A Hidden Ancestry ...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click on the Words for Wednesday 2025 label to the right and it will pull up all of the weekly posts.]

  After supper, Elder Elowin and Thal sat outside by the fire as she smoked a pipe.  Occasionally, the smoke from the pipe formed rabbits, mice and birds that chased each other before dissipating into the air.  Thal watched, fascinated.

  "Many centuries ago, there was a tract of land ruled by Queen Legodia.  She was a kind and wise queen but had no known heirs.  When she died, her kingdom was assumed by a cousin, Oom, who became a king with a very cruel and satirical way of ruling.  The people hated him, and many of them moved away to other kingdoms.

  When word spread that even his army refused to follow his orders, a great war broke out for control of the kingdom."

  "What happened, Elder Elowin?"

  "The war spread and covered mountains and valleys.  There was nowhere safe to hide from the death and destruction.  In the breakup of Queen Legodia's kingdom after the assignation of King Oom, there was a curse put on her land and people by the king's advisor, a wizard of great power and evil."

  "A curse?  What sort of a curse?"

  "We called it The Grimma.  It was a death curse that killed without mercy nearly everything in the woods.  Elves, animals, and even the trees themselves."

  The sound of a violin being played and laughter wafted through the trees to where Elowin and Thal were sitting by the now smoldering fire.  Thal reached for a log to stoke the fire again, and Elowin stayed his hand.

  "Let it die, there are things we must talk about that are best said in the shadows.  I don't want anyone to see the flame and decide to join us just yet.  The Wheel of the Year is turning, and they deserve to be happy and celebrating.  There is too much of a risk right now of a nosey informer spying on our conversation and causing a panic among the forest."

  "Do you mean Kael?"

  "No, Thalion.  Others who act like busy bees to benefit the hive, but it is not our hive or mountains whose interest they have at heart."

  "Is it the voice I heard?"

  Elowin let out a puff of smoke that turned into an angry swarm of bees, buzzing around Thal's head before disappearing into the darkness.

  "No.  The voice belongs to the true heir of Queen Legodia's kingdom... your ancestor."

This week's Words for Wednesday can be found here.

hollandaise ...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click here to be taken back to 1 January 2025, and then look for chapters to appear weekly between Tu-W-Th]

  "What do you know about tennis, Thal?"

  "Tennis?  I've never heard of it, Elder Elowin.  What is it?"

  "It was a word on a scrap of paper I found wrapped around a small bit of Turkish Delight.  Melon flavored I believe, down by the brook at the edge of the forest."

  "Turkish Delight?"

  "I think a type of sweets.  I was curious about something and thought I would see what was outside the forest.  Have you noticed a change in Kael since he returned?"

  "Yes.  He seems ... changed."

  "Indeed.  But that isn't why you came to see me, is it, Thal?"

  "No.  I heard something last night at the bonfire."

  "Mmm.  Yes.  I know."

  "You know?"

  "There isn't much that I don't know, Thal.  But it was something I suspected would happen sooner or later when you told me about the sigils.  

   Many generations ago, when I was still a young girl, the world was a much different place.  There were men, powerful men, who weren't satisfied with what they had and always wanted more.  They created wars and divided the countries.  Some even divided their own people into rights and wrongs.  They gave limited power to officers to act on their behalf, but they were just puppets, dancing on the steps of the government, pulled every which way by invisible strings.

   Eventually, the people realized that they were fools for believing in the lies of these men and came to the conclusion that the old ways were better and there was a great upheaval in the world."

  "What happened, Elder Elowin?  Is that what is going to happen again?"

  "It's too early to tell, but I suspect that we may be in the middle of a great change.  Now, can you reach that pan for me on the top shelf there?  I want to make some Hollandaise sauce to go with this fresh asparagus for supper."

This week's Words for Wednesday can be found here.

it's been a minute ...

 ... since I posted photos.

