It is a man, old and scraggy. He wears a jacket that lays over the red plaid button shirt and blue jeans. He wears an old baseball cap and a pair of glasses. He yelled something to Dad, holding his hands up like he was pleading, although we couldn’t hear it over the truck engine. They talked, but we couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Hey, what are they saying”, I asked, while petting Matt’s hair, calming him. The old man then put his hands down and came close to Dad in a cautious way. They seem to start having some kind of conversation.
“I don’t really know, hopefully, something good”, Mom answered. They talked for a little while, with daylight beginning to disappear, giving us a sense of dread, and making me more worried about what weird creature was going to show up. Eventually, the old man turned and pointed toward what I think is the northeast. They then shook hands and walked back to their respective vehicles. “What’s going on”, Mom asked as Dad got into the truck.
“Well, our new friend here invited us to dinner at his farm”, Dad replied.
“Does he have supplies?”
“Well, he says has supplies for us to make the journey.”
“Should we even trust him? We just met h-”
“Relax, he’s just an old man, living alone at his farm, feeding his cows. What could go wrong”, Dad countered. The old man then entered the truck that was running and drove slowly, expecting us to follow him.
“Alrighty then, but we have to be cautious”, Mom said, with her suspicions of the old man. We then followed the old truck along the dark, frozen road. It just feels like something is going to show up along the road, but nothing happened. Matt did eventually stop crying, but he is still upset about the Joe escape thing.
“Where are we going”, Matt lamented, with the prior series of events in mind.
“I guess somebody is offering us dinner”, I answered.
“Why can’t we just go home?”
“It’s only going to be a stop, like a hotel. After that, we go to our new home, I guess”, I said, taking another look at Matt and cradling to comfort him. “It’s going to be okay.” I stared out into the darkness. I looked to the sky from the window and I faintly saw something in the clear, dark sky, lit up by the waning moon. They were brilliant, green auroras that defy the bright moon, dancing across the sky like ribbons in the wind. The truck eventually took a right-hand turn into another road, with us following suit. I can see a bright, orange light emerging from a patch of tree. When we passed by, it seemed it was a house, at a farm, burning in a massive flame.
“I guess those people aren’t so, uh, lucky”, Dad said, taking a quick look at it before looking at the road. Passing by, we went on and continued to follow the old man’s truck. We passed onto another intersection until he turned into a driveway to what I believe to be his farm. Going into the driveway, I can see an old house, along with a dilapidated farm further away, barely visible by the headlights. The old man parked by the house, where there were a few other trucks there. We parked alongside the truck and we got out into the cold, near-silent night.
“Welcome to sanctuary, where all are welcome”, the old man bellowed. This is the first time I’ve heard his voice. Matt was the last to get out of the truck, slowly and clumsily climbing out of the truck.
“What’s your name”, my Mom politely asked the old man.
“Oh, I guess your husband didn’t tell ya. My name is Steven, but you can call me Steve”, the old man said, with some crackling in his voice. “I am very proud to host a dinner for you and your family”, he continued. “What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Oh, my name is Janice”, Mom replied, quite pleased at his politeness.
“Hello, Janice, and what are their names”, Steven asked, pointing to me and Matt.
“That’s my daughter Kate and my son Matt”, Dad said to Mom.
“Oh, what wonderful names for a couple of beautiful children you have”, Steve grinned. “Come, it is dangerous out here.” We followed him to the house, which looked like it had seen better days. He entered through the double-set door, the first a solid door and a screen door behind. Entering the house, it smelled like what you’d expect, old man. Looking onto the floor is made of glossy wood and walls with cracks, likely caused by the earthquake. It is dark in there, lit by candlelight from many candles, yet it’s fairly warm here. I don’t know why we went into the house, but Dad was right, Steve is just a lonely, old man. Matter of fact, there seems to be nothing wrong here, other than the cracks in the walls. “Sorry, the power went out. Had to resort to the candles. I knew my wife would come in handy”, Steve explained as he took his coat off. “Oh, supper will be ready right away. Had to use the fireplace to cook. Also, can you take your boots off?” We took our boots and set them aside. We went into what seemed to be a living room, with dusty old-style furniture.
“So, where do we sit”, Mom asked.
“Oh, well, follow me”, Steve commanded, leading us to the dining room, with a long, wooden table and six wooden chairs, along with their corresponding old-fashioned plates, glasses and cutlery, lit up in the candlelight. We noticed that everything on the table was covered in a thin veil of dust. “My apologies, the recent shocks dropped a bit of dust on the table”, he explained as he noticed us looking at the plates and moved into another room nearby. “Take your seats if you like.” We all settled onto the chairs, and blew off our plates of the dust settled there.
“When will we eat”, Matt impatiently said.
“Once Steve comes out with the food”, Mom answered. Matt sat there with a tired look on his face. Dad seemed to be in a better mood than before and it looked like he wanted to start a conversation.
“Hey, should we talk about something”, Dad asked. I then see Steve with a bowl and a silver plate.
“Here we go, may not be much, but at least it’ll fulfil the soul”, Steve said, smiling when he served us mashed potatoes and meatloaf. “So, shall we pray?” That came unexpectedly, as we are not too religious, but we were in his house and gave us shelter and food.
“Sure, we can do that”, Mom said and we all bowed our heads and put our hands together. Steve cleared his throat
“Thank you, Lord, for this good food to feed the soul in these hard times. I shall pray, in the name of the Lord and Jesus Christ, that these hard times shall be over, so we can get on with our lives. Amen.” We raised our heads and grabbed whatever food there was onto our plates. “Oh, there’s no gravy, so we have to deal with bare potaters and meatloaf.”
“Oh, not to worry. Thank you for the food”, Dad thanked Steve. We began to eat the food once we got it sorted.
“So, what brings you here”, Steve asked.
“Well, there is an evacuation order in effect for this area, so we had to go to Regina”, Dad explained, with Steve taking in every word. “So, we came from Strasbourg, we tried going south towards Regina, but we hit an obstacle in the way and we had to take another route, leading us here.”
“And we encountered a few odd things along the way”, Mom added.
“Huh, interesting. What do you guys think is going on”, Steve inquired.
“By the things we saw, we have no idea. Dinosaurs, devil dogs, hell pigs, the whole deal. I shouldn’t forget the earthquake. They told us a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake”, Dad clarified to Steve.
“Hmm… is that so”, Steve wondered. “Wonder what I think is happening? The Rapture is happening. Do you know how the Bible tells us of the end times? Good people sent to be with God and his kingdom, the rest here to suffer the Hell unleashed by Satan.” By this point, he was beginning to rant, but we couldn't stop it as we all began to feel tired and powerless. “So, the Devil will send his demons in the form of these illusions so that they can torment the sinners. It is happening, it is-” Steve manically continued as I drew towards blackness and his voice becoming less coherent. My vision is now all black.
I saw those same lights, but more rapidly than before. I then emerged onto the same clear sky, but something felt different. I can smell something in the air. I can smell what seems to be chemicals in the air. Looking down, I was terrified. Dark, grey rock in the shape of ropes and folds, similar to those I saw of lava flows on a volcano in pictures. This went on as far as the eye could see. I can see no tree this time, just the cooled lava everywhere. I then walked, feeling every bump and crag. I thought I walked forever until I heard a rumbling sound and woke up.
I am in total darkness. It is cold and it smells like cow manure. I tried to move my hand, but it seemed to be bonded behind my back by a rope. I tried to move my feet, but they were also bound by rope to the legs I tried to speak, only to realise my mouth was agape by a cloth in my mouth. I heard shuffling nearby but I could not see. It was then shone in light when Steve entered the door, holding a candle, revealing all of us in the same situation. I then can see what we are in. We are in that same wooden dilapidated barn we saw earlier and seems to be more damaged than the house, wood creaking can be heard.
“These sedatives are more effective than I thought. Maybe I should use them more often”, Steve smoothly explained, like he’s some kind of agent and began pacing. “Wonder why you are here? Well, I wondered the same thing to myself, why didn’t God take me to his heaven? When I first heard of the government telling us of those evacuation plans, I thought it was that, a leaking pipe. I began to notice things I couldn’t believe myself, at least at first. Earthquakes, weird creatures showing up, people disappearing, the whole spiel. I connected the dots. The Rapture is happening, for sure, but why me? Why was I the one left here on this Earth”, Steve calmly ranted, pacing around the barn, but it seemed to sound crazier and angrier the more he paced. “I thought I had lost my way. I’ve been unfaithful to God and his son. But, I realised that God always has a plan and he left me on this Earth to serve a purpose. I wondered what my purpose was until I had a moment.” He then stopped in place and calmed down. He turned to look at Mom with accusing yet crazed eyes.
“I’m supposed to keep the sinners here in line, to earn a place in God’s kingdom, or suffer in Hell. I know you are a sweet woman, Janice, but your treachery with Satan is over and I am going to do what’s right.” Mom then looked at all of us, with assuring eyes like that of an innocent yet caring mother we all know knew. I began crying and trying to speak through the cloth, but I was helpless to watch by. “Forgive me, Father, for what I am going to do.” He then pulled a knife from his pocket and plunged it into Mom’s neck with no mercy. I looked away once he did that, trembling, with tears pouring out and my vision glazed and I fell limp. I could see my brother tearing up, but he did not look away. I can hear Dad behind me, with his screams of agony and anger covered by the cloth. It felt like I was in slow motion, taking in every moment.
I then heard the chair, screeching as Steve dragged the chair containing Mom’s lifeless body towards the door, leaving behind a trail of blood. I couldn’t bear to see my mother like this. I shut my eyes very hard and hoped it would go away. The door then shut, leaving us alone with a candle, fearing what would come next. I stared at the candle, seeing it dance in the flames like a woman dancing in the darkness. Is this how it’ll end, I thought. End up dying to this sick man? My Mom was killed in front of me. I sobbed with that thought, then I began to think about the inevitable death of me. I hope there’s something after I die. Maybe I’ll see Mom again.
It was silent for a while, nearly no sound other than our moans. Dad seems to be fidgeting at the back of his chair, rocking it slowly. Looking past him, I shuddered at the glistening pool of blood, where Mom was last alive, could be my fate. I then see Dad release his arms from the back of the chair and remove the cloth from his mouth. He silently stood up and bent down to untie his legs from the chair legs. He then went to me and removed my cloth.
“H-h-how did you do that”, I silently wept, fearing that Steve would show up at the door and kill us all.
“My binding is loose. The old man probably took a liking to me”, Dad whispered. “I should remove your binds.” He untied them, releasing me, doing the same for Matt. “Now, we need to be quiet.” We then walked, quietly, along the painfully creaking wood in the near dark, following the blood trail, glistening in the candlelight. We cringed and dreaded each sound we made and watched the door in case it began to creak open. A few silent steps later, we made it to the door and we slowly opened it so as not to make any noise. What was revealed to us is nothing new, other than the blood trail continuing in the snow directing towards the back of the barn. “Okay, Kate, Matt, you guys run to the truck.”
“What about you”, I sobbed.
“Don’t worry about me”, Dad responded, giving me his keys and forcing them into my hand. “If I’m not back in a few minutes, leave. Don’t look back, take care of your brother, okay? I love you, no matter what happens.” He then kissed me on the head and ran to follow the blood trail. We quickly walked towards the black truck, stranded there for maybe hours. Getting closer, freedom is getting closer. When we got to a fair distance to the truck, I heard footsteps behind me and, the next thing I knew, I was knocked over to the ground into the hard snow on my face. A hand turned me over to give me a glimpse of a crazed Steve, his eyes wilder than before.
“Oh, yes, trying to escape”, he bragged. I looked at him, frozen in fear, like a deer in headlights and he caressed my face with his bloodied blade. “You do have a pretty face, but I’m afraid you are just one of Satan's creations, made to pull me to lust.” He then raised his knife in the air when a familiar side emerged, out of the blue.
