#they got me bouncing around between overnights and pm shifts

[aquaticaberration]

accidentally dozed off at work for like 15-20 min and if they try to fire me over that shit i'm going to tell them that i warned them that that was going to happen because they decided to fuck around with my schedule

[rainbowshawn]

Home

A/N: This is based on a request from a prompt list by the lovely @fallinallincurls​ !! Go read her masterlist!!!

Summary: Shawn comes home from tour and all he needs is you.

Warnings: None? Just a bunch of fluff :)

Word Count: 2k

Months had gone by and Shawn was finally on his way home to you. He was finally finishing up his world tour and you two were practically bouncing off the walls to reunite. While he was away, all you had were blurry facetimes, static phone calls, and simple snapchats to fill the void of your missing boy.

Be home in 20. Can’t wait to see you, my love. xx

A giddy smile beams down at the text that lit up your screen and you quickly type out a reply. You make your way into your closet, grabbing some comfy clothes to sling over your body before you head over to Shawn’s condo. You observe your rosy cheeks in the mirror and smile at yourself as you tug your hair up into a messy ponytail. You grab your phone, checking the time.

8:46 pm

Calculating the time in your head, you slip on a pair of shoes and grab your coat as you make your way out of your house. You figure he’s just made his way home and you live about 15 minutes away, giving him a little time to settle in. The drive seems to drag on forever though, as you weave through the busy, traffic-ridden streets of Toronto. Butterflies rumble through your tummy in flocks as you think of reuniting with your beloved boyfriend after months of being apart.

9:03 pm

You stumble up to his doorstep, rapping your knuckles across the large front door and bounce on your toes as you wait for Shawn to answer it. The door swings open and in the blink of an eye, you collide with his sturdy chest in a strong embrace. You sigh into his chest as you breathe in the scent of his cologne that you missed dearly. His face is nuzzled into your hair for only a moment before he’s grabbing your face in his large hands and smashing his lips against yours.

The butterflies in your stomach flutter away as his soft lips work against yours. His soft hums dance into the air as his hands desperately grab you up, familiarizing himself with you once again. Your fingers slot into his wild curls and you give into the dizzying effect he has on you.

“God, I missed you,” he murmurs between kisses, “I can’t believe you’re here, lovey.”

Time seems to fall away as he kisses you and the air leaves your lungs as he picks you up, wrapping your legs around his waist, carrying you to his room. You giggle against his lips; the kiss faltering as your mouth turns up into an undeniable smile.

Shawn lays you back against the bed, hovering over you as he continues to love on you. Your hands rub up and down his sides slowly, feeling the warmth from his body seep into your skin. You’re humming against each other’s lips as words seem to escape you. There were no words to describe how it felt to be in his arms again. Your heart thudded against your chest wildly, accompanying your steady breath. He filled up all your senses at once, reminding you just how much you missed him. His body eases on top of you slowly as you melt further and further into the searing kiss.

His lips become a bit gentler against yours as a wave of sleepiness begins to hit him. When he finally pulls away, his thumb runs back and forth across your cheek as he stares down at you with love brimming in his golden eyes. His lips turn up into a gentle smile as he whispers sweet nothings to you, “my pretty girl,”

Your cheeks turn red under his starry gaze and you giggle up at him. His heart thuds deep in his chest as his eyes scan your delicate features as if he’s almost forgotten them. Soft lips peck against yours slowly and repeatedly; tiny doses of love entering into your veins. Warmth envelops you as you melt into the mattress underneath him.

“Never gonna make me go that long without you again, hm?” he inquired softly against your lips. You hum in response, murmuring, “Miss me that bad?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe, my dear. Didn’t you miss me too?” he says, smirking down at you, pressing his hips into yours. His mouth meets the skin dressing your neck and he nips lightly.

“Mmm kind of,” you tease, snaking your hands under his soft t-shirt and tracing his skin with your fingertips. His head pops up and he glares down at you; eyebrows cocked in an offended expression.

“Excuse me little lady?” he rebuttals with a mischievous expression creeping onto his gorgeous face. Before you know it, his fingers are dancing across your sides, quickly. Yelps and giggles fill up the room and its music to his ears. He soaks up the sound of your happiness as if he’s been deprived his whole life. Sure, you talked on the phone and over facetime, but it pales in comparison to the real thing.

Your tiny hands grab at his wrists and you beg him to stop through your incessant giggles but Shawn shows no mercy.

“Say you missed me too,” he pushes as he watches you deviously.

You wiggle underneath him breathlessly, trying your hardest not to give in to him so easily. He’s wrapped around your finger and you both love a good game of cat and mouse. You’re a tease in every sense of the word and it lights his chest aflame. He’s always loved the chase, so he bites.

“Say it,” he says sternly, teasing you.

His fingers ghost across your skin and you let out one last yelp before you cave.

“Fine, fine!” you breathe, feeling his fingers finally start to ease up on you, “I missed you too.”

He hums, “Mmm, did you now?”

“Kind of.”

His face drops into a frown. His bottom lip pouts out, pinker than usual from your kisses. Shawn lets out a little hmmph and squints down at you before rolling over to the other side of his bed. You giggle as you watch him throw a fit with his back facing you.

