#got a big ass pumpkin for like $10 at the ~harvest festival~

[ampleappleamble]

initial concept:

how it's going:

[sevenciircles]

Earlier Than Expected

Millie was five years old and she was ready for her first ever Wrath Wrangle!

She had awoken that day with the sun, having gone to bed early at her parent's insistence. It was a big day today, it was her first time being able to compete in the Wrath Wrangle! She had watched it for years, leaning forward on the stands and cheering for her favorites, and now she'd get to participate with the big kids!

Well, she'd be in the 5-10 year old age bracket, but she was still a big kid! She'd been practicing for months now, and Millie was fully confident she was ready! She had all her moves perfected, and she had trained with her Daddy to be the toughest, roughest imp she could! She had to make not only her parents proud, but her siblings too! She would be the first to participate in a Wrath Wrangle, and the young imp knew that she could do something memorable.

She had flitted around that morning, barely paying attention to her parents as she zoomed around the house. She had so much energy! Of course she did! This was the Wrath Wrangle! Imps came from all over the Ring to their section of Wrath for a big fighting tournament! And there were all sorts of game booths and food too! She loved this festival almost as much as the Harvest Jamboree, but she had to be 18 to participate in those events. She would all old by then!

Millie was talking a mile a minute as her Mama brushed and braided her hair, rambling on about this and that and how she would wipe the floor with everyone!

She only stopped when her Daddy walked in and kneeled in front of her. Her shining eyes laid on him, a proud grin on her face.

"Daddy, Daddy! Today I'm gonna bring home that medal! When I win, can we have peach cobbler? OOOO! Or chocolate cake? I'm gonna punch, kick, and tackle the others like- HI-YA!" Millie mimed a punch, causing her Mama to let go of her hair and pull the excitable imp back.

Millie hissed in pain, but quickly got over it. Nothing could bring her down!

"Now pumpkin, I know you're excited, but you gotta be realistic! I think you'll kick some ass for sure, but baby girl your young. You're gonna be up against the real big kids, it's okay if you don't last a round or two. The important thing is that your tryin' Mildred." He said, chuckling and clapping Millie on the back.

She frowned briefly, crossing her arms.

"But I WILL win Daddy! I'm the baddest bitch in the Ring!" Millie cheered, and her Mama delivered a quick smack to her with the flat end of her brush.

"Language, young lady! Remember what I said?" Her Mama scolded, and Millie rolled her eyes.

"Only outside and out of earshot. What you don't know won't hurt ya." Millie recited, feeling her Mama finish the braid.

"And there! My little angel of doom is all ready to go!" Her Mama cooed, and Millie felt the braid. She hugged her Mama tightly, or as tightly as she could, and giggled.

"Thanks Ma!" Millie then turned to her Dad.

"I know where the med tent is, and I know how to take a hit! I'm gonna be golden! Now can we goooooooo already! My event starts in 30!" Millie begged, and her Dad sighed fondly before nodding.

Millie yelled in excitement, going around the couch to the cribs and beds and kissing her siblings and wishing them goodbye. The Wrath Wrangle Festival was only about ten minutes up the road by truck, but she acted like she was leaving them forever.

"Come on, come on, come on, let's gooooooo!" Millie grabbed her Dad's hand, dragging him out the door. Unaware he was letting himself be dragged, she smiled. Boy she was strong!

The ride to the festival was filled with chatter, mainly from Millie as she told him all about what she was going to do. Her Daddy would chime in here or there, remind her of some safety rules, and laugh at his daughter's spirit.

Finally, at long last, they arrived at the site of the festival. Millie hopped out of the truck as soon as it was parked on a random patch of dirt, and ran forward before finding herself being scooped up by her Dad.

Millie didn't mind, and her head was on a swivel as she looked around. There were tons of booths, games, and prizes! And as she craned her neck over the heads of the crowd, she could see the muddy ring where the Wrath Wrangle would take place.

Her Daddy finally let her go, allowing her to run off ahead while he went to sign her in.

Millie zoomed in and out of the crowd, eager and ready to get into that ring! She was so excited, this was gonna be great, she couldn't wait-

OOMPH!

