#he also immediately went to pee in one of the bushes in the parking lot

[ratatatastic]

"So the Cup party—you know, we with some of the other boys were waiting at Elbo Room for you guys like a bunch of fuckin' plugs! But you go to Chucky's house after—I mean, I know you guys stayed in the locker room for hours, until like 3AM and then you go to Chucky's house. Obviously, there was the amazing stuff on the beach, all around town, Elbo [Room] the next day. That night just being with the boys, being with the families in the locker room, at Chucky's—how special was that?" "Yeah, you know what it was... I think they said—the one day we went back to the rink—I think we had to sign—our owners had to sign every champagne bottle and I think they said there was over 160 champagne bottles? That were—and like obviously not—" "Like empties you mean? Yeah, just like—" "Empties! Like just spraying everywhere! I think you could—like, I had my gear on till about 3:30/4AM. I didn't get home till about 5:30 and guys were still there! You guys probably saw that pic of Carter sleeping on the lawn? Like, I think he might've been one of the last ones there."

Empty Netters | 8.26.24 (x)

and if youre wondering about said lawn pics montys talking about swaggy drunk off his ass plopping down on the grassy area in front of amerant bank arena in the parking lot waiting for his uber 😭😭😭

and he looked so downright pitiful that someone went up to him and gave him a chair to sit on instead and everything about his dazed smile once he recognises the thing in front of him being a chair speaks enough volumes about how absolutely gone he was

[girlmeetsliv3]

Boundaries

Warning: The following story contains mentions of suicide, depression, anxiety, manipulation, abuse, and vivid descriptions of abusive acts. The behavior and mindset of the characters in this series will be incredibly yandere and toxic. This is a work of fiction and doesn’t represent the character of bangtan sonyeondan. Enjoy ~~~

         He had always been a little strange. From the first moment, you met Kim Taehyung that is what was the word you would use to describe him - but strange was good. You were strange as well: the foreigner who looked weird, talked too much, and far too loud. So you decided to approach the little boy who was just sitting in the corner during break time simply staring off into nothing in particular. Six years old you were more brazen and confident, so she strutted towards the shy boy who seemed a little intimidated once he noticed you. “Hi, I’m [y/n]. Wanna be friends?” Is what you mustered out in your broken Korean, but you held your hand out hoping he would take it. Taehyung didn’t really understand what you had said all too well, so he simply stared at you for the longest time until your stretched out arm began to tremble. Immediately his eyes widened with recognition and he grasped your hand tightly interlocking your fingers. For such tiny hands, it was a grip of steel, something you would have commented on if not for the boxy smile adorning his face, it was so wide it made his eyes nearly disappear and clearly displayed all his crooked teeth. From that moment on the two of you were inseparable.

    Wherever you went he was there too, he never liked being away from you for too long. All the teacher’s found it cute, up until he tried to walk into the girl’s bathroom with you, then he was taken aside and told one must have boundaries. It was something the little boy pretended to understand but disregarded the moment you stepped out of the bathroom. He didn’t see the point in having boundaries, for they stemmed from distrust and Taehyung trusted you entirely. It created a mutual bond between the two of you; a bond which only weakened when you were forced to deal with the consequences of his peculiar tastes.

    You had once gone out during recess to play with Taehyung, after searching around the entire playground area you spotted him crouched in a small clearing in between a large tree, bushes, and the school fence. You had failed to notice him before due to the untamed greenery that surrounded him and the fact that he could only be seen from a very specific angle. You crept towards him silently with the desire to scare him, simply to entertain yourself - it was you that ended up scared. Taehyung was crouched with a squirrel in between his feet, the squirrel was trembling fighting for its life as Taehyung continued to pull at its limbs tearing them cruelly free from the sockets and plucking hair from its fur until his spine finally gave out and it died. He was so entranced in his activity he didn’t notice the presence behind him until he heard a sniffle.

    Tears were strolling down your face and you asked why he was doing such a mean thing to the squirrel. Taehyung looked like a deer caught in headlights and began to openly sob, begging for your forgiveness and to not tell anyone. Taehyung never cried and it shocked you, to say the least; he rambled on and on about how the mean squirrel had tried to bite him and it was payback. He sobbed and clung to you like a life jacket, tripping over his words in an attempt to make sure you didn’t abandon him. You promised you never wold. When the teacher had found the two of you, she simply assumed that it was the first experience the two young children had with death, to justify your reactions. It wouldn’t be your last.

    The second time was a lot more gruesome though this time you had been witness to what caused the sudden switch in his personality. Taehyung always had difficulty making friends, you had been his only one for about six years until he finally made another one, Park Jimin. Taehyung and you had finished school and wanted ice cream, hands interlocked you walked the shady streets of your small town until harsh sounds caught your attention. There were several thugs standing over a small boy who was in a fetal position trying to lessen the damage being caused by the punches, kicks, and derogatory words being thrown his way. He hadn’t done anything to solicit this reaction from the men, but he knew he didn’t need too, they were simply looking for a target and he, unfortunately, was an easy one. Jimin sobbed and openly begged for someone to save him, despite him knowing it only made him look more pathetic. Perhaps, it was the familiarity of disparity or simply an opportunity to perform some of his darker desires, Taehyung let go of your hand and dashed towards the thugs - leaving you to run after him screaming.

    It had been a surreal experience watching someone's nose go up into their brain, hearing the sound of bones smashing against concrete, seeing blood come from someone’s eyes after they had been violently scratched out in blind anger. You hadn’t been able to do anything but stare in horror trapped in your position. The boy who had been beaten senselessly now stood and staggered towards Taehyung, hugging him and thanking him, all Taehyung was doing was gazing at your face, attempting to calm himself down from his high. Once he felt his feet touch the Earth again he embraced Jimin but held a hand out to you beckoning you closer, you took it and the three of you stayed like that for a while. Until you had run away from the police.

    It was these events that caused an epiphany in you that in order for the friendship to last it needed boundaries. Taehyung hadn’t understood at first and had accused you of wanting to simply abandon him. Go back on your promise. It had taken several weeks to convince him that was not the case that you simply needed space and him as well. So that word became your safe word, one that kept him on a leash and allowed you to keep your sanity. When you wanted to hang out with your girlfriends and talk about silly crushes and the pains of womanhood - boundary. When your body began to develop and the weekly sleepovers had to stop because they would no longer be seen as an innocent event - boundary. It was a word that often divided you, one that had come up more and more in your delicate friendship.

