3
It couldn’t have been even noon yet, but the thickness of the trees and the purple fog covering the world made this place look dark as night. I heard a grumbling and look towards Tristan. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“Looks like we both forgot to eat this morning.” I giggled to myself realizing how hungry I was. “What are we going to do about food while we are hidden away up here? I mean, I love the outdoors life as much as the next Oregonian, but I’m not exactly a hunter.” Tristan laughed out loud in agreement with my statement. I realized he knew everything there was to know about me. Probably more than I know about myself, seeing as he has been with me in other lives, I know nothing about.
“No hunting necessary at the moment.” He reassured, “Another guardian, Kay, has been up here in anticipation of what has happened. She has things set up for us and even has a stockpile of supplies.” I realized something as he explained this.
“You knew this was going to happen.” I didn’t phrase it like a question because it wasn’t. He knew. He had to. He was way too prepared for this not to have known in advance. Not to mention Carters warning just moments before it happened.
Tristan sighed, “I knew it was coming, yes. The ultra-violet plane has been trying to crack the barrier for centuries, but we had some warning that they were close.”
“How?” I asked, wishing that I was given a little warning before my whole world turned purple and exploded.
“Some specials have great destinies, and some have special abilities. Kay’s special has the ability to see into the future. It’s not always reliable, as the future is easy to change, but some things can’t be changed. Like today.” As he explained, the car started to slow to a stop. In front of us was a high gate made of logs from fallen trees in the forest. “How long have you known about this?” This fence and property must have taken years to put together, there is no way they just threw this together in a week.
Tristan got out of the car, and I followed him. He stood in front of me and looked me in the eye. “Ten years.” He confessed.
“Ten years?! You couldn’t have given me a little more warning?” I was starting to get really annoyed by this whole thing.
“We didn’t have an exact date or time. We just knew it was coming and we wanted to be prepared. I wanted you to live as normal of a life as possible before I took it all away from you.” He looked at me with this guilty expression all over his face. I didn’t like seeing him like that. I don’t know why I cared so much, but I didn’t want to hurt him.
“It’s not like my life was all that glamorous. I lived in a basement like a hermit. I barely talked to anyone except Carter and my dog.” “But you had a choice. You lived on your own terms. I didn’t want to take your choices away from you a minute before I had to. Besides, you would never have believed me unless you saw it happen for yourself.” He had a point there. Damn my stubborn nature.
“Okay, okay.” I put my hands up in surrender. “Now, how do we get into this Fortress?”
Tristan flashed me a smile that would make any girl swoon. His teeth were pearly white and perfectly straight. He had one lone dimple on his left cheek. He walked up to the gate and let out a loud whistle.
“Get back in the car.” He said, but not demanded. I did as he instructed, and he followed closely behind. Once we were back in the car, the gate swung open. We drove to a flat area that was clear of trees. There was a river flowing down the left side of the property and a beautiful, old bridge that went over it. To the right was a small road that went up a steep hill. Everything was surrounded by trees. We drove up the hill, but I was afraid we wouldn’t make it because it was so steep. Tristan drove slowly and carefully and somehow we made it up to another clearing. There were a few small buildings spread out all over the clearing and a large outdoor kitchen. In the middle of the clearing was a grassy area and a pit dug out for a fire surrounding by rocks.
I got out of the car and opened the backdoor to let Remus out to explore. He jumped out and began sniffing everything and marking every tree he could. I giggled at my big lug of a dog. Tristan opened the trunk and started grabbing my bags. I turned to help him, and he gave me a puzzled look.
“Why is this bag so heavy?” He lifted one eyebrow with a look that told me he already knew.
“Well books aren’t made to carry light.” I said matter-of-factly. He rolled his eyes as I grabbed the bag full of books and hugged it to me protectively. “If you knew me so well then you would know that I could never leave my books behind. Even in an apocalypse.”
“So much for packing only what you need to survive.” He shook his head smiling. “Your cabin is right this way.” I followed him to a little one-bedroom cabin with a full-size bed in a loft that overlooked a small room with a wood stove an old couch with an older afghan flung over the side of it.
“Why did you tell me to bring my tents and stuff if there were cabins here?” I asked as I flung the bag of books onto the couch.
“Well, we are trying to locate as many guardians and specials as we can to join us here. We might run out of cabins. Also, we don’t know how long we can actually stay here, and there isn’t exactly another plan. We may have to leave in a hurry. The tent is a backup plan.” He shrugged and hauled my stuff up the ladder to the loft where the bed is.
I looked out the window to see if I could find Remus still sniffing around out there, instead I saw a slim figure of a man walking towards my cabin. I gasped recognizing him right away. I sprinted out the door running towards Carter at full speed. I jumped into his arms as he caught me and tried not to fall over from the impact. He hugged me to him tightly, laughing at my reaction.
“I’m glad you finally made it.” He laughed letting me go, making sure I didn’t fall over myself in the process. “She didn’t give you too much trouble, did she?” He asked looking back at the cabin I just ran from. Tristan was leaning against a beam of wood on the small porch, smiling from ear to ear and the sight of us.
“No more than normal.” He replied smirking.
“How long have you known about all this?” I asked scowling at my best friend.
“Since I was ten.” A woman walked up behind him lacing h er hand in his. She was beautiful. Tall, thin but still curvy in the right places. She had piercing blue and grey eyes and long black hair that seemed to make them even brighter. “Mia, this is my Guardian, Kay.”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head. “Carter, you’re the kid that can see the future?!” I can’t believe he has kept this from me. We have been best friends since we were little kids. I thought we knew everything about each other. “And you!” I said pointing to Tristan, “What do you mean more than normal? I just met you today.” Tristan, Carter, and Kay all started laughing.
“He has been watching over you forever and trying to keep you safe. Which isn’t always the easiest task.” Carter said still laughing.
“Oh, right.” I turned to Tristan again, “Sorry, I’m still getting used to the idea of all this.”
Tristan walked over and put his hand on my shoulder, “No need to ever apologize to me.” His eyes were sparkling again. I looked back to Carter and Kay, who were still holding hands and standing very close to each other. I wonder how long that has been going on. Is it even allowed to date your own guardian? I looked back at Tristan. Hm, might want to file that question away for later.
“Why don’t I show you around.” Carter suggested.
“Sure.” I looked towards Kay and Tristan, “You guys coming?”
Tristan shook his head, “Kay and I need to discuss some stuff. You guys go ahead, we’ll catch up in a bit.” I shrugged okay and followed Carter to the various buildings.
We came to a few small cabins like mine that were empty. One was painted all different wacky colors. He didn’t have to tell me it was his cabin, this one screamed “Carter”.
“Kay and I stay here.” He pointed, offering a perfect opportunity to ask.
“So… you and Kay?” I looked at him wiggling my eyebrows up and down. “Why didn’t you tell me? About her? About any of this? I thought we didn’t keep secrets.” I didn’t want to sound like I was hurt, but I kind of was.
“Listen, the things I see aren’t always my secrets to tell. They also aren’t always reliable. I’ve made the decision to tell you a dozen different times, but each time I did the future I saw didn’t include us being friends. You weren’t ready to know the truth yet. As far as me and Kay… We are together.” My eyes bulged. I mean I suspected for sure, but hearing it confirmed. Wow.
“But she’s your Guardian, right? She’s been watching you forever! Isn’t that a little weird?” He looked at the ground and smiled to himself.
“Mia, she is the literal definition of my soulmate. She knows me inside and out. She has seen all my flaws and still loves me and chooses to continue to be tethered to me forever. What person in the world could be more perfect for me than that?” Wow, he was really in love. I mean Carter has always been a bit of a romantic, but I’ve never really seen him in love before.
“You have a point, I guess. Wow, Carter I don’t know what to say. I’m happy for you. Too bad you found your person just as the world is ending, huh?” He looked up at me with an odd smile I couldn’t figure out.
“That just means we can’t waste another minute pretending we don’t belong together.” Something told me he wasn’t just talking about him and Kay.
Carter continued to take me around the property. He showed me some outhouses they made and the outdoor shower stalls. I wasn’t super thrilled about having to shower outside, but Carter said that the water is hooked up to a local hot spring so at least it’s not a cold shower outside. At the top of yet another hill there was a large field with a green house and space for a garden. The place was beautiful. Like an enchanted forest fairy camp. They had a clearing in the middle of the property that had a little stage and seats for gatherings. It made me wonder how many people they planned to hide here.
After the tour, Carter and I walked back to the giant outdoor kitchen they had set up. There was a roof covering the top. Inside were a few propane stoves and a couple of barbeque grills. There was a couple of fridges and three huge chest freezers. Carter had showed me the emergency generators that powers the whole place. Apparently, a few guardians have been stock piling supplies for a while. We have enough for a couple years but with more people coming and us not knowing how long the stores will be open and available to us, we are going to continue to stock up on stuff. That is where Tristan found us.
“Well, I’m going to go find my woman and make a plan for another supply run.” He hugged me tight, picking me up off the ground, then tipped his imaginary hat to Tristan before making his exit.
Tristan leaned up against the banister that held up the roof of the kitchen. He looked at me with his half smile, dimple present in all its glory. “How was the tour?”
“I’m not super enthusiastic about the outside showers, but other than that…This place is amazing. I could live the rest of my place here even if I wasn’t being forced to by Poachers from another dimension.” I walked to one of the dining chairs and slumped into one.
“At least your sense of humor has returned.” He chuckled and walked into the kitchen and started to make two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. With everything going on I forgot to eat again. Tristan placed a sandwich in front of me and took the seat to my left.
“Thank you, PB and J is my favorite.” I said taking a bite of heaven on bread.
“I know.” He smirked before taking his first bite.
“Right.” I said swallowing my bite, “I guess there isn’t much you don’t know about me, huh?” I took another bite and noticed Remus in the clearing ahead laying in the sun, with his feet sticking straight up. He could definitely make a home here.
“I mean as much as I can by observing, I guess.” He wiped some peanut butter off the corner of his mouth as he swallowed another bite. “I mean, I can’t read your mind or anything so, sometimes you can be a bit of a mystery to me, but I have come to be able to predict certain things about you.” He seemed to finish his sandwich in three bites. I was so hungry it didn’t take me long to catch up.
After lunch, Tristan and I walked down the hill to the bridge. There was ivy and flowers growing off of it creating a curtain for the river below. Honestly, it was the most beautiful place I could imagine. I sat on the edge of the bridge, my legs hanging over the side. Tristan sat on the ground next to me. Carter and Kay were down the river a little bit sitting on the bank with their feet in the water. Kay’s head resting on Carter’s shoulder. Her long black hair blowing in the wind.
“They are so cute together. Is it allowed for a guardian to fall in love with their charge?” I asked, staring into the glimmer of water ahead.
“It’s never happened before, that I know of, but these are unprecedented times. Like I said before, we all have free will. We have the right to make our own choices. Kay chose him.” He stretched his legs out in front of him and put his arm behind his head leaning against the wall of the bridge.
“Carter said they are soulmates.” I picked apart some moss and threw it into the river as I talked.
“Makes sense. I mean they were literally made for each other.” He chuckled.
The last few hours I have learned so much and absorbed so much new information. I wasn’t sure any of this made any sense still. There were demons from another plane of existence. They broke some kind of barrier that allowed them to come here. The world was turning purple from some gas in their world that allows us to see them. I have some kind of soul that’s marked special for some reason that ties me to Tristan. But why are we hiding? What is the rest of the world going to turn into while we live in this wooden paradise?
“Can you tell me more about what is happening? I’m not sure I understand everything.” I turned myself towards him and pulled my legs up to my chest.
“Are you sure you want to know everything right now? I don’t want to overwhelm you like earlier.” He winced like the memory was painful for him.
“I’m okay now. I just want to understand why we are here. Why did we run away? Is the rest of the world going to be, okay?” I watched him move to face me. He looked at me like he was trying to gauge if I was ready to hear all of this yet. He sighed, deciding that I’d have to learn sometime or figuring I’m too stubborn to just let it go.
“The ultra-violet plane is the same as this one. Everything is physically the same except through a purple lens. The inhabitants of this plane are demons with no souls. They wonder around trying to break through to this plane. While in ultra-violet, they can see, hear, and smell everything in this realm, but they can’t interact with it. They just go right through. Since the two planes are so similar, the barrier between them is thin. Sometimes, if they are close enough and the soul is weak, they can take over a person’s body for a short time.” He looked at me to make sure I was still with him. I didn’t say anything, just listened.
“Now that the barriers are broken, they can steal souls right out of people’s bodies. They take the soul and devour it from inside. The people don’t die. But the essence of who they are, what makes them feel things; love, hate, form thoughts and opinions- is owned and controlled by the Poacher. Special souls, like yours and Carter’s are hunted by them. Your soul is important. If they get Carter’s soul, they get his ability, and because he and Kay are tethered, the poacher will control them both- but more than that, whatever it is that his soul is destined to do, won’t happen. Then, the fate of this world will change.” He looked me in the eye to make sure I understood what he was telling me.
“If they can see what is happening in this world, then isn’t it possible that they could find our hideout here without us knowing?” I really loved this place so far, but I don’t want to get attached if we will just have to move on again soon.
“Yes, it’s possible, but most of the time the poachers are going to be attracted to overly populated areas. They want to be where there are a lot of souls around. Being out in the middle of the woods not close to anything is the best place for us. We still have to be ready to flee at any moment, but I like our chances of being comfortable for a while.” He shrugged.
“How long is it going to take for them to completely take over the world?” From the sound of it, this soul sucking thing could spread faster than a zombie infection.
“The poachers are pretty mindless. They don’t have plans or strategies. They run on pure instinct until they have consumed a special soul. They can use specials to control and gain their knowledge, conscience, and thoughts. It’s like they gain a brain. The barrier has only been broken a few hours. Only one Poacher has been let out and chances are it’s going to be a while before another one figures out how to come through. That’s why we need to find as many specials and guardians as we can before more come over.” I let out a long sigh, letting my legs hang over each side of the wall.
“Is there any way to kill these things? Or close the hole in the barrier?” Seemed like a dumb question, if it were that easy, we wouldn’t be hiding out like this, right? But I needed to hear it.
“I don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened before, but when it comes to you, I’m not willing to take any chances.” He shifted so his whole body was facing me. “Keeping you safe isn’t just in my best interest because I’m tied to you. It isn’t just about whatever task you have to complete to keep the fate of the world in the right direction. You are my whole life. Your safety and well-being means everything to me.” His eyes were wide and determined.
“I get it. You are the guardian. Keeper of my soul and destiny.” I gave him a little salute, trying to lighten the tension. He was literally created to keep me safe and on track. I get that.
He let out a little exasperated sigh and stood up. “I’m not sure you will ever get it. Not really.” He kicked a small rock across the bridge and walked away slowly.
I watched him walk away, then turned my attention back to the water. Carter and Kay were making their way back down the river. I couldn’t wrap my head around Tristan’s weird mood swing. Did I say something wrong?