My front porch has become an extension of the house.
It's where I have my morning coffee, listening to the birds.

I hung these curtains recently for some privacy from the house next door.

Adding to my porch gallery wall.

The groundhogs had a little one!

A new planter for my succulents!
I ordered it on Etsy. [<link]

Found this at Goodwill!  I'm debating on repainting it.

Caught and released this moth. 
I wanted an up-close look at it for possible art projects later.

Wishing you a week of fun discoveries and adventures!  Hugs, Ci💚

an egg for supper...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click here to be taken back to 1 January 2025, and then look for chapters to appear weekly between Tu-W-Th]

  After hearing the voice in his head at the bonfire, Thal had gone to see Elowin the next day.  He found her sitting in her garden, writing notes in a worn almanac and sorting piles of seeds for various vegetables.  Every few moments, she would mumble to herself and wave smoke from an incense candle over the seeds as if she was blessing them.

  Worried that he would frighten her if he tapped her shoulder or spoke loudly, Thal sat on a rocky outcrop where he would watch for her to notice him.  He was not eager to start a conversation about hearing voices since he'd heard that elders who began that pursuit were often sent away into the forest and never heard from again.

  His mind strayed to what Kael had told them about being held prisoner at the end of the Earth, where the ocean tides rose up to the edge of the forest, and how a human, Alexander, had been planning on selling him to others.  

  He'd been unable to give them any data about the location of where he had been held, only that he had arrived there after the attack of the gnolls when he had been running for his life and then escaped the same way without any sense of direction or plans.

  But there had been something different about Kael when he returned, something that Thal couldn't quite put his finger on.  He seemed smaller, but without having changed in height.  As if he had shrunk into himself.  Lyri had even been surprised when Kael complimented her on her pearly opalescent dress that she had worn to the bonfire, but she'd only raised her eyebrows and looked at Kael.  He had shrugged but said nothing, his mind still wondering where the voice had come from.

  Elowin raised her head and waved at Thal, and he went over to where she was standing on a block of stone, reaching deep into a hedge.

  "Help me here, boy.  Can you reach that nest that is deep in the hedge?  I need one of those eggs for my supper."

This week's Words for Wednesday can be found here.

generations ...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click here to be taken back to 1 January 2025, and then look for chapters to appear weekly between Tu-W-Th]

  It was easy to see Alexander as the self-serving, narcissist villain that he was when Kael encountered him.  But he hadn't been born that way.  In a classic nurture vs nature argument, Alexander's evil ways might have been changed if he'd been allowed to grow up under his mother's care, and if he'd never known his father.

  It wasn't by chance that Dakra was found in the forest around his estate.  She was after all, his great- grandmother.  One of her sons had raped and impregnated a human girl.  That child, Alexander's grandfather, was left to die in the forest by the girl's parents after he was born.  Dakra found him and raised him as her own child, later encouraging him to rape and impregnate another young girl, who gave birth to Alexander's father.  Each generation looking more and more human but still carrying the genetic code and temperament of a gnoll.

  Alexander's father had been raised as an only child by one of the wealthiest families in the area who hid his paternal lineage.  His mother had died in childbirth because of his size, and her parents were so devastated by her death that they clung to the baby as the last heir to their fortune and the last bit of their daughter that they had left.  They raised him as their own, never telling him of his mother or how he was conceived.

  When he was still a young man, he followed the "generational curse" of his parental lineage and raped a young woman, resulting in her pregnancy with Alexander.  Upon learning that she was going to have his child, Alexander's father paid her parents a great deal of money to "sell" her to him and save her family's honor.  She would live at the estate until after she gave birth so that he could ensure the lineage of the child.  After the baby was born, she was free to leave if she wanted but the child would stay with him.  If she agreed to stay for the first three years of the child's life, she would be compensated for her time that she helped to raise him, but then she would have to leave.  She would not be allowed to ever visit or even see him from a distance after he turned three.

