#Kathy Hopwood

[davidjhiggins]

Women in the Martial Arts, ed. Carol A Wiley

Women in the Martial Arts, ed. Carol A Wiley

Focusing not on a single statement of what women’s martial arts is but on multiple perspectives on how martial arts isn’t the domain of male fighters that popular imagery portrays, this book will speak not merely to women with an interest in the martial arts but to anyone interested in diversity as a whole. …

[bobbie-robron]

I can’t help it if I’m a disappointment to him. We don’t ALL want to spend the rest of our lives standing around in fields.

THE pivotal/turning point episode setting Robert’s future path. It’s not a good day, like at all, for our Robert as that bloody phrase makes it’s ugly appearance (being a disappointment) and things become physical between both him & Andy/Jack. Andy sees Robert’s opinion of farm work as essentially being a snob and that he should appreciate what Jack & Sarah have done for them 🙄 and they get in a tussle. Jack is in fine disgusting form later as things spiral out of control with what Robert had to say and ends with Jack hitting him. Meanwhile, Sarah is relegated to waitress when Kathy hires Carlos as ‘a proper chef.’ And there’s also Andy, Andy, Andy…

Jack: It’s just take, take, take with you.

Sarah: That’s enough, Jack.

Jack: Is it? He’s clueless this one. Thinks he can just breeze through life without lifting a finger.

Robert: I haven’t got a clue!?! You haven’t. We don’t all wanna stay poor. I’m gonna make something of my life.

09-Mar-2000

[eastasiansonwesternscreen]

Romance, work and life all collide when a wedding planner and wedding photographer meet and ignite sparks in this uplifting Asian Australian romantic comedy Rhapsody of Love (2021)

[sardonicnihilism]

A Biography of the Woman Who Never Was

Part 5 The Older Woman

Chapter 5

The rest of 2018 and 2019 passed in fairly unremarkable fashion. The kids kept seeing the counselor, Jerry's behavior and grades improved until he was one of his grades top students. Tabatha, likewise, did extremely well academically. Jerry joined the school soccer team and took up violin, and Tabatha took up piano, guitar, and drums. While life continued with its normal ups and downs, it really did seem like the worst was behind them.

Even when 2020 hit like a meteor, it still didn't affect Shannon and her family that much. Both Sam and Shannon were deemed essential workers, and therefore kept their jobs. The schools shut down, but Shannon did home lessons over the summer and the kids did remote learning in the fall. Jerry struggled, having a hard time staying focused, but Tabatha did exceptionally well.

It was November when things started to go to Hell for them personally. Shannon started noticing a pain in her right chest and shoulder. It would constantly ache, and if she moved too fast, bolts of sharp, white hot pain would shoot through her body. At first she thought it was just muscle strain from lifting too much (she had gotten back into weight training to lose weight), but when she had taken a week off and there was no improvement, she knew she had to see a doctor.

Here appointment was in December, the week after Christmas. The doctor checked her out and then chewed her out. She was 47 years old and had never had a mammogram. Shannon reluctantly agreed to have one and her doctor made the appointment.

Shannon got her mammogram the second week of January at 8:50 AM. By 3:30 PM, she had three messages saying she should contact them immediately. Shannon had breast cancer. More than that, it had already spread to other parts of her body. After a consultation with the entire family, they decided on an aggressive treatment plan. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Shannon's health declined rapidly. Most of her hair fell out and she shrank from 252 pounds to 110. She was week and tired all the time. She mostly laid in bed, only getting up to use the bathroom; usually to vomit. It was decided that she would enter the hospital for her final days.

Sam would visit everyday. At first he brought the kids with him every time, then every other day, and then they would only come once a week on Sundays. By the end of April, it was clear it was only a matter of days.

Sam's last visit was on a Sunday. It was a perfect spring day. It was so warm and sunny that it made Sam angry. It seemed like a cosmic insult to everything he and Shannon were going through. However, he had managed to purge himself of his bitterness by the time he had gotten to Shannon's room.

She was staring out the window, a contemplative smile gracing her gaunt face. Her hands were folded in her lap and she looked almost transcendent.

"How's the most beautiful woman in the world doing today?" he asked with forced happiness as he entered her room.