Joe came and bit him in the arm that was holding the knife. Steve screamed in agony the moment he realised what happened. He shook Joe off and stood up to stand his ground. I stood up as Joe hissed and walked around the crazed being he wounded, not in fear but in aggressiveness. “Is this one of your pets, demon”, Steve screamed as Joe came in for another attack, but Steve countered that with a slash to the snout. Joe then ran away, whining, into the darkness. This sequence of events gave me the chance to enter the truck on the driver’s side. I had some trouble starting it, besides this is my first time driving a truck.
Steve menacelily walked towards the when Dad came barreling and tackled him to the ground. Dad was on top when he went limp. I finally put the keys in the engine turned it on and backed out, with memory serving me the instructions on such a vehicle. Steve pushed Dad’s body and stood up, but by that time, we left the farm.
“Turn back, we have to get Dad”, Matt cried, but I was very emotional, accepting what happened. I felt that, without my parents, I feel… useless.
“Dad’s dead”, I screamed at Matt and he began gagging uncontrollably in tears. I began to feel sorry for him. “Sorry, I, I don’t know.”
“It’s okay”, Matt sniffled. “I guess Mom and Dad are dead anyways.” It was silence for a few more minutes, tears welling in our eyes.
“Hey, our parents are in a better place”, I said, trying to make the situation positive.
“But we are stuck here, without them? Don’t we deserve to go to a better place?”
“Don’t say that”, I huffed and I paused for a bit. “I know we are in the, uh, right place now. Let me tell you something, once we get to Regina, I will take care of you, no matter what life throws at us.”
“What about Joe”, Matt asked.
“He’ll be fine. He probably found his girlfriend already.”
“Hey, don’t you have a boyfriend?”
“I, uh, I don’t have one. That I know of”, I spoke, bringing me back to Sam, remembering that she’s the only friend that I ever knew, and I left her. Without her, I felt alone, no one would ever relate. I began to tear up. “I don’t have any friends. I am alone,” I sobbed.
“What do you mean? I’m your brother!” I looked at Matt, and smiled, happy that he acknowledged that we were in this together.
“Thank you”, I thanked him. I slowly stopped on the road, just to hug Matt hard, crying my eyes out. We then heard what sounded like an elephant in front of us. We looked up to see a walking snow-covered brown fur wall with four pillar-like legs in front of us. Its curved tusks gleaned in the light and the eyes reflected in the light. The furry trunk waved around like a searching snake from a tree. We both knew what it was.
“Hey, look at that, a woolly mammoth”, Matt said, excitement running through him. At this point, we weren’t surprised.
“Yep, that is a woolly mammoth”, I added. The mammoth turned to us on the road, seemingly confused about where it was. It looked at our truck and seemed to growl, like an elephant. We are starting to realise this thing is becoming aggressive.
“Uh, should we move”, Matt asked. I remembered hearing something about standing your ground in case of an encounter with an elephant. I hoped it would work for a bigger, furrier version of one.
“No, we have to stand our ground.”
“But, it’ll attack u-”
“Trust me!” I then honked my horn and it backed up. It then rushed, then stopped, a mock charge. Eventually, it moved out of the road, disappearing into the darkness. We sighed in relief.
“That was close”, Matt sighed. I then continued to drive in the night, headlights leading the way. The road is bumpy, as noticed by every ditch and peak we hit, but surprisingly, Matt was fast asleep. I began to get comfortable driving and used to the road by that point. It was silent for a while until we hit a smaller intersection. That is when the truck shut down, completely and stopped. I tried the gas many times but with no effect. There is no light, nothing. It is near-darkness here, shone only by the moonlight.
“Shit”, I yelled, desperate to turn the truck on without much success. Matt woke up, confused.
“What happened”, he yawned.
“The truck turned itself off. I can’t get it back on”, I fretted and at that moment, Matt was just as panicked as I am.
“Why?”
“I-I don’t know. One moment, we were driving, another it just-”, I quavered, when I heard something rustle in the distance. We stood still, hoping whatever it was didn’t find us. I looked around, hoping to see something in the moonlight. I then see a long, walking animal. It looked like some sort of alligator at first, except for a dinosaur-like head. Once I strained my eyes to the darkness, my fear levels rose as I could see it walk on its hind limbs, with its forelimbs dangling nearly touching the ground.
It was wandering around on the road when I heard a near-crocodilian growl at Matt’s side of the truck. Another of those creatures appeared, seemingly looking into the window like a hungry bear, giving us a chance to see its scaly head. Its exposed alligator teeth gleaned in the light like knives, but more terrifying was the eye. Its serpentine pupil shone brilliantly in the light like eyes in the dark. It then ducked down, gave a hiss, and moved towards the other one. A few more showed up and formed a group.
“What should we do”, Matt asked. “Should we stay?” I looked around, hoping for another way to escape them without them noticing. I further strained my eyes and mentally mapped out the area. There is a cemetery on my right-hand side, a grain bin storage yard on my left and a series of trailers on the other side of the highway, which is ahead of us, from the storage area. There, I see a series of white, storage buildings, something we can go to and wait it out inside.
“Okay, so slowly open the door”, I instructed Matt. The click of the doors opening cringed us. We looked at the group, but there was no response from them. We then, as slowly as we could, opened the door and stepped out. Still no response. Matt then quietly ran to the other side, towards me. “Okay, we are going into the storage yard and go to the other entrance”, I said, pointing to the other right-hand corner. I wanted to get as far away from these things as possible before making a safe crossing. “Then, we cross the highway on the other side, run into the buildings and stay there for the night. Are you ready?”
“I guess”, he whispered, looking at me in fearful doubt.
“We are going to do this”, I whispered back. We then silently ran over, having to rely on our night-adapted eyes, to the corner, walking past the bins. We made it and nothing behind us so far. “We’re good so far.” We then crossed the road and noticed nothing. We noticed a tanker truck, leaking some sort of fluid across the road. I easily recognized it as fuel, based on its distinctive, sickly smell. I wouldn’t be worried about it if it weren’t for a collapsed light pole that is somehow still flickering with electricity near the area where the fuel would be flowing. We quickly avoided the fluid when I froze to see the group of the walking alligators, running towards us. “Run!” Matt tried to run, but one of those things appeared and clamped its jaws at the back of his neck. He yelped in pain and it took him down to the ground. “Matt”, I yelled, helplessly watching as the creature tore into him.
Matt reached out his arm before the others came to him, then a flash of fire came. At this point, I knew what happened, but I couldn’t even think before it exploded. It blew me towards the building, far away. I was knocked out for a few seconds before I regained consciousness, groaning in pain on the ice. I noticed something especially painful just below my chest. I reached towards the area with my hand. I pressed on it, more painful than ever and raised my hand, only to see blood, brightened by the fire. I realised I was wounded, maybe by shrapnel made by the explosion.
I looked toward where the truck was and all I saw was a blaze. Those things weren’t there, at least. I also noticed something else, too, there’s no Matt. I tried to look around for something, some sort of sign of my brother within the fire, but I saw none. I then wept, realising I had failed. I have failed to keep him safe. I have failed to give him a better life. I failed him as a sister. I could’ve done better. The thoughts poured in as tears glazed my eyes. At that moment, I failed to look around me.
I noticed a dark thing beside the blaze. I thought it was Matt, preparing to greet him back, even though I knew he couldn’t survive the explosion. The image became clearer and clearer as I noticed it was one of the walking crocs that, glazed by the fire, was coming towards me.
“Just kill me”, I screamed, preparing to painfully die to meet my maker. The creature was about to attack me when something large, silent as the wind, came charging and clamped down its massive jaws, filled with conical teeth on the hapless creature and raised it. The crocodile struggled before going limp with a crunch within its strong jaws. The big, dark and scaly monster that it is towered over me and is as long as a bus, possibly longer. Its large legs are a contradiction to its small arms that hide beneath its scarred, bulky body.
It turned to look at me with an oddly bird-like expression, revealing in the firelight numerous scars from battles I could never know and looked at me with its beady bird-like eyes, breathing out wisps from its nostrils like a dragon in the cool air. I recognized it as a creature I know too well, a T. Rex. I breathed heavily and sickly, looking at the thing, nearly expecting me to drop the body and go after me. Instead, it simply walked away, carrying its bloody prize with it, and steadily retreated into the darkness.
I then lay down in agonizing exhaustion on my back, thinking of the next step of action like I'm on a suicide mission I would never come back from. I looked in the direction of the graveyard and had one thought. I guess I am dying. a graveyard will do. I struggled to stand up, noticing my blood-soaked clothes and felt a broken left leg. I grasped my wound, limping step by step and enduring the sharp pain while shaking in the cold. Every step I took, I remembered all the memories, good or bad, that I had with my parents. My brother. My friends. My family. I eventually reached the cemetery and slouched at a tree.
“Guess I’m joining you, guys”, I said, speaking to the snow-covered gravestones, only to hear something. A familiar sound of chirping emerged and, lit by the blaze, it was a sight I can hope for. “Joe, what are you doing here”, I depressingly cheered as Joe went to me and curled up in my lap as if he were a cat. I noticed the new-found scar he had on his little snout, but I paid no mind as I petted him. “I guess you came back. Thank you so much for what you did”, I thanked him, not expecting such a loyal creature would be with me, comforting me, to the end, like what my mother used to do when I was a newborn. I heard another noise, this time a deep rumble.
I thought it was another earthquake coming, but it got louder the closer it got to me, becoming more animalistic only felt small vibrations I barely felt. Joe stayed put, oddly enough, as T. Rex, different from the first one, came. It walked towards us until it stopped short of us. It began to produce a low-pitched, bird-like purring, attracting Joe. I realised something, that this T. Rex is Joe’s parent. He joined the rest like him, whom they showed up and all chirped around.
The grown Rex then brought its snout closer to me, not to kill me, but to look at me. It did not reveal its teeth and was still purring. I put my hand out and its nose came close to it. It rubbed it against my hand and started to pet its cold, scaly skin as it breathed through its nose and put it on my chest. I rested my head on it before it pulled away. It gave out a hiss, but I knew it wasn’t that of a threat, but more of a thank you for bringing its small, sometimes immature, child home.
That gave me relief, as it felt like I at least did something for once. They walked away, along with Joe, towards the darkness amongst the gravestones in the cemetery. I glimpsed one last desperate look at Joe before walking beside his parent. I looked up at the sky and I could see all the stars, twinkling, and the dancing green auroras. I began to feel limp and felt the cold embrace of death coming over me, tears pouring out of my eyes. The sky then grew brighter and brighter, the stars faded into the light and I could see my family welcoming me to a new home. It then slowly went black, darker than a cave.
You would think this is the end of me. It wasn’t, or else I wouldn’t be writing this right now. I eventually woke up in a hospital in Regina. I was told I was rescued by a team that transported me while I was in a coma. The doctors said I was very lucky to be alive, as the shrapnel narrowly avoided my vital organs. After that, I was adopted into a new family, but I was only with them for a couple of years before finding a new job and moving out.
As for Sam, I don’t know what happened to her. I would like to think she is safe, somewhere else. As for my family, I think of them all the time. I was in a depressive period right after that. Eventually, over the years, I accepted that they were gone and went to a better place. For Joe, I would like to think he is all grown up, like his parents, and becoming the king of the jungle. I hope we meet again.
As for the evacuated area, it wasn’t some pipeline rupture that caused an evaluation, but an anomaly, with the exact reason not known. There are excuses for the claims of weird stuff going on in there, from disease to chemicals, to eventually a previously unknown geological event, but I saw through it all.
You may ask how, it's because I've been there. Take it or leave it, this is the story I have. As the decade came by, cover-ups were made to hide it, even walls were put around it. Since the incident, the exclusion zone grew from a mere 80 kilometers in diameter to 460 kilometers in diameter, emptying entire cities of the likes of Regina and Saskatoon. I had to move to North Battleford, by the recommendation from the same government covering it up, making me think that time will tell before the floodgates of truth open.
The anomaly didn’t have a name initially, however, over the years, everyone agreed on one name in particular: The Saskatchewan Anomaly.