  Reluctantly, his mother had agreed after learning that her parents had sold her to him and realizing that she had nowhere else to go.

Image Source: Pixabay.com

  The first three years of Alexander's life were filled with love and laughter.  His mother doted on him every minute of the day, even sleeping with him wrapped in her protective embrace.  She taught him about all of the woodland creatures, all the trees and flowers, and the songs of the birds.  She showed him how to dissect owl pellets and identify the tiny bones within.  She showed him where the storks would nest on top of the chimneys, and how to catch tadpoles to watch them turn into frogs. ...

  ... Those years were just faded memories that Alexander sometimes dreamt about.  His father had imprinted different memories once his fully human mother had vanished from his life.  Dark things that came out when the sun went down.  Kinks in his psyche that his father both beat in and tried to beat out of him.  There was no more crying for his mother when fresh tears would spring to his eyes after waking from a dream.  Now his heart was only faithful to one person.

  Himself.

This week's Words for Wednesday can be found here.

friday ...

Monday

Friday

  It was a busy day of driving two hours round trip for a 5-minute doctor's appointment.  But the good news was that he didn't feel I needed a biopsy done of the area in my nose that is still healing after more than two months from a staph infection.  It had actually gone down to the cartlidge in my nose.  He said he did see skin regrowing and that doing a biopsy would be a setback in that progress.

  To not make the trip entirely wasted, I went to a department store, Kohl's, that I hadn't shopped at since I lived in Florida 13 years ago and walked around looking for good clearance deals.  The only thing I found was a hoodie sweatshirt for Charlie to wear this fall when we are sitting on the front porch in the mornings.  But I walked a mile, which is what I've been striving for since I started my physical therapy.

   My knee looks worse today, with much more bruising than it did before I had the stitches removed Tuesday.  I watched two videos on YouTube last night to see how the surgery is actually done and feel like I understand the pain a little better than I did last week.  One of the videos was animated, and the other was of an actual live patient surgery.   The animated video showed how they inject water between the joint behind the kneecap to make space for the surgical camera and tools.  But the live surgery looked like a kid playing a video game the way he operated the equipment inside the knee.  While I understand now why it hurts as bad as it does, I'm more concerned now with how recovery will go after a full replacement of the right knee.  

  Across the road from where I sit on my front porch having my morning coffee is a rather large honeysuckle vine growing on several old trees.  When the wind blows just right, I get that scent of honeysuckles, with a few of the wild roses still blooming.

  The weather has been chilly the last few mornings, and very windy with some rain and severe thunderstorms during the day.  I don't think it got above the high 60s today.  But we've been blessed to have missed the tornados the central states and Kentucky have been hit with.

  These are the roots of a tree that fell a few years ago, just up the alley from me.  It looks like an old Green Man ... or perhaps The Mother of All Mandrakes.  Either way, I love it and will have to take some seasonal photos of it going forward.

  Wishing you a safe and memorable weekend ... Hugs, Ci 💚

once upon a time ...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click here to be taken back to 1 January 2025, and then look for chapters to appear weekly between Tu-W-Th]

Gnoll Witherling
Image Source YouTube

  Like so many origin stories, there are often three versions of where someone came from.  The truth, the rumors, and the gray areas between the lines.  The rumors were that gnolls evolved from a humanoid people on a distant planet and resembled something between a hyena and a man.  Carnivorous, cruel, even cannibalistic and carrion-eaters at times, they were known for their savage, warrior ways, their unnatural height, and lean muscular frame.  When they died, their bones were sometimes gathered and reanimated through rituals, adding a little truth to the rumors about them being warriors that could not be killed.  

  Over the centuries, Gnolls evolved into two sub-races:  Flinds, who were short and stout, but much stronger than their taller cousins; and half-gnolls born of one human parent and a gnoll parent.  There were even those who believed that some of the gnoll bloodlines were mixed with demonic bloodlines.