    Taehyung also had created boundaries which were like bold yellow tape which said: keep out. His hangouts with his much older friends where they discussed hookups and were able to let go of the male bravado they had to carry on their shoulders constantly - boundary. Calling him in the middle of the night when you were bored because last time you did, you had heard his panting voice and female moans on the other side of the line - boundary. Though you would eventually realize that there weren’t enough boundaries in between Taehyung and you, the event that triggered the downfall of your friendship was one that made all the others things you had witnessed due to his urges seem like child’s play.

    Just having turned eighteen and about to abandon your traumatic childhood life in favor of the opportunities that lie in the city, you wanted to end on a high note. There was a graduation party at some rich kids house and though you hadn’t spoken to Taehyung in over a week, you knew he would be there. It was about as entertaining as you had imagined, but it was still a pleasant switch from your usual routine of Netflix and junk food. Now on your third beer, you had the desire to pee so you walked upstairs in search for a bathroom that wasn’t being used for quickies or other illicit acts. The only one you could find was the one inside the master bedroom, all you needed was to empty out your bladder and you would return with the partygoers until the cops came and crashed the party. You were about to exit the bathroom when you heard a whiny moan and a familiar name uttered from a feminine voice, “Taehyung~”. Had it been anyone else you would have honestly walked out with your head down and simply pretended nothing was happening - but now that you knew it was Taehyung having sex in the adjacent room you simply made sure the bathroom door was locked and planned to wait it out.

    Easier said than done for when you began to hear what sounded like choking noises trespassing through the wooden door you freaked. You rationalized it was a kink, some people liked getting choked during sex and there was no point in bursting through the door only to embarrass yourself when both parties were safe and sound. Until the sound got significantly louder and then stopped. A nauseating feeling crept into your entire being and you couldn’t breathe properly even if you wanted too. It wasn’t until you heard the bedroom door slam, an assurance that the perpetrator was gone that you dared step out. You recognized the girl on the tousled bed immediately the two of you shared a class - and the same first name. The two of you had bonded over the annoyance of being constantly confused by the withering professor and now she might be dead. You approached the bed cautiously with tear-brimmed eyes but were relieved when you found her breathing and in what looked to be a state of temporary unconsciousness - not a permanent one.

    You refused to believe this was an accident and took it as it was a warning. You dashed out of the bedroom and the party sprinting home. You were planning to leave tomorrow morning in an effort to avoid the inevitable and get as far away from your best friend as possible. You had mentioned to him moving away, but you hadn’t said where or when and you thanked the heavens for your foresight. Everything went smoothly that night and the following morning, up until the moment you opened the door to leave and were greeted with an overpowering figure and a boxy smile. You knew the only way to save yourself was to attempt to convince Taehyung one more boundary was needed, he didn’t react too well.

    “You have way too many boundaries!”

    “I don’t have to spend every waking moment with you!”

    “I don’t have to wait around until you suddenly remember my existence!”

    “I’m so tired of you!”

    “The feeling is mutual!”

    They were all lies. Fueled by fear, paranoia, and desperation in your case and teenage angst, longing, and other pent up emotions in his. It was the final nail in the coffin and allowed the weight to lift off your shoulders and a dark feeling to consume his heart. So you parted ways with you marching towards your car and to a new life, whilst a quiet Taehyung stood frozen staring off into space trying to comprehend where everything went wrong. For days on end, he racked his brain trying to decipher everything until he landed on one word: boundaries. If boundaries had torn you apart from each other getting rid of them all would bring you back together.

    It had been years since you had seen Taehyung. You had moved far into the city and we're having a relatively successful life: a proper education, a good job, a nice apartment you had busted your ass off for. However, you were lonely, the ambitious and workaholic lifestyle of the city had everyone living inside their own bubble and the societal boundaries you were forced to maneuver through had you feeling like a gymnast. You longed for an escape in whatever form it came, you longed to get away from the cynical cold eyes that followed your every move and behavior - that seemed to pierce through you and see all your imperfections. It was tiring. In those long nights, where you barely slept you found yourself longing for the boxy smile and strange boy despite every fiber of your body warning you it was wrong.

    Tonight was one of those nights. You had an entire week off, you never took an off day however your boss had threatened you to utilize your sick days or he assured that you would never again have an off day as long as you worked for the company. It was a dream job and many would die for it, but the environment and the people in it made you want to slit your throat or theirs. It reminded you of the toxic friendship you had escaped and how on its shallow surface it appeared so beautiful, innocent, and sweet when underneath it was rotten, corrupt, and twisted. All these thoughts kept you up until three forty-seven am and in an attempt to calm yourself down you made your way to the kitchen to drink some tea and take your sleeping pills.

You weren’t a fan of them due to how effectively they functioned, knocking you out in mere minutes after taking them. The doctor had prescribed after your insomnia ,stemming from your paranoia, had you go three days without any sleep. You promised yourself you would only take them when absolutely necessary so the bottle was practically new. After the tea cooled a bit, you chugged it down and swallowed the thick narcotic shuffling through the kitchen to your bedroom door until the bell rang. The medication had already kicked in and you were unable to rationalize, so you made your way to the front door and opened it. Staring up at the tall man with hazy eyes, you tried to place him but weren’t able to - until he smiled.

You slammed the door as fast as you could, but he gripped it in the last second and pushed all of his body weight against it easily overpowering your drugged body. Another desperate attempt was made to reach the bedroom door, but your body was succumbing to the side effects causing you to trip over your feet and stumble allowing him to trap you in his arms. As you fought to maintain consciousness his hold over you tightened and he brought his lips to your ears allowing them to caress you when he spoke.

“Hi, I’m Kim Taehyung. Wanna be friends?”

He smirked wickedly as you finally fell deep into the darkness.

Part Two

[itsallavengers]

Canine Cupid

Commission for anonymous, who asked for some cute Winteriron+ Puppies! This comes in at 2k.

If asked, Tony would probably say that it was entirely Gandalf’s fault, which wasn’t true. A good 10% of the blame went on Tony and Bucky would stand by that statistic until the day he died, thank you very much.

But… you know. The other 95% was definitely split between Bucky and Gandalf.

Gandalf was a big dog, you see. He was large and he was energetic and ever since he was a puppy he had always had a terrible sense of spatial awareness. This wasn’t even the first time it’d happened whilst Bucky had been taking him on a walk, although it was probably the worst accident to date.

He’d been throwing the ball on the grass, letting Gandalf race energetically to leap and catch it before bringing it back. He did this every morning, nothing unusual about that, and Gandalf never seemed to get bored of catching tennis balls with wild abandon, often banging into trashcans and trees in his haste to retrieve it as fast as possible, because, as Bucky had said, terrible sense of awareness. For a breed like a Husky, which was supposedly intelligent, Gandalf sure as hell didn’t seem to have a lot of sense (not that Bucky could say he would change that about him in a million years, of course).

