#also I’m learning Finnish and it’s unsettling/funny because it’s like it’s just a bit off

[every-reason-shes-fine]

My first Estonian independence day as an Estonian citizen 🇪🇪

Palju õnne 104. sünnipäevaks, Eesti!

[anotherstrangetale]

Artist

 In all honesty the trip wasn’t really supposed to be of any interest, I had heard that some people had experienced some weird things there. Weird noises, seeing weird things, Lady Of The Lake stories...you know, the like. As far as I knew, there wasn’t anything terribly interesting about the lake, nothing David Paulides’ worthy anyway. Which was another reason I had no problems going to camp here, I needed some time away from the city, I had grown up in the countryside of Oklahoma before moving to the suburbs of Washington. It didn’t have the claustrophobic feeling of being in a city but close enough to one to be convenient. 

Even so, I needed some time away from everything. Enjoy the quiet, reconnect with nature...like I should do more often. Maybe then I’d start feeling more grounded, but life in general tends to take off at mach 6 for no reason at all...not that I know much about military planes but, I know that’s really fast. Even after everything, I’m still lame. 

Right, moving on. Like I was saying, I just needed some time to unwind from everything. Not worry about anything other than maybe the occasional wild animal, especially if I didn’t put away my food properly. 

The drive itself was long but beautiful, about the last 2 or 3 hours of it was really quite lovely, it was nothing but trees, rolling hills, mountain peaks and roads. I honestly didn’t have anything playing, I rarely do play music anymore. Drives some people crazy, but I guess I prefer silence because the noise inside my head is so loud, that I just crave silence when I can get it. From time to time, I listen to music. The Finnish rock band Lordi, not to be confused with the singer Lorde but I like her too and I just finished listening to the podcast Welcome To Nightvale. Well, I didn’t finish it, more like finally caught up to it. So it’s not like I listened to silence all the time just, most of it. I’m not bothered quiet like most people are but I also know there are certain times where quiet is a bad thing...a terrible sign of things to come. I knew that, even before this trip. Makes me wonder if we just instinctively know when things get dead quiet; that things are about to go very wrong...something my parents knew, my friend’s parents and so on. It’s not something we were ever taught either, it was just something you came to know. But even so, I wasn’t bothered by the absence of sound. But I wasn’t always like that, funny how people change.

I checked into my space about 4 pm and picked up my rented RV about 5 pm...I know some of you are calling me wimp or whatever for not setting up a tent. I had considered it but the temperatures were a bit too low this fall for me to care about contending with. I was trying to relax, not relive roughing it in Oklahoma on those hot summer nights. This was really the first time I had got to treat myself in a few years and I had never driven an RV before. It was nerve wracking but since I was only here for about 4 days, there was no reason to hook it up to anything and it came with a smell generator for electricity, mostly to keep my phone charged. Before you judge, it’s easier to read the books I have saved on there then trying to haul them all around. Maybe I wasn’t completely cut off the world but to be fair the signal where I was, wasn’t that great. So I wouldn’t be watching Netflix or wanting to throw myself into the lake after a brief scroll through Facebook. 

Honestly the first night was fine but I had somehow completely missed the fact that a lunar eclipse was happening this weekend. A notification popped up from my calendar, well I suppose that was a lovely happenstance. 

That day, I really wish I could say things felt off but they didn’t really. I knew about a mile or so in either direction there were other campers and I could hear them laughing and splashing around. I couldn’t tell if they were swimming in this frigid lake or kayaking. Not that it mattered, they were distant sounds on the wind, other forest sounds drowned them out. Birds, insects and the occupational animal howl. Sometimes I thought maybe a wolf signaling to their pack or maybe a mountain lion. Perhaps even a bear, but the sounds were far off and if I needed to go in then I would. 

Mostly, I would lounge outside, reading and snacking. Sometimes I would drift off and simply enjoy the sound of nature and mostly the sound of nothing. Not in the true sense but at least it was the absence of city/suburban life. It was rather nice, it bothered me that I could get used to the absence of people even though I knew full well I wasn't a naturalist. I probably wouldn’t last long if I ever lost my way in the wilderness, even though several of those things were learned at The Campfire Boys and Girls Club...but I hadn’t stuck with those habits. There are things I know you need to do, start a campfire, stay in one place, conserve food and water. But the actual understanding of what those things take, well I’d probably fail. Another reason I hadn’t really wondered off too far, I was alone and compasses could act afoul if polar energies or whatever are interrupted or something. Think I heard about it being something to do with iron deposits, whatever the reason it would happen to me and I’d be screwed. 

Not that I didn’t do some of the trails but I always made sure I could at least see the lake and again nothing ever felt off or wrong. It felt like a fall day, the leaves were turning and it was beautiful. I loved every moment of it so when dusk came I headed back and sat down until it became too cold to sit outside.

I sat by the window and watched the sunset before reading a book, I dozed off and woke up with, you guessed it...a start. Something had hit the window but I couldn’t see what, could have been a bird or a rogue squirrel. I was more perplexed than startled at that moment. I stared out the window and in the distance I could see a mass of something, it looked like birds but it was far too late for that, wasn’t it? Maybe it was bats, I was far enough out for that I thought. Did bats hibernate? My mind went into a million different questions but none of them went into the unknown. The mass flittered closer, taking long dives up and then down across the water...I couldn’t see what the hell it was, what they were. They moved closer, and closer. I heard the sound...the screeching that was coming from it. I had never heard that sound before but again I wasn’t allowing myself to think anything supernatural. THUD, THUD.

