The only way I can explain the feeling of grief is the world turning dark. Everything reminds you of your person. Nothing can snap you out of the darkness. Anything can make you burst out in violence and sadness. Grief is an unspoken about feeling but it’s so powerful. The pain makes you want to punch and lash out. All you crave is ur persons touch. The mornings feel like it’s happened all over again. You remember you no longer have your person. You wake up feeling sick and exhausted. I am still feeling that way 4 weeks down the line sick and exhausted. Why doesn’t it get better. I want him back it’s all I want . He never coming back and I can’t handle that information. Grief is not eating not sleeping. Grief is just 24 hour hurt. I’m hurting I’m hurting every 24 hours of each day. We’re coming up to two months since my world was taken and I’m waiting to feel happy again. I’m waiting to feel hunger as I wake. I’m waiting to find and feel a purpose again. I have a permanent headache and pain in my heart. I miss you so much my best friend. All I want is one more cuddle with you. I just wanna tell you I’m going to uni. I just want to tell you I’m still following my dreams to make you proud. I want you to know when you drifted off holding my hand I wish it was me. You was my dad I never had. The dad that stepped up to make us feel special and loved. It got better now I’m slowly starting to feel ur absence again. Just come back I want a cuddle. I wanna tell you about my interview I know you’d be so proud. Please fucking come back. I can’t live without you. I love you so much. You made me feel content. Im searching for an escape like you were. I’m doing it today I’m starting my journey all for you. I hope you’re looking over me smiling proudly. Everything I do is for you my beautiful angel. I’m sorry I’m sitting outside arsenal I know you’d be shaking ur head and telling me to decontaminate later ha ha. All jokes aside I miss you and I hope I’m doing you proud my hero. 4 months later I’m still feeling so much pain I think about you every night just wishing you will come back. All though the thoughts of reuiniting with you have calmed I’m still longing for your touch. I still see everything from that horrible night. I see it and I wish that you was at peace and glad that I held your hand through your 7 years of heart ache and pain. You never deserved that. 6 months without you and I want you more than ever. I want a cuddle from you. I want to tell you so many things. I feel so guilty when I don’t speak about you but I don’t want to make people feel sorry for me.

I’ll start by saying I’m not better, I’m not back to how I was but things have improved.
This weekend I spent Saturday at a local festival. I stood up for six hours, I chatted to people and I drunk beer. On Sunday I went to another local festival and walked around for a couple of hours.
I am knacked still but no crash.
I slept 10 1/2 hours on Saturday night and Sunday I ached but no crash.
This is quite a change from even a year ago.
My activity levels are the highest gbey've been since getting covid in 21.
I believe that effective pacing and avoiding crashing allows the body to improve the baseline.
But to me two big triggers were standing and talking to people. Both things I minimised. This weekend I didn't.

Throwaway account for starters because my gf follows my other account. We'll I hope she is still my gf. My gf and I 26m have been together for 5 years. Met in college under not the best circumstances but have been really close for the most part. We have been living together for about 3 years now and since we moved in the passion has been drained to ultimately 0. At first it was a slow build where she said she too tired or stomach ache or something. Then turned to more than a few days or weeks without sex. I was aggressive at times and she admit to me sometimes that she would give sex to me just cuz I wanted it. After a while I knew that had to change. And I did I saw I was a huge asshole about that.
Then I noticed we still were having less frequent time in the bed room and it hurt sometimes going for months without it and I felt bad bringing it up but sometimes I'd drink and it would come up in a less than perfect way. This leads to my drinking problem, I use to pick fights get angry and aggressive with her not in a physical way ever but id say some mean and horrible things.
This was another huge turning point and I still try to keep this under control and my gf genuinely says I have improved when I'm under the influence of alcohol. Either way I'm not the ideal person/ partner, which leads to my cheating. We have been on an off with having sex and the fights have been increasingly more and more. Just over stupid things all the time felt like I couldn't catch a break about the minute details of anything I did. I thought I tried everything to spark the passion in the bed room. Gave her space, smothered her, give her gifts and listen to her talk and take her out of little dates here and there. Just nothing seemed to do the trick. I was feeling alone like we were just roommate that slept in the same bed. I brought this up to her on occasion and I felt like I was always getting the same answers over and over again. Her depression or her inability to love was holding her back. But she has been saying this for 2 years now. There was even a point we went 2 months without a single kiss and we have been repeating this cycle for about a year now. I understand it's not a switch to be flipped but it's hard to see her give way more affection to a dog we adopted last year.
About 2 weeks ago I met a girl online and we met up at a hotel half way from mine and her house. This weekend my gf and I had a huge fight about again passion and affection. We both swore this was the big one. but we decided to stick it out. I'm such a fool I kept the talking to the girl online. I really do love my gf but I wanted attention and affection something that was in low supply in my house. Last night, she found on my phone messages from this girl. I admitted what happened and chased her around the house to just stay and talk and she left. She took the dog and left. I feel like such scum. A moment of pleasure thrown away for 5 years of love and understanding. I sprained my ankle this weekend and my gf was at my beck and call. I love her desperately and I don't know where she is at. I feel like such a fool just not listening to her to go to therapy and seek out help and it's too late. At first I was like I see my gf for security scared of the unknown and had questioned if I can truly find someone else. Now that I had that I don't want anyone else. I've been calling her like a mad man trying to see if she is safe. But why would she talk to me I really don't deserve a second thought. If she does read this I'm sorry and I love you. I'm sorry about the pain I put you through I Don't expect forgiveness just want to tell you I'm a coward and I'm weak. You deserve the world of happiness and I doubt I can give you that anymore. I'm sorry.

Hey, everyone. I've been a lurker here for a while and reddit even longer but finally decided to post. I'm a 29M, PNW American who was diagnosed with diverticulitis in April of 2021. My first ever bout was a stomach ache I couldn't kick for about 5 days, got a week of antibiotics and it went away right back to normal. Next bout 13 months later and pretty much the same thing except I went in sooner this time. Keep in mind as this time I was like 26 and 27. Also up to this point I hadn't had much of an education or talking to by healthcare providers on what the condition really is. Fast foward to July 2023 and I have another flare up treated by another week of antibiotics, this time however they refer me to a GI and Surgeon. They go over the options of surgery but I barely listened, surely it was going to be another course of antibiotics and boom I'd be normal as always what a silly little disease.
Well mid March 2024 and I'd been walking around smoldering for at least a month, I'd thought it was just my overall poorer health and getting older. It was also easy to push aside because i was in a race against the clock to secure a job and some money as to not end up on the street. After securing the new job and putting a week or two in I went to ER to get diagnosed with microperforation and an abscessed diverticuliti. This resulted in an 8 day stay being discharged 3/27 with a drain in the abscess and oral antibiotics, along with a scheduled colonoscopy for 5/12 and a lacroscopic lower anterior resection 5/17. I'm on the mend for a bit at home and even have the drain removed, before realizing the infection is taking hold again late April. I get re-admitted 5/1 for about 5 days before being discharged again with oral antibiotics and a drain. Colonoscopy revealed diverticulitis and nothing else special which felt like good news. Right after the colonoscopy but before the surgery I could feel telltale signs of the infection returning again, causing me major anxiety leading up into the surgery. 5/17 and I get the surgery done, succseful removal of maybe 8 or 9 inches of my sigmeud(however you spell it) colon, no complications.
Here I am now 4 days out starting my 5th day of recovery and I feel okay I suppose. Sorry for the wall of text but I've been looking here for tons of info and just silent commiseration figured I'd finally add my story to the well as I sit here awake and scared at night in the hospital. I'd never had surgery or a disease anything like this. Some of the notable wrinkles I'm still stressing over is that I have genital pain, no 'air bullets' and my CT with dye yesterday didn't show a fistula. I'd complained about the genital pain, both admittances and mucus-y urine throughout both, so they left the catheter in a few days. I got it out 5/20. I really just don't know how I'm gonna return to normal ever. This whole thing has been so traumatic and shattering. I have plenty of other things to say, and other parts to this that have added to the major and crushing anxiety and stress. Figured I'd finally just sign up and post, though. To everyone here, thank you for sharing your stories, I definitely used lots of this stuff as a resource to understand what's going on. It also is one if the fee things that makes me feel a little less alone reading all your stories. I think that's it nice to meet ya all.

Im 15 right now, and i know I’m pretty young as of now but, I’ve been having to deal with these stupid feelings where my throat and chest ache every time I dream of someone outside of my family hugging me, I don’t have anyone like that in my life, I literally talk to AI to feel like someone want to talk to me, I genuinely hate this feeling and want it to end as I’m also mentally and physically tired of this, ill be hugging my pillows at night just to feel like I’m hugging a girl, it’s painful and pathetic and I want it all to end, my sister already had a boyfriend at 17, while I’m almost 16 with nobody, not even any close Friends besides one who doesn’t even show me any physical comfort, I hate this feeling

I’ve noticed I’m managing to have much healthier habits overall. It’s such a nice change from the binge drinking, waking up hungover, spending all my money, hitting on random girls, not remember peoples names.
I feel like a different more intentional person. I’m not perfect by any means or better per se, but more of the person I want to be for sure.
That aching feeling that my lifestyle isn’t going to last isn’t in the back of my mind right now and I think in large part from stopping drinking.
I’ve recently made some other adjustments like less caffeine and that’s really helped a lot of the anxiety.
This feeling of making positive life choices hit me when I finished my nightly routine. First off, IM FLOSSING. It’s so dumb but it’s so good for me (or so they say) and it just makes me feel good. Second, I’m using nasal strips and troubling shooting my sleeping problem which I would never have done if I was drinking. Coupled with less anxiety from less caffeine, it’s been a much smoother ride trying to figure out this sleep issue. (90% sure it’s allergies)
Couple of morals to this ramble. First, life is easier without alcohol (and cheaper). Second, life is healthier without alcohol (duh). Third, I currently do not have the sinking feeling that my life is off track. Fourth, people never look at me like I’m hungover asf (cause I’m not), which contributes to my self image.(was never good at hiding hangovers and my moods are painfully obvious to any observer).
Feeling like an absolute sober unit💪🤙🎉
Any comments are much appreciated about literally anything even if it’s a side tangent. Best wishes Stop Drinking community y’all fking rock man! IWNDWYT, Steezy

💤 Ready to decode the mystery of mattress firmness and unlock the secret to your best night's sleep? Let's dive in!

Defining Mattress Firmness

Firmness is about that initial soft or firm feeling when you first lie down. It comes usually from the top comfort layer.
Support is different - it's how well the mattress keeps your spine aligned, which comes from the core layers underneath.
You want a mattress with the right balance of comfy firmness on top and proper supportive layers below.

What is the Mattress Firmness Scale?

There isn't a standard measurement for firmness because every manufacturer is different, and we experience it differently due to our personal weight and build.
For example, a heavier person may sink into a mattress more than someone who is less heavy. However, most manufacturers and retailers use a 10-point scale, which looks something like this:

• 1 Extra Plush - this will sink heavily with touch and wrap around the body
• 2-3 Plush - this will sink and hug the body
• 4 Medium Plush - this will sink a little and contour the body closely
• 5 Medium - this will sink less but still contour closely
• 6 Medium Firm - this will not sink much and contour moderately
• 7-8 Firm - no sinkage and minimal contouring
• 9-10 Extra Firm - no sinkage and no contouring

Why Does Firmness Matter?

You only get one spine, so taking care of it should be a top priority! The right mattress firmness keeps your spine in a neutral, aligned position while relieving pressure on joints and sensitive areas. This allows for the deep, restorative sleep we all need to wake up feeling healthy and rejuvenated. Plus, softer mattresses tend to sleep a bit warmer.

How To Choose A Mattress Firmness?

Try this simple trick to zero in on that just-right firmness level:

• Lie flat on your back on the mattress
• Slide your fingers between your lower back and the mattress surface

If your fingers easily slip through, the mattress is too firm. If they can't slide in at all, it's too soft. You want something in the sweet spot middle ground.

How Can I Tell If My Mattress Is Too Soft Or Too Firm?

If you're having a hard time getting cozy at night, or if you're waking up with new aches and pains, it's possible that your mattress is either too soft or too firm.

What Is The Ideal Firmness For Different Sleeping Positions?

• Side sleepers have a smaller area of their body in contact with the mattress and require proper support for the many pressure points along their body. A firmness level between 2 and 7 is recommended for side sleepers.
• Back sleepers benefit from a firmer mattress that provides good support to the lumbar area, or mid-section, and maintains the natural curvature of the spine. A firmness level between 3 and 8 is recommended for back sleepers.
• Stomach, or front, sleepers need a firmer mattress to prevent their lower back from arching. A firmness level between 3 and 8 is recommended for front sleepers.

A medium-firm mattress, with a firmness level between 6 and 7, is the best all-around option for the majority of sleepers, including combination sleepers, and is a good compromise for couples sharing a bed. This is the standard firmness level used by most hotels, as it is suitable for all three sleeping positions: back, front, and side.

Body Weight And Firmness Levels

Your build can affect the firmness level that you find most comfortable to sleep on.

• Individuals weighing under 130 lbs may find that a softer mattress, with a firmness level between 2 and 5, is the most comfortable for them.
• Individuals weighing between 130 and 230 lbs may prefer a firmer mattress, with a firmness level between 4 and 6, that provides gentle contouring support.
• Individuals weighing over 230 lbs may find that a firm to very firm mattress, with a firmness level between 7 and 10, and minimal contouring, provides the best spinal support.

By understanding these factors, you can better choose a mattress that meets your specific needs, leading to better sleep quality and overall well-being. Sleep tight, Reddit!