Anyway. Like Bucky had been explaining, he’d just been tossing the ball for him, exactly the same way he always did, and Gandalf had been racing after it, leaping to catch it and then waggling his tail excitedly while he brought it back. It had all been fine.

Except Gandalf missed the ball. It didn’t make it into his mouth and instead went over his head, bouncing off the grass and onto the pathway through the park. Gandalf twisted in midair, eyes locking onto the offending ball, determined not to let it out of his grasp for a second time. And of course, right when Gandalf set off and made to pounce?

Someone decided to walk around the corner, ambling easily as they texted on their phone, oblivious to the world and also to the big white Siberian Husky that was leaping through the air trying to catch his target.

Bucky watched from a couple of yards away, somewhat resigned to the immediate disaster that he knew was going to happen. He lurched forward and called out Gandalf’s name sharply, but only managed to break out the first syllable before—

“SONOFABITCH!”

The poor man was very suddenly overwhelmed with roughly fifty-pounds of rapidly moving Husky careening into his legs, and Bucky gasped in horror as the guy clattered roughly to the rough concrete floor, Gandalf sprawling on top of him as the dog also stumbled, surprised by the malleability of what he’d hurtled into. Usually they were things like trees, with somewhat less of a give.

“Oh My God,” Bucky muttered, starting up on a sprint, “oh my GOD, Gandalf, you DUMBASS!”

Gandalf got quickly back to his paws and trotted over to Bucky, the ball clutched happily in his mouth, completely oblivious to the chaos he’d just caused to this man’s 9am walk. Bucky ignored him in favour of rushing over to the stranger, still laid flat-out on his back and gazing somewhat dazedly at the sky. He had a look of surprise on his face. “Ow.”

Bucky reached him a second or so later, dropping hurriedly into a crouch and leaning over him. “Are you okay?” He asked hurriedly, eyes wide and mortified and oh God, what if this guy was hurt? Bucky would have to pay any medical bills, and he couldn’t even afford to pay his own medical bills, Christ, Gandalf was the worst- “Are you hurt? Did you hit your head? I am so so sorry, my dog is a fucking idiot, holy shit—”

“I’m alright,” the man breathed out sharply and focused on Bucky before blinking rapidly. “Whoah, hello there, handsome. This morning is getting more and more interesting by the minute.” He sat up a little, rubbing at his neck and then turning around while Bucky simply stared at him, completely unsure of where to go next. “Hey, where’d my dog go? Black poodle, tiny, yaps like a complete asshole? I lost sight of him while I was getting run over.”

Bucky spluttered, looking around the grass helplessly. He spotted Gandalf a few meters away, minding his own business as he sniffed around, but then he shifted a little and Bucky saw that Gandalf wasn’t just sniffing daisies. Oh no—seemingly not content with bowling the man over, it now appeared Gandalf had his nose rather far up the ass of the dog that belonged to him. “Uhh,” Bucky started in mortification, whistling sharply and harshly, “Gandalf, stop it! Stop… Oh Jesus, uh, he’s. He’s over there,” Bucky waved helplessly and cursed Gandalf’s name as he did it. When this was over, Steve was getting full custody. Bucky could not deal with this shit on a Monday morning.

Gandalf, after a few seconds’ worth of extra sniffing, eventually followed Bucky’s command and scurried back over, his tongue lolling out happily. Bucky turned back to the man who was now sat up on the floor, feeling his cheeks burning. “I am so sorry,” he blurted, “Gandalf’s an idiot and he runs constantly into walls, he’s not a bad dog though, honestly—”

“You called your dog Gandalf,” the man declared half-way through, and Bucky stopped.

“Yeah,” he said, “it’s… he’s got a kind of doggy beard, sort of. It’s… it’s a thing.”

The man blinked once at him. Then he turned to the black poodle, now also making its way over to them both with a couple of high-pitched yaps. “I mostly just call my dog Asshole,” he said, “but I can see how yours would be a Gandalf. Also, for some reason, the fact that you care enough about Lord of the Rings to name your dog after a character makes me even more attracted to you than I already was when I saw you.”

Bucky just stared at him, waiting for the punchline. The man was still sat on the concrete, Bucky on his haunches next to him. He realised how weird this must look to the passers-by. “Did you hit your head?” He asked again, wondering if Gandalf had actually given this dude a concussion.

But a shake of his head told Bucky otherwise. “Nope, I’m just like this. Ask Rhodey.” Pushing his curly hair out of his face, he got back to his feet and dusted himself off. As he did so, Bucky took the opportunity to give him a once over. The coat alone looked like it cost more than Bucky’s rent that month, which wasn’t exactly comforting. But his face was kind. Soft around the eyes. And  he was very, very pretty. Bucky didn’t fail to notice that.

“I’m Tony,” the guy said, sticking out a hand, “does your dog usually do that? Because I just moved here, and I’d like to know whether I need to design some body armour for when I’m out walking Professor Poodles over there in future.”

Bucky shook his head and absently brushed a leaf off Tony’s shoulder. “No, God no, I swear he’s just… he’s just dumb as a brick, look—Hey Gandalf, c’mere you big lug, come on.” He clicked his fingers and waited for Gandalf to trot over, his snout pushing into Bucky’s outstretched palm. “I promise, he’s a sweetheart,” Bucky explained emphatically.

Tony glanced down at him, then extended a few wary fingers. Gandalf sniffed them curiously before his tail began to wag like a windmill and he took a big lick. Tony giggled. It was… it was cute. “Okay, yeah, I believe you,” Tony admitted with a nod, “I forgive him for his earlier crimes. Although I’m not sure my back does. Big guy really floored me there.”

“I’m so sorry,”  Bucky said, biting his lip as he looked down at Gandalf, now once more taking interest in Tony’s own dog as they sniffed one another’s genitals, as dogs tended to do upon first meeting, “is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

Tony eyed him for a moment, before his mouth quirked up in a smile. “Buy me a coffee,” he declared simply, shrugging his shoulders and then looking up at Bucky pointedly through his very long, dark eyelashes. “And then maybe dinner, depending on how said coffee goes.”

Oh. Okay.

Well that sure was… something.

Bucky blinked a few times, trying to process the last few minutes. Gandalf had just felled this man where he stood, knocking him flat out on the concrete. Why had that resulted in said man asking for a date? Tony should be giving him an earful about learning to control his dog, not…

“I’ll give you a couple minutes to think it over,” Tony said cheerily, before whistling behind him, “Poodle-Boy, come on! We’re walking this way now!” The little black poodle perked up at the noise, and then scampered over a second or so later, running between Bucky and Tony’s legs and then scampering off into some bushes to pee. Sensing Tony wanted to walk with him now, Bucky moved forward and then turned to look at Tony. “What’s his actual name?” He asked, nodding over to Tony’s dog.