“Hey, slacker!” Carter yelled up at me. I looked over the side of the bridge at him. “Let’s get some of the other cabins ready. We’re expecting a few more arrivals tonight.” He started to climb the bank and I met him at the end of the bridge.
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4
We went to each of the other cabins and laid out sheets, blankets, and towels for the new arrivals. We talked about his gift and Kay, and all the stuff he’s always wanted to talk about but couldn’t. Being a “seer” as he calls it, he has to be careful not to reveal too much about what he sees because it can alter the course of the world. He told me that he can also read peoples pasts, and their past lives. He has lived through twelve other planes of existence and can remember them all.
“What about your parents? Do they know what you are? Where are they?” I’ve known Carter’s parents for a long time. They were odd but very caring people. They always let me crash with Carter when things at my home were really bad.
“I never told them straight up, but they knew I had a gift of some kind. Yesterday before any of this happened, I told them where I was going and begged them to come with me. I explained things the best I could, but they didn’t want to come.” He shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed we just made.
“Why not?” Why would anyone want to stay in a city that was about to be infested with soul devouring poachers?
“I explained how we were trying to keep the special souls safe. They wanted to stay behind and try to help the rest of the souls who don’t have guardians to look out for them.” I sat on the chair across from the bed.
“That sounds like them. What about Paisley? No way they would have taken her into battle with them. She is only five!” I jumped up in an outrage thinking about that sweet little girl facing a poacher.
Carter smiled and took my hand dragging me to his cabin next door. We went up the colorfully painted stairs to a small room. In the middle of the room was two small children. One was little Paisley, her long brown hair that has never been cut in her five years on this plane, tied up in a ponytail that still almost reached her butt. She was wearing overalls and a pink tee shirt underneath. She looked up at me when I walked in and ran to hug me.
“My Mia!” She exclaimed; she always called me that.
“Miss Paisley!” I hugged her to me, relieved that she was safe with us instead of back in Portland in the danger zone. “And who is your friend?” I asked motioning to the little boy she was playing with. He was about her age, he had short black hair and large brown eyes. He was wearing some blue jeans and a plain blue shirt. He was pale with freckles all over his button nose.
“That is Milo. He is Paisley’s guardian.” Carter answered. My jaw hit the floor.
“He’s a guardian?! He is only a child!” I couldn’t even process the fact that Paisley was a special. How could this child protect her?
“When Guardians are in their physical form, they will take on the age of their charges. Technically that is their age too. They are born when we are born.” Carter explained.
I looked at the little boy and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Milo. Take care of my miss Paisley, okay?”
Milo looked at me and smiled. “Always.” Paisley went to join her Guardian and continue playing. Carter and I walked out of the room and back down the stairs.
“So, Paisley is special too?” It wasn’t really a question.
“Did you ever really doubt that?” Carter said laughing. I giggled with him shaking my head no.
Kay walked in and caught us in our giggle fest. Her eyes softened and she smiled at the sight of us. “Some of the others are arriving, my love.” She grabbed onto Carters hand, and we all walked out to greet the new comers.
Tristan walked up to meet us. Before we go to where the approaching car was going, he grabbed my arm to hold me back. I stepped back and turned to look at him.
“I just wanted to apologize for walking away like that. I haven’t been in this human body for every long and I still trying to get used to all the emotions and feelings that comes with it.” He looked up at me apologetically.
I smiled at him and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I know I’m not always the easiest person to talk to.” He returned my smile, and we walked side by side to meet the new recruits.
There was a tan Highlander parked next to the car Tristan and I stole this morning. Wow, that was really just this morning. The sun was just starting to set now. Inside the back of the SUV was more supplies that Tristan and Carter were starting to unload. In the front seat sat a gorgeous, blonde, bombshell of a woman. She was tall with blue eyes and full lips. She wore simple blue jeans and white tee shirt. She got out of the car and walked to Tristan. They shook hands and my heart panicked when they touched. I tried to suppress whatever discomfort was bubbling up. While they said their hellos, I went to the other side of the car and helped the other young girl out of the car. She wasn’t as tall as the other girl but just as pretty. She has long curly black hair and beautiful smooth dark skin. She wore trendy round glasses. She was wearing baggy jeans that were rolled up to the middle of her calves, a black crop top and jean jacket over the top, and a red and black flannel shirt tied around her waist.
“Hi, I’m Mia.” I said reaching my hand out to help her out of the huge car. She grabbed my hand and hopped down from the car and quickly turned and reached back in for a heavy looking duffle bag. Swinging the bag over her shoulder with an “oof” she looked back and me and smiled, pushing her glasses up her nose. “Hi I’m Abigail.”
“Can I help you with that?” I grabbed one of the straps of the duffle not waiting for an answer.
“Thanks.” She replied. The bag must have weighed at least 80 pounds.
“What’s in here?” I asked.
“My books. Sabrina told me I shouldn’t have packed them because they weren’t essential, but if the world is ending or whatever, there is no way I’m leaving my books behind.” I grinned at her in agreement. This is a girl after my own heart.
“Tristan gave me the same lecture, but there is a backpack full of books in my cabin too.” She beamed at me. I had a feeling that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. “So, that supermodel is your Guardian?” I asked.
“Yeah, a little intimidating, right? But she is very down to earth and very kind. We really connected right away. Although I suppose it’s hard not to connect with the person who is tied to your soul and has watched over you your whole life, right?” We started to slowly climb the stairs to her cabin, one step at a time. “Tristan is your Guardian then?” She asked when we finally made it up the stairs.
“Yup.” What else could I say about the guy I just met this morning? “I mean I don’t know much about him. I’ve only known about all this for a few hours.” I said shrugging.
She looked at me like I had two heads. “You really didn’t know? Like he just sprung it on you today?” Her reaction kind of through me off. Was I the only one who didn’t know about this before today?
“Um, yeah. I was on my way to school and the whole world turned purple and Tristan was just there, and we ran. How long have you known?” She opened the door to her cabin, and we began to drag the bag of books inside. “A few months. Sabrina came to my apartment one night and explained everything, then said that these Poachers were about to break through the barrier to our plane and that we had to pack and start driving. We avoided highways when we could and have been on a non-stop road trip since.” She plopped onto her couch and wiped the invisible sweat form her forehead. “Drove from Maine. One side of the country to the other.”
“Wow. That must have been an exhausting trip.” I sat in the chair across from her.
“Yeah, but Sabrina was good company. It was nice to have that time to get to know each other before we got here ya’know? Well at least it was good for me to get to know her, since she already knows me better than I know myself. Anyway, it will just be good to sleep in an actual bed again!” She grinned up at me.
“I bet.” I laughed, “It was really great talking to you, but I think I’ll give you some time to unpack and get to know your new home.” I stood up and walked out into the darkness. No city lights, no streetlamps, and the moonlight wasn’t as bright with the purple fog covering it up. The kitchen had some Christmas lights strung up, and there were a few tiki torches lit up around the property. In the middle of the clearing, I saw Kay and Tristan starting a fire in the designated pit.
I decided to go to the kitchen and get some kind of dinner started. Everyone has had a long day, and I’m sure they were all hungry. Remus was laying down under one of the tables in the dining area. This new life obviously agreed with him. I chuckled at him and went to check the food supply for ideas on a dinner. I decided on spaghetti since I knew I could make a lot of it very quickly. I turned on the propane stove and started to boil the water I got from some jugs I found in the pantry. There was plenty of sauce and noodles in the cupboards. I found some ground hamburger in the chest freezer, and I began to brown the meat in a frying pan. I searched for some kind of seasoning not very hopeful given the circumstances, but I was able to find some salt, pepper and garlic powder. I seasoned the meat and added my noodles to the boiling water. Once the meat was cooked, I added the sauce and strained the noodles.
The whole process took about a half an hour, but I made enough to feed us all and a few more. Which was good because while I was puttering away in the kitchen, two more cars drove up. One was a small Subaru with an older couple in the front, I’m guessing a 20 something year old man and a young girl, about Paisley’s age if not a little older, climbed out of the back. The other vehicle was a large truck, the bed of which was filled with stuff, and it was hauling a small pop-up trailer behind it. Two people jumped out, a tall very muscular and good-looking man with dark skin and almost no hair, I’d guess to be in his late 30’s, and a woman about the same age. She was cute, long shiny black hair, looked like she could have been Native American. The woman opened the back door to the truck and let out a beautiful husky, not quite as big as Remus. Of course, my dog was already running to sniff his new play mate. I ran after him to make sure the meet and greet didn’t turn into a fight over territory.
“Don’t worry he is very friendly.” I said to the woman, I didn’t have anything to worry about though. The Husky was female and more than happy to meet my hunky mountain dog. “His name is Remus, and I’m Mia.” I extended my hand to her. She shook it eagerly.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Nell, and this is Sophie.” At the sound of her name, Sophie trotted away from Remus and to her owner’s side licking her hands. Nell bent down and rubbed her head.
“Nice to meet you too. I have dinner ready if you guys want to eat before unloading all this stuff.” I looked toward the rest of the group helping the older couple unload their car. “You guys too.” I yelled, “Soups on. Get it while its hot!”
Everyone muttered their appreciation for the food and made their way to the kitchen, leaving all the stuff at the cars for later. Tristan walked up to me with a smile on his face.
“Thank you for doing this. We were all so busy none of us thought about needing to eat.” We started to walk towards the kitchen together.
“You have to remember that your human body needs food to survive.” I said jokingly.
“You know you aren’t good at doing that either.” He laughed back. He had a point. I was always forgetting to eat.
“Touché. I guess we will just have to look after each other then.” I jabbed him lightly with my elbow.
He laughed harder pushing me back. “Deal.”
We all grabbed plates full of pasta and sat around getting to know each other. Kay grabbed the kids and gave them all their own space to eat and play. I sat at a picnic table next to Tristan and across from the older couple. Geraldine and Raymond, but they like to be called Geri and Ray. Geri is the special soul, she can manipulate the elements, which I thought was the coolest ability ever. Ray is her guardian, but he has been in his physical form for 35 years. She didn’t realize her gift until she was in her early twenties, and when she figured it out, she had some trouble controlling it. Ray came to help her, and they were married after six months. The older man that came with them is their son, Michael, and the young girl is their granddaughter, Millie. My eyes budged from my head. My head snapped to Tristan.
“I thought you said Kay and Carter were the first special-guardians, to fall in love.” He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.
“As far as I knew they were. But from the looks of it, it isn’t an uncommon occurrence after all.” I looked around at all the new people. I could see what he meant. It seemed that all the specials were smitten with their Guardians and vice versa. My faced burned red at the implication of it. Am I expected to be all romantic with Tristan? I just met this man today! As far as I can tell everyone else has had a lot more time to get to know their Guardians and build a relationship with them. Nell and her Guardian, Aaron, the good-looking man she drove up with, have been traveling form Alaska for the last two weeks. Abigail and Sabrina have been together for a couple months. Kay and Carter first met when he was ten.
“It just makes sense tho, donit?” Geri exclaimed, “If there was one person in the universe that was gonna love ya and take care of ya forever, shouldn’t it be the one who is tied to you anyhow?” she took another bite of her pasta and snuggled closer to Ray. “Not to mention, these Guardians are all cuter than a baby pig in a bonnet.” Tristan and I both laughed at that, but we were both still red. Glad to see it wasn’t just me.
After dinner, Geri and Ray shooed me out of the kitchen, refusing to let me help with the cleanup. I walked over to the truck and began to help unload all of the supplies instead. With all the people here now, it didn’t take us long to get everything put away. Nell and Aaron set up their pop-up trailer, instead of taking a cabin like everyone else. In the clearing Paisley, Milo and their new friend Millie were trying to catch fireflies with their bare hands. Everyone seemed to be settling in just fine.
I walked down the hill to the bridge. This was quickly becoming one of my favorite places. I laid on my back and looked up at the stars, but they weren’t visible through the purple fog, so I just listened to the rushing of the river below me. Remus trotted himself down the hill to me and laid with head on my stomach, like he always did. I rubbed his head and kept looking at the dark sky, wishing I could see the stars and moon again.
“We got the fire going up there.” I jumped at Tristan’s voice. I didn’t hear him coming. I sat up, so did Remus although he protested. “There is talk of breaking out the marshmallows soon.” I nodded to acknowledge, but I wasn’t really feeling being around all that right now.
Tristan took a seat next to me. Remus went to him demanding pets. “Look Mia, I know all that soul-mate stuff at dinner kind of freaked you out. I just want you to know I don’t expect anything. I just don’t want you to feel weird or uncomfortable around me.” I didn’t know what to say. I mean on one hand I was relieved that I wasn’t expected to just suddenly be in love with a guy I just met, but on the other hand, I don’t know, I didn’t want him not to want that. Why was everything suddenly so confusing?
“Thanks.” I muttered. “I think I’m just going to head to my cabin.” I got up and started to walk up the hill. Tristan grabbed my arm to get my attention.
“You don’t have to do that you know?” Concern flooded his face.
“Do what?” I turned to look at him.
“Distance yourself from everyone. You don’t have to keep pushing people away.” I took a couple steps back feeling a little defensive.
“I’m not its jus-“
“Look I understand why you’ve had to it in the past. When you were little, you did it to avoid drawing attention to your situation, in foster care you had to because you moved a lot and it was easier not to make ties you had to break later, but here. You don’t have to. These people understand and they want to be here for you. Someday you may need a community like thi-“ I Held up my hand to stop him. This who I-know-everything-about-you thing is getting on my nerves.
“Look. I’m not trying to avoid them. I’m not trying to push you all away. I just need to process. Everyone here has had weeks, months, years, even decades to process all of this and to make sense of it. I have had hours! My entire life changed today, and I just need to be alone and process. Just for tonight, okay? Tomorrow, I promise I will be miss social, or whatever, but tonight I just need some space.” He looked hurt. I didn’t like that I made him look like that.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you so much today.” He gave me a little smile, but it didn’t hide his sadness. “Goodnight, Mia.”
“Goodnight, Tristan.” I walked up the hill feeling guilty, but I was telling the truth. I just needed some time to process everything.
I made it up the hill, winded, and feeling the burning in my calves. Everyone was in the clearing around the fire. The kids were eating burnt marshmallows and laughing. I smiled at the sight. I made my way back to my cabin. It was dark inside, but there were some gas lanterns around I was able to light. I went upstairs to the loft where my bed was. My bags were on my bed. I thought about unpacking but I remembered what Tristan said about maybe having to leave at a moment notice and decided against it. I pulled out some pajama pants and an old Green Day tee shirt to sleep in. I pulled the bags off my bed and noticed something that must have fell out of my bag. I pick it up, my heart skipped. It was my book. My copy of the Outsiders I left on the bus this morning. I held it up and a note fell out of it.
You forgot this. Wouldn’t want you to miss it.
I know how important it is to you.
-Tristan.
I held the book to my chest and sat on the edge of my bed. I don’t know how or when we went back for it. I felt the tears well up in my eyes. My chest began to heave. I laid back and start to cry out all the emotions of the day. Everything I’ve been holding back. All the frustrations, fear, confusions, it all came up at once. I laid in a ball on my bed clutching the book to my chest, until I drifted off to sleep.