Shannon turned to him and smiled as happy a smile as she could. "I don't know. I haven't seen her today," she joked back in her weak, hoarse voice.

Sam grabbed a chair and sat beside her. "How're you sweetie?" he asked with a hushed sadness.

"I'm ok. Best as possible I suppose. I was just thinking I beat mom by a month. She passed in April, I made it all the way to May. Of course she beats me on years though." Shannon's sense of gallows humor was not only still there, but had become stronger than ever.

"I tried to get the kids to come out, but they just couldn't," Sam said apologetically.

Shannon just waved her hand. "It's ok, my family never did do death well."

She turned back to the window and started talking as much to herself as to Sam. "I was going to ask you to make a recording of me saying my farewells to the kids, but then I thought if I really wanted this to be the last and forever image of me; a sad, shriveled up husk of a human being - an image of sadness and loss? That just seems too cruel. I'd rather be forgotten if that is the case."

"You'll never be forgotten," Sam tried to reassure her.

She turned back to him, smiling even more. "We're all forgotten eventually darling." She then reached out and took his hand. "It's been a life, hasn't it?"

"It sure has," he said, trying to smile, but tears were already starting to run down his cheek. "And I thank you for being the love of mine."

"As you are with mine," she said in a peaceful voice.

"No, you don't have to say that. You don't have to pretend." He shook his head as he spoke. He didn't want their potentially last moments to be filled with lies.

"Who's pretending?" Shannon said, sounding almost happy, like he had just told her a joke. "What? You think because I'm not romantically or sexualy attracted to you, that means you're not the love of my life? People put so much emphasis on romantic love. Darling, you were far more than a lover. Being a lover is easy. You were a friend." She then brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it.

Sam was now weeping heavily. "The first time I met you in the library, I knew I loved you," he choked out.

"When I was a little girl, I asked my grandfather why he kept the dogs outside. He said because animals don't belong in the house. That night, my biological mother, left me in her car while she went into the bar. I was alone, freezing. I wondered if maybe I was an animal and that's why I was being left alone.

"My entire life I felt alone, unloved, unlovable. I was angry and bitter and I hurt anyone or thing I could so they would feel what I felt. I caused so much pain.

"Then I met Jen and I thought I found love. I loved her and I thought she loved me, but she only loved what she thought I was. When I turned out not to be that, she turned her back on me and I went off the deep end.

"And then there was you. You made me laugh. I could talk to you about anything. I felt safe around you; not physically, but emotionally. I became a better person because of you.

"Even when I came out to you, you didn't turn me away, throw me out, which I would have understood if you did. You never stopped being my rock, my shoulder to cry on, the clown to make me laugh when I was crying. You never stopped being my friend."

"And I never will," Sam barely choked out.

"And that is why you're the love of my life."

Sam got up and they embraced. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and she gave him one the cheek. They spent the next five hours just reminiscening and joking.

"I better get going, I suppose," Sam said reluctantly. "I can't leave the kids alone all day, but I don't want to leave you alone either. Not to die at least."

"We all die alone honey, even if we're surrounded by people," she said with a smile. "Go. You're a father and your kids need you. I'm already dead. The only thing the dead need is rest. Just, just tell the kids I love them."

"Always," he said tearfully.

A couple hours after he left, she began to feel really tired, her fingers and toes started going numb. She knew the time had come.

She started thinking about tombstones. A name, a dash, and another date. Everything she was, everything she had been, reduced to a small line, carved in a stone that would survive long after she had been forgotten. It seemed unfair, cruel even.

She then thought about something else, something she had learned back in college. She thought about quantum entanglement, how two atoms can become entangled, linked forever across time and space, eternal mirrors to each other.

Her mind then darted to the concept of the multiverse. How there might be infinite universes out, each with their own version of her. What if two versions could be linked somehow? Entangled? What if her mirror was out there? Could she reach her? Could her mind link across dimensions to one of her other selves to share her story?

*Please, please, if can hear me, please tell my story. Please don't let me be forgotten!*, she thought over and over to herself, trying to reach out to anyone who might hear until her brain ceased to function and she passed away.