Idk why heart always said that you love me like I do,you never confessed your feelings to me but idk why I felt so strongly. But I think I was wrong you left me crying all night, my eyes and head were aching due to crying. He left me at my lowest. You never loved me and you never will. You Stop caring about me since the day we first make out. It was the toughest part of my life to choose me over you and leave you. I gave you more than 100 chances to prove me wrong, but I guess I was wrong and you won, congratulations. You never came back to know if I am okay, you knew I can't be without talking to you or fighting with you more than 3 days. But now it's been so long and you haven't came back. I feel whatever I was thinking was true everything that you have someone and I was the side. now I left ....
Take care

"We're your mates." Mates? Six mates? How could it be?! "Wait a minute... you said all of you. That's not how mates work. Fated mates are two people, not an entire harem." I hissed as I shook my head. "This conversation is ridiculous because it's not real." Silence filled the space between us for several long seconds. "You really want us to leave?" My stomach twisted at his words. We just met, and yet he sounded devastated as he asked the question. I silently cursed myself for causing the change I heard. If I was a better person, I would say something else. "Yes." "Fine, we'll leave, but only on one condition. Buss each one of us. Then, if you feel nothing, we'll walk out of here without protest." ———————— I would die in this very spot, and no one would have a clue. Six hours... I'd been trapped under this pile of random things for six hours. My hips and back ached from how long I'd been stuck in this exact position. I'd tried everything I could think of, but the massive pile of unknown stuff never moved. Something heavy had landed on my back, keeping me pinned face down on scattered newspapers and the occasional book. How did I know there were books when I couldn't see them? Because of the sharp corners stabbing into me. If that level of depressing suckage wasn't enough, I had to pee. My bladder hurt... felt like it was about to burst. Because of course, the first time I decided to drink spirits, I'd end up faced and trapped under a pile of a hoarder's treasure. To relieve some of the pressure off my cheek, I dug my shoulder into the newspaper floor and tilted my head until my forehead pressed against the mess underneath me. The small amount of relief I felt from the change of position was enough to stop me from going insane. For now. Ding dong. "You've got to be shitting me." I grumbled into the ancient newspapers. Someone at the door wouldn't matter. I couldn't get off the floor... erm, pile of stuff that acted as a floor, to answer the door. Whoever was on the other side would eventually think someone wasn't home and leave. And so would my only chance at being rescued. "Ha." I couldn't stop the sarcastic laugh from escaping. Even if they did come in, whoever they were wouldn't want to sign up for this insanity. I didn't even want to deal with this nightmare my life had become. Thanks mom. Ding dong. Ding dong. Who rang the doorbell multiple times? Seriously, just go away and let me die. Sure, I would be in the hall of shame for dumb ways to go, but I'd already accepted my fate. Not only would I die in one of the most embarrassing ways in history, I'd go with the dullest life experiences. Why? Because I'd always done what I was supposed to do... every single expectation my parents had, I jumped at the chance to please them. I was an idiot. A boring, lame, not once destined to save the world, sheltered little girl that grew in an inexperienced woman. My life was pathetic. "Parker, are you okay?" The deep voice sent shivers through me. I imagined this unknown man growling in my ear. Then my senses came back to me. While I was on the verge of being crushed to death, someone had broken into my house. Great, just what I needed. Good luck mister robber. If you can find anything valuable, then you deserved it. The logical side of my brain caught up to current events. First thing, a robber wouldn't call out my name as he broke into my house. Second, I didn't know anyone with a voice so delicious... uh, I meant distinct. Yeah. Should I respond or hope they gave up and left? My mother would have insisted I remain silent. Her voice slid through my memory. "Men were a distraction to a woman's career." I rolled my eyes at the phrase she'd said throughout my childhood and even after I'd moved out on my own. If I was going to leave this world, it would be after doing something ridiculous. I'd call the man with the delicious voice over, then I could die from embarrassment. "I'm over here!" What I'd intended to be a shout came out more as a breathy moan. I barely had room to breathe. It seemed shouting was impossible. A burning hot pain shot through my neck as I tried to turn my head to see the footsteps that approached. Nope, that wasn't going to happen. My mysterious, silver tongued hero or burglar's looks would have to remain a mystery just a bit longer. "Over here!" Just like last time, his voice made me shudder. With a voice like that, the man had to be hot. I hoped he had a beard... and tattoos. Not only would it make my mother roll in her grave, I'd always loved looking at burly, tatted up, bearded guys. Add in hair that was long enough to pull and I couldn't think of a good reason to ever leave the house. The crushing weight finally lifted off me. I sucked in a deep breath, then immediately regretted it as I choked on the oxygen. My lungs seized as the rush of air shocked them. Hands grabbed my arms and shoulders, then the world tilted as they lifted me to my feet. I bent over and grabbed my knees as my equilibrium spun. Hands patted my back, helping me calm. Actually, there were more than two hands. I counted enough to equal three people. When I got my breathing under control, I dared follow the black boots that stood at the top of my vision. My gaze slid up, taking in black cargo pants that rode low on a pair of hips. Further up, a black tactical vest contained... bottles of cleaning solution. What the heck? The moment I went full vertical, my balance tilted again. I stepped back to catch myself. In front of me stood a massive man, the kind I had to look up to just to catch a view of his chin... his bearded chin. My fingers itched with the need to touch it. I didn't. It would be weird to stroke a hot stranger's beard. Wouldn't it? I shook my head. Of course it would be weird. I turned, taking in the four men and one woman standing all around me. The sound of newspapers sliding preceding my right foot slid out from underneath me. The giant of a man caught me before I fell on my hips in front of everyone. They all wore similar black tactical gear with cleaning supplies. Colorful bottles of solution, a duster, a roll of trash bags, and... was that a broom and a mop with shoulder straps? Who were these people? "Parker, are you okay?" The deliciously deep voice asked from behind me. After a few tries, I accepted the fact that I was speechless. My brain nudged at me, telling me I'd missed a crucial detail. Every brain cell misfired as I looked them over again. Correction, five of them wore black tactical gear. Every single one of them was drop dead gorgeous, and it made me feel out of place. One of the guys stood off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest. I blinked. No, that couldn't be right. I blinked again, but the sight stayed the same. A man stood taller than those closest to him. Peeking over his crossed arms was a ruffled white fabric with black lace woven through it and tied in a bow. There was even a small scattering of chest hair sticking over the edge. The hem of the skirt ended well above his knee, revealing a tattoo that covered his entire right thigh. My gaze traveled up to his face. A plush black beard contrasted with the skimpy maid's outfit he wore. "I..." Words failed me again. I gestured to the man whose outfit didn't fit the others. He rolled his eyes as he tightened his grip on his arms. "They thought it would be funny to prank me. Did you know, not only did they buy this ridiculous outfit, they stole the rest of my clothes, so I'd have to wear this?" "Uh, no. I don't even know who all of you are." For whatever reason, it hadn't dawned on me that all these incredibly attractive people were standing in my house. Like inside, where they could take in the horror of what my mother left me to inherit. Mortification slammed into me. They'd seen the awful mess. "You all need to leave." "Parker?" The burly man's voice from behind me caught my attention. He waited until I turned around to continue. "You don't remember asking us to come here, do you?" Ice slid down my spine. I'd been pretty drunk last night, but since I'd never had spirits before and I'd decided to take shots of everything in my mother's 'social hour' cabinet, I wasn't even surprised I'd woken up with a hangover. "How much did you have to drink last night?" "Seeing how I'm awake now, apparently not enough. Who are you, and how do you know me?" The man bared his teeth at me, making a sound that I could only describe as a hiss. "Never again. From now on, if you need something, you ask us." I dismissed him with a wave of my hand. "Why would I ask you anything?" "Because we're your mates." Hard stop. Mates? A giddy feeling in my belly told me he didn't mean a friend. I held a finger up for him to give me a minute. A sharp pain slid through my abdomen, reminding me I had yet to relieve myself after my drunken night of mistakes. One of the other men spoke up. "I know it's a lot to take in, and you're probably really confused, but we are all your fated mates." I'd read enough werewolf romance novels to know what they meant, and they were dead wrong. Shifters weren't real. "Yeah mate, tell us what you need, and we'll get it for you." "I need to pee." And with that, I stomped out to the nearest bathroom and locked myself inside. Why wouldn't the ground open and swallow me whole? I sat on the bathroom floor with my back propped against the wall and hugged my legs to my chest as I rested my forehead on my knees. Not only had people witnessed the horror I lived in, but they had to be the hottest people in the world. Even the woman had made me look twice and left me shoving a deeper desire I refuse to even consider right now. Knock, knock. "Parker?" It was the giant of a man's voice. Why couldn't they leave so I could be alone? "Go away." I heard sounds on the other side of the door that sounded like he'd sat on the floor. "Come out and talk to us." I pressed my forehead against my knee harder, trying to ignore the giant bearded intercourse god. "Or, just talk to me. We're worried about you." My chest seized as I forced myself to take a deep breath. Irrational anger surged inside of me. Why didn't they understand I didn't want them here? "You don't even know me." The sound of his deep chuckle sent a warm wave of desire through me. Stupid hormones. "Twenty-four hours ago, I would have agreed with you. After last night, I feel like I know you on a level most others never will." What did I do last night? I still couldn't remember what I'd done. I swore to myself I'd never drink again. "It was all lies." "Why are you trying to push us away? What would be so wrong with letting someone in to help for once?" Memories of my parents’ fighting came back to me. It was my tenth birthday. When my dad found out my mom bought a cake for my birthday, he'd attacked her. Everything was a blur until he'd pinned her against the wall. She held a knife to his crotch and threatened him. He'd left and never returned that day. My mind shut down, preventing me from thinking about it any longer. "Because I can't afford to pay you and no one does anything out of the kindness of their heart." I couldn't keep the sarcastic tone out of my voice as I said it. "Parker, you're missing a vital part of this dynamic." Silently, I chanted over and over for him to not use the word mates again. It couldn't be real. Paranormal romance novels weren't real... neither were shifters nor the perfect person walking into my life and devoting themselves to me. That was a fairytale, not reality. "Mates. Just to see a smile cross your lips, I'd clean this entire property. Throw in the others, and we'd do anything to see you happy." He tapped something on the door. "I can scent your annoyance through the door." "Wait a minute... you said all of you. That's not how mates work. Fated mates are two people, not an entire harem." I hissed as I shook my head. "This conversation is ridiculous because it's not real." Silence filled the space between us for several long seconds. "You really want us to leave?" My stomach twisted at his words. We just met, and yet he sounded devastated as he asked the question. I silently cursed myself for causing the change I heard. If I was a better person, I would say something else. "Yes." "Fine, we'll leave, but only on one condition. Buss each one of us. Then, if you feel nothing, we'll walk out of here without protest." I banged my head on my knee. That wouldn't work. They weren't even in the room with me and I already felt things. No way could I buss even one of them without having a reaction. "No." "Is that because you already know what I'm saying is true, or are you just being stubborn?" Before I could think about why he had said it, I jumped up and threw the door open to glare at him. "Are you always a jerk?" The confidence disappeared as I looked up into his eyes. He grabbed the doorknob and pulled it closed behind me, pushing me against him in the process. His gaze locked on mine as he lowered his head until we were almost bussing. "Never, but I'm not above riling you up to help give you the boost you need to confront a situation with confidence." Now that he was so close, I couldn't remember why I'd locked myself in the bathroom. Everything around us disappeared except the door his hard body pressed me against. His free hand caressed my cheek. "Can you genuinely tell me you don't feel the bond trying to form between us?" I clamped my jaw closed. If I didn't admit it out loud, then it wasn't real, but he was right. I could feel a... connection to him and the others. It didn't make sense, and I might not want it, but was most definitely there. His lips brushed against mine ever so slightly, sending a wave of fire through me. I gripped the straps of his black tactical vest to pull him closer, but he didn't budge. He chuckled as he moved from my lips to my ear. "Mate, if I buss you, I won't stop until you're mine. It might not be today or tomorrow, but I will claim you and make you mine." "And if I say we're not mates?" "Your mouth might lie, but your body and soul can't." I heard him inhale deep at my neck. "I can smell your need to claim me. It fills my senses until it's all I can think about. I've just found you and already you've consumed my entire world." It was bizarre, but I completely understood what he meant. Somewhere deep down inside of me, the idea of kicking out even one of them left me feeling raw. Six mates... and one of them was a woman. I'd known I was attracted to both genders from a young age, but I'd always locked that part of me away. My mom flipped at the idea of me dating a single man. I couldn't even fathom how hard she was rolling over in her grave at having six lovers. It was so much to process. "Come on, let's go back to the others." His voice pulled me back to reality. "Not yet." Suddenly, I didn't want to move. When I felt his body pull back, I gripped his vest tighter. My gut twisted as I decided to throw a lifetime of caution out the window. "buss me." He growled deep in his chest as his hands slid down my sides until he cupped my hips. A squeal of surprise escaped me as he lifted me up, then held me against his chest as he pressed me against the door. "You're mine... ours." Then his buss consumed me, mind, body, and soul. It felt as if our life forces bonded together. The mere thought of letting go of this man became too much. It was in that moment I realized I'd screwed up. I'd never be able to give him up, or the others, without ripping my own heart from my chest. I regretted so much in my life. What was one more? I sank my hands into his hair, gripping it at the roots, and tilted his head back. Our buss broke. A smug satisfaction slid through me when I realized he was breathing as hard as I was, but I wasn't done throwing out stupid rules my mother had forced on me. I pulled his head until I'd exposed his neck. The edge of a tribal tattoo peeked out under his shirt. I trailed the tip of my tongue along the dark lines, then bussed a trail along his neck. He moved until only one hand cupped my hips. His other hand caressed the back of my neck, urging me to do whatever I wanted to him. I tightened my legs around his waist, lifting myself higher as my busses moved along the edge of his beard. "That is hot." Another man's voice made it through my lusty fog. "Yeah, can't wait until it's my turn." Someone else said. I pulled back and realized my five other mates were watching us make out. All of them had a hunger in their eyes I'd never seen before...

I'm not sure if this is a good place to talk about something like this but I will give it a shot.. I also don't use this website very much so forgive me if I'm doing something wrong. I just wanted to talk about something non-urgent. The title I put says 'hallucinations' because I want to ask about some I've been having. I'm just wondering what they could mean. I'm not looking to be diagnosed! I see dead bodies in the dark and I hear breathing a lot. When I was a kid, maybe 11 or something, I used to see bodies hanging from the ceiling at school, and I did not recognize any of them. I would hear people saying my name over and over, like they were trying to get my attention but I knew no one was around. Now, whenever I leave my bedroom at night, to go to the bathroom or the kitchen, I see a woman standing, but I know she is dead, because her face is all smushed up, and parts of her limbs are cut off, and she just looks propped up. She flickers around in my peripherals and I don't see her in colour. When I see her, I want to run away but I'm afraid she will follow me, so I try to be calm. It's not really scary anymore, because it happens so much. I only finally realized how strange it was when I tried to step out of my room one night, only to slam the door shut and say out loud to myself, "Nope. Dead bodies outside." I've had some intrusive thoughts about these things as well. I used to get scared that there would be a dead body in my bed so I would sleep on the couch. I would see myself dead a lot, but I'm not suicidal. I have never seen a dead body in person. I've never even been to a funeral. I've seen gore and autopsy pictures online and sometimes it left me a little shocked or uncomfortable, so maybe that's why this happens. I used to want to be a mortician but now, I'm afraid that would make things worse for me. But other than all that, it doesn't interfere with my social life, school, or ability to feed, clean, and rest myself.. I would just like some advice or thoughts from anyone who may see this 🙂