You squirm a bit, shifting to lay behind him. Your body spoons his and you suddenly realize the stark size difference between you two. Your face only falls against his back as your hips line up and his legs stretch much further than yours. You press a few loving pecks between his shoulder blades and run your hand up and down his defined arm only for a second before he grunts and dramatically pulls away from you.

You grunt back, propping your head up and hovering over him. He shuts his eyes under your gaze and furrows his eyebrows.

“Don’t be a brat,” you laugh, “I was just teeeasing,”

“I get it,” he whines dramatically, “Didn’t miss me at all. Bet you didn’t even notice I was gone,”

He sighs dramatically, throwing a full-fledged fit. You shove his shoulder slightly, causing a crack in his facade as a small smile plays at his lips. He hides his face in his soft pillow when he sees you take notice.

You snake an arm around him, rubbing at his chest while you lower your face to his neck. Your lips connect with his skin, stamping kisses up and down the curve of his shoulder and neck. You make your way up towards his ear, where you press a few kisses before nipping lightly, “Now if I didn’t miss you, would I be loving on you like this?”

He hums and reluctantly leans back into you a bit; giving up his childish act. Your hand sneaks away from his chest and brushes his soft curls back, petting his hair lightly. His breathing slows as he melts into you. The only noise that can be heard is the bustling city surrounding his condo.

You lay like this for a moment, admiring the exhausted boy you got to call yours. That is until he suddenly shifts, flipping onto his back to sit up in his bed. You watch with curious eyes as he rolls out of his bed and walks over to his still packed suitcase. He rummages through it, haphazardly throwing clothes on the floor before settling on a tiny plastic object. He jumps back up to his feet and scurries over to the outlet next to his side of the bed.

You stifle a giggle as you realize what he’s doing. He plugs in his tiny night light and looks back at you with wide eyes.

“I know,” he starts, “I still sleep with a nightlight. It’s embarrassing.”

You continue to laugh, cooing a bit between your chuckles at the soft boy in front of you.

“No, no! It’s cute, bub,” you reassure. “Really, it is. And you have me to protect you from all the monsters, now.”

You wink at him and he groans.

“Shut up! It’s not funny,” he whines, crawling back into bed.

Your arms open as he not so gracefully clambers back into the bed and pulls the covers over you two. He plops down, slightly on top of you, and nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck. You kiss his forehead and feel him sigh into your skin. He feels the weight fall off his shoulders as he realizes he’s finally home. He’s finally with you.

You notice him open his mouth as if to say something before he quickly shuts it again.

“Hm?” you inquire.

He hesitates for a moment, turning over his question in his head. “W-will you spend the night?”

You quirk your eyebrows up in surprise. You had been together for a few months but haven’t quite spent the night together yet. There was no real reason. Just busy schedules that prevented any potential overnights together. He notices your hesitation and quickly stumbles over his words.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to!” he explains, hoping he hasn’t scared you off. “Just missed you a lot and I really, really don’t want you to go,”

His last sentence quietly trails off as he avoids your gaze. You notice his cheeks blush a deep shade of pink and you’re quick to grab his beautiful face in your hand. He looks at you with soft eyes, anticipating your denial.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

You feel the tension in his body leave in an instant as he sighs. A beaming smile adorns his face as he lays back down next to you. His strong arm wraps around you and squeezes your figure tightly. He turns you to lay on your side, facing him.

“Gonna give me kisses?” he whispers, rubbing your side needily. His eyes are glazed over with exhaustion, a year-long tour hitting him all at once. You easily comply, as he’s incredibly hard to resist when he’s so soft and sleepy, and your lips meet again.

After a few sweet moments of lazy love, you break away. His thumb is rubbing at your flushed cheek as you talk about his tour. He tells you about the last few cities, updating you on anything you’d missed from his busy schedule. You talk every day but sometimes his hectic life gets in the way of having real conversations.

“You must be so exhausted, bubba” you mumble into his cheek, falling there naturally as he nuzzled into your neck.

“I am,” he hums back, shifting impossibly closer to you as sleep tugs at him desperately, “Is it possible to sleep for two days?”

You chuckle softly, “Maybe we can find out.”

“Sounds good to me,” he murmurs, “Now gimme a goodnight kiss,”

You peck his sleepy lips and he immediately curls back up in the spot he was in previously. His arms hold onto you as if you planned on leaving him any time soon and his breath fanned softly over your neck. He’s beyond at ease in your arms, finally beginning to fall into the embrace of sleep. All he needed was you by his side to feel at home. You were his home and he felt it more in this moment than ever before.

You were sure he was asleep until his raspy voice broke through the air,

“Move in with me.”

