secretsoftheunbound

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Late night troubles

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Happy Birthday, Auva!

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SAVE A HORSE, RIDE A COWBOY

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Boss's Birthday

I've tried almost everything to get my boss to like me. I've taken shifts when others couldn't do them, done way more work than I was supposed to, I've even gotten him those cheap “number one boss” mugs. Nothing I've done has seemed to work.

Every time I speak to him, he still gives me a stink eye, his lips still purse in annoyance. He huffs the moment I open my mouth. It feels like no matter what I do, he hates my very existence. Even when he first hired me, he didn't seem pleased to have done so.

It was his birthday one time. It was written on the calendar in the office and I made sure I had a gift for him. I got him a giant gag coffee mug. “I need one cup of coffee every morning” was written on the front of it in black lettering.

The day of his birthday, I knocked on his office door, expecting no response.

“Come in.” His voice came through the door. He didn't sound as grumpy as he usually did, so I took it as a good sign.

I stepped inside, holding the present box out to him. “Happy Birthday, Mr. Braxton!” I cheered, smiling the brightest smile I could manage.

For the first time I saw something on his face other than annoyance—surprise. He slowly reached for the box and held it in his lap. He glanced at it, then at me, then at it again. He carefully opened the box and took the mug out.

His eyebrows lifted up and his eyes widened. I saw a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips before it was gone. He placed the mug on his desk. “Thank you, Auva.” He said quietly before going back to working on paperwork.

The moment didn't last long, but it was a breakthrough. I treasured it. I left his office and pumped my fist in pride. I headed back to my cubicle with a wide grin spread across my face. The rest of the day, I couldn't focus on my work. I was so happy that I had gotten a reaction out of him other than annoyance or anger.

(Past this section is not so happy)

So as I sit here, my head pounding and my vision spinning. He's standing over me, horror written over his face. He looks like he might cry. I can't understand why. My mind is too foggy. I can't keep my eyes open. I try to ask what’s wrong, but all that comes out of my mouth is a shuddering gasp.

It doesn't hurt. I just feel tired. I hear him whisper something like an apology before my eyes close and I can no longer keep myself awake.

I never thought he was a bad man, just a lonely one.

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I made a silly

This is the original!

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The Wedding Day

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A Day on The Ranch

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SHORT STORIES PAGES!!!

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The Dream 4

“Anyways. The kid who you used to give…trinkets to. What about him?” Auva asks as she shoves another piece of porkchop into her mouth.

“I was wondering if you know where he's been..all these years. I mean, it's a small town, someone's bound to know, right?” I sigh, brushing my hair out of my face.

Auva hums. She has a vacant look on her face as she stirs her food around on her plate. “Not many people knew him. Sure the town’s small. Everyone knows everyone here but…he was an outcast, even for here. He never spoke to anyone, Lihel.”

I groan. I hate that answer. I finish up my cup of applesauce and toss it into the trash can.

“Do you know if he has social media?” She asks, glancing up at me.

Why hadn't I thought of that?

“Social media?” I ask, turning to face her once more. “He never seemed the type.”

She takes another bite of her pork chops. “Couldn't hurt to try. You can find almost anyone on the internet.” She pauses. “Don't ask how I know that.”

I laugh. “What, are you stalking someone, Auvy?” I tease.

She gives me a glare that sends a jolt of heat through my body like she's just burned me.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, Kitty Cat?” She teases in return.

I cringe at the nickname. “Fine, point taken.” I huff and stand to my feet. “I'm heading back to my cubicle.”

“That was a short lunch.” She laughs.

I ignore her and pout as I walk back to my cubicle. I sit down in my spinny chair and twirl around for a bit. I turn back and face my computer screen with a sigh. Searching for him online can't be that hard, can it?

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The Dream 3

I feel my heart race as I run into the office, in a panic. The receptionist laughs at my appearance. I probably look like I just rolled out of bed, because I did.

“Someone's rather late,” She teases playfully. “Did you not hear your alarm?”

“You could say that,” I say, exasperated. I have her check me in and quickly head into the office, hoping no one notices. To my dismay, I hear footsteps heading towards my cubicle.

“Lihel.”

I turn around in my spinny chair to see my boss staring at me with piercing eyes. His arms are crossed and his nose scrunched.

“Braxton,” I return the name exchange. “I was caught in traffic.” I try to come up with a lame excuse. I can't tell him I had a weird dream about my ex friend in high school.

“There was no traffic this morning. I made it here in ten minutes,” He rebuttals.

I exhale. “I slept through my alarm.” I admit. Though that was only a half truth.

He shakes his head. “Don't let this happen again, I'm letting you off with a warning since this is only your first offense.”

He turns and walks away and I breathe a sigh of relief, my chest relaxing. I look at my computer and stare at the work I need to get done. There's so much. I stare blankly at my computer as I think back to the dream. The one that plays over and over nearly every other week. But it's been so persistent this week. It's like his eyes won't leave me be. I blink and shake my head, refocusing on my work.

An hour goes by and I stand up to take my lunch break. I see Auva in the break room, eating what looks like leftover pork chops. I grab my lunch from my bag and sit down in front of her.