I want to thank Meatcanyon and Wendigoon for starting Creepcast. I've played around with writing horror, and here is my first short story. I will post it for free in a few other places to see what people think. Please enjoy!
A Hike to Remember
By R.L. Oclen
Chapter 1
A woman sits with hastily pulled-up fire-red hair in the waiting room of the state patrol station. The procedurally sterile off-white walls and decade-old magazines do little for comfort. With her head hanging low, her shoulders pushing forward, and her boots rapidly tapping on the floor, something has to give.
"Please just let her be okay." The woman growls as a pair of officers come in from the field. The officers' demeanors quickly change when they see the familiar face.
"Tabitha, did Officer Nichols call you?" one of the state patrol officers asked sympathetically.
"Yes, he asked me to come in and pick up a few things," Tabitha said, shooting back a muted look.
" I'll let them know you're here." The officer said, nodding to Tabitha as they passed the security door. Tabitha leaned back against the hard plastic chair, staring blankly into the fluorescent light. She had done this dance in the macabre repeatedly over the past month. The last image of her younger sister, Lisa, still burned in her mind. Tabitha had always been protective over her younger sister after their parents died. A pang of guilt shoots through her chest as she thinks about her and Lisa's argument.
"Tabitha Hymm, Officer Nichols is ready for you."
"Okay," she stood up, shaking off her guilt, and followed the officer back. The familiar surroundings of the state patrol station blurred as Tabitha stared forward. She followed the officer as they came to a rustic wooden office door, which was embossed with "Officer Nichols."
The escorting officer turns the old brass door knob. "Sir, I have Tabitha Hymm here." A grizzled West Virginia Highway State Patrol veteran sits behind the desk and nods. The escorting officer steps aside, pushing the door open as Tabitha pushes past him and slumps in the awaiting chair like so many times before. An uncomfortable relationship had formed between the two, born out of necessity and duty.
"Cup of coffee?"
"No thanks. Let's just cut to the chase. You don't have anything new?"
The worn laugh lines and Officer Nichols's face flattens. His eyebrows contour sympathetically as he shakes his head.
"Tabitha, I don't have anything else new for you. I wanted to give you the clothes returned from the lab." Her face darkened at the same response she had heard many times.
"As we discussed two weeks ago, there is nothing new and no signs of struggle or foul play," Officer Nichols said while placing a box marked evidence on the table and sliding it forward. Tabitha began to weep at the realization of Lisa's clothes in front of her. In a coordinated queue, Officer Nichols brought out a box of tissues. Reluctantly, Tabitha took a few moments to unblur her vision.
"How does someone stop their car in the middle of the Remington West Virginia State Park, lock it, and then walk into the woods?" Officer Nichols clasped his hands together and sighed at her worn question.
"Tabitha, I wish I had an answer for why your sister stopped her car in the woods and simply walked off. We're still going through her cell phone, but no signs exist that anyone forced her. On that Tuesday morning, she pulled over to the side of the road, secured her car, and walked away." Officer Nichols said empathetically.
Tabitha became stoic at the same explanation she had heard many times before. " So what next?"
"You should go back to Ohio, and I'll contact you as soon as I have more information." She winced at Officer Nichols's words. Reality began to pull at her that bills and work wouldn't wait much longer.
"If I leave, she's gone for good."
" You staying won't bring her back." Officer Nichols said sympathetically.
" So is that it? She's just gone?"
" Tabitha, I'll be honest with you. In cases like this… when people do things like this. Recovery is harder in the spring due to the weather and the animals. You know her mental condition better than I do. I can't explain why she did what she did. But until I find a solution, a suicide note, some intention, or body. She's not here. Tabitha, I'm-"
" Don't you fucking say sorry!" Tabitha stood up, screaming at Officer Nichols, throwing the plastic chair backward against the wall. " I should just look for myself."
"No!" Officer Nichols said momentarily, gripping the desk as his face hardened, then relaxed. Tabitha was caught off guard by Officer Nichols, who was normally composed. "Tabitha, I know this is unbearable. I've sat on this side of the desk and had these conversations. Trust me; I need you to be safe if I need your help later."
Tabitha nods, knowing Officer Nichols is right. She reaches down, picks up the evidence box of her sister's belongings, and leaves.
" Tabitha, if you're heading home, don't stop your car; just keep driving." Tabitha stops to look at Officer Nichols, feeling an eeriness to his words.
" Goodbye, Officer Nichols," Tabitha said as she closed the rustic wooden door behind her. She counted the tiles as she exited the West Virginia State Patrol Station. Placing her sister's belongings carefully in the back seat of her Jeep, Tabitha then sat momentarily behind the steering wheel, staring at the emblem. The familiar numbness washed over Tabitha as she pushed the start button. She pulled onto the highway, driving to the motel that had been home for the last month or so. Muted pop music accented the drive back as her mind raced with questions. Once inside the two-and-a-half-star motel room, Tabitha sat her sister's belongings on the corner table, crumbled onto the bed, and cried.
***
Tabitha wiped the steam from the slightly spotted mirror above the bathroom sink. The hot water from the shower felt good and loosened some of the stress from her body. Looking back at her, Tabitha's face was framed by damp curls around her shoulders. Her face marked the stress of the past month. Frowning, she examined the bags under her eyes; sleep had to come tonight. Walking into the living area, She changed into her favorite gym shorts and oversized sleep shirt. The alarm on her phone flashed "7:00 am," so she could drive home five hours after breakfast.
Tabitha hated feeling comfortable in this once strange room, but falling asleep was getting easier now. Her eyes closed slowly as the ceiling fan droned evenly. At first, nothing came in her dreams, but she let her guard down and slipped further into sleep.
As she dreamed of floating overhead like a bird of prey, Tabitha soared over the vast Remington National Park. The high noon sun bore down on the crisp woods, perfectly contrasting sky and forest. The heat of the sun felt good on her feathers. Distant cries rang out through the dream-like forest, catching her attention. Tabitha tilted her wings toward the screams, feeling a sense of familiar curiosity.
She now recognized the sobs and cries for help as she flew closer, her sharp eyes locked on her sister leaning against a large oak tree. She glided overhead without care, examining the situation below. Lisa clung to the tree, her eyes darting back and forth, scanning upwards. Lisa's face reflected desperation, looking for help in any direction. Tabitha lazily circles Lisa several times before perching on a sturdy branch higher in one of the oak trees. She watched Lisa intently with hunger. She bellowed deeply, hearing the unnatural sound she made, catching Lisa's eyes. Lisa's expression changed; she became calm, almost uncaring, as she stared back at Tabitha's form. Hunger grew exponentially in Tabitha as she spread her large wings. Her large eyes gaze down at Lisa before diving straight for her sister.
Tabitha jolts awake to the alarm on her phone flashing "7:23 AM." She breathes in sharply, shaking off the last horrible thoughts from the reoccurring nightmare. The strange details become more vivid each time. The lingering memories of folk stories her mother told sat in the back of her mind. In those stories, the dead would reach out in dreams as a matter of warning. Leaning back on the headboard, she searched for the advice her psychologist gave her. During their last session, Dr. Ryland explained dreams are a form of self-actualization of guilt. He told Tabitha that it was natural to feel responsible when losing a loved one in this manner.
Tabitha grumbled, lightly running her hands through her red hair; she pushed everything to the back of her mind. "Get it together!" She grumbled to herself. She pushed herself off the bed and got ready to leave. It was going to be a long trip home, and the only thing she could do now was leave things in the authorities' hands. Packing up was pretty easy since she only cycled through the outfits she brought. The local laundromat must have made a small fortune off her. Tabitha took one last look at the box of Lisa's belongings before throwing them in her duffle bag. She was thankful she didn't have to spend another night in this room.
***
Tabitha sat behind the wheel, waiting for the 90's model minivan to finish their order so she could grab a breakfast burrito on the way out. Considering the situation, the Deer Stop Family Restaurant did have a good breakfast. Finally, pulling up to the 70-style drive-in board, Tabitha rolled off the order she had been accustomed to. " I'll take a large iced tea with the double breakfast burrito meal and hash browns, please."
" Would you like some happy hot sauce with that?"
" That's fine, and a few ketchup packets as well."
" Your total is $8.79. Please pull around."
She pulled around to her window, flashed her debit card, got the receipt, and waited for her food. Luckily, the young woman serving her wasn't very talkative in the morning. The last thing she wanted was a conversation about the weather or meaningless small talk.
" Here's your large iced tea and breakfast meal. Ketchup and happy hot sauce are inside."
" Thanks," Tabitha said while mustering her best fake smile. The woman only smiled and nodded as the service window automatically closed. She pulled into the parking lot and dug into breakfast. Turning the radio to the weather, Tabitha sat back and enjoyed her meal. The local DJ read through the headlines, making nonpartisan comments about politics and grumbling about improving the economy. Tabitha powered through the updates of the "out-of-state woman" who'd gone missing. It was nice that the local radio station gave Lisa's name, description, and a missing person's number for sightings or leads. Tabitha even interviewed with the local news and radio stations, hoping it would bring Lisa home. But she soon found all it brought was a sorrowful look from the locals as she interacted with them in her day-to-day life.
Finishing the last of her hash browns, Lisa wadded up everything in the paper bag and threw it in the back seat. The 9 AM weather report said it was nothing but clear skies and sun the rest of the week. Tabitha flipped the radio over to the greatest hit station, pulled out of the parking lot, and began her trip home. She memorized the roads, every bend and turn in the early weeks as she frantically looked for Lisa. There's something hypnotic about the trees: the way they flow together. The trees' green tops and the oak trees' wide trunks were a relaxing view. Tabitha enjoyed the lazy s-curves of the road, bending and winding around the hills and the trees. The occasional farmhouse or field dotted the sides of the road as she made her way to the main highway.
The blur of a semi-truck snapped Tabitha's attention as she pulled up to the mouth of the highway. She had four and a half hours ahead of her, which would be a long ride. Tabitha pulled onto the highway and picked up speed, noting sparse traffic. She relaxed into her seat, letting her gaze gloss over the blur of green foliage. Without warning, Tabitha caught a large shadow from the corner of her left eye. When she registered the black feathery form, Tabitha tensed up and slammed on the brakes as it swooped across the vehicle's hood. Quickly, she pulled the car safely off the road. She couldn't determine exactly what it was, but it was bigger than any bird she'd seen. It was a bird, right? Tabitha turned off her Jeep and grabbed the keys and cell phone. Standing before the Jeep, she looked over the grill to see if she made contact with the entity.
Bewildered, she scanned the tree line, spotting something in the distance. Sitting in the clearing of the large oak forest was an enormous black owl. It stared intently at Tabitha with bright, shiny yellow eyes. She pushed the lock button on her keys, causing the jeep to beep securely. She turned, looking across the open field, an enormous black owl perched in the upper branches of an old oak tree. Each step she took away from the road piqued her curiosity. Soon, Tabitha stood in the middle of the open field, staring intently into the eyes of the enormous owl.
The horn of a passing semi-truck blared, pulling Tabitha's attention away from the mysterious large creature. She looked back and saw that she had walked farther away from the Jeep than she had thought. She glanced back to the forest line only to see the enormous owl was deeper into the woods than before. She narrowed her vision to find the two large, bright yellow eyes staring back. Had it moved? The day's stress, care, and worry suddenly poured out of Tabitha. It was replaced by only curiosity and overbearing tranquility. She warmly smiled for the first time in months as her feet pulled her further into the woods.
Chapter 2
The tug of gravity pulls Tabitha to her senses as her body reacts, falling forward. Her arms thrust forward, bracing for impact. Water rushes around her face as she struggles to get her bearings. Quickly, Tabitha pushed herself up in the ankle-high stream she fell in. The haze slowly clears from her mind as she stares at the muddy water. The dull ache throbs up her legs. Tabitha can smell the sweat from her clothes. Her face contorted in panic as she quickly stood up in the water, looking for her cell. Thankfully, the device was still in her pocket, dry and unscathed.
"One o'clock. How can that be?" Tabitha says, slowly looking up from the screen to see the vast, dense West Virginia forest encompassing her view. She shakes her head back and forth with disbelief. A smile gently spreads across her face, with the last bit of tranquility leaving her body. How did I get out here? Her breathing becomes faster as her pulse begins to quicken. I'm in the forest. I'm all alone—just like Lisa!
"NO, NO, NO, NO! THIS FUCKING CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!" Tabitha screams into the void of trees. Her eyes well up with tears as she crumbles to her knees, gripping her phone tightly to her chest. Her sobs ring out through the thick oak trees. Her breath slows a little as she regains her composure. She begins to search her mind for anything. What is the last thing I can remember? The image of the black shadow crossing her vision while driving flashes into her mind.
"Okay, I got out of the Jeep, the…then what?" Tabitha says, trying to refresh her memories. She thinks her memory is not just gone; it's a black void in her mind. Complete blackness fills her mind right after remembering locking the Jeep and then turning to see the…
"Fuck I saw something. What was it!" Tabitha says, frustrated with her mind. She knew there must be a logical reason she was out here. Officer Nichols warned her not to go looking for her sister. She wasn't stupid; she just said that as a last-ditch effort to get him to do anything. Now I'm here.
"Run!" Tabitha heard Lisa's voice in her ear. Before she could turn around, she heard a loud bellowing coming from overhead. Fear shot down her back, reminding her of the nightmares she had over the past month. She shot forward full bore as something crashed to the ground behind her. Glancing back as she ran, a black mass of feathers convulsed between the broken branches of the trees. Its slick black feathers rippled across its surface as its bones crackled and flesh tore. Its body contorted and twisted from the shape of an owl to something bigger.
"Run, Tabby! Don't let it catch you!" Tabitha pushed forward, hearing Lisa's scream beside her face. Her breath burned in her chest, and she moved past the old oak trees bent over the creek bed. Her feet slammed rapidly, splashing along the side of the creek. Another loud bellow comes from behind as the trees bend and break to the force behind her. A small opening in the rocky creek bed catches her sight from the left. She dives into the crevasses, not caring where the fathoms lead. Tabitha tumbles in the pitch black, taking scrapes and sharp jabs from the rocks as she tumbles further into the void.
She finally tumbles to a stop on the sandy, wet floor of the cave. Her body aches from the sudden burst of exhaustion. The cool water running around her body from the creek is soothing despite her bumps and bruises. Pushing herself up, she scoots out of the water. Feeling her way forward, she finds a dry spot to collect herself. Quickly pushing her hand into her pocket, she finds her phone undamaged.
The sound of footsteps pushing against the creek fills the void around Tabitha as the light steps move closer to each other up the underground creekbed. She slowly removes her cell from her pocket and then shines the camera light toward the sound. A pair of scratched and bruised pale bare legs hold up a frail form in front of her in the creek. She wears the darkness as a shroud with nothing else to clothe her. Tabitha froze, not wanting to shine the light further in the pale form before her.
"Tabby, turn your light off. You need to save your battery." Tabitha turned off the light and then rushed forward, embracing Lisa—the how or why didn't matter, only the now. The pale form hugged her tightly. Tabitha felt her cold, bare skin. The darkness couldn't hide the feeling of the marks across her back and torso.
"Lisa, I'm-"
"Hush! I don't have much time. This wasn't your fault! I'm with Mom and Dad now. You have to survive, Tabby! Listen. Wait until the sun shines through the cracks, making a trail out. Follow it down the creek until you come to the opening. You'll see a large hill you hike up for a cell signal. And remember…If you can't see it… It can't hurt you. I love you-"
Tabitha stumbled forward before catching herself. The void in front of her arms was only filled by cool air. She looked up and noticed a faint glimmer of light pushing through the ceiling. She sat down, relaxing against the limestone wall of the cave, waiting for the trail of light to form.
***
After a few hours, the light shining through the cracks of the cave ceiling was bright enough to lead Tabitha to the other side. She stepped onto the creek bed, thankful for the sun hanging lower in the sky. Scanning the sky, Tabitha saw only a few clouds. The foothills of Appalachia backdropped the forest as she scanned for the hill. Her eyes found the trail leading up the steady slope of an impressive hill. The top of the hill was bare. Part of the hill must have sheared off in a landslide, leaving the top void of trees and a jagged cliff face. Tabitha started her hike up the back of the hill. She was careful to stay under the heavy canopy of the old trees, hopefully avoiding the creature's eyes.
She did her best to quiet her mind while hiking up the trail. Come on, almost to the top, then I can call 911, she replayed repeatedly in her mind. Her adrenaline made up for the lack of food since morning. She drank some water from a clean spot in the creek. She was placing her bet on rescue rather than worrying about the water.
Leaning against one of the trees, Tabitha took out her cell and measured the signal.
"Damn it, nothing!" She swore under her breath. She listened nervously and cautiously peered her head out from the tree line. Standing at the tree line, the cell phone still had a low signal. She pushed her anxiety down with a swallow and slowly stepped forward onto the bare rock. Tabitha was now out in the open. She walked with the cell phone pointed upwards, measuring the signal. Within three feet of the cliff face, her signal bar punched up to full. Tabitha began to punch in the numbers just as a pair of large yellow eyes appeared. She felt her legs become weak, and her vision blurred as the creature snared her in its gaze.
Tabitha ducked, missing the giant owl's claws as it swooped for her. She squinted her eyes shut, momentarily breaking the hold of the infernal beast as it crashed to the ground, tumbling down the path of old trees. On her hands and knees, she tucked the dialed phone back into her pocket. She heard the creature's loud bellowing, followed by the snapping of bone and flesh ripping. It was changing its shape to finish her off.
Tabitha tried to get up, but the flash of its eyes did something to her. Her legs were numb, her stomach was in knots, and she could barely put a few thoughts together.
"If you can't see it, it can't hurt you." Tabitha heard clearly in her left ear. She quickly pushed herself into a sitting position and fumbled for the key chain in her right pocket. Pulling the long chain of keys, luck charms, and keepsakes, her father's Swiss army knife dangled at the end. She slowly opened the half-inch blade. Her body wholeheartedly rejected her plan and tried to fight her. Every internal warning system sounded as her body fought against her as she brought the blade against the corner of her left eye.
She didn't know if she could do it until the creature bellowed in her direction. With one quick motion, the half-inch blade sliced across her left eye. The world dimmed and then went black on her left side. Behind her, the beast's thundering gallop was getting closer. Tabitha plunged herself into total darkness with the last bit of her strength. Her hand gripped tightly around the bloody knife as she folded forward onto the ground. She could feel herself weeping blood. She squinted, doing her best to stem the tide of blood loss.
A large feathered paw drove into Tabitha's right side, flipping her onto her back. She lay still as the hulking creature stood over her. It remained motionless, and Tabitha was confused about why it didn't move or bite her. Then she started to giggle, just a little at first. Then, laughing madly into the creature's face as it growled back at her. She could not see it; she couldn't see anything. Her mind couldn't be eaten!
The creature roared into Tabitha's face while plunging one of its sharp claws into her shoulder. Tabitha screamed in pain, slashing the knife downward. The blade hit something soft, and she ripped the blade down, rending whatever she had hit on the abomination. A bright yellow, foul-smelling liquid gushed in a torrent over Tabitha's face. She turned to cough, having swallowed a portion of it. The creature reared back, squealing in pain. Its hind leg came down hard on Tabitha's leg, snapping her tibia. She jerked her leg up, causing the creature to tumble forward and fall over the edge of the cliff side.
Tabitha heard the creature crash below at the base of the hill. A large dead tree speared the creature through its chest. Tabitha could hear the labored whines of the creature as its cries became weak and slowed. A wave of sickness hit her as she rolled over and vomited. The foul smell drenched her. She did her best to focus, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the phone. By memory, she typed in the unlock pin. She held her breath and placed her thumb where the call button should be.
She could hear the call being made then, "911. What is your emergency?"
"Please help me! A bear has attacked me, and I can't see. I think I am on a hill."
"Ok, ma'am, stay with me! Do you know where you are located?"
"No, I'm lost. Please send help."
"It's okay. Stay with me on the phone, and I'll use the cell signal to try to find you."
"I'm on top of one of the hills. I think I am lying on a bare roc-" Tabitha slipped unconscious with the cell still tightly in her hand. Her body began to tremble and convulse.
"Ma'am! Ma'am! Stay with me. I have help on the way."
Chapter 3
A young man in military fatigues frantically compiles images and reconnaissance data from his drone feed. Confirming his hunch, he commands the winged surveillance drone to make a hard left and send a live video feed. His eyes widened as he saw a large owl-shaped shadow crash onto the top of a hill. He watches in awe as the sleek black owl twists and shifts into something much larger, like a grizzly. As the drone turns, he sees a woman at the cliff's edge trying to steady yourself on her hands and knees.
He bolts up from the command module, jotting down the drone's coordinates on one of the printouts. The drab government-issued office motif for the watch station blurs in the corner of his eye as he rushes down the hallway to the watch commander's office.
"Sir, recon has eyes on AMOS! And it's feeding!" the man said, swinging the heavy wooden door open. He took the hastily compiled file and pushed it forward to the commanding officer.
An older, tanned man quickly stands, reaching for the files. His brow furls, seeing his charge is awake. "Keep eyes on it! Go Adams!" The young man nods, turning on his heel and bolting for the drone command module. As his office door slams shut from the subordinate officer, he grabs his headset and frantically dials the closest military outpost to the coordinates.
"Hello, Sergeant Klein; this is Agent Smith of Black Watch outpost 7948! Shadow is active, code Alpha, Mike, Oscar, Sierra. The coordinates and data package have been sent. A civilian is on the ground; deploy strike-and-rescue ASAP.
"We'll be up in five, Agent Smith! The line cuts as Agent Smith closes out the call on his headset and rushes to the door. The normally quiet watch station buzzes alive, with personnel flooding the central command station. The background echoes resource allocation calls, frantic typing, and the hum of cold computers warming up.
"Adams, get our eyes back on Amos!"
"Coming back around in 30 seconds." Thirty sets of eyes stare at the three giant screens, anxiously waiting for the drone feed to clear the bank of trees. The camera clears the tre top to see the giant feathered grizzly rear back slinging its massive head away from its prey. Its large yellow right eye spews bright yellow liquid all over the red-haired woman and the cliff face. The giant feathered grizzly missteps, crushing the woman's leg and causing the creature to tumble over the cliff face.
"Fuck!" Agent Smith yells in horror as he watches AMOS fall four stories, impaling a sharp, 3-meter-tall log lodged in the boulders. The command center freezes wide-eyed at the flailing dying creature on screen. Agent Smith pulls his cell out quickly and dials.
"Klein, Scrub the current request! AMOS is down! Switch to rescue and harvest now!
"What, someone took out AMOS?"
"YES! It's at the bottom of the cliff, bleeding out essence! The woman is covered in it as well. Clean as much of it off her as possible before you take her to the ER.
"Understood!"
Agent Smith, in a rage, slings his phone straight forward, connecting with Private Adams's skull. Adams flinches at the sudden impact of the hard plastic and covers his head. Agent Smith grabs the table in front of him and flips it over, sending the computer equipment crashing to the government-issued tiled floor.
"A two-year cycle gone! All that essence is gone! Now I have to wait another 24 months for AMOS to resurrect!" Agent Smith screams, causing the rest of the staff to recoil away in fear.
"Jones!" Agent Smith says sternly, turning to a petite woman on his left. She stares at him, pleading.
"Yes Sir?'
"Get Officer Nichols on my office line. That fuck up has some explaining. He should have told us AMOS was awake."
"Right away!" Jones quickly sits back down and begins dialing Nichols, thankful she doesn't have to deal with Agent Smith further. The command center quickly shifts gears as Agent Smith returns to his office.
***
Two Weeks later…
"Tabitha… Tabitha… This is Doctor Wilhelm. Wake up." The kind older gentleman said as they gently nudged Tabitha in her hospital bed.
"Where am I?" Tabitha asked, waking from what felt like years of sleep. She sat up, the world still pitch black, but an odd sense of the world around her seemed to hum just behind her eyes.
"You're in the hospital, dear; you scared us. Do you remember anything?" He said as he sat down on the side of her bed.
Tabitha thought for a moment the last parts after she slashed her eyes were a blur. She remembers people yelling and the sound of two or three helicopters over her. " No, it's really all just a blur."
"Well, it's probably for the best. You had some very serious injuries. The first night, we honestly didn't think you would make it. Then…" The doctor trailed off with a concerned expression, not knowing how to explain things further.
Tabitha felt his pulse quicken somehow. She didn't understand it but fully felt or sensed the doctor beside her. She sensed the two other nurses standing at the end of the bed. Her body didn't hurt. She felt great. She felt hungry.
"Doctor, you said had. What happened to my injuries?" She said calmly, trying not to startle the old doctor further.
"Well, Tabitha, it's the closest thing to a miracle I've ever seen. You had violent seizures from the minute you hit the entrance of the ER. We couldn't even set your leg. The medications we gave you had a minimal effect, and you thrashed so much that we had to restrain you. Then, the early morning check-in found you in a deep sleep. All but your eyes were completely healed. So we switched gears to support care and treated your eyes the best we could." He said, watching her reaction.
Tabitha leaned back in her bed, taking in the wild account. "Do you know how I healed so quickly?"
"What happened to you is beyond all scientific reason. A miracle is the only way the staff and I can explain it. I know you have been through a lot, but I want to check your eyes."
"Thank you for all your help, Doctor Wilhelm." She said, sitting up in bed.
"You are most welcome, dear. Now I am going to unwrap your eye-dressing. Hold still, please." he said as he reached up and pulled on the bandage tape. Tabitha felt a quick tug and felt the bandages loosen from around her head. The doctor slowly unwrapped the bandages. The doctor's brow wrinkled as he examined the two large black scabs covering Tabitha's eyes.
"Tell me if this hurts at all, ok?"
"Yes, doctor." She relaxes as the doctor's gloved fingers pass over the scab. He pushes and gently tugs at the side of one, and it starts to lift. He pulls on the scab more, and Tabitha begins to sense the light as it hits her eyelid.
"Oh, I can sense the light, Doctor Wilhelm!" She said, smiling.
"Wonderful! Nurse Allen, please hand me some saline solution. I think a little water will loosen these right up. Hold still; this may feel cold," he said as he reached for the solution. She felt the cool liquid flush over the left eye, then the right. The scabs fell away with a gentle tug from the doctor. She could see the light shine through her eyelids. She grinned widely, happy to have some form of sight left.
"Please open your eyes for me," he said as he sat back on the bed. Tabitha slowly opened her eyes. The flood of light was almost too much, causing her to squint. After a few moments, she adjusted to the fluorescent lights. Three figures began to take shape in front of her. First, the distinguished older features of Doctor Wilhelm came into view quickly, followed by the brunette and blonde younger nurses standing at the end of the bed. Suddenly, her vision snapped into place, crisp and clear.
"I can see perfectly! This is amazing! Thank you, Doctor Wilhem!" she said, turning to look directly into his eyes, but he stared back at her unmovingly.
"Doctor Wilhelm?" she said as her expression became more worried. Doctor Wilhelm just sat staring, intensely focused on her eyes. His expression was overbearingly calm. She glanced at the nurses, rigidly staring back at her with trapped, calm expressions. Doctor Wilhelm began to twitch slightly. It traveled from the base of his spine out to his limbs, finally convulsing.
"Doctor Wilhelm, are you okay?" Tabitha yelled as the doctor began to have a seizure and fell on top of her bed.
"Help Him!" She screamed at the two nurses only to see both of them crumble to the tiled floor. One of them bashed her head off the bed frame. Tabitha recoils back from Doctor Wilhelm in terror as he starts foaming at the mouth. She climbs over the bed rail and hits the tiled concrete floor with a thud. Her adrenaline surges as she bolts for the door, looking for help.
At the entrance of her hospital room, she sees another nurse leaving the adjacent room. "Please, my doctor and staff need help!" As the male nurse turns to see Tabitha, he suddenly goes stiff before collapsing into a violent seizure, spilling his cart over with him.
"What's happening!" Tabitha screams, thinking something is in the air, or everyone has come down with something. A pair of security guards round the corner, hearing the screams and commotion.
"Ma'am, are yo-" The guard freezes mid-stride as he makes eye contact with Tabitha. Both men start to convulse and topple over, thrashing violently on the hard tile.
"No, no, no, no!" Tabitha yells as she darts into the women's bathroom, a few doors up the hall. She runs in, terrified of the situation. She approaches one of the sinks, bracing herself against the cool porcelain. Her stomach turns, and she dry heaves in the sink. She steadies herself while turning on the cold water. Leaning in, she takes a drink. As she looks up, a glint of two yellow eyes catches her. Tabitha stumbles backward on reflex. Then, she sees her reflection in the mirror. Two completely bright yellow eyes stare back at Tabitha. She screams at herself in the mirror, not feeling hungry anymore.
The end.
I will