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.

Sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language. It’s a long story (get your popcorn ready)
So my(33f) whole life I have a very sensitive skin. It’s mostly painful but manageable for me to do manicure and pedicure, I don’t go to cosmetologist as I have a high risk of getting an allergy or redness. However, I like to dye my hair and I have been to numerous hairdressers as well as done it myself for about 15 years
Three years ago I had severe health problems which caused me to lose half of my hair (among other symptoms) and at one point I almost died. At that time I stopped dyeing my hair and chopped it off due to bad quality. 2,5 years later I’ve been feeling good, my hair grew out and I decided it’s time to make my 2 dreams come true: to donate my hair so they can make a wig for cancer patients and to dye the bob that will be after the haircut bright pink
I’ve spent a lot of time to find a hairdresser that would fit me. The one that chopped my hair didn’t work with bright colors and actually chopped off 10cm more than I asked. I was sad but ok as it went for charity
After a few month I finally found the one that had pretty good works and the price was good enough
When I came to the appointment It felt weird, I think we didn’t clicked, but were pretty respectful towards each other. I told her right away that I have sensitive skin and she seemed ok with that
Although I didn’t like that she didn’t ask for my permission to take photos or videos for her social media, and I was just told that she will take them after she finishes her work. I swallowed it as I always supportive of hairdressers, makeup artists etc. I loved her work on me and was absolutely happy, but during the filming she was irritated that I’m posing not like she wanted although I never got the instructions
A few days later she posted an IG reel with me and she put a filter on my face for a preview picture. Mind you, I almost haven’t recognized myself. She never asked me if I’m ok with that. I was livid but once again swallowed it because it’s so hard to find a good hairdresser where I live
During the next appointment she held her blowing dryer too close to my head that it felt like it burned a hole in my head. I politely asked to hold it a bit further and she reacted normally, and tried to do so. Sometimes she pulled my hair too much and I made some quiet noises as I can’t control my reaction
During the third appointment she fucked up with bleaching my roots and I got a light strip 1 cm wide. At first it wasn’t noticeable due to the lighting and I saw it the next day and sent her a message right away. She never apologized and tried to make it seem like it was my fault, but eventually said to come to her salon to fix it (for free ofc). Her fixing didn’t help that time and the next one. So I had to walk like that for 2 months. She never acknowledged her fault, and newer apologized. Okay, things happen, I understand. I swallowed my frustration once again
Now to the main problem. I’ve been at her salon for 5-6 times and after at least the last three of them I’ve noticed that she washed my had very bad leaving A LOT of dye. This caused a very painful itching after only 2-3 hours after the appointment was finished and the last time this itching continued for two weeks. Okay, she has only 3-4 years of experience, I get it, mistakes happen. I thought that I would talk to her about this and it will be better
Yesterday was my last appointment. I addressed my concerns in a very polite manner, she tried to break my speech answering that it’s the dye that is so strong or the bleach causes the irritation and she is not sure it can be fixable. I told her that I have years of experience and never had this problem before. I’m just asking her to wash my head more thoroughly. She agreed to try
Well, the issue seemed resolved, she have bleached my roots and the part she fucked up before, washed my hair and started to blow drying it before dyeing. During the blow drying part I felt that she holds the blow dryer too close to my head again (mind you, when it’s just hot I remain silent, I say something only when I can’t bear the pain), I again asked her very politely to hold it a bit further
In response she started to raise her voice (not screaming) telling me how it irritates her that I have sensitive skin and I always say that it’s too hot, to painful or that I have allergic reaction. She said it’s uncomfortable for her to work like this with me and this is the last time [she allows me to say things like that]. She said that next time things will be different
I was shocked and said that I didn’t choose to have sensitive skin or get an allergic reaction. What should I have to do? To shut up when I’m in unbearable pain or have an allergy?
She responded only that she is uncomfortable with me and her other clients never have this problem
I said okay and sat completely silent and shocked knowing I will never be back as it was the last nail in the coffin
She dyed my hair, washed it again (surprisingly, she did it the exact way I asked for) and dried it. During drying she once again held the blow dryer so close to my head that I had to tilt in other direction from her in absolute pain and put my cold fingers on that place for a half a minute. She just remained silent looking more irritated and started to hold the blow dryer too far like on purpose
After she finished I paid for the service, came back home and blocked her. I never want to see her again or interact with her
Now, to my question: my husband said that blocking her was an overreaction, and I could just unfollowed her (she didn’t follow me). He didn’t say that in any rude way or so, just his opinion. I didn’t think I overreacted, but maybe I did? Idk, what do you think? Am I wrong in my reaction?