“Oh, hi,” she says flatly as he glances up at me before going back to eating.

I begin to eat my cup of applesauce. “Do you remember that kid we went to highschool with that never spoke?” I ask nervously. I'm unsure if she even remembers him as well as I do.

“The kid you used to hand random things you found on the ground to? Yeah. What about him?” She hums, a shit eating grin on her face.

I scowl. “I did that because he liked that kind of stuff.” I retaliate.

“He liked trash?”

“He liked shiny stuff.”

“Mhm.”

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The dream 2

I wake up in a sweat, my clothes sticking to my body and my blanket on the floor. The world spins for a moment when I shoot up. That dream again. I still don't understand why I keep dreaming about him. But it's starting to get on my nerves. I am a prideful, confident lion and yet every moment I think of him, I get sweaty and my head spins.

I roll out of bed and lean against the bedside table. My body feels hot. I call out for someone. I'm not sure who, my mouth moves before I think of it. But before I know it, my sister is barging in.

“Lihel?” Her voice is quiet, confused. “You screamed for mom.”

“Mom doesn't live here.” I mumble, sounding just as confused.

“Mom isn't alive.” She corrects me.

I pause. Oh, right. “Sorry. I had a nightmare.” I mutter. I rub my forehead. “What time is it?”

She looks around. “Uhm. It's nearly 8:30.” She shifts her weight. “Why?”

Oh shit. I was supposed to clock in at 8. I run past her to my closet and fumbled around for my uniform. “I have to go. I'm late. I'm very late.”

She sighs. “You better get a move on. Get going, loser.” She teases. I much prefer her teasing to her compassion. It's more natural and less awkward.

I leave for work with one thing on my mind. That dream. I should try to get in touch with him again. Speak to him. But I'd have to ask around for that. This is a small town after all, someone's bound to know of his whereabouts.

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The Dream 1

“Hello?” My voice was as soft as I could make it. I didn't wanna scare him off. He was just a little bird and I'm…well, I'm a big scary lion, aren't I?

He turned to me slowly, his eyes blank and yet so full of wonder. Oh, I could've stared into them for hours. I'd let the black hole swallow me up in an instant.

I want to be his friend so much.

“Oh, hello.” I repeated. I knew he wouldn't respond. He didn't speak to anyone. Barely teachers even knew what he sounded like.

“I'm Lihel. I uhm. I'm in your Computer Science class.” I said, trying to hide the shake in my voice. I'm a lion. I should've been roaring, asserting myself with him, and being controlling. Yet, I wasn't. I was stumbling over my words, my hands were shaking and sweaty.

He was staring me right in the eyes now. His eyes. Oh, his eyes. The wings on the side of his head twitched, stretching out and then folded back against him. He nodded slowly and held his hand out. I was confused. I reached my hand out as well and put it on his. He didn't pull away. I was confused. He should've been terrified. I am predator and he is prey. And yet, he was willingly…touching me.

He smiled. Oh, that smile. Him.

My eyes open slowly, staring at the ceiling. I am curled in my blanket, shivering. I slowly sit up, eyes tired and throat scratchy. That dream always seems to mess me up. I don't understand why I keep remembering that specific moment. I haven't spoken to him in 3 years. He only ever said Three words to me in our whole friendship. So why do I keep dreaming about it? I need to get ready for work.

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Two-headed Calf

My father's embrace is the most comforting thing I can think of. It's what I would come home to after a day of being bullied. It's what I would wake up to in the morning. Even when he was angry with me, his hugs always made the world seem brighter.

When one of my favorite cows had a calf, I was over the moon. I remember being so excited cause I'd never seen a baby cow in person before. I begged my father to let me see her for days and every time I asked, he would get short with me and eventually I stopped asking about the pregnancy all together.

I came home from school one day and couldn't find my father anywhere. I called all throughout the house for him and couldn't find him. So, I headed to the barn to go look. I stopped in my tracks when I saw him in the cow stall, holding a two headed calf close to his heart.

“Papa! Papa!” I yelled as I ran in to go see too. “Papa, it's got two heads!”

My father was quiet and then slowly nodded. “Yes, baby, it does.”

“That's awesome! Can I hold it?” I begged.

Again, my father was quiet. He looked up at me with tearful eyes. “Baby, the calf’s dead.”

It was like I could feel the excitement leave my body, draining out of me and forming a pool under me. My body filled instead with horror as I looked closer.

The calf's eyes were closed peacefully. But its chest did not move. Its tail did not wag or sway. It didn't move at all.

I felt my face get hot and my eyes start to sting. I remember that I sat down next to my father and, despite his protests, took the calf’s two heads into my lap and began to stroke the calf ever so gently.

My father sighed and pulled away from me. “Come on, baby, we have to bury it.” His voice was soft as ever. “You can't keep it. The body will start to decompose and it's gonna not be a pleasant sight.”

I rocked the calf tenderly back and forth and looked up at him. “I'm giving it a hug like you do when I'm upset, papa. I don't want it to be sad.”