[canaryatlaw]

alright. it’s 9 pm here. I’m obviously trying to get to bed early since I have to wake up at 5:30 am and go take the fucking bar exam. Predictably, I’m a ball of nerves right now. But I’ll be fine, I always am. I’m good at tests, it’s easy for me to recall information, and though essays always give me anxiety initially once I get there and start writing them I actually like them, and tomorrow is all essays. 10 of them total. 1 where they give you a whole packet including law in the jurisdiction and write your analysis totally from that, which will probably be the best one for me. Then there are 3 Illinois specific essays and 6 multistate essays. it’s a lot. but anyway, today. I did get up when my alarm went off at 10 because I didn’t want to sleep in too long and not be able to fall asleep tonight. I had decided I would skip showering this morning and shower tonight so I wouldn’t have to shower tomorrow morning, but upon waking up I found I really wanted to shower, so I did, and now it’s night and I really want to shower again lol but I won’t and I’ll do it after I get back tomorrow. So, woke up, showered, made oatmeal which only resulted in one kitchen disaster (I was trying to get the brown sugar to go into the pot a little at a time but then it shifted and all of my brown sugar was now liquified in my pot, so that was fun) and was looking on my computer for stuff when I saw an email from the health insurance company that does our prescriptions, upon which I remembered oh fuck, I need to call my doctors office like today and get this figured out. Basically, I was at the doctor like two weeks ago, and they gave me the prescriptions, which I mailed onto the health insurance company I referenced above, but they haven’t sent me the meds yet, and I’m running out of one of them, and I was set to run out Wednesday afternoon, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about that until like, Wednesday evening, so I needed to call my doctor’s office and ask them to call in an emergency supply for like two days, and like, I love my psychiatrist so much he’s great and I wouldn’t trade him for the world, but god I have his receptionist staff so much. Whenever I call for anything it turns into such a production, at least this time they didn’t tell me he can’t call in prescriptions to Illinois like he does every time I call, but they had me call the insurance company to find out when the meds would get to me so they could then give me enough of the meds, and the insurance company people said it’s set to come on Wednesday in the mail but like if that didn’t happen I would’ve been screwed so they called in like 2 days emergency supply of it but I don’t actually take it at the dosage he prescribes so I have more than 2 days worth lol but I don’t expect to need to use them, I’m just glad I’m covered. but yeah, I did other things around the house and started getting ready for a bit, then took an uber to target that was somehow like $2 because of some promotion they were running, and grabbed the prescription plus some candy because I needed candy to bring with me here. I have pretzels and potato chips, various candies, granola bars, and these microwave muffin things that has the dry mix in a little cup and you add water and microwave it and it’s like this awesome chocolate muffin, which are super good except you have to be really careful to get all of the mix wet or at the bottom it gets grainy and really gross but otherwise it’s good lol. I also have some of the Starbucks via refresher packs that I’m gonna add to a water bottle tonight and stick it in the fridge so it’ll be good to go in the morning because that’s my method of getting caffeine, which will obviously be much needed. I ubered back from target but it took forever to get to me which was obnoxious, but oh well. I continued getting ready and eventually didn’t have much else to do, so I just kinda hung out for a bit. The school bar people told us not to study today because we wouldn’t remember anything anyway, but like, I know that’s not true for me lol so I did a little. The hotel didn’t have check in till 4 so I was basically just killing time at this point. When we eventually got there I got yet another uber, but I put it on pool and nobody ended up joining so I only paid $10 for the same ride I would’ve had to pay $24 for (#winning). The hotel is kinda small, but it’s nice, the bigger hotel that’s actually at one of the test sites (not the one I got assigned to regardless) but all their rooms were booked because I had to book late since we didn’t know which bar I was taking for like, fucking ever. But yeah, I checked in, easy enough, came upstairs and settled in a bit, figured out how to get the wifi to work and turned on the tv then subsequently broke the tv and had to figure out how to make it work again. I ordered pizza from the same chain place I normally get it from except this was different and I didn’t really like it very much, idk what the difference was but it just wasn’t doing it for me, plus my tongue was being really obnoxiously sensitive so I really couldn’t eat anything other than like, the crust, so that was also irritating. But I sat here on my computer and looked over the mini-outline book (and by mini I mean some of them are like 70 pages). It’s funny to look over the secured transactions material, because at the end of the semester I already had the bar books and used them to study because they had a comprehensive summary of everything I needed to learn, I actually printed one and brought it with me to the test (which was open book, obviously) and it was very helpful and I somehow got an A- in that class that I had no idea what was going on in for a solid 5/6ths of the semester, and when I listened to that lecture yesterday I retained a good amount of it, so I was happy about that. But I went through the ancillary subject outlines that were generally more like 20 pages, so much more manageable, and made sure I had all my mnemonics down, including the one for the hearsay exceptions which is like, 20 letters long lol. I then did go over the Illinois distinction section for the main subjects, because if I get an essay on one of those in the Illinois part I obviously have to answer under Illinois law. I watched the office on comedy central while doing all of this because I couldn’t find the channel guide and the office is always a solid choice. It’s funny to see Ellie Kemper as Erin because she looks so little there as compared to how she is on Kimmy Schmidt now. but those were very entertaining. So I got to the end of the outlines, turned off the tv, took my pills so there would be a little time for the more sleep causing ones to kick in, then started writing this, and now here we are. I have a lot of mixed feelings about everything going on tomorrow. I know I’m smart, that’s never been in question, I’m just worried I didn’t spend enough time preparing and I feel ill-equipped, because it’s just so much information....like you could get a question on the lesson from one day of class, for all of your classes, for three years. it’s a massive amount of information. I’ve also been acutely aware of just how alone I am. My brother never moved out, so he was with my parents every step of the way through this, but I chose to stay out here and do it myself because that’s always been who I am, the independent one who can’t wait to get out into the world. And I’m here, but it gets lonely some times, especially being that I’m super-extroverted so not being around people for this whole studying period was not doing well for me (one of many reasons I was all to eager to get ice cream whenever Jess wanted to). Even now, it’s just me here. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a hotel room completely by myself before, except for that awful night when I got stranded overnight in Philadelphia and had to go to that awful creepy hotel where I didn’t sleep a wink, just stayed up reading, because I did not feel safe at all (and I was only 19) but obviously this is a very different situation. And I mean, I am more or less a proper adult now, I’m 26, which feels like ages older than 25, because now I’m in my late 20s, and I don’t know how I feel about all of that. I mean, these are all choices I made, and they’re not ones I regret, not at this point at least. It would’ve been nice to have someone here with me, but I made the decision to leave those people in New York and come out here and do it myself, and I am doing it. I want my legal career to be about the things I did, the prestige I brought to my name, not following in the shadows of my dad and brother, I want that name to be known for me and what I’ve done, what I will do. And I know I can do it. Got all the way through law school, this is just one more hurdle I gotta jump over before I can actually be a full blown lawyer. I don’t know if my parents are gonna come for the swearing in, it hasn’t come up yet, I mean it would be nice to have them there just because I would feel very, very lonely if I was all by myself surrounded by people who had their families there with them.....because they didn’t move halfway across the country from their families. Sigh, I know I’m rambling at this point. Just a lot on my mind. But tomorrow I’m going to wake up confident and ready to crush this test, because I know I can do it, I KNOW I can, and I will, and I’m going to be a total kickass lawyer who is instrumental in instituting reforms in the child welfare system that will increase adoptions, decrease foster kids getting bounced between homes, better prevent kids from being brought into foster care when it is preventable by providing parents with the right resources, better support to keep foster teens in high school and bridge them into college (the college rate for foster care kids is something dismal like 2%, not even exaggerating), decrease the number of children in residential facilities who do not really need to be there, increase the number of foster homes nationwide, provide resources for the teenage mothers in the system so they don’t end up having their child taken from them and continue perpetuating the cycle, and so many more, I could go on all day about all the things I’m going to change. And I’m going to do it. I know I can, so I will. 