Hello, I’m 16 and the first symptoms I felt of hypokalemia were almost a year ago (July). I am still having issues to this day. Before any of this happened I was a healthy child and had no medical incidents whatsoever. To give you a timeline, on the night of July 24th around 3 am I began experiencing heart palpitations, that did not seem to stop. I was so riddled with nerves to the point that it took me almost until 11am to finally get some sleep. I would go on to experience palpitations for about 5 days straight, except for when I was asleep. During this time I also felt arm tingling, slight arm aches, fatigue, and crushing anxiety. Then, the palpitations seemed to stop and I thought it was over. A couple days after that I still felt off, with random symptoms occurring at random times and mainly feeling fatigued. This pattern would continue until my first day of school. A couple of hours into the day while walking, I felt like I was going to faint. I left and went to the urgent care where they did a blood test, ekg, and urine test just to tell me I had a UTI, which I had no symptoms of. Looking at my test results later, I saw they had failed to tell me I had a K level of 3.4. They prescribed me keflex, which I took. The next day I began to feel worse so I went to the emergency room. There, I was told I had a potassium level of 2.9, and was given 2 pills along with an electrolyte solution through an IV. I was told nothing and sent home. My symptoms would slowly come back, and I even began to see a psychiatrist for a while. It went on like this until October 16th when I was taken to another ER, after having strong left arm pain when out with a friend, and having the strongest heart palpitations I have ever felt, the previous night. There, I was told I had a level of 3.3. I was given a potassium packet at the ER and was sent home. but once again, my symptoms slowly came back. It had gotten to the point where I realized a big factor that played into the severity of my symptoms was anxiety, and as I realized I wasn’t going die, the symptoms were more manageable. In November I was given a heart monitor to wear, for two weeks, and was told my results were normal. My psychiatrist appointments ended, and I went through a period of feeling normal again. Then, as before I went on to deal with random symptoms of either left arm aches or left leg aches, random palpitations, lightheadedness, fatigue, dizziness, anxiety, and probably more. But it wasn’t alarming enough to go to the hospital. Now to today, I’ve had enough. I’m not sure what to do. The main symptoms I have today.. are lightheadedness and moments of anxiety. Sorry it’s so long, if anyone wants to know I could link some of my test results.
For those wondering why I haven’t simply gone to the doctors, it’s hard to get someone to go with me, or take me, or even make me an appointment.