**************************************

Shannon Brown was born on November 22, 1975 to a single, alcoholic mother. He was taken in by his grandparents and his aunt Mary who raised him as her own. It is Mary who he considers to be his real mother. His biological mother, Kathy, would have two other children, a girl named Tracy (1977) and Paul Jr. (1979).

By about 4 or 5, Shannon knew that he wasn't a he, but a she, but having no language to express this, she kept this to herself. Shannon grew up alone, morbidly obese for most of her life, she never really had any friends and was constantly bullied and picked on. This made her angry and she would often act out in horrible and usually, self destructive ways.

She did manage to lose weight and was thin from 19 to 24. It was at this time she met her future wife, Samantha Hopwood online. Samantha, an Australian citizen, eventually moved to the United States and they got married in 2001. In 2009, their first child, Joshua was born.

It was after that, Shannon came out to Samantha as transgender. It caused a lot of pain and anger in their marriage, but they were able to work through some of it so that they had their second child, Tara, in 2011. In 2020, after years of being partially closeted, Shannon came out to everyone on Facebook (much to the horror of her wife).

It was about this time that Shannon discovered an app called FaceApp. It could change your photo to look like a child, old person, even the opposite physical gender. Shannon took a picture of herself, femininized it, and then took that new picture and reaged it from a little girl to an old woman. As Shannon stared at the pictures, she couldn't help but marvel over how real they looked! These looked like real pictures of an actual person.

"Who are you?" she said to herself. "Who are you, what is your story?" The more she stared at the pictures, the more she could almost hear this stranger call out, "Please, please, tell my story." It was then Shannon knew what she had to do. She opened her Tumblr app, hit the write symbol, and began-

A Biography of the Woman Who Never Was

Part 1: The Girl

Chapter 1

*This story is dedicated to the memory of H.P. Lovecraft; a horrible man, but great world builder. This wouldn't exist without him.*

[joyhouse]

Great news for 💗 RHAPSODY OF LOVE is up for the following AACTA awards: ✨ Best Indie Film: Rhapsody of Love ✨ Best Director: Joy Hopwood ✨ Best Original Screenplay: Joy Hopwood ✨ Best Lead Actress in Film: Kathy Luu ✨ Best Lead Actor in Film: Damien Sato ✨ Best Supporting Actor in Film: Joy Hopwood & Jessica Niven ✨ Best Supporting Actor in Film: Benjamin Hanly 💗 Round ONE of AACTA VOTING is NOW OPEN! Voting for Round 1 closes on 18 October 2021 ✨ 💗 Good luck to all the other contenders, especially all the indie filmmakers out there telling stories with so much hard-work. 💗 Thank you https://www.instagram.com/p/CVAWk_KlD9-FniTSdm_cytZe8F-IK4pQMQLPMs0/?utm_medium=tumblr

[theunsungheroines]

Life partners 🏳️‍🌈 Kathy Hopwood and Beth Siegler ❤founded Triangle Women’s Karate Association (later Triangle Women’s Martial Arts and then SafeSkills) in 1982 to provide a safe, independent space for women to train in self-defense and martial arts. Offering an alternative to the mostly militaristic, male-dominated schools, Hopwood and Siegler welcomed all ages and genders, with a focus was on women’s self-defense. They taught multitudes of people to create safety in their lives, including workshops for the LGBT community focused on hate crimes. Thanks @lgbt_history for passing this gem along. #theunsungheroines #gamechangers

[bobbie-robron]

Andy, you’re gonna be my real brother!

And here we are. The episode where Jack & Sarah announce they are adopting Andy and he becomes Robert’s real brother to Robert’s happiness (and we all know how happy he was with brother and favored son Andy in the future). So let’s get to it.

Scene 1: Dooley informs Jack & Sarah and Andy will be staying with them. And the school was spoken too as well, and ‘all the teachers are going to go the extra mile making sure that Andy catches up with his lessons.’ Dooley also comments ‘If it hadn’t been for your dedication things could have turned out very differently.

Sarah: Oh Jack, this is everything that we’ve hoped for.

Jack: Certainly a relief after all the months of worry.

Sarah: So, when should we tell Andy?

Dooley: Well it’s up to you. It’s a family matter now.