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temporary, ten, tend, tendency, tennis, tension, tent, term, terms, terrible, territory, terror, terrorist, test, testimony, testing, text, than, thank, thanks, that, the, theater, their, them, theme, themselves, then, theory, therapy, there, therefore, these, they, thick, thin, thing, think, thinking, third, thirty, this, those, though, thought, thousand, threat, threaten, three, throat, through, throughout, throw, thus, ticket, tie, tight, time, tiny, tip, tire, tissue, title, to, tobacco, today, toe, together, toilet, token, tolerate, tomato, tomorrow, tone, tongue, tonight, too, tool, tooth, top, topic, toss, total, totally, touch, tough, tour, tourist, tournament, toward, towards, tower, town, toy, trace, track, trade, tradition, traditional, traffic, tragedy, trail, train, training, transfer, transform, transformation, transition, translate, translation, transmission, transmit, transport, transportation, travel, treat, treatment, treaty, tree, tremendous, trend, trial, tribe, trick, trip, troop, trouble, truck, true, truly, trust, truth, try, tube, tunnel, turn, TV, twelve, twenty, twice, twin, two, type, typical, typically, ugly, ultimate, ultimately, unable, uncle, undergo, understand, understanding, unfortunately, uniform, union, unique, unit, United, universal, universe, university, unknown, unless, unlike, until, unusual, up, upon, upper, urban, urge, us, use, used, useful, user, usual, usually, utility, utilize, vacation, valley, valuable, value, variable, variation, variety, various, vary, vast, vegetable, vehicle, venture, version, versus, very, vessel, veteran, via, victim, victory, video, view, viewer, village, violate, violation, violence, violent, virtually, virtue, virus, visibility, visible, vision, visit, visitor, visual, vital, voice, volume, voluntary, volunteer, vote, voter, voting, wage, wait, wake, walk, wall, wander, want, war, warm, warn, warning, wash, waste, watch, water, wave, way, we, weak, weakness, wealth, wealthy, weapon, wear, weather, web, website, wedding, week, weekend, weekly, weigh, weight, welcome, welfare, well, west, western, wet, what, whatever, wheel, when, whenever, where, whereas, whether, which, while, whisper, white, who, whole, whom, whose, why, wide, widely, widespread, wife, wild, wildlife, will, willing, win, wind, window, wine, wing, winner, winter, wipe, wire, wisdom, wise, wish, with, withdraw, within, without, witness, woman, wonder, wonderful, wood, wooden, word, work, worker, working, workout, workplace, works, workshop, world, worried, worry, worth, would, wound, wrap, write, writer, writing, wrong, yard, yeah, year, yell, yellow, yes, yesterday, yet, yield, you, young, your, yours, yourself, youth, zone.

These grifters.
I've just seen yesterday's articles about how upset Harry is that Prince William has been made Colonel-in-Chief and it lit a fire in me all over again. I'm sick of their puff pieces.
Never mind that they quit these roles, they still want the glory of being patrons so they're allowed to leech off of various causes.
Never mind that their foundation doesn't uplift anyone, they want to be called humanitarians.
Never mind that they preach family, unity and forgiveness, whilst attacking their ill parents.
Never mind that there are countless photos of King Charles cuddling Harry and spending quality time with him because he has chosen to rewrite the narrative. Let's ignore that she's a nepo baby whose father got her into showbiz; let's erase the husband(s) whom she used to climb the career ladder and who elevated her to whom she is now. Much more instagram-worthy to call her a "feminist" who came from nothing and built an empire.
Never mind that they look miserable when they're together when you can slap a hashtag of "couples goals" on every caption.
Never mind that they hug and praise strangers' children, as they gleefully globetrot without their own.
Never mind that they print their titles front and centre on every possible document after having been freed from the shackles of the institution that granted them. Let's not even touch on the hypocrisy of accepting honorary (PR) accolades and titles from anyone who will grant them, to prop up their own feeling of self-importance and try to retain the shine of their previous positions.
In this post-truth era, all that matters is feelings. Nobody asked if She is okay. He is upset he is being snubbed. They believe they are making a difference. And so their target audience of sheeple proudly and vocally support them, repeating "their truth" as the truth in the face of all the documentation proving otherwise. Because feelings overrule facts, memories overrule evidence, and journalism is no longer about integrity, it is about money.
We know this already but I felt my blood pressure rise when their stans were talking about the "big snub" and how heartless it is that the BRF are mistreating this treasonous pair of grifters.
Feel free to drop more examples of contradictions and hypocrisy in the comments. Let's not forget.

I have made a list of things that I think need to be improved, changed or fixed based on my in-game experience. Please note that these are just my *opinions* and feel free to explain why (if) you disagree in the comments or share your own suggestions. Some of them may be already present in the game. Sorry if I missed. Try not to downvote to hell just because you don't like a single article :D

Suggestions:

1. Click-and-drag scrolling for easier navigation through the game menus.
2. Photo mode that allows players to hide the HUD, perfect for capturing those heroic moments.
3. Simpler notifications: Relocate objective and mission completion notifications to the top of the screen and minimize them to reduce screen clutter. It is hard to aim for weak spots when you are playing at high difficulty and have a big wall of text in the middle of your screen.
4. Help: Add a “Help” voice command to the Q radial menu wheel. + more&new commands?
5. Crosshair: Option to hide the aiming reticle/crosshair because it simply doesn’t help at all when you have another round crosshair in the middle that shows where your shots actually go. It also blocks the view for long range aiming.
6. Hiding nameplates / Streamer mode: Option to toggle player names.
7. Equipment preview: Armor and helmets should be shown as sets when you hover your mouse over them or choose them instead of the default diver armohelmet. OR previewing a helmet shouldn’t change the player's armor to the default and show the current set that the player has equipped and vice versa for previewing armor.
8. SOS Beacon don't show up on the stratagem menu when your team doesn't have 4 players or after a player leaves the mission.
9. Versatile Jump Packs: Allow the use of primary or secondary weapons with jump packs. Also, a superhero landing pose if you hold down B while landing airborne with the jump pack.
10. Increased jump distance or jump height for jump packs slightly.
11. Super Punisher: Add a flashlight to the Punisher shotgun and some other primary/support weapons that do not have them, so divers can shed light on the darkest enemies of our way of life.
12. Standardize weapon ergonomics: Some primary weapons handle like autocannon while some handle like a pocket gun.
13. Delay on EAT: Sometimes EAT do not fire after you equip and aim it. I try to fire a few times and nothing happens.
14. Arc Thrower & Blitzer: Lightning arcs should damage Terminid eggs. Don't make their arcs jump between the eggs if you think it would be OP, but being able to kill a charger with an arc thrower and yet failing to destroy a smoll egg is kinda lame.
15. Booster Icons: Add booster icons next to team stratagem list that show up when you press CTRL, so we can see what our fellow divers chose to bring.
16. Orbital 500kg Bomb: Change the 500kg bomb to an orbital, so it can utilize the ship module that reduces the damage fall-of from the center of explosion.
17. Better 500kg Bomb: It doesn’t make sense that one of the biggest explosions in the game in terms of both VFX and attribute is only used to kill targets *directly* in its tiny blast radius in the center. Most of the small bugs just walk away like nothing happened. I think it is unrealistic that a cluster bomb is much better for killing small targets than the stratagem with the biggest explosion. OR at least reduce its visual effects of explosion because they look too majestic for such a small blast radius.
18. Shield Generator Relay: Sometimes explosions happening outside will kill, stagger or damage the player standing inside the shield. Outside explosions should have much less or no effect on player.
19. Bile Titans tanking Hellpods: Sometimes -almost always lol- Titans don't take any damage, get staggered or die even if you land directly on their head or body with a hellpod.
20. Improved Incendiaries: Prolong the burn time of incendiary grenades for a few more seconds. They seem to go out before they even kill anything or deny an entry.
21. Convenient Flamethrower: Remove the movement speed penalty of firing the flamethrower OR increase the flamethrower’s range by 3-5 meters. Enemies mostly start to attack you, as soon as they enter the range of your flamethrower already. If you believe first option would be unbalanced, then you can make it only avaliable for armors with speed stats above +520
22. Improve Patriot Exosuit: Fix the aiming and accuracy of the Patriot Exosuit missiles. Also, we need much better gun&pod elevation and depression for a 10 minute cooldown stratagem imo.
23. Fall damage variation: Fall damage needs to differ between armor sets that you have equipped. Players with light armor should take less damage. However, if you want to give another advantage to heavy armor sets, then you can make heavy armors decrease/negate fall damage to some extent because they would be more protective etc.
24. Fire effects rework: I don’t know if it is just how it seemed to me instead of how it works but fire effects from napalms, grenades etc. only create flames that are scattered around instead of a big strong wall/pool of fire. These flames make it easier to walk around or through them for enemies and take less damage inside the affected area. I think everything inside a circular radius needs to take constant fire damage. Idk how to explain this better. Sorry if it is already how it works.