Just you wait. 

Goodnight babes. If you want to send prayers/good vibes/whatever my way for tomorrow, it’d be much appreciated. Thank you. ❤️

[therealwolfy]

A Helping Hand (werewolf short story)

The truck screeched to a stop as his body flew through the air. His head smashed the windshield and knocked him out cold. His lifeless body landed with a thud long before the vehicle came to a stop. His body slid and bounced into the ditch on the other side of the country road. Overgrown grass swayed over his bloodied body as the cool fall afternoon air tickled his fresh wounds. He wasn’t dead, but close to it. The driver walked over to where the unfortunate victim laid. They stood at the edge of the cracked road for a moment before looking around. They were in the middle of nowhere. Far from the loud city and busy streets. Not a car in sight. The driver hopped into their vehicle and drove off, leaving only a blood splatter and skid marks leading to the poor, unlucky student, Jay.

Being unconscious isn’t all that bad. It’s like having a nightmare but you get to wake up with a headache and whatever perpetual pain you would have felt all at once. His whole life was that of a sob story, and now to add insult to injury, here he lays, internally bleeding and bones snapped, in a ditch barely alive. He slowly opened his eyes hours later. This was not his first concussion but a first for being hit by a car. He wiggled his toes and flicked his fingers amidst the pain.

“Okay, not paralyzed. That’s good. I guess.” He muttered to himself. He turned his head and closely examined his left arm. He was no doctor but he could tell it was broken by noticing the bone was sticking outside of his body. He sighed and used his other non-broken arm to push himself up. Every movement he made was extremely painful and disorienting. He stumbled to his feet and looked around. It was dark now.

“Okay.” He took a painful breath, “I just have to”, He was cut off by every muscle in his body aching at once. “Oh, fuck me.” He stated to no one. This happened every night like clockwork. He wanted to fight it, try to hold off until he got home, but he was too tired. He gave in and let it just happen. His bones shifted and muscles tensed. Fur began to grow and his skin began to tear. He didn’t trust the wolf inside him but there was no locking him in the cell at home now. He blacked out from the pain, earlier than normal, which didn’t bother him all that much. He was just worried what he was going to wake up to this time.

 He regained conscience from his forced nap but kept his eyes closed. He was terrified of where he might have ended up. He listened for any sounds of disturbance before opening his eyes. He was on his living room floor, naked, and covered in bruises. He rose to his feet, slowly, looking around. He was alone. His bone was no longer pultruding from his arm, which he figured was a good side note. Jay liked to try to stay on the positive side of situations. He didn’t question how. His arm and whatever other bones were no longer cracked and broken, but he was covered in road rash and bruises. He was sore. Jay thought the wolf was a wild, blood thirsty monster that was uncontrollable. He was relieved that He didn’t wake up in an orphanage covered in dead children or wherever else. He was late for school and that was his biggest worry for now at least. He put on a pair of shorts and an old tee and headed out the door. He walked through the heavily wooded area where he lived. He liked the privacy of no neighbors, even if it was a necessity.