Scene 2: The Sugdens are acting all casual when Andy arrives home. When he asks about tea, Robert says they aren’t haven’t any. From there, it gradual comes out they are all going out to celebrate... they are going to be adopting him! Great, fantastic! (just seeing how happy Robert was at this point and knowing how things turn out...). The clip includes much of scene 3.

Robert: Andy, you’re gonna be my real brother!

Victoria: And mine.

Sarah: We’re gonna adopt you, Andy.

Jack: Eh, if that’s all right with you, that is?...

Andy: Andy Sugden.

Robert: Andy & Robert Sugden.

Andy: The Sugden boys!

Scene 3: The Sugdens are at Kathy’s with Marlon and Kathy making of show of presenting their food to each of them. In the back, Betty is working on a cake that is decorated with ‘Andy Sugden’ on the top. There are no candles so Betty dashes off to the post office. The celebration is on the house, per Kathy.

Robert: This is great. Can we come here every night?

Jack: Yeah, course you can. Just as soon as you’re earning enough to pay for it yourself.

Scene 4: At the post, Betty unfortunately mentions the Sugdens celebrating Andy being adopted by them. Viv, as expected, goes on a rant when Betty goes on how ‘they’ve been through a lot lately.’ Also as expected, her tirade leads her to take off to Kathy’s.

Viv: What about us? Thanks to them, this child has no father and I have no husband and you got the nerve to come in here and talk about the Sugdens having been through a lot well we’re going through a lot more here... Spoil? That Andy Hopwood helped MURDER my husband. Those Sugdens aren’t FIT to look after the animals on their farm. They’ve ruined our lives and now the whole village is OUT celebrating. 🙄 (good god... she’s exhausting just listening to her rant.)

Scene 5: Back at Kathy’s continue their celebration (with a card trick performed by Marlon/Kathy) until Viv (then Donna) show up to continue her rant about ‘monster’ Andy getting away with what’s happened (‘So don’t think changing your name is going to help. You’ll always be a HOPWOOD’). Sarah wants Viv to leave Andy alone since ‘he’s done nothing wrong.’ As Viv continues to rant, Donna can’t take it anymore and fesses up about knowing Billy was around.

Viv: ...Nobody else knew where he was!

Donna: That’s not true. Andy wasn’t the only one who knew. Andy told me.

Viv: Oh, don’t be RIDICULOUS, Donna!

Sarah: It’s true, Viv.

Donna: Andy told me about his dad. I knew he was here.

18-Mar-1999

[bobbie-robron]

Neither of us have come out of the past couple of months with much credit.

It’s the first episode of 2000 and the scene is set (and nearly all the players in place) for the big blowup of Jack & Sarah’s marriage to come soon. Jack is still keen on selling the car and nixes Lisa telling ‘the score’ to Sarah, he’ll sort it out. Lisa’s fine with it, Jack’s ‘the boss.’ Meanwhile, Sarah confides to Kathy things are better with Jack, for now. Elsewhere, the boys bring up Andy’s adoption is close to being finalized before running into Ashley…

Andy: Hey, do you reckon mum and dad have seen sense now? They’ve been arguing for ages.

Robert: Yeah, must be nearly a week.

Andy: My adoption will go through okay now, won’t it?

Robert: Of course, no problem.

04-Jan-2000

[bobbie-robron]

Sarah… you’re gonna have to go downstairs, scratch me ankle. It’s killing me.

In the second half of the episode, it appears that Jack has found himself in a pickle having broken through the ceiling while in the attack, having his leg sticking out, which makes for a good chuckle all round (in the last scene we learn it was to get a box he made himself for Annie to give to Sarah). Trying to get Jack’s leg out of the ceiling, Sarah has a breakdown about how bad things have been that day (to think this is the last Christmas with her 😩). They wind up celebrating with Kathy & Graham in the attic.

Richie: Why didn’t you let me help you, ya plank!