TL/DR: How do I stop my upcoming siege from becoming a boring and mindless hack and slash?
​
Hello, I'll try and be brief on this but bear with me. The siege of Krezk is going to be a pivotal part of my Curse of Strahd campaign, I want it to feel that way. But I'm not entirely sure on how to prevent this becoming a boring combat mess. I know I need to make 'mini missions' that aren't always combat focused but I have no ideas. There should be lulls in the battle so the players have a break and so on and so on. But my problem is that I don't know how to do this stuff, I'm low on ideas and I really want to nail this for my group.
​

• Context

I am the DM of a group that is pretty much at the endgame of Curse of Strahd. My party of two players (both martial classes & level 10) have left the Amber Temple with the Sunwsord in hand and have made it to Krezk to then go kill Strahd. But this is CoS, nothing goes to plan.
Strahd has summoned the army that he conquered Barovia with centuries ago, assigned Anastrasya as commander so that he can seize Ireena (who is at Krezk). The army was at Vallaki (Watcher has control of that town) and now is marching towards Krezk. They'll march slow, hoping Krezk will be consumed by terror and make an easy victory. (Strahd's plan is for Krezk to be consumed by the siege and he can go in and 'save' Ireena).
But my party is trying to make sure that doesn't happen. While they head off to Argynvostholt to get some help (I have separate plans for that), the people of Krezk will prepare for the siege with basic training from the town guard and moving everyone to the empty abbey, a more defendable location (the party murdered the Abbot previously).
The next couple sessions will be them preparing for the siege. But afterwards is where my issue lies.
​

• The Siege of Krezk Help

I have watched some videos and read things on how to run sieges. I know that it is best to avoid loads of combat and make it quick and fast with the party having small missions to complete (eg. getting from one side of the battlefield to the other to deliver a message about the undead attack on the right flank)
This is my problem. I don't have enough ideas for these 'mini quests' during the siege (like the one above). I don't know how to make sure the whole thing doesn't turn into a huge combat mess (eg. the walls being toppled very quickly with the entire army in the abbey). I'm not sure how to make sure the party/besiegers have a fairish fight.
I also want some other things in my back pocket during the waves (it can't be a constant force of undead realistically to be fun). What could this include? Helping injured fighters, keeping lookout etc.
I'm also struggling on what monsters I can use. I want things that Strahd would have used when he originally conquered Barovia. I suppose I could use an Ogre statblock for an undead solider but I need more ideas. What monsters could be re-skinned to be part of a besieging army force?
Whatever happens I know the players will eventually break free of Krezk and find Anastrasya and kill her (she is the literal 'brain' of the operation, without her the undead are easy pickings). Volenta will also be running about during the siege, providing a fun mini boss for the party to handle. But I need to fill in the time before with something that is enjoyable.
​

• Help, please..

I don't want this is be boring for my players. I know I need a rigid-ish plan of the siege (attackers here, then there, then party deals with this problem then that issue). What I really need is some advice on how to run the siege, some interesting monsters, how to keep it flowing and ideas for the 'mini quests' I mentioned beforehand.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening to my ramble.

TL/DR: How do I stop the siege I have planned from becoming a boring and mindless hack and slash?
​
Hello, I'll try and be brief on this but bear with me. The siege of Krezk is going to be a pivotal part of my Curse of Strahd campaign, I want it to feel that way. But I'm not entirely sure on how to prevent this becoming a boring combat mess. I know I need to make 'mini missions' that aren't always combat focused but I have no ideas. There should be lulls in the battle so the players have a break and so on and so on. But my problem is that I don't know how to do this stuff, I'm low on ideas and I really want to nail this for my group.
​

• Context

I am the DM of a group that is pretty much at the endgame of Curse of Strahd. My party of two players (both martial classes & level 10) have left the Amber Temple with the Sunwsord in hand and have made it to Krezk to then go kill Strahd. But this is CoS, nothing goes to plan.
Strahd has summoned the army that he conquered Barovia with centuries ago, assigned Anastrasya as commander so that he can seize Ireena (who is at Krezk). The army was at Vallaki (Watcher has control of that town) and now is marching towards Krezk. They'll march slow, hoping Krezk will be consumed by terror and make an easy victory. (Strahd's plan is for Krezk to be consumed by the siege and he can go in and 'save' Ireena).
But my party is trying to make sure that doesn't happen. While they head off to Argynvostholt to get some help (I have separate plans for that), the people of Krezk will prepare for the siege with basic training from the town guard and moving everyone to the empty abbey, a more defendable location (the party murdered the Abbot previously).
The next couple sessions will be them preparing for the siege. But afterwards is where my issue lies.
​

• Siege Help

I have watched some videos and read things on how to run sieges. I know that it is best to avoid loads of combat and make it quick and fast with the party having small missions to complete (eg. getting from one side of the battlefield to the other to deliver a message about the undead attack on the right flank)
This is my problem. I don't have enough ideas for these 'mini quests' during the siege (like the one above). I don't know how to make sure the whole thing doesn't turn into a huge combat mess (eg. the walls being toppled very quickly with the entire army in the abbey). I'm not sure how to make sure the party/besiegers have a fairish fight.
I also want some other things in my back pocket during the waves (it can't be a constant force of undead realistically to be fun). What could this include? Helping injured fighters, keeping lookout etc.
I'm also struggling on what monsters I can use. I want things that Strahd would have used when he originally conquered Barovia. I suppose I could use an Ogre statblock for an undead solider but I need more ideas. What monsters could be re-skinned to be part of a besieging army force?
Whatever happens I know the players will eventually break free of Krezk and find Anastrasya and kill her (she is the literal 'brain' of the operation, without her the undead are easy pickings). Volenta will also be running about during the siege, providing a fun mini boss for the party to handle. But I need to fill in the time before with something that is enjoyable.
​

• Help, please..

I don't want this is be boring for my players. I know I need a rigid-ish plan of the siege (attackers here, then there, then party deals with this problem then that issue). What I really need is some advice on how to run the siege, some interesting monsters, how to keep it flowing and ideas for the 'mini quests' I mentioned beforehand.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening to my ramble.

TL/DR: How do I stop the Siege of Krezk from becoming a boring and mindless hack and slash?
​
Hello, I'll try and be brief on this but bear with me. The siege of Krezk is going to be a pivotal part of my Curse of Strahd campaign, I want it to feel that way. But I'm not entirely sure on how to prevent this becoming a boring combat mess. I know I need to make 'mini missions' that aren't always combat focused but I have no ideas. There should be lulls in the battle so the players have a break and so on and so on. But my problem is that I don't know how to do this stuff, I'm low on ideas and I really want to nail this for my group.
​

• Context

I am the DM of a group that is pretty much at the endgame of Curse of Strahd. My party of two players (both martial classes & level 10) have left the Amber Temple with the Sunwsord in hand and have made it to Krezk to then go kill Strahd. But this is CoS, nothing goes to plan.
Strahd has summoned the army that he conquered Barovia with centuries ago, assigned Anastrasya as commander so that he can seize Ireena (who is at Krezk). The army was at Vallaki (Watcher has control of that town) and now is marching towards Krezk. They'll march slow, hoping Krezk will be consumed by terror and make an easy victory. (Strahd's plan is for Krezk to be consumed by the siege and he can go in and 'save' Ireena).
But my party is trying to make sure that doesn't happen. While they head off to Argynvostholt to get some help (I have separate plans for that), the people of Krezk will prepare for the siege with basic training from the town guard and moving everyone to the empty abbey, a more defendable location (the party murdered the Abbot previously).
The next couple sessions will be them preparing for the siege. But afterwards is where my issue lies.
​

• The Siege of Krezk Help

I have watched some videos and read things on how to run sieges. I know that it is best to avoid loads of combat and make it quick and fast with the party having small missions to complete (eg. getting from one side of the battlefield to the other to deliver a message about the undead attack on the right flank)
This is my problem. I don't have enough ideas for these 'mini quests' during the siege (like the one above). I don't know how to make sure the whole thing doesn't turn into a huge combat mess (eg. the walls being toppled very quickly with the entire army in the abbey). I'm not sure how to make sure the party/besiegers have a fairish fight.
I also want some other things in my back pocket during the waves (it can't be a constant force of undead realistically to be fun). What could this include? Helping injured fighters, keeping lookout etc.
I'm also struggling on what monsters I can use. I want things that Strahd would have used when he originally conquered Barovia. I suppose I could use an Ogre statblock for an undead solider but I need more ideas. What monsters could be re-skinned to be part of a besieging army force?
Whatever happens I know the players will eventually break free of Krezk and find Anastrasya and kill her (she is the literal 'brain' of the operation, without her the undead are easy pickings). Volenta will also be running about during the siege, providing a fun mini boss for the party to handle. But I need to fill in the time before with something that is enjoyable.
​

• Help, please..