UNFINISHED list of Birmingham restaurants! Help me complete it! This is what I have so far after combing through a few threads, but I know the list is not complete, and there are probably typos. My brain is fried. Post omissions, typos, anything wrong with this list in the comments! Ultimately I would like to break the list up by cuisine type, but that will take a while and I wanted to get the raw list up for your review first. It's currently in alphabetical order so you can quickly search for your suggestions. When the list is complete and to everyone's satisfaction I will re-post and sticky. Thanks for this all-hands-on-deck effort!

Full List:

• Abhi Eatery and Bar - Asian Fusion - Mountain Brook
  
• Acapulco Grill - Mexican/Tex-Mex - Homewood
  
• Ahki's - Middle Eastern/NYC street food - Downtown
  
• Al's Deli & Grill - Mediterranean/American, lunch, dinner, & late night - Southside
  
• Alabama Biscuit Company - breakfast - Cahaba Heights
  
• American Ranch House - soul food - Tarrant
  
• Amore - Italian casual fine dining - Greystone
  
• Ampersandwich - sandwiches - Avondale
  
• Archie's Bar-B-Q & Burgers - BBQ & burgers - Hoover
  
• Automatic Seafood and Oysters - casual fine dining seafood - Avondale
  
• Avondale Common House - gastropub - Avondale
  
• Bamboo on 2nd - Asian fusion - Downtown
  
• Bar La Fete - French - Downtown
  
• Bawarchi - Indian - Hoover
  
• Bay Leaf - modern Indian - 5 Points South
  
• Bettola - Italian casual fine dining - Pepper Place
  
• Big Spoon Creamery - ice cream - Avondale & Homewood
  
• Birmingham Wings & Waffles - chicken wings - Downtown
  
• Bistro 218 - French - Downtown
  
• Bistro V - French - Vestavia Hills
  
• Black Market Bar & Grill - pub food - Five Points South & The Colonnade
  
• Blue Pacific - casual Thai - in Hoover Food Mart (gas station), Hoover
  
• Blueprint on 3rd - American fine dining - Pepper Place
  
• Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q - BBQ - Bessemer
  
• Bocca Ristorante - northern Italian - Downtown
  
• Bongiorno - homestyle Italian - Mountain Brook
  
• Bottega Restaurant & Cafe - Italian casual fine dining - Highland Park
  
• Brick & Tin - lunch/sandwiches - Downtown & Mountain Brook
  
• Cafe Dupont - Southern bistro - Downtown
  
• Cantina - casual Mexican-inspired - Homewood
  
• Capella Pizzeria - Neapolitan pizza - Trussville & Inverness
  
• Carlile’s BBQ - BBQ - Lakeview
  
• Carrigan's Public House - gastropub - Downtown - 21+
  
• Cayo Coco - upscale Cuban - Downtown
  
• Cedar House Cafeteria - meat & three - Tarrant
  
• CharBar No. 7 - burgers & steak - Mountain Brook
  
• Chez Fonfon - French casual fine dining - Five Points South
  
• Chez Lulu - French casual cafe - Mountain Brook
  
• China Way - Chinese - Eastwood
  
• Chubbfathers - burgers - Alabaster
  
• Costa's Famous Bar-B-Que - BBQ & steak - Wildwood
  
• Creekside BBQ - BBQ - Pelham
  
• Creole Connection - Creole & Cajun - College Hills
  
• Crestwood Tavern - pub grub - Crestwood
  
• Daddy Hot Bird - Nashville Hot Chicken food truck @ TrimTab Brewing - Avondale
  
• Daniel George - American fine dining - Mountain Brook
  
• Davenport's Pizza Palace - thin crust pizza - Mountain Brook & Vestavia Hills
  
• Demitri's BBQ - BBQ - Homewood
  
• Diplomat Deli - soups & sandwiches - Vestavia Hills
  
• Dos Hermanos - Mexican taco truck - Downtown, Homewood, & Bessemer
  
• Dreamland BBQ - BBQ - Southside
  
• Drift Kitchen - food truck @ Continental Drift - Downtown
  
• Dyron's Low Country - seafood - Mountain Brook
  
• Eagle’s Restaurant - soul food - North Birmingham
  
• EastWest - Asian Fusion - Downtown
  
• El Barrio - Mexican-inspired - Downtown
  
• El Gran Cafe Castillo - Mexican - Hoover
  
• Eli's Jerusalem Grill - Israeli - Hwy 280
  
• El Zunzun - elevated Latin American - Cahaba Heights
  
• Eugene's Hot Chicken - Nashville hot chicken - Uptown, Hoover, & * food truck
  
• Falafel Cafe - casual Middle Eastern - Downtown
  
• Farm Bowl + Juice Co. - fruit bowls & smoothies - Homewood
  
• Fat Charles BBQ - BBQ food truck - location
  
• Fife's - southern/soul food - Downtown
  
• FoodBar - farm-to-table American casual fine dining - Vestavia Hills
  
• Fuku Ramen 280 - ramen - Greystone
  
• Full Moon BBQ - BBQ - multiple locations
  
• Galley & Garden - American fine dining - Southside
  
• GianMarco’s - Italian fine dining - Homewood
  
• Giuseppe's Cafe - casual Italian - Southside
  
• Golden Rule BBQ - BBQ - Irondale
  
• Golden Temple Cafe - vegetarian/vegan - Five Points South
  
• Gordos - Authentic Mexican bakery, cafe, and market - Homewood
  
• Great Wall Chinese Restaurant - Chinese - Homewood
  
• Green Acres - southern/soul food - Downtown
  
• GreenHouse - salads/sandwiches - Homewood
  
• Gus’s Hot Dogs - hot dogs - Downtown
  
• Hamburger Heaven - hamburgers - multiple locations
  
• Hattie B's - Nashville hot chicken - Lakeview
  
• Helen - fine dining steakhouse, Downtown
  
• Hero Doughnuts - Breakfast & Lunch - Birmingham Parkside, Homewood, & Trussville
  
• Homewood Gourmet - salads, soups, sandwiches - Homewood
  
• Hot & Hot Fish Club - Southern/French fine dining - Pepper Place
  
• Hot Box - Asian fusion food truck - located at Good People Brewing in Birmingham Parkside
  
• Ikko - ramen & sushi - Five Points South
  
• Iron City Pizza - stone fired pizza - Five Points South
  
• Irondale Cafe (Whistlestop Cafe) - meat & three - Irondale
  
• J & J Grocery & Deli - burgers - Bessemer
  
• Jack Brown's - burgers - Lakeview
  
• Jake's Soulfood Cafe - soul food/Jamaican/Caribbean - Hoover
  
• Jasmine's Cafe - soul food - Pratt City
  
• Jim 'N Nick's - BBQ - multiple locations
  
• Jinsei - sushi - Homewood
  
• Johnny’s Restaurant - Southern meat & three - Homewood
  
• Juniper - cocktail/gin bar with elevated food menu - inside Birmingham Museum of Art (lunch only) & Forest Park (dinner only)
  
• K & K's Elegant Pastries - bakery - Birmingham
  
• Kabob-Licious - Pakistani - Hoover
  
• Kool Korner - sandwiches & Cuban - Vestavia Hills
  
• La Calle Tacos & Snacks - authentic Mexican - Trussville
  
• La Libertad - Salvadorean - Pelham
  
• Last Call Baking - micro patisserie - Downtown
  
• Le Fresca - northern Italian - Downtown
  
• Little Donkey - Southern influenced Mexican - Homewood
  
• Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant - Tex-Mex - Lakeview
  
• Luca Lagotto - upscale Italian - Homewood
  
• Luna Latin Cuisine - Latin American - Avondale
  
• Makarios Kabob & Grill - Middle Eastern - Five Points South
  
• Margarita Grill - Tex-Mex - Pelham
  
• Martin's Bar-B-Que - BBQ - Vestavia Hills
  
• Marty’s GM - bar food - Irondale
  
• Marty's PM - late-night bar food - Southside
  
• Marty’s TV - bar food - Trussville
  
• Masaman Thai Kitchen - Thai - Vestavia Hills
  
• Maya Mexican Restaurant - Mexican/Tex-Mex - Homewood & Alabaster
  
• Melt - grilled cheese & melts - Mountain Brook & Hoover
  
• Mexico Lindo Bar & Grill - Mexican/Tex-Mex - Mountain Brook
  
• Mezon - Mexican food truck outside Mayawell bar in Lakeview
  
• Michael's Restaurant - fine dining steakhouse - Birmingham parkside
  
• Mi Pueblo - authentic Mexican buffet - inside Mi Pueblo Supermarket, Homewood & Pelham
  
• Miss Myra's Pit Bar-B-Q - BBQ - Cahaba Heights
  
• Mr. Chen's - Chinese - inside Hometown Supermarket in Homewood, & standalone in Hoover
  
• Mr. P’s Deli - sandwiches/lunch - Bluff Park
  
• Mr. Shawarma - Middle Eastern - Five Points South
  
• Mr. West's - Asian fusion - Lakeview & Trussville
  
• Munchie's on 5th Bar & Grill - American - Avondale
  
• Naji's Pita Gourmet - Middle Eastern - Homewood
  
• New China Town - Chinese - takeout only - Five Points South
  
• New York Butcher Shoppe - deli sandwiches - Cahaba Heights
  
• Niki's West - Southern meat & three - Finley Ave
  
• Nola Ice-Broad Street Peaux Boys - Cajun - inside Pizitz Food Hall, Downtown
  
• Nori Thai and Sushi - Thai/sushi - Cahaba Heights
  
• Ocean - upscale seafood - Five Points South
  
• Okinawa Sushi & Hibachi Steakhouse - Japanese steakhouse & sushi - Wildwood
  
• Olive Branch - Mediterranean - Cahaba Heights
  
• Ono Poke - poke bowls - The Summit, Homewood, & in the Pizitz Food Hall Downtown
  
• OvenBird - Southern-tapas fusion casual fine dining - Pepper Place
  
• Pappas' Grill - Greek - Vestavia Hills
  
• Paramount - barcade - Downtown
  
• Pazzo Big Slice Pizza - Sicilian and thin crust pizza - Hoover
  
• Pies & Pints - pizza & craft beer - Downtown
  
• Pizza Grace - upscale pizzeria - Downtown
  
• Pollo Lucas - grilled chicken - Hoover
  
• Pop's Neighborhood Grill - American breakfast & lunch - Five Points South
  
• Post Office Pies - wood fired pizza - Mountain Brook
  
• Pupuseria Lupita - Salvadoran food truck - Pelham
  
• Ranelli’s - deli, lunch only - Five Points South
  
• Real & Rosemary - fast-casual farm-to-table - The Summit, Homewood, & Crestline
  
• Red Pearl - Chinese - In Super Oriental Market, Homewood
  
• Red Sea - Ethiopian, Mediterranean & Cajun - Homewood
  
• Rib-It-Up - BBQ - Downtown
  
• Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ - BBQ - Homewood & Trussville
  
• Rojo - American/Mexican fusion - Highland Park
  
• Roots & Revelry - American fine dining - Downtown
  
• Ruscelli's - Italian fusion - in Mojo Pub, Lakeview
  
• Rusty's Bar-B-Q - BBQ - Leeds
  
• Saigon Noodle House - Vietnamese - Hwy 280
  
• Salem’s Diner - American breakfast/lunch - Homewood
  
• Salvatore's - pizza/pasta - Hoover
  
• Sammy's Sandwich Shop - sandwiches - Woodlawn
  
• Sam's Deli & Grill - Middle Eastern - Homewood
  
• Sam's Super Samwiches - American breakfast & lunch - Homewood
  
• Samurai Japan - Japanese/sushi - Vestavia Hills
  
• SanPeggio's Pizza - New York style pizza - multiple locations
  
• Sarris Cafe - meat & three - Pelham
  
• Satterfield’s - Southern fine dining - Cahaba Heights
  
• Saw's barbeque - Avondale, Homewood, Crestline, Hoover, Leeds,& Southside
  
• Seoul Restaurant - Korean - Homewood
  
• Shangri-La - Chinese - Eastwood
  
• Shu Shop - Ramen - Downtown - 21+
  
• Silver Coin - Indian - Hoover
  
• Sitar Indian Restaurant - Indian - Southside
  
• Slice - stone oven pizza - Lakeview, Crestline & Vestavia Hills
  
• SLIDE Cafe - sliders - Five Points South
  
• Slim's Pizzeria - upscale pizzeria - Mountain Brook
  
• Slutty Vegan - vegan burgers - Woodlawn
  
• Snapper Grabbers - sandwiches - Vestavia Hills
  
• Soho Social - new American - Homewood
  
• Southern Kitchen & Bar - upscale Southern - Uptown Birmingham
  
• Spice of Life Jamica Restaurant - Jamaican - Downtown
  
• Station 31 Kitchen - American - Chelsea
  
• Stone Age Korean BBQ - Korean BBQ & hot pot - Hoover
  
• Surin West - Thai & sushi - Five Points South
  
• Sushi Village - sushi - Crestwood
  
• Taboon Noon o Kabab - Persian - Hoover
  
• Taco Casa - Tex-Mex - Wildwood
  
• Taco Mama - Tex-Mex - multiple locations
  
• Taqueria Juarez - taco truck - Hoover
  
• Tasty Town - upscale casual Greek - Birmingham Parkside
  
• T-Bone's - Philly cheesesteaks & hoagies - Five Points South
  
• Taco Morro Loco - tacos - Avondale
  
• Tacos Don Tacho #2 - Mexican - Homewood
  
• Taj India - Indian - Lakeview
  
• Ted’s Restaurant - Southern/Greek meat & three - Southside
  
• The Barbeque Stop - BBQ - Clay
  
• Thai Basil - Thai/sushi - Trussville
  
• The Battery - upscale tavern - Homewood
  
• The Bright Star - historic Southern/Greek - Bessemer
  
• The Depot Deli & Grill - American - Helena
  
• The Electric - sandwiches & more - Bluff Park
  
• The Essential - Italian casual fine dining & brunch - Downtown
  
• The Fig - Southern fine dining - Cahaba Heights
  
• The Filling Station - casual pizza/pasta - Crestwood
  
• The Fish Market - Southern/Greek seafood - Southside
  
• The Garage - soups & sandwiches - Southside
  
• The Mayor - Asian Fusion - Lakeview
  
• The Paw Paw Patch - meat & three - Homewood
  
• The Pita Cafe - Mediterranean/Greek/Lebanese - Hoover
  
• The Pita Stop Express - Mediterranean - Cahaba Heights
  
• The Pit BBQ - BBQ - Downtown
  
• The Purple Onion - casual Mediterranean/American - multiple locations
  
• The Refinery - upscale American - Lakeview
  
• The Rougaroux - Cajun - Forest Park & Mountain Brook
  
• The Six Sixteen - upscale American - inside Tutweiler Hotel, Downtown
  
• The Standard - hamburgers & hot dogs - inside Pizitz Food Hall, Downtown
  
• The Yard - American fine dining - inside the Elyton Hotel, Downtown
  
• Top That Grille II - American - Birmingham
  
• Tortuga's - Chicago style & thin crust pizza - Southside & Hoover
  
• Trattoria Zaza - casual Italian, brunch/lunch/dinner - Downtown
  
• Umami - Asian fusion - Lakeview & Trussville
  
• Uncle G's Pizza - Detroit style pizza - in Ghost Train Brewing, Avondale, and coming soon to Hoover
  
• University Tacos - tacos - Southside
  
• Unos Tacos - authentic Mexican - inside Pizitz Food Hall, Downtown
  
• Uptown Cantina - upscale Mexican - Uptown Birmingham
  
• Vino - Italian & Mediterranean - Mountain Brook
  
• Waldo's Chicken & Beer - American - Cahaba Heights
  
• Wasabi Juan's - sushi burritos - Downtown
  
• Yo' Mama's - southern/soul food - Downtown
  
• Yum Yai - Thai - Greystone
  
• Zatie's Southern Cuisine - soul food - Center Point
  

[Next]

