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sjsmith56 · 7 months ago

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The Trap, Chapter 23 - Eyes of the Father

Summary: While Lacey and the Barton’s deal with the discovery she’s been tracked to the farm, Bucky and the Wakandans realize the auction is a trap.

Length: 4.7 K

Characters: Almost everyone.

Warnings: Violence causing injury.

Author notes: More heroic Bucky (I find it hot 🔥).

<<Chapter 22

🏰 🌓

Barton's Farm

As soon as Lacey and Terry walked through the portal onto Clint's farm, she and Tommy ran to each other with their arms outstretched. He almost bowled her over when he hugged her. There were several minutes of crying and kissing they both had to get through before they could speak.

"I wanted to hurt that tattooed man who took you," said Tommy to his mother. "I could tell he was bad just by how he looked at you."

"He didn't hurt me," replied Lacey, "but he turned me over to a man and a woman so they could sell me. Your Dad and another man rescued me."

"He rescued me, too," stated Tommy. "We made up. Did you make up with him?"

"Yeah, I made up with him," she answered, with a big smile. "We worked it out. When he's finished his mission, he'll come here."

"He's an Avenger, Mom," boasted the boy. "My Dad is an Avenger."

She hugged him. For so long he had only known Bucky via her phone, then they both had to live with sorrow when they thought he was dead. Now he was one of a group of heroes and she could see the pride in Tommy's face as he talked about his dad.

Standing up with her arm around Tommy's shoulders she looked at the farm, remembering much of it. Clint and Laura strode up to them and she hugged them both.

"Thank you for looking after him," she said emotionally. "I'm still short of a few memories and they come back at the weirdest times so if I laugh or cry out of turn, you'll know why."

"What about you and Bucky?" asked Clint. "Have you made up?"

Lacey smiled remembering the previous two days. "Yeah, we made up," she repeated, then put her arm around Tommy. "He said we're getting married as soon as we can."

"I'd like to walk you down the aisle then," said Clint.

"Laura, would you be my matron of honour?" asked Lacey. "I'm not even sure when we're going to do it but you were my closest girl friend for a long time. That I do remember."

"It would be my honour," said Laura. "Come on in ... you too, Terry, and have something to eat."

They all went inside where over breakfast Lacey told them everything that happened from when her memory was taken from her through to her old memories returning and the rescue at the airfield. Clint told her about the mission in Madripoor and how Bucky had taken a leadership role in planning the rescue and destruction of the lab.

"Why did that Sharon woman sell me?" asked Lacey. "It was like she hated me from the moment she saw me."

Clint looked at Tommy, not sure if he should say in front of him but the boy looked at his mother and put his hand on hers. "She was jealous of you, Mom," he said. "She had a thing for Dad, and he wouldn't even look at her that way. I heard some of her guards talking about it and laughing that he loved you over her."

"It's true," said Clint. "The scientist she found to recreate the serum said her goal was to remove Bucky's memories and reprogram him to be her lover and chief of security. He was to be in charge of a team of super soldiers that answered to her. She tested the memory machine on you but only once, thinking it was enough. The man she sold you to, Sergei Dendrov? He's one of the men who came looking for the flash drive at your house when you first met Bucky. It's likely he killed your brother Tom, as well."

"Terry said Tom was dead," replied Lacey. "I guess I have to wait for all the memories of that time to return. I do remember that man looking at me in the car like I was ... nothing, then driving to an airfield near New York and giving me to another man and woman. They spoke another language the whole time which I realized at some point in the flight was Russian. That's when my memories began returning. If they hadn't, what would they have done with me?"

Clint shrugged. "You were a blank slate," he said. "I'm guessing you would have been trained to become an assassin. That auction they were flying you to is a high level affair apparently. If Bucky and the Wakandans are successful at infiltrating it they could put a serious dent into several traffickers, not just the ones that had you."

Lacey nodded her head soberly. It had been a brief glimpse into a sordid world for her, one that almost swallowed her up. Perhaps it was something that she could write about in a future book. She smiled, realizing she just remembered she was a writer. Another memory rebuilding in her mind. She looked at her brother, still getting used to seeing him as an adult, then at her son. He had his own experiences that would need dealing with but she was sure Bucky could help him with that once he returned. She wondered if Bucky and the Wakandans had started the final part of their mission yet.

"Just come back to us," she thought, sending her wish to Bucky.

She rubbed her hands over her arms, feeling a little chill suddenly. There was a bump on her left tricep and she felt it closely, not recalling how she got it at first. It must have shown on her face as Clint looked at her with some concern.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing, I hope," she replied, then she turned her arm to him. "Can you see a bump here on my tricep? I don't recall having it before."

Clint looked closely at it and ran his fingertip over it. It was hard, about the size of a grain of rice, and it looked like there was a small puncture wound at one end of it. Quickly he went to a cupboard in the kitchen and pulled out the first aid kit.

"Laura, get some rubbing alcohol," he said. "Clean all around that bump." He pulled a razor out of the first aid kit and poured the rubbing alcohol over it then held it over Lacey's arm. "Take a deep breath. This might hurt a little."

Gently he sliced open the skin over the bump. Laura doused some forceps with the rubbing alcohol and handed them to Clint. As Lacey took another deep breath he inserted the forceps into the cut and grasped the bump pulling it out, revealing it to be a small electronic device. Carefully he looked at it then dropped it on the floor and smashed it with his heel while Laura put a bandage on Lacey's arm.

"We have to get out of here," he said suddenly. "Where are the kids?"

"The boys are at the treehouse," said Laura. "Lila's upstairs. Clint, what was that?"

"A tracking device," he said, looking intently at Lacey. "You don't remember them putting it in your arm?"

Her face was shocked, and she racked her brains trying to think when they could have done it. "The man on the jet injected me with something before we landed," she cried. "I thought it was something to knock me out, but it didn't."

"He injected you with a tracker, probably to lead them to Tommy," said Clint. "It was a setup. I have to get the boys."

"Let me go," offered Tommy. "I'm faster than you, Uncle Clint. I can get there and bring them back."

Clint hesitated for a moment. "Go," he ordered Tommy who took off as fast as he could. "Terry, come out to the barn with me. I have weapons there."

"What about the protection spell?" he asked as he ran to the barn with Clint. "It's what gave us enough time to escape when they came for Lacey and Tommy before."

"No, it's not on anymore," said Clint. "Once I was back I told them I could handle it. We can try texting Wong but I'm guessing the traffickers will be here within minutes."

They went into Clint's workshop, and he pressed a button, opening a secret room that Terry never knew existed the whole time they were living on the farm during the Blip. Clint pulled out several handguns and magazines to fit, handing them to Terry. Then he pulled out his bow and a quiver of arrows. Pressing the button to close the room they ran back to the house at the same time as Tommy showed up carrying Nathaniel on his back, with Cooper trying to keep up. Clint pulled Cooper inside where Laura had already closed all the windows and with Lila's and Lacey's help moved heavy furniture in front of them to keep anyone from coming in.

"I called Fury," she said. "They're under attack but will send help as soon as they can. They're also sending backup to the chateau in France where the auction is." She looked grimly at Clint and Terry. "They think it was all a trap to lure Bucky in. The leader of the trafficking cartel has been identified as Viktor Orlov, former KGB General and former HYDRA."

Only the presence of his children kept Clint from swearing. He looked at his three and then at Tommy. "Get into the storm cellar below the stairs," he said. "I want you down there while we handle the intruders up here."

"Uncle Clint, I can help," offered Tommy. "I know how to fight."

"I know son," replied Clint, smiling fondly at the boy. "But your Dad would want me to make sure you're safe. If they get to us up here, you'll have your chance, but I hope it doesn't come to that. Now get down there and stay quiet."

Clint looked at Lacey, unsure if she was strong enough in her current state to handle a gun. With a steely look she picked up a handgun, loaded a magazine into it and grabbed two more magazines.

"Where do you want me?" she asked.

They built a barricade of more furniture and all of them got into it except Clint who had kept part of one window open so he could see outside. They waited and within minutes several vehicles pulled up well away from the house. Each vehicle held four people, male and female, all of them fully armed. Clint looked back at Laura, meeting her eyes with his. They smiled at each other then he nodded his head, notched an arrow into his bow and let it fly through the open window to the closest vehicle, blowing it up and knocking several of the intruders onto their backs. Without hesitation he did the same to the next vehicle, taking out more of the intruders at the same time. The others got smart at that point and split up, surrounding the house before opening fire and driving all of them to take cover inside. They could see several people come up onto the porch and break the windows from the outside, trying to push the heavy furniture out of the way. Terry went to one of the windows and with his handgun shot wildly from a small opening before hitting the floor. He knew he hit several people as he heard their bodies hitting the porch deck. Changing to another window he did the same but Clint told him to get back to the barricade before he got shot. Reluctantly he climbed back over the furniture and took his place.

"Man of the house!" yelled a person from outside with a Russian accent. "Give us the boy and we'll leave you alone. Surely the life of your own children and your wife is worth one small boy."

Clint looked at Lacey and Terry. "Not happening," he yelled firmly. "You leave and you'll get to live."

Those outside opened up again and fired incessantly on the house. Several shots made their way inside, hitting the opposite walls. Then a flash bang landed indoors and went off, stunning all of them. As they coughed and tried to get their senses back they heard the sound of one of the pieces of heavy furniture being moved and footsteps entering the house. All of them looked up to see several high powered assault rifles aimed at them.

"Checkmate," said the same voice that had yelled from outside. "Drop your weapons."

"Drop yours," said a voice from the stairs and Wong sent an energy pulse through all of the armed intruders causing them to collapse. He turned to look at Clint. "Sorry, we're late. We had to deal with the attack on the compound before we came here. It appears they hoped to take us all down at the same time."

Clint went over to the intruders and pulled their guns away from them. Then he went to the storm cellar door and opened it. The kids looked up the stairs at him and he motioned for them to come up. Nathaniel came up first and hugged his parents, followed by Tommy, who hugged Lacey and Terry. Clint then went to where the intruders had entered and saw the rest of them under guard of several MPs. He turned back to Wong.

"What about Bucky and the Wakandans?" he asked. "Was it really a trap?"

Wong grimaced in his understated way. "Yes, but I don't know how it's been resolved," he replied. "We did send reinforcements, but no one has reported back yet."

Chateau Louis XIV, Provence

The convoy of three Audi sedans pulled up to the gates of the chateau. The first vehicle with Everett Ross at the wheel was approached by a man with an iPad. Behind him, another man with a machine gun watched impassively as the occupants of the vehicles were checked in.

"Buyer's code 7398," said Ross, in French.

"Lower the back seat windows for visual verification, please," replied the man with the iPad in accented English. "Your French is terrible."

Ross shrugged and lowered the windows. In the back Bucky and Ayo sat, both of them wearing nano masks. The man looked at them carefully, comparing their faces to the information on his iPad. He nodded his approval then went to the second vehicle and did the same for the King's Guard driver, and for a member of the King's Guard, Themba and Nomble, acting as buyer's assistants and also fitted with nano masks. The third vehicle with Yama alone as driver to transport their purchases after the auction also passed scrutiny. The man went back to the first vehicle.

"You will park where directed," he informed Ross. "Drivers are to stay in the vicinity of their vehicles. Buyers are to proceed inside where they will be directed to the salon for refreshments."

He stood back and pressed his comms piece saying buyers code 7398 had just arrived. The gates opened and Ross led the convoy inside, dropping off Bucky and Ayo at the entrance before following the parking attendant to his designated parking spot. He got out of his vehicle and watched as the other two vehicles were parked next to him. He scratched his ear then gently touched his comms piece.

"We're in," he said quietly, then pulled a cigarette package out of his pocket and lit a cigarette, blowing smoke out forcefully.