I don't want this is be boring for my players. I know I need a rigid-ish plan of the siege (attackers here, then there, then party deals with this problem then that issue). What I really need is some advice on how to run the siege, some interesting monsters, how to keep it flowing and ideas for the 'mini quests' I mentioned beforehand.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening to my ramble.

hello everyone. these last few days I've been going through a lot and i thought it might be a good idea to ask for help in here.
this year i'm sharing a house with a roommate who turned out to be an immature, spoiled, childish bitch. i've been always respectful to her and i assume i have tried to be as considerate as it's humanly possible.i'm very calm and when at home, i'm usually busy studying or watching movie with a headphone or doing other silent activities. i even don't like talking over the phone that much and at times that i'm obliged to use it, i lower my tone as much as i can. also, as i brought almost 90% of the furniture and the apartment was basically furnished when she arrived, and i agreed her to take the best room.i never even mentioned all the favors I did and I really regret what i did, because none of these roomie-pleasing acts paid off.if anything, she became more controlling and rude.she had talked to me in an offensive manner two times before this but i hadn't said anything in response and had suppressed my anger in order to avoid conflict( classic trauma response, right?).ten days ago i invited my sister over( and i hadnt invited anyone before this) and she traveled hundreds of miles to come and see me. i had done it with her permission and she said it's alright for my sister to come and stay. so she came and stayed a couple of days and we were mostly hanging out outside and we just came back at night to sleep in my own room.she was acting alright in the first 2 days, then she started to act in a passive-aggressive manner –she slammed the door as soon as she heard us preparing the table or quietly laughing, she avoided us each time we were in the living room and would sneakily jump out of her room to use the bathroom or toilet as soon as we moved into my room. she had done this before during the last semester's finals, too. but this time it had got way more obvious and way more aggressive. after my sister left, she quitted even looking at me or saying hi to me when she saw me.( she had done this before too, but i had convinced myself not to take it to the heart specially as she got friendly with me again after the finals were over! she's such an unstable player.) last day she wrote me a scroll on telegram and as hard as she tried to seem cultured and civilized, she just oozed out even more controlling shit.it was the juice of her message: ''don't use the living room for studying. only use it for going to the kitchen or to the toilet, because i feel uncomfortable doing cooking and shit when someone's in there reading.'' i answered that i'm well-aware that living room might be distracting at times, but i'm not bothered by the sound of her doing her stuff and she doesnt need to worry about it and she can also freely use it. but then she started to argue with me saying ''living room is not for studying'' and weeping over her victim complex ''noooo, i'm not comfortable,you MUST go to your room just like i've tolerated you reading now you must act to my desire''. this time finally i became furious and assertively talked to her that it's her problem that she doesn't want to see me AT ALL and for this irrational demand, i would not have any more compliance. i'm silent as a rabbit, not making a fucking noise and really dont occupy much area in a 80 m² living room!! if she wants to use it as well, she's welcomed, but she can't command me to stay prisoned inside my small gloomy room without no proper light. interesting part is that she even doesnt prefer to study in the living room and all she's mad about is she cant use it for toilet and kitchen without coming to see me staying in there. although my whole body was trembling with rage ( and simultaneously with fear of a conflict or a loud argument) i managed to be assertive and talk my words.then she left me unread, although i'm quite sure she's read it.
now although i've come out ratherstrongly, whenever i use the living room, every moment of being there feels like torture.the silence in the living room feels like a ticking bomb that might explode in any minute. i'm anxious af and i have endless ruminations about how she might just walk out of the door and snap at me.she still continues slamming the door and walking thumpering her feet on the ground.also, i know it's very unlikely, but my mind constantly jumps to the possibility of being attacked or she getting physical with me. i'm very sensitive to loud noises and arguments. i try to avoid them as much as i can. i get this semi-panic attack feeling whenever even two strangers argue with eachother. i know me keeping using the living room to my desire will serve her right and will bring me back some power over the household affairs, but i can barely even concentrate this way; while i rigidly sit there, my muscles tense as rock and i hear my hear ponding.
so, i appreciate your advice: do you think i'd better fight or flight? regarding that my finals are arriving in 10 days or so...
P.S: special thanks to you ma' for the perfect upbringing and all that dreadful childhood days you would shout at me – your voice's still ringing in my ears and although you encourage me to stand for my rights, i always fail because i've always been on the lower end of the power imbalance seasaw. i never dared disagreeing with you, now how you expect me to be magically a brave person who can disagree when she's not pleased?

Switzerland divorce spell that works in 24 hours. There comes a time in your life where you feel you’ve put in your all but you are not appreciated. With marriage, it’s harder to bear sleeping in the same bed. With someone you’ve been married to for a long but you in an actual sense don’t know him or her. The only thing you do is a fight and exchange words. Sleep like enemies in the house and cause misery to each other. Getting disappointments is all that person can contribute in your life. All you need is Switzerland divorce spell that work fast to stop a such horrible marriage.

How to cast Switzerland divorce spell that works effectively in 24 hours

Marriage is supposed to give you happiness and joy but not misery and if all you get is that? Then letting go is the best. How do we let go? Write the name of your lover on paper with a black pen, Draw a heart around that name and cut it into two saying “Enough of what you have brought me, misery is not what we promised each other ,disappear like I had never seen you before. ” Do this ritual for 24 Hours and before you know it, that person will chase himself, disappear and you will never seen them again.
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How to stop your divorce

How to stop a divorce & save your marriage. Clarify what you need to change, Clean up all the old hurts & don’t play the victim
In conclusion, resolve your relationship problems by stopping arguing, understanding their perspective, stopping pressurizing, clarifying what you both need in your marriage & realizing that you both need to work together to heal your marriage problems
In relationships, our emotions and actions affect the marriage. The positive effect draws them to us. Negative effect pushes them from us.
I give you the opening and closing incantation that you can be able to start or end it whenever you wish. Note that my divine powers have “no side effect /no backfire”, and so it focuses on only what the user desire. I work both online and physically at my healing place in Bunga Kampala Uganda. Contact me now: Whats-app +256706532311 info@honeylovespells.com.

*DISCLAIMER* I AM A NEWBIE
Imagine me as a newbie astronaut, stepping into the world of reps for the very first time. I’m untrained, like a fresh recruit, and everything is new and exciting, like exploring an alien planet. This is my first reps purchase; my maiden voyage into the galaxy of fashion. I’m over the moon with my purchase! It’s like finding a hidden treasure in the vast cosmos. But hey, I’m still learning to navigate this starry expanse, so please be gentle with me, like the soft glow of the moon in the night sky.

Disclosure - No incentives were offered, but Leo did ask if I could pen down a review if I was satisfied. And guess what? I’m super satisfied!

Seller - Leo. I discovered him after diving deep into the sea of reviews, he was also on a trusted sellers list. I contacted a bunch of sellers, comparing prices, shipping, factories, you name it. I read review after review, like a detective on a mission. But honestly, I am super happy I took the leap of faith
Contact Info - WhatsApp :+86 19120637469 and WeChat: LEO_7868

Price – 173 usd for the Mini Jodie, 154 usd for the pouch

Shipping - 50 USD (This cost covers the shipping of 2 bags without boxes, but with dustbags, all very carefully packed). The parcel arrived at my location via DHL

Timeline -
April 24th - I reached out to Leo, on Whatsapp. “Hello, do you have these two bags?” I asked. He responded with the price, and like Indiana Jones, I took the leap of faith mentioned above and sent the funds for my order through PP Friends & Family.
April 25th - PSP pictures received. I gave the GL to the Jodie, but the color of the pouch was not the right one. Fear not, Leo contacted the factory and returned on April 27th with the right pouch. I gave the GL to the pouch too.
April 27th - Leo,sends me a picture of the box.
May 7th - The tracking number arrived, like a secret code in a spy movie. Leo reassured me he would choose a safe route for my package to avoid any customs shenanigans, like a skilled navigator avoiding stormy seas. The journey of my package began, setting sail from Germany.
May 13th - The items arrived, like long-awaited gifts on Christmas morning. To be honest, I hoped that my package would arrive earlier, but we had holidays where I live due to Orthodox Easter. Everything moves at a snail’s pace during holidays over here, like a sloth on a lazy Sunday!

Pictures
· [Factory photos]: I don’t have them, I never browsed his album for these; I Was on a mission to buy these two)
· [PSPs]( https://imgur.com/a/QXt82lC )
· [Your Photos]( https://imgur.com/a/r5VFvE4 )

Quality - These bags are hitting a high note with a 9,5/10! They’re like a symphony in leather, every stitch hitting the right beat, no off-key notes here. The leather is woven to perfection, just like the intricate lattice on the top of a freshly baked apple pie. But please bear in mind; my eye is not trained, as already stated! :-D The zipper on the Jodie? It’s smoother than a jazz solo. Logos are stamped with the precision of a master craftsman, like a sculptor chiseling a masterpiece. The leather on both? It’s as soft and deep as a soulful ballad. Delicious and SOFT! There’s a tiny hint of fufu, but hey, it’s like a catchy chorus that fades out (no points deducted for this, it’s it’s like a temporary tattoo, it’ll go away).
Accuracy – Since love is the scale, I give them both a solid 5. They’re like well-trained show horses. These are bags born and bred in captivity and they’re mirror images of the authentics, measurements matching the Bottega website like a well-tailored suit.
Rep Satisfaction Rating - 10/10, I’m so smitten I’d probably get another color in both these bags, like a kid in a candy store.
Seller Satisfaction Rating - 10/10. This was my first rodeo with any seller, and all of you made it feel like a magic carpet ride. Leo was a saint, handling my questions and my customs phobia like a seasoned therapist. The service was as prompt as a waiter in a five-star restaurant, and the prices were a steal. I even got a Bottega keychain as a gift, just because, which was the cherry on top of a perfect sundae.
CPR [Cost Performance Ratio] - It’s looking like a perfect 10/10. I didn’t have to rob a bank for two bags that are going to be my go-to party pals.
The Wrap Up -
I’ll be strutting these bags around town without a second thought, like a rockstar on a world tour. 🎸