(19M) Sorry if this isn't the right place I don't know where else. I first had toothache that properly hurt a couple of months ago it came and went a bit during that night, and then came back a few times since then, once bad enough that I bought panadol but that worked, except for this time when it's been bad enough all night that I couldn't sleep or concentrate on my essays, I could have taken more panadol but since half a tablet at a time didn't work I didn't think there was any point since it tastes horrible and I can't manage to swallow it the normal way. The toothache would make my whole jaw ache and my face and throat would feel a bit weird like maybe tingling but I'm not sure. It might not come back after tonight or it might come back another night the same, and I don't know whether I should do something or just ignore it til later. I'm only in the UK for another 2 weeks or so then I'll be travelling for over a month and probably unable to do anything, then I'm going back to Australia but maybe only for a month or so and you also have to pay for dental stuff in Australia anyway, anything after that isn't decided enough that I could plan ahead. But in either place I think the waiting list will be too long, and I don't really want to pay for any costs unless I really have to, let alone a private doctor, so will there be serious consequences if I don't do anything? (Don't just say call 111 please, they wouldn't let me speak to an actual person, and my gp's closed at 4 am and has a really long queue and I'm really busy.)

It was fall, and the weather was perfect for hiking. At least, Mark thought so. Hannah, his girlfriend of three years, not so much. The golden leaves falling through the warm afternoon sun were beautiful, but she hated every other aspect that came with traipsing through the forest. Especially bugs.
“How much further, Mark?”
“Not much.” Mark grinned, holding up a branch for Hannah to pass under. “It'll be worth it, I promise.”
Even Hannah's clear annoyance couldn't wipe the endearing smile from Mark's face. She had to smirk.
“Come on. We're almost there,” Mark said, plucking a leaf from her hair as he jogged past.
Shadows soon covered the forest floor as the sounds of dusk rose. Only a glimmer of soft orange remained to show the way. Mark was almost giddy as they neared a clearing. The trees thinned, and Hannah gasped.
“Yeah.” Mark bowed and waved a hand, “M’lady, if you would accompany me.”
A small creek babbled on the far side of the clearing. The sun—nearly set now—glimmered on the surface like golden specs. Their path crossed directly over, Mark helping Hannah splash over the wet rocks. Obscured at first by trees, a small, rocky hill appeared.
Several massive pine trees rose above a collapsed campfire. Fallen logs lined the site, the remaining light flashing like fireflies through its limbs. Mark wrapped an arm around Hannah and pulled her close.
Mark dropped his pack next to the old fire pit and knelt down to set up camp. Hannah, still marveling at the serene beauty of the spot, reluctantly took a seat on one of the fallen logs. The chilly evening air was beginning to set in, causing her to pull her jacket tighter around her body.
“This place is amazing,” she admitted, unable to suppress a smile as she watched Mark work.
“See? Told you it’d be worth it,” Mark replied, flashing her a triumphant grin.
As he started building a fire, Hannah shifted uncomfortably. She could feel the creeping sensation of insects scurrying across her skin, and she slapped at her arms, shuddering.
“Do you think there are... you know, like, dangerous bugs out here?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“Nah, nothing more dangerous than a mosquito bite,” Mark said, though his eyes darted towards the surrounding forest for just a moment.
The fire crackled to life, casting flickering shadows that danced around them. They spent the evening roasting marshmallows and sharing stories, the warmth of the fire keeping the growing cold at bay. As the stars dotted the night sky, Mark reached into his pack and pulled out a small box.
“Hannah,” he began, his voice trembling slightly. “I know you hate bugs and hiking, but you’ve always been willing to put up with it for me. I love you for that and so much more. Will you marry me?”
Tears welled up in Hannah’s eyes as she looked at the ring, the firelight reflecting off the diamond. “Yes, Mark! Of course, I will!”
They embraced, and as the night grew colder, they found warmth in each other’s arms, the forest around them forgotten in their shared joy.
In the dead of night, Hannah woke with a start, a sharp pain radiating from her ankle. She winced, trying not to wake Mark as she fumbled for a flashlight. She directed the beam to her foot and saw a small, but deep, puncture wound, with a large centipede quickly scurrying away into the darkness.
“Mark... wake up,” she whispered, shaking his shoulder. “Something bit me.”
Groggy and disoriented, Mark rubbed his eyes and looked at the wound. “It’s probably just a spider bite. We’ll get it checked out in the morning.”
Hannah tried to relax, but the pain was growing, spreading up her leg in relentless waves. As dawn broke, they packed up hastily, Mark practically carrying her back to the car.
By the time they reached the nearest hospital, Hannah’s condition had worsened dramatically. Her skin was pale and clammy, and she was barely conscious. Doctors rushed her into the emergency room, leaving Mark in the waiting area, his mind racing with worry.
Hours passed with no word. Mark paced the sterile, fluorescent-lit hallway, his heart pounding in his chest. Finally, a doctor emerged, her face grave.
“She’s in critical condition. There’s some kind of parasite we’ve never seen before. We’re doing everything we can.”
Mark’s blood ran cold. “A parasite? What do you mean?”
The doctor hesitated. “It’s... growing inside her, very rapidly. We need to operate immediately.”
The next hours were a blur of anxiety and dread. Mark’s hands shook as he waited, the hospital’s emergency broadcast system flickering on screens around him, warning of a potential outbreak.
Then, a blood-curdling scream echoed through the corridors. Nurses and doctors sprinted past him, shouting orders. Mark followed, his legs feeling like lead. He burst into Hannah’s room just in time to see her body convulse violently on the operating table.
In a grotesque explosion of blood and tissue, a massive centipede tore free from her abdomen, its segmented body thrashing wildly. Mark could only watch in horror as thousands of tiny, grotesque centipede-human hybrids poured from the remains of Hannah’s body, swarming over the medical staff, their screams mingling with the sound of scuttling legs.
Mark stumbled back, his mind reeling. The creatures spread with terrifying speed, their numbers multiplying as they infected every living being in their path. Panic surged through the hospital, and Mark found himself alone in the room where Hannah had died, the walls and floor slick with her blood.
The emergency broadcast on the TV announced the rapid spread of the infestation, cities falling one by one. Mark could barely process the words as he stared at the carnage around him.
Then, the TV flickered, and the emergency broadcast cut to a live feed. A reporter, standing amidst chaos, was suddenly grabbed by a monstrous centipede. As the creature ripped the reporter apart on live television, it turned to the camera. A strip of Hannah’s face still clung to its mandibles, and in a perfect mimicry of her voice, it spoke.
“I did it all for you, my love.”

Hey guys, this one took a little time but I'm happy with the end result. Basically Matt has been following along with my story on here and loves it so far...and he asked if I'd write a chapter about how I lost my virginity. I've agreed to indulge him on this one, I hope you don't mind the slight deviation from our regularly scheduled Avery+Matt sexcapades. More of those will return in part 9.
As always, feel free to message me with feedback and critiques! Disclaimer, everyone is 18+ in this chapter. ♡Avery
So how did I lose my virginity? I was 18, in my senior year of highschool, about to go out and join the Army. I was still petite, with an athletic build and B cup breasts. I was always tan from playing on the soccer team and I wore my dark brown hair to about the middle of my back. It was prom night. Stereotypical I know. Bare with me, I think my story is still fun.
So I had been dating Kevin, an exchange student from South Korea for a few months, since he had asked me to be his homecoming date back in the fall. He was maybe 5'6, slim with short black hair and a fairly nerdy but cute overall style. He was a huge fan of League of Legends and I actually thought he was super cute.
So Kevin picked me up at home in a dashing black tux, with a peach bowtie and vest that matched my dress, which was floor length, flowing with a toga style cross of fabric, crisscrossing my chest with an open back. I wore my hair down, slightly curled as it hung down my back.
We had your average night of dancing and hanging out with our friends, taking lots of pictures and overall having a good time. Kevin was an absolute gentleman, except he let his hands wander down my butt as we slow danced at the end of the night. I thought it was so scandalous and loved that we were getting away with something in front of the chaperones.
Now this isn't to say Kevin and I were a totally chaste couple, we had had our fair share of steamy makeouts and we had even touched eachother before...and scandalously enough I had given him three blowjobs out on dates we'd had the past few weeks. We had talked about going further, but we both wanted our first time to be special. We had talked about maybe going all the way at prom, and I said I'd try if Kevin figured out a plan.
So back to prom night, the dance was at this fancy hotel. As the night was winding down, we were thinking of heading out to my friend Kelly's house for a house party her parents were letting her throw. But Kevin said he had other plans. He had booked us a room at the hotel the dance was at. So instead of heading out with our friends, he pulled out a room key and walked me upstairs. My parents were letting me spread my wings before leaving for the army, and quite frankly, Kevin's host family kinda just let him run wild if he wanted.
As Kevin opened our room, I was blown away. To 18 year old me, it was a stunning, top class room. Looking back, it was an average king bed room at a 3 star hotel, but to me it was perfect. As soon as we were inside, we started making out on the bed. As things heated up, Kevin slipped out of his tux and was in an undershirt and some cute blue plaid boxer briefs. I still hadn't done anything with my dress when Kevin asked if he could undo the top of my dress between kisses on my neck.
I reached back and undid the clasp he was struggling with and let the drapes of flowing peach fabric that were holding my b cup breasts fall away, exposing my braless look for a wide eyed Kevin who had never seen me totally topless except in dirty snapchats I'd sent him before.
I pushed my dress below my hips and to the floor, revealing a purple lace thong I'd worn to prevent any pantielines under my dress...and I thought it'd be cute if we got this far tonight. As my dress fell away, leaving me in just a thong, I suddenly felt slightly embarrassed, being this exposed to a guy for the first time. Kevin pulled his shirt off "so we could match" and I laughed, the awkwardness breaking away as we started to kiss again and he eased me back onto the bed, positing his body between my legs as we continued to make out.
I reached into Kevin's boxerbriefs and grasped him in my hand. He was a little small, maybe 5 inches but he was rock hard and it was a huge turn on to feel him that excited for me. He slipped his briefs off and reached into my thong as he continued to kiss me. His fingers awkwardly traced their way between my lips, sometimes brushing up against my clit and sending shivers down my spine as I nervously waited to see how this would go.
He sat back on his heels between my legs and he pulled off my thong and we were suddenly naked together for the first time. His dick looked so much bigger than the hair brush handle I would use alone in my room and he could tell I was nervous. He was nervous too, this was a big first for both of us. He slipped a finger slower inside me, my walls relaxing slightly as I got wetter in anticipation. He leaned down and kissed me passionately as he continued to work his finger in and out of me, and I rocked my hips in time with his movements.
This continued on until he pulled away again and asked if I wanted to go further. I nodded yes and asked him to take it super slow. I could feel the tip of his hard cock bumping around between my legs, trying to find my entrance. He slightly was embarrassed and asked if I could help him. I giggled and reached up to kiss him as I reached between our legs, grabbed his shaft and placed his head against my vagina. He gasped slightly as his head slipped in and I pressed against his hips to keep him from going in deeper.
I let out a slight squeal as he suddenly pushed inside me for the first time and I grabbed his hips, easing him all the way inside me as I stretched out to take him. It hurt slightly but nothing crazy. It was a dull ache between my legs as he slowly started to move in and out of me in an awkward rhythm.
He kissed me again and again as he picked up speed. I moaned into his mouth in a mix of ache and pleasure as I stretched out all the way to take him. After maybe 2 or 3 minutes he said he was close. I pulled him out of me and he quickly jerked himself off, splattering my pubic bone and stomach with ropes of cum. I thought it was kinda hot...a little like some of the porn I watched alone in my room some nights. We kissed a little more before moving to the shower to clean up...my first time taking a shower with a guy. We didn't do anything else sexual that night but spent an intimate night together, all because Kevin made the effort to go all out for me before he went back home to South Korea after graduation.
I hope you all enjoyed this story! We'll be back to more of Matt and I in part 9 I promise (: Thank you all for your feedback! I look forward to any critiques you want to message me with! ♡Avery