I didn’t snap out of it until I heard those things hit the window, round black dots with wings, and teeth. Some kind of bat but it still made the hair stand up on my arms, I swear my only fear was them breaking the window and that costing me more money. They were swarming and that was normal in nature wasn’t it? These things were night creatures, maybe they were bats and I wasn’t able to take in the details properly. I shut the windows just in case they might be drawn to whatever light might be coming from within. I thought that would be the end of it, but no. It went on for a few hours. The thumps weren’t as often but it still happened, I could hear animal sounds of fear. There wasn’t silence, it wasn’t the stereotypical supernatural silence everyone talks about. But I still wasn’t convinced it was something from the unknown.

I ended up falling asleep to the sound of that fear, I didn’t dream, I fell through darkness until the sun peeked through the curtains. The pain surged through my neck and I groaned, how had I fallen asleep in this spot...how stupid of me. Gods, what happened last night? 

Streaks of red down the window, answered my question and I swear to you I wasn’t even sure what it was I was seeing. I immediately called the park rangers, this was beyond what the campgrounds could even deal with I was sure. I couldn’t hardly deal with it myself...how was this normal? I shut my curtains, I wasn’t even sure I could continue my weekend here, I knew...I just knew that the carnage out there would make me sick to my stomach.

It only took the park rangers 30 minutes to arrive, they apparently brought a clean up team, they assured me that it was nothing to be alarmed about. While it did seem overwhelming, it was just a species of bat that had come from one of the rainforests, they were invasive and carnivorous but not really a threat to humans. I want to say it made me feel better but it didn’t, they were so casual about it. But I guess for them, maybe they’d seen it enough. The only warning I really got was to just go in if I heard them coming. They might ding up the RV but couldn’t really get in, I wanted to ask about the people in tents but they headed out before I could ask more questions, saying they needed to get to a few more sites.

Then I was alone, I could still hear the forest, it wasn’t silent like one might expect. It was like nothing happened and the only evidence there was some kind of horrible event was the blood splatters against the trees, on the ground and the RV. It didn’t seem natural that a species of bat could do this no matter where it was from. But I supposed I could probably just deal with it for a few more days. I was leaving Monday morning and I wasn’t sure I’d even get any of my money back. I might as well make the best of it…

I should have left but I still didn’t want to accept any possibility of something unnatural happening. Stupid logic, I should have left at the first sign of trouble. But hardly anyone does, especially when money is somehow involved. Well at any rate, I was determined to stick it out and at that moment I figured it really wasn’t as big a deal as I thought it was. The bat things had only attacked the small creatures in the area...it wasn’t as if they had caused terrible damage. It was just unsettling so I went about my day as I did yesterday.

The only difference was, I fell asleep at the window as I read my book...I woke up with a start sometime in the night. There was something not quite right with how it felt, there were still forest sounds but everything felt so oppressed. Something just felt off about the air, there was a certain kind of tension that I just couldn’t shake off. I peeked out the window and nothing seemed off at first, but in the distance I saw something forming in the distance, it was a black mass...it was those things, they were back...but there were more, thousands more and they were almost blotting out the moon.

Fuck this, I’m out!

I moved away from the window, I was going to get dressed and get the hell out of here. I’d at least get to the nearest hotel for the rest of the night. I moved to the bedroom part to at least put something more on, it was in this moment that I noticed something very wrong. Something else was in the bedroom space with me. Near terror took me over, I felt rooted to the floor as I looked into the corners of the room. It was at the furthest right corner that I saw some kind of black mass, it was unnaturally dark. Cold chills ran through me as I started to step back, I wanted to scream but nothing came out. I was trapped in a nightmare but something snapped me out of it, there was a strange sound coming from outside that made me think whatever was in here wasn’t anything compared to what was out there. I turned quickly to look out the window, to see what was going on.

The room filled with this strange static sound, it almost vibrated through the room but out of it I heard a word…

D͖̟͎͎̽̍̇ó͖͎̹̱͓͓̙̾ͧ͌ͭ̂ͧ̊n̬̺͉͉̲̦̩̞͆ͨ̈ͦ̉̒̈'͉̫͖̩̭̝͔̜̔̿t͕͕̥̱͈̦̟͊̍

̫̲̥̫̼̤̝͛̀

I didn’t get a chance to make a second move toward the window, black tendrils were wrapped around my arms and middle. There was this electric shock that tore through me, the inky darkness that wrapped around me felt uncomfortably hot. It felt like my skin was on the verge of burning but I dared not scream even as I was being pulled into that corner of what I could only imagine being something of nightmares. But my attention couldn’t even be drawn to the fact I was being dragged across the floor. My eyes were on the window again, something...awful was going on outside. Something that whatever was pulling me, didn’t like either...It was only until then that I felt rather than heard rumbling. At first I thought it was an earthquake, somewhere in my mind I mused that it must be the pits of hell opening up.

Though the more I paid attention to it, the more I realized that it was footsteps...something very large was walking through the forest and those supposed bat things were out there. I knew that even more had joined what I had already seen. Enough that could probably take on even larger animals. It finally hit me, that whatever those things weren’t normal, they must have had something to do with whatever was out there. The shaking became much worse and by then my back to the thing that had kept me from looking out there. Solid and wearing something familiar, in my dumbfounded mind, I had come to the conclusion it was a suit. This thing was wearing a fucking suit and its tendrils had shut the bedroom door or the piece of wood meant to work as one. I was now in uncomfortable darkness with this thing and the static in the air had settled into a low hum. The shaking hadn’t quite made the RV shake but I could hear the water of the lake rushing up...close to the RV. 