Tony shrugged. “He doesn’t really have one. I know,” he raised an eyebrow at Bucky’s incredulous face, “it drives Pepper up the wall too. I mostly just call him ‘baby’ or ‘cretin’. But now I’m kinda mad I didn’t, because Gandalf is a fucking awesome name for a dog.”

Bucky chuckled, his shoulder brushing with Tony’s as they walked down the path. He was still half expecting Tony to start shouting at him any moment, to be honest. It seemed a little anticlimactic, all things considered. Tony had fallen with some rather spectacular pizzazz, and Bucky had honestly though he might have killed the man in the first moment or two.

Except now the very same man was chatting away amicably to him, using his very attractive mouth and very attractive hands and wow, okay, how had any of this even happened?

(‘Gandalf was our cupid,’ Tony says later, his voice dreamy as he drapes himself over Bucky’s lap, and Bucky just rolls his eyes and tells him ‘Gandalf was nearly your very expensive medical bill that I would’ve had to pay, actually, please don’t encourage him’ and then kisses him over his morning coffee.)

They ended up taking another circuit of the park together, walking side by side while their dogs both played with one another and frolicked around with a care in the world. Tony was rubbing his elbow occasionally and Bucky resisted the urge to take hold of it and check it over. He was still a relative stranger and he didn’t want to be too pushy. But Tony seemed… relaxed. In fact, he seemed a little more than relaxed. It was like he’d already known Bucky for months before this. Better still, Bucky felt kind of the same. Tony was very easy to talk to. And there was something about the way he smiled that just made Bucky go all soft in the stomach.

“You still want me to make it up to you?” Bucky asked when they both reached the park gates twenty minutes later, raising an eyebrow somewhat nervously as Tony stopped beside him. He became rather acutely aware of the fact he hadn’t washed his hair in a good few days now, and it was hanging a little stringily down his shoulders. He resisted the urge to fiddle with it. That’d only draw attention.

Tony smiled as he leashed his poodle back up to walk him on the road. “You bet your pretty ass I do,” he agreed heartily, “once I’ve got that date, any leverage I have over you and your bulldozer of a dog is automatically nulled. Where d’you wanna meet?”

Bucky gave him the name of his favourite coffee place just down the road from where he lived, and Tony agreed enthusiastically. “I’ll be there at 2,” he called out, “and hey, you know—I think I actually did hit my head.” Bucky’s smile fell and he stepped forward in concern, but Tony just shrugged, tapping his forehead. “You may just have to kiss it better.”

Despite knowing him for all of half an hour, Bucky felt like that was very typical of the man. He rolled his eyes. “I don’t kiss strangers,” he said.

“We’re totally not strangers. You know my name. I know yours. I got uncomfortably familiar with your dog.” Tony wiggled his eyebrows and then winked, but then stepped back to turn away. Until Bucky grabbed his arm gently, and then pressed a very small kiss to the top of Tony’s forehead. When he pulled back a little, it seemed Tony was surprised Bucky had taken him up on it. He was just about to apologise for being too forward when suddenly Tony laughed, and the twinkle in his eye set Bucky’s heart at rest. “Oh, Mr Barnes,” Tony said in delight, “I am going to have so much fun with you.”

With that, he walked off, Bucky’s number safely in his phone and his dog yapping playfully by his feet. Bucky’s gaze fell on the man’s ass as he walked, and couldn’t help but feel as if Tony was exaggerating the sway of his hips a little, just for him.

Gandalf tugged at his own leash in an attempt to follow them. Bucky just looked down at the menace with a sigh and a shake of his head. “Look at what you gotten me into now,” he muttered fondly, scratching those soft ears a couple of times. “Come on, trouble. Steve’s gonna love hearing this story.”

Commission me Here!

[chelsorz07]

I posted these as asks four years ago and never got to answer any so

THOUGHT YOU WERE DONE SEEING THESE FROM ME, DIDN’T YA? Me too, I’m so sorry

1. First thing you wash in the shower? Hair.

2. Are you more of a coffee or alcohol drinker? I have like two cups of coffee a month but have only drank booze twice in the past year so coffee I guess.

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Many times.

4. Do you plan outfits? Sometimes I’ll want to wear a specific shirt but it’s rarely ever clean and I never pick out clothes sooner than right before my shower.

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? Tired but I still have to put the garbage out before I can go to bed and my neck and knees are killing me so I can’t get off the couch. But I’m in an okay mood.

6. Whats the closest thing to you thats red? Throw pillow.

7. What would you do if you opened your door and saw a dead body? Idk I’d like to say I’d be a badass about it but honestly I’d probs scream.

8. Tell me about the last dream you remember having? I legit don’t remember. I dream every night but they usually fly right out of my head when I wake up.

9. Three of your current feelings? Tired, hungry, in pain. 

10. What are you craving right now? Cheeseburger and onion rings.

11. Turn ons? Um...intelligence, wit, shoulders, eyes, ginger beards.

12. Turn offs? Arrogance, chauvinism, people who don’t like cats.

13. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? Coleslaw.

14. When was the last time you cried? Why? I was doing a concert in my living room last night, as I often do, and some of the songs got me a little emosh.

15. If you could be a superhero, who would you want to be? Black Widow or Loki.

16. Did the one person who hurt you most in your life apologize? No but she did change the way she treated me so I’m taking that for what it is.

17. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? I don’t eat ice cream because it hurts my teeth no matter which method of eating I use.

18. Favorite movie ever? Bring it On.

19. Do you like yourself? Depends on the day. Actually it changes even more frequently than that.

20. Have you ever met a celebrity? Many. None will top Jensen Ackles though. Well. Except Misha. Note the double entendre lol

21. Could you handle being in the military? I definitely could not. I’m also too old to enlist even if I wanted to.

22. What are you listening to right now? Walking Dead, season 1 episode 2. Because every time I start the series over, I pick up from episode 3 since I don’t really care about anyone but Daryl until Jesus happens. But today I felt like a refresher from the beginning.

23. How many countries have you visited? I went to Canada once.

24. Are your parents strict? They were while I was being raised. Then my little sister had like no rules.

25. Would you go sky diving? No way.

26. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Hell yeah.

27. Whats on your mind right now? I’m really just trying to gather the motivation to get up and pee, then take the garbage out so I can go to sleep.