Inside the four undercover operatives approached another check-in station, this one armed with a metal detector. Bucky waited until the other three were with him then addressed the woman at the computer with perfect French.

"Buyer's code 7398," he said, perfunctorily, then waited as if he was bored.

He looked around him, taking in the rich surroundings, while also assessing the security. Holding on to his arm possessively Ayo, who had assumed the persona of a very well-kept woman, also looked around although she often looked up at Bucky adoringly. Behind him, Themba and Nomble assumed the persona of buyer's assistants, waiting to be directed by their boss. The woman at the check-in looked at something and her face underwent a subtle change which Bucky noticed.

"Is there a problem?" he asked in French.

"No, monsieur," she replied. "Our host has requested a private meeting with you, but he hasn't arrived yet. It's most unusual."

"May we go to the viewing salon while we wait?" he asked with a sense of exasperation. "I did want an opportunity to view the merchandise before the auction."

"Certainly," she replied. "There is no problem with you attending the pre-auction viewing. Marcel will escort you and your entourage there. When General Orlov arrives, you will be summoned."

Bucky bowed his head slightly, while searching his memories for an Orlov in his past. The only one he could think of was Viktor Orlov who had been part of the KGB, then HYDRA while he was still the Winter Soldier. The last he heard the man had been taken down by SHIELD. As they were escorted to the viewing salon Bucky pressed a button on his watch which would render his vibranium arm invisible to the metal detector. The others had a similar button on their jewelry which hid their spears and metallic weapons. He noticed there were only guards in attendance in the viewing salon. He looked at Ayo and she whispered to him.

"Trap?" she asked.

He nodded, then looked at the two behind him who had also become more alert, noticing the same things he did. Themba tilted his head and Bucky nodded once. Then he turned to look at the dozen people up for sale in the auction, each one in their own windowed cell. They all looked terrified. Slowly he walked towards the left, closer to the final cell where an armed guard stood. He glanced to his right noticing Ayo, Themba and Nomble were spread out to the right. Leaning forward to look at the supposed abilities and possibilities with the person on display he pulled out a set of glasses, as if he was having trouble reading something.

"Tell me," he glanced at the guard, speaking in French, "what does this mean? What are they flexible in?"

The guard smirked and answered in English. "This must be your first time at one of our auctions," he replied smugly, letting his guard down slightly. "Physically flexible as in you can bend them any which way but not break them."

"That's what I thought," replied Bucky, in English. "Thank you."

Grabbing the man's firearm, he shoved it into his face while simultaneously lifting him and throwing him against the wall knocking him out immediately. Behind him Ayo and Nomble had extended their spears which had been in their clutch purses in a retracted state. Both attacked the guards nearest them while Themba attacked the guard nearest to him in much the same manner as Bucky. His guard fought back and Themba found it necessary to run up the man's body, wrap his legs around his throat and squeeze until the man fell unconscious. The people on display were all on their knees pounding on the glass. Bucky could hear them calling for help even though the glass was soundproof. His superior hearing could hear their faint but frantic calls. Taking one of the guns he aimed at the top of one of the windowed panels shooting a short burst, but it was bullet proof glass. One of them, a young woman pointed at the panel below her window, and he pried it off with a nod. He looked up at her and she yelled which wires to cross. He pulled out two of them and touched their metallic ends together. A small click sounded and the panel on her window raised. Bucky offered her his hand as she scrambled out. Then he pulled his nano mask off.

"Red wire and blue wire," he said to the others as they pulled off the rest of the panels.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "There's a dozen more in another salon. I was employed here as a server until one of the women on sale killed herself by breaking her food plate and cutting her own throat. They made me take her place. I swear I didn't realize it was human trafficking. We were told they were psychiatric inmates, members of wealthy families."

"Can you get us in there?" asked Bucky, pointing to the entrance to the next salon. She nodded and he turned to the other people they had just freed. "Grab a gun. We've walked into a trap and the only way out is to fight." He pressed his comms and heard nothing. "They've blocked our comms. Hopefully those outside have realized this and are calling in the cavalry."

The others took what firearms they could from the four guards and Bucky directed them to follow him and the young woman.

"What's your name?" he asked as they made their way to a doorway that she said led to the next salon.

"Raina," she replied, then choked back a sob. "They were going to sell me to the highest bidder, weren't they?"

"Yep," he answered. "You might have been lured here for the server job but I'm guessing by how attractive you are they always intended for you to be part of the auction."

"Fuck," she muttered. "How do you know this?"

"They took my girlfriend," he replied. "Wiped her memory then when it started to return they were going to kill her. We hacked into their computer system and found out where they were going to drop her off. You were already in the catalogue. I'm guessing they let us hack them so they could lure us here. The four of us are pretty valuable as possible slaves."

They came to the closed doorway and the Wakandans moved up to be next to Bucky. Ayo looked at him.

"White Wolf," she said solemnly. "Us three are expendable but they must never get you. There are likely more armed guards in there. Let us three take the room."

"No one is expendable, Ayo," he said, focusing on her. "I am faster than any of you. I can take them all out before you even get in the door. If I die in the process, you just get the others out of their cells and get the hell out of here. Tell Lacey and Tommy, I love them."

Before she could say anything Bucky raised his firearm and ran through the door. They watched in amazement as he went from guard to guard, firing first then punching, throwing and kicking them into submission. A couple of the guards did manage to get some rounds off which hit him but he never stopped until he had all of the guards down on the floor. Slowly he turned, making sure all the guards were down, and Ayo was relieved to see his bullet wounds were not in a critical area. He went to the nearest panel, pulling it off and opening their doors. She and the others did the same. One of the people on display came down and stood in front of Bucky. A man in his mid-40s, he looked at Bucky with recognition.

"You did get away," he said with admiration. "Thank you Soldat for my freedom."

Bucky looked at him and put his hand on the man's shirt front, dragging him close to his face. "I am no longer the Winter Soldier," he declared. "I am James Bucky Barnes and as much as I hate that you were part of HYDRA you are part of my efforts to make amends."

"I am Hans Meyer," replied the man quickly. "I went straight after HYDRA fell and refused to be their tool anymore. I went into legitimate medical research. But Viktor Orlov found me, kidnapped me, and put me up for sale. This is his doing."

He gestured at the environment around them, and Bucky released him. "Then we both better get out of here before Orlov arrives," said Bucky. Turning to the others he noticed that the remaining captives had armed themselves and he gestured back to the doorway which led to the rest of the chateau. "Anyone know if there's another way out that doesn't involve the main entry?"

Raina put up her hand. "Servers have a door to the kitchen and there's a door to the outside there," she replied. "The only problem is you need a special bracelet to open the door and they took mine."

She showed them to the door that led to the kitchen and Bucky looked closely at it. He fired a long burst at its hinges then kicked it. The frame cracked and he kicked it again, dislodging the door. Several of the young men grabbed it and pulled it away. Leading them into the kitchen, which was empty, Bucky took the point position, making sure there were no surprise guards. They made it to the outside door and Bucky turned the handle determining it was unlocked. The others started crowding towards it to get out but Bucky and the Wakandans blocked their way. The four warriors were all suspicious at the ease of their escape.

"It's too easy," said Bucky, looking back at Raina. "Tell me the truth, were you really on display for the auction or were you put there to make sure we all came out of this door?"

Her face coloured and she became defensive. "I told you what happened," she protested.

Another who had been in the second room looked closely at her. "I saw you," she said, grabbing Raina's arm. "You were flirting with a guard while I was being locked in my cell. That wasn't even an hour ago."

Bucky shook his head at Raina then grabbed her and shoved her out of the door before closing it and locking it from the inside. They watched through a window as all sorts of floodlights came on and she raised her hands screaming that she was one of them. She ran forward then fell after a single gunshot and Bucky saw two guards run to her, dragging her away.

"Well, shit," he said and turned to Ayo. "Suggestions?"

She looked at him with her usual no nonsense attitude. "We post a guard on this door and the one to the salon," she said. "I take care of your bullet wounds while we come up with a way to destroy this chateau and get everyone out alive."

"Destroy it?" repeated Bucky. "We're still in it, Ayo. I don't think any of us wants this building falling on us while we're trapped in the kitchen."

Ayo looked up to a corner of the room and he followed her gaze with his eyes noticing an active security camera. He looked back at her quickly then raised his gun and shot at the camera until he destroyed it.

"This was never about the auction of slaves," she said firmly. "You were the auction. They were the bait to bring you here. I am guessing we were allowed to hack into their computer to lure you here and see you in action. First when you rescued Lacey and then when you led this rescue. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to set this up. They aren't going to let you destroy the building with you still in it. The rest of us are expendable, to them."

Bucky swore and wondered how long it would be before he could finally remove every remaining HYDRA agent or cell from the face of the Earth. He would never return to them willingly and he sure as hell wouldn't let them get Tommy. They would have to begin brainstorming how to get out of the chateau and how to stop them permanently.

Chapter 24>>

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#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #buckybarnes original female character #human trafficking #marvels avengers #heroic Bucky

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wandaluvstacos · 6 months ago

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THE ONLY SECONDS THAT MATTER

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE IS UP!

Genre: Contemporary Romance Rating: 18+

Includes: Extensive horse nerdery + cowboys, mxm romance (1 trans + 1 cis), some discussion child abuse, some instances of trans/homophobia (it is rural Oklahoma, y'all), depression, occasional sex scene (but it’s a slow burn for sure)

Victor Ortiz-Bennett had some reservations about moving to Oklahoma, but his late aunt willed him a 70-acre horse farm, and he decides to fulfill his dream of running and operating his own training facility. Victor’s been around the reining horse show circuit for a while, and he’s ready to settle down, travel less, and spend more time with the horses he loves and away from the people he can do without. That is, until he picks up a horse at an auction with a bucking problem he can’t fix, and he has to take her to the one guy who can ride anything– Johnny Stearns, a retired professional rodeo rider.

Johnny Stearns is loud, chatty, eccentric, and fears nothing, exactly Victor’s opposite. However, Victor finds himself sinking into an odd friendship with this new foul-mouthed cowboy without a filter, diving deeper into the mess that is Johnny’s life until there’s no way to extract himself from it. Johnny may talk a tough game, but there’s more to him than he’ll let most people see. Victor knows getting in too deep will mean a rough ride, but if there’s anything Johnny’s taught him, it’s how to stay in the saddle.

Excerpt:

“She’s out in this!” Johnny yelled over the whistling wind and rain. “I can’t just sit around. I’ll be fine in my truck.”

“You can’t just—” Victor cut himself off as he saw a flash of lightning in the distance, outlining a dark mass of clouds swirling across the sky in the distance. Jesus fucking Christ. “That’s a fucking tornado!”

“I seen a lotta tornadoes in my life. I’ll be fine.” Johnny put his hat back on his head. “I’m gonna head out.”

“Johnny!” Victor called at his back, first to make Johnny stop but then again because he heard the distant hum of what sounded like an engine. Johnny must have heard it too, because they both turned toward it at the same time. Victor didn’t even wait for Johnny to react. He leapt off the porch and ran out into the rain, calling Taylor’s name. The downpour made it hard to see, but Victor could make out the shape of something near the road, even as the engine noise went suddenly quiet.

“Taylor, is that you?” Victor called, then answered his own question as he got close enough to see Taylor struggling to stand a small dirtbike straight after it had fallen over in the ditch next to the road. Just before Victor got to her, Johnny went sprinting past him, barely pulling up in time to keep from crashing into her as he yanked her into his arms. She was soaking wet and sobbing, and she clung to Johnny like a baby monkey.

“Goddamn, you fuckin’ scared the piss outta me,” Johnny exclaimed, smoothing her wet tangles of hair off her forehead. “What the hell are you doin’?”