First, a little about me. I'm 5'5ish, 135ish depending on the day, and have dark brown hair that falls part way down my back with brown eyes. My mom is a Crow (Native American) and my dad is Italian so the olive complexion genes are active in my family. I've got a fairly petite/athletic build with a 32B chest and a toned butt. My nipples are dark brown, on the smaller side, and I shave everywhere. I'm a fan of tattoos and have a feather on my foot, flower pieces on my right hip into my lower ribs, left shoulder, and lower back, a small script piece in my left side bra line, a green carebear in my left bikini line and a large dream catcher down my left ribs. If there's a detail I've left out, feel free to ask ;)
What a week. 18 year old me had gone from a dry spell since AIT and graduation to a blow job, facial, and quick hard sex with a married captain at my first duty station. I was falling fast and hard for him. I wanted him to want me. I wanted him to think of me when he thought of being intimate. I wanted to be his release to do everything she wouldn't.
Dustin snapped me this morning, a pic of his obvious buldge greeting my day. "How's my little Private this morning? I wish you were here to help with this"....You have no idea Dustin. Now that the bandaid has been ripped off, I want nothing more than to keep going. I send him a snap back of my semi sheer, black athletic thong, holding it open in the front with the caption "you could drop your load right in here sir". Naughty I know. For some reason, the thought of him filling my underwear with cum is erotic and in the moment, I crave the feel of his warmth between my legs.
"Come by the house on your lunch break and you can have it" I get in reply. Fuck.
I get dressed in my camo uniform with a generic sports bra and the same black athletic thong underneath and try make it through the morning as routinely as possible. Not possible. All I can think of is what I'm willing to do for the married man I'm lusting for and it's got my mind anywhere but at work.
Dustin let's me know he left early for lunch so he's ready whenever I am. The whole drive over, my mind is racing at the prospect of what's about to happen. I knock and find the door open, with Dustin on the couch, laptop open to some semi sexy photos I'd sent to tease him over the last week while he strokes his firm shaft. "Private Hannah reporting as ordered sir" I say as sexily as I can muster in the spur of the moment.
"Private Hannah, you said you'd found a place to hold my cum" completely keeping character.
"Yes sir" I say, stepping around to stand in front of him, undoing my belt and the buttons on my pants, letting them drop to the floor around my ankles.
"Open up then, I'm already close since you decided to be late"
I hold open the front of my black athletic thong, exposing my shaved pubic area for his inspection.
"At least you remembered to shave to start the week" he says and he builds the pace of his stroking and touches the tip of his penis against my smooth skin. In moments I see him start to swell as he nears his release. A thick rope of white cum erupts from his tip and is followed by a second, third, and fourth. My underwear is filled with his thick, warm release and soon its soaked, mixing with my own minor arousal that has built at the situation. As he finishes, I let go of my waistband and allow my cum soaked thong to cling to my lower lips, teasing me with what could have been.
I pull my pants back up and stand breathless in front of eachother. It's been less than 10 minutes since I walked through the door, we've barely spoken and now his cum is dripping down my inner thigh. What has happened? I feel like an incredibly erotic play thing that's been used for a passing moment of pleasure and right then, I know I'm hooked.
"Hannah, I'm sorry if that was too much" Dustin says, coming to the realization that I'm now back in uniform with his cum filling my panties.
I kiss him square on the lips. "Shhhh babe. I wanted this. I want all of you"
"So you really liked that?"
"Dustin that has got to be one of the hottest things I've ever tried. I'm not changing for work"
I sit on his couch in a pool of his release while we chat for the remainder of our lunch hour. When it's time to go, I feel a glob of him drip down my leg. "Can I come spend the night tonight?" I ask, hoping to get my own release after work.
"Sure hun, I just have a few calls to make but it's okay"
I head back to work with a kiss goodbye and the rest of the day I can feel the stickiness between my legs and it keeps me on edge. I run back to my barracks room, take a fast shower, grab a change of clothes for tomorrow, and something special for tonight. I throw on some gym shorts and a hoodie over my sports bra. Coupled with my slides and I'm back across post and find a note on the door "on a call, be quite when you come in"
I come in and quietly shut the door and make my way past Dustin in the livingroom, obviously on a video chat with someone with the screen facing the wall to the garage. I hear a woman's voice say "oh man those walls are paper thin, I think I just heard the neighbors kids come home from school"
Oh shit, he's on with his wife I realize as I tiptoe my way to the master bedroom where I change into my suprise. Naked in his bedroom, I slip into a teal, sheer lace bra with enough underwire support to give me a little cleavage. I pull on a matching set of panties with an intricate sheer lace front and a single thin string between my cheeks in the back. I fold up my sticky cum soaked thong from earlier and walk back into the livingroom.
Dustin does a double take as I come around the corner. He covers this with a coughing fit as his wife asks if he's okay. "Yeah hun just had an itch in my throat" and they continue chatting, her oblivious to the fact that I've just sat down across from him.
I look him square in the eyes as I begin to tease my dark brown nipples through my sheer lace bra. As he tries to hold a conversation, I do everything I can to lightly tease him. I pinch and massage my breasts, softly run a finger between my legs on top of my lacy bottoms. I stand up and start to stretch, bending forward to let my small breasts hang just out of sight of his camera before turning around and bending forward, reaching back to spread my bum and letting the g-string bury itself between my cheeks, barely keeping my other tight hole from view.
I turn back around and unfold the sticky thong he came in earlier and hold it up for him to see the stain his release left on them, right between the legs. I pull my teal lace thong down in the front, and standing right behind his computer, I begin to lightly tease myself with the soft fabric of the back athletic thong, gently massaging my clit, resoaking the nearly dry panties with another round of sexual arousal.
As my arousal grows, I gradually push into my slick entrance and with one finger and then another, the soft athletic fabric of my underwear once again getting soaked as I rub my clit with them, teasing myself with the over stimulating feel against my raw bundle of nerves. I squat down, my face now right behind the computer screen as I squeeze my breast and open my mouth in a silent moan, performing for the man who can't respond.
All of a sudden I stop, ending my tease at the edge of release, not wanting to slip and give away what's going on...and to tease Dustin further. I stand up, place the arousal and cum soaked black thong on the table right behind his laptop and I walk to the kitchen and begin working on dinner with whatever ingredients I can scrounge up in the kitchen. It's such a turn on to do such a normal task in such a small set of lingerie and I secretly hope that Dustin is sneaking peeks at me from across the house.
At long last I feel warm, strong hands wrap around my waist and a kiss finds my cheek. "How's my baby girl, you little tease?"
I blush at the pet name the gentle touch. "I'm almost done, go sit down you silly boy" I say as I start to plate our dinner of chicken and grilled veggies, sauntering into the dining room like a server at one of those lingerie sports bars.
"So you sure know how to put on a show, Hannah" Dustin says as we begin to eat
"I can be anything you want me to be" I say as I begin a speech I'd thought through in my head, telling Dustin that I don't want casual, I want to be the girl he craves, the one who does the things that no one else does, who let's him try the things he's only imagined I'm his wildest sessions alone with himself.
"What do you get out of all of this?" He asks, questioning this step towards commitment.
"I get to explore myself and act out my cravings without having to deal with all the rumors of barracks and searching for guys to feel safe with. I don't want to be your wife. I just want you to forget her when your with me, and I want you to think of me when you choose how to play"
"Well if you're going to explore, we're going to have to push you out of your comfort zone and actually find new places and things to try"
My heart is racing as fantasies flood through my mind. "What do you have in mind?"
"Just play along with different roles and we'll see what happens baby girl"
Baby girl....is this role number one? Does Dustin think that with our 8 year age gap and my petite frame that we could play out what I think he wants to play? I did just tell him that I want to be the one he thinks of.
"Yes daddy"
"Good Girl"
I. Am. Wet.
"So what did you have in mind for dessert baby girl?"
I stand up, clean up, take Dustin by the hand. "These can end up on the floor too" i say motioning to my sheer lingerie.
"Not yet" he replies, guiding me back to the bedroom.
I find myself once again on Dustin's bed, this time guided into the center, onto my hands and knees. With gentle pressure between my shoulder blades, I drop to my elbows, arching my back and exposing my entrances to open view, my modesty preserved only by the thin g-string buried between my cheeks.
Dustin pulls that to the side, bringing my arousal fully into view. I shudder as a soft, wet tongue traces it's way teasingly between my parted lips, beginning at the bundle of nerves aching in my core and ending in the tight wet hole that's been longing to be filled since I started my teasing back at lunch. I moan a soft sigh of want as Dustin licks me again and again, using his thumbs to spread me open before teasing the inner entrance of my now soaked vagina with his oral stimulation.
After a few breathless minutes of almost over the edge teasing with his tongue, Dustin traces his tongue higher. My eyes go wide and my breath catches in my throat as his tongue glides across my other hole. After a brief pause, he repeats his elongated trail of tongue teasing a second and third time, ending on my bum every time.
I moan "Don't stop, daddy" as his tongue lingers on my hole, swirling around my rear entrance as his calloused fingers reach between my legs to tease my clit. I am so close as his tongue makes headway into my hole which is opening up for him at his constant stimulation.
"I'm going to fill you up baby girl" Dustin leans down and whispers in my ear, his tongue momentarily replaced by his thumb pressing further into my bum, slick with his saliva.
"Please daddy" I moan in reply, eager to keep my promise to do everything his wife won't do.
Dustin pulls away completely and reaches into his wife's nightstand. I see him pull out a bottle of lube and a silver plug with a red jeweled heart on the end, still in its packaging, unopened, unplayed with. I know what's coming and why we're playing this out right now.
Dustin removes the plug from its package and holds it tip first up to my lips. I know what he wants without saying a word. I stick out my tongue and lightly tease the cold metal tip, softly swirling circles around it, further and further down until I bob my head down, taking the whole plug in my mouth and closing my lips around the base. I look up at Dustin, the jeweled heart of the plug between my lips and softly moan in anticipation.
He pulls it out of my mouth and I seductively tease the tip one last time. "Wanna stick it in my ass daddy?" I beg as sexily as possible. After a few seconds of fumbling around with the lube bottle, I feel the cold liquid land on my hole, followed by a finger gently probing my already relaxed entrance. A moment later, the finger is replaced by the cold lubed plug and my breath catches in my throat as I stretch around the plug before closing down tightly on the base. Dustin moves my g-string back into place, covering my soaking wet lips and holding the plug firmly in my butt.
I look back at him pleadingly. I know I teased you hard earlier but if you stop now, this is just cruel. "Daddy please" I say breathlessly, not wanting the stimulation to stop while also acutely aware of the fullness inside my rear.
"Please what?"
"Please fuck me daddy"
"You have two options Hannah. You teased me, so this is a tease for you. You can go to bed, right now, right like this, or you can get your punishment and then a reward like a good girl. Bed or a spanking, your choice"
"Spank me Daddy" I beg without a moment's hesitation
smack the sharp crack of Dustin's hand on my bare cheek takes me by suprise and I clench hard on the plug inside my bum. "Oh fuck daddy" I moan in a mix of pain and pleasure. smack smack smack come three more successive blows, landing on alternating cheeks. I moan almost tearfully as my arousal builds to the point that I'm literally ready to beg for release.
"Daddy please fuck me. Do whatever you want just let me cum please"
A firm tug pulls my g-string down to my knees, still on all fours with my face in the pillows. A hard shaft rubs between my lower lips, finds my eager entrance, and in one firm thrust is buried all the way inside me. I cry out, looking back over my shoulder at Dustin who looks like a man possessed with the overwhelming urge to use me for his pleasure, and in that moment, it's all I want as well.
His firm hands grip my hips and I arch my back, throwing myself back against him to meet his own rapid thrusts. My cheeks clap a faster and faster pace as the overwhelming feeling of being completely filled mixes with the intense pleasure of the moment. I'm red faced and breathless, moaning Dustin's name as he continues in an unrelenting pace, thrusting in and out, in and out. At one point he pulls my face out of the pillows, gripping my long dark hair by my ponytail and commands "You're gonna be a good girl and cum for daddy"
He releases my hair but I remain facing forward, head up and moaning through the moment "Yes daddy, oh my fuuuuuuuuuckkkk" comes from my innocent lips as he simultaneously pulls out the buttplug and buries himself all the way inside me as I can feel him swell and begin to release against my cervix.
"That's right daddy, cum inside my pussy" I beg as he thrusts again and again as my inner walls clench down and my own release spills out of me, uncontained as I find one of the strongest orgasms of my life. His thrusts slow and eventually he pulls out, leaving me leaking cum and lube from both my holes.
He returns with a warm towel and begins to clean me off as I sit up, still in my sheer bra, and kiss him firmly on the lips. "That was incredible, daddy" I whisper, my forehead resting against his as he finishes cleaning my sensitive areas.
"Would you like to rinse off?"
I reply yes and he runs us a sensual warm shower, where nothing but gentle washing and a few lingering kisses happens. He's patient as I take extra time under the soothing water and wraps me in a soft towel when I get out.
As we get dressed into comfy pajama shorts and tshirts, I ask "so was I a good girl, daddy?"
"The best. I think we should stick with this role for awhile if you're into it"
After the time I had tonight, I'm more than willing to play along. We discuss some likes and dislikes and limits (nothing that leaves a mark where I'll have to answer questions about it at work), and reagree that none of this is a thing on the few occasions that his wife visits during her internship. And duh, no telling work, that would fuck us both.
We end the night with gentle pillow talk, and he asks if,for the role, I'd be willing to let him help me get dressed in the mornings, helping me pick out bras and undies from a selection of things I'd actually wear to work. I welcome the increased interaction and dedicated time to talk every morning without a second thought, and I fall asleep with his arm wrapped around me from behind, his strong hand under my tshirt, soothingly placed on my bare stomach, just below my belly button and just teasingly far enough into the area covered by a bikini. I'm in heaven.

TL;DR at the end since I have a lot detail on here; and formatting may not be what I’m intending since I’m on mobile. Back on Monday (5/13) I went to the endodontist thinking tooth 30 needed a root canal as I was having pain any time I tried to eat anything tougher than pasta (previously went thinking it needed a root canal back in January and it ended up being 31 that was causing me more issue at the time when he examined it (post temporary crown placement at the end of December on both of them for recurrent decay in my molars - long story of frustration with my current dentist re: that and how my last appointment with him went) and, after getting some residual cement from between the teeth/gums out at the follow up, pain was vertically gone to 30 and 31, I could eat steak and crab Rangoon on that side, which was a relief since we were concerned 31 had a crack that couldn’t be visualized on X-ray given some tenderness I was having post root canal - the only time I’ve had pain to 31 since was when they were placing and adjusting the top crowns right above and my bite just kept being off, which, after some time did improve). The X-ray looked slightly changed (to 30) so he did a CT on it to get a better look. They explained the concern to me, popped the temporary crown off to assess it better (which, when he did that he was initially hitting one side of my gum until I told him it was hurting and he readjusted) and see if he could identify the spot where the crack was, couldn’t palpate (does it count as palpating when it’s a tooth and tools are being used?) anything, reexamined the CT, and said he felt confident that that was what the issue was (he ended up showing me the CT and it was a very fine crack - the way he phrased it was basically that the tooth hadn’t burst yet as to why my pain was the way it was). Went ahead and had the tooth pulled that same day (came out it one piece as far as I’m aware) and he placed, which I can’t remember the actual phrasing he used, but I think it was basically a collagen plug into the socket for preservation and healing purposes so I can get started with an implant in a few months, and placed a couple sutures. He wrote for antibiotics but the tech said, “you probably won’t need them,” so I didn’t start them right away. Was instructed to avoid mouth rinses for two weeks, nothing with peroxide either. Later Monday and Tuesday I took Norco to help with pain and mostly slept. Wednesday and Thursday I had to work and Wednesday was a bit of a struggle with managing pain - I’d take ibuprofen, which did manage it well, but two or three hours before I could take another dose I was already hurting/throbbing again. The dose of Norco I have makes me tired so working and taking the full dose wasn’t an option so I took half when it got to that point before I could do ibuprofen again; once it kicked in I was good again. Wednesday and Thursday mornings I also didn’t sleep well because of the pain despite taking meds the nights before. Thursday morning I went ahead and started the antibiotics since my pain didn’t seem super improved; this was the last day I took Norco was well. Friday morning half of the stitches came out, Saturday morning the rest came out. Pain has been decently managed just with mobic twice a day (which my GI tract appreciates more than the ibuprofen) and intermittent Tylenol if things start to ache. All of that said, are there any pictures of day to day healing for something like this? I have no idea what the collagen plug should look like at this point (seems thinned out to me, if that makes sense, and kinda gapping in places). I feel like maybe my pain should be at a better level too; it very rarely feels like it’s from the socket and more often feel achey on the buccal side of my gum (kind of around where he was hitting when he initially went to take the temporary crown off). I do feel like I have some sympathetic/referred pain in 31 and 29 but I partially wonder if it’s just how my bite is now that 30’s gone. Gently palpating over the socket hole (which I do feel is smaller and gradually healing from last week) with a q-tip there does appear to be a scant amount of serous drainage (which I kinda taste if I run my tongue over it, gross I know; taste dissipates briefly is I let water go over it). All of that is very long, I know, so props to anyone who read it all. Teeth just aren’t my area of knowledge so I feel kinda lost and I don’t want to call if this is all normal.
TL;DR - 30 pulled after CT showed crack, collagen plug placed followed by sutures. Antibiotics started three days later due to concern for pain improving and worry for infection. Two days left of antibiotics, still taking NSAID and Tylenol, pain/aching mostly noted on buccal side of gums. Stitches out, collagen plug appears thin and gapping, scant serous drainage on q-tip. Pictures of normal healing that may be floating the internet that I haven’t found? Thoughts? Encouraging words?