Chapter 1

Transcription Subject: Maarten de Groot, Human Refugee/Unemployed
Date [standardized human time]: January 21, 2137
“S-s-sorry mi-ister Slanek, but I don’t think y-you would fit very well in t-t-this company,” said the Venlil shakingly from behind her desk.
“’Tis fine, besides, Slanek is just the name I put on my resume to get the interview, anyway. Thank you for your time or whatever.” I stood up and walked out, not wanting to be there any longer then she did.
As I walked out, I saw the same middle-aged Venlil that I had seen at a dozen other failed -interviews. He must be as desperate for work as I am. He looks homeless, his once fully white wool is stained, tangled, and matted. There is a clear odour coming from him, although I am not sure a Venlil would be able to notice it. The overall smell isn’t terrible, though, mostly consisting of body odour. Luckily, venlil don’t sweat.. He was sitting on the curb with his feet(paws?) on the pavement, drinking from a water-stained liquor bottle. Did he bring that in to the interview? On top of all of that, he has visible scars all over his body, notably around his neck, most likely from a shock collar. Either he’s from a cattle farm or a PD facility, and since he doesn’t seem fazed by binocular eyes, it’s most likely the latter. We only spoke once, and that was when I tried to give him a credit, thinking he was homeless--well I still do, but he took offence.
“Oi, didn’t get hired either?” I tried to strike up a conversation. Not really sure why, I think I just needed to talk to someone.
He gave an agreeing ear flick (I think) “Yeaaah, neither did you?” he says without turning his head towards me, something I still have to get used to.
I sat down besides him on the curb “No, apparently humans are not even good enough to be a janitor in a warehouse.”
“Ha, wheres humans good for anyway, wants some?” he said teasingly and slurring his words, holding the liquor bottle towards me.
“No thanks, I’d rather live” I expected a foul ouder from his mouth, but either the alcohol masked it, or he actually does brush his teeth.
“It’s only uuuhh…” he squinted at the damaged label, “72%!” and tried to pass it over again.
I accepted it hesitantly and took a small sip. I have really sunken low, day drinking with a filthy homeless guy in broad daylight, or sunset I guess. “Ughugh, that is vile ugh. Hey, word of advice, don’t show up drunk to your interview. And take a bath, no one is going to hire you like that.”
“Brahk you, I need it okay, liquid courage. And besides, I look fine, I just need a comb over.” Mentioning his display causes his demeanour to change immediately.
“Alright, alright, just trying to help, I mean seriously, I can smell you from meters away. Do you even know when the last time you took a bath was, by this point even venlil can smell you.”
“I know when the last time was!” He went into a venlil version of a thousand yard stare, with his eyes going completely wall-eyed.
Is he having a satellite-war flashback over a bath? What the hell?
You idiot, pissing off a drunk homeless guy. And now he’s in some trance, think of something to say!
“Well, at least now no human would try to eat you, eh?” I quipped, and smiled at him.
He seemed to snap out of his trance from that “Hu? Oh yes, ha ha, I guess so. Say, I never introduced myself to you, the name is Gilt.” He flicked his ears in a way I don’t understand, possibly a formal greeting.
“My name is Maarten.” I held out a hand to shake his, he mimicked the gesture and held it out in the same way, although without actually grabbing mine and making me do it for him. His hand felt greasy, reminding me of the fur of an old cat I used to have, who had stopped grooming herself.
He looked at my hand and then straight at me in the same way a human would, with an odd glimmer in his eyes, like he was deep in thought.
“Well, I have wasted enough time with this bloody interview and ‘tis getting late,” I said, getting up from the curb. “I still have an hour to walk to get home.”
“Lets me give you a ride then,” he says standing up, his knock-knees buckling and shaking from the alcohol.
“I am not getting in a car with you, you’re fucking drunk.”
“Pff, barely, I’m fine, besides, you’re a human, you can’t drive, you don’t know about it,” he said while attempting to toss his keys from one hand to another and instead almost throwing them into the drainage grate.
Date [standardized human time]: January 23, 2137
Knock Knock
Oh good, another customer. Finding a legal job has been a complete waste of time so far. At least the dealing has been doing fine. Not the greatest job though, had to move twice to get the heat of my back. The exterminators got to close the first time, don’t want to be the one who gets barbequed. And then the prices, 20 credits for a single patty, and I can’t sell it for more than 25 because who’s going to pay for a 30 credit hamburger patty, when we only get 200 credits for extra’s like clothing and such. So business has been…
KNOCK KNOCK
Goddamn it, can a man not have an excessively long internal monologue for a moment?
Looking through the spyhole, I didn’t see anyone until I looked down. It was that homeless guy, Gilt, looking up at the spyhole impatiently.
Maybe if I ignore him, he might think I’m not home.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
“I know you’re looking at me, I saw the light change in the spyhole!” he yelled, pressing his ears against his head.
“What do you want?” I yelled from behind the door, not wanting to let him in for several reasons.
“I need to talk to you about stuff… and things.” Is he always drunk or high?
“No, sod off!” I really don’t want to invite some filthy homeless guy that I only briefly spoke to twice into my house, and opening the door will most likely cause him to barge in.
“You know, I can just start yelling in this hallway about all the stuff you sell!” How does he know about that?
I instantly opened the door. He awkwardly mimicked a human smile that somehow felt smug, then he pushed me aside and barged into my one-room apartment. He walked and looked around the room, before letting himself drop on my couch.
The place is extremely small and packed. You enter the apartment through the kitchen, which only hosts a few cabinets. Right across from the kitchen is the walk-in closet sized bathroom. There is, of course, no actual space for the laundry to dry, so it has to be hung up in the apartment itself, strung along the walls. And the living room also functions as a bedroom, the couch folds out into a bed. So in short they gave us the bare minimum. I do realize this is all charity and that we are a massive drain on the government, but that wouldn’t be the case if we could actually earn some fucking money.
I rubbed my palm into my face as I closed the door. “How did you know where I live?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” he says as he places his dirt-covered feet on my coffee table. “You told me. You had to walk for an hour back to your house, humans walk about 1.5 times faster than a venlil and you don’t take breaks. So all I had to do was find a refugee centre that was 2 Earth-hours north of where you started,” he finished with a smug look.
I sighed.“ Great, you can do basic bloody math, how did you know where I live, exactly? This is the largest human refugee centre on the planet, there are tens of thousands of apartments.” I sat down next to him, not wanting to make this even more awkward by standing.
“Oh that was easy, one of the receptionists was very willing to help me find my ‘friend’ Maarten.” I shouldn’t have given him my name. “Apparently, your name is not very popular, and only 5 humans in this complex have it. The person in the 4th apartment I checked claimed that you had moved from F482 to L243. There, again I was pointed to another one - -AA532-- and now I am here.” He seemed very proud of himself.
“Great, but why are you here, and how do you know I sell…stuff.” He’s at least not with the exterminators. But I don’t like having some xeno know of my little business, especially someone this unstable.
“I know you’re with those xenophobes from the Humanity First. Yeah, don’t think I didn’t notice that little item on your finger the first time we met?” he said, referring to the blue ring around my middle finger, a secret symbol that you’re part of Humanity First. “And I know that they sell meat, so I figured either you sell it or someone you know does. And it looks like I guessed correctly,” he says, pointing his tail at the 3 mini-freezers stacked on top of each other.
“Wow, wow I am not part of Humanity First, I just pretend I am so they sell me products. I don’t think xenos are lesser or anything, I even think some venlil are cute.” I don’t like dealing with those racist bastards, but they only sell to other members. The only problem I have with xenos is how they treat us, I wouldn’t see a venlil as much different from a human if they stopped acting like we’re some sort of monster.
“Ugh, you’re one of those freaks, just because you can’t keep it in your pelt, doesn’t mean you don’t see us as lesser. Being attracted to tails doesn’t make you immune to xenophobia.” His relaxed stance has shifted to an aggression since he started talking about HF, this felt personal.
“I-I am not attracted to tails, or venlil in general for that matter.” Although…I have seen some cute-looking Venlil girls…No, stop it brain, that’s weird, they have fur and tails and shit. It’s too close to an animal. “I…look, HF are the only people who manage to smuggle meat out of the factories, so unless I can get a different supplier, I am stuck with them, alright.” I sighed. “Just-just what do you want to buy, I recommend the burger patty. ‘Tis easy to cook and tastes good in-between 2 pieces of strayu and a couple of leaves,” I said trying to get him to buy something and get him out of my house ASAP.
He burst into a fit of laughter and bleating. “I don’t want none of your carcass food, I want to make you an offer. You see, I used to be a chemist, a drug cook, before I got arrested and put into the-the…you know. But I need help, I don’t have customers, money, or know-how of the business and how it’s supposed to taste.” He can’t be serious, even if he was a chemist, he’s mentally unstable and homeless, where would we even cook? On the other hand, I am sick and tired of working with HF, and their prices, I could make a lot of money out of this if he’s legit. I took another good look at him, pondering if I would consider his offer in the first place. Xeno faces are already difficult enough to read, but his seems even more alien, I can’t make out his emotions half the time.
“Alright, so lets say I agree, what then, how and where are you going to make this stuff? You can’t exactly start producing this under a bridge and my house is far too small.”
His ears flatten against his head in anger “I am not brahking homeless, I am tired of people calling me that! I have a house, a full-sized family-terraced house!” He seemed to actually try and calm down this time. “I have plenty of space, I mostly lack equipment.” He sighs and closes his eyes. “I know what I need, but I can’t afford it, and no one would buy from me or do business.”
It would be insane to even consider his offer, but I am not going to get a job, no one wants to hire a human. I can finally be someone, instead of some useless refugee. “How much do you need?”
“At max 500 credits,” he says, showing a bit of shame.
That would be almost all my savings. Fuck it.
“Deal.” I hold out my hand to shake his, he promptly grabs it and shakes it eagerly.
“I will start preparing, I will pick you up next paw to buy the supplies.”
​
A/N:
I really appreciate comments, it gives a lot more satisfaction than a few up arrows.
[Next]

Metallichihuahua
Years active: 1991-1997, 2022-present
Genres: Heavy metal, hard rock, speed metal, thrash metal
​
Before forming Metallichihuahua, the original 4 members were in earlier bands and/or earlier jobs. Vocalist Stewart Taylor was in several unknown bands throughout high school and college in his hometown of Plainville, Massachusetts, playing vocals, guitars, and/or drums. He was also a cartoonist for his college's newspaper, only for a year before his comic was removed due to gross/violent themes. In his spare time, he had been collecting trading cards from Spott Company's Revolting Runts series since its launch in 1985. In 1987, during a job search, he found out that Spott Company was looking for writers/artists to make some more cards for the Revolting Runts series. He auditioned for the job and was hired, which was a dream come true for him. Taylor's first three Revolting Runts cards that he made were released in 1988; Sewer Sammy, Rotting Roni, and Loaded Diaper, the latter being one of the most popular cards in the series, depicting a fat sumo-like drummer with an overfilled diaper. Taylor and Spott Company still own the trademarks to the characters he has written to this day. Despite that popularity, in 1990, the Revolting Runts series discontinued, and all the cards would go out of print over the years. The discontinuation caused Taylor to be laid off from the company, so he decided that he would focus on his music career and form his own metal band inspired by his favorite band Metallica.
Guitarist Wayne Barnes was Taylor's college classmate and best friend at that time. Barnes' father was a police officer, so he wanted to follow his footsteps. In 1989, during a job search, he found out that the newly opened Hipp 'O' Henry's was looking for a security guard to make sure things didn't get out of control. He auditioned for the job and was hired, which was a dream come true for him. It was all going fine until a group of high school teenagers raided the restaurant, stealing and using other people's food and arcade tickets, and assaulting the animatronics. One of them even pantsed Barnes. The teenagers all got arrested for the raid, and Barnes proposed a new rule for Hipp 'O' Henry's which they've then accepted; no teenagers allowed, only accompanied kids (maximum age 12) and adults (minimum age 21). Barnes was not originally into metal, let alone in any metal bands, until October 1990, when Taylor bought a copy of Megadeth's Rust in Peace with some of his remaining money from the job he lost and invited Barnes to his place for a listening session after Barnes' shift. Barnes enjoyed it so much that it got him into metal. Taylor and Barnes decided to try to catch one of their live shows. However, all their planned shows in the U.S. at the time were sold out. Soon they found a flier advertising a Megadeth show in the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, Australia, scheduled for February 7, 1991. On January 7, 1991, Barnes, tired of his job, resigned from his security guard job, and he and Taylor used some of their money to travel to Sydney, buy tickets to the Enmore Theatre Megadeth show, and rent a home throughout that month.
Drummer Sebastian Sleeves was in several unknown bands throughout high school and college in his hometown of Plainville, Massachusetts, playing drums. In 1986, he became friends with Warwick Sprinter who joined one of his bands as the bassist. They were fans of bands like Metallica and Megadeth. Later that year, Sleeves fell in love with then-21-year-old Australian actress and nightclub dancer Amelia Beckham, who was an exchange student in the college. They started a steady romantic relationship, and after graduating from college in 1987, Beckham moved back to Sydney, Australia and let Sleeves move there with him. They married in 1988. Beckham gave Sleeves some advice for his future, which was to not get so hooked up into music business due to the difficulties of getting famous. Sleeves listened to her advice and got a job as a fry cook in a hamburger restaurant, while Beckham continued her acting career and nightclub lifestyle. However, on October 17, 1990, tragedy struck when Sleeves and Beckham ended up in a car accident. Sleeves survived the crash, but Beckham died on the way to the hospital. She was 25 and pregnant, which meant her unborn child was also gone. Sleeves stayed in the hospital to recover for two months. After leaving the hospital, he found a flier advertising a Megadeth show in the Enmore Theatre. He still had Sprinter's home number, so Sleeves called that number. Fortunately, Sleeves still lived in the house that had that number, since he was a local solo bassist/guitarist in the 3 years Sleeves was away. Sleeves told Sprinter about the Megadeth show, which got Sprinter excited. On January 7, 1991, Sprinter used some of the money he earned from shows to travel to Sydney, buy tickets for himself and Sleeves to the Enmore Theatre Megadeth show, and rent Sleeves' wife's former room throughout that month.
Taylor, Barnes, Sprinter, and Sleeves met one another at the concert. During the intro, the guys noticed one another looking the most metal in the concert and complimented each other's looks. They also discovered their mutual appreciation of Metallica and Megadeth. They introduced themselves to one another, right before the intro ended and Megadeth played the first song of the show "Wake Up Dead", which those 4 guys really rocked out to. After that concert, Taylor, Barnes, Sprinter, and Sleeves moved back to Plainville, with Sleeves staying in Sprinter's home which had a recording studio. Together they formed Metallichihuahua. In June 1991, the band wrote and recorded an album that started off as a demo. Then in November, they found a flier advertising Plainville's annual Battle of the Bands scheduled for February 29, 1992. However, Taylor told the others that since their band name is similar to Metallica, they need to personally ask the band for permission to use that name. They managed to buy tickets and backstage passes for a Metallica show in their home-state, The Centrum at Worcester on December 22, 1991. After the show, the band agreed to let Taylor, Barnes, Sprinter, and Sleeves used the Metallichihuahua name for their own band. On December 31, the band decided to gain attention by on the rooftop of a building in the middle of the city. The police stopped them, fined them for disturbing the peace, and made them spend the night of New Year's Eve in jail. Despite the incident, many people ended up interested in hearing Metallichihuahua's music. With a newly building fanbase called the "Bone Brigade", the band began playing shows 7 nights a week, with their fans following and supporting them. The band took a week-long break from performing right before their show in the Battle of the Bands, which they've won. As a reward, they were signed to a record label that remastered their demo album and released it as the band's first album Dog Collared. The band used the mug shots from their New Year's Eve arrest as its album cover.
The popularity of Dog Collared allowed them to tour across the country and make two more albums, Dog with a Bone (1993) and In the Dog House (recorded 1994, released 1995), with lots of touring and merchandise to support each album. On December 31, 1994, Sleeves was grilling hamburgers for the band's New Year's Eve barbeque, when he tripped and both hands ended up on the grill, suffering second-/third-degree burns. Not wanting to cancel their first ever world tour, he taught himself to drum with his feet, the tour went on, and he kept doing that feet-drumming technique. The touring was going well in 1995 until later that year when they found out their manager was stealing money from them. So they fired him and needed to make up for their stolen money. So they ended up signing a bunch of endorsement deals with products such as their own canine toothpaste and personal fragrances. They even made a Saturday morning kids' cartoon show called Metallichihuahua Pups that ran for a single season from September 7, 1996 to May 31, 1997, though reruns are still on in Denmark to this day. Despite the show turning off their older fans, Taylor's character immediately became the most popular one of the show, which caused people to start openly saying that Stewart was the real star of the band. Letting it get into his head and expand his ego, Taylor recorded his own solo holiday album later that month, titled Home for the Holidays, and released it independently on October 15, 1996. The album flopped within a month and the band fired Taylor. They hired a live replacement in Drullig Kattuggla, lead vocalist/guitarist of Mad Manx and the Rabbit Warriors. However, while there were still some fans in their shows (including Loded Diper vocalist Bill Walter who got to see them on his 10th birthday, December 1, 1996), many of them were accustomed to Taylor's voice and did not appreciate Kattuggla taking over. Their final show was on May 31, 1997, same day as the airing of the Metallichihuahua Pups finale. On December 31, 1997, in Sleeves' interview in his newly built mansion, the last time anyone had heard from him in under 25 years, he announced that the band was done, the members went their separate ways, and he was wondering where his next path would take him.
Since the band's split, Taylor went to law school and became a lawyer in 2000, represent Spott Company to secure his and the company's rights for the Revolting Runts cards that he made, together with fellow attorney Phil Fisch. Barnes continued his job as a security guard, not just in Hipp 'O' Henry's but also in the Battle of the Bands arena, the latter to make sure nothing went out of hand in the arena and because he was still a metalhead. Sprinter continued his solo career, albeit only in private events, though he would sometimes have public appearances selling merchandise in conventions. The split last until within the first few months of 2022. In January, Barnes tried to stop Loded Diper from stealing an animatronic's drumstick, but they got away. Later that month, Sprinter was selling merchandise at the Legends of Yesteryear convention, and he gave Loded Diper advice about making sure they get paid for their work, and told them about how the band broke up. In March, in Sleeves' mansion that has been worn out and cut off from water and electricity, with the only money he was gaining being from Metallichihuahua Pups royalty checks, he gave Loded Diper the same advice Beckham gave him that he ignored since her death. Later that month, when Taylor found out about Loded Diper with that band's name infringing his most popular Revolting Runts card's trademark that he wanted to protect, he sent the band a cease and desist letter, threatening to sue the band if they didn't change their name. On April 9, 2022, at that year's Battle of the Bands, Sprinter was selling merchandise, Barnes was there as a security guard, later joining the crowd as a fan, but Sleeves was also there as a fan but hidden in the crowd. It was not until Taylor showed up ready to take Loded Diper to court when the other Metallichihuahua members recognized him and one another. They got up on stage and started arguing. Metallichihuahua ended up performing and winning the competition, reforming in the process. They ended up back in top of the charts and went on a world tour all the way up to the first half of 2023. Later that year, they recorded their 4th album Old Dogs New Tricks, to be released on March 15, 2024, the band's first album in 29 years. The album's special edition will also include the full recording of the band's 2022 Battle of the Bands performance as a bonus disc.
​
Members
Stewart Taylor (born January 26, 1966) - lead vocals, additional guitar, additional drums
Wayne Barnes (born July 19, 1967) - guitars
Warwick Sprinter (born September 2, 1966) - bass, additional guitar
Sebastian Sleeves (born April 26, 1965) - drums, percussion
Drullig Kattuggla (born November 7, 1965) - lead vocals, additional guitar (live replacement for Stewart Taylor from 1996 to 1997)