Taylor was too upset to speak, and Victor didn’t think they had much time to talk about it anyway. The rain had started to peter off, and the air was so thick it felt sticky. “Can we go to the shelter now? Please?”

“The bike,” Taylor protested as Johnny drew her away from the road.

“We’ll worry about it later,” Johnny told her. “Let’s go.”

#The Only Seconds that Matter #update #patreon #my writing #excerpt #original fiction

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slowlyhardgoatee · 2 years ago

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Welcome to the Farm, cunt.

That’s what you are now, boy. A cunt to be fucked. Speaking of which, I assume Daddy Dick has already been up you, has he? Yeah, I thought as much. He usually rapes the new boys within a couple of hours of them arriving here. Did he have you bareback or was he wearing a rubber? Bareback, you say. And did he nut in you and all? Yeah? Right, so you belong in the pig pen with the rest of the breeding stock.

Again, that’s all you are. Livestock for big fat hairy farmers to breed. I’m the lead Farm hand here. Welcome. I’m effectively your boss.

On the way to the pig pen I’ll lay down some ground rules.

One, this is an actual pig pen and it’s outside. Clothing of any kind is forbidden in the pig pen at all times, so you and the other pig boys will have to find ways to keep warm. There is a hierarchy in the pig pen, and believe me, you are far from the top of it.

Two, you are to refer to Daddy Dick as Daddy at all times, and to me and the other farm hands as Sir at all times.

Three, Daddy Dick will come to the pig pen every morning at seven sharp. He will divide you pigs up into pairs, and will give each pair two minutes to try and make him cum. Whichever pair is successful gets the privilege of being Dick’s bitch boys for the day - which means you’ll be allowed up into the farmhouse in the warm, where you’ll be expected to spend all day servicing him from head to toe, front and back. The rest of you will be taken off by me and the other farm hands to be either raped and bred on the premises, or auctioned off to other farmers for them to rape, breed and use as they see fit.

If you’re a good pig, you’ll be allowed one morning a week to yourself to do as you please on the grounds - we’ll be putting a locked collar around your neck in about five minutes, and it’s got an electric shock system in it, so don’t even think about running off. Every day, without fail, you will beg to suck me off. Most of the time I won’t grant you that privilege. I just enjoy watching a cunt degrade itself by begging to suck a real man’s cock.

Now, Dick might take pity on you for the first couple of days and take you up to the house, but please don’t be under the impression that you are here to do anything other than serve and suffer for the pleasure of fat hairy old men. You’re a slave.

Oh, and a final rule, cunt. If any of us Farm hands catch you trying to escape, you’ll be first shocked by the collar, then taken to the pig pen, where you’ll be gang raped, branded and then gelded in front of the other pig boys. So don’t try it. You’ve been warned.

Now get on your fucking faggot knees, pig. You’re gonna suck me before we get to the pen, and you’d better suck me good, faggot. Otherwise I might decide I’ve caught you trying to escape, get what I mean? Yeah. Get that cock in your mouth, pig. Suck me nice and slow. God, that’s a sweet fucking mouth. I can see why Dick brought you here, boy. You’re gonna be really popular with the farmers round here, believe me.

That’s it, fucking gag on it, slut. That a big enough dick for you, cunt? Good. Because there’ll be plenty more to come. I hope you’re ready for a good breeding, boy, because I’m nowhere near finished with you yet.

#pigboy #slave ownedpig

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newstfionline · 9 months ago

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Thursday, March 14, 2024

The US has its first presidential rematch since 1956 (AP) Just when Americans thought they were out, Joe Biden and Donald Trump pulled them back in. The sequel to the 2020 election is officially set as the president and his immediate predecessor secured their parties’ nominations. Biden and Trump have set up a political movie the country has seen before—even if the last version was in black and white. The last presidential rematch came in 1956, when Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower again defeated Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic opponent he had four years prior. Grover Cleveland, meanwhile, was the nation’s 22nd and 24th president, winning elections in 1884 and 1892.

Congress is becoming less productive (Reuters) The U.S. Congress is navigating yet another government funding deadline—the eighth in less than six months—and are at an impasse over sending aid to key allies in Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. Divisions among Republicans in the House and Senate killed a major bipartisan border policy bill. Reforms to bedrock programs like Medicare and Social Security are desperately needed but no closer to getting passed. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives spent close to a month without a speaker last year due to infighting between moderate and hard right factions of the Republican party. When U.S. Representative Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, begged his colleagues in November to “give me one thing I can campaign on and say we did,” he was articulating what many lawmakers and observers were feeling: Congress isn’t working. The simplest expression of this is the number of bills passed by Congress. Just twenty-seven bills were passed last year—a record low.

In yearly Pennsylvania tradition, Amish communities hold spring auctions to support fire departments (AP) A couple hundred used buggies—horses not included—were lined up and ready for the auctioneer’s gavel last weekend when day began at the Gordonville mud sale, a local Amish tradition dating to the 1960s. Mud sales are country auctions that benefit volunteer fire departments across what the Amish community refers to as the Lancaster settlement, located some 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Philadelphia where the devout Christian group began to settle about 300 years ago. They don’t sell mud, although a cold rain brought plenty of it. The name refers to early spring, when wet fields have begun to thaw but may not be ready for the plow. Gordonville’s mud sale, one of at least a dozen being held this spring in the region, drew thousands of bidders and was expected to net the fire department about $100,000, about 10% of the total proceeds. Amish people make and donate much of the food and sale items and are the buyers of most of the buggies and the array of horse-drawn farm equipment.

As leader resigns, Haitian politicians rush to form new government (Washington Post) Haitian leaders scrambled Tuesday to meet a 24-hour deadline to set up a panel that will lead the deteriorating country to new elections following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Kenyan officials, meanwhile, said they were putting the deployment of a U.N.-approved multinational security force to the beleaguered Caribbean nation on pause until a new government is in place, according to media reports. A senior U.S. State Department official said the transitional presidential council would select an interim prime minister and government in “the very near future” and the mission should “go forward without delay.” Perhaps the greatest question: Would the gangs that helped push Henry allow the transition to a new authority?

Germany hit by new wave of airport, train strikes (DPA) Germany has again been hit by a double wave of strikes in the transport sector, as train drivers and aeroplane cabin crews stopped work on Tuesday in ongoing wage disputes. Around 80% of long-distance trains were cancelled on Tuesday as train drivers from the state-owned rail company Deutsche Bahn went on strike. At major air hubs Frankfurt and Munich, tens of thousands passengers were having to reschedule their flights due to a two-day strike by the cabin crew union Ufo at Lufthansa. Individual flights were also cancelled at other locations such as Berlin's international airport.

‘Jamming’: How Electronic Warfare Is Reshaping Ukraine’s Battlefields (NYT) The Ukrainian soldier swore and tore off his headset. His video monitor had gone blurry at first, the landscape of shattered trees and shell craters barely visible, before blacking out completely. The Russians had jammed the signal of his drone as it was flying outside the town of Kreminna in eastern Ukraine. For a while, the Ukrainians enjoyed a honeymoon period with their self-detonating drones that were used like homemade missiles. The weapons seemed like an effective alternative to artillery shells for striking Russian forces. Now, the bad days are starting to outweigh the good ones: electronic countermeasures have become one of the Russian military’s most formidable weapons after years of honing their capabilities. Electronic warfare remains a hidden hand in much of the war, and like Ukraine’s disadvantage in troop numbers and ammunition supplies, Ukraine suffers in this area as well in comparison to Russia. Russia has more jamming equipment capable of overpowering Ukrainian signals by broadcasting on the same frequencies at higher power. It also exhibits better coordination among their units.

Naval drones versus Russian warships (BBC) The secretive G-13 unit of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency was behind the sinking of the Sergey Kotov warship last week, its fifth downing in the year since it’s been in operation. The group’s not-so-secret weapons are naval drones—cheap, unmanned and lethal. The Magura V5, named after a Slavic goddess of war, looks like a small motorboat with a flat surface instead of passenger seats. “It doesn’t emit a lot of heat, so it’s almost invisible for thermal cameras. It’s made from plastic, therefore even radars struggle to see it,” says the unit’s commander. Produced by the Ukrainian armed forces, the drone’s claimed range is 800km (500 miles), so it can easily reach the Crimean peninsula and even the Russian coastline. It can allegedly carry 250kg of payload, enough to sink a warship.

Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war (Reuters) President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict. Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not “rushing” up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA in response to a question whether the country was really ready for a nuclear war. Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory—or to Ukraine—Russia would treat the move as an intervention.

Chinese trust goes bust, reflecting turbulent economy (AP) Some investors in a troubled trust fund in China are facing financial ruin under a government plan to return a fraction of their money, casualties of a slump in the property industry and a broader economic slowdown. Sichuan Trust, headquartered in the southwest city of Chengdu, announced it was insolvent in 2020, stricken by sketchy accounting and failed investments in shopping malls and other projects. A deadline earlier this month to accept a 20%-60% “haircut” or loss on their investments has left some investors in deep financial trouble. China’s economy, the world’s second largest, depends heavily on real estate development to drive growth and create jobs. Property prices and sales have languished after a crackdown on what leaders viewed as dangerous levels of borrowing, causing dozens of developers to default on their debts. The ruling Communist Party faces a dilemma: Debt is a problem, but falling home prices lead people to scrimp on spending. That squeezes companies’ sales, so they lay off workers and cut back on investment. The result: slowing growth and less wealth to go around.

Medics say they were ‘humiliated’ in raid (BBC) For several weeks, Alice Cuddy and several of our colleagues have been investigating what went on when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raided Gaza’s Nasser hospital last month. It was at the time one of the few medical facilities still functioning in the Strip. Intelligence, the IDF said, indicated the presence of Hamas operatives—a claim denied by Hamas. Some hostages who got out of Gaza said they had been held at Nasser. Since the raid, Palestinian medical staff in Gaza have told the BBC they were blindfolded, detained, forced to strip and repeatedly beaten by Israeli soldiers. Doctor Ahmed Abu Sabha, whose account closely matches those of two medics who wished to remain anonymous, described being detained for a week. Muzzled dogs were set upon him and his hand was broken by an Israeli soldier, he said. The three men told the BBC they were beaten, doused with cold water, and forced to kneel in uncomfortable positions for hours. The IDF did not comment on the specific allegations, but said “any abuse of detainees is contrary to IDF orders”.

A Ramadan of ‘sadness’ as war-weary Gazans go hungry (Washington Post) For Mahasen Khateeb, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan used to be a time of lavish dinners, family gatherings, communal prayers and gift giving. “All of that is gone,” the 31-year-old graphic designer said by phone from Jabalya, in northern Gaza, which humanitarian groups warn is on the brink of famine after months of Israeli siege and bombardment. Khateeb doesn’t have enough food for suhoor, the traditional meal eaten before dawn, when the day-long Ramadan fast begins. On Tuesday for iftar, the post-sunset meal when people break their fast, she planned to make rounds of bread topped with canned tomato sauce. Her brother risked his life, she said, to get a bag of flour during a rare and chaotic aid delivery last week. “This situation isn’t new with Ramadan,” she said. “We’ve already been fasting for more than a month. … There are no food products to buy and eat.” Khateeb said she has mainly been subsisting on green leafy plants that grow with the winter rains and die out as spring approaches. 16 children have died of malnutrition in aid-starved Gaza, health officials say

A ship carrying 200 tons of food is heading to Gaza (Washington Post) A ship carrying nearly 200 tons of food left Cyprus on Tuesday to deliver desperately needed aid to the Gaza Strip, where concerns are mounting over the worsening humanitarian situation. The journey, if successful, would mark the first shipment of aid into Gaza via a new maritime route—but the supplies the ship is carrying represent only a fraction of the amount of aid needed after five months of a devastating war that has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The mission is being undertaken by World Central Kitchen, the aid organization founded by celebrity chef Andrés, who is based in Washington. “We have served more than 35 million meals in Gaza & the maritime corridor will allow us to provide millions more,” the group said.