  Gnoll tribes vary depending on the environment they live in, with the largest, strongest and fiercest in the tribe becoming leaders.  They are most often the females, who are difficult to distinguish from the males.

👹👹👹

  Alexander had been sitting in his garden contemplating his next money-making scheme when he'd heard a noise in the trees.  Getting up to investigate, he had discovered an injured gnoll.  Repulsed by the appearance and smell of the gnoll, he nearly left it for dead.  However, when it moved, he realized that it was a pregnant female, and apart from her injuries, was also most likely in labor.

  Instantly, the cash register in his mind began to ring as he thought about what he could charge for tickets to see the freak and her child.  Fools would be more likely to pay to see a live freak, than a dead body of one that could be dismissed as being fake.  Without hesitating further, he picked her up and gently carried her to a small guest house on the property that would be out of view of his staff and servants.

  He tended to her injuries as best he could, and had been overjoyed when she delivered a single, healthy child.  A basic form of pictures and drawing between the two of them was established to communicate, and Alexander began to learn some of the gnoll language.  He learned her name was Dakra, and that she had chosen the name of Rahak for her son.   She referred to Alexander as Helaur, which he believed was because she couldn't say Alexander, but he later realized it was a word for healer because he had saved her from death.

  As she became stronger, Alexander also realized that she had developed feelings for him.  Not wanting to encourage her, he often made excuses of having chores to do in town when she tried to become intimate with him.  He would have left the continent completely if he thought she would still be there when he returned but was too worried that someone else would find her and he would lose the side-show attraction that he was banking on.

  After several months, with her child maturing at four times the rate human babies do, Dakra was healed enough to return to her tribe but was unwilling to leave Alexander.   Realizing that she expected him to leave his home and join her, Alexander made it clear that they could not have a life together in the forest because of their physical differences.  But when she began to draw him pictures of the spoils of war that she could bring him, in exchange for providing her tribe with shelter and food, Alexander's greed became stronger than his revulsion at the thought of having sex with her.

  It was Rahak's two-year birthday, yet he stood as tall and muscular as an adult male 20 years older than him.  Alexander was tired of the one-sided affair with Dakra, and the dangerous plight he now found himself in.  He had grown fond of Rahak, but trying to juggle life as a clueless human uncle to a man-boy who could rip him apart in an instant, and the sex-toy of a vicious, insatiable, warrior matriarch was becoming more than his mind could handle.  Alexander wondered if getting Rahak a dog to play with was a suitable birthday gift for gnoll, but in the end decided upon a spear he had picked up on an African safari decades before.

  With Dakra's tribe now taking up residence in and around Alexander's estate, and the gnolls bringing him treasures to sell to the highest bidder, his greed continued to grow.  Believing that the greatest gain would be in exposing the existence of the gnolls to the world, he expressed one evening to one of the chiefs under Dakra that he was frustrated that they were not bringing him enough to continue their agreement.   His hope was that they would tire of his demands and leave, but a part of him knew that ending this relationship with Dakra and the gnolls would likely mean his death unless he could convince them to bring something more valuable to him than putting the gnolls in a carnival freak show.

  When the chief indicated that there was something else that they could bring to him, the gift of a wood elf, that might be a better money-maker than a repulsive gnoll, Alexander started making plans for the kidnapping and auction of Kael before he ever laid eyes on him.

Words for Wednesday ~ read the prompts and stories here

sunday selections ...

Upper Peninsula, Michigan.

A robin chose to build a nest by the front door of the house in Ewen.  We didn't use that door at all, so she stayed undisturbed, but it gave me a "bird's eye" view to the growth of her babies.

Jack in the Pulpit. 
I may look into finding some of the corms to plant in the boggier areas of my backyard at the base of the mountain.  It is toxic to humans and dogs, so I will need to fence the area off if I get a puppy at some point in the future.  Rabbits and deer avoid it, but birds can eat the red berries that it will produce after flowering.