 He made it to the strip of road where he had been so rudely left to die. It’s not like being a werewolf gives him any special powers. Jay wasn’t overly strong, have a high pain tolerance or have sensitive hearing. He was just a normal kid who got hit by a truck and was inches from death. Well yeah, his bones healed overnight but the rest of it sucked. No parties, no staying up late, no friends. He found his torn clothes and scooped up his pants. He reached into the ruined pants pocket to retrieve his wallet and phone, which unsurprisingly was smashed to pieces. He sighed and headed back home. It was only a mile or so back to his house but that didn’t stop his body from telling him he was in pain.

 He arrived back home and went straight to bed to rest. He set his alarm and closed his eyes for what felt like just a moment, but was actually ten hours. He felt mildly better. He walked outside of his little cabin in the woods to a small garage where he had wonderfully crafted a beautiful jail cell for his wolf counterpart. He thought being a werewolf just meant one transformation a month, but it wasn’t that simple. Every night for the past six years, between the hours of nine and ten pm, depending on the day, he had to endure this cycle. Clothes off, door locked, tv on, and wait. He didn’t have a job, obviously, but made money doing odd jobs. Not enough to spend on a bicycle, but enough to not be forced into a ramen noodle cliché. The waves of discomfort were followed by waves of pain signaling that it was time. He took a deep breath and tried to relax.

 Jay decided to take a few days off from school to heal up. Highschool sucked enough without the physical pain. He had to walk the five miles from just outside of town to get to the large school. He always arrived early to get free school breakfast, which was nothing more than expired cereal with watered down milk. During the day, nobody seemed to notice that he had been missing, or was covered in lacerations, which was fine for him. He didn’t like the attention. He sat in history in the back while the teacher slash basketball coach played a movie semi related to history.

“Psst”, quietly echoed in his direction. Jay looked over to the girl sitting next to him who had attempted to grab his attention. “What happened to your arms?” She whispered over to him. He didn’t think of an excuse because no one ever talks to him anyway. “Umm, I fell down a hill”, he lied, badly.

“Are you okay?” She asked, with a genuine care in her tone. “Yeah” he replied, “I’m okay, thanks for asking”. Jay smiled a bit on accident. The brown hair swaying across the girl’s green eyes had him hooked quickly. She smiled back and turned to finish watching the movie. Sometimes you forget how it feels to have someone, even momentarily care about you. It felt good.

 School had let out and jay started his way across the student parking lot. He saw a range from new Mercedes to old Buicks. Why would any parent let their child drive such an expensive car? He thought, as a car pulled up beside him. The window rolled down to reveal two green eyes looking back at him.

“Hey”, the girl called out with a smile, “umm, I always see you walking down the street, do you, like, not have a ride?” “Oh, no I don’t live far so I just walk to save gas money” he said, lying badly, again. “Can I give you a ride?” She asked, unlocking the doors. Jay wanted badly to not have to walk home. He was still sore and tired. Plus, the girl was cute so he did not care if she kidnapped him. “No, thank you”, He said disappointingly. He knew he could not have people knowing where he lived. It was too dangerous. Jay did not have someone to give him rules or guidelines, but he did watch a lot of werewolf movies and letting people into your life was not a great plan. She let her smile fade slightly before calling out again. “Please? I feel bad you have to walk home every day” She said, making a playful sad face. Jay shook his head and put on his best fake smile in hopes to convince himself as well as her that he did not want a ride. “I appreciate the offer, really, but I’m okay.” He waved and walked off before she could ask again. “O... Okay!”, she called out behind him, “I’ll see you in class tomorrow! I’m Katie by the way!” She added.

Katie was a quiet, nerdy girl who loved to doodle and not take notes in class. She somehow managed to skate by in her classes with a B or a C, which was fine for her. Her parents didn’t seem to notice her all that much amongst her other siblings. She felt bad, seeing Jay walk away with a slight limp, covered in bandages. She shook her head and drove off. She was determined to help him any way she could.

She went down the road that led to the grocery store. She loved to bake and knew cookies could make anyone feel better. She picked out her ingredients and headed back out of town. She drove towards her parent’s small farm. She drove only a few miles before passing someone walking down the old road. She glanced in her rear-view mirror and recognized the man as Jay. She was about to stop and go back before she saw that he had turned and was heading into the forested area. That guy is getting some fuckin cookies, she thought to herself, smiling like a villain. She raced home and began to bake.

 Fuck, where did he turn at, she thought to herself. Her car smelled like delicious sugar cookies and old socks. She crept along the road looking for a path of any sort, but it was getting dark. She thought about giving up and avoiding the stalker like vibe she might give off when she spotted a light in the distance. Bingo, she thought as she turned down onto an overgrown path. She pulled up to the house and exited her car, delicious cookies in hand. She bumped the car door closed with her butt and walked up to the door. The door was old and rotted, but she knocked anyways. There was no answer so she raised her hand to knock again when she heard a strange noise from the small garage across from the house. A light was shining through the window and she began to walk towards the building. The garage door was shut and locked with a padlock, but the side door looked unbarred. She peaked through the window but only saw random junk and trinkets. The noise sounded like metal bars being banged around inside, so she figured that was a good sign as any and opened the door.