I could move my arms some but not a lot, whatever it was, didn’t want me making much sound of any kind. I glanced up, even through the darkness there was still some light that came from under the door because of the moon and not to mention the security lights of the campsite...the thing holding me had no face, there was nothing but this unnerving white shade stretched over what should be a face.  

Stories came to mind...I hadn’t been heavily into that particular myth and this moment only brought questions to my mind. Everything I knew of... it...of this entity did not match what was taking place now.  This thing drove anyone who looked at it mad, hunted and devoured those who even dared peek its attention. This thing by all accounts was very unforgiving and predatory. So why was it all I was feeling from it was agitated apprehension.

What in the hell was going on outside that made this thing hide and keep me quiet? Why not just kill me to ensure silence? A thought floated through my head, killing me would still draw unwanted attention and thus attention to itself. That still didn’t answer the question of why this thing just didn’t teleport out of the area if whatever was out there was that must of a threat to it. I didn’t bother asking about why this was happening or what was out there.

The air was still filled with the sound of those things, that unnatural shrieking and that rumbling of whatever was walking...beyond that I thought I could hear screaming. The other campers, oh gods...it dawned on me that not everyone was in a cabin, somewhere there were people in tents. No doubt they were being eaten alive. The thought made my heart drop to the pit of my stomach, they were probably in terror and in agony. But chances were, after this was over I might not be in much better condition. 

With any luck, my death would happen if I was blessed with passing out. At this point, I was too exhausted to care what happened now. I only knew what the horror in my room knew, it was much worse out there. The electric heat where it was touching me had dulled to a throbbing ache as my adrenaline had finally crashed out. 

“I should have gone home.” I muttered to myself indignantly.

 B̨̠̭̿ͯ͌̆͑̾ͨȗ̫̱͖̱̠̹̦ͮͪͅt͓̫̳̗̯ͩͣͧͬ̓̀ ̸̪̯̰̟͕͎̯͔͑̈́͆̊͆͡y̮̱̗̟ͦ̃͆ͅo̸̞̺̯ͨ̕ú̡̫͐̽̌̇̈ͣ͌ ̱͔̮̠͍͓̜̖ͬͧ̈́ͮd̛̤͉ͦ͑͆͆ͥ̅i̛͎̗ͬ̽ͯͦ̊d̺̱̮̲̻͛͆́͠ͅn̶̲͌̀̋ͬ͠'͓͙͎̳͖͔̓̒ͭ̑t̤̘͕̱̫͚͓̪̏̊͋̔

̡͎̱̼̰͇̙̲͉̈ͥ͂͊ͮ̓̏

A string of curses crossed my mind but I kept my lips sealed, I wasn’t sure how I felt about having a conversation with an entity that was supposed to be an urban legend. The supernatural was always something I believed was possible but never in my wildest flights of fancy would I have believed things like this happened. I read horror stories that are like this, works of fucking fiction! I was an ordinary person, I never did anything of interest...so why me?

THUD THUD

THUD

The steps of whatever was out there were getting louder and closer, dread coursed through my chest painfully. I could feel my breath catching in my throat, was it coming this way?! If it did, this RV was not going to survive and neither was I for sure...the thing holding me to the corner probably had more of a chance than I did of escape.

I couldn’t help but whisper under my breath frantically, “Fuck...fuck...fuck me!”

.

.

O̮̟̪̪̟̲͓̻͒̉̈́̇ͭͨ̊͌͘d̡̬̝̑d̨̔̇͏̬͔̦̻͔͔̻ ̲͙̮͉̠̆̑̏́r̷̞͍͓͐ͨͯ̈͑̑ͯ͝e̜̋̉͆͆̔̋̔͡q̴̰̺̼̲̍͌ͫ̍̏ͨ̄ͅu͖͕̜̤͎̟͍̾̓ͤͦ̿e̡̛͇̗̱͎̗̦̭͌̒́ͮ̋ͩ̐s̝͓̰̘̰͈͉̎͠t̳̗̏ͤͮ̇̿̎͜ ̙̫̙͉̖̍̄͌̅̅ͯ͌b̶̨̯ͫ̄̅ṳ̸͇̱͓̮̼ͮͨ͑͌͐ͅt̷̸͚̫̖͈̱͚̬̓́ͫ̌ ̖̹̰̬̲̏̏͒͂ͥn̶̨̟͙̻̖͕̖͍̏͒̔o̥̫̜̩͕̪͊ͥͪ̐͋̈́ͭ̀.̶̯̹͔̳͓̈

.

My head swung back so fast I nearly gave myself whiplash, did this...thing think I was being literal!? I sputtered indignantly as I tried to explain that it was just a figure of speech! 

“That is NOT wha-” 

Those long tendrils wrapped tightly around my mouth and silenced me at once. Reminding me that this wasn’t the time to be embarrassed or for correcting a supernatural entity’s understanding of the English language.  The pitiful safe haven we were trapped in was starting to rock back and forth, the water was starting to lap against the edges of it and it hit me...this RV could be swept into the lake. I felt myself get lightheaded at the thought. It wasn’t that I couldn’t swim but the thought of being out in the open, in the water with whatever had brought all this madness out into the world made my stomach turn into knots.

