestures with my hand to communicate.
A nurse noticed and called a doctor from the floor. Surprisingly, after glancing at the readings on the instruments, the doctor told the nurse that my heartbeat and breathing were normal, and then left. Once again, I tried my best to attract the attention of those around me. Thanks to the blessings of the Bodhisattva, another doctor passing by noticed me and observed that something was not right with my condition. He/She called back the previous doctor and urged him to conduct a detailed examination. While they were debating whether I was normal or not, I was almost breathless, mentally giving up on life.
The readings on the instruments once again sounded the alarm. Luckily, with both doctors nearby, they were able to save me at the fastest speed possible. The next day, I woke up in the familiar ICU, with the life support system back on me. Through this rollercoaster of emotions, I finally understood that the suffering I endured stemmed from the ignorance and folly accumulated since my birth, perhaps not just in this lifetime, but through countless past lives. Now, I must face the consequences.
I once again prayed to Guan Yin Bodhisattva and made a vow to her: "Guan Yin Bodhisattva, I believe that every soul, before they pass away, experiences a lot of suffering, and their pain is surely no less than what I am enduring now. I implore Guan Yin Bodhisattva to save me from all this suffering. I am willing to be a vegetarian for the rest of my life."
Whether you believe it or not is up to you. Two days after making this vow to Guan Yin Bodhisattva to be a lifelong vegetarian, my lung infection showed significant improvement, and I was subsequently transferred to a regular ward. Perhaps it was destined. Not only did I start to follow a vegetarian diet, but my parents also understood at the same time that my illness was beyond the control of doctors and only the Bodhisattva could save me. At that time, our entire family had just begun to explore Buddhism.
Every day, my mother devoutly chanted the name of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, while my father recited the Heart Sutra for me diligently.
However, our ordeal was not yet over. One night, I once again experienced difficulty breathing and had to be placed on the LSS for the third time.
I saw my parents kneeling down, praying to the deities and Bodhisattvas to bless me with a safe recovery. They had knelt before doctors before, but this time, seeing them kneel again went beyond what I could bear. I didn't want my parents to kneel for me. Witnessing them kneel deeply wounded me. As a 19-year-old young man, I should be taking care of my parents, yet why were my parents, who were over 50 years old, kneeling for me?
Three times being placed on LSS and admitted to the ICU, followed by three instances of improvement, resulted in my transfer to a regular ward. It was three months later, after my extended hospital stay, that I finally got discharged and returned home. I am deeply grateful for the blessings of the Bodhisattva. Instead of weakening our faith in Buddhism, this series of challenges only deepened our belief in the principles of karma and karmic obstacles as explanations for my condition. After leaving the hospital, my family and I continued to immerse ourselves in the teachings of Buddhism. Grateful for the blessings of the Bodhisattva!
One day, my family and I went to a vegetarian restaurant near our home and discovered Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door. Excitedly, I immediately went online when I returned home and downloaded several Buddhist scriptures in English phonetics from the Guan Yin Citta website to start reciting. Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door truly works wonders. That very night after reciting the Buddhist scriptures, I dreamt that while reciting the Great Compassion Mantra on the balcony at home, the image of Guan Yin Bodhisattva appeared in the clouds.
However, the next day after waking up, I felt a headache and drowsiness when reciting scriptures. My family and I took the liberty of contacting the Guan Yin Citta fellowship in Kuala Lumpur. The Buddhist practitioner who answered the call instructed us to come to the fellowship to recite scriptures. One day, while reciting scriptures at the fellowship, I experienced severe headaches. At that time, everyone was busy preparing for a Dharma conference, and the venue was crowded. I am grateful to the practitioner who cleared some space for me to lie down and gathered many fellow practitioners present to recite scriptures for me.
Later, the practitioner explained that my headaches were messages from the karmic creditors and taught me about releasing lives, making vows, and the importance of Little Houses for eliminating karmic obstacles. I immediately arranged to release thousands of fish. Today, my family still insists on releasing lives for me on the first and fifteenth day of every lunar month.
Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door is truly a miraculous practice. Ever since I began reciting Little Houses under the guidance of the fellow practitioner, I have experienced continuous dreams. On the first night, I dreamt of a seven-story-tall Buddha statue with many people practicing beneath it. Just two weeks later, after memorizing the Great Compassion Mantra, I dreamt of the Dharmakaya of Bodhisattva and two Dharma protectors driving me around in a car. Even more wonderfully, two months later, after memorizing the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance, I dreamt of myself having tea with Master Lu.