Zimbabwe, After Expelling U.S. Officials, Accuses Them of Promoting ‘Regime Change’ (NYT) The government of the southern African nation of Zimbabwe detained, interrogated and deported officials and contractors working for the United States government last month, and this week accused them publicly of promoting “regime change” in their country. The incident is the latest in the Zimbabwean government’s aggressive efforts to thwart both domestic and international challenges to its authority. The incumbent government claimed victory in a chaotic election last year that several independent observer missions said lacked fairness and credibility. But it also points to a deeper tension over the United States’ proclaimed efforts to promote democracy around the globe. Some nations, including Zimbabwe, have accused America of meddling in their affairs and attempting to impose its values—as well as of hypocrisy, given the threats at home to its own democracy.

#headlines #news

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madamlaydebug · 2 years ago

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In honor of Black History Month...

Today, we honor the life and legacy of Sojourner Truth.

Sojourner Truth (1797 – November 26, 1883) was an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist.

Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, Ulster County, New York. She was one of ten children born to James and Elizabeth Baumfree. James Baumfree was an African captured from the Gold Coast in modern-day Ghana. Elizabeth Baumfree was the daughter of enslaved Africans from the Coast of Guinea.

When her first owner died in 1806, nine-year-old Truth (known as Belle), was sold at an auction with a flock of sheep for $100 to John Neely, near Kingston, New York. Until that time, Truth spoke only Dutch.

Around 1815, Truth met and fell in love with a slave named Robert from a neighboring farm. Robert's owner forbade the relationship; he did not want his slave to have children with a slave he did not own, because he would not own the children. Robert was savagely beaten and Truth never saw him again, learning later he died from those injuries. She was then forced to marry an older slave named Thomas. She bore five children: Diana (1815), fathered by Robert; and Thomas who died shortly after birth; Peter (1821); Elizabeth (1825); and Sophia (ca. 1826), fathered by Thomas.

The state of New York began, in 1799, to legislate the abolition of slavery, although the process of emancipating New York slaves was not complete until July 4, 1827. Dumont had promised to grant Truth her freedom a year before the state emancipation, "if she would do well and be faithful." However, he changed his mind, claiming a hand injury had made her less productive. She was infuriated but continued working, spinning 100 pounds of wool, to satisfy her sense of obligation to him.

Late in 1826, Truth escaped to freedom with her infant daughter, Sophia. She had to leave her other children behind because they were not legally freed in the emancipation order until they had served as bound servants into their twenties. She later said: “I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right.”

Truth later learned that her son Peter, then five years old, had been sold illegally by Dumont to an owner in Alabama. With the help of abolitionist, she took the issue to court and, after months of legal proceedings, got her son back, who had been abused by his new owner. Truth became one of the first black women to go to court against a white man and win the case.

On June 1, 1843, Truth changed her name to Sojourner Truth and told her friends: "The Spirit calls me, and I must go." She left her home to make her way traveling and preaching about the abolition of slavery and the rights of women. Of all her speeches and orations, she is most famous for “Ain’t I a Woman?”, delivered at Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.

Her service to uplift all women and to free African-Americans will not be forgotten.

A Queen salute to Sojourner Truth!

#blackhistory #blackhistorymonth

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corneliastreetapartment · 1 year ago

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Only You

Masterlist for this fic

Chapter 2: where the hell is Damon Bradley?

On a little bride and groom figurine atop a massive wedding cake, the couple slowly rotated to the endless loop of "We've Only Just Begun."

"Okay, it's settled," Regulus declared.

Regulus is on the other side of the bakery case.

"This one, in vanilla. She wants vanilla," Regulus announced.

After dating for about a year Emma grew tired of waiting around and finally proposed to Regulus Black. To say his mother was elated was an understatement. Despite what she said she most certainly would have been horrified if Regulus decided to stay single for the rest of his life. His father was just glad Regulus didn’t turn out gay like his outcast brother.

That evening Narcissa and Lucius, dressed up and also constantly bickering, were driving through a thunderstorm to Regulus’s engagement party.

"This is the last one before the wedding, right?" Lucius asked.

"Right," Narcissa confirmed.

"And we didn't have to bring another present?" Lucius inquired.

"No," Narcissa assured him, rolling her eyes.

A lively party was in full swing at Emma's apartment. Champagne corks popped, music filled the air, and guests mingled. Emma led Regulus around her vibrant social circles, proudly displaying his engagement ring to anyone who would look. There were much more people from her side compared to the measly social life that regulus had which consisted of just his two best friends that were his cousins Andy and Cissa, Cissa’s husband and his parents. No Sirius in sight of course.

"That's right. Six grand. Can you believe what they get for these things? I'm telling you, it's highway robbery," Emma boasted, patting Regulus on the back with a playful smile.

Regulus played along. His mother watched with a radiant smile, and other elderly relatives offered their congratulations.

"We'd almost given up hope, dear," one elderly relative whispered to Regulus's mother.

In another corner of the room, Narcissa and Lucius engaged in a spirited conversation.

"Not only is it tacky, it's exploitation," Narcissa argued.

"It's not exploitation. These people wanna sell, and I wanna buy. How are golf clubs exploitation?" Lucius countered, turning to a woman nearby. "She takes one night class, and suddenly she's a socialist."

"Sociologist. And because," Narcissa began ticking off her points. "Pawn shops are just like prostitutes, farm auctions, and coal miners. They're all for sale, but none of 'em would be if they weren't desperate for the money."

"We're all desperate for the money, doll. That's what made this country great," Lucius retorted, seeking support from the woman. "Back me up on this, Candy. Am I right?"

"Don't call me doll, Lucius. I hate it when you call me doll," Narcissa replied.

"You used to love it when I called you doll," Lucius reminisced.

"You said it differently then," Narcissa remarked, walking away shaking her head.

Emma held court near the front door, entertaining a captive audience with a dramatic story.

"...I'm not kidding. All over the metatarsus. Corns the size of your fist-- and this fungus... You know the way tuna fish looks when it's been in the back of the refrigerator for about six months? Anyway--" Emma rambled, her tone more light-hearted.

Her listeners discreetly returned their hors d'oeuvres to the serving trays as the doorbell rang persistently.

"Honey, could you get that? I'm in the middle of a story here," Emma requested, gesturing for Regulus to answer the door.

Regulus set down the tray and went to the door. Outside stood Andy.

"Sorry I'm late. I was waiting for a phone call," Andy apologized.

Regulus welcomed her in and introduced her to other guests. Lucius approached his brother in law to offer congratulations.

"He begged me to marry him. I didn't even want to marry him," Narcissa confided in Regulus, her tone very bitter.

"Yes, you did," Regulus countered, not unkindly.

"Well, I wouldn't've if I hadn't thought I was in love," Narcissa admitted. She sighed. "He tricked me. He was really fun back then. And he was so cute... How was I supposed to know that ten years down the road he'd turn out to be an idiot?"

Emma popped her head in, interrupting their conversation.

"Hon-ey, picture time," she announced.

As Regulus got up to follow her, she turned to him with a friendly smile.

"You gonna leave your hair like that?" she asked. Regulus's hair looked exactly as it had all evening, but he anxiously tried to rearrange it as the camera flashed, and he froze.

…………………………….

In a quaint living room bathed in daylight, there was a plethora of wine bottles and corks littered around. Within a sea of fabrics lying on the ground forming a huge mountain, a tiny face struggled to emerge, obscured by massive sleeves, an enormous jacket, and tiers of cascading ruffles, all adorned with acres of Disgusting lace.

Regulus, the groom-to-be, let out a sigh as he examined himself in the mirror.

"I feel like a clown," he remarked.

His cousin Narcissa was by his side, helping him try on the elaborate Tuxedo. She tried to offer some encouragement.

"Come on, it's not so bad."

But Regulus couldn't help but voice his concerns.

Regulus changed the topic and said “ I talked to mum about inviting sirius and she said she would rather die than have him attend my wedding with his ragged poor excuse of a partner” he rolled his eyes

“ Well I always thought Aunt Walburga would make a great career in drama” Narcissa remarked chuckling.

"Look how big it makes me look," he said, looking down at the maroon and beige vomit coloured tuxedo. "I look like a clown," he asserted.

Narcissa attempted to console him.

"I think it was sweet of her to pick it out from her dad’s old traditional clothes."

Regulus continued to express his doubts.

"I know... It was."

As Narcissa adjusted the veil on Regulus's head, He couldn't help but confide in his closest friend.

"But what?"

Regulus hesitated for a moment before speaking his mind.

"Oh, I don't know. I guess it's just not quite the way I always thought it was going to be. You know, like in the movies."

Narcissa, however, had a more grounded perspective.

"That's the problem. When you're a kid, you think life is gonna be like the movies. Dreams come true, the good guys win, people live happily ever after... all that crap. Turn."

As regulus turned, Narcissa continued to make adjustments to the suit.

"But one day you wake up and realize you've been had. Of course life isn't like the movies. That's why there are movies."

"Yeah," regulus admitted. "I guess you're right."

After a brief pause, regulus changed the subject.

"I really like the wallpaper we picked out for the den."

But Narcissa had more to say about love and relationships.

"Let me tell you something about love. There are no prince charmings, there are no glass slippers. Love is hard work."

regulus acknowledged this truth.

"I know. You're right."

Narcissa continued "People have problems, insecurities, flaws—and you have to learn to compromise, to overlook, to forgive. It's not settling, regulus, it's life. Real life."

Regulus nodded a bit concerned "I understand, Narcissa."

Trying to lighten the mood, Regulus shifted his focus.

"What do you think of this bow tie?"

But Narcissa was on a roll, and her emotions got the best of her.

"I mean, just how long are you going to cling to this childish illusion that it's all supposed to be perfect? Well, guess what?... It isn't. Not for you, not for anybody."

Narcissa slammed the pins down, scattering them, and a heavy silence filled the room.

"Narcissa, is something the matter?" regulus asked quietly.

Narcissa, her voice trembling, stared up at the ceiling.

"Lucius brought me flowers last night."

"Is that bad?" regulus inquired confused.

Narcissa revealed her suspicions.

"I think he's having an affair."

Regulus was taken aback and tried to offer support.

"Have you talked to him about this?"

Narcissa, still unable to look regulus in the eye, shook her head in response.

"Have you seen him with someone?"

"No... I can just tell," Narcissa replied.

regulus, attempting to reassure his friend.

"After all, I have known him for years now, and I know he can be kind of a jerk sometimes, but I know him pretty well, and I really don't think—"

Interrupted by a ringing phone, Regulus reluctantly got up while saying "Don't move."

Regulus struggled to navigate the small doorway due to the mountain of clothes strewn across the floor but eventually managed to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

On the other end of the line, there was a lot of background noise.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

The voice on the phone grew louder, attempting to be heard over the din.

"Emma Vanity? I'm trying to reach Emma Vanity."

"She's not in at the moment," regulus responded. "Can I take a message?"

The caller asked for his name.

"Who's this?"

Trying to free himself from the doorway, regulus persisted.

"This is his fiancée. Who's this?"

The caller identified himself as an old high school buddy of Emma's who had been in town for the weekend but had to catch a plane and couldn't visit.

Narcissa, wiping her eyes, mouthed the question "who is it?" to Regulus, who shook his head.

"I'm sure she'll be sorry to hear that. Who should I tell her called?"

The caller's name was unclear due to the noise.

"I can hardly hear you. Could you spell that?"

Narcissa handed regulus a pencil and the back of an RSVP card. Regulus painstakingly spelled out the name, revealing it to be "Damon Bradley."