28. Is there anything you want to say to someone? Ehh not really.

29. Have you ever been in a castle? No but I would tour the shit out of some if I had the opportunity.

30. Do you rent movies often? Almost never because who does that anymore? But we did just rent Mile 22 from the Redbox a few weeks ago. It was pretty meh for Wahlberg.

31. Whats your zodiac sign? Leo.

32. When was the last time you had sex? A month ago. Purely by circumstance. My husband is currently on week four of a five week work rotation in Texas.

33. Name five facts about yourself. Lord. I have rapidly deteriorating joints and it fucking hurts everywhere all the time. I’ve spent the past 48 hours going back through my entire tumblr, over 300 pages. I only make homemade mac n cheese, not boxed. I’m almost finished rereading every Desus fic on AO3 for the second time (some more than two but I mean going through literally every page). One of my cats is sitting above my head and purring really loudly and another is sitting to my left snoring.

34. Ever had a near death experience? If so, what happened? Got caught driving in a blizzard. Spun off the road several times, including once off of an on-ramp. Like do not enter, wrong direction. If I hadn’t made it to the hotel right next to the on-ramp I really would’ve been fucked.

35. Do you believe in karma or predestiny? Not really.

36. Brown or white eggs? White.

37. Do you own something from Hot Topic? Most of my material possessions are from the hot topical, yes. Clothes, jewelry, funkos, makeup, miscellaneous other merch. It’s like a lot.

38. Ever been on a train? I have not.

39. Ever been in love? I am.

40. If you were paid 1 million dollars to spend the night in a supposed haunted house, would you do it? I hate this question. Of course I want a million dollars. But I’ve always wanted to stay in a haunted house anyway.

41. If you could trade places with any person living or dead, who would you trade places with? JJ Ackles. Except that I wouldn’t wish my life on her. Can we just be siblings instead?

42. If you could shorten your life expectancy by 10 years to become more attractive, would you do it? I’m already attractive. And my life expectancy isn’t that high as it is.

43. Whom do you admire and why? My husband because he does crazy shit like work 35 days in a row when he’s only supposed to work 14 just to make sure all our bills are paid and we have savings because I’m too crippled to work at all right now.

44. What was your favorite bedtime story as a child? I didn’t get bedtime stories.

45. You’re walking down the street, you come across a burning building. A woman says her baby is trapped inside, what would you do? I am literally capable of doing nothing, except maybe let her use my phone to call 911 if she hasn’t already.

46. If you could choose the future profession of your son or daughter, would you? No. I can’t even choose my own profession.

47. What was your best experience on drugs or alcohol? Idk about best but my most recent one was pretty good. I hadn’t had alcohol in over a year but a few weeks ago my sister turned 21 and we had family game night at my parents’ house so I got a little buzzed on some grapefruit White Claws and for about four hours I wasn’t in physical pain. Plus we all had a really good time just hanging out and playing games and everybody got along. That has 100% never happened in my family before. Also the last time I smoked weed, which was MANY years ago, like 6 or 7, it had the same effect and reduced my joint pain.

48. What was your worst experience on drugs or alcohol? Worst with drugs was the night I smoked an entire joint just in my living room alone and it must have been strong shit because I threw up immediately. Worst experience drinking was probably all of 2010.

50. As you’re walking down the street you find a suitcase full of money sitting next to a parked car, would you take it? Probs I’m desperate and not that great of a person.

51. If you found that a close friend has AIDS, would you still hang out with them? Yes? WTF kind of question is that? It’s 2019, AIDS isn’t cooties.

52. In front of you are 10 pistols, 5 of which are loaded. If you survive you’d receive 100 million dollars. Would you be willing to place 1 to your head and pull the trigger? Depends what kind of pistol. If it’s a revolver you can see the rounds in the barrel. 

53. How old were you when you lost your virginity? 20.

54. Do you believe in ghosts, werewolves or vampires? Nope. Well I still haven’t ruled out ghosts but I also know how to dispatch them so.

55. If you could live forever, would you want to? HELL naw.

56. Which fictional movie character most resembles who you are? Janice Ian.

57. If you could go back in time, which time period would you visit? We love a renaissance.

58. If they were to televise a live execution, would you watch it? Probably.

59. If you could be the president of the USA, would you be willing to do it? Not even for like a day.

60. If you could choose the sex of your unborn child, would you want to? Yes. I want a girl. Come for me.

61. Would you rather live longer or be wealthy? I want that money beech.

[redditnosleep]

I'm A Search And Rescue Officer For The US Forest Service, I Have Some Stories To Tell

by searchandrescuewoods.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 (Final)

So I logged back on tonight and was blown away by the staggering amount of interest this seems to have generated. First off, I'll address a few things that you guys have brought up:

There's been an overwhelming amount of people mentioning the similarity between some of my stories and those of David Paulides. I assure you I'm not trying to rip him off in any way, I've got nothing but respect for the guy. He's actually what inspired me to write this, because I can verify a lot of the things he talks about. We do have a lot of these strange missing persons cases, and most of the time they aren't solved. Either that, or we find them in places they have no business being. I personally haven't been on many calls like that, but I'll share a few that I've seen, and a story my friend told me that relates to this.

There was a lot of feedback about the stairs, so I'll touch on that briefly here, and I'll also include a story. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, styles, and conditions. Some are pretty dilapidated, just ruins, but others are brand new. I saw one set that looked like they came from a lighthouse: they were metal and spiral, almost old-fashioned. The stairs don't go up infinitely, or farther than I can see, but some sets are taller than others. Like I said before, just imagine the stairs in your house, as if someone cut-and-pasted them in the middle of nowhere. I don't have any pictures, it's never really occurred to me to try again after the first time, and I don't really feel like risking my job over it. I'll try again in the future, but I can't really promise anything.

A few people expressed confusion about the guy who ran into the man with no face. Just to clarify, when the climber ascended and reached the top of this peak, he saw another man in a parka and ski pants. This was the man with no face. Sorry about the confusing wording of that story, I'll try to avoid that in the future.