Most importantly, after continuing to release lives, make vows, and recite Little Houses, my illness has not recurred.
Having now healed from this unusual illness, I'm here to share my story with you. These dreams signify an enhancement in the quality of life. I deeply appreciate the blessings of the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva, which have reinforced my resolve to earnestly follow the path of Buddhism and instilled me with confidence. I am dedicated to diligently progressing in the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door and remain steadfast in my commitment.
Currently, I am studying in Singapore, and whenever I have the opportunity, I propagate the Dharma and benefit sentient beings. Whenever I return to Malaysia, I often volunteer at the fellowship center.
Additionally, I would like to mention two more things. Firstly, on the second night after making my vow to be a vegetarian, I saw a child's spirit clearly flying beside me in the hospital and heard it laughing. Shortly after, I dreamt of a man killing a woman and cutting open her chest. In the dream, I felt that the pain of the woman being cut open was exactly the same as the pain I felt during my surgery.
While many still question the reality of karma and karmic obstacles, doubting Master Lu's teachings, I have personally experienced their effects. Thus, I hope my story can encourage you to embark on the practice of Buddhism and the recitation of Buddhist scriptures, starting today. I wish to prevent anyone from following my path, waiting until karmic obstacles manifest and adversity strikes before beginning their spiritual journey. I am deeply thankful for all those who stood by me during that challenging time, particularly my family and friends, who supported me through my darkest moments. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to the fellow practitioners at the Guan Yin Citta fellowship in Kuala Lumpur, who patiently guided me into the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door.
Deep gratitude to our Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Master Jun Hong Lu for establishing the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door, guiding us on a path away from suffering towards happiness. Lastly, and most importantly, deep gratitude to the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva, who saves those in distress and hardship. With Her Buddha light blessing each one of us, She guides us back to the right path of learning Buddhism and constantly watches over us, blessing us at all times and in all places. Gratitude to the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva!
Buddhist practitioner: GWT
Speech to text translator: Guan Jing
Proofreaders: Miao and Dong Ri Yang Guang
Date: 2024-05-11
Translator: Frank
Published: 2024-05-14
Statement by translator
The story was translated from video into text, and then translated from Chinese into English. If there is anything that is not rational or in line with the true meaning of the presenter, I pray for forgiveness from the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Dharma protectors and Master Jun Hong Lu.
Propagation
It would be greatly appreciated if you would forward this presentation to all sentient beings you know, sick or healthy. You will accumulate immeasurable merits and virtues. Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-floor pagoda!
Would you like to change your destiny?
We will show you how to do the Five Golden Buddhist Practices of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door: (1) making vows, (2) reciting Buddhist scriptures (sutras and mantras), (3) performing life liberation, (4) reading Buddhism in Plain Terms, and (5) repenting. You will personally witness how you and your family can achieve physical and mental stability, relief from illness and grievances, wisdom growth, academic progress, career advancement, and family happiness through Dharma. It’s free of charge.
Contact
Buddhist practitioner: Lily
Email: [sunnypurplelily@gmail.com](mailto:sunnypurplelily@gmail.com)
WeChat: HanJing20210820
原文如下：
下面让我们有请来自马来西亚的郭同修与我们分享：郭同修身患绝症，重症肌无力，饱受病痛折磨几次病危。然而心灵法门使他摆脱病魔，重获新生。让我们掌声欢迎!