Sort of a reference to this https://www.reddit.com/NatureofPredators/s/ASiX51M6GI
TELLUS’S DEPARTMENT OF CHILD SERVICES
ABOUT - Our story - How you can help.
HOME - Log In/Sign Up - News - Announcements
HELP OUR KIDS - Guardianship - Adopt - Volunteer - Donate - Jobs
RECOURSES - Caretaking Info - Online Store - Classes
CONTACT US - Talk to Us - Email
HELP - Language - Navigation - Helpdesk
TALK TO US.
Hey all! Welcome to the Tellus Child Services Q&A thread. If you got any questions about raising and/or caring for human children, ask away below or PM me directly. Your email address will not be publicly displayed and we will be discrete about your personal info, but we would appreciate if you would give your species so we can have some context to answer your questions with. Unless you chose otherwise, your species will be public and represented by an initial at the side of your user tag.
Please note that racist commentary will not be tolerated and will be taken down. I know there’s some hard feelings going on out there, but leave our kids out of it.
David Schneider, Head of Tellus’s Department of Child Services.
COMMENT HERE

• [ ] I am not a robot

What Species are you? - [ ] Smigli - [ ] Krev - [ ] Resket - [ ] Jaslip - [ ] Trombil - [ ] Ulchid

• [ ] (Hide race?)

User Name: —————————— GUEST ——————————-
Email —————————————-
—————————————-
COMMENT ———————————————————————————
———————————————————————————
SCALEOF1210 (K): What kinda of toys do human pups like?
DAVID: I dunno, what kinda toys do Krev pups like?
SCALEOF1210 (K): Oh.
DAVID: It’s alright. Just try to think through that lens and you’ll do fine.
_
GUEST (S): Why is being without your “clothes” so embarrassing? Is it religious?
DAVID: Not exactly. It started out as a way to stay warm when we migrated out jungles and savanna’s, but the side effect was that it made the absence of coverings a) feel insecure, and b) an open floodgate of carnal attraction. So actually, to answer your question, we’re covering our reproductive organs. It’s a modesty thing. The practice got applied to the kids anyway.
GUEST (S): Female humans have sex organs on their chests?
DAVID: No. but female mammaries become more pronounced as they mature and tend to draw male sexual attention.
GUEST (S): Whyyyyyyyy?
DAVID: Simply put: they remind us of mom.
GUEST (S): Ahhhhhhh!
DAVID: I was really trying to avoid spelling that out, y’know?
GUEST (S): Hey man, I don’t have have feet. Why would I care about tiptoeing?
DAVID: Huh. You know, I really think I’m learning a lot about Smiglis.
GUEST (S): Hey! Good for you! 🎉
_
GUEST (R): What’s wrong with regurgitation feeding? It helps with digestion.
DAVID: Maybe for avians, but It’s not sanitary for humans. We have a different digestion/immune setup. And no offense, It’s also just really, really gross to us.
_
GUEST (K): How do you hold a human pup?
DAVID: For Krev, cradle them in the your arm and be sure to support their head. That’s important because it’s too heavy for them to hold up by themselves. Again, no tail rides until they’re at least two years old.
_
SNOWFLOWER333 (J): Do humans kits really need to nurse well into adolescence? I don’t think I can keep it up for that long….
DAVID: Hang on, are you saying you’ve been NURSING one of your charges?
SNOWFLOWER333 (J): Right along side my own. I know Tommy’s not a jaslip and that it’s not human milk, but I figure it’s still better for him than formula. Should I not?
DAVID: Uhhhh… dunno. I’m gonna discuss this with my colleagues. In the meantime, stick to the formula we sent.
SNOWFLOWER333 (J): Alright, David. Though, about that first question….
DAVID: Long story short: we’d harvest milk from domestic bovines as a culinary ingredient and breakfast time staple, but breast feeding stops with infancy. You wouldn’t be sucking a teenager.
SNOWFLOWER333 (J): 😅oh good!
DAVID: Would be a little awkward, huh?
SNOWFLOWER333 (J):🤣A little.
_
GUEST (U): How do you hold a human pup?
DAVID: Cradled in your…. flipper. I guess. Just keep their head supported, it too heavy for them to hold up. You can also hold them to your chest with their head resting over your shoulder.
GUEST (U): We don’t really have shoulders.
DAVID: Nnnnnevermind then.
_
OBORSHINE (K): Is it okay to post my human child on the Internet?

DAVID: I suppose, but try not to embarrass him. OBORSHINE (K): 😜Aww but I’m a mom! Embarrassing him is my job! DAVID: In that case, we’ll send you his baby pics. 

OBORSHINE (K): Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss.
_
CALLMESPEED (T) Is it okay to give my child cybernetic implants to cure conditions?
DAVID: That will depend on what condition we’re talking about, but yes, probably. Be sure that they are approved by a human doctor, though.
_
GUEST (S): "Why do you have so many wiggly bits!"
DAVID: Erm, wiggly bits?
GUEST (S): “Yeah! With all the toesy toes and fingery things”
DAVID: Oh! Um, well other race have them too, but I guess ours ARE quite long and nimble. Well, we specialized pretty early on in tool manipulation, soooooooo.
GUEST (S): Raaaaaaaad!
DAVID: Happy to impress. I guess?
_
GUEST (J): How do you hold a human Kit?
DAVID: I wouldn’t know how to hold anything with a prehensile tail, you’re the experts there. But however you do it, be sure that you support the kids head. A human infants head is too heavy for them to hold up by themselves.
_
CALLMESPEED (T): Damn Schieder, always forcing us to cope with the weaknesses of the flesh, and denying us the certainty of steel.
DAVID: Ah, hello Malcom. Does Speed know you’ve hacked his account?
DAVID: Look, that’s not solely my decision kiddo. We put it to a vote. Maybe things will change in the future, but in the meantime, just wait till you’re 18 before you chop your limbs off. You can probably still get an implant, though.”
_
SHOPCLASSREJECT (S): Yeesh, David! How can my kid hit me with a ball from across the room?
DAVID: 😁Talent, my friend. Did you know that humans are being trained as grenadiers in the Consortium army? We have excellent throwing arms. Oh! Uh, you weren’t hurt though, were you?
SHOPCLASSREJECT (S): Eh, A little. My cheek is swollen, but it’s not like I had any bones or teeth to break.. I was mostly just surprised at how fast it came at me.
DAVID: Sorry Shopclass, He should have known better, but it’s a pretty common childhood offense for humans.
SHOPCLASSREJECT (S): Got a new rule, though: no throwing things in the house.
DAVID: Sounds like a good rule.
_
MRS.DOGGY (J): Hey, just got home with my kids and when I was helping Heather remove her foot coverings….. having 5 hind toes is normal for humans, correct? I just want to make sure.

DAVID: 😁 Correct. And we don’t have dewclaws either. MRS.DOGGY (J): Oh good! MRS.DOGGY (J): Erm , that it’s normal, I mean. 

_
GUEST (K): WHY WAS I REJECTED! WHAT DID I DO WRONG?
DAVID: Im sorry sir, I don’t know, but I’m sure it was anything against your character. Given our situation and our unfamiliarity with non-humans, we are being excessively cautious with our young and more than 75 percent of applicants were turned down as a result. Perhaps you can try again in a year or two when humanity is a little more accustomed to other sapient species. Please forgive us.
_
BUNCHBERRIES (K): So I noticed one of my female charges has enlarged mammories. Does that mean she secretly has children?
DAVID: No. It’s means she’s a teenager.
DAVID: That’s a normal development.
BUNCHBERRIES (K): 😮‍💨 Oh, thank you .
_
GUEST (R): How do you hold a human hatchling?
DAVID: Cradled in your wing-thing. Just keep their head supported, it too heavy for them to hold up themselves.
_
GUEST (S): How would one hold a human hatchling?
DAVID: cradled in your…. noodley appendage. Support their head.
_
GUEST (K): Me and my wife would like to foster, but- forgive me for asking- can we expect dung throwing to be a problem?
DAVID: 🤣HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Nah. I understand why you’re asking, but we’re higher evolved than that.
_
GUEST (K): Can I have one?
DAVID: You can apply to adopt or foster a child, but that’s no guarantee. We are VERY discriminate about applicants, especially nonhuman ones. Before you put pen to paper, I would consider very carefully whether it’s a child you’re looking for or a pet.
GUEST (K): What’s a pen?
DAVID: Ah, the times we live in…
_
NANNYBIRD35 (R): Jackie has accurately described me as a “Big Bird”, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why he sings a song asking how to get to a place called Sess-Me Street every other time he sees me. Was there something special about that place? What does it have to do with ME?
DAVID: Ok, that’s funny! He thinks you’re a character named Big Bird from a children’s show called Sesame Street [Video link]. Btw, let me know if she ever calls a Krev “Oscar”. I’m gonna laugh.
_
MRS.DOGGY (J): What is a “doggie” anyway, and why do my kids call me that?
DAVID: I was WONDERING when that would come up. I didn’t think it would be useful to explain before, but we had these domestic canines back home called Dogs and you kinda resemble one. They were intelligent, trusty, loyal creatures that helped us hunt, herd livestock, guard our turf, and and were beloved members of our families. None of the kids have met a dog in the flesh, but they’ve been lionized in books and cartoons and your resemblance to them is strong enough to trigger an instinctive adoration we had towards them.
MRS.DOGGY (J): They…. think I’m a pet? Like with you and the Krev?
DAVID: Hey, if they haven’t told you to ”Sit” or “Roll over” I think you’re good. But the point is, the kids trust you implicitly, and when you’ve suddenly been thrown to aliens after living in a hole all your life, having a comforting face to keep you stable counts for a lot.
MRS.DOGGY (J): Oh! 😊Well, I think I can live with that.
_
OBORSHINE (K): How do I take care of Samsons head fur? It’s getting so long and tangled!
DAVID: Oh right. Only jaslips need to brush. We’ll send you a proper hair brush. In the meantime. Get a jaslip brush- one with wide bristle spacing- and gently comb the knots out, starting from the bottom and slowly working your way up. We can also try to get you in contact with a human who has experience cutting hair.
_
TEACUPGUY (K): Dang, I had no idea human fur would get longer. How much longer does it get?
DAVID: Down to their hips or farther. Doesn’t really stop. You’ll either want to get it trimmed or let grow so you can tie it up behind their heads.
_
GUEST (T): How do you hold a human hatchling?
DAVID: Cradled comfortably in whichever bionic limb is not capable of crushing a car. Make sure to keep their head supported. They don’t have the neck muscles to hold it up
GUEST (T): 😊 Oh that’s fixable.
DAVID: Thanks but NO.
_
BUNCHABERRIES (K): David! Jeremy’s caught the MONKEY POX!
DAVID: … The what?
BUNCHABERRIES (K): What do I do?! He’s been getting worse and worse all week!
DAVID: Stay cam Berries, What are the symptoms?
BUNCHABERRIES (K): He’s broken out in purple spots! And he’s aslo listless. Stomach ach. Head ach. Poor boy can’t even get out of bed! He just sits there and groans and today he asked if I was an “angel” I’m at wits end!
DAVID: Ah. THAT monkey pox. School’s in session, right?
BUNCHABERRIES (K): Is that really relevant?!
DAVID: Just trust me. Check his backpack. Is there a pen or marker that is the EXACT same color as the spots?
BUNCHABERRIES (K): There is.
BUNCHABERRIES (K): Why?
DAVID: Take it and draw a little dot next to the ones on his skin. Make it roughly the same size.
BUNCHABERRIES (K): Ok. Done.
BUNCHABERRIES (K): OH THAT SEAKY LITTLE-!
DAVID: My work here is done.
BUNCHABERRIES (K): HE IS SO GROUNDED!
_
HAPPYHATCHLINGS: David, this is Tisa at Happy Hatchlings Early Learning School. We’ve noticed that our human students can’t seem to get comfortable in their napping nests and keep hanging their feet over the edges. It’s like they can’t curl up!
DAVID: They can’t. Not long term, anyway, and not as tightly as other Consiortium races. You’re going to need longer, flatter beds that they can stretch out on and keep their spines relatively straight. We’ll be sure to send you some cots.
_
DADJOKE (K): 😉 Thanks for the sponges, but I think my wife’s got bathtime covered.
[Folder Attachments: 7 photos ]
[Pic 1: A shot of two shirtless human boys [ages 5 and 6] in makeshift “war paint” running screaming past the camera as a jaslip with a wild grin skids around the corner after them.]
[Pic 2: The victorious jaslip sits on her haunches with one of the boy hopelessly tangled in her tails and the other grappled between her forelegs. The latter is getting her full professional attention as she licks the warpaint off his face, ignoring his cries of disgust and attempts to wiggle free.]
[Pic 3: Said boy apparently opened his mouth at an inopportune moment and is now spitting and sputtering while Mama Jaslip laughs herself to tears.]
[Pic 4: One of the boys laughing hysterically as the jaslip pins him down across her forelegs and licks his belly.]
[Pic 5: a close up on one boy getting his hair worked on, wincing uncomfortably as Mama Jaslip get a blunt claw in his eyebrow while maneuvering his head this way and that for the right grooming angle.]
[Pic 6: Arm around the boys shoulder, Mama proudly presents her work to the camera; one mostly warpaint free human with a complimentary cowlick. The lock of hair is stuck straight up, stiff with spit, like an alfalfa leaf. Mama is winking at the camera and doing her best thumbs-up while the boy is shooting a disgruntled side eye at his brother who is laughing at the abominable hairdo.]
[Pic 7: Mama has one of the boys lying on his stomach while she leisurely grooming his back. He’s resting his chin on his arms, looking sleepy. His brother, nestled among Mama’s tails in the back ground, is yawning. Mama kinda looks tired herself.]
[Pic 8: All three of them are asleep. Mama seems to have nodded off on top of the boy she was cleaning, her head draped across his back. The other is lying against her side, his head barely visible above the nest of tails blanketing him].
DADJOKE (K): The kids have started calling her “The Kissy Monster” when she gets like this.
DAVID: Oh my gosh! This is so freaking cute! Do have them use the sponges, though. Tongue bathing isn’t really doable for longterm human hygiene.
DADJOKE (K): 😊Glad you liked it. But yeah, I get it. Most consortium races aren’t keen on the slobber fest either.
CRAZYTAILS (J): 😏Funny, YOU didn’t seem to mind the other night.
DADJOKE (K): 😳…
DAVID: 😳…
CRAZYTAILS (J):😏 You forgot this was a joint account, didn’t you?
DADJOKE (K): Just wasn’t expecting you to be logged in right now. Hi sweetheart.
CRAZYTAILS (J): 😊Hey scalyboi.
DAVID: Um, hey, before you two keep flirting dirty, what was it the boys were marked with?
CRAZYTAILS (J): Hm? Oh, just washable marker. They were playing “Viking Warriors” or something, running around, slaying monsters, ambushing DadJoke in his den, and beating each other silly with pool noodles for a two hour straight. That until I, the dreaded Kissy Monster, vanquished them both and subjected them to bath and bedtime! Muahaha!
DADJOKE (K): As for what you really wanted to know, she didn’t suffer from licking the stuff. The markers are made with Jaslip kits in mind, so they needed to be nontoxic and tasteless in case they or their parents have to clean up some body doodling.
CRAZYTAILS (J): same with Jaslip cosmetics, btw. Some are even flavored. Makes cleaning up after dates pretty fun, right Daddy?
DADJOKE (K): Fluffykins, if I say I’ll be leaving the office in half an hour, will you stop embarrassing me on a public forum?
CRAZYTAILS (J): 🥰I’ll be waiting with the candles.
_
GUEST (K): Is it ok to pet humans pups?
DAVID: Lemme put it this way; what do you call a Krev who goes around petting Krev children?
GUEST (K): Creepy?
DAVID: 👉Bingo.
GUEST (K): Huh? What’s that mean?
DAVID: It means yes, petting kids is creepy.
_
DR.WORM (guess): Hey, what’s an appropriate amount of holopad time for the kids, 10 hours or 12?
DAVID:…
DAVID: Doc- First of all; not a real doctor, i presume?
DR.WORM (S): Sure ain’t!
DAVID: 😉👉👉But you ARE a real worm?
DR.WORM (S): YES! I KNEW I picked the right pop culture reference!
DAVID: 👍👏🏻Sure did. Sure did.
DAVID: Sooooo let’s talk screen time.
DR.WORM (S): Yeeeeeaaaaah aright, I was kiiiiinda guessing 10 was a too much. Is 8 right?
DAVID: Try two.
DR.WORM (S): TWO?!?!
DAVID: Yup.
DR.WORM (S): TWO HOURS?!?!
DAVID: Yup, yup, yup.
DR.WORM (S): HOLY [expletive] MAN! I’VE BEEN FRYING THEIR BRAINS!
DAVID: You open sometime this week, Doc? We’re gonna help you out.
_
GUEST (R): You let jaslip take care of your hatchlings? Are you crazy?! [COMMENT DELETED]
_
CRAZYTAILS (J): What IS a wolf? The boys Insisted I be one in one of their games.
DAVID: This guy [attachment]
CRAZYTAILS (J): Woah. Now THAT’s a handsome face.
DADJOKE (K): Eh-hem.
CRAZYTAILS (J): Well, not handsomer than my husband’s.
_
CRAZYTAILS (J): Is growing long head-fur some sort of defense mechanism against grooming? Because it’s starting to work. Hard to get the stringy stuff off my tongue. Bleugh.
DAVID: heh. Sounds like the boys need a haircut. Swing by Tellus, we got some barbers that can shape em up.
DAVID: Or just let them grow it out until they can tie it behind their heads
CRAZYTAILS (J): The latter sounds like less trouble honestly.
_
BETWEENBILLOWS (U): Should I be concerned that Maria has a figurine of a dead human nailed to a T on a necklace? It’s kinda morbid.
DAVID: Believe it or not, that’s a religious symbol. Did she not tell you about it?
BETWEENBILLOWS (U): David, she barely talks to us at all. It’s been three weeks and she hardly leaves her room.
DAVID: Hmm... Well THAT might be cause for concern. Let’s talk over PM.
_