 The plate of homemade cookies fell to the ground and she was met with the gaze of a very large bear. A strange looking bear. A bear with the face of a large dog. Her brain bounced back and forth trying to figure out what on earth was inside of this cage. She was snapped out of her trance when the large creature reached as far out of the cage as he could and slashed at the intruder. She was startled and backed up towards the door, even though the monsters reach was several feet short. The creature growled and snarled, still trying to inch its way toward the girl. That’s a goddamned werewolf her brain screamed. She was terrified and couldn’t move. She could only stand in fear as the wolf desperately tried to slash her open. She stood and watched for a few minutes before the wolf began to calm down. The wolf starred at her and only growled, no longer flailing his arms at her. She bent down and picked up a single cookie. She tossed it at the wolf who was unfazed by her offering. His blue eyes were locked on her and only her. She sat down on the cold concrete next to her pile of floor cookies.

“S… So…” She stuttered, “D... Don’t like c…Cookies?”

The wolf continued to stare and growl at the unwanted guest. She was shaking but couldn’t leave. This was by far the coolest thing she has ever stumbled upon.

 Katie eventually decided after an hour of studying the locked animal that it was time to go home. She didn’t even bother thinking of telling someone about this because who in their right mind would believe this? She collected the cookies and slowly walked out the door, watching the beast for the last few seconds. She closed the door and took a deep breath. “What the fuck”, she quietly exclaimed. She shook her head and made her way back to her car. She dropped the cookies in the passenger seat, still awestruck and drove out of the woods, back to the old country road. Her mind raced at every scenario she could play out. Taking photos, video calls, bringing people over, none of it played out well in her favor. She arrived home and entered her empty house. The newer construction of a country home was nice and cozy. She locked the door just in case the monster escaped and followed her home. It made sense, the wolf didn’t have a key, how could he get in? He. It. Jay.

 The wolf calmed down after the intruder had left. His small prison kept his anger contained for the most part, but it never stopped him from trying to escape. The wolf didn’t understand why he was locked up all the time. He was aware of the human inside of him. He knew he didn’t like the wolf but all the wolf wanted to do was protect the human. Make sure he was properly fed and kept safe. Speaking of food, that cookie the intruder tried to poison him with smelled delicious. The wolf scooped up the cookie which looked small in his massive paw. He gave it a sniff and ate it in one bite. He’s eaten worse.

 Morning came as Jay woke up from his sleep. He stretched and yawned, and unlocked his cage. Jays morning routine was simple. Make sure he didn’t murder any families in his sleep, get dressed and walk to school. The wolf had escaped a few times, but fortunately, there was no unlucky campers nearby. He headed off to school and about halfway there, he heard a car approaching from behind. He glanced back and recognized the small car and the girl waving at him as it slowed down. Katie usually drove by him every morning but never bothered to offer a ride. She pulled up next to him and gestured for him to get in. Jay waved her off once again, but she was persistent.

“If you don’t get in I’m just gonna follow you” She called out, matching his slow pace. Jay shook his head but figured she wouldn’t give up. He sighed and opened the door. It smelled like old socks and cookies. Katie knew his amazing secret and was enthralled by it. She dreamt about it. She fantasized about it. This was the coolest thing ever. But obviously she couldn’t just tell him. So, she would do anything to get closer. Small talk was forced as she drove them to school. She parked the car in the parking lot and turned off the engine.

“So, can I give you a ride after school?” She asked, hoping for jay to give in. “I live like right down the road from you anyways”. Jay pondered for a moment, knowing that it would give him more free time on his brief time frame before his nightly cycle. He sighed. “Okay, and thank you”, he said defeatedly. She smiled. All according to plan.

 The night came slow as Katie decided to go back and try again with the cookies. This time peanut butter. She wondered if Jay Liked peanut butter. Dogs love peanut butter. Is that racist? She asked herself. She wanted to be safe and chocolate was a questionable risk. She made her way back to his house and down the faded path. The house light once again was off, but the garage light shined. She parked and opened the door of her car to the sounds of metal banging from the garage. She paused for a moment. She looked up to the sky and saw the moon was only half full. She grabbed her plate of snacks and headed to the garage. The sounds stopped when she turned the door knob. She slowly opened the door to a sight of a large monster trying to rip her to shreds. She jumped and dropped the plate of cookies once again. “Fuck!” she uncontrollably shouted. She wasn’t really expecting a wolf again. What if this was just a monster and Jay is keeping it as a pet? She thought, glancing over to see Jays clothes, folded neatly on the table along with his back pack. Guess not. The wolf growled and swiped at her again like the night before. He wanted her dead, bad.

“H... Hey. It’s me again. Remember?” She said. The wolf knew exactly who it was. She picked up the cookies and sat down, just out of reach. She began to eat one of the floor cookies and looked at the beast trying to kill her. It was fascinating.