Alright, on to the new stories:

As far as missing persons go, I'd say about half the calls I get are related to that. The others are rescue calls; people who fall down cliffs and hurt themselves, get injured by fire (you wouldn't believe how often this happens, mostly drunk kids), get bitten or stung by animals or insects. We're a tight team, and we have veterans who are excellent at finding signs of lost people. That's what makes these cases where we never find any trace of them so frustrating. One in particular was upsetting for all of us, because we did find a trace of them, but it just led to more questions than answers. An older man had been hiking alone on a well-established trail, but his wife called to say that he hadn't come home when he should have. Apparently he had a history of seizures, and she was worried that he hadn't taken his medication and had suffered one out on the trail. Before you ask, I have no idea why he thought it was okay to go out alone, or why she didn't go with him. I don't ask about that kind of thing because past a certain point, it really doesn't matter. Someone is missing, and it's my job to find them. We went out in a standard search formation, and it wasn't long before one of our vets found signs that the guy had gone off the trail. We grouped up and followed him, spreading out in a fan to make sure we were covering as much ground as possible. Suddenly, a call comes over the radio telling us to all head back to the vets location, and we come right away, because this usually means the missing person is injured, and we need a full team to help get them out safely. We meet back up, and the vet is just standing at the base of a tree with his hands on the sides of his head. I ask my buddy what's going on, and he points up into the branches of this tree. I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing, but there's a walking stick dangling from a branch at least thirty feet off the ground. The little strap thing on the handle has been looped around the branch, and it's just hanging there. There's no way the guy could have tossed it up that far, and we don't see any other signs that he's still in the area. We call up into the tree, but it's obvious no one's in it. We're all just sort of left scratching our heads. We keep searching for the guy, but we never find him. We even bring our canines out, but they lose his scent long before this tree. Eventually, the search is called off, because there are other calls we have to attend to, and past a certain point there's not much we can do. The guy's wife called us every day for months, asking if we'd found her husband, and it was heartbreaking to hear her get more and more hopeless each time. I'm not sure why this call in particular was so upsetting, but I think it was just the sheer improbability of it. That and the questions that were raised. How the hell had this guy's cane ended up there? Did someone kill him and toss that up there as some weird trophy? We did our best to find him, but it was almost like a taunt. We still talk about that one from time to time.

Missing kids are the most heart-breaking. Doesn't matter what circumstances they go missing under, it's never easy, and we always, always dread the ones we find deceased. It's not common, but it does happen. David Paulides talks a lot about kids SAR teams find in places they shouldn't be, or couldn't be. I can honestly say I've heard about this kind of thing happening more than I've seen it, but I'll share one of the ones that I think about a lot that I witnessed personally. A mother and her three kids were out for a picnic in an area of the park that has a small lake. One is six, one is five, and the other is about three. She's watching them all really closely, and according to her, she never lets them out of her sight at any time. She never saw anyone else in the area either, which is important. She packs their stuff up and they start to head back to the parking area. Now, this lake is only about two miles into the woods, and it's on a very clearly established trail. It's almost impossible to get lost getting from the parking area to it, unless you're deliberately going off the path like an imbecile. Her kids are walking in front of her, when she hears what sounds like someone coming up the path behind her. She turns around, and in the four or so seconds she's not looking, her five-year-old son vanishes. She figures he's stepped off the trail to pee or something, and she asks her other two where he went. They both tell her that 'a big man with a scary face' came out of the woods next to them, took the kid's hand, and led him into the trees. The two remaining kids don't seem upset, in fact she says later that it seems like they've been drugged. They're sort of spacey and fuzzy. So of course, she freaks out, starts looking frantically in the area for her kid. She's screaming his name, and she says at one point she thinks she heard him answer her. Now obviously she can't go blindly running into the woods, she's got the other two kids, so she calls the police and they send us out immediately. We respond, and we start the search for him.Over the course of this search, which spans miles, we never find a single trace of the kid. Canines can't pick up any scent, we don't find any clothing or broken bushes or literally anything that would signify a child being there. Of course there's suspicion about the mother for a while, but it's pretty clear that she's completely destroyed by the whole thing. We looked for this kid for weeks, with a lot of volunteer help. But eventually, the search peters out, and we have to move on. The volunteers keep searching, though, and one day we get a call on the radio letting us know that a body has been found and needs to be recovered. They tell us the location, and none of us can believe it. We figure it has to be a different kid. But we go out there, about 15 miles from the site where he vanished, and sure enough, we find the body of the kid we've been looking for. I have been trying to figure out how this kid got where he did ever since we found him, and I've never come up with an answer. A volunteer just happened to be in the area, because he figured he might as well look in places no one else would think to on the off chance the body had been dumped. He comes to the base of a tall, rocky slope, and half-way up, he sees something. He looks through his binoculars and sure enough, it's the body of a little boy, stuffed in a little opening in the rock. He recognizes the color of the kid's shirt, so he knows right away that it's the missing boy. That's when he calls it in, and we're dispatched. It took us almost an hour to get his body down, and none of us could believe what we were seeing. Not only was this kid 15 miles from where he'd started, there was no possible way he could have gotten up there on his own. This slope is treacherous, and it's hard even for us with our climbing gear. A five-year-old boy had no way of getting up there, of that I'm certain. Not only that, but the kid doesn't have a scratch on him. His shoes are gone, but his feet aren't damaged or dirty. So it wasn't as if an animal dragged him up there. And from what we can tell, he hasn't been dead that long. He'd been out there over a month by that point, and it looked like he'd only been dead for, at most, a day or two. The whole thing was unbelievably strange, and was one of the most disconcerting calls I've ever been on. We found out later that the coroner determined the kid had died from exposure. He'd frozen to death, probably late at night two days before we found him. There were no suspects, and no answers. To date, it's one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.