Google Pixel phones can now download the new Android 15 updateThe update includes new AI-powered features and shortcuts https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/us-science-tech-weekend-features-project/article-12672207/From-AI-generated-wallpapers-flashing-notifications-new-Android-14-features-didnt-know-about.html
Using a new 3D printing technique, researchers have developed special ceramic structures for a solar reactor. Initial experimental testing show that these structures can boost the production yield of solar fuels. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231027110734.htm
PFAS, a family of highly fluorinated substances, represent a danger for humans and the environment. Particularly problematic members of this family, such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) appear to cause organ damage and cancer, as well as disrupting the endocrine system. Researchers have now introduced a new method for an economical, easy-to-use fluorescence sensor for sensitive on-site testing for PFAS in water samples. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231027110744.htm
A kilonova explosion from a neutron-star merger and the original host galaxy of those dead stars, as seen by JWST. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, A. Levan (IMAPP, Warw), A. Pagan (STScI))
Using an incredibly bright gamma-ray as a guide, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected the heavy element tellurium around the site of a stellar-corpse collision. The discovery brings scientists a step closer to understanding where the universe's heaviest elements come from.
While scientists know that elements lighter than iron are forged in the hearts of massive stars, even the most massive stellar bodies aren't capable of generating hot and dense enough conditions at their cores to forge heavier elements such as gold, platinum or tellurium. https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/james-webb-telescope-spots-ultra-rare-cosmic-explosion-that-could-reveal-the-origin-of-the-universes-heaviest-elements
The hurricane’s intensity shocked forecasters, who had predicted just 16 hours before landfall that Otis would come ashore as a Category 1 storm. Satellite images captured at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday show Otis located 210 miles south-southeast of Acapulco—still a tropical storm with winds at about 65 miles per hour. But by 12:25 a.m. on Wednesday, Otis had become the strongest hurricane to ever hit Mexico’s Pacific Coast and the fastest-strengthening storm on record in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, report Jason Samenow and Kelsey Ables for the Washington Post. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hurricane-otis-slams-mexico-in-nightmare-scenario-that-shocked-meteorologists-180983153/
and there are around three billion gamers worldwide. While online gaming can improve wellbeing and foster social relations, privacy and awareness issues could potentially offset these benefits and cause real harm to gamers.
The new study, by scientists at Aalto University's Department of Computer Science, reveals potentially questionable data collection practices in online games, along with misconceptions and concerns about privacy among players. The study also offers risk mitigation strategies for players https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231027110719.htm
A new study of undergraduate students found that individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder were more likely to be evening types compared to individuals without this disorder. Furthermore, individuals with ADHD were more prone to exhibit depressive symptoms. This trend was especially pronounced among evening-type participants. The study was published in the Journal of Sleep Research. https://www.psypost.org/2023/10/individuals-with-adhd-who-are-evening-types-are-more-likely-to-have-depressive-symptoms-214221
Remains of 3,000-mile-wide 'lost continent' discovered on ocean floor, study says https://phys.org/news/2023-10-mile-wide-lost-continent-ocean-floor.html
Improving deep sleep may prevent dementia, study finds https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/improving-deep-sleep-may-prevent-dementia,-study-finds
Current valuation methods for forest conservation projects have come under heavy scrutiny, leading to a crisis of confidence in carbon markets. This is hampering efforts to offset unavoidable carbon footprints, mitigate climate change, and scale up urgently needed investment in tropical forest conservation.
Measuring the value of carbon storage is not easy. Recent research revealed that as little as 6% of carbon credits from voluntary REDD+ schemes result in preserved forests. And the length of time these forests are preserved is critical to the climate benefits achieved.
Now, a team led by scientists at the University of Cambridge has invented a more reliable and transparent way of estimating the benefit of carbon stored because of forest conservation.
The method is published today in the journal Nature Climate Change. In it, the researchers argue that saving tropical forests is not only vital for biodiversity, but also a much less expensive way of balancing emissions than most of the current carbon capture and storage technologies. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231030141413.htm
Analysing the data, the scientists found that in those areas where there was little deforestation both locally and regionally, the average change in land temperature over the 2001 to 2021 period was 0.3 °C. Locations with 40% to 50% local deforestation but little regional deforestation, warmed by an average of 1.3 °C.
In comparison, in areas with both local and regional deforestation, the average temperature rise was 4.4 °C. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231030194534.htm
Satellite constellations such as Starlink do have many benefits. The goal of bringing internet and data communication to the most remote areas of the world is a noble one. But it comes at a cost, both financially and in what it robs of our view of the heavens. There are choices to be made between connecting everyone instantly and the heritage of our dark skies.
Reference: Karpov, Sergey, and Julien Peloton. “The rate of satellite glints in ZTF and LSST sky surveys.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.17322 (2023). https://www.universetoday.com/163985/satellites-make-up-to-80000-flashing-glints-per-hour-its-a-big-problem-for-astronomers/
A new study led by researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute has found that people living in regions with median levels of air pollution have a 56% greater risk of developing Parkinson's disease compared to those living in regions with the lowest level of air pollution.
The study, published in Neurology, was conducted to identify national, geographic patterns of Parkinson's disease and test for nationwide and region-specific associations with fine particulate matter. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-reveals-link-air-pollution-incidence.html
In English, we tend to use “this” to describe objects that are physically within our reach, and switch to “that” for objects that are further away. However, it’s not been clear whether this spatial separation is the same across different and unrelated languages. https://www.iflscience.com/these-two-little-words-seem-to-exist-across-all-languages-71362
For example, a CT scan of the head or brain costs $132 for the 25th percentile provider while the same procedure costs $218 at the 75th percentile provider, according to researchers from Bentley University, Brown University, and the IU Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The variation in price exists for a variety of shoppable as well as non-shoppable services.
The researchers say that high price variation in health care may be a result of differing levels of quality but also may reflect anticompetitive contracts or consolidation. The findings of the report "Transparency in Coverage Data and Variation in Prices for Common Health Care Services," are published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-prices-vary-widely-health.html
President Joe Biden on Monday signed a wide-ranging executive order on artificial intelligence, covering topics as varied as national security, consumer privacy, civil rights and commercial competition. The administration heralded the order as taking "vital steps forward in the U.S.'s approach on safe, secure, and trustworthy AI." https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-signs-sweeping-executive-order-on-ai-oversight-/7333603.html
Credit: University College London
Digging new ponds and resurrecting old "ghost ponds" can be done by landowners to revitalize biodiversity in natural and farmland landscapes, say UCL researchers in a new how-to guide for turning degraded ponds into thriving ecosystems.
The "Guide to the restoration, creation and management of ponds," developed by the UCL Pond Restoration Research Group in conjunction with the Freshwater Habitats Trust and Norfolk Ponds Project, is designed to help landowners, farmers and other stewards of the land to manage existing ponds, restore degraded ponds and determine the best ways to create new ones. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-ghost-ponds-dead.html
“I can interact and talk with my fans 24/7 about almost anything. I’d love to talk with you,” the perpetually friendly Digital Mark says in an introductory video from Soul Machines, the Auckland, New Zealand-based AI company that created him. It specializes in autonomously animated 3D digital people to enhance customer and fan experiences.
The 30-year-old Tuan, who’s often referred to simply as Mark, is a member of South Korean boy band GOT7, whose seven members have their own projects on the side. Tuan has a YouTube channel with 3 million subscribers. He’s a model whose face has graced magazine covers across Asia. And now, he’s part of a virtual-human population boom. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lesliekatz/2023/10/30/say-hello-to-k-pop-star-mark-tuans-chatty-ai-twin-digital-mark/?sh=34959e6f3673
During a recent research cruise off the southern coast of California, NOAA Fisheries divers and partners found a juvenile white abalone. It’s one of only three live juveniles observed in natural subtidal reefs along the California coast during the past 20 years. They once numbered in the millions, but are now endangered.
NOAA Diving Program Manager Joe Hoyt from the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations holds an empty white abalone shell with a juvenile white abalone–the small reddish bump–inside. The abalone was returned to the ocean. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
The discovery demonstrates that the highly endangered species, one of NOAA Fisheries’ Species in the Spotlight, is reproducing in the wild. This gives us hope that our restoration efforts in other areas will rebuild their numbers. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/rare-juvenile-white-abalone-spotted-california-raises-hope-endangered-shellfish
has now discovered how B12 is absorbed by certain intestinal bacteria. Published in the journal Nature Communications at the beginning of August, the findings will serve as a basis for research on how to better fight diseases and develop better antibiotics.
Kleinekathöfer and his team's breakthrough finding, what they call "pedal-bin mechanisms," offers critical understanding for how bacteria in the intestine known as bacteroides can absorb vitamin B12. This is important for human health since B12 cannot be produced or absorbed by humans themselves. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-bacterial-mechanism-vitamin-b12-uptake.html
It’s been widely suggested that sperm count and quality has slumped in the past 50 years. One particular study found that the demise was most notable after 2005 when sperm counts from healthy young men in the US nosedived. This new research asks the question: could smartphones be to blame? https://www.iflscience.com/smartphones-linked-to-spermageddon-in-new-research-what-to-know-71394
Manganese has been shown to sweep away damaging plaques in the blood vessels of mice
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While statin drugs are good at controlling plaques in blood vessels, they can't eliminate them once they are established. But researchers may have just found a way to blast the circulatory system clean using a common nutrient found in many foods. https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/manganese-blood-vessel-plaque/
also proposes an answer to another planetary science mystery. Researchers have long hypothesized that the Moon was created in the aftermath of a giant impact between Earth and a smaller planet dubbed Theia, but no trace of Theia has ever been found in the asteroid belt or in meteorites. This new study suggests that most of Theia was absorbed into the young Earth, forming the LLVPs, while residual debris from the impact coalesced into the Moon. https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/the-remains-of-an-ancient-planet-lie-deep-within-earth
In a new study, first published online Oct. 30 in Group & Organization Management, an international group of researchers, led by Stevens Institute of Technology and University of Illinois Chicago, offer a novel explanation of the cognitive factors through which abusive leadership degrades employee performance — and helps explain why some employees are more vulnerable than others to the negative impact of abusive bosses https://www.stevens.edu/news/having-a-bad-boss-makes-you-a-worse-employee
Children’s Nebraska Sees 87% Decrease in Food Waste and Late Trays with Integration of Oneview Healthcare’s Digital Meal Ordering https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231102030868/en
By encasing bacteria in a tough but porous coating, researchers have made paint that could be used to capture carbon and produce biofuels https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/11/this-living-paint-traps-carbon-dioxide-and-produces-oxygen/
The science behind mixing honey into cocktails
You don't have to be an experienced bartender to get your guests buzzin https://www.popsci.com/diy/honey-cocktail-science/
Within LIGO’s vacuum chamber, laser light is now created in not only a squeezed fashion, but where quantum squeezing occurs in a frequency-dependent fashion. The squeezer is operational in this photo, as green laser light is being pumped through it. (Credit: Georgia Mansell/LIGO Hanford Observatory) https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/ligo-successfully-squeezes-quantum-states-surpassing-heisenbergs-limits-b2cd85534169
An international team of researchers has discovered that formaldehyde, a widely spread pollutant and common metabolite in our body, interferes in the epigenetic programming of the cell. This finding expands the knowledge of formaldehyde, previously considered only as a DNA mutagen, and helps establishing a further link with cancer. "This substance is especially concentrated in various products used in construction, furniture manufacturing, the textile industry and some hair products," comments Dr. Esteller. Going a step further, Dr. Pontel stresses this vision pointing out that "formaldehyde is not only a significant environmental hazard, often found in polluted fumes, but it can also be generated within our bodies through the metabolism of common dietary substances like the sweetener aspartame. Moreover, our cells are continually producing formaldehyde, a known mutagen that can lead to cancer." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231102162531.htm
The team also learned that water returned to the aquifer by septic systems plays a major role in helping to limit saltwater intrusion. "About 66% of the water that gets pumped out of the aquifer ends up returning to it," says Kirshen.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the highest levels of salinity today aren't near the coast, but inland, and especially around the roads. "This surprised me," says Boutt, "and it looks like road salt is one of the main sources of elevated salinity today." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231102162841.htm
Diets that are more plant based, like the Mediterranean diet and traditional diets in China, Japan, and India, are shown to reduce risk, especially when compared to the Western diet. Alzheimer’s disease rates rise in these countries as they make the nutrition transition to the Western diet. This study identifies dementia risk factors including higher consumption of saturated fats, meat, especially red meat such as hamburgers and barbeque as well as processed meats such as hot dogs, and ultraprocessed foods high in sugar and refined grains.
This review also lets us know why certain foods increase or reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease. For example https://www.newswise.com/articles/diet-has-a-major-impact-on-risk-of-alzheimer-s-disease
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft took this image of asteroid Dinkinesh and its small satellite on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, with its Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI) instrument.
NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOAO
The finding offers bonus science to what was otherwise a test-heavy rendezvous. https://www.inverse.com/science/nasa-lucy-spacecraft-dinkinesh-second-asteroid
They found that the dementia incidence rate decreased by 28.8% between 2002 and 2008 before increasing by 25.2% between 2008 and 2016 – a rate of 2.8% per year.
If the incidence rate continues to increase at this pace, the number of people with dementia in England and Wales is set to increase to 1.7 million (1.62-1.75) by 2040 – approximately twice the number in 2023 – indicating a considerably larger burden on health and social care than anticipated. https://hospitalhealthcare.com/news/dementia-burden-significantly-higher-than-previously-predicted-by-2040/
Scientists have finally figured out where the starfish head is: it’s everywhere
Study shows the arms are actually extensions of its head https://www.zmescience.com/science/scientists-have-finally-figured-out-where-the-starfish-head-is-its-everywhere/
Climate change is turning swaths of California's mountains into 'zombie forests' https://phys.org/news/2023-11-climate-swaths-california-mountains-zombie.html
Unprecedented in Greece in its intensity, the Dadia fire has been classed by the European Commission as the largest ever recorded in the EU.
"We did not expect the fire to spread so quickly... it crossed 40 kilometers (25 miles) in eight hours," https://phys.org/news/2023-11-desolation-greece-dadia-europe-biggest.html
Low current around roots boosts plant growth https://www.nature.com/articles/d44151-023-00162-5
These dynamics will all but ensure that the issue of Loss and Damage—and its implications for the rest of the negotiations—will be even more hotly debated at COP28 starting later this month in Dubai.
Below is a statement by Dr. Rachel Cleetus, the policy director and lead economist for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). https://www.ucsusa.org/about/news/us-rich-nations-force-lopsided-loss-and-damage-compromise-create-trust-deficit-ahead
Now, a new study led by Michael Cheeseman of Colorado State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finds a very familiar story related to air pollution. In an essay written by Adam Voiland and featured on the NASA Earth Observatory website, Cheeseman said, “When you look at NASA satellite data across the United States and compare that to socioeconomic data about our schools, the picture is clear: Hispanic, Asian, and Black and African American public school children attend schools with higher concentrations of air pollution than white students, especially in urban areas.” There also seem to be strong correlations for poor communities, irrespective of race. The study was recently published in the journal GeoHealth, and is comprehensive assessment of over 98,000 public schools. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2023/11/04/why-school-location-can-expose-certain-kids-to-more-air-pollution/?sh=42913cbb5511
High insulin levels directly linked to pancreatic cancer
First detailed explanation of why people with obesity and Type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of pancreatic cancer https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1006368
I attempted to emulate the various guitars of the artists highlighted so I could demo the chords more authentically. Anyway, with the advent of large language models, such as ChatGPT, there is now the option to utilise their training to find a better way to describe how to get a particular guitar tone.
I asked ChatGPT to explain how I could emulate the guitar tone Alex Lifeson uses on one of my favourite Rush song’s Freewill, from their 1980 album Permanent Waves. That was the first tour on which I saw the band live so it holds a special place for me.
Here’s the specific prompt I used to get it to describe how I might emulate the tone: https://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/emulating-alex-lifesons-rush-guitar-tone.html
The first public display of a sample from asteroid Bennu is seen, Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington. https://astrobiology.com/2023/11/national-museum-of-natural-history-unveils-display-of-asteroid-bennu-sample.html
Misunderstanding As A Catalyst
While feeling understood is always desired, being misunderstood is an opportunity that can lead to personal growth and creativity. It’s a paradoxical idea, yet history is replete with examples of individuals who found their uniqueness and creativity in moments of profound misunderstanding.
When we’re misunderstood, we’re pushed out of our comfort zones and forced to confront our own uniqueness. In the words of Mignault, “We feel understood when others view how our emotions are normal and even desirable.” The paradox lies in the tension created by being misunderstood. Mignault’s research raises an intriguing question: Could embracing this discomfort be a catalyst for personal transformation? https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2023/11/04/a-psychologist-urges-us-to-embrace-this-key-element-of-self-growth/?sh=5baa693a1e6b
Research in mice shows that the anti-inflammatory properties of exercise may arise from immune cells mobilized to counter exercise-induced inflammation. Immune cells prevent muscle damage by lowering levels of interferon, a key driver of chronic inflammation, inflammatory diseases, and aging. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231103170639.htm
'This study strongly suggests that Gunung Padang is not a natural hill,' the archeologists wrote last month, in the journal Archaeological Prospection, after years of analyzing data from those past trips, 'but a pyramid-like construction.'
At the pyramid's core, the team found what they described as 'meticulously sculpted' and 'massive' lava-stone structures made of andesite: a fine-grained kind of igneous rock.
This inner-most chamber, dubbed Unit 4, 'likely originated as a natural lava hill,' they wrote, 'before being sculpted and then architecturally enveloped during the last glacial period,' sometime between 16,000 to 27,000 years ago. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12708099/worlds-oldest-pyramid-Gunung-Padang-Indonesia-three-times-older-Stonehenge-Egyptian-pyramids-Giza.html
There is some evidence that increasing salt intake, as measured by sodium in urine may be linked to increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This has been linked to increased blood pressure and the reduced effectiveness of the hormone insulin.
Insulin normally controls blood glucose levels and is a key part of how type 2 diabetes develops. However, evidence for this mechanism has only been shown in rats.
Reducing salt is still a good idea https://theconversation.com/is-salt-really-a-new-culprit-in-type-2-diabetes-216969
FDA proposes banning ingredient found in some citrus-flavored sodas https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-ban-brominated-vegetable-oil-citrus-flavored-soda/
"I like the idea of not depending on photosynthesis for everything we eat," Davis said. "At whatever scale, synthesizing food will alleviate competition between natural ecosystems and agriculture, thereby avoiding the many environmental costs of farming."
Davis highlighted the practice of razing tropical rainforests to create space for palm oil plantations. Cookies, crackers, snack chips and a lot of other middle-of-the-store products are made with dietary fats coming from this source. He asked if anybody would notice if the oil used to bake their cookies came from a food refinery up the road instead of a plantation in Indonesia. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-team-ways-climate-crisis.html
Some bedbug detectors do exist, but this doesn’t just detect bedbugs — it traps them.
Their prototype emits a far-reaching CO2 signal that the bedbugs can detect. They are drawn to the system and trapped there. The prototype is already functional (and the two are looking to get it patented), but they’re also working on an improvement: a camera that would observe the bedbugs’ behavior and optimize the CO2 signal accordingly. https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/exterminating-bedbugs-used-to-require-a-human-sacrifice-but-not-anymore/
Study sheds light on seasonal trends in adolescent depression and antidepressant prescribing https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231106/Study-sheds-light-on-seasonal-trends-in-adolescent-depression-and-antidepressant-prescribing.aspx
The Environmental Protection Agency will review the use of a chemical found in tires that has been linked with the deaths of salmon on the U.S. West Coast.
Spurred by a petition from West Coast tribes, the EPA will study the impact of the rubber preservative 6PPD with an eye to potentially banning its use. Through normal wear and tear, tires shed tiny bits of rubber rich in 6PPD. The preservative reacts with ozone pollution to form 6PPD-q, which is toxic to fish. Rainfall washes the chemical from streets and parking lots into streams and rivers. In the Pacific Northwest, 6PPD-q has proved deadly to coho salmon. https://e360.yale.edu/digest/epa-tire-chemical-salmon-6ppd
What’s your chronotype? Knowing whether you’re a night owl or an early bird could help you do better on tests and avoid scams https://theconversation.com/whats-your-chronotype-knowing-whether-youre-a-night-owl-or-an-early-bird-could-help-you-do-better-on-tests-and-avoid-scams-216058
A Green Approach To Upcycle Vegetable Waste Vegetable waste gets a new lease of life in health and personal care products with an economically viable method https://www.technologynetworks.com/analysis/articles/a-green-approach-to-upcycle-vegetable-waste-379661
Scientists have discovered that viruses can latch onto other viruses to insert their genes into host cells. Lab results with apparent contamination led the team to directly see the strange interaction for the first time.
Viruses are known to infect the cells of host organisms like animals, plants, and even bacteria, but they’d never been known to physically attach themselves to other viruses before. https://newatlas.com/biology/viruses-attaching-others-first-time-bacteriophage/
Now, a team of researchers has shed new light on a seven-planet system in Kepler's ocean of data.
The star is called Kepler 385, and it's about 4,670 light-years away. Some of its planets were confirmed back in 2014, while some remained as candidates. But in a new updated catalogue, exoplanet scientists have confirmed the rest of the planets and revealed new details on this rare system.
The paper announcing the new catalogue is called "Updated Catalog of Kepler Planet Candidates: Focus on Accuracy and Orbital Periods. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-kepler-planets.html
"What we need is social control over the algorithm. The question is — not what do they know about us, but who owns them? And how can organised democratic society take control of the algorithms in the interests of the many?" he said.
"All political problems have political solutions. The difficulty is getting organised and converting what is in our collective interest into collective action.
"But it's always been the problem of politics since the beginning of democracy." https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-05/what-is-technofeudalism-and-are-we-living-under-it/103062936
Recruitment expert reveals the six mistakes most people make on LinkedIn that ruin their chances of getting hired https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12698731/Recruitment-expert-reveals-six-mistakes-people-make-LinkedIn-ruin-chances-getting-hired.html
Looking at the image, which I’ve embedded below, it’s evident that the birth and subsequent growth of a star is exceptionally violent. As a result, several shockwaves and jets of energy like the ones seen in this image are common when a star is born. The particular star in question this time around is part of an object called HH212. https://bgr.com/science/james-webb-shows-us-what-our-sun-probably-looked-like-when-it-was-birthing/
The researchers say the mycocrete will be a great improvement structurally when dried. Jane Scott of Newcastle University said, "Our ambition is to transform the look, feel and well-being of architectural spaces using mycelium in combination with bio-based materials such as wool, sawdust, and cellulose."
The scientists, in their research, mixed mycelium spores with other materials the spores could consume and be able to grow off of, like grains. The mixture was then placed into a warm, dark, and humid space while the mycelium grew and was then dried.
This process creates a building material that researchers say is a more natural replacement for foam, plastic or timber.
Scott says what is created is a "lightweight, flexible, and formable" material. https://scrippsnews.com/stories/scientific-breakthrough-in-fungal-networks-could-change-home-building/
However, recent research has led the FDA to reconsider the safety of this food additive. Back in 1970, the FDA determined that BVO was no longer “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS), leading to increased oversight and regulation of its use in food products. As a result, many beverage manufacturers gradually replaced BVO with alternative ingredients over the years. Consequently, BVO is currently found in very few beverages in the United States.
Who still uses uses BVO?
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, PepsiCo removed BVO from Gatorade in 2013, and both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo later announced they would remove the ingredient from all their beverages.
However, the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research and advocacy group focusing on consumer health, reports that 90 products on the market today still use BVO. The majority are different brands of orange soda. According to EWG’s list, brands including BVO include Food Lion sodas, some Great Value sodas, and Sun Drop citrus soda. Mountain Dew drinks are also mentioned on this organization’s list, but PepsiCo says they no longer use the ingredient in the popular drink. According to the Environmental Working Group, this includes Sun Drop, made by Keurig Dr Pepper, as well as Orangette and Great Value Fruit Punch, made by Walmart. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278691522003350
They were left sealed for more than 250 years, never read by their intended recipients.
Now, French letters confiscated by Britain's Royal Navy in the mid-18th century have finally been opened.
Written between 1757 and 1758, the artefacts were intended for French sailors serving on the Galatée ship under Louis XV during the Seven Years' War.
The messages finally reveal the lives and passions of the sailors' loved-ones, including pining girlfriends and wives.
'I cannot wait to possess you,' wrote one French woman to her husband, a non-commissioned officer on the Galatée, before signing off 'your obedient wife'. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12716067/French-love-letters-confiscated-Britains-Royal-Navy-finally-read-265-years-revealing-saucy-messages-sent-sailors.html
"Our experiments showed that field mice consider the surrounding environment and flexibly utilized Sasa seeds," Kajimura concludes. "Since this kind of behavior affects tree regeneration, as well as understory vegetation, our findings show the influence of mice on the creation of complexities of the forest ecosystem." https://phys.org/news/2023-11-relationship-mice-century.html
"All of these risks of various types of natural disasters are correlated and increasing in frequency. And that presents a real problem for the insurance market. There's fundamental questions as to whether insurance as we know it is a sustainable business," said Angle.
The cost to insurance companies has skyrocketed over the years. Insurance agencies get their own insurance coverage, called reinsurance, to cover the risk of catastrophes. Those reinsurance rates have risen dramatically, too.
Angle says from 1964 to 1990, U.S. insurers paid out on average about $100 million a year for wildfires. Over the next 20 years, that number rose to $600 million a year. By 2018, wildfire insurance payouts were averaging almost $4 billion annually.
"The only way they can afford that is if they're either insuring more people or charging existing customers more. There's really no other way," said Mark Friedlander with the Insurance Information Institute. https://scrippsnews.com/stories/homeowners-scrambling-to-find-insurance-in-natural-disaster-areas/
New research shows that European food consumption draws unnecessarily excessively on global resources, which is why researchers are calling for political action. Many of the foods that are consumed in Europe are produced in countries outside Europe. Food loss—and waste later in the chain—occurs along the food supply chain, from the primary agricultural sector in Europe or rest of the world, until it feeds mouths in Europe.
"Halving Europe's food loss and waste, together with a redistribution of global food resources, could solve the challenges of food shortages in the world," https://phys.org/news/2023-11-food-europe-generate-major-footprint.html
The FDA said it is working to identify additional cases and other products that may also be contaminated, and to understand the source of the lead. In its recall notice, Schnucks reported its supplier, Purcell International, notified it that "elevated levels of lead found in the cinnamon raw material used by Austrofood SAS, the manufacturer of the applesauce cinnamon pouches. https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/11/toxic-toddler-fruit-pouches-extremely-high-lead-levels-sicken-7-in-5-states/
banks of the Haine, a river in southern Belgium, 31,000 years ago were already using spearthrowers to hunt their game. This is the finding of a new study conducted at TraceoLab at the University of Liège.
The material found at the archaeological site of Maisières-Canal permits establishing the use of this hunting technique 10,000 years earlier than the oldest currently known preserved spearthrowers. This discovery, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is prompting archaeologists to reconsider the age of this important technological innovation. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-long-distance-weaponry-year-old-archaeological-site.html
More recent research has found that various herbs and spices, such as garlic and ginger, can also improve cognition and memory in older adults — even in those suffering from dementia. A popular Japanese condiment, wasabi, Wasabia japonica, also known as Japanese horseradish, https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2023/11/06/wasabi-boosts-shortand-long-term-memory-in-older-people/?sh=8ec3018c71b2