感恩大慈大悲观世音菩萨，感恩卢军宏师父。
尊敬的各位佛友，你是否知道什么事情比死更糟糕？你是否曾经死里逃生？今天我便有一个亲身经历死里逃生的故事要告诉你。
你是否听过一种称为重症肌无力的疾病？相信很多人都不曾听过。因为全世界只有约三万人患上这种病，患者的神经控制不到肌肉。举例说，如果患病部位是手臂，这个手就能感觉到痛热冷及压力。但无论如何你怎么叫你那个手动，它都不会动。我就是三万人之一。而受影响的部位包括脸颊，嘴巴，左手臂以及负责呼吸的胸肌。也就是说，当病程发作的时候，我是无法呼吸的。你现在估计到我多接近死亡了吧？
回到我的故事。2012年9月中旬，我肺部被细菌感染，久病不起。在9月29日当晚，我的呼吸也到了越来越困难，家人赶紧送进医院急救。第二天夜里，病情终于恶化到重症肌无力，我的呼吸微弱到快要断气了。医生再次替我急救，最后替我戴上了维生系统，并送进加护病房。所谓维生系统，就是很多仪器套在身上，很多管子插进身体里。虽然被插管子的部位很痛，但万一随便一个仪器松脱了，可能我的生命就会有危机。所以，我当时连动都不敢动。
有一夜，护士替我抽血检查，但是针管却一直插不进正确的动脉。她们这里插一下不行，拔出针管，在那里又插一下，一次又一次。我那时痛得死去活来，却因为全身套满了仪器而不能动。我终于忍不住在心里问自己，我做错了什么？为何必须承受这一切？我不曾伤害任何人，也不曾亏待任何人，为什么是我？
那时还不懂佛法，也不懂什么许愿。但痛苦使得我这个受英文教育认不到几个中文字的人也会在心里喊出观世音菩萨的佛号，祈求她救我出苦海。几天后，我的情况有好转。医生移除了我的维生系统，从加护病房推进了普通病房。我想自己很快可以出院，回到之前的生活，一切几乎结束了。我觉得很开心！
现在回想起来，我才发觉自己当时是多么的愚昧，才开始康复仍然如此的自私。只想着自己生存，不曾关心其他和我一样受苦的人。可能因为这样我受到了教训。就在我被转进普通病房的同一天晚上，我突然呼吸困难，发不出声音，全身又不能动，只能用眼神和手，以我的手用一点小动作来引起别人的注意。
一个护士发现到把楼层的医生叫来。想不到医生竟然看看仪器读数后跟护士说我的心跳和呼吸都正常，然后就离开了。我再一次用最尽力的引起身旁的人注意。感谢菩萨保佑。这时有另外一位医生经过，看到我，察觉到我的神态不正常，并把之前的医生叫回来，求他详细检查。就在他们两个还在争论我究竟是正常或不正常，一旁我已经几乎断气了，心里放弃活命了。
仪器读数也再一次变成警报状态。幸好两个医生在身旁，能以最快的速度把我救了。第二天，我在熟悉的加护病房里醒来，身上又套上了维生系统。经过这一次乐极生悲，我终于明白到我受的苦是源于我出生以来愚昧无知的罪，或许不止只有这一世，而是过去无数世累积下来的因果。如今要面对果报了。
我再次向观世音菩萨祈求，而且向她发愿说：“观世音菩萨，我相信每个灵魂，他们死之前都会受到很多苦，它们的痛苦肯定不比我现在所受的少。请求观世音菩萨救我脱离这一切痛苦。我愿意为此一生吃素。
相不相信由你。向观世音菩萨发愿终身吃素后两天我肺部感染有了明显的好转，之后被转进普通病房。或许是因缘到了。不但我自己开始吃素，我父母也同时明白到我的疾病已不在医生的控制范围，只有菩萨才能救到我。当时我们全家人才刚接触佛法。
妈妈每天勤念观音菩萨的佛号。爸爸找来一本《心经》每天为我念诵。
但是，我们的考验还没过去。某天晚上我再次感到呼吸困难，第三次戴上了维生系统。
我看到父母下跪求神佛菩萨保佑我平安度过。他们之前已经跪过医生了，这一次再下跪，已经超出我能承受的限度。我不要父母为我下跪。看到他们下跪，深深地刺伤了我。我这一个19岁的男孩应该照顾父母，反而为什么要让他们超过50岁的父母为我而下跪？
三次戴上了维生系统住进加护病房又三次的好转，被转进普通病房。我在医院里住了三个月后，才终于出院回家。感恩菩萨保佑。这三好三坏的过程，不但没有减少我和家人对佛法的信心，反而相信只有因果和业障才能解释我的状况。出院后，我和家人还继续研究什么是佛法。感恩菩萨加持！
某一天，我和家人到住家附近的一间素食馆，认识到心灵法门。于是，我回家就急不及待的上网，上心灵法门的网站下载了几篇佛经的英文拼音版开始念诵。心灵法门真的很灵验。我当夜念诵了经文后，便梦见在家中的阳台念诵《大悲咒》时，在梦里天上的云朵化出观世音菩萨的形象。
然而，第二天醒来后我念经便感到头痛及爱睡。我和家人冒昧地拨电话联络吉隆坡心灵法门共修会。接电话的师姐便叫我们到共修会里念经。一天我在共修会里念经时，头痛剧烈。当时大家正在忙着筹备法会，会所堆得很拥挤。很感恩师姐搬开东西，腾出空间让我躺下，还召集了在场的许多师兄师姐们一起为我念诵经文。