One of my first jobs as a trainee was a search op for a four-year-old kid that had gotten separated from his mom. This was one of those cases where we knew we were gonna find him because the dogs were on a strong scent trail, and we saw clear signs that he was in the area. We ended up finding him in a berry patch about half a mile from where he'd been last seen. Kid wasn't even aware that he'd wandered that far. One of the vets brought him back, which I was glad for because I'm really not good with kids, and I find it hard to talk to them and keep them company. As my trainer and I are headed back, she decides to take me on a detour to show me one of the hot spots where we tend to find missing people. It's a natural dip in the land near a popular trail, and people will usually move downhill because it's easier. We hike out there, it's a few miles away, and we get there in about an hour or so. As we're walking around the area and she's pointing out places she's found people in the past, I see something in the distance. Now, this area we're in is about eight miles from the main parking area, though there's back roads you can take to get closer if you don't want to hike that far. But we're on state-protected land, which means there can't be any kind of commercial or residential development out here. The most you'll ever see is a fire tower or makeshift shelter that homeless people think they can get away with building. But I can see from here that whatever this thing is has straight edges, and if there's one thing you learn quickly, it's that nature rarely makes straight lines. I point it out, but she doesn't say anything. She just hangs back and lets me wander over and check it out. I get within about twenty feet of it, and all the hair on the back of my neck stands up. It's a staircase. In the middle of the fucking woods. In the proper context, it would literally be the most benign thing ever. It's just a normal staircase, with beige carpet, and about ten steps tall. But instead of being in a house, where it obviously should be, it's out here in the middle of the woods. The sides aren't carpeted, obviously, and I can see the wood it's made of. It's almost like a video game glitch, where the house has failed to load completely and the stairs are the only thing visible. I stand there, and it's like my brain is working overtime to try and make sense of what I'm seeing. My trainer comes and stands next to me, and she just stands there casually, looking at it as if it's the least interesting thing in the world. I ask her what the fuck this thing is doing here, and she just chuckles. 'Get used to it, rookie. You're gonna see a lot of them.' I start to move closer, but she grabs my arm. Hard. 'I wouldn't do that.' She says. Her voice is casual, but her grip is tight, and I just stand there looking at her. 'You're gonna see them all the time, but don't go near them. Don't touch them, don't go up them. Just ignore them.' I start to ask her about it, but something in the way she's looking at me tells me that it's best if I don't. We end up moving on, and the subject doesn't come up again for the rest of my training. She was right, though. I'd say about every fifth call I go on, I end up running across a set of stairs. Sometimes they're relatively close to the path, maybe within two or three miles. Sometimes they're twenty, thirty miles out, literally in the middle of nowhere, and I only find them during the broadest searches or training weekends. They're usually in good condition, but sometimes it looks like they've been out there for miles. All different kinds, all different sizes. The biggest I ever saw looked like they came out of a turn-of-the-century mansion, and were at least ten feet wide, with steps leading up at least fifteen or twenty feet. I've tried talking about it with people, but they just give me the same response my trainer did. 'It's normal. Don't worry about it, they're not a big deal, but don't go close to them or up them.' When trainees ask me about it now, I give them the same response. I don't really know what else to tell them. I'm really hoping someday I get a better answer, but it hasn't happened yet.

This is another one that was less spooky and more sad. A young man went missing late in winter, when realistically no one should be going that far out onto the trails. We close a lot of them, but some remain open year round, unless there's a shit-load of snow. We did an op for him, but we had about six feet of snow on the ground (it was an unusually heavy snow year), and we knew it wasn't likely that we'd find him until spring when the thaw came. Sure enough, when the first big thaw came, a hiker reported a body a little ways off the main trail. We found him at the base of a tree, in a pile of melted snow. I knew right away what had happened, and it scared the living shit out of me. Most of you who ski or snowboard, or spend any amount of time on a mountain, will probably have guessed too. When snow falls, it doesn't collect as thick in the areas beneath the branches. It happens most with fir trees, because they have a sort of closed umbrella shape. So what you end up with is a space around the base of a tree that's filled with a mixture of loose, powdery snow, air, and branches. They're called tree wells, and they're not immediately obvious if you don't know what you're looking for. We put up signs in the welcome center, big ones, letting people know how dangerous they are, but every year that we get an unusual amount of snow, at least one person doesn't read them, or doesn't take the warning seriously, and we find out about it in spring. My best guess is that this young man was hiking and got tired, or maybe a cramp from walking in the deep snow. He went to go sit at the base of the tree, not knowing that there was a tree well, and fell in. He got stuck with his feet up, and the surrounding snow caved in around him. Unable to free himself, he suffocated. It's called snow immersion suffocation, and it doesn't usually happen except in really deep snow. But if you get stuck in a weird position, like this guy did, even six feet of snow can be lethal. What scared me the most was imagining how he must have struggled. Upside down, in the freezing cold, he didn't die quickly. The snow would have formed a dense, heavy pile on top of him, and it would have been literally impossible to get out. As it got harder to breathe, he would have known what was happening. I can't even imagine what he was thinking in his last moments.

A lot of my less outdoorsy friends want to know if I've ever seen the Goatman while I've been out on calls. Unfortunately, or I guess fortunately, I've never had anything quite like that happen. I guess the closest was the whole 'black-eyed man' thing, but I didn't see anything. However, there was one call where I had something kind of similar happen, but I'm not sure I'm willing to chalk it up to the Goatman. We'd gotten a report that an older woman had fainted along one of the trails, and needed assistance getting back down to the main area. We hike up to where she's at, and her husband is just beside himself. He runs, well, I guess more jogs, to us, and tells us that he was a little ways off the trail looking at something when his wife starts screaming behind him. He runs back to her and she's passed out on the trail. We get her on a backboard, and as we're getting her down to the welcome center, she comes to and starts screaming again. I calm her down and ask her what happened. I can't remember verbatim what she said, but essentially, what happened was this: She'd been waiting for her husband when she started hearing this really strange sound. She said it sounded sort of like a cat, but it was off somehow, and she couldn't quite figure out why. She went a little ahead to try and hear it better, and it sounded like it was coming closer. She said the closer it got, the more uneasy she was, until she finally figured out what was wrong. I do remember this next part, because it was so weird that I don't think I could forget it if I tried. "It wasn't a cat. It was a man, saying the word 'meow' over and over. Just 'meow, meow, meow'. But it wasn't a man, it couldn't have been, because I've never heard a man make his voice buzz like that. I thought my hearing aid was going out, but it wasn't, I adjusted it and it still sounded all buzzy. It was awful. He was coming closer, but I couldn't see him. And the closer he got the more scared I was, and the last thing I remember was a shape coming out of the trees. I guess that's when I fainted." Now, obviously I'm a little perplexed as to why a guy would be out in the fucking woods chanting 'meow, meow' at people. So once we get down the mountain, I tell my superior that I'm gonna go search the area to see if I can find anything. He gives me the go ahead, and I grab a radio and hike back to where she fainted. I don't see anyone, so I keep going about a mile more, and I when I head back I go off the trail, to see if I can figure out where she saw him coming from. It's almost sunset by this point, and I don't have any desire to be out at night alone, so I just sort of write it off and make a mental note to check it out again tomorrow. But as I'm headed back, I start to hear something in the distance. I stop, and I call out for anyone in the immediate area to identify themselves. The sound didn't come closer or get louder, but it sounded exactly like a man saying 'meow, meow' in this really odd monotone. As comical as it makes it sound, it was almost like that guy on South Park with the electrolarynx, Ned. I go off the trail in the direction I think it's coming from, but I never seem to get closer. It's almost like it's coming from all directions. Eventually, it just sort of fades out, and I ended up going back to the welcome center. I didn't get any further reports like that, and even though I went back to that area, I never heard that exact sound again. I suppose it could have been some stupid kid out there fucking with people, but even I have to admit it was weird.