Introduction
As a child, Doumar’s was a staple of downtown Norfolk, Virginia. It wasn’t a place I’d get to frequent often, but I still have clear and fond memories of stopping by the place after a school field trip.
For whatever reason, the thing I remember most vividly is their lime sherbet. A vibrant neon green scoop sat nestled upon a classic and unassuming waffle cone. The tart flavor of the sherbet somehow perfectly matched its bold coloration, sending a shockwave through my tastebuds.
However, it’s not the sherbet itself that forms the basis of my piece today but it’s throne. For that classic and unassuming waffle cone is surprisingly the center of much contention. This is because Doumar’s founder Abe Doumar claimed to have created the first waffle cone way back at the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904.
In fact, this claim is doubled down upon with a sign that hangs in the little drive-in, stating, “This is the world’s first cone machine still in use today, it was used in 1905 at Coney Island N.Y. by Abe Doumar, inventor of the ice cream cone & this machine.”
It’s a cool piece of hometown trivia and a source of local pride to have such a neat historical tidbit in one’s backyard, and for many years, I never questioned it. That is, until the summer of 2016, when, during a tour of Budweiser in St. Louis, the tour guide related a fun fact that caught me a bit off-guard.
Pointing to an ornate chandelier adorned with carefully crafted hop ornamentation, she mentioned that the antique dated back to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, an event associated with a wide variety of technological and scientific developments, among them the invention of the ice cream cone, which would go on to become Missouri’s official state dessert as a result all the way in 2008.
Local pride swelled within me, and I felt determined to go home and research the invention of the ice cream cone, hoping to defend the name of Abe Doumar. What I found was one of the most complex stories surrounding one of the simplest little inventions.
So strap in, and get ready to journey down the rabbit hole with me into the mysterious origins of the ice cream cone, and more specifically the waffle cone. This journey will take us back into ancient history, then into the present, where we’ll discuss what in the world a World’s Fair is, before investigating several claims regarding the origins of the waffle cone.
The History of the Ice Cream Cone
The tour guide that day was, unfortunately, wrong. Or rather, she was over-simplifying. I can’t be too hard on her for it. After all, most people don’t want an over-long lecture on the nuances involved in the invention of the ice cream cone (well, except for the lovely folks reading this of course). And it feels much more significant to say that one created the ice cream cone rather than saying that one created a sub-genre of ice cream cone that they may or may not have even created in the first place.
It would have been far more accurate to say that the waffle cone was created at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, as this is what we seemingly have evidence of. Conversely, we have evidence of “ice cream cones,” albeit in many diverse forms, dating back thousands of years.
Food journalist Laura B. Weiss suggests that ancient Greeks and Romans rolled and baked wafers that may have acted as a precursor to the modern ice cream cone. However, these wafers likely were not used for dessert purposes.
In 1807, French painter and engraver Philibert-Louis Debucourt created an etching known as The Interior of the Café Frascati, a piece that shows great talent but that, like most of his other works, was primarily focused on the cavorting upper-classes. However, what makes this work of art particularly interesting is a woman in the right-bottom corner who appears to be holding a conic dessert of some sort.
Some scholars have suggested that this is the first pictorial representation of an ice cream cone, thereby suggesting that the treat dates back to the early 19th century. While I believe that the woman certainly seems to be holding a sort of dessert cone, I’m not sure I feel comfortable saying whether it’s an ice cream cone or not. I think it’s just as likely to be a similar conic dessert, like one of the ones that we’ll cover next. I think that we’re more likely to see an ice cream cone because we’re so familiar with them, but I’m concerned by the lack of any corroborating evidence in this era.
That being said, only 18 years later in 1825, a recipe explaining how to roll “little waffles” into cones appeared in the cookbook of French chef Julien Archambault. I actually tracked down an original copy of the cookbook and found the page cited (p. 346) but my French knowledge has always been… let’s just say better than that of the general American public but not by much… at all…
I perused his section on dessert pastries, but it is a “text-heavy” rather than “list-based” cookbook, so I wasn’t able to intuit much. The only dessert pastry directly on p. 346 suggests serving with cheese, and some of the later pastries seem to suggest serving with fruit or other cheeses, though nothing really close to ice cream as far as I can tell. Feel free to correct me in the comments, actual French speakers.
Then, in 1846, Italian British chef Charles Elme Francatelli referenced using cones as an accoutrement to larger deserts in his cookbook The Modern Chef. Again, I was able to track down the original cookbook, this time with much more success, and not just because it was printed in English. Francatelli, as early as p. 428, references the use of “cornets of cornucopiae filled with a little of the vanilla ice cream” as part of a larger recipe for an Iced Pudding a la Cerito.
Still, these cornets of cornucopiae had not caught on as the hip way to serve ice cream to the masses, at least not yet. Nonetheless, 19th century ice cream vendors needed something to give their customers their ice cream in, as the sweet treat had only become more popular over the course of the century.
Sadly, germ theory did not catch on with quite the same fanfare as ice cream did, and most vendors chose to dole out ice cream in “penny licks,” little glass bowls, purposefully designed to make it look like one was getting more ice cream than one actually was, and that, worst of all, were meant to be reused, typically without washing.
In 1879, a scientific study blamed “penny licks” for a recent (and deadly) outbreak of cholera in the city of London. Given just how prevalent cholera was in this era in urban England, it’s hard to tell whether it was actually the fault of the “penny licks,” but they almost certainly couldn’t have helped. They were soon banned in the city.
In the 1870s, an alternative to ice cream arrived in the form of the “hokey-pokey,” the creation of Italian immigrants in London. The “hokey-pokey” was a mixture of coarse ice, milk, water, sugar, and cornstarch, frozen, then wrapped in paper and sold to the customer. When its inventors brought it to the United States within a few years, local newspaper lauded it for its portability, cleanliness, and convenience.
Clearly, people wanted something that could hold their sweet treats and be easily disposed of afterwards, with little to no mess or inconvenience. Ice cream vendors certainly experimented with other methods, such as wafer “ice cream sandwiches” and molds that shaped wafers into edible bowls.
In 1888, English cook Agnes B. Marshall published a recipe for Cornets with Cream in her cookbook Mrs. A. B. Marshall’s Book of Cookery that called for making the cornets out of almonds and baking them in the oven rather than pressing them. Many sources refer to Marshall as the inventor of the modern ice cream cone, but I’m at a bit of a loss as to why, considering her recipe seems no closer to the modern ice cream cone than her predecessors.
Personally, I’m of the mind that we either need to go further back than this to declare an inventor of the original ice cream cone or go further ahead to where the ice cream cone actually begins to look like a modern ice cream cone, which is just a few years later at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.
The 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair
Many of us who run in true crime circles are most familiar with the idea of the world’s fair are most familiar with the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (also known as the World’s Columbian Exposition). Because of the magnificent architecture, numerous innovations, and the proximity of early American serial killer H.H. Holmes, the Exposition has rightly warranted much consideration, perhaps most famously in Erik Larson’s fascinating and fantastic book The Devil in the White City.
However, the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair (also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition) similarly helped transform America’s identity as it headed from a 19th century that had been generally isolationist into a 20th century where it would become a global superpower with its own unique form of empire.
This new American imperialism was showcased in the Exposition’s most controversial and uncomfortable inclusion: human beings on display. The United States had begun non-contiguous expansion in the wake of the Spanish-American War of 1898, through which the United States acquired the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
The Philippines, in particular, had fought back against American annexation. The Philippine Revolution had actually begun not against American rule but against Spanish rule, in 1896. After the Spanish-American War ended with Spain ceding the Philippines, the American government refused to acknowledge the Filipino declaration of independence, leading to the Philippine American War from 1899-1902.
The war was bloody and gruesome, killing several thousand American soldiers, over ten thousand Filipino revolutionaries, and resulting in the death of over 200,000 Filipino civilians, mostly as a result of conditions created by the war, notably starvation and disease. And yet, just two short years later, here were Filipinos on display as an exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
Some of the 1,102 Filipinos brought in for the Exposition died to the absurdly harsh conditions they were put through. Traditional burial practices were denied.
Across the fair, attendees marveled at the seeming magic of wireless telephones and a new medical scanning technology called an x-ray. Within the Palace of Transportation, they were wowed by personal gas-powered automobiles; they would be able to own their own sooner than they likely realized.
People could get around on an electric streetcar, which was still relatively new, and came to the fair to see the benefits of a more electric future. They could observe premature infants in infant incubators, which weren’t necessarily new but weren’t widely accepted. By bringing these incubators to several World’s Fairs, their creators helped people see the vital nature of these devices, which likely led to many young lives being saved in the years to come.
My point in highlighting this is to give you a sense of the reality and the duality of these World’s Fairs. I feel like it’s something we can’t properly conceive of because they eventually faded away, no longer a huge draw for American and international audiences. Additionally, such World’s Fairs would have become increasingly awkward following the atrocities that marked the early 20th century.
But my point is that these World’s Fairs were a theatre in which to showcase the wonderful and the terrible. Larson makes similar points in The Devil in the White City, but I think it’s even more pronounced at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair because the wonderful and the terrible co-existed within the official confines of the fair itself.
One could see the wonders of modern medicine and technology, then turn a corner and see a human zoo, a zoo that was far more concerned with entertainment than with cultural accuracy and that completely objectified its inhabitants, one of which, a Congolese Pygmy, was later featured in an exhibit on evolution alongside an orangutan, a crass display that was thankfully shut down due to protest.
I’m sure that plenty won’t care for this aside, given its seeming lack of relevance to the original topic, but I think it’s worth stopping for a minute to examine what a World’s Fair is, warts and all, before simply singing the praises of an invention that sprung from it. It’s important, at least to me, to contextualize the environments in which these events take place.
The Invention of the Waffle Cone
The story behind the waffle cone’s creation is actually rather simple and (perhaps a tad bit too) convenient. At the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, an ice cream vendor runs out of paper cups in which to sell his ice cream. Nearby, another vendor, usually a Syrian immigrant, sees a business opportunity.
Rolling a thin waffle cookie (I’ve seen some sources say zalabia, which doesn’t feel right based on the images of zalabia I’ve seen) into a conic shape, the vendor plopped a scoop of ice cream on top, and the waffle cone was born!
We, in fact, have proof that the waffle cone was, indeed, at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Several photographs of different families eating ice cream out of waffle cones exist around the internet and within the Missouri State Archives.
Additionally, the St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat ran an article praising the cones (linked below). While they call the cone an “ice cream sandwich,” their description along with an illustration of the “sandwich” make it clear that they’re referring to the waffle cone. The problem is that we don’t know what vendor anybody got their waffle cones from, and that’s where things start to get real messy.
You see, it’s not even clear whether the famous story is even true. Was the waffle cone truly born from a moment of desperation? If so, the two vendors must have mastered the art of the waffle cone rather quickly, as those in surviving photos from the fair look pristine. Alternatively, others have proposed that the waffle cone was a vendor’s way of getting a leg-up in a highly competitive battle for concessionaire spots at the fair.
However, if the classic story proves to be true, there are multiple claimants to actually inventing the waffle cone. Perhaps the best known is Ernest Hamwi, who claims that he was the Syrian immigrant running the waffle cookie stand that originally rolled the first waffle cone.
Albert and Nick Kabbaz, also Syrian immigrants, would later claim that they were working for Hamwi that day and originally had the idea to roll up a waffle into a cone, which Hamwi then stole from them.
Arnold Fornachou and David Avayou have both also made dubious claims to being the Syrian immigrant vendor themselves.
Abe Doumar, progenitor of the Norfolk-based drive-in mentioned in my introduction, has a slightly different claim. According to the Doumar’s website, Abe, who is also a Syrian immigrant, claims to have simply been in the right place at the right time. He says he was there when the ice cream vendor ran out of cups, bought a waffle, rolled it himself, then asked for a scoop of ice cream plopped on top of it.
Though there is evidence that Doumar was running a four-iron cone press just a year later in Coney Island and even though he and his legacy have established a local favorite based around this origin story, I have to admit that Doumar’s claims are specious at best. If you go to the Doumar’s website, you’ll see that Doumar claims to have spent the rest of that summer selling ice cream in waffle cones.
How did Doumar go from patron (or vendor of unspecified wares) to ice cream and cone proprietor in no time at all. Given how fiercely others had to fight to get a concessions slot at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, I question whether this would have even been possible. At the end of the day, as much as I hate to say it, the evidence points to the Doumar’s story being fabricated.
My personal guess is that Abe Doumar was indeed there that summer. He saw a stand selling the waffle cones, and being a bright young entrepreneur, brainstormed the idea for a four-iron cone maker that would allow him to roll one cone while three more cooked, then brought that idea to various tourist destinations across the east coast before settling in Norfolk. Or the stand at the World’s Fair already had four irons, and he just stole that too. I’m not really sure to be completely honest.
Quite interestingly, the Library of Congress identifies someone else entirely as the progenitor of the waffle cone. Perhaps the only claimant who wasn’t a Syrian immigrant, Charles E. Menches claimed to be the waffle cookie vendor on that fateful day at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and asserted that it was he and his brother Frank’s idea to place his ice cream into the rolled waffle cookies.
So how do we make sense of these various claims, almost all of them bullishly asserting their claim without evidence to support it?
Chasing the Ameri-Cone Dream
Let’s revisit the idea of the human zoo. As discussed above, these human zoos were not particularly interested in providing a factual representation of the peoples they put on display. Rather they engaged in a form of myth-making that relied heavily on stereotype, providing a narrative that was meant to draw people in and amaze them rather than educate them.
The benefactors of these zoos knew that they were highly unlikely to attract customers with the truth, so they spun a fiction that would be far more attractive and fascinating to their clientele. And it worked; the human zoos were highly popular.
I think we see an interesting parallel here with our plethora of alleged waffle cone inventors. Because without their various stories of inventing the waffle cone at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, what did they have? Immigrant-owned businesses fighting an uphill battle to make it, to achieve their own version of the American Dream…
Was it dishonest? Certainly. But in a nation that was more than happy to spin all sorts of false narratives about them, why not turn it around and create a false narrative around oneself?
Was it effective? I don’t think there’s any doubting that it was. With a narrative that put their businesses at the center of history, these immigrants had a powerful draw. Perhaps more indicative of this than anything is that some of these businesses have survived to the modern day where countless similar businesses have failed.
But it’s evident too in just how heavily these businesses market their claim to fame. Doumar’s claims “A History as Rich as Our Custom Made Ice Cream” on their website; clicking on it takes you to Abe Doumar’s epic story of inventing the waffle cone. Menches Brothers claims, “This is a taste of history.” It’s more difficult to find their claim to inventing the waffle cone on their website, as they tend to prioritize their supposed invention of the hamburger instead.
Perhaps most damning to all these claims is that most of them didn’t become public until almost a decade after the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. While it’s clear from photographs that waffle cones were at the World’s Fair, no one seems to have made an immediate claim to inventing the cone afterwards, which one would expect if it truly came about in the ingenious manner that is so often recounted.
Is it possible that one of these men truly did invent the waffle cone at the World’s Fair and simply didn’t go public with their claims for nearly a full decade? Sure, but I don’t think it’s particularly likely.
What I find far more likely is the possibility that the lack of a claimant created a mysterious void that was perfect for clever entrepreneurs to spin to their own benefit. Frankly, I think that what most likely happened is that none of these men invented the waffle cone. I think it was likely a brilliant way to get around the need for cups and thus additional waste or the spreading of germs that simply wasn't immediately claimed or patented.
The invention of the waffle cone is likely far more mundane than we’ve been led to believe after over a century of fantastical stories of human ingenuity, but the truth is, none of these stories add up. None of them add up, at least, until we begin to consider what these entrepreneurs gained. They had a product to sell, and the story of the waffle cone made that product so much more marketable and a far bigger draw, even if, admittedly, the lime sherbet is pretty darn good.
Sources
https://doumars.com/norfolk-ghent-doumar-s-cones-and-barbeque-history
https://www.seriouseats.com/ice-cream-cone-history
https://www.thedailymeal.com/1276928/complete-history-ice-cream-cone/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_cream_cone
https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/july-23
https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Publications/symbols/icecreamarticle.pdf
https://www.menchesbros.com/story/
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/RP-P-2009-291
https://gallica.bnf.fark:/12148/bpt6k6276567c.texteImage
https://archive.org/details/b21530154/page/428/mode/2up