I can't believe it's come to this, but there's a bit of context required I think.
So I never used to really care about being paticularly feminine, it has always been kind of jarring when someone mistakes me for a man (I'm 5'2 and have huge boobs and long hair) but I thought I was pretty comfortable in myself. I haven't ever been really interested in makeup, hairstyles or dresses but have always thought women who are good at that stuff look nice and appreciated the amount of effort they make - I never had any hate toward them for doing that.
Last year I caught my partner of 16 years on dating apps have online relationships with multiple women - it had been going on for about 6 months and had started with those AI girlfriends and ended with him being the victim of a pig butchering scam (karma?), there were some actual women mixed in too. All the women he was chatting to online were all well put together and beautiful in their photos. In his defense when I found out he stopped, let me go through his phone and have access when I needed to reassure myself etc. We hadn't been nurturing our relationship as we should have been, life had got in the way and he has bee pretty good since. It took time but I'm not suspicious of him anymore. I know what he did is his fault and so does he. We have worked hard together over the last year to be better together.
The part that lingers is how I'm feeling about myself and women who do being a woman better than I ever will. I feel ugly, like I don't compare, like even when I try to look more feminine I'm failing at it, like I look wrong and out of place. But what's worse is how I have started thinking about other women and I didn't even really clock it straight away. It was only because I was getting to know another woman at work a bit better and my perception of her shifted, I realised I had basically been hating on her because her body is better than mine, her makeup is on point, her hair is lovely, she dresses well, she's a little younger than me and ngl this woman is legit beautiful. Instead of thinking all that I had been imagining her as a vacuous bitch who is a threat to me (how? She's lovely and married with kids).
Other than making an effort to get to know more women like this wtf do I do?
I don't want any suggestions about leaving my partner, that is still something we're working through it could happen regardless but I don't think that will solve this particular problem anyway.

There's a new movement on social media called "Blackout 2024" sparked by celebrities' views (or lack thereof) on Palestine.
Context:
Last week's Met Gala highlighted the disparity between celebrity opulence and global suffering. Influencer Haley Baylee (real name Haley Kalil) posed in an extravagant floral gown, saying, "Let them eat cake" along with a TikTok sound. This phrase, attributed to Marie Antoinette, symbolizes an out-of-touch attitude toward the suffering of the masses. Although historians doubt she actually said it, the phrase remains a powerful symbol of severe wealth inequality.
Photos of the Met Gala flooded social media alongside images of Israel's attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The stark contrast between celebrities displaying wealth and Palestinians mourning their dead shocked the world. People compared it to The Hunger Games, where the wealthy Capitol residents dressed opulently while children died in the games. The book series' author, Suzanne Collins, drew inspiration from flipping between Iraq War coverage and reality TV shows.
The Blackout 2024 Movement:
TikTok user @ladyfromtheoutside started the Blackout 2024 movement, frustrated with celebrities' silence on Palestine. "It’s time to block all the celebrities, influencers, and wealthy socialites who are not using their resources to help those in dire need," she said in a video with 2.5 million views. "We gave them their platforms. It’s time to take it back, take our views away, our likes, our comments, our money."
People have differing views on who deserves to be blocked. For example, some believe Billie Eilish should be boycotted for not posting about Palestine, while others argue her Ceasefire pin at the Oscars showed her stance.
Celebrities Respond:
Some celebrities have spoken out. Haley Baylee posted a nearly 9-minute apology video, explaining she wasn't an official Met Gala guest but a host interviewing celebs. She claimed ignorance on the Palestine issue, which drew backlash. Critics argued that in the seven months since the attacks began, there has been ample time to educate oneself.
Three days ago, Lizzo posted a TikTok sharing GoFundMe pages and organizations helping people in Palestine, Sudan, and Congo, stating she had donated to all three. Commenters pointed out the timing and questioned why a millionaire asked regular people to donate.
Impact:
The campaign seems to be making an impact. Haley Baylee's follower count dropped from 10 million to 9.9 million. Social media users claim Kim Kardashian also lost followers after her ambiguous "Free everybody" comment to a "Free Palestine" protestor.
Operation Blockout:
Online critics argue that events like the annual Met Gala, where elite figures from the fashion world showcase their extravagant styles, highlight the disconnect between such opulence and pressing social issues. As attendees dazzled in dramatic attire, protests in support of Palestine were underway just blocks away in New York City. This juxtaposition sparked the inception of "Operation Blockout."
TikTok users such as @blockout2024, who is credited with founding the celebrity blocking campaign, have called out several of the world's biggest names. Users, from Kim Kardashian to Taylor Swift to Justin Bieber, did not hold back. In one video, @blockout2024 said followers have "full control of celebrities' money and lives." "When we hate on them, they make money. When we praise them, they make money. But when we block their social media accounts and completely forget their names, they lose it all," he said. "The amount of attention we give them and the amount of engagement we give them is their direct currency. Take it from them."
Reducing celebrities' followers aims to pressure them to highlight issues in Palestine and Sudan. Jenny, a TikTok user from Vietnam, told The New Arab that "the genocide going on in Palestine" prompted her to join the campaign. "The algorithm of TikTok allows anyone, regardless of age, sex, or societal status, to go viral if their content aligns with the interests of other users. That's why the portrayal of any social issue on TikTok is non-biased and very authentic since it's the voice of mundane people like you and me," she said.
"I've never been able to comprehend the power of social media until I saw a whole movement to support Palestine, Congo, and Sudan start from TikTok. Especially among Gen-Zs, who are perceived to be the generation that's much more sensitive to social matters."
The 22-year-old TikToker reiterated that with power comes responsibility, adding that celebrities' silence has contributed to the miseducation of humanitarian crises worldwide. "I personally feel so much rage at why people can put so much effort into participating in a lavish event, which costs thousands of dollars while being completely ignorant of the fact that people are being bombed to pieces on the other side of the world," she told The New Arab. "The Met Gala 2024 depicted the imbalance of power and resource distribution in our society."

A true sports parent dies twice. There’s the death that awaits us all at the end of a long or short life, the result of illness, misadventure, fire, falling object, hydroplaning car, or derailing train. But there is also the death that comes in the midst of life, the purgatorial purposelessness that follows the final season on the sidelines or in the bleachers, when your sports kid hangs up their skates, cleats, or spikes after that last game.
The passage of time is woeful, and, for a parent, living your dreams through the progress of your progeny is as inevitable as the turning of the Earth. But the sports parent lives the experience in concentrate—a more intense version of the common predicament. You must give up your vicarious hope of big-league glory and let it die. You must part from what, if your kid pursued his passion seriously, had become a routine of away games and early-morning practices, hours in the car, a hot cup of coffee in your cold hand as the sun rose above the Wonderland of Ice, in Bridgeport, Connecticut; the Ice Arena in Brewster, New York; the Ice Vault, in Wayne, New Jersey—home of the Hitmen, whose logo is a pin-striped gangster with a hockey stick. And you’ll suddenly find yourself watching the Stanley Cup playoffs not in the way of a civilian but with the chagrin of knowing that the game’s upper ranks will never include your kid.
One recent morning, courtesy of Facebook Memories, I came across an old picture of my son, a high-school junior who recently announced his decision to quit hockey—to retire! The photo was taken by teammates after a victory at Lake Placid, New York. Sweat-soaked, draped in the arms of friends, grinning like a thief, he looked no less ecstatic than Mike Eruzione after he and his team won Olympic gold in the same arena in 1980.
And me? I was this Eruzione’s old man, waiting with the other parents outside the locker room, experiencing a moment of satisfaction greater than any other I’d known, either as a player or as a fan. I was a car in park with the accelerator pressed to the floor. I was a wall bathed in sunlight. This win was better than the Illinois State Championship I won with the Deerfield Falcons, in 1977. It was better than the Bears’ 1986 Super Bowl victory.
Bears’ 1986 Super Bowl victory.
Read: I thought I’d found a cheat code for parenting
The end began like this: One evening, after the last game of the high-school season, I asked my son if he’d be trying out for spring league. For a youth-hockey kid, playing spring league is the equivalent of a minor-league pitcher playing winter ball in Mexico—so necessary as a statement of intent and means of improvement that forgoing it is like giving up “the path.” Rather than a simple affirmative nod, as I’d expected, I got these words: “I’m going to think about it.” Think about it? For me, this was the same as a girlfriend saying, “We need to talk.”
Only later did I realize that those words were the first move in a careful choreography. My son wanted to quit, but in a way that would not break my heart. He also didn’t want me to rant and rave and try to talk him out of it.
We had reversed roles. He was the adult. I was the child.
He knew he would not be playing college hockey even if he could. With this in mind, he had decided to use his final year of high school to get to know people other than hockey players and spend time in places other than hockey rinks. In the way of a pro with iffy knees nearing the age of 35, he had decided to exit on his own terms. He was not worrying about losing his identity as a player or about missing the camaraderie of the locker room; he was worrying about me. Hockey had been an entire epoch of our father-son life. It had ushered me, the sports parent, out of my 30s, through my 40s, and into my 50s.
.... Because I am human, I tend to blame entities or systems or other people for things that strike me as unfair. As my son progressed, I caught a glimpse, for one fabulous, deluded moment, of the life that he (we, I) would never live: high-school athletic stardom followed by college triumph and possibly even a professional-hockey career. That I knew this was a fantasy—he was never that good—did not make it less powerful. Lost in it, I experienced my life as an NHL fan with new intensity. I was not just watching the Blackhawks; I was scouting, picking up tricks that I could pass to my glory-bound boy. This was a dream that I was too embarrassed to share with anyone, even my wife. I regarded it the way members of the Free French regarded the liberation of Paris: Think of it always; speak of it never. In short, I lost my way. Rather than letting him enjoy the moment and the fact that these seasons were his career, not a preparation or a path toward one, I was constantly scheming about his next move, his next opportunity, his next shot at the big time.
Here’s the worst part: I knew exactly what I was doing. I was attempting to replace my kid’s will with my own. I knew that it was wrong and, worse, counterproductive. The more I pressed, the less he enjoyed the game. The less he enjoyed the game, the worse he played. The worse he played, the more I pressed. Economists call this a negative feedback loop. I knew it but could not stop. It was psychosis.
Maybe the most notorious sports parents suffer from a shared psychological condition. LaVar Ball, Emmanuel Agassi, Earl Woods—those sports dads were all obsessed to the point of being abusive. I prefer to think that I am not; yet, for all the varying degrees of our kid’s success, our predicament is the same. At some point, even if it comes after 20 years in the pros, the set will be rolled away, revealing our true location. Rink parking lot. Beat-up vehicle. Alone. Even the child prodigies will retire.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/ice-hockey-sports-parent/678347/