So this kind of turned into a massive wall of text, and for that I apologize. I wanted to get to the stories my friend told me, and he does have some good ones, so I'll post those tomorrow evening. I also have a few more of my own I think you guys will like. I'm sorry to keep you all in suspense again, hopefully the stories here make up for it and help you get through the next 24 hours until I can post again!

[phoebemartellcrawford-blog]

Welcome to the jungle

Not sure where to even begin with this one. I just got back from a week in the Amazon Rainforest and it was the most incredible experience of my entire life. We left early Monday morning to catch our 8:20 am flight where we flew to Coca, Ecuador where we got on a boat on the Napo River. After about an hour we made our way to a bus on the Maxus Road which is within the Amazon Rainforest, but also within a number of oil reserves and indigenous communities. We stopped along the way at a home of an indigenous family who was selling bracelets, necklaces, etc. We continued along the road where trees had been cut down and there were clear signs of oil companies that had moved in a number of years before. Finally, we got to another boat and headed down the Tiputini River for about two hours until we arrived at our station which was far out in the jungle. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. All the noises were bugs or birds (sometimes mammals) and it was so separate from the world I forgot immediately that there were actual things going on out there. There was only electricity on the camp for 6 hours a day, 10am-1pm and 6:30pm-9:30pm and there was absolutely no wifi or service. The first day we got there we had a brief orientation and then had some downtime before dinner. A couple of my friends and I went swimming in the river for a little bit (I accidentally peed a little when I laughed and you’re not supposed to pee in the Amazon river because there is a little parasite fish that goes up your pee stream so I got kinda nervous and got out because I wasn’t about to get a parasite on my first day). After dinner we went for a night hike and of course the first thing we saw was this long ass snake on a tree right near my cabin. It was a harmless snake and some people held it but I stayed a solid couple arm’s lengths away from that bad boy. After the night hike we went to bed because, well, no electricity makes for early nights.

On Tuesday we went for a really long hike in the morning to a lake where our guide took us out on a canoe. After about thirty minutes canoeing around the lake and looking for wildlife Jose (our guide) stopped us in our tracks and said he saw an anaconda. Sure enough, about 10 feet away deep in the bushes was a big ole anaconda. We sat and watched him for 20 minutes, and it was definitely watching us too. It moved its head to get closer to us and get a better look, wiggling its little tongue at us. It was a surprisingly calming experience watching the anaconda. I really hate snakes and the thought of actually seeing one before I got there freaked me the f out, but we were just silently observing the dude and he was silently observing us and we were all going to be alright and it was fine. We finally made our way back once we were starting to get a little uneasy watching the anaconda and finished our hike by having to tread through the river. Because of the rain the river was 3meters higher than normal so the bridges we had to cross were completely submerged. Standing in the water after seeing an anaconda wasn’t IDEAL necessarily but I made it back. We went out for another hike later that day when it was beautiful and sunny but a rain storm quickly moved in while we were in the forest and the trees were going nuts. One huge branch flew from the sky and almost took out my friend Brady. We had to hustle on back home.

On Wednesday we had a solo observation where we were placed in the woods alone and had to chose something to study and write about for an entire hour. I chose a dead tree with a bunch of mushrooms growing on it but there is only so much you can write about mushrooms and eventually 5 tamarin monkeys crashed through the trees above me. Right before we went into the woods my professor explicitly said not to go monkey chasing but I mean they were SO CUTE I had to. I didn’t get lost though don’t worry. 

Thursday was probably one of the Top 5 days of my life. We started the morning at 5:30 with a walk up to the canopy tower to watch the sunrise. It was a pretty grey and misty morning, but it was still amazing to be on top of the Amazon Rainforest watching as day broke through and all of the animals woke up (or went to sleep for the nocturnal homies out there). After the sun rose, we walked down to the salt lick where animals go to clean themselves/eat some minerals. We sat there quietly for 30 minutes and after about 20 we smelled some peccaries (Amazonian pigs) and then heard them close by. I had developed a cough recently and coughed shortly after smelling the stinky guys and they got scared of me and ran away. We then walked to this place with a bunch of dead plants except for one tree and Jose opened up the tree and there were a bunch of little tiny ants and he told us to eat them and they tasted like lemons. Then there was a bush that he cut and we could paint our fingernails with it so basically we had a spa day in the middle of the amazon #spoiled. After the hike we had some downtime so I took a nap in a super nice hammock then we had lunch then got to play soccer with the workers of the station which was sooooo fun. They couldn’t pronounce my name so apparently they were calling me “Hebe” when they would pass me the ball and I wasn’t paying attention so I let them down a lot because I just definitely did not get the ball. Then we went on a float down the river. We were given life jackets and told to jump off the boat (mind you this was RIGHT AFTER we went piraña fishing) and float for an hour back to the station. The entire float we just sang songs like a bunch of idiots and laughed a lot (didn’t pee this time!!!!) and had an incredible and magical time being swept away by the current. Before dinner a couple friends and I hiked back up to the canopy to watch the sunset. It was such a moving experience getting to watch the sun fall under the canopy and disappear into the trees. The sky turned red and then eventually black and the forest grew quiet. Once we climbed down (28 flights of stairs) we had a nice big group hug and started on back to camp. I’m kind of a sucker so as we were walking and talking about how lucky we all are I started crying (happy tears) and was quickly engrossed by another group hug. Just felt so lucky and blessed to be surrounded by amazing people in an amazing place. After dinner we ended the night by playing a competitive game of spoons with the workers of the station. One worker showed us a picture of a 24hour snake he had found a couple days ago so that was less than ideal. (24 hour snakes are snakes that bite you and then you’re dead in 24 hours soooo... nice.) 

We left on Friday feeling so lucky, and happy and humbled to have had that experience. It was humbling because I was really shown the things that matter in life. There are things out there bigger and far more important than the every day little things we stress about- things like the loss of habitats for biodiversity or species going extinct- things that are going to affect us and things that are being affected right now. The world is a really big place, but its also so beautiful and its so important but I’ll get off my soap box now because I could definitely get preachy.

Our flight back to Quito was booked for Friday, so we had to spend the night in Coca where we weren’t allowed to leave the hotel. It turned out to be a nice hotel and we left at 12:30pm on Saturday so it wasn’t too bad. Saturday night I got to see Rowan and then we spent all day today (Sunday, January 28) at La Carolina park which is huge and fun and beautiful. We went to the botanical garden and learned about trees and flowers native (and not native) to Ecuador. Then there were food tents set up so we go some food, hung out in the hammock and just chilllllllllllled. It was a really great ending to a really great week.

I do have an essay that I am avoiding writing (I only have 50 more words yet can’t seem to bring myself to write them) so I’m signing off for now!