That's usually where my memory fails me. I'm not sure what happened after that. All I know is the poor thing was buried under a tree in the backyard with two fence posts tied together for a gravestone.

I still go outside sometimes and look at it. I run my hand over the bark of the tree and stare at the dirt where I know the baby is underneath.

I don't know what possessed my father to ark this grave. He never marked the other ones. But forever, I look at a grave marked “Precious two-headed baby. I'm sure you felt twice the love.”

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Pretending kept me going

I'd begged my dad to let me go to public school. Every day I'd watch the kids play together outside. I'd tried to go outside with them to play before, but dad had stopped me. He was afraid of how they would treat me, how their parents would react.

That's why when my dad finally decided to let me go to public school in third grade, I was over the moon. I planned what to wear for my first day weeks before it was time.

I waited by the bus stop with my best friend. Well, I don't know if I was her best friend at the time, but she certainly was mine. She was really my only friend. She was the reason dad even let me go to public school. If she wasn't there, I wouldn't have ever gone.

My dad waved, as the bus started to drive away. I was practically jumping in my seat. I was asking Auva so many questions. She would answer them just as eagerly. When we arrived, I suddenly felt my stomach tighten.

I had been so excited, but I came to realize that I was in a brand new place, with brand new people. My ears twitched, tail flicking in anxiousness. Auva grabbed my hand, trying to bring me to the classroom but I wouldn't budge. I was terrified.

“I don't think I can do this.” I said, tears starting to form in my eyes.

Auvs frowned. “Of course you can do it! Just uhm…” she paused, looking around. “Let's pretend that…we're like…secret spies. And we have to pretend to be normal kids at school!”

I felt myself light up. “Yes! And when we're at home, we're secretly CIA agents!”

We laughed and I was finally able to move my legs. I remember sitting in the classroom, exchanging secret glances as the teacher went on about classroom procedures.

Pretending was the only thing that kept me going. The bullying, the condescension, the humiliation was too much to bear. But if I pretended that it was just because they didn't know I was an undercover superhero, I could get through it.

I denied when my dad tried to get me back into homeschooling. I was a superhero, I needed to go to school to save people.

If someone knocked my lunch tray to the ground, it was ok. Because I was gonna go home to my definitely real mansion and have a totally real feast after school.

When I was broken and bloody against the bathroom wall, barely able to see through tears…I was ok. Because they would definitely be caught and brought to justice.

Pretending kept me going.

Please take time to read over my OCs brief introductions. I love them dearly. I'd appreciate if you liked, reposted, or maybe even left an ask in the ask box

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Hi, this is the first post here! This will be an ask blog for my OCs (more may be added as the story continues). Here's a basic rundown of each main character. (I'll do the side characters separately)

This is Macedon! He's half human, half cow. He's a literal cowboy!!! He was homeschooled until 3rd grade. He saw Auva playing outside and it was his first time seeing another hybrid. So, he begged his dad to let him go out and play. His dad only obliged to let him play under his supervision. He begged his dad to let him go to public school after that and his dad reluctantly agreed.

He was attached to Auva at the hip but still got bullied badly. His dad tried to get him to go back to homeschooling but he refused and insisted on staying in public school. He started dating Auva in Freshman year of highschool and then married her a year after graduation.

Now they live on his dad's farm together.

This is Auva! She's part human, part dog! She was born in a big city, but moved to a small town in the country in second grade. She was already used to bullying so it didn't really bother her. When she met Macedon, she immediately became protective of him and taught him how to play with other kids and defend himself against bullies. She was actually pretty popular in school despite Hybrids usually being shunned. She started dating Macedon in Freshman year and started to become obsessed with him.

At her graduation, her parents ended up abandoning her for reasons she couldn't figure out. She ended up at Macedon's door and his dad welcomed her in with open arms.

A year after graduation, her and Macedon were married and live together on the ranch.

This is Lihel! He's part Lion, part human! One of Auva's coworkers. He's very prideful and full of himself. He has a small crush on Auva which is obviously one sided cause she is obsessed with her husband. He likes stargazing and bird watching (he makes the clicking sounds that cats do). He met Auva in highschool and became friends with her there. He was also friends with Macedon in high school, but started to sort of dislike him when he began dating Auva.

He was best friends with a guy throughout high school. He had a crush on him but refused to admit it. He had a fear of being gay despite it being widely accepted in their time period. He lost contact with him after high school, but is still haunted by the memory of him.

This is Braxton, fully human. The big boss in my OCs universe. You know those kids at school with the ice cream scoop hair? This is them in their 50s. He's basically a villain in the story. He doesn't like hybrids but hires them anyways cause he needs the labor.

He's a hopeless romantic. But unfortunately the woman he married hates him. He takes his frustrations out on his employees despite wanting to be a good person deep down. But he just can't do it. He's also a little suspicious.

Born to say skibidi rizz, forced to be angry and sad at the world.

Please consider taking a look at these! My main tumblr account is Iguess_Imanartist and I have a tiktok, youtube, insta, bluesky, and Cara. I also have some mini narratives that I'll be posting here soon to help you get to know the characters!