I [22F] have a sister [26F] who has a child (Louie) [8M] that is an extremely picky eater. However I believe this is my sister and her husband's fault because throughout his whole life Louie has been fed fries, chicken nuggets and all that junk.
So anyways, In a couple days, I'm planning a barbeque event to celebrate our mom's retirement and my sister and her family are planning to join too. But then, my sister texts me this morning and requests that I buy McDonald's for her child instead of him eating the BBQ food. As a passionate cook, I try and work around her request and say that I will make a delicious beef wellington for him since he loved it when I made it for him once, or something but she insists that he will only eat McDonald's and It would be a waste of time to try to get him to eat anything else. For the record, everytime I have visited their house, I have literally only seen Louie eat chicken nuggets, chips, hamburgers and sometimes apple slices, and I keep trying to tell my sister It's so unhealthy to keep making him eat only these things but she constantly reminds me not to meddle in her affairs as a parent.
My sister says that If I do not get McDonald's for him at the BBQ, they will not be coming to the event (which I think is ridiculous), but I genuinely don't think it's my responsibility to cater for the unhealthy diet of a child.
AITA for refusing to buy Mcdonald's for my nephew at our barbeque?
EDIT: I want to clarify that he has not been tested for AFRID or any neurodivergence and will probably not be tested for a while as my sister and her husband do not believe there is anything wrong with him and do not plan on getting him assessed anytime soon, so i respect their decision.
UPDATE: After reading these comments, i have much clearer understanding on the steps I should taking moving to the BBQ. I also recognize my own faults regarding calling his current diet 'unhealthy' and so forth and it was disrespectful, so thank you for enlightening me on this perspective. Me and my sister have come to a compromise on her allowing Louie to look through the provided food options to see if there's anything he might be interested and if not (no judgement if he chooses not to), they can go to the drive through and McDonald's and choose something he would prefer. I'm honestly just happy she can join us again and we can celebrate as a full family :)