The weight of it sent my senses into overdrive, it is probably the only reason I noticed just how silent nature had gotten. There were the sounds of the creature moving, and those bat things but nothing else. The world was muted, there were no more screams from the other campers and no sounds of terror from the forest fauna. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the absence of sound but it only got worse. For several long moments I couldn’t even hear the water lapping against the RV. It was dead silent, I could feel my heart racing but I couldn’t hear it. There was nothing. 

Sound erupted suddenly but it was nothing I could describe, that creature was making this unbelievable keening sound that was a mix of monstrous, organic, and somehow mechanical. It was a sound that did not belong in this realm, not in this reality...not anywhere. I was not meant to hear this sound and I felt my insides churning, it felt like they were trying to escape my body. I...I was going to be sick, I was almost certain that all my organs were about to somehow claw their way up my throat. “I...I...sick.”

I couldn’t even get out a full sentence, my stomach along with everything else was about to end up on the floor. Then there was that familiar unpleasant electric hot pain that started to curse through me, I could almost hear the hum of the entity behind me, even through all the noise...that noise that was so wrong...wrong...wrongwrongwrong.

S̞̝͙̗̩̗ͭ̉̾̔̍w̷̴̠̘̭̦ͧ͐ͪ͐͋a͎͈̰̖̱͈̤̺̾̒̍ͥ̇̓l͎̮̝͉͇̯̞̟̈ĺ̨͖̥̖̮̩̈́ȍ͙̹͉̍͛͢ͅw̝͎̲̲̗̄ͩ͟͠ ̼̝͆ḭ̷̲̯̮̮̋ͮ̒ͮ͋ͭ̆͢t̢̨̫͎͚̏̆́ͬ̔ͨͧ ̷͙̝̮͕̹̩͕ͦ͗͝d̨͚̬̳̮̔͟ͅo͉͇ͩ̓̍̀͂ͪ͠͞w̷̱͇͉͈͈̺̎̐̆͘ͅṅ̝̱̮̬̦̰̝̅̊̌͟͠.͖̤̮̯̱̟̤͊͛̋ ̖̮̮͍̗̗̈ͬͫͪͅN͖̘̱͍̹͈ͪ̽̎̏͌̒ͯ͌͝ȏ̶̮̻̜͔ͣ͗w̻͔̞̼͚ͯ͐̄̓͟.̲̱̺͉͖̰͑ͮͨ̀̀͝ͅ ̳͓͇̮̂̀̿

̸͍͛̀

Involuntarily I gagged and took big gulps of air or as much as I could with that black mass against my mouth.  My insides still felt like they wanted to wriggle up my throat but due to the unnatural pain coursing through my body I was able to keep myself from vomiting. It wasn’t much of a consultation but if the entity behind me was keeping me from physically falling apart there had to be a reason for it. I knew there was no personal interest in me, it was simply about survival...which I guess was lucky for me. 

It had to be the pain alone that was keeping my mind in check, keeping me from sliding into the dark void of madness; my mind wanted to tear itself apart. There was no other explanation. The sound that abomination was making out there did not belong in this realm, it had no right at all to even exist.

I...I think I could still feel myself trying to slip into nothingness as that thing moved through the lake, the sounds no longer sounded like thudding footsteps. It was somehow slipping in and out of sync with reality. I can’t even begin to paint a picture of the dread that flooded my veins, what I can explain is just a shadowy blur in comparison. 

The water started to rush up against the RV and started to rock because of the force. The combination of those creatures, the water, and reverberations of that horror that somehow existed in and outside of our reality...the noise was just too much. I must have started screaming, I was vaguely aware of the angry electric voice in the air or was it in my head now? 