后来，师姐解释我的头痛是要经者的讯息，还教会我放生、许愿及小房子并告诉我消除业障的急迫性。我当时便即刻安排放生数千条鱼。如今家人依然坚持每逢初一十五为我放生。
心灵法门真的是很灵验的法门，自从我在师姐的教导下，开始以正确的方式念小房子之后，便不断有梦境显现。第一晚便梦见一座七层楼高的佛像，底下有很多人在共修。心灵法门真的很灵验的法门，两个星期后我背熟了《大悲咒》时，便梦到菩萨的法身，还有两护法神用车子载我兜圈。更美妙的是，两个月后，当我背起了《礼佛大忏悔文》，竟然梦见自己和师父一起喝茶。
最重要的是我继续的放生许愿及念小房子之后，我的病情不曾复发。
现在已经从这奇怪的疾病中痊愈，活下来告诉你们这一个故事。这一切的梦境显示生活素质提升。我都感恩大慈大悲的观世音菩萨的加持，坚定了我学佛精进，很有信心，并立志在心灵法门一门精进永不退转。
我如今在新加坡求学，只要有机会就弘法利生，一回到马来西亚更是经常到共修会工去做义工。
另外，我要补充两件事，第一件事在我发愿吃素后的第二晚，我便在医院看见一小孩子的灵性清楚地在我旁边飞过，还发出了笑声。不久后我又梦见了一个男人杀了一个女人，还把她的胸口割开。而我在梦里感觉，那女人的被割开胸口的痛苦竟然跟我动手术时的痛苦一模一样。很多人还在质疑因果和业障的存在，怀疑卢台长的教导，但是我亲身体验过了。因此，我希望自己的故事能启发你学佛，学习佛法，今天就开始念诵经文。因为我不希望有人跟我一样，等到业障显现坏事发生之后才开始修行。深深感恩所有在我那段时间陪伴过我的人，尤其是我家人和朋友，在我最艰难的时刻，可以为我支持的人。深深感恩吉隆坡心灵法门共修会的师兄师姐们。他们耐心引导我进入心灵法门。
深深感恩我们大慈大悲的卢军宏台长创办了心灵法门，指引我们一条离苦得乐的道路。最后也是最重要的，深深感恩南无大慈大悲救苦救难广大灵感观世音菩萨，以她的佛光加持了我们每一个人，指引我们回到正确的学佛之道，随时随地都在庇佑着我们。感恩南无大慈大悲救苦救难广大灵感观世音菩萨！
如果整理过程中有不如理不如法之处，还请观世音菩萨护法神菩萨慈悲原谅！
观净师兄语音转文字，妙师兄和东日阳光师兄校对。
2024-05-11
您想改变命运吗？
我们手把手传授您观世音菩萨的心灵法门五大法宝：“许愿”、“放生”、“念经”、“读《白话佛法》、大忏悔”。您将亲自见证如何通过佛法让自己及家人获得身心安定、病苦解除、冤结化解、智慧增长、学业进步、事业提升、家庭幸福。免费学习，免费结缘。
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Disclaimer of Liability:
The contents of the presentation and answers, including text, images, and other information obtained from Dharma practitioners, are provided strictly for reference purposes. Due to the unique nature of individual karma, results similar to those experienced by the authors may not be replicated. The experiences and advice shared should not be construed as medical advice or a diagnosis.
In the event of an emergency, it is crucial to promptly contact your doctor or emergency services by dialing 911. Relying on any information found in the answers is done solely at your own risk. The translator and answerer bear no responsibility for the consequences. By using or misusing the contents, you accept liability for any personal injury, including death. It is imperative to exercise caution and seek professional medical guidance for health-related concerns.