Millie collided with something and she fell over on her butt. It shocked her more than hurt her, but she recovered quickly and opened her eyes to see an imp around her age with white hair and six white freckles.

He stared at her, nervous, so Millie gave a big smile and brushed herself off. She stood up, offering a hand to the boy.

"Sorry about that! I'm just so excited! It's the Wrath Wrangle after all, and I'm participatin'!" Millie said proudly, as the boy stared at her for a second longer before hesitantly taking her hand and helping her pull him up.

Right away, Millie dedicated a lack of roughness on his hands. No callouses. Either he wore gloves all the time or he didn't work, Millie observed.

"That's cool..." The boy said, in a low voice. Still, he was smiling. And Millie could tell he was excited.

"Right? My name's Mildred! But the only people who call me that are my Mama and Daddy." Millie introduced, letting got of his hand.

"I'm..." The boy hesitated. "My Dad said not to tell my name to strangers." He said, fidgeting with his tail.

Millie cocked her head, confused. That was weird, but she didn't think more about it.

"Okay! Are you playin' in the Wrangle? Where are ya from? I ain't never seen you around at any other things." Millie asked curiously, surely she would have remembered the soft spoken boy.

"I'm actually not from here. Well, I am. I was born here, but I live in Greed. My mommy is though, we go on vacation to Wrath every so often." The boy said, becoming slightly more cheerful when talking about his Mama.

Millie's eyes widened in shock, her smile stretching.

"Your from another ring? That's so cool! What's it like? I've only ever been here!" Millie asked, getting closer to the boy as he flushed. That was funny, it wasn't hot out!

"Um..."

Millie then noticed something out of place among the reds and tans of Wrath. Green. Green and blue. She looked behind him and saw for the first time two muscular shark demons, watching them.

Her eyes narrowed, looking to the boy.

"There's these two men followin' you! My Daddy will know how to take care of them. He's the strongest ever!" Millie said, trying to reassure the boy.

However, he only cracked a smile and giggled.

"Those are my friends!" The boy replied, and Millie relaxed. "Dad has them follow me to keep me safe." He said it like it was obvious.

That made sense! They must be even shyer than the boy to not participate. He must be so cool, making friends with adults!

"Oh! Well-" She then heard an announcement blaring over a grainy loudspeaker. It was time for her event!

Millie's eyes widened, and she turned to the boy grinning in anticipation.

"It's time! It's time! It's time!" She yelled, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the ring as he yelped.

Millie forgot she was dragging the poor boy along until she dropped his hand, turning back around.

"I have to go now! I'll be back after I win this thing! Meet me here! Are you gonna watch in the stands?" Millie asked hurriedly, seeing her competition hop over the fence and go to the center.

The boy nodded, and shyly looked towards the stands. Millie's eyes followed, and noticed a large crowd of shark demons surrounding a couple of imps. One was smoking a cigar with weird green smoke, and the other was waving to the boy.

That must be his family!

"Good luck, Millie!" The boy said, giving her a smile before running off.

Millie watched him run for a second, before climbing over the fence and hopping down into the mud. It was nice to meet him, but Millie had to focus now!

She ran to the center of the ring, noticing a lot of the competition was taller and bigger than her. She puffed up her chest and stood taller to make herself look bigger, but it did little difference.

The announcer looked them all over, and she noticed his eyes seemed to linger on her a little longer before he moved on.

"I'm gonna go over the rules one more time. You'll fight one on one in rounds, and the winner advances. The two winners will fight in the final round. Names will be called randomly. There's no weapons, and try to avoid breaking major bones. A small penalty will be deducted otherwise."

Millie had studied these rules, she had listened to them for years. She had trained for them.

"Alright, everyone face the crowd now."

Millie turned around, facing the crowd who began cheering and hollering.

She caught her Daddy in the crowd, hooting and yelling with the rest of them. Millie waved at him, but also turned slightly to the only section not yelling. The shark demons.

They looked cautious, and the male imp looked bored. The woman looked nicer, clapping happily and the boy sat on her lap, clapping too.

"Welcome y'all to the Wrath Wrangle Festival! For our first event, we have the little tykes' rumble! Let's give a shout to our lil upstarts!"