S̗̦̖͍͓̬̮̽ͭͮ͗͂̓́͂i͍͎͈ͮ͊͗́l̪̝̻̹̘̯̮ͪ͝e̛̻̍̍̿n̳̰̘̐ͪ̓̉̅̾c̯̫ͤ͟ë̛͇̟̈́̾ͯ̊ͬͬ͊́!̖̪̼̽ ̨̨͓̏I͉̱͍̋ͥ̀t̪̤̩̙̮̖̤͍̎ͨ͗̓͌̌̈́ͬ ̱̘̺̩̹̭̳̋̋̃ͣw̸͓̙̺̙̑̓i̟̙͔͙͛̕ͅļ̹̜̽l̪̪͖̫̳̆ͦ̌ͧ̄ͬ͝ͅͅ ̺̮̱̹̩͉͈ͥ́ͬ̋ͅc̷̱͈̋ͬ̾̓̅ͦ́o̠ͤ̍̂̐̈́ͤ͌̐͝m̖̈̂̋ͬ̒ę̩͉̺̞̭͍̹ͤͦ͒̾͒͠!̵̯̹̼̞͆͌̄ͬ̽̂̈̅ ̴̧͔͔̳ͬ͂ͤ͛͌́̓ͨİ̘̦͕͔̼̩̐̎̐͞͡T̯͍̥̰̟̽͒̆̾͂͗̽̕ ͎̹͕̠̄̽̾̂̍͡W͍̤̮̰ͫ̊͆ͣͅĬ̸͈̱̬̻̼̏̈́̃̌Ḻ̺̱̥͍ͣ̈́̋̎̅ͨ̓L͓͔̬̰̞̯̎̋̿͐ ̯̟̲̪͕̿͗̓́F̺̰̮͎̬̙͆̓ͯͪ́E̝̘̭̭ͦ͂ͫ͋̏͞E̥̯̼͗ͦ̈́̑̿̽ͪͫL̜̗͍̙̮̥̱͗͞͞ ̢̦̰̥̖͖́ͯ͗͐ͮ̕ͅY̷̫̩͔ͩ͒̈́ͥͬͅO̞͕̦͖̙͚͐ͪ̒Ȕ̳͙̯̪̟̀͗̂̿̑̊Ȑ̖̳̤̼͐́̕ͅ ̢̮̇̓͌ͩ͌̈́́F͈ͧ̄ͅE͇̫̹͎̍̕A̗͙̳̻͖͆̈̀ͧ̊̅R͍̠̠̥͎̆͊͑ͯ̊̉̓!̻̗ͩ͡ ͇̟ͣ̀͛ͤ̍I̬͔̯̺̤̍̌̓̕T̘̱͈̀̂'ͪ͋̇ͯͣͤ͛͏̳̺͓͝S̨̨̞̞̬̖̱̺̰̋ͯ͑͌̿͗ ̸͚̻̲̟̹͈̇ͥ̔̇̉̈́ͣͯŰ̙͉̥̮͋̒̿̃̕ͅN̞̦̬͗͒̂͆͑̓̈ͭͅͅṠ̛̞̦̺̝͔̘͚ͮ̿ͮ̂̀Ę̠̩̻̻̭͉̗̅͊̍̐͟E̤̝̝̘̥̳͐̌̋͢ͅI̧̲̺̥͙̺̯̰ͥͣN͌̉͋̊̈́ͣ̿͏̱͖̙̹͖̟͙G̟͓͓͚̗͚̻̅̾ͪͯͦ̃̌̽ ̵̢̤̟͇̥ͭ̃̈E̷͍͆ͦ̃ͣͩ̔͛̌͡Y̵̲͚ͥ̋ͮ̿ͯ̒Ẻ̷̝͓̙̳̪̒ͥ̍̐̀ ͕̺̳͚͂͐W̗̝̹̮͈͉ͪ́I͇͕͎̦͈̪̫̺͋L̘̘̞͙̯͍̱̭ͮ͒͒̿̅̍̍̔͜L͆̅̍͏͏̙̩ ̧͈̜̳̪̩ͮͣ̈̈̆̾̂ͅḐ̸͎̞̹̱͙̟ͪ̾ͩ͛͂͒ͅḘ͇͋ͮͤ̈́ͫ̿̄̔̀̕V̶̷̪̦͉͎͎͇̗̇͐ͬͪͤ̓O̝̠̯̙͒̊ͪ̐͐̑ͥͮ͝U̡ͥ̇̓͒͏͓͚̪̗̘̥R̶̢̺͙̙͚͈̙͉͕͗ͫ!̹̭̞̺̬͎͉͑͂̆̿̕͠ 

̻͉͚̘ͣͨ̆̎F͈̝̏̅̌̽͐͂͐͢R̸̤̜̒̃́A̡̻̠̭̩̘̩̽̑̆I̷̱͊ͥ͆L̮̠̻̓̋ͮ͡ ̭̪̰̠̻̤̈́͢͞M̛̭ͩ́̓̋E̖͉̠̠̼͆ͯ͌̈́̏̇̊͗Ą̵͔ͯͅṪ͇̫̫͕̝̠̟ ͙̮̤ͧ̌̿ͨ̊S̗̭̹͖͇̲̑́ͥ͊̐ͅU̢̲̗̼̻̻̜͇ͮ͢I̻̲ͦ̂ͩ̓̽͊̓͢T̪̭̗͕͚͙̭ͯ!̟̞̯͓̄

 The buzzing in my head became so loud, the words overlapped, multiple screaming voices. That faded into the darkest regions of my mind. I was lost to the nothingness that was beyond this realm of understanding. It wasn’t so much that I woke up with a start the next morning, it was like breaking the surface after you’d been deep down in the water.

My body gasped for deep breaths as if I hadn’t been breathing, it was the only sound being made. For several long moments it felt as though I was in a sound vacuum and my heartbeat throbbed in my head. I thought that maybe it had all been a really bad dream. There was no evidence that anything had ever been in my room. Confusion washed over me in electric fashion, nearly pushing me into hysterics. I couldn’t wrap my mind around what had taken place. 

I nearly screamed when I heard the knocking at my door, it took me some time to stumble my way to the door because my limbs didn’t want to work right. When I opened the door, there was a park ranger standing knee deep in water. Just beyond him there was just a disaster. Broken trees, debris, and flood waters.

“It’s a good thing you were the only one camping along this side of the lake ma’am, there was a landslide just down the way.”

“Bu..but there were othe-”

I was cut off before I could finish telling him that there had been other campers, just down the way from me.

“You were the only one here last night. Lucky for you. I’m sure it was a traumatic experience with the sudden rush of water. The RV renter is already aware and promised not to hold you liable for the damages caused by nature. If you’ll gather you’re things, we’ll get you to where your car is. Which luckily wasn’t anywhere near the flood zone.”