The receiver clattered to the floor, and regulus was left dumbfounded.

"Damon Bradley..."

The caller, now louder and distracted, spoke again.

"Right. Thanks a lot. And congratulations. It's not easy finding love these days."

Before Regulus could respond, he was about to hang up. Regulus urgently grabbed the phone from the floor.

"WAIT!! Where are you?"

The caller, still on the line, replied, "I'm at the airport. Why?"

"In case Emma wants to try to reach you," regulus explained.

"Well, she'd have to hurry. My flight leaves at four o'clock."

Checking his watch, Regulus realized it was 3:15.

"Where are you going?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm on my way to Venice. Why?" the caller replied.

"Venice? I love Venice. With the boats, right?..."

The caller was distracted by his questions.

"Huh? Uh, yeah— I've gotta run. Tell Emma hi. Maybe someday we can all get together."

With that, he hung up, leaving Regulus bewildered.

"But wait— Hello? Hello??"

Only a dial tone responded. Regulus stood there, clutching the receiver, like a shipwreck survivor who had glimpsed a passing vessel but saw it disappear over the horizon.

Outside in the driveway, Regulus, still in his wedding tux , raced to his car with a crazed gleam in his eye. Narcissa followed closely behind.

"It's a miracle," regulus exclaimed.

Narcissa, however, remained skeptical.

"It's a coincidence."

Regulus attempted to bolster her argument.

"The woman at my dry cleaners believes there's no such thing as coincidence."

Narcissa didn't seem convinced.

"So what?"

Regulus persisted, determined to prove his point.

"Okay, okay, but don't you think it's a weird coincidence? Doesn't it seem like somebody's trying to tell me something? And not only that, take a look at this..."

From his wallet , Regulus retrieved a clipped copy of the day's horoscope and handed it to Narcissa.

Narcissa glanced at the horoscope and dismissed it "Taurus: 'Today can be a fresh start and a new beginning.' Come on regulus, they all say that. In my case, it means I'm gonna empty the dishwasher."

Regulus, undeterred, snatched back the paper.

"I just want to get a look at him, that's all."

…………..

Regulus, driving like a maniac, had his ugly heavy coat crammed in over the edge of the dash, blocking the lower half of the windshield.

At the airport in the afternoon, Regulus screeched to a halt in the passenger loading zone and sprang out of the car. His attempt to enter one of those glass-partitioned revolving doors didn't go smoothly, as his long cape-like attachment to the shirt got stuck and made a few revolutions before a couple of PASSERS-BY helped pry him out on the other side.

He quickly scanned a departure screen for the flight to Venice and approached a Sky Cap for assistance. The Sky Cap pointed in the distance, and Regulus,loosening his bowtie, started sprinting through the airport. He jumped over luggage, can-can-ed through the turnstiles, and dodged kids, even running up the down escalator.

Inside the Alitalia check-in counter in the afternoon, Regulus flung himself across the counter.

"Flight 417. Is it still here?" he asked breathlessly.

The clerk gave him a once-over, clearly unaccustomed to such antics.

"May I see your boarding pass, please?" he requested.

"I-- I must've misplaced it," Regulus replied.

"I'm sorry, but without a boarding pass, we can't let you on the plane," the Clerk explained.

Regulus began searching through his pockets while slowly inching his way past the rope barrier set up to block people.

"I'm sure I've got it here someplace," he said with a smile.

The Clerk smiled back and tightened the rope.

"Great. Because, like I said, until you find it, we can't let you on the plane."

Panic crept into Regulus's voice as he continued to dig through his pockets.

"You don't understand. The man I'm supposed to marry is on that plane."

The Clerk rolled his eyes, decided to make a call and picked up his phone.

"Yeah, this is Mario over at Alitalia," he spoke into the phone, lowering his voice. "We've got a 237 on our hands here. Uh huh. Yeah. Thanks."

After hanging up, he reassured Regulus, "It'll be just a moment."

A Security Guard was approaching, and the Clerk signaled him over.

As the Clerk turned to address the guard, Regulus darted out and started sprinting across the tarmac toward the plane. The portable stairs had just been pulled away from the cabin door.

As the plane began to move, the Ground Controller waved frantically at Regulus to get out of the way. With an anguished cry, He sank to the ground as the jet flew away

overhead.

In an airport bar in the afternoon, a white-gloved hand picked up a shot of tequila and downed it.

"Okay, where's the nut in the clown costume?" someone asked.

The Bartender sympathetically pointed towards the end of the bar, where Regulus, in his torn wedding tux, was getting drunk all alone.

"Look, sir, we agreed not to press charges, but I'm afraid we're gonna have to ask you to leave," a Security Guard informed him.

The bartender offered to call him a cab, but Regulus declined.

"I'm fine," he replied unsteadily.

He got up and headed towards the door.

Regulus couldn't tear his gaze away from the DEPARTURE SCREEN. It displayed another flight bound for Venice, scheduled to depart in just one hour. A sudden spark ignited in his eyes, and he couldn't resist the temptation.

In the bustling airport, Regulus stood on the telephone, engaged in conversation with Narcissa who was back at her home.

"But you're afraid to fly," Narcissa remarked.

"It was my New Year's resolution to overcome it," Regulus replied, brushing off his fear.

"But it's July," Narcissa noted skeptically.

Regulus grinned. "It's still the new year..."

Concerned, Narcissa continued, "What about your job?"

Regulus reassured her, "I have vacation time coming to me."

Narcissa persisted, "You don't have a passport."

With a confident tone, Regulus corrected her, "That's where you're wrong. I got one nine years ago. I just never had an opportunity to use it."

Narcissa's worry showed. "Because you were afraid to fly."

Frustrated, Regulus implored, "Would you stop saying that? I need you to do me a really big favor."

In Narcissa and Lucius' dimly lit kitchen, Narcissa probed further, "Does Emma know about this?"

Regulus, still on the phone, dismissed the notion, "Of course not. I told herI was going to visit a great aunt. And don't tell Lucius, either."

Narcissa's disdainful glance shifted toward Lucius, engrossed in the Home Shopping Club in the adjacent room.

"How could I tell him? I'm not even speaking to him," Narcissa retorted.

At Emma's apartment building, Narcissa and Andy stood at the door, knocking, but there was no response. Narcissa, well aware of Emma's habits, retrieved a spare key hidden beneath the doormat and unlocked the door.

She called out Emma's name, but there was still no reply. Narcissa nodded to Andy, who understood what needed to be done.

In the airport terminal, Regulus, dressed in his hideous clothes, impatiently waited at the TWA terminal entrance. Finally, he spotted Narcissa and Andy in the distance, carrying a suitcase. He rushed toward them.

Anxiously, Regulus asked Andy, "Were you able to find it?"

Andy confirmed, "At the very bottom of Emma's closet."

Regulus clenched his fist in triumph. However, Andy added, "But... there wasn't a regular yearbook picture of him in there. He must've been absent that day or something."

Regulus's hopeful expression fell, but Andy quickly added, "However, he was in the marching band."

Regulus's optimism returned as Andy handed him a contact lens case. He carefully examined the tiny black and white photo inside, an image of Damon Bradley at age 17, obscured by a tuba.

"Thanks, Andy," Regulus said, touched.

Regulus carefully placed the photo back in the case, stashed it in his bag, and reached for his suitcase, which Narcissa was still holding.

Narcissa questioned, "I can't believe we did this. Do I have to remind you that your wedding is in six days?"

Regulus responded resolutely, "Look, I know you think this is irresponsible of me, but think how much more irresponsible it would be to marry the wrong person. What if Emma and I aren't really meant to be? Is it fair of me to waste herlife?"

Reluctantly, Narcissa let go, and Regulus began to walk through the terminal, pulling out clothes from his suitcase.

They followed him into the men’s room, not caring about any other man, where Regulus changed his attire.

Andy Remarked, "I think he's right. You shouldn't let a chance like this slip by. What if he's really The One?"

Narcissa disagreed, "Leslie, he's not The One. he's never even met this man. You mean to tell me that you've spent your whole life waiting for somebody with this name—this name you got from a Parker Brothers game when you were eleven—"

Regulus interjected, "No, I haven't. And you forgot about the fortune teller."

Narcissa recalled, "My God, you have..."

Regulus handed his wedding tux and car keys to Andy, expressing his gratitude.

"You're just going to fly to Italy and start combing the streets?" Narcissa questioned.

Regulus responded confidently, "How hard can it be? I'll land there, I'll go to his hotel, I'll introduce myself, and—"

Narcissa finished his sentence, "Live happily ever after."

Regulus added, "Maybe."

As Regulus boarded the escalator, he said, "Look, until today, I had forgotten all about this. And chances are I'll find out he's not for me, and I'll come home and marry Emma and never bring this up again. But what if this is the real thing, Narcissa? What if this is the real, real thing?"

With a hopeful expression, Regulus continued on his journey.

Outside the airport parking structure, Andy drove Regulus's car, and Narcissa drove her own station wagon, heading home. But at the last moment, Narcissa made a decision. She cut the wheel sharply.

In the airport waiting area, Regulus packed his books into her suitcase, including a Let's Go, Italy guide, an Italian-English Dictionary, and a copy of How to Make a Man Fall in Love with You. He noticed his engagement ring glimmering and, with a clandestine air, removed it from his finger. Carefully, he stashed it away in his bag.

Suddenly, a pair of shoes appeared in front of him. Narcissa stood there, holding her passport.

"Will you lend me some clothes?" Narcissa asked nonchalantly.

Startled, Regulus looked up and saw Narcissa. She explained, "I keep it in the glove compartment in case of emergencies."

Realizing Narcissa was coming with her, Regulus embraced her with gratitude.

"I'm not saying I think it's a good idea," Narcissa clarified. "But if you're going to insist on doing this, I don't think you should go alone. You need to be sensible about it."

Their flight was announced, and they headed toward the gate.

"You're right," Regulus agreed. "The key is to go about this sensibly. Logically. Rationally."

As they walked, Regulus remembered, "Did I tell you I figured out we both have the same number of letters in our names?"

#james loves regulus #james x regulus #regulus black #sirius and regulus #narcissa black #narcissa malfoy #narcissa x alice #james potter #marauders era #marauders #the marauders era #sirius black #remus x sirius #james & peter & remus & sirius #remus lupin #lucius malfoy #robert downey jr #marisa tomei #only you

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akinformation · 1 year ago

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Page 268

I found the place in Karelia where I would live. A military base being sold by the administration of Karelia. They put it up for auction, and I won. It is just a bunch of brick dwellings without doors and windows in the middle of nowhere, but the way I responded when I saw the photos in the listing meant I could see this base in my future. This cluster of buildings on the shore of the lake, about four acres, four groups of dwellings, and nobody around. I bought it without even seeing it, which was also fascinating. People around me were surprised and didn’t understand what I was doing. I asked what the catch was, considering the place is awesome and no one else was interested in buying it. They said that the downside of the location is that it is situated on the borderland, and you need an access pass to go there. Since it is an international border, there are no tourists, and you can’t bring guests there without getting a special pass from the border control. And it is complicated to get one, especially for the foreigners. Sometimes, you have to wait for months. That’s why no one had purchased it for commercial or hospitality purposes. As for personal use, it is too huge and too expensive to restore and build. Basically, they would have to demolish everything and then build a house from scratch. You can build a luxury hi-tech house somewhere else for much less. As for me, it was exactly as I envisioned it when I was still in the United States: that I would live in a castle that I built in the forest, and there would be armed security all around. Because it is near the border, armed security are monitoring the territory, and the entire forest is filled with motion control devices. This is very cool. Free security. And very interesting how all this was orchestrated. I didn’t put any effort into it. I went there in January to see what I had bought, and when I was driving there, I asked if there were any other properties nearby. They told me there is a sports camp. They said, “Well, not really a sports camp, just some shaggy sheds in the swamps, by the shore of the lake.” It was a summer fishing camp, no bathrooms, no shower, nothing. I thought, “Well, I need to buy that too, so I won’t have strange people wandering around.” And I bought it within a month. And while I was buying it, the sellers told me about some serious people who had another twelve acres of land for sale nearby, so I bought it, making almost fifteen acres altogether. What is interesting is that it all happened at once, very quickly and spontaneously. One of my friends who heard me mention Karelia told me that he saw a listing of a farm for sale. I checked it out and saw that this farm is located

#alternativehistory #GreatWork #magnumopus #alchemy #axismundi

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insuranceguidelineus · 1 year ago

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#business #insurance

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Monster March Day 31- Satyr- Part 1

Sheepishly Mine- Part 1- Spunky

At long last. It is here. My last offering for Monster March. Three months later- in June. But hopefully it was worth the wait.