“S... So...” She stuttered, “How are you?” She said jokingly. The wolf stopped swiping at growled. He could understand her perfectly, but her voice only made him angrier. She looked deeper into his icy eyes, wondering if Jay was in there somewhere. She slid a cookie over to the wolf, who once again, did not flinch. His eyes remained locked. The wolf did however seem to calm down faster than before, which Katie noticed. Maybe the wolf does recognize me. She thought. She smiled at that thought. Maybe the wolf and her could be secret friends.

 The next night she headed back over to Jay’s house with a fresh batch of cookies. She loved making cookies and knew Jay would appreciate them. She pulled into the path and drove towards the dim lit garage. She stopped outside of the house and stared. The house was dark again. Three days in a row? She thought. No. Maybe he’s just working on something. She exited the car and heard the familiar sounds of banging bars. She slowly opened the side door to see her old friend, the wolf in all his fuzzy glory, trying to murder her. Luckily this time she did not drop the cookies. The wolf growled and glared but ceased his lunges. He was calmer than before. He is recognizing me, she thought, smiling uncontrollably. The wolf stared as she sat down with the plate of cookies. She took a bite and lifted another outstretched in front of her.

“Want one?” She asked the wolf. The wolf did not respond, but only stared. She slid the cookie within his reach. The wolf stared at her, then glanced down, then back at her. Progress! She screamed internally. The wolf hunched over and picked up the cookie. He stared at the girl and took a bite. He watched her intently and she did the same. He finished the snack in two bites and she slid another. The wolf stared but reached down and ate the second. The wolf seemed to enjoy them enough at least.

“I’m Katie”, she said. The wolf blinked slowly. He knew who she was.

 The next night, she had a little more planned out. She brought a bad of supplies: A sketchbook, a few novels, and some assorted snacks. Fifty fifty seeing the wolf or jay, but she was prepared for either. She pulled up the garage noting the light shining through. Wolf it is, she thought, grabbing her bag. The slowly opened the garage door and the wolf was already watching her. Almost like he knew she would be there. He softly growled but did not lunge or try to attack. Katie could barely hold in her excitement. The wolf was less and less aggressive each time. She sat down and opened her sketchbook. She reached in her bag and pulled out a bag of beef jerky. She tossed a large piece over to her new friend. She began to sketch the wolf in his unnatural habitat who had begun to chew on the tough jerky. When he finished, she tossed him a new piece and continued her drawing. She sketched until the jerky ran out, which was faster than she had hoped. She reached back into her bag again and revealed a new book.

“This is my favorite book”, she exclaimed proudly to the wolf, who seemed interested in her bag of goodies. “It’s called “The girl with the dragon tattoo”” She said, showing off the cover. She opened the book and began to read to the wolf. The monster watched her intently as she read page by page. The wolf sat down directly across from her and continued to listen. She couldn’t stop smiling as the wolf was relaxing around her.

 School flew by quickly as Katie day dreamed about going over to Jay’s house for her secret friendship. Every night, she had gone over and met with the wolf. And every night, he was a little more relaxed, almost happy, when she arrived. She dropped jay off at his house and went home. Later that night, she packed up and headed out again. The wolf greeted her with a tall wag and panted. Tonight, she felt adventurous. She couldn’t control herself. She had to do it. She reached into her bag and pulled out a large chunk of jerky and walked closer to the cage. The wolf watched and she slowly stepped past the invisible line of the wolfs reach. She held out the dried meat to the wolf’s massive mouth where he slowly and carefully removed it from her hand with his sharp teeth. She sighed relief and started the second part of her plan immediately. She reached with her other hand through the cage and touched his chest. His fur was short and extremely soft. He was overly warm to the touch, like a large fuzzy heated blanket. She scratched his chest and looked up to him. He seemed to enjoy being petted. She gave a small laugh and smiled, continually petting him. Weeks and weeks of preparation had led up to this moment. She was successful in her endeavors. She glanced over to the padlock on the cell door. She knew the key was on his pile of clothes. She stopped scratching and walked over to the key. She took a deep breath and turned back towards the door. She looked up and the wolf, who had cocked his head to the side slightly. She reached out with her hand towards the wolfs muzzle. He bent down and let her pet him again. She smiled and unlocked the door.

The wolf watched the gate open to the unprotected girl. He stepped forward towards her. She was not afraid of the big bad wolf. The wolf hunched over and sniffed at her neck before nuzzling her. She wrapped her arms around the soft monster and held him close. Weeks of preparation and planning had paid off. The wolf bit into the girl’s shoulder with all his might. The girl could only scream in horror at the mistake she was now fully aware of. The wolf knew exactly who the girl was. He could smell it from the day she stepped onto the property. He pulled back and tore out the muscle and bone from the helpless girl. She fell to the ground and the massive wolf followed. Her arms flailed at the wolf to no avail. The wolf bit into her chest. The wolf was excited. He knew jay would not let him out of the cage again. He knew this was his only chance. The girl screamed out to the cold November air, but there was no one around for miles to help her. The wolf finally had his revenge. The girl had tried to hide her guilt but that only made the wolf want her more. Her smell drove the wolf crazy but she finally trusted him enough to let him out. The wolf was not a wild animal. He was smart. Calculated. He didn’t need to be locked away in a cage every night. He knew right from wrong and would never hurt anyone without reason. Like hitting his human with a truck and leaving him to die in a ditch.