I wasn’t any time to protest or say anything else. I numbly gathered my things and left. I made it home without incident. It took me several weeks to piece everything together. There was never mention in any of the local papers about the landslide at the lake or that anyone had went missing. The only thing that proved anything that happened were the nightmares that followed afterwards and the same horrific buzzing that echoed through my head. 

Y̼͐͌ͬ̔̀͘o̪̘̯̫͙̰̦̺̊̏͞u͍̭ͥ͌̈́̆̇͟ ̭̝̯̭̎̄n̷͈̖̝̳̓̓̇e̜͓̭̼ͮ̍ͣͮͥͬ̋̾͝a̳̬̞̭̾ͪ̍ͬ͊̿ͯṙ̳̖̫̰̭̂̀̉l̛̹̟͈ͫ͊ͦͮ̏͞y̸̛̭ͪ̿̑̀̏̂̐ͤ ̲͎̰̎̄̂͌͌͆̄̈c͈͖̤̖͓̞̽͌͐̂ͦ͜ò̈́̍̋ͧͣ͏͈̫̹͉͚̳̱s̻̬͚̞̬̱̙͍̿͐̅t̵̰̗̊̂̌̅e̞̽̑ͫ͛̉d̪ͭ̿̇̋́̀ ̜̮̒ͦ̈́ͪ͋̀̋u̪̼͎̭̻̜̗͕͐͐͆̍̊̆͗͞ş̴̦̦̉ͭ͊ ̹̄̾͒͐͡e̷̟ͩ̇̔̂ͬͮͮv̗̜̘̻͇͚ͩ͐̽͢e̢̧̟̞͕̗̮͂ͥ̉ͯ̉́r̵̤̯̱̺͋̑͑̍y̡͚̰͇̞̦̺ͮ͌ͪ̒ͮͪ̏͒ţ͓̭̝̘̥̝̒̔̏͘ͅḩ̧̜̒̂ͨi͍͍̫͒͌̓͐ͫ͒́͜n̜̼͉̹͓̅͛̐͗ͤ̀ͮͅg̷̸͙̮̝̩ͤ̾ͤ̇̄ͯ̊,͖͖̂ͧͥ͋͘ ̧͍ͥͩͧ̇ĩ̸̺̐n̛͉̟̈́ͦ͠s̖̦̿̿̔͗͠į̷̗̲̌͒̔̔̔͆ͭg͆͏̟̪̺̦̱̫n̤̩ͤ́ỉ̮ͯ̇̍̀͞f͖̟̼̼̘͖̱̀̀̓͛̀̾͗͘͢ỉ̵̵̼̮͚͔̄̀͒c̸͈̯̤̠̳̗̝͌͞a̶̩̠͉͚̩̜̰͛̇͒̅͒͞n̗̞̓ͧ̎͋͂͆͗́t̸̢̪̬̰̞ͮͮ̈̽̀̂ͅ ̵̥͙͕̝͋ͦ͋̅ͪͪͪͭ͝į̠̩̺̬̔ͬ̿̅͐̕n̘̄̓ͦͣ̃̓͢͠ș̖ͪ́e̸͚͎̱̟̭̅̏̄ͩ͊͞c̴̝̰̹͎͉͑̉̐t̷̡̩̘̺͗.̶̨͉̪͚̥͆ͅ ̛̮̋̈͛̽ͫ̑̽

[ravenreadsrapidly]

~BOOK TAG~

50 Bookish Questions

Gonna start off the blog with this because... Why not?

1. What is your favourite book and/or book series of all time?

Ummmm..... Honestly? As much as I’d love to answer the first f*cking question I really just can’t because hi, I love way too many books to have a favorite m’kay?

2. What is the longest book you have ever read? How many pages?

Okay, probably... High 500′s-Low 600′s? I mainly read YA novels so I mean... Yeah, nothing too long or too profound I guess.

3. What is the oldest book you have ever read? (Based on its written date)

Honestly- Ummmm... Probably some school mandated book that I had to spend way too long analyzing because ya know gotta love the curriculum man but yeah, probably, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” by Zora Neale Hurston.

4. What is a book series that everyone else loves but you do not?

Okay, getting into some shade now. Um... I remember when like, the matched series was so hyped up and I just... Didn’t like it too much? The selection series wasn’t too amazing or anything either but I mean that’s just my opinion. Props to you if you loved that book.

5. What book or book series would you like to see turned into a film/ TV series?

Okay, House of Night as a TV series would be so good, just... Yes.

6. What is your favourite stand-alone book?

Probably... Ooo this is a good one. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick is pretty good, it’s also the first one to come to mind so we’ll go with that for right now.

7. What is a book that you feel glad for not reading?

Honestly? Fifty Shades of Gray can stay FAR away from my ever growing TBR pile

8. What is a book that you feel guilty for not not reading?

... The 50 books that are on my TBR pile that I just haven’t gotten to yet.

9. What is a book you have read that is set in your country of birth?

Ummm... A majority of the books I read are set in the United States so heck yeah man. For an example... I guess I could say the majority of the Mortal Instruments series?

10. What is a book that you own more than one copy of?

I feel attacked... The Mortal Instruments series. How many copies I have is nOne Of YoUr coNcerN

11. What horror book made you really scared?

Hm... I don’t read horror all too often but The murder Complex by Lindsey Cummings was pretty unsettling?