As always, thank you, thank you, thank you to @borealwrites for their Monster March 2023 Prompt list. I'm sorry it's taken me- I shit you not- six whole months to do 31 stories because I started all the way back in January. And while a shit ton of crap happened, I was able to perservere. even if I feel like this at the end.

But we did it! We made it to the end. Also, I want to say, this was inspired by Sandi Brock and her channel Sheepishly Me. She is a sheep farmer in Canada and is phenomenal and is so honest about what it's like to have a farm. Especially an animal one, where ideally, in a perfect world, each ewe has two perfectly healthy lambs and are born on time and don't have any health problems and whose mom didn't have pregtox and has plenty of milk and loves both of her babies.

But that's not real life. And I adore Sandi for showing the good, the bad and the ugly and even the heart breaking days where lambs unfortunately die before they ever get to be born. And she does, absolutely everything she can, going above and beyond for her sheep and does what she can to help the mamas and the lambs and she even bought a wheelchair for one even. And she has her Golden Girls (go Billy's Mom, also Tomatoes was totally the inspiration for Spunky) her older, retired ewes that she puts on a seperate farm to live out the rest of their days in a big, green pasture with super comfy bedding and even grain and corn and gives them pets and scritches. And when I saw this prompt list, I immediately wrote- Sheepishly Me! next to the prompt. this was one that I knew exactly what I wanted right when I saw the prompt six months ago.

And while that provided the beautiful wholesome start for this, you can obviously guess where this will eventually go. Because, I am, a Lemon Flavored Factory. But that's not until Part 3. Also, for my Star Trek fans, yes, that is Conner Trinneer. Who played Trip in Star Trek and Jolene Blalock who played T'pol. The Authorities may have canceled the series but my love for the Trip/T'pol ship will forever burn because the show did them dirty and they deserve better. And when I named my lead guy Trip, my brain automatically assigned Trip from Star Trek Enterprise which ran from 2001-2005 that had Scott Bakula as Captain Archer. And Trip, being that perfect Southern Gentleman from Georgia and his voice- Heaven help me was just so soothing. And fit perfectly for the mood I was going for. So think of this is as something of fanfic for that too.

So, enjoy.

Monster March Day 31- Satyr

Sheepishly Mine

Spunky

Trip loaded up the last of the January lambing market lambs into the trailer and drove down to the auction house before he saw a new face going from pen to pen, petting the lambs as she went, as she seemed to be looking for something in particular among the sheep. Occassionally stopping to talk to the owner of the sheep in said pen if they were standing by and making notes in a notebook as she went.

“Who’s that?” Trip asked Ruth, one of the other older sheep farmers who had come to do the same as him today, sell off the last of their market lambs from the last lambing before the spring lambing would start as the beautiful woman in question neared the pens he had loaded his market lambs into, one of the ewes and one for the young rams.

“Probably some Lookie Lou.” Ruth waived off before she took another sip of her coffee and went around to see who else brought what into the auction barn today.

But soon, the young woman came to his pen and smiled when all the lambs came up to her to sniff her hand and get pets.

“Aww, aren’t you adorable?” She cooed and Trip nearly fell over- he swooned so hard.

“Are these your sheep?” She asked him as she looked over at him as he watched her intently interacting with the lambs.

“Yes Ma’am.” He confirmed.

“Did you name any of these?” She asked as she gestured to the lambs in question.

“Well, actually, I did name a few, this one is Spunky…” He admitted before he pointed out which ones he had named. And then before he knew it he had practically told her about how he had helped deliver them, who their mother’s names were, if they were a hard pull, if their mom had any issues like pregnancy toxemia and things like that. And how most of them had been bottle babies because their mothers couldn’t handle to have more than two to three lambs per ewe and how many of the mamas had given birth to quads this time, which was why they were so small and took so long to get up to market size.

“So I see a few pretty small little runts here.” She noted before he had to admit that they had been preemie and bottle babies and had issues with thriving and had to have a lot of tender loving care to live, let alone make it to this point, thus the names.

“How much were you wanting for them?” She asked.

“Oh, um, just..fair market value.” He answered.

“Ok. Can I buy them now or do you want to put them in the ring to see if they’ll get a higher price?” She asked.

“Oh, well, what were you wanting them for?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m starting a hobby farm. I'm trying to turn it into more of a homestead and subsistence farm. I’m specifically looking for glorified lawn mowers and decent wool producers. I already have a couple that I’ve specifically gotten just for wool production so I can make my yarn goods and supplies and stuff and I already have a few alpacas for that purpose too." She began as Trip blinked in surprise but couldn't help but smile in delight to hear it.

"And I’ve gotten a guard llama, who came with the alpacas, among other things, who is very, very good at what she does. But I planted a small orchard on my farm as well as a few groves of blueberry bushes and things and I’m needing weed and grass control between the trees and between the vines on the vineyard portion of the farm. I got two goats, but they have a habit of climbing the trees and bushes themselves to eat the foliage and fruits and just about stripped a few of my good trees bare as well as the bushes too. I was looking for something to keep their hooves, mostly on the ground. And your runts would be perfect for such a thing." She explained.

"I know they won’t fetch as high a price as some of your bigger market lambs would, even as sweet as they are, but what I have now is too much for the animals I have to keep up with- without sacrificing the trees and bushes themselves.” She explained and Trip was ready to get on one knee and propose right then and there as all the ewes in the pen tried to climb over the gate to get pets and hugs from her as it was clear those lambs had practically instantly fallen in love with her.

“Take as many as you want and any that you want.” He urged her.

“For how much per sheep?” She asked.

“Whatever you can pay or want to pay. It would take twenty dollars an hour to hire someone to mow your lawn. And they’ll be needing that much more care and attention than the service you would be needing them for. But they like you, and if you can save them from the butcher’s block, then I’ll happily let them just move to their new forever home.” He offered.

“But I only brought $200 dollars with me. I was only going to be able to buy one or two lambs, depending on how big they were. But I really want Spunky most of all.” She said as she practically hugged said lamb who soaked up her love happily.

“Well, that two hundred dollars can buy you the whole pen of ewes if you want them. With the ewes, you don’t have to worry about them fighting like the rams can. And with no sires, you don’t have to worry about them lambing or anything. Just sheer them like you do your other sheep and alpacas and they’ll happily do what you want them to and the cross in them will give you decent wool too because they're Corriedales, which are one of the standard dual purpose breeds. And they still have thier first virgin fleece on them so you'll get the best wool they can give you.” He urged her.

“But this pen easily has over a thousand dollars worth of lambs in it! This is how you make your living and care for your family. I couldn’t possibly do that to you. Really, if I could only buy the three runts I would be happy with that. Even though they are all just, the most darling…” She tried to argue but the lambs were already trying to find ways to get out of the pen just to get to her.

“Nah, this is just my left overs from my January lambing before my next lambing group lambs and then once they've weaned, they get to move into the lamb barn themselves. I didn’t have a whole lot of hopes for this group anyway. And honestly, you're probably the best buyer possible for them. Heck, you don't even have to give me that whole $200, even $20 would be enough for the pen, since they're just going to be mowing the lawn anyway.” He waived off.

“But wouldn’t your wife…” She began to try to argue.

“Ma’am, I don’t have a missus, nor children, it’s just me and the sheep on the farm. So there is no one back home to get angry about what I do with my own sheep. You want them, they want you, it’s a done deal in my book. And it sounds like you have more than enough grounds to keep them well fed through the spring and summer and as long as you can get the hay and feed in the winter and they won’t be a burden to you to keep- they're yours. You’ll just have wool coming out of your ears come shearing time.” He offered.

“Ok fine, you drive a hard bargain mister. Let me bring my truck and trailer around to this spot and I’ll load them up and give you what I can for them, but they are obviously worth more than $20. Please let me pay at least that $200.” She offered before she tried to gently push the sheep back into the pen and say she needed to leave for a quick second but would be right back.

“Well you drive a hard bargin Miss, but deal.” Trip offered her his hand to shake.

“Thank you Mr…?” She shook his hand firmly.

“Trip O’Donnel at your service Ma'am.” He offered as he shook her hand.

“Jolene- Marie Burke, friends just call me Marie.” She introduced herself before she got into her purse and handed him all the money she had on her, which amounted to $223.45 but he refused to accept anything more from her once she tried to pull out her checkbook. Before he put sold on the lot just before the meat buyers came to look at the ram pen anyway.

Trip noticed Jolene-Marie got her phone out and began recording herself as she giddily and hurriedly walked out of the auction house to get her truck with it’s horse trailer and it’s bail of hay already in it before she drove it around where his pen was where he had parked nearby after unloading them.

And thanks to Trip helping her back it up, she was able to back her trailer into the pen before he helped her load them up into her trailer, with some grain as an incentive as they were all happy to get in and lay down in the soft straw and begin to nibble on the hay and bits of feed corn she had put down on the hay itself.

“Thank you so much Mr. O’Donnel. I um, I have a Youtube channel, it’s called Burke’s Barn. I try to upload at least once a week, so you can watch them finish growing up and any adventures they might have at my farm.” She sheepishly offered.

“I’ll have to check that out.” He nodded before she seemed to be overcome with emotion and hugged him, which he was pleasantly surprised but accepted all the same as whatever she washed her hair and body in smelled so good, like walking through a flower garden.

“Thank you so much for such precious little angels. They’ll be very well cared for and loved.” She promised before she let go and then drove off in the mid morning sun as he quickly looked that up and found her channel on Youtube. It was very much a ‘slice of life’ and encouraging people to not let every farm be a commercial one. But that even if all you had was one pot, you could grow something and grow something you liked and that enriched your life more than money ever could.

And if Trip had swooned before, now he was smitten as he tried to look her up to see if she was married or had any other family but didn’t really see much sign of her being married or in a relationship. But at the same time, he was just a humble sheep farmer, who didn’t have a whole lot to offer someone like her.

But he still subscribed to the channel and after a few days, he got a notification that she uploaded a new video, showing off all the sheep he had sold her.

He sat in his recliner, trying to fight off sleep as he watched as she did her health inspections and went ahead and named any who didn’t have names and began to practice good husbandry skills with them. He was nearly crying when she showed herself walking backwards, through her little orchard and letting the sheep munch as they went, cooing to them and encouraging them as she went and called everyone back to the barn when it got to be really hot so they could cool down in the shade of the barn and chew their cud while she finished with her other chores for the day. She was just too cute, and too beautiful and too precious and adorable.

She talked about the benefits that the manure would do and how it would really help with the farm’s needs as a whole. And how now, it was more or less complete, even though she seemed keen on finding new ways to improve it. And then- named him by name as the super sweet, wonderful sheep farmer who sold her the sheep and how all of his sheep were super sweet, very well behaved, and were personable and tame and even handleable, and in excellent health. And that it was clear that he had been an excellent sheep farmer and still treated his animals with care and dignity and not just some living cash crop to make a buck off of.