Hi Diddly Ho there gang! The name's Dan, and I'll be at a barbeque within two weeks, so I'd like to know some completely normal and chill games that me and my fellow normal friends could play. Furthermore, I'd also like to get some grilling tips - we'll be having hotdogs and hamburgers, which will be propane cooked. Does anyone have any tips on how to make the grilling better?

Hello everyone! This is my master list of safe and low calorie fast food options. This list is posted with the intention of helping those with a fear of fast food or those who are simply hoping to eat some lower calorie fast food options. Please use the knowledge gained from this post to make sure you eat a good, full meal without fear or worry.
Also, for those who may suffer from disordered eating, recovery is possible. Please seek professional help and reach out to friends and loved ones for support. You are not alone.
All foods listed are prepared in standard ways with standard ingredients unless specified. This information comes directly from the nutritional info provided by the restaurants, so please do not come at me if it is outdated or incorrect. I have tried to include as many items as I could that are ~500 calories or less, although there are a few exceptions. Soda and regular coffee/espresso is not included on the list because those are pretty standard anywhere you go.
✅ = known vegetarian option (food only)
I will update as I can with other restaurants. Current restaurants: McDonald's Taco Bell Wendy's

McDonald’s:

Burgers:	kcal
Hamburger	250
Cheeseburger	300
McDouble	400
Big Mac	540
- with lite Mac sauce	505
- with no Mac sauce	460

​

Chicken and Fish:	kcal
McChicken	400
- with no mayo	300
McCrispy	470
- with no butter sauce	420
4 piece nuggets	170
6 piece nuggets	250
10 piece nuggets	410
Filet-O-Fish	390
- with no tartar sauce	300
- with no cheese	360
- plain with no tartar sauce or cheese	270

​

Fries and Sides:	kcal
Kids fries	110
Small fries	230
Medium fries	320
Large fries	480
Apple slices ✅	15

(Note: McDonald's fries contain beef flavoring and are not strictly vegetarian/vegan.)
​

Breakfast:	kcal
Egg McMuffin	310
- with no cheese	260
- with no canadian bacon ✅	290
Sausage McMuffin	400
- with no cheese	350
Sausage McMuffin with Egg	480
- with no cheese	430
Sausage McGriddle	430
Bacon, Egg, & Cheese McGriddle	430
- with no cheese	380
Sausage Biscuit	460
Sausage Burrito	310
Fruit & Maple Oatmeal ✅	320
- with no cream ✅	300
Hashbrowns ✅	140

​

Sweet Things:	kcal
Vanilla ice cream cone ✅	200
Hot fudge sundae ✅	330
Caramel sundae ✅	330
Apple pie ✅	230
Chocolate chip cookie ✅	170
Small vanilla shake ✅	480
Small strawberry shake ✅	470
Small chocolate shake ✅	520
Oreo McFlurry ✅	510

​

Condiments:	kcal
Barbeque sauce	45
Spicy buffalo sauce	30
Creamy ranch sauce	110
Honey mustard sauce	60
Sweet n' sour sauce	50
Ketchup packet	10
Honey	50

​

McCafe and Coffee:	kcal
Small iced coffee (any flavor)	140
Medium iced coffee (any flavor)	190
Large iced coffee (regular and vanilla)	260
- Caramel	270
Small iced latte (regular)	90
Medium iced latte (regular)	120
Large iced latte (regular)	170
Small iced latte (caramel or vanilla)	180
Medium iced latte (caramel or vanilla)	220
Large iced latte (caramel or vanilla)	330
Small iced vanilla latte	180
Medium iced vanilla latte	220
Small hot latte (regular)	140
Medium hot latte (regular)	190
Large hot latte (regular)	250
Small hot latte (vanilla or caramel)	250
Medium hot latte (vanilla or caramel)	320
Large hot latte (vanilla or caramel)	390
Small iced mocha	280
Medium iced mocha	320
Large iced mocha	450
Small mocha latte	290
Medium mocha latte	380
Large mocha latte	470
Small caramel frappe	420
Medium caramel frappe	490
Small mocha frappe	430
Medium mocha frappe	490
Small cappuccino (regular)	110
Medium cappuccino (regular)	160
Large cappuccino (regular)	200
Small cappuccino (vanilla or caramel)	210
Medium cappuccino (vanilla or caramel)	260
Large cappuccino (vanilla or caramel)	340
Small caramel macchiato	260
Medium caramel macchiato	320
Large caramel macchiato	400

​

Taco Bell:

Tacos and Chalupas:	kcal
Crunchy taco (beef)	170
Crunchy taco supreme (beef)	190
Soft taco (beef)	180
Soft taco (chicken)	160
Soft taco supreme (beef)	210
Soft taco supreme (chicken)	190
Nacho cheese Doritos locos taco	170
Nacho cheese Doritos locos taco supreme	190
Chalupa supreme (beef)	360
Chalupa supreme (chicken)	340
Chalupa supreme (steak)	350
Chalupa supreme (black bean) ✅	340
Spicy potato soft taco ✅	240

​

Burritos:	kcal
Bean burrito ✅	350
Beefy 5-layer burrito	490
Burrito supreme (beef)	400
Burrito supreme (chicken)	370
Burrito supreme (steak)	380
Cheesy bean and rice burrito ✅	420
Beef burrito (value menu)	430
Chipotle ranch grilled chicken burrito	510

​

Quesadillas:	kcal
Quesadilla (cheese) ✅	470
Quesadilla (chicken)	520
Quesadilla (steak)	520

​

Specialties:	kcal
Cheesy roll up ✅	180
Mexican pizza (beef)	540
Mexican pizza (veggie)	470
Chicken chipotle melt	190
Crunchwrap supreme (black bean) ✅	520
Crunchwrap supreme (beef)	540

​

Sides:	kcal
Cheesy fiesta potatoes ✅	240
Chips and nacho cheese sauce ✅	220
Black beans ✅	50
Black beans and rice ✅	160
Cinnamon twists ✅	170
Cinnabon delights (2pk) ✅	160

​

Power Menu Bowls:	kcal
Power menu bowl (chicken)	460
Power menu bowl (steak)	480
Power menu bowl (veggie) ✅	420

​

Breakfast:	kcal
Hashbrown ✅	160
Cheesy toasted breakfast burrito (bacon)	350
Cheesy toasted breakfast burrito (fiesta Potato) ✅	340
Cheesy toasted breakfast burrito (sausage)	350

​

Freezes:	kcal
Blue raspberry breeze freeze (16oz)	130
Blue raspberry breeze freeze (20oz)	160
Mountain Dew Baja Blast freeze (16oz)	150
Mountain Dew Baja Blast freeze (20oz)	190
Wild cherry breeze freeze (16oz)	170
Wild cherry breeze freeze (20oz)	210
Wild cherry freeze (16oz)	150
Wild cherry freeze (20oz)	190

​

Wendy's:

Burgers:	kcal
Jr. bacon cheeseburger	370
- with no mayo	330
Jr. cheeseburger deluxe	340
- with no mayo	300
Jr. cheeseburger	290
Double stack	410
Bacon double stack	440
Jr. hamburger	250
Dave's single	590
- with no mayo	550

​

Chicken and Fish:	kcal
4 piece crispy chicken nuggets	180
6 piece crispy chicken nuggets	270
10 piece crispy chicken nuggets	450
4 piece spicy chicken nuggets	190
6 piece spicy chicken nuggets	280
10 piece spicy chicken nuggets	470
Crispy chicken sandwich	330
- with no mayo	290
Crispy chicken BLT	420
- with no mayo	380
Classic chicken sandwich	490
- with no mayo	450
Spicy chicken sandwich	490
- with no mayo	450
Grilled chicken wrap	420
Crispy panko fish sandwich	520

​

Condiments*:	kcal
Piece of cheese	40
Slice of bacon	30
Mayo (sandwich topping)	40
Buttermilk ranch sauce packet	90
Barbecue sauce packet	40
Ghost pepper ranch sauce packet	100
Honey mustard dipping sauce packet	70
Sweet and sour sauce packet	40
Ketchup packet	10

​

Salads:	kcal
Parmesan Caesar salad	540
-salad only	290
- dressing (per packet)	240
Cobb salad	670
-salad only	430
- dressing (per packet)	250
Apple pecan salad	550
-salad only	450
- dressing (per packet)	90
Taco salad	690
-salad only
- dressing (per packet)

(Note: The apple pecan salad can be made vegetarian if ordered without chicken. The taco salad can be made vegetarian if ordered without chili. The other salads contain meat products.)
​

Fries and Sides:	kcal
Jr. fries ✅	210
Small fries ✅	260
Medium fries ✅	350
Large fries ✅	470
Garlic fries ✅	450
Pub fries	470
Baconator fries	460
Chili cheese fries	520
Cheese fries ✅	470
Small chili (no crackers)	240
Large chili (no crackers)	340
Plain baked potato ✅	270
Sour cream and chive baked potato ✅	310
Bacon cheese baked potato	440
Chili & cheese baked potato	500
Cheese baked potato ✅	450
Apple bites ✅	35

(Note: Wendy's regular fries are vegan as far as I am aware. They are cooked in the same fryer as the meat products. The plain baked potato is also vegan.)
​

Breakfast:	kcal
Bacon, egg, & swiss croissant	430
Bacon, egg, & cheese biscuit	420
Honey butter chicken biscuit	500
Honey butter biscuit ✅	310
Sausage gravy & biscuit	400
Sausage biscuit	450
Classic sausage, egg, & cheese sandwich	480
Classic bacon, egg, & cheese sandwich	320
Homestyle french toast sticks (4pc) ✅	330
Homestyle french toast sticks (6pc) ✅	490
Small seasoned potatoes ✅	230
Medium seasoned potatoes ✅	330
Large seasoned potatoes ✅	410
Oatmeal bar ✅	280

​

Frosty and Desserts:	kcal
Jr. chocolate frosty	200
Small chocolate frosty	350
Medium chocolate frosty	470
Jr. vanilla frosty	190
Small vanilla frosty	340
Medium vanilla frosty	450
Chocolate chunk cookie	330
Sugar cookie	330

​

Specialty Drinks:	kcal
Small lemonade	200
Medium lemonade	280
Large lemonade	330
Small strawberry lemonade	260
Medium strawberry lemonade	330
Large strawberry lemonade	420
Small blueberry pomegranate lemonade	240
Medium blueberry pomegranate lemonade	350
Large blueberry pomegranate lemonade	450
Small pineapple mango lemonade	260
Medium pineapple mango lemonade	330
Large pineapple mango lemonade	420
Small vanilla Frosty-ccino	210
Large vanilla Frosty-ccino	310
Small chocolate Frosty-ccino	220
Large chocolate Frosty-ccino	310