Victoria: Yeah, you plank!! 🤣🤣

25-Dec-1999 part 2 Part 1

[bobbie-robron]

What happens if they split up?… Who would you go with if they did? 😔

Sarah gets on Jack’s back about airing their business to Kathy and having a ‘blazing row’ with her because of it. Sarah thinks she’s lost her job but she hasn’t. At school, Robert brings up to the question to Andy of who he’d stay with if Jack & Sarah split 😢. Sarah doesn’t regret her night with Richie (‘it was fantastic’, she hadn’t felt that alive in ages). The final scene has Jack at wit’s end - he’s never gonna stop loving Sarah who asks him not to get upset (umm, that is him upset. Plus, this reminds me of the final nail between Robert/Chrissie before Aaron outs him).

Jack: You haven’t resigned?

Sarah: Well hardly. She’s not going to have me back at the diner though after what I said to her last night.

Jack: Oh, great. So we lose YOUR wage.

Sarah: Jack! You are incredible! You tell our intimate bedroom secrets to Kathy and all you feel bad about is the MONEY we are going to lose. You have no idea how humiliated I felt last night.

16-Feb-2000

[bobbie-robron]

Look, this is between Jack & me! I told you once, keep your nose out of my affairs!!!

We focus on the nothingness that is Sarah’s marriage while Richie offers to romance Sarah and more. The boys have a cameo. Nothing happened between Jack & Sarah the previous night so Jack vents to Kathy about the state of his marriage (not included in clip). When Kathy sticks her nose into it all, things get heated as Sarah brings up her losing Alice and gets a slap in return. In the end, Sarah takes up Richie’s offer to meet later and they go beyond kissing this time…

Sarah: I’d love to but I think we should be a bit careful.

Richie: So do I. That’s why I’ve got a bottle of wine over in the office.

Sarah: Don’t tempt me.

Richie: Candles.

Sarah: What about music?

Richie: I’ll sing to you. I mean it. I’ll sing to ya.

15-Feb-2000

[bobbie-robron]

Why can’t both of you have ordinary jobs. Life would be a lot simply. (Part 1 of 2)

The Sugdens are literally disintegrating before your eyes especially with Jack’s bullheadedness about the farm providing their needs but it really can’t, they need to get money elsewhere and that means Sarah getting a job which makes Jack blow his top and his backward opinions about the times shine through (unfortunately for Sarah and us). This is not a paragon of virtue that is so well regarded on current ED. But only our Robert knows this version now but he won’t tarnish his sister’s view of him ever (pity there).

Scene 1: At the start, Sarah is commenting on Andy’s poor state of clothing from wear and tear and they needing to buy him a new jumper (‘eh, another flaming expense’ Jack mutters 😒). Jack’s not happy when he spots Sarah has circled potential jobs in the paper for a part-time job. Hell no you are, ‘it’s our busiest time of the year’ who cares if it would sort some of the bills and do her good. ‘It just isn’t practical.’ When the boys show up, Robert offers his two cents about ordinary jobs but ‘there have always been farmers in the Sugden family. And long may it continue.’ To stop any further discussion, Sarah takes the boys to Kathy’s since Marlon is offering a cheap breakfast. The clip includes partial scene 1 and full scene 2.

Sarah: It would help us out if I got a part-time job.

Jack: Oh no, I need you here. Full time. 😡

Scene 2: The boys and Sarah are at Kathy for their breakfast. It’s here that Robert is asking if there is another ‘bad patch’ between her and Jack. She assures him that’s not the case, it’s just ‘a bit pressured.’

Robert: Are you sure you’re not just trying to cover up, for us?

Sarah: Robert, everything… well, everything isn’t fine. But it’s nothing we can’t fix. Your dad and I just need to earn some extra money and then life will be a lot easier.

Scene 3: Sarah grabs Marlon when he’s free and offers her services at Kathy’s. She might not have experience but ‘she’s a decent cook and I’m no stranger to hard work.’ She offers to start after she drops off the boys and Marlon agrees.

Marlon: You’re a present from heaven, Sarah Sugden.

Sarah: Brilliant. I won’t let you down.

01-Sep-1999 part 1 of 2

[bobbie-robron]

This is real life, Jack. Not some fairy tale. You can’t wave your magic wand and make it all better. It’s not that simple.

Jack tries to get Sarah to talk to him but there’s nothing to say. Instead Sarah goes to work late and breaks down soon after to Kathy about Jack, the car and about ‘the same old whole routine, the same old money problems, the same flipping sheep’ while Jack vents to Terry (‘he’s not any different’ blah blah blah). The boys themselves are unawares of just how back things are between Jack and Sarah.