12. What book do you passionately hate?

OkAy. There’s one book I just... I couldn’t get through without feeling... entirely disgusted. It was... I believe it was... Yeah! All the Rage by Courtney Summers. It was just... So graphic and I suppose the things depicted in the book were too inaccurate and played off for me. It upset me in ways I don’t really like discussing, so I’d just... Yeah I’d say that’s probably the book I hate the most.

13. What is the biggest book series you have read? How many books are in it?

Okay. Here’s the tea. I suck at reading series. I’m currently reading House of Night and Throne of Glass but I mean.... They’re both on my TBR right now since I’m rereading the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout so I mean... I guess the longest series that I’ve finished is The Mortal Instruments Series WhOoPs.

14. What book gives you happy memories?

Okay, this is an amazing question. It’d have to be... Hm... Okay, Unenchanted by Chanda Hahn. I don’t have the slightest clue why, I guess it’s a book I read during a hard time in my life and it was just so sweet and pure and wholesome and just thinking about it and reminicing gives me warm, fuzzy feelings.

15. What book made you cry?

WhAt bOoK hAsn’T?!?! Um... I guess in all seriousness though... Okay, avoding the basic answer of, “ALLIGENT” I’m gonna go with... Okay Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. That book is definitely one of my favorites 10/10 would recommend it’s gr8

16. What book made you laugh?

Hm... The Vampire Academy series overall is pretty funny, Rose is a riot.

17. What is your favourite book that contains an LGBTQ+ character?

Y’all. Listen. I’m gay as f*ck. My boyfriend is great just a subtle PDA because I so love that man. But um... okay The Mortal Instruments series again but not because Alec because f*ck Alec. Magnus Bane is my spirit animal.

18. Have you read a book with a male protagonist? What is it?

Good. Question. Ummm.... Hatchet! by Gary Paulsen, hell yeah. I didz it.

19. Have you read a book set on another planet? What is it?

Does outer space count...? Um... SKSKSKSKSKSKSKS gah, I’ve read books with Aliens... But on a different planet...? I guess I started reading These Broken Stars. That should count... Right...?

20. Have you ever been glad to not finish a series? Which?

OkAy No! I refuse to DNF books, I’m sorry but I will not. They just get put onto the TBR list.

21. Have you ever read a book series because you were pressured?

Pffff ummm.... Probably not! None of my friends read so I mean hahahahahahaha ow

22. What famous author have you not read any books by?

Sksksksksks um.... I have a few Rainbow Rowell books but I sadly haven’t gotten to reading them yet don’t kill me plz plz plz I promise I’m plannin on reading em

23. Who is your favourite author of all time?

Of ALL TiMe?!?! Gahhh! That’s so hard!!!! Um... Okay. I’m committing. Cassandra Clare and I’m so not sorry.

24. How many bookshelves do you own?

Two big bois~~~ Mmmmm I love looking at my books.

25. How many books do you own?

Um... E-enough... Not enough. Must buy more. Must buy more book babies <3

26. What is your favourite non-fiction book?

Okay, not a huge fan of non-fiction. Not gonna lie about that. Not one bit not at all. But probably... Grrrr.... Nope, can’t do it. I can’t read non-fiction I’m sorry man.

27. What is your favourite children’s/middle-grade book?

Basic bitch answer but: HaRrY PoTtEr

28. What is your next book on your TBR?

SKSKSKSKSSKSKSSKSKSSKSKSKS LEMME FINNISH THE LUX SERIES STOP JUDGINGGGGGGGGG!

29. What book are you currently reading?

... The Lux series

30. What book are you planning on buying next?

Honestly? I have no idea. I just kinda... Let myself go into a book store and browse for hours until my wallet is empty.

31. What was the cheapest book you bought?

Bruh. Used book stores that you find next to libraries are a God sent. Some are like... 25 cents? And they’re in Godly condition? It’s amazing.

32. What was the most expensive book you bought?

Um... Manual wise? Like $70, but book book? Maybe $40 on a pre-ordered, signed, hardcover...

33. What is a book you read after seeing the movie/ TV series?

Mortal Instruments! I’ll admit it! It was still fucking better than the movie, fight me. Books are 99.99999% of the time always better.

34. What is the newest book you have bought?

Recently I got, “The Sun is Also A Star,” and, “The Cruel Prince.” So.... Yes. I’m excite.

35. What three books are you most looking forward to reading this year?

Honestly? I have so many books on my TBR and I’m so excited for all of them.

36. What is a book you love that has a terrible trope? (Love triangle, etc)

Twilight. Enough said. Don’t @ me

37. Have you read a book in a different language? What was it?

Nope! I’m not bilingual but I’m learning German because yes.

38. What is a book you’ve read that is set in a time period before you were born?

The Infernal Devices Trilogy, mmm yes feed my soul with perfection.

39. What book offended you?

Um... Thirteen Reasons Why was offensive for five billion reasons tbh.

40. What is the weirdest book you have read?

OOOOOOOOH okay, honestly? Charming by Krystal Wade was pretty weird.

41. What is your favourite duology?

MMM I’ve read a bit of Six of Crows and it’s pretty good but idk, that’s probably it tbh.

42. What is your favourite trilogy?

... The Infernal Devices.

43. What book did you buy because of its cover?

The thousandth floor.... Don’t judge me.

44. What is a book that you love, but has a terrible cover?

ALL THE TEA IN THE WORLD, but I think any book that has a Movie Tie in Cover just automatically is unattractive... My bad.