After that, suddenly he had people coming in from all over, just to buy his sheep. He had no idea that the market to get glorified lawn mowers was so big. But Joleane-Marie had quite the following of other people who were getting into farming as a new kind of eco friendly, self sufficient lifestyle and any money he had potentially “lost” when he first sold that pen of sheep, he made back- ten fold with the others.

And he, for the first time felt like being in the family farm- sheep business was paying off. His new customers all practically gushed at him about Jolene-Marie, or just- Marie, rather. How inspiring she was and how honest and forthcoming she was about all aspects of farm life. Including the not so fun bits about putting animals down, when they were sick and beyond saving and suffering. Or how you needed to put a lot of planning and work in- if you were going to live that kind of lifestyle. And how, just one pest, or one disease can devastate your food supply and how hard it was to keep a balance. And how Jolene- Marie had already lost so many good potential partners in life because of her passion for farming. And that was when Trip knew he had to at least take a shot and at least write to the post office box she received gifts to.

‘Hello Miss Jolene- Marie Burke, this is Trip O’Donnel, the sheep farmer that sold you…” He began to list off all the sheep he had sold her, and which ones he had watched her name on the video. He felt awkward though, trying to cold write to her and ask her out on a date. So instead, he offered that should she ever want any advice or more help with the sheep, that he was available and wrote down his address so that she could come see him, if she wanted to. He had to take forever to write it in his best penmanship so that she could at least try to read it, even though he felt like his own nerves made the words a bit wiggly. But he tried. And wondered how long it would take before she would even get to see it, let alone be able to read it. Knowing she probably had a mountain of fanmail she probably got on a daily basis.

What he didn’t expect was a letter back two days later.

Not only had she gotten his note, she was touched by his generosity and was still, so grateful for the sheep and invited him to her farm so she could get some feedback on how functional her own set up was.

He nearly fainted and jumped so high his head nearly hit the ceiling.

That paper was barely out of the envelope when he was punching in the address to see how far away she lived. And wouldn’t you know it? She lived only in the next town over. Because the rual area they lived in, was one larger "town" that boasted of one of just about all the major chain fast food "restaurants and a Walmart and a Kroger and TSC. And "town" or the largest of the "cities" surrounded by smaller small towns that were lucky to boast of a Dollar General as a local grocery store. Maybe a streetlight or two and a gas station or two. He always called them 'blink' towns. Because if you were driving around and 'blinked' you could miss them. He must have seen her around before and never realized it and was only an agonizing 20 minute drive away.

Suddenly as he pulled up, he realized it was one of his parent's old friends farm. Only the husband had died of a heart attack and had unfortunately gotten a reverse mortgage so the bank took back the house before they could ever fix the old place up, which was something they were supposed to have done 20 years ago, at the very least. He could see her in her garden, planting things from her own greenhouse, covered in dirt, not a speck of makeup and her hair up in a pony tail through her old baseball cap and she could not have been prettier.

Trip just kind of let his truck slow down a crawl, barely aware he was driving in the first place before an Emu up and charged him and his truck before he yelled and slammed on the breaks and slid in the gravel of the driveway before the noise alerted Marie that he was there before a damn herd of dogs came barking and surrounding his truck on all sides. Then a llama came over keeping the sheep and alpacas at a safe distance.

“Barbara Strissand!” Marie barked before she came to his rescue.

“Really Barb? You’re gonna kick his truck? Did you actually dent it and I get to fix that now? Really? I invite a guest and you all gang up on him! Stop, enough, off, off of him!” Marie chastised as she pulled the Emu off of the truck and pushed the bird by the neck backwards.

“This is why I don’t let you out of your pen. But no, you had to go and hunt snakes around the coop and help Lenora hunt for racoons and coyotes. You’re done, you’re going back into the pen.” Marie urged the large bird as she prodded the large bird to a nearby pen, with the help of most of her dogs who helped herd the large bird back into the pen.

“Ladies, it’s ok. It was just Barb being a bitch. It’s ok.” Marie tried to coo to the chickens who had taken refuge under what they could when they heard Barb hiss and kick at the truck.

“I’m really sorry about Barb, Trip. Let me see what she did to your truck.” Marie tried to say as she came back to his truck to see which dents in the side, her bird had been responsible for.

“It’s an old truck door. I’ve dinged the door more at the gas station myself more than she could ever try to ding it.” Trip tried to waive off and stood on the other side of the door to keep her from seeing the sad state of the old truck anyway.

“It’s ok, you’re not responsible for anything, it’s ok. I’m here for the sheep and I can already see from here that they’re doing just fine.” Trip said he gently turned her to face the sheep who recognized him and were starting to jump and bound over to him.

“There’s the lucky girls!” Trip cooed to them as he took a few steps and met them half way and started petting them affectionately once Marie still looked at the truck door and took a quick picture before she joined them.

“The heat of the summer decided to come a little late this year, so I just got done shearing them the day before yesterday. They probably look awful. I’m still pretty new at the shearing thing too so they were pretty uneven when I first tried and I had to go over them again to try to even them out.” She offered.

“Oh, well they look fantastic. I never would have known if you hadn’t told me.” Trip waived off as he began to scratch each one between the shoulder blades as the sheep began to wiggle their lips, ears and tails in delight.

“And they’re obviously very well fed too. Look how they’ve grown!” He beamed happily to see each one already pretty plump but building strong muscle from being outside and getting exercise.

“Growing just as fast as my weeds.” Marie tried to chuckle.

“Because spring decided to come so late and we just kept having frost after frost before the weather decided to skip spring and jump from winter into summer, I feel like I’m so behind on everything.” Marie admitted.

“Well what do you need help catching up on?” Trip asked before Marie felt like she was speed talking as she listed it all off.

“Well, I got my chores done already this morning, let me help you with yours.” He offered.

“No, I just wanted your opinion on a few things…” She tried to shake her head no.

“Oh nonsense. This is quite the set up, it would usually take a family of at least six to do everything you’re trying to do.” He waived off.

“Are you sure? I feel like I would just be taking advantage of you again.” Marie winced.

“Nonsense. You’re the last kind of person who looks to take advantage of anyone. You did me a favor by trying to save my favorite girls from the butcher block. But from a business perspective, it wouldn’t make any sense to make them into replacement ewes, for fear all their lambs would be just like they were.” He tried to waive off.

“Yeah, but your time is still valuable and I don’t want to be abusing that or using you for that matter.” Marie tried to contest.

“Miss Jolene-Marie, you tell me what you need and where you need it or I’ll just pick something and start on it on my own.” He lightly teased before she seemed to chuckle and shake her head.

“Ok, you’re gonna be hurting and regretting that but ok.” She finally caved and led him to the green house and directed where she needed what planted on her garden plot as he was quick to dig in with her and practically work shoulder to shoulder as he helped her plant her garden and her other crops.

“Wow, you have some old antique equipment.” He noted as he looked at the old mechanical farming equipment.

“Yeah, old equipment that doesn’t need software updates every year or else it won’t run.” Marie answered and that seemed to be a lightbulb moment for Trip as he took that information and blinked a few times to wrap his head around that.

“Planned obsolescence is getting a bit out of hand lately.” Marie noted.

“Yes it is!” He nodded before they began to talk some more about how more and more farms were either going out of business or having to go more commercial to stay afloat. And how the land itself is sprayed and stripped and devoid of any life not artificially planted there. As Trip found himself agreeing with more and more she talked about.

“So how did you get into this?” He asked.

“I grew up really poor in the city. That thanks to WIC and food stamps and all that, that’s how my family survived. And growing up with food scarcity and not knowing where your next meal will come from is quite traumatic for any child. And then I got into a program where kids from my school could volunteer at a horse ranch with other underprivileged kids and especially the special needs kids could have horse therapy. And I fell in love with it. Then from there, I worked detasseling corn on a commercial farm and I got to see first hand how fewer and fewer farmers were still in the business and had to change to commercial farming if they wanted to keep the family farm in the first place. And then from there, I worked on all the other kinds of farms that they would hire me on, mucking out stalls and picking fruit and caring for other people’s farms and watched how if an animal wasn’t immediately able to make money off of, they would just kill it to keep it from being a leech on precious resources and that’s where I’ve gotten just about all the animals on my farm. The Emu though, I hatched her from an egg. Heck, all of my quail, I hatched from eggs in farmers markets and most of my chickens were little hatchlings who were going to be culled and thrown away. And then I got to make some friends in the cooking community and how there’s this huge push for more farm to table places. So most of what I grow that doesn’t feed myself, I can sell to the chefs who want to use it in their restaurants. And then when the last housing market crash, I was able to afford to buy this place with my life savings. And thanks to Youtube and my subscribers and add revenue and all that, it’s how I can afford to live here and afford this simple lifestyle. Granted it means I have very few private things in my life. But it’s how I’ve managed to survive. And while things are tight now and I’m still learning and still getting the hang of…all of it. There are days when it sucks and mother nature is cruel, and other days it’s nice and she’s kind and despite everything, I still manage to keep a roof over my head, the lights on, food in my pantry, clothes on my back, shoes on my feet, mostly thanks to subscribers to the channel and patreon backers and my online for the yarn and soaps and stuff.” Marie explained as she rinsed all the dirt off of her hands and arms from the hose and took her garden shoes off to rinse off her feet before she took a rag and wiped off before she invited him inside to have lunch once they had made quick work of her garden before she made them a simple but delicious lunch. The house was obviously a bit eclectic and very few things matched and lots of things had been upcycled but Trip found he liked it that way.

“I really like what you’ve done with the place.” He motioned around the kitchen table.

“Thanks. Welcome to my ‘there for last chance clearance sale on…everything’ and driving to many- a thrift store.” Marie chuckled as she gestured to her kitchen where nothing matched itself. But the food she had was obviously home grown, humble but incredibly delicious.

“I love the bean soup.” He praised.

“Thanks. It’s my ‘put this in a crock pot overnight so you have food tomorrow and you will have something to eat when you forget to take time to cook and eat anything else cause you’ll be too busy’ kind of meals.” Marie smiled gratefully.

“I really like food like this. Something simple but delicious yet comforting and filling and satisfying, with soul and substance.” Trip added, although he wasn’t sure if he was complimenting the cooking or her as a person. His cheeks darkened and he tried to scoop as much of the soup into his mouth to keep himself from saying anything else that would give away his attraction to her. But he was a satyr, meaning he was always attracted to women, but most usually only thought because he was a satyr, it was almost expected of him. Heck his brothers were living proof of that reputation. And thus, why they were always bouncing from relationship to relationship and drowning in childcare payments. And there was a reason why his parents had chosen him to take over the farm, because he wasn’t like his other brothers and took the farm seriously and would rather get up early and farm and take care of the sheep, than stay out late and party.

But something about Marie, she was such a marvelous, vibrant, passionate and driven woman. And that’s what appealed to her the most.

After the bean soup for lunch, she walked him around the farm, showing him where she had what and how she had it set up and why she did it that way and he was in awe that- for being mostly self taught, she had figured out so much on her own and was beginning to be a Jill of All Trades for how much she was learning how to care for what equipment she had, that with some good upkeep and some good maintenance, could probably outlive them all. She had seemed to find all the really good sweet spot as far as machinery was concerned. Not so old that ordering a new part wouldn’t be impossible. But not new enough that it needed digital electrical equipment. She preferred analog for electronics because digital needed software and near constant software updates. And he felt bad because she already had everything just how he would have it if this was his place. It was all very well planned, organized, executed and she had great follow through with execution of her decisions.

“Well, I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. You already have it all well underway and better organized than even my place is. If anything, you’re giving me ideas of how to improve my place.” He offered once they were done.