Kathy: I knew you weren’t getting on but…

Sarah: That’s bit of an understatement.

Kathy: Yes, but to SAY your marriage is over, Sarah.

Sarah: We haven’t been getting on for some months now. It’s like living with an acquaintance half the time. Oh, we’re polite enough but… we don’t talk, not really.

Kathy: Yes, but have you tried?

Sarah: Well, yeah. What’s the point. Nothing changes. There are the kids but… Do you know, he even sold my car without telling me. I’m just sick of it!…

06-Jan-2000

[bobbie-robron]

A whole night with sweaty Betty Eggleton.

Robert and Andy are in cahoots, that’s right. They enlist Ned to take Jack out that night, for a drink. It’s a guise to bring Jack and Sarah together. Later, Ned and Jack are talking and, lo and behold, Jack suggests a pint later (Ned just laughs it off).

Robert: You’ve got to make him be at the wine bar for 8 o’clock.

Ned: He only likes drinking in the Woolpack....

Andy: Sarah’s gonna be there.

Ned: Oh aye. Does she know?

Robert: Not yet.

Robert and Andy continue with their operation to get Jack and Sarah together by asking Kathy to book a table for 8 o’clock.

Robert: Will you take my mum out tonight.

Kathy: Why?

Robert: Because Ned’s taking me dad. And they’ll both end up here.

Sarah is suspicious of Robert and Andy doing homework at half past 4 in the afternoon. Are they in trouble in school? After Jack comes home, Sarah lets him know that Betty will be babysitting the boys so both of them out isn’t a problem.

Andy: A whole night with sweaty Betty Eggleton.

Sarah: I heard that.

Well, well, the boys’ plan works and both Jack and Sarah wind up at the wine bar and do indeed have an enjoyable meal there. After they get home, one thing leads to another, they hug, they kiss, and they wind up going up together. Sorry, but am disappointed by this.

Sarah: Hold me in your arms. I know it seems daft but, I just want to see what it feels like.

21-Jan-1998

[bobbie-robron]

It’s not fair him getting me into trouble...

Scene 1: Robert wants to get going to school but Andy’s still eating. Robert calls him a thicko and dork. Sarah gets them off to school.

Robert: Hurry up!

Andy: Got a headache.

Robert: Yeah, it’s called maths...

Robert: No, you’re a thicko. Dork.

Sarah: What’s going on.

Robert: That idiot started it.

Andy: He called me a dork.

Scene 2: At the park, Andy is pushing Robert on the swing while Kathy is chatting with Tony Cairns. Kathy rushes over when Alice cries out, Andy pushed her off the swing. Instead of going at Andy she comes down on Robert for standing there and doing nothing.

Kathy: I’m surprised at you Robert Sugden!

Robert: Me!

Kathy: There’s only one thing worse than a bully, people who stand by and watch them!

Andy: Shut up you old bat!

Scene 3: Kathy is with Alice at the Sugdens where they talk about the incident. Andy apologizes and says THEY won’t do it again. Robert is like whaa? Jack also holds Robert accountable since he was there.

Andy: I’m sorry for playing rough Alice.

Sarah: I should think so.

Andy: We won’t do it again.

Robert: What you mean WE?...

Robert: It’s not fair him getting me into trouble.

Jack: If you were there, you were just as responsible...

Andy: Me and Robert were just playing. I bumped into her.

Jack: Well at least you apologized. Go on. Hey, let’s keep away from Alice for a bit (what’s with that look of Andy’s?)

10-Apr-1997

[sardonicnihilism]

A Biography of the Woman Who Never Was

Part 4 The Adult

Chapter 4

It wasn't long before news started getting around to the rest of Shannon's family. Mary never was one to keep somebody else's secret. Shannon did decide to contact her sister though. Everyone agreed that would be best.

Shannon had a very strained relationship with Tracy. After having grown up separately, the two sisters felt very little connection to each other. They almost never talked, never saw each other in person for the most part. Still, when Tracy's husband had left her for another woman, Shannon had talked to both in person and over the phone to make sure she was ok.