It went agonizingly slow after that.

She had watched two fights, sitting on the bench with the other kids as they awaited their turn. The fighting was vicious, it was dirty, it was tough. Millie couldn't wait!

Eventually, the loser was dragged out and the winner went to get water.

"For our next matchup, Danny Craw and Millie Mason!" The announcer yelled, and Millie hopped up along with a kid who looked about nine or so. He had some bulk on him, but was taller.

She wasn't worried.

As she got into position, she looked into his eyes and grinned.

He was going down.

Millie ended up beating Danny.

And everyone else.

As each fight of hers continued, the crowd grew louder and louder whenever she was announced. She felt so happy, and every time she looked at her Daddy he seemed so proud! She was going to have peach cobbler tonight for sure!

"For our first semi-final match, let's have our surprising little firecracker Millie Mason and our returning champ, Jenna Hales!" The announcer boomed, and Millie stood up.

She had been injured during the tournament, of course.

She was bruised and beaten, her leg felt funny and her side hurt. She was slightly dizzy, but Millie knew that even if she wasn't in perfect shape, victory was hers! She had beaten everyone else, returning champion or not, Jenna would be a piece of cake!

The bell dinged.

Millie didn't exactly remember what happened next, but after feeling a few punches and doling out some of her own she heard screams from the crowd and the world went black.

Millie woke up, a throbbing pulse coming from her skull. She winced, trying to open her eyes before closing them again.

She could feel tears leaking out of her eyes. She hadn't ever been in this much pain!

Her arm felt like it was split in too, her face ached, and it hurt with every breath she took.

"Now now, take your time pumpkin. You took a beatin' out there." Came the voice of her Daddy, and Millie felt the tears roll out more steadily as she sniffed.

Finally opening her eyes, she saw her Daddy there. She realized she was laying on a cot, her arm and leg were wrapped up. She had ice on her eye and a cloth was being held to her lip.

Every second she was awake, it hurt more. Her bottom lip quivered, and she cried openly. That only made her side hurt more, which made her cry more. It was an ugly circle.

"Da-daddy! It hurtssssss!" Millie wailed, and she could feel him holding her hand. She wanted a hug, but she knew that it would hurt more.

"Shhh, I know baby girl, I know. They're bringin' in some medicine and a more professional doc. Normally they don't do that, but for you kid, they are. You really made everyone impressed." Her Daddy said, a smile on his face.

Millie's lip wobbled, she hadn't even considered that she had lost.

"So... so I didn't win? Aren't you sad?" Millie asked, feeling on the verge of sobbing again when her Dad began gently stroking her head.

"Pumpkin, I couldn't be prouder of you. All those folks out there felt the same. No one has ever seen a kid your size and age make it so far before."

Millie found that she didn't care about everyone else.

All that mattered was that her Daddy was proud of her.

Through the tears, she tried to smile.

It would all be okay, if her Daddy was proud of her.

Still, the pain was overwhelming and she felt herself gasping, tears coming out of her eyes again.

"I'm gonna go track down that doctor, or at least see if we can get some medicine. Those fuckin' bastards takin' too long..." Her Daddy grumbled, leaving the tent.

She was alone for the moment.

Millie tried to hold back her cries, but the tears just kept coming.

She closed her eyes, trying to take deep breaths, only to realize that hurt even more.

And then she heard footsteps.

Millie cracked an eye open, thinking it was her Dad with either the doctor or the medicine, but it wasn't either of those things.

It was the boy she had met earlier.

He stood with his hands behind his back, fidgeting.

"I-I know your probably in pain." The boy said, stepping closer.

Millie could have let out a laugh if she felt better.

"So I'll try to be fast. But you were really brave. Like a story book I read! Your super strong, I wish I was." The boy looked down again, before revealing what was behind his back.

A single red rose.

"I asked my mommy if we could get it. She said that it'd make you feel better. Does it make you feel better?" The boy asked, and Millie opened both of her eyes to see the other imp looking at her with hope.

And while her pain didn't lessen, as she carefully took the rose from his hands and smelled it, she did feel better.

Millie mustered a smile, a weak and watery one, but a smile.