45. Do you own a poetry anthology? What is your favourite poem from it?

I don’t! But I do want to start exploring books written in Verse

46. Do you own any colouring books based off other books?

Hm... No... But now I want some...

47. Do you own any historical fiction?

I don’t think so? But the “And I Darken” series has been calling my name for a while so...

48. What book made you angry?

Honestly? The last book of the Divergent series. It was just.. No. It was a let down. And I loved that series with my whole heart.

49. What book has inspired you?

Hm... probably... in all seriousness? It’d probably have to be the shadow falls series. I can’t explain why but... It helped me keep going and pushing forward.

50. What book got you into reading?

Definintely The Mortal Instruments Series. No doubt about it.

[thedesperatehousehusband]

A Visit to “Columbus”

When your mom comes to visit, it’s necessary to show her a good time. You can’t just take her to Steak’n Shake or Denny’s. That’s some trailer park shit right there. And that is not how we roll when Phyllis comes to town.

We decided to have my mom visit for a few days. Normally, she comes in on Saturday and leaves on Sunday. It makes for a very quick trip and we often feel a bit rushed. So this time we had her drive down on Thursday evening and then left on Sunday.

I worked a bit on Friday morning then came home to kick off a lovely weekend of amazing weather, delicious food, enjoyable sights and general camaraderie. My mom and I went to Bluebeard for lunch. That restaurant is my happy place. We started with pickles. Goddamn, does that restaurant know how to pickle anything that isn’t nailed down. Our little plate consisted of cantaloupe, blueberries, strawberries, fennel and turnips. Nary a cucumber in sight. I enjoyed the pizza grilled cheese and mamacita had egg salad. Before hopping back into the car, we had to get cookies from Amelia’s. I don’t know Amelia but bitch can bake.

We ran up to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Hereafter to be referred to as the IMA because I don’t want to type all those letters. We didn’t really have a plan but wandered around the galleries. Saw the cool shit like Cezanne, Degas, Georgia O’Keefe, Edward Hopper et al. We also took a lap through the contemporary art section to which my mother commented that part of the enjoyment of coming to museums is actually laughing at the really weird shit. I’m paraphrasing because my mother’s language is far less colorful than mine but that was the gist. And she’s right. It truly is fun to look at a mound of hair or a pile of bottle caps then roll your eyes and laugh. Because the description is ignorant and it’s all a stretch. Each piece or installation seems to always represent an oppressed group of people in Kosovo or Sarajevo. Not that I am endorsing any level of suffering but it’s hard for me to wrap my head around how a box of toothpicks can be equated to genocide. I’m making that up but it’s not far from the truth.

That evening, we dined at Diavola in Broad Ripple. Juan and I had never been before and we decided to give it a shot. It was quite delightful. We had an awesome garlic bread app, a delightful yet very simple salad of argula and parm, then two pies. One with a variety of encased meats. One with Kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes, basil and some other shit. Deeeeeelightful. But because visitors and weekend guests generally equate to gluttony, we ran up to BRICS for ice cream. Their “regular” cone is basically a full pint of ice cream per person. Christ, it’s no wonder Indiana is the ancestral home of the Hoosierpottamus.

Saturday, we decided to take a little road trip. To “fake” Columbus. Or Columbus, IN. It’s funny to both Juan and I how you often have to clarify which Columbus. When I say Columbus, I am always referring to Ohio. Not some town of 45,000 in South Central Indiana. Buuuuuuut I gotta tell you, Columbus (IN) is a terrific little burg. It’s the headquarters of Cummins. An engine manufacturer that is big as fuck and basically owns the town. Because of that and because a former president of Cummins was a HUGE architecture nut, the town is basically a museum of mid-century modern architecture. So, so cool. The First Christian Church, in particular, is incredible and way ahead of its time. Mr. Eero and Mr. Eliel Saarinen were some Finnish geniuses. I assume they’re from Finland but I’m too lazy to Google it to confirm. Sadly, we were unable to tour the Miller House, which is a home that the IMA operates as a museum. It’s the former estate of J. Irwin and Xenia Miller who ran Cummins and by default I believe they also ran Columbus. Anyway, their house is apparently the shit. But I learned the hard way that you need to secure tickets for the tour a month in advance. Whatevs. It’s 45 miles away. We can go back.

We took a little trip into a field to visit 450 North Brewing for lunch. We had a flight. Mom had a hard cider. It was amazing. Though there was a Children of the Corn component that was unsettling. You are literally sitting in a cornfield next to the road while your car is parked on loose gravel. But the beer is awesome and their sandwiches were tasty.

Dinner was at Vida. My goodness gracious is that a lovely experience or what? We tore it up with salads and entrees consisted of pork chop for Juan, scallops for Phyl and grouper for me. Of course, we closed the meal with Vida’s STUPID good doughnut dessert. Like you even had to ask.

But wait there’s more food. We had brunch on Sunday at Delicia. We’ve been to Delicia many times for dinner but never brunch. We have heard from people we trust regarding their foodie-ness that it was great. And it is. No wait, awesome menu of Latin-inspired breakfast-y foods. In and out.

Once Mama Girl left, we took a nap. And ate all the Tums. It was so nice to spend some uninterrupted time with my mom. She enjoyed herself, liked getting away and that’s what matters to me. I don’t care what we do when we get together. Seeing my mom happy is what matters most. It’s the simple things that really count. But not so simple that we go to Denny’s. We’re not animals.