Shannon emailed her, saying she was pregnant and that she was going to raise the child with Mary being it's grandmother. Tracy said she understood and that she would tell Kathy. A couple of days later, Tracy emailed Shannon back saying she had talked to Kathy, and that she had said she understood and wouldn't try to butt in.

The rest of the nine months seemed to simultaneously crawl and fly by. But that was pregnancy in a nutshell; a mass of contradictions. It was both easier and harder than she had originally thought. She both loved and hated it. And she both looked joyfully forward to giving birth and dreaded it.

It was strange to feel another life growing inside you; pushing your organs this way and that. Stranger still was the idea it was pissing and shitting inside her as well. The further along she got, the harder it became. She was constantly hot, and could barely sleep with constant back pain.

The prenatal checkups were also a bit bizarre. Often times it involved her laying on her back, legs spread, while the gynecologist or a nurse, probed and prodded her with her hands or devices that looked like weird sex toys. The doctor was cute, so under different circumstances, Shannon thought she might have actually enjoyed it.

After the baby was two weeks over due, it was decided to induce labor. Shannon had thought she had prepared herself, but she was extremely wrong. The pain was like nothing she'd ever faced before. Her muscles cramped and spasmed. Her back felt like it was on fire and her spine threatened to snap. Sam watched impotently as his wife screamed and grunted in pain.

"You want me to call your mum?"

Shannon turned and glared at him. "What the fuck would I want that for? Jesus Christ! She didn't give birth to me. She wouldn't know what the fuck I'm going through!"

"Well, do you want me to call my mum then? It's evening over there now. She should be around."

"MOTHER FUCKER! WHAT'S THE FUCK WRONG WITH YOU?"

"I'm sorry. I just see you pain and I don't know what to do and I want to help," he said desperately.

Shannon softened. "I know. I love you for it, but there's nothing that can be done. We just have to ride this out 'till it's over."

The two held hands and an hour later the doctor and nurses came in. Shannon still wasn't fully dilated, but the doctor decided that she was dilated enough to try. She told Shannon to push. Every time she did, she felt like she was going to split in two.

After half an hour of trying, the one nurse said, "We're losing the baby's heart beat".

It was then they decided to do an emergency C-section. They wheeled Shannon into the operating room and numbed her up. Sam came in and sat beside her and held her hand. She felt felt pressure in her lower abdomen, then a feeling that she had no words to describe as the doctor cut the baby out. As soon as she heard him cry, she felt a massive sense of relief. A nurse took Sam and the baby into the room they were in while the doctor stuffed everything thing back in and sewed her up.

Shannon started to drift in and out of consciousness. She looked around the room, not knowing what she was even looking for or at. Then Jen suddenly appeared before her with the rest of the coven standing behind her.

"Well, well; the gay girl has done gone straight and become a breader," she said mockingly. "This could have been so much easier. We could have, I could have taken so much better care of you, but you turned your back on us." Jen scowled at Shannon for a bit, but then smiled.

"That child of yours, you have no idea what you gave birth to. What you've let loose into the world. He is the black shepard. He is the protector of the damned and defiled. He is blasphemy made flesh. This was your destiny. This is what your vision foretold."

"Stay your tongue witch," another voice said. It was a voice she hadn't heard in almost a decade. It was the voice of the old woman.

"The Sky Dancer knows who she is. She won't fall for any of your lies," the old woman said.

"I am not the Sky Dancer. My son is not some fulfillment of some demonic prophecy. And none of you are real. You're all just a hallucination brought on by the anesthesia, the pain of child birth, and the residual side effects of that drink you gave me!" Shannon's voice was strong and full of purpose.

Jen gave a twisted, mocking smile and they all faded away.

"What's she saying?" the doctor asked the one nurse as she listened to Shannon mumble to herself.

"I'm not sure. Something about the sky and dancing. She's not making much sense," the nurse responded.

"Poor thing," the doctor said sympathetically as she finished her work.

The nurses wheeled Shannon back to her room where she slept in a drug induced haze until morning when she heard a baby crying.

"Oh, right," she said, her mind still wrapped in a thick fog. "I'm a mom now."

And that is how Jeremiah Stewart Hopwood was brought into the world.