A shoutout and apology basket to u/kabhes and u/HeadWood_ who’s suggested questions I kinda stole. There were several others that I wanted to feature but couldn’t figure out how to work with.

May 12th well technically May 13th too but regardless, It was late at night and I was having trouble sleeping. Around 11:00 I was just laying down for bed after a long Sunday, I was tired and wanted to sleep. As soon as I close my eyes I doze off but as I am sleeping I start to see this hand, a red, fiery hand reaching for me. I still have no idea whose hand this was but it freaked me out. This hand grabs me and pulls me down. As I am being pulled down to this pit of what can only be described as a fiery Hell I start to see these terrible visions. I won’t go super in depth because it truly is graphic but, all I really remember is seeing my girlfriend falling from a high space, either breaking her back and losing her life or being impaled by something. I can still recall the screams I heard in my dream and I woke up, gasping for air. Scared. I had no idea what was happening to me, I’ve never felt like this. I just brushed it off and decided to try and fall asleep again. By the time I do this it’s probably around 12-12:15 am. This was my worst mistake of the night. It was like my night just restarted and I was back to sleep. This time the dreams were worse, I had flashing images of terrible, terrible things. They felt unworldly and demonic. These constant flashing images that I will not disclose due to the severity of them and the fact I am still shaken up by them, they wouldn't stop regardless of what I could do in my sleep. I finally broke this trance and at this point it was about 1 or 2 in the morning. I was panicking, not knowing what to do and how to deal with this. Eventually I started to fall back asleep thinking this time I’d be ok, I should’ve known, this was the one that made me lose more sleep, more than I wanted to. As I was dreaming, I found myself in a semi-truck, deep in the woods on an interstate late at night. The only thing visible was the white and yellow lines on the road and the grass and trees to the side. As I move quickly down this road I see this figure, a white and long limbed figure and it walks out into the road and gets run over. This woke me up, yelling for my girlfriend when it’s 3 in the morning and she is most definitely not with me. I call her, she picks up and she talks me through what I have going on. I can remember being petrified, paranoid, utterly scared of everything around me. I’ve never been that scared in my life. Nightmares are not common for me and this experience was the worst I’ve ever had.

May 12th well technically May 13th too but regardless, It was late at night and I was having trouble sleeping. Around 11:00 I was just laying down for bed after a long Sunday, I was tired and wanted to sleep. As soon as I close my eyes I doze off but as I am sleeping I start to see this hand, a red, fiery hand reaching for me. I still have no idea whose hand this was but it freaked me out. This hand grabs me and pulls me down. As I am being pulled down to this pit of what can only be described as a fiery Hell I start to see these terrible visions. I won’t go super in depth because it truly is graphic but, all I really remember is seeing my girlfriend falling from a high space, either breaking her back and losing her life or being impaled by something. I can still recall the screams I heard in my dream and I woke up, gasping for air. Scared. I had no idea what was happening to me, I’ve never felt like this. I just brushed it off and decided to try and fall asleep again. By the time I do this it’s probably around 12-12:15 am. This was my worst mistake of the night. It was like my night just restarted and I was back to sleep. This time the dreams were worse, I had flashing images of terrible, terrible things. They felt unworldly and demonic. These constant flashing images that I will not disclose due to the severity of them and the fact I am still shaken up by them, they wouldn't stop regardless of what I could do in my sleep. I finally broke this trance and at this point it was about 1 or 2 in the morning. I was panicking, not knowing what to do and how to deal with this. Eventually I started to fall back asleep thinking this time I’d be ok, I should’ve known, this was the one that made me lose more sleep, more than I wanted to. As I was dreaming, I found myself in a semi-truck, deep in the woods on an interstate late at night. The only thing visible was the white and yellow lines on the road and the grass and trees to the side. As I move quickly down this road I see this figure, a white and long limbed figure and it walks out into the road and gets run over. This woke me up, yelling for my girlfriend when it’s 3 in the morning and she is most definitely not with me. I call her, she picks up and she talks me through what I have going on. I can remember being petrified, paranoid, utterly scared of everything around me. I’ve never been that scared in my life. Nightmares are not common for me and this experience was the worst I’ve ever had.

I’m curious. A lot of you guys are unjustly suffering from lack of sleep. That is not a good thing. And I’m talking about what happens after you’re just tired. Sleep deprivation can lead to motor and cognitive decline. Imagine turning on a light switch when lightbulb is already on. Having a conversation with someone and nodding away but not having a clue what was said. Your muscles ache. Can’t remember where u parked ur car.
WHY LIVE LIKE THIS. Needing and using a sleep aid for sleep doesn’t make u an addict. Working with a sleep specialist u trust can get you where u need to be without the shame or stigma. I’ve taken so much stuff along the way. Ambien (the best when mixed with gabapentin), restoril/ temazepam, trazadone, lunesta, ambien cx. So many. And then otc about 500mg of those blue gel caps if I’m out of prescription strength. My sleep specialist is a god to me. I tell him if I feel embarrassed about my drug intake and he’s not worried at all. “Well find a solution that will work. Until it doesn’t. And then we’ll find a new solution”. No judgement. And very little crisis and rabbit hole moments. I’d only NOT recommend ambien if you’re depressive. Only because you’d want to stay sleeping all day and it’s guaranteed sleep. Which can become a conflict on interest! Lol.
I don’t consider myself an addict cause my only goal at the end of the night is to sleep. Since my brain can’t do that for me, I give it supplements! Don’t let sleep aids scare you. Under the right management care, sleep aids are a life savor. There’s so much more involved. So all I want to say is don’t let sleep aids or ambien scare u.

Hello all. The title is not clickbait. Just wanted to provide a post now that I am nearing the 2 year mark from infection. I have posted on here previously but deleted it as I wanted to just give this one post some light. For context, I’m in my early/now mid 20s, was in the middle of grad school, was an athlete/active/outgoing. My timeline is below (If you’d like to just skip to how I’m doing now, just keep scrolling down until the April 2023-Present). I would also like to say beforehand that the vast majority recover significantly faster than this. This is not the norm, and please don’t panic if you just got sick. You’ll likely recover in weeks.
August 2022: Initial infection. Swollen tonsils, rash, fever, etc, labs eventually come back positive for mono.
September 2022: Acute infection symptoms still prevailing, somewhat improved late in the month. Other notable occurrences: ER visit from tonsils obstructing my breathing.
October 2022: Felt like I got hit by a bus. Insane flu like symptoms, fatigue, brainfog, PEM, muscle aches, nerve pain, dizziness, dissociation, feeling of body not able to remember to breathe (very weird version of shortness of breath), horrible GI/IBS like issues, light sensitivity, noise sensitivity, genuine short term memory loss, motion sickness, heart palpitations/PVCs, temperature sensitivities, began losing weight/muscle from inactivity
November 2022 - June 2023: Virtually zero progress. Symptoms I listed above would cycle over and over randomly. I became obsessed with trying to feel better, track symptoms/what treatments worked or didn’t, and every single movement I did every day I thought about in terms of feeling worse or better. Doom-scrolled most of the day. Horrible on the mental health. I thought I had ME/CFS and that I’d have a slow and painful life, one that I’d rather not live if I have to be honest. Was barely able to keep up with all of the exams/labs/assessments/classes that came with grad school. I almost had to drop out. No parties. No sports. No hanging out. Couldn’t drive. I missed most of my classes. I felt like I had the flu every single day, all day. In any moment where I felt I could be doing better or I found something that might be helping, it didn’t. Went right back to flu like symptoms. Months 3-11 were truly hell. At this point, I lost 40 pounds of good muscle/fat and all my athletic abilities were gone. I felt so left out, alone, isolated, and depressed.
June 2023-September 2023: I am struggling to keep up at my internships. The hot weather made my brainfog worse, and I still had significant GI issues, light sensitivity, and noise sensitivity. On a positive note, my overall cycling of symptoms began to become less and less intense as it neared September.
October 2023: I will never forget this month. As I was still struggling at new internships, I vividly remember a string of days that I felt were better than usual. Usually after this happens, it goes right back to the same old stuff. But this time, it didn’t. Everyday became a “not bad” day. This was progress that I never ever thought would be possible.
November 2023-March 2024: Very slowly, this string of “not bad” days kept turning into some “good” days. I still had some ups and downs but, by winter time, I genuinely was able to feel like a functional human being again. I was able to go to work, study, hang out, and drive again. My brainfog has improved. All of my symptoms above have improved. The only one that really did not was noise sensitivity. Would I have occasional flares of awful GI problems? Yes, but so does every 20 something year old in this day and age from all the processed stuff we’ve been consuming. Occasional pain or headaches? Yes, but very normal amounts, just like any other normal person.
Late March/April 2024-Present: My brainfog, fatigue, and other symptoms, are afterthoughts. I don’t think about my symptoms most of the time anymore, because I don’t have them. My noise sensitivity improved so drastically over the past month that I’m now able to listen to music consistently for first time since getting sick. Having caffeine feels normal again somehow. I’m able to have some alcohol again. I can drive again. I went to bars and clubs with friends for the first time again. I went to weddings again. I went to trips with my family, friends, and significant other again. I graduated college. No more PEM crashes. Despite all odds, despite these symptoms, despite it being nearly 2 years, I have recovered. The only remaining symptoms of occasional muscle aches/heart skips/GI problems I really think are just from being so inactive for so long for the first time in my athletic life, and my autonomic nervous system/vagus nerve still being a little fried (but about 90+% back to normal). All those nights of crying, suffering, having horrible brainfog to the point of thinking I’m losing my mind, the nerve pain, heart palpitations, feeling so alone and wanting to not live life anymore, were gone. I don’t care what everything says here, and online. You can recover. I did in 2 years. The people who have also done this really must have decided to never update their progress on here, or anywhere. I don’t blame them in a way, this was by far the worst and darkest time in my life. But I can live again. I feel free.
I love you all and really hope you realize no matter how horrible you’re feeling right now, you can recover. There is no magic bullet right now that fixed it for me either. I’m sorry. The amount of tests I did at doctors offices, supplements I’ve tried, prescriptions I’ve tried, all either did not help or were incredibly inconsistent. Time was truly what healed me. Not over weeks, and not even over some months. It was over many many months. My heart breaks for all of you suffering and I will not forget everyone that’s still suffering. I hate how I can’t give everyone here exactly what I desperately used to scroll for; a treatment. But I can give you my assurance. I believe in you all, and I can’t wait for when I hear about some of your recoveries. Thanks for the read. Feel free to message with anything.

• Ev ____________________

Some meds I tried over the course of the last 2 years that either did not work, or were mid at best and had side effects (this is simply documenting what I tried and I DO NOT endorse/recommend any of these. Please ALWAYS talk to your doctor or pharmacist before trying any medication): B complex, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, zinc, ginger, 2nd gen antihistamines (like Claritin, Zyrtec, Xyzal), melatonin, Metamucil, ondansetron, modafinil, caffeine, CoQ10, ICS/ICS+LABAs (Pulmicort and Breo specifically), albuterol, monolaurin, bupropion, glycine. There were a bunch of others (like ibuprofen, Tylenol, viscous lidocaine) that I used in the beginning to help the initial infection, and a bunch of others that I did not try long enough to put on here. There were also a bunch of events and symptoms I did not mention above for simplicity sake. Please talk with your provider or pharmacist with any medical questions or if you think you may be having any other serious health issues. Thank you all again for the read, I will update you all once I get back into working out again in the coming weeks!