[randomconnections]

Paddling the French Broad River with WNC Kayaking

I’ve been doing research and exploring the French Broad River, so when the Western North Carolina Kayaking Meetup announced a trip on the river, I knew I had to sign up. The trip wasn’t on any part of the river covered by the Mountain Lily story, so I’m not calling this “Part 3.” The timing was convenient, though, and it did give me a feel for traveling on the river.

I had two paddling options for this Saturday with Meetup groups. The Tri-County Paddlers from Berkeley County were doing a full-moon paddle out to Church Island on Lake Marion. I initially said yes to that one, but when I found out about the WNC group’s trip I changed my plans. I was already deep into my Mountain Lily research and the French Broad trip would require less driving. Plus, the Lake Marion trip would require and overnight in Santee and I’d miss the jam session I had planned for Sunday. It just worked out better all around to go to the French Broad.

The plan was to paddle from the Island Ford Access to the Hap Simpson Park, a trip of about 10 miles. According to the website we would meet at 11:00 am and the event would end at 2:00 pm. 10 miles including shuttle and a stop for lunch in just 3 hours? Yeah, right. I knew better.

Things went off the rails as soon as I arrived. First off, there was no leader/organizer. Someone named Ed said that the plans had changed and that there were too many trees down on the stretch we had wanted to do. Instead, we would do the section from Rosman down to Island Ford. I was OK with the new plan, but it took me even further from my Mountain Lily route and threw our “schedule” even further off-kilter.

After a few fits and starts we got folks together and arrived at the Island Ford take-out, where we left a few vehicles. I loaded more boats onto my truck and we drove to Rosman.

I’d scouted this section many times, but never had the opportunity to paddle it. Today there would be a lucky 13 paddlers – 3 men and 10 women. We unloaded boats and got things staged for departure.

A woman introducing herself as Marjory took the roll of organizer and had everyone introduce themselves, then went over some info on the trip.

After that we got underway.

At the launch site the river is rocky and shallow. My boat snagged as soon as I launched and spun me around. I’m a better paddler than this, and I was embarrassed to get hung up so early in the trip. I was hoping that this wouldn’t be typical for the entire trip. Another paddler, Debbie, caught a photo of me struggling through the shallow water.

Things smoothed out quickly, though…for a bit. The water was deep enough to navigate and it was good to have a current going in the same direction as I wanted to go. We passed the town of Rosman and under the Highway 176 Bridge.

Past Rosman the French Broad twists through an agricultural valley. Right along the edges trees hang low, but just beyond we could here tractors and other activity. In many respect it reminded me of the Enoree, Saluda, or any number of other Piedmont rivers I’ve paddled.

All along the way I tried to imagine the Mountain Lily traveling these waters. It seemed improbably. Not only was the river fairly shallow and narrow, but there was the occasional rapid/ripple. These were nothing serious and I navigated them with ease. I enjoyed the rush of speed as I bounced through small chutes and standing waves. It made me want to head back to the Green River or Nantahala.

We pulled up to a grassy bank for a lunch stop.

After our lunch stop the area opened up and became even more agricultural with mountain vistas in the distance. We saw cows and corn along the banks and irrigation pumps dipped into the river.

We passed by a couple of bridges. Ed, who had said we should do this alternate route, kept saying, “This must be the take-out!” I knew from my GPS that we still had quite a ways to go. A couple of the bridges did have make-shift take-outs. One, a rough single-lane bridge, had logs wedged into the roadbed from a past flood.

At one bridge we reached the commercial take-out for Headwaters outfitters. A shuttle bus was at the take-out. Marjory, the eldest (and most experienced) member of our group, was feeling a bit worn out. She got the Headwaters group to give her a ride back to Rosman.

Our group was getting strung out a bit. I hung back to check on some of the stragglers, but I knew this could be an issue. Anyone at the take-out would have to wait for us in order to run the shuttle, or we would be stranded. I often found myself paddling alone, positioned between a fast group and a lagging group.

As we got closer to Island Ford the vegetation closed in a bit. There were huge stands of bamboo lining the river and tributaries. There were also some deep pools that made for tempting swimming holes.

If I had been with my normal (if that word can be used in this sense) ADD paddling group, we would have explored each of these. A couple of the paddlers did stop to swim, but I kept going.

Eventually we all reached the Island Ford take-out. It was about 4:30, much later than the 2:00 prediction. The take-out was a very steep set of concrete risers. I won’t even call them steps because they were too tall. We helped each other lift boats up to the parking lot.

I caught a ride back to Rosman to retrieve my truck, then loaded up my gear back at Island Ford. It was a great trip and all of my fellow paddlers were nice folks. I enjoyed getting to know them on the river. In all we had paddled 10.5 miles on today’s trip.

I did make a time-lapse with the GoPro.

Here is the album of all of my photos from the trip:

Another paddler, Debbie, also took photos and posted them to Flickr. Here are her shots:

It was a great trip, and I’d definitely like to do this section again. However, even more now I want to get onto the section that the Mountain Lily had run.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2LKXkC8 via IFTTT