“Well, just hearing that is a relief. And knowing I’m not creating a perfect storm of a disaster is a comfort honestly. So that is incredibly helpful. Sounds like you’ve done this for a while and you know the tried and true methods of most things.” She smiled happily.

“Well you’re more than welcome to come to my farm and see for yourself.” He invited.

“I would love that actually.” She smiled happily before he gave her the full address and directions on how to get to his farm from hers. As well as the better feed places that were much, much cheaper than TSC, which she appreciated.

He went home and for hours, cleaned, re-organized what he could, all while the sheep seemed to watch on curiously.

And the next morning, just as he was leaving his house with his thermos of coffee, there she was, pulling up in her truck.

“Well good morning, did you get a good breakfast? I made extra.” He offered as he gestured to his house.

“Oh, I already ate.” She excused.

“It’s biscuits and gravy.” He added before she caved.

“Ok, yes, I would love some biscuits and gravy.” She caved as she came into his house and smiled to see it antiquated but adorable and nearly picturesque. She loved the bright, sunflower yellow walls and the sunflower boarder on the walls. And she adored the antique gas stove and nearly squealed and gasped as she fawned over his cast iron collection. And even the curtains his mother had sewn when he was little and practically gawked at all the family pictures around the house.

“So what are we doing today?” Marie asked.

“Well, we’re going to mix up some feed rations and feed the sheep. And then we’re gonna get them ready for ready for their pre-lambing sheering.” He answered before she joined him as he walked from the house to the barn and was greeted by the bah’s of nearly a thousand ewes in four groups.

“Oh, my, wow.” She blinked in surprise.

“Wow, they look like they’re about to pop.” She noted from the pen of pregnant ewes.

“Well they still have just a couple more weeks. But yeah.” He nodded and for once, it was wonderful to have a helping hand with the ewes as he introduced her before he got into the front loaded and started it up and began to dump various scoops and bags of feed into his feed ration mixer as she simply was content to throw the empty bags from the pellet bags in the garbage as she noticed that- for being a big operation and being such a big barn, it was surprisingly clean and well maintained and even had new modern features which made it easier for just Trip to handle - mostly on his own.

“How do you do this all on your own?” Marie asked.

“Well, not all on my own, in the summer, my nieces and nephews come to help a lot and it’s kind of considered a summer job for them. But in the fall, winter and spring, I usually hire help. But my last assistant went to college this past fall and I just haven’t really gotten a chance to hire a replacement.” He admitted.

“But don’t you have like 9 siblings? Why don’t they help?” Marie asked.

“Because there’s no way any amount of money could ever entice them back into this barn. We grew up doing this with no pay, because our parents demanded it until we were old enough to strike out on our own. And everyone else went to college for anything but farming and moved as far away as possible. So by the time I came along, my parents were desperate and basically had to use the farm itself as a sole inheritance to try to keep us younger siblings here. It only worked on me. And when they got too old to care for themselves, let alone anything else. And they had to go into a nursing home, everyone pushed me to cut bait, sell it all off and split it evenly among us all. But by then, the family will was already written and notarized and I couldn’t change their wishes. So it honestly, put a big wedge between me and the others. And it’s only the kids of my two closest siblings that come to help. The older ones are too far away and swore off farming altogether and moved to big cities and got big city jobs and houses in the suburbs and are content to go to grocery stores and I’m pretty sure their kids just assume meat comes prepackaged in the store, and not off of any other living animal.” He admitted.

“That’s so sad.” Marie frowned.

“In my family, all of us were so poor, we hardly didn’t have anything and what little we did have, we shared. And right now, they’re just happy to get eggs, and, I’m the same way, in the summer, all my nieces and nephews come out but I can’t pay them anything, but they’re just happy to get out of the city and off the streets and away from any dangerous associations that they normally can’t escape while they’re in school. And right now, all my siblings are simply doing everything they can to get them into every other program they can- just to get them out of the public schools and into private ones just to give them any advantage they can and use the summers that the kids are here- to get second and third jobs so they’re working all the time and they’re just happy to get the very foods that my nieces and nephews helped grow and then can and preserve what they can, cause every penny saved is then stretched to max. They consider me to be the lucky one who got out of the cycle and didn’t go into the never ending cycle of working a job that you hate but it’s the best job with the best pay you can get and have to kiss ass to people you despise. And while we all work, probably too hard, at least we have each other and at least we help when we can. But that’s only because no one else in the family has anything the others want or are willing to go to war over.” Marie explained as she watched as the ewes got fed and ate as the barn quieted down quite a bit.

“I’m sure if there was a big and probably pretty valuable asset like this, and the farming equipment alone is worth millions. This farm with all of it’s acreage, that’s millions of dollars in of itself. But you don’t look at the fields and think how much it’s worth, you look at your fields and see what crops you can use said land to produce to feed the sheep. You see them as friends and tools rather than piles of money.” Marie reasoned.

“That’s true, I do. And while I know you’re not wild about commercial farming, I hope you can see that at least for me, it’s not just all cash crops. It’s all for the sheep. Because they’re like my kids, my friends, my purpose. And I love ‘em. They’re funny and spunky and when the lambing is done and you’re just watching all the kids grow up and it’s feeding time, watching all the kids run and jump and bound up and down the pens while the moms are eating. Or when they get into big sleep piles taking naps, then they’re just precious little angels. And then I have a place that’s down the road. I call it the Hill View Retirement Community. All the ewes that I’m particularly attached to, they get to live out their last years over there, just eating and basking in the sun or getting shelter in the barn when the weather is not so nice, they’re my soft spots and my guilty pleasure. And some of these older ewes, once they make it through this lambing, they’ll retire and join them in Hill View. And even though, that hill ain’t much more than a prairie dog hill, it’s still nice for them to walk up and down on.” He shrugged.

“Can we go see them?” Marie asked hopefully.

“Yeah, sure.” He agreed before he invited her to ride with him over to them and introduced them all by name as Marie was giddy to meet a sheep with the same name as her.

“Well hello there Merry Marie.” Marie giggled as she scratched the ewe between the shoulder blades and giggled as the sheep’s lips curled and her ears wiggled and her tail wagged to get the love and attention as Sunsugar nearly butted her head into Marie’s hip to get some pets herself.

“Oh my goodness, you’re green with envy? What, no one can get any pets without you getting some too?” Marie teased the sheep as she used her other hand to scratch the same place between the sheep’s shoulder blades as Trip put down fresh “sheets” aka- straw for bedding down in the area that they bedded down on as Trip damn near sighed dreamily.

“There you are!” His nephews nearly bleated when they got off of school and came home to the house that was across the street as Trip nearly jumped out of his own skin and made the most undignified yelp which caused Marie to come around the corner to see Trip clutching his chest and bracing himself against the wall as his nieces and nephews easily jumped the fence to gather around him before they noticed her.

“Who are you?” They asked when they noticed her.

“Hi, I’m Marie Burke, I just bought some sheep off of your…uncle?” Marie supplied.

“Oh! You’re the super pretty farmer in Damsey! Hi, I’m Billy…” The oldest realized as all the kids immediately left their uncles to come around Marie and introduce themselves and get to meet her and ask her all kinds of questions because apparently, Trip was not the only newest subscribers to her channel, so were they. And they were all eager to see if they could appear in a new video of hers.

“Well, I would have to get permission from your parents.” Marie began.

“Uncle Trip! You can give the permission right? I mean you pick us up from school and can take us to doctor’s appointments and stuff.” They all pleaded with him with their big doe eyes and hopeful smiles.

“No, that’s definitely something your mom and dad are gonna have to give permission for.” Trip shook his head no gently with an apologetic smile.

Before the kids turned back and wanted to know everything about Marie and her farm and then ask about her family and how she had nieces and nephews but no kids herself and then came the question Trip had wanted to ask but couldn’t bring himself to get the courage to as he got the kids back to his farm by having them pile up in the bed of his truck as they all helped him and Marie with his other chores in the barn. And having Marie there with the kids, they were much more eager to do everything she wanted to help with and work alongside her.

“So how come you’re not married with kids of your own?” Billy asked.

“Because I haven’t found anyone who wants to farm the way I do. Or thinks that my way of doing things is impractical in the modern world or only sees animals, land and food as a way to make money, not a way to support and sustain life.” She answered.

“Well then you should date Trip! Because that’s how he farms too!” The kids urged her.

“Oh I should, should I?” She seemed to smile and laugh.

“Unless you don’t like satyrs.” One of the girls, Maddie- sheepishly offered.

“Why wouldn’t I like satyrs? Aren’t you guys normal people, just like everyone else?” Marie posed innocently back.

“We are, just most people don’t see it that way.” Maddie frowned.

“Well, I’m one of those kinds of people who takes everyone as an individual and I don’t always assume that just because of the kind of person they are- will mean what that person is too. Humans are known for their ruthlessness, viciousness, violence and aggression as much as they are known for their humanity, kindness and nurturing. Same could be said about anyone and everyone else. People have always been people, no matter the kind. And so far, what I’ve seen between you guys and your uncle and others that I’ve met since I moved out here, is that while this is a mostly rural community, it’s a very honest, honorable, very hard working and close knit community. But they’re happy with life’s little pleasures and are usually easily contented. That most people are happy to help each other out, even if they appear to be strangers, but are happy to make new friends. And even do what they can to lift each other up instead of pushing each other down just so they get ahead in life because of how competitive they are. And even though I’m the first person and first generation in my family to farm, I feel welcome and among equals when I’m with people who have been doing it all their lives and for countless generations. And are more than ready and willing to share everything they have, including knowledge and know-how and wisdom as they are with a cup of sweet tea and sitting on the front porch while I pick up leftovers from yard sales and barn sales. And then they get to be friends and are happy to share family recipes and little tricks of the trade and are happy to exchange favors for small things up to big things. Like trading planting plants from a greenhouse for the chance to play with big pregnant ewes.” Marie smiled.

“Wait, so you went to her farm? Is it as nice as the videos?” All the kids asked Trip.

“Yup.” Trip nodded as his cheeks darkened again but his little smile was particularly adorable.

And then, before he knew it, his brother and his wife were wandering into the barn, just as Trip got done with what he could in the barn to set up for shearing day the next day.

“Well hello there, I don’t think we’ve met. Ashley O’Donnel, the mother to- all of them.” Ashley said as she reached her hand out towards Marie after she gestured to her kids while she had another toddler on her hip while her pregnant belly swayed with her boho skirt.

“Hi, nice to meet you Ashley, I’m Marie Burke. I bought some lambs off of Trip and was getting to know more about sheep husbandry, and the kids have been fantastic teachers, I’ve learned more from them in an afternoon than I have the last three years of researching.” Marie explained as Ashley nearly blinded Marie with a bright happy smile.

“Really? Which ones did you get?” She asked.

“The stragglers from January.” Trip answered.

“Oh, even the runts?”

“Especially the runts, the runts were what I was after.” Marie answered before Ashley practically squeezed the soul out of Marie with a happy delighted squeal.

“Really? Oh I’m so happy you got Spunky!” She cooed.

“Yeah, Spunky is quite the character, she’s been really fun to have.” Marie smiled.

“Oh, please tell me you can stay for dinner, we are only going to be having a bucket of fried chicken but, I would love to have you stay for dinner. You too Trip.” Ashley warmly invited.

“As long as we wouldn’t be keeping Marie from anything.” Trip offered.

“Nope. Not at all.” Marie shook her head and smiled.

“Perfect!” Ashley beamed and practically pulled Marie into her vehicle while her husband went and got said fried chicken from the local chicken joint.

Over dinner, Ashley was eager to try to welcome Marie into the fold and into the family while Skip gave Trip a few scheming smiles and nudges and looks to show he was all for this new development.

#Monster March #Monster March 2023 #Monster March 2023 Day 31- Satyr #Monster March 2023 Day 31- Part 1

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