"I do feel better, thanks!" Millie said as cheerfully as she could, but it came out as more of a grimace. "And hey, if you're ever in Wrath again, let's play! You can tell me about Greed and I can teach you about fighting."

That took a lot out of the little girl, and she found herself holding back tears stronger than ever.

"Okay! I wanna play with you. When you're better." The boy said, and he paused. He looked like he was about to say something else, but Millie heard a faint call that sounded a lot like 'rocks', and the boy jumped.

"I have to go, goodbye!" The boy scurried out of the tent with one final wave.

Millie stared at his retreating form as she held the rose to her chest. She felt her eyelids drooping, what little energy she had spent.

What an odd imp...

When Joe came into see his daughter with the better doctor, the first aid attendant, and a bunch of medicine he was sure he'd be working off for a while, he saw his little baby girl looking pale as a sheet on the cot.

But the bright red rose stood out.

Joe wondered if he should be worried, but then dismissed it. His little pumpkin spice had a fan, he was sure it wasn't anything to be concerned about.

[austinpanda]

Bangor Bound Ch. 9

Monday, Sept. 16 - Tuesday, Sept. 17

So of course I got sick and threw up as soon as I was awake at 6:30 this morning. I believe I’m the next evolutionary step; I don’t have to be awake to be acutely aware that the walls of the garbage masher just started getting closer together. At 6:30 I woke up, and all at once thought, “It’s Monday again, I’m leaving for Bangor in 11 days, I don’t have a place to stay after the first day’s drive, I don’t have a place to stay after the second day’s drive, and I don’t have a place to land in Bangor. And I don’t have half of our money yet, and I have a guy trying to get me to move into his apartment that’s making me VERY nervous. 

Let us start with the guy, because he was most of yesterday, which was Sunday. He’s got a big house with an apartment in it. It has three bedrooms. It’s been professionally cleaned. It has all-new, stainless steel appliances. It’s on a river. It’s beautiful. It’s affordable. It’s almost too good to be true! There are, however, a few red flags. The guy doesn’t do leases. You’re just there month to month, as long as it works out. When I asked him why, he said it was for his protection, in case things didn’t work out. 

More red flags: He doesn’t want any of my information. He never asks for my name, or social security number, or phone number, or work history, or rent references, or anything. He just wants first and last month’s rent. He says a couple of quiet guys with an indoor cat is best for him, because he’s fussy about who he rents to, and doesn’t like children running up and down the stairs, etc. 

More red flags: It’s important that we do the deal quickly, because he has others who are looking at the place. No problems renting it, but it’s losing money as long as he doesn’t rent it. So it’s important that I pay him now. I offer to give him a couple of hundred to hold the place, and he comes back with, “So what do you think? Want to send money ASAP please? Losing money here?”

I think I may be passing up an actual opportunity for something awesome here, but I also think I’m passing up an opportunity for a scary guy to not communicate with me very well, possibly leading to a horrible landlord/tenant situation. And I guaranteed that the situation would have another uncomfortable chapter because I emailed him and said, “Okay, how should I send you the couple hundred?” And then I emailed and said, “nm I’m just going to look for something else, sorry for my confusion, sorry, thank you, bai” And then I got Zach to show me how to block this guy, so I don’t get any other emails from him.

Today, a few things huge things happened in quick succession. 

Zach started a shower. I started house hunting. I thought, “I’ll check Fidelity Net Benefits and see if I can request money from my retirement and roll the rest over today.” Turns out I CAN!!! I’m getting about a quarter of my retirement savings turned into cash, for my move to Bangor, minus a bunch for withholding. The website made it take about five minutes. It’ll be direct deposited. I’m rich, biyatch!! Sort of, kind of, etc.

My next step, and this was both large and heroic on my part, was that I got us a place to land in Bangor. I spent two hours making three hotel reservations. The first is in Nashville, the second in Buffalo, and finally a week at the Ramada in Bangor while we house hunt. This means pretty much all dates have been decided. Here they are:

Wednesday, September 25 - two U-Box pods and some movers arrive at 2:00. They deliver the pods, then fill them with all our stuff. By this time we need to be completely packed. Everything that goes in the pods needs to be ready to move. By the end of this day, we’ll have two full and locked pods in the parking lot, and the only stuff left in the apartment will be that which gets to Bangor in my car. 