Okay, so, first, my side. On Jan 28th of this year(2024), I was walking with my wife. We enjoy going for 2-3 hour walks every day, m(well we did, lol) and the last thing I remember was that I said to her “I feel dizzy”, then about 30 minutes or so later, I came to screaming in pain, as i was being put in a stretcher thingy for an Ambulance. For me, I have no memory of those 30ish minutes, according to my wife, I was trying to stand up and do other dumb shit.
Apparently, I had a stroke, seizure, or something, fell, most likely backwards, and severely broke my L7. I have a photo of the CT they did of my spine in Emerg. It’s pretty fucked.
So, that’s how my life has been for almost the last 4 months. It’s not healing and I won’t go into why i haven’t had surgery or something yet.
Well, because of this, I’ve had a great excuse to not see or deal with my mother. It’s been great(aside from the horrible physical pain and nerve pain).
Apparently 4 days ago. My mother messages me that her mother is in the hospital, I hate my Grandma so i didn’t really care.
Then 2 days later, she calls me, telling me that she’s the one actually in the hospital, basically dying. She’s saying she can’t breathe, they think she has cancer(with no symptoms or even what kind. Just “cancer”), that she’s getting a MRI of her brain because she’s been getting headaches, so she said the doctors think she some brain disease, I forget which, she was also getting a random ultrasound of her intestines, and she had a blood clot in her lungs, and because of that, she’s being put on blood thinners for the next year or longer, oh, and she’s on the verge of a heart attack because she claims her heart rate is “too high” but isn’t getting an EKG, or anything. There are a few other things I’m forgetting, aswell. But when you’re told such blatant lies, your mind can only register so much.
My wife and I guess is that she wasn’t happy that my back was giving me a valid reason to not deal with her bullshit, and this all happened on Mother’s Day, and since I didn’t go visit her in the hospital(BECAUSE I CANT), she starts to scream at me at how much I’m a piece of shit, how I don’t love her, how much my wife has turned me into a heartless monster, and when she dies from this(not even a “if”), I’ll be kicked out of her Will, and even though she supposedly paid 15,000 dollars for a spot in a mausoleum(or whatever those are called. Where your corpse is in a stone drawer, instead of the ground) and made a huge deal about how her body HAS to be placed in one, that I will not be getting any of her ashes when she’s cremated.
At this point. While I’ve started to find it funny. In the moment, I was absolutely furious. She knows full well of my horrible medical issues. Ive had a double lung transplant, I’ve been through stage 4 lymphoma, the transplant meds and chemo have really caused me alot of issues with my brain, I’ve broken my spine twice, for the last 2 years I’ve had a BP of like 180/140(roughly, and it actually caused worry in some of my doctors) and just recently got put on meds to bring that down, and so much more.
It’s so fucked that a parent who’s seen her own son struggle to survive, time and time again, to be told countless times “he’s not going to make it” to pull this shit.
I’m so done with her bullshit that if she were to die, I don’t think I would even shed a tear. After 36 years of narcissistic abuse, actually abuse, financial abuse, and more, there just isn’t any emotions for her anymore.

it’s this little part in my dream that keeps happening, the first part of the dream is something different inside my house but then i leave my room and i see this big polar bear in my kitchen and it gets closer to me and this thing on my phone says it’s from a gore video and i have to go past him into the kitchen so i try going past while he’s distracted by some things in the hallway and then he runs in and attacks a fish on the ground by our fridge and then runs at me and after that i wake up every time

Lots of people are saying that is better, JUST because physics have improved Slightly... Look I REFUNDED The game.
Not because i dislile MotoGP, i've been a fan since 2013, and i love to see each race, but the games have been making GOOD Choices and BAD choices... and MotoGP 2024 DAMN is a failure... well at least is not disgusting like Formula 1 games... thats a point for MOTOGP
Tiime attack is the first thing i do in every new racing game, and its the only thing i needed to get disapointed.
👍THE GOODS:
Though, it is true that physics have improved, bringing improvements to leave you more room to slide the rear like in Ride5, and that is a Small step foward
The overall presentation of the game has improved, excepting the menus, and feels more... rounded.
Ai is slightly more Aware of their surroundings and it makes better racing when you are in a pack at the starts.
The wird wobble and snaps that the bike used to do, is less common so that is a clear improvement.
👎THE BADS:

• Early 2023 Bike Models on a 2024 Game (like WTF mate even there are Mods in 2023 to have late season Honda Aero... use That as a base)
  
• No more Moto E? Or apparently i can't use Moto E on Time Trial or Quick race
  
• HELLO? CUSTOM TEAMS? WTF? The revoment of the Custom teams is a clear mistake, even more since they didn't gave reasons to WHY they have done it
  
• Still No Classic Bikes, it would be a great feature now that you have removed Custom teams, but apparently they have fallen into the "F1 Game Loop" bringing new features just to remove them without reasons years later
  
• Some of the improvements of Ride5 specifically on assists for new players were not Brought to This game, IDK exactly why?
  
• The nicknames are the worst i've seen in years, and yes you can create stickers but most of the players don't want to spend the time on that... or they could bring back a good system like in 2015, YOU WRITTE IT, and You Have it... easy
  
• Still, Motorhome has not came back (bruh, 2015 is PEAK MotoGP gaming) motorhome was a very immersive and appealing feature and bringing it back would be a fresh addition
  
• Driver face models are quite horrible, they have masacred my boys, at this point i prefer to not take off helmets and just use photos on the menus.
  
• Character Creator is worse than MADDEN 23.... F*KING MADDEN 23, How can you be Worse than MADDEN 23?
  
• There is No Front Holeshot Device mechanic
  
• Since i couldn't try Moto E, i EXPECT that you can Drive Moto E, on No Moto E tracks... because the more content, the better for the player... i expect
  
• NPC animations and Driver cutscenes are the same lame ass ones as the last 5 years, but with diferent camera positions.
  
• I Don't Like the menus, needs more Glorious feeling..., maybe using more Orchestral or Epic music and abstract shots.
  

Like Bruh, at this point Moto GP 2023 with Mods is better experience, Yeah they can update the game, but that's not the correct way of doing things, it should be since Day 1
Its not a total mess, but it needs improvement and more development time.
What are your thoughts on this game guys and gals?

I’m not trying to get attention, I promise. But I am having the worse time of my life right now. I just don’t know what to do, and I need help. I’ve been transitioning for 5 months with estradiol and started progesterone 2 weeks ago. About a week after starting progesterone I started waking up with horribly debilitating anxiety attacks and depression. The anxiety stops during the day but the depression persists at the back of my mind through the day. Ever since that started, I’m second guessing everything. The transition, who I am, everything. And feeling like it’s not worth it. But during the day, It feels right, and I dress up feminine and how I feel and use that to make me feel better. Thing is, I’m 39, and I feel like I need every ounce of help I can get to get to where I want to be physically. So if the progesterone is causing my head to be this messed up. I don’t know if I can give it up before I give up all together. Also, I need FFS and I don’t know if I’ll be able to get it before it’s too late. The possibility of being able to have the procedures I need done in a decent amount of time to enjoy some youth with it feels so bleak. It all makes me want to give up. Or go back to presenting as male.. which will just make me give up. And I can’t spare the time t going back to presenting male, just to realize I want to start again. What am I doing this for? If I can’t do either and be happy? It just seems like I would’ve ve chose to never realize I’m trans because being content presenting as male (because I can look masculine) is better than being In despair and misery (because I don’t look feminine). I cannot live in this purgatory. If it stays like this for too long… I just don’t know… because I know that my mind can’t bear it forever.