Thursday, September 26 - We clean our empty-ass apartment and do whatever final, last-day shit we have to do. Not sure what we’re going to sleep on. The cleaning won’t take long, because...you know...the place is already clean NOW, dammit. :)

Friday, September 27 - We wake up and begin the 13-hour trip to Nashville in my car, Beige Lightning, with my cat, Samuel L. Jackson in the backseat kitty condo I’ve built for his lazy ass. We drive through A large swath of Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee. This is, I predict, the period of greatest police peril. Two gays and an African American cat who’s probably a pot-head, trying to escape The South. Hopefully we arrive in Nashville and acquire our hotel room at the Super 8 by Wyndham Nashville West without incident. This will be the longest leg of the trip. The other two legs will be about 10 hours each.

Saturday, September 28 - We wake up, toss the kitty in the car and begin the second leg of our journey, the one from Nashville, Tennessee to Buffalo, New York. I know a guy in Buffalo who’s gay and would take off all his clothes and rub his bits on me if I asked him nicely! I shan’t, because, you know, that ain’t how my marriage works right at this moment, but it’s still a great feeling, the virtual bit-rubbing (the newest crypto-currency!). We spend the night at the Red Roof Inn Plus+ University at Buffalo-Amherst. And by the way, if they say Plus and use the plus sign, does that make it a minus?

Sunday, September 29 - We wake up, load Beige Lightning, and begin the final leg of our trip, from Buffalo to Bangor. This final leg of the journey will take about ten hours, and the first half will be driving from the far left side of New York state to the far right side. We exit the east side of New York, and enter the west side of Massachusetts. We drive from left to right across Massachusetts, arcing northward, until we hit New Hampshire. We’re in New Hampshire for about 30 seconds--we drive through but a tiny portion of the state--and then we’re in Maine.

By this point in our journey, the fall colors will have arrived in the state of Maine. (I’m paying extra to be certain of this.) So the trees will all be a beautiful multicolored stained glass collage of gold, orange, and red. Everything will look like a postcard. When we drive by a house on the side of the highway, it will be quaint, and rustic, and have pumpkins out front, along with that corn where the kernels are all different colors. And little gourd things. Many of the towns we drive through will be in the middle of their annual harvest festival and parade. For a brief period, my car will become part of the parade, and when the people see from my license plates that I’ve just come from Texas, they’ll throw mardi gras beads, and candy, and poutine into my car, as a way of saying, “Welcome!” 

We arrive in Bangor. Time stops for a few seconds when we drive over the line, while all the time lines readjust, and the city expands to accommodate two chunky white guys and their cat, and this is when the first snowfall begins. We’re not going to be driving a moving truck, and Beige Lightning is sporting brand new tires, so a little snow won’t imperil us. We check in at our hotel, Ramada by Wyndham Bangor, the hotel with the shortest damn name in the whole world, only four words. I’ve pre-paid for 8 days at this place. And we’ll unload the car in a gentle snowfall, while the cat’s eyes become enormous with awe. 

I sincerely wish we could have a home already there to move into, but the way in which we’re doing it has a couple of advantages. I won’t be at the mercy of crazy no-lease guy. I’ll be able to house hunt while actually there in Bangor, so we can visit places, and speak to people directly. I predict house hunting will require more effort, but produce better results this way.

Me:  Give me an apartment!

Then: But you aren’t employed!

Me: I know. (whipping out bundles of cash) Will MONEY help fix that?  Mwahahahaha!

And finally, one reason why I don’t mind spending three days driving to a state I’ve never visited before, with no home to move into once I’m there, is because...part of what makes this a legitimate adventure is the fact that its conclusion contains some degree of uncertainty. Yes, it’d be nice to drive there with all our plans set and all our questions answered, but that’s inconsistent with reality, and robs you of the growth you experience through facing your fear and surviving the adversity. It’s not that it has to be scary or it doesn’t count. It’s that, if you had to do it while scared, at least it’s a greater accomplishment. And that, I hope, will feel good forever.