Pink Lady Slipper Orchid and Yellow Trout Lily.
I already have some of the lilies in the backyard that are growing in the boggy area (not many tho) and would love to be able to get some of the Pink Ladies to grow there as well.
Gardening goals!

This was a robin that had gotten trapped in a roll of chicken wire the mom decided to nest in.  I heard his cries and got him freed without any harm before setting him in a tree where mom could find and feed.

Wishing you wonderful memories of happy discoveries ... Hugs, Ci💚

friday finds ...

Genie

  Wednesday evening while doing my Day 1 PT exercises on the recliner, I found a 2023 Christmas movie "Genie" with Melissa McCarthy that was really quite touching and enjoyable.  I don't know how I missed it before.

  Although, in retrospect, Christmas 2023 was part of the year with the six roommates in White Sulphur Springs, and I was not watching much television at all that year.  I wonder what other movies I missed.  I mostly kept up with my show series via Hulu on my laptop but wasn't looking for any movies to watch.

  Thursday I was finally able to take off the wrap around my knee and shower (which felt amazing to be able to wash my hair since I had overslept on Tuesday morning and only had time for a quick 3-minute shower).  It looks pretty good considering.  Monday the sutures come out and I'll be cleared to drive again.  Yay!

https://www.reathlete.com/
 

  One of the recovery nurses on Tuesday told me of a portable cold therapy wrap that would be helpful, so I ordered one as soon as I got home.  It arrived Thursday morning and is just amazing feeling!

  It does kind of look like an Alien wrapped around my knee, but the pulsating cold really helped to relieve some of my pain.  I would highly recommend to anyone who has joint issues.  It can be used on shoulders, back, neck, probably even hips.  I got mine from Walmart, though I'm certain you can get them direct or via Amazon.

  Lucy was snuggling with me last night while I was working on ankle flex exercises.  I think both girls enjoy time with me when Charlie is with his besties because they don't have to worry about him growling at them and being jealous.

  This morning, I saw this male cardinal on the front porch cam.  It prompted me to do some rearranging of the bird feeders, so I have moved two to the far end across the driveway by the trees.

  I spend more time on the front porch than the backyard anyway.  Next, when I feel comfortable with climbing the step ladder in a week or two, I'm going to add another security camera that will overlook the feeder and where the groundhog lives.  I think I also have rabbits nesting under the front porch area but haven't been able to bend down or get on my knees to see yet.

  While moving a shepherd's hook for the feeders from back to front, I found a hatched robin's eggshell, which I always love to find.  They are such a pretty color, and so hard to believe that such a tiny egg can hold what becomes a much larger bird!  Which reminds me that I should pull out some old Upper Peninsula photos to post on Sunday.

  There are honeysuckle vines getting ready to blossom across the alleyway, so my front porch sitting will soon be beautifully fragrant as well.

Wishing you a weekend of beautiful discoveries!  Hugs, Ci💚

recovery ...

Tuesday's knee surgery went well.  The wrap comes off tomorrow.

This was a moth I saw on the front porch on Monday.  I love the little feathery wings.

The front yard is partially in bloom. 
You can kind of see Charlie on his throne.

This morning, I added a new bird to my life list.
While I didn't actually see it, I heard it and can now identify it by song.
I read an article while living in the Northwoods of Wisconsin about birding hikes for blind students at a wildlife sanctuary there and was fascinated by how they identified by songs and calls only.
It's now my favorite way to have coffee in the morning on the front porch.
Altho, if I was a Worm-eating Warbler, I think I would demand a new name.
It sounds like one of the insults that Robin Williams created when he played Peter Pan for the movie Hook.

true colors ...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click here to be taken back to 1 January 2025, and then look for chapters to appear weekly between Tu-W-Th]

  Shoving the other wood elves out of his way with his elbows Thal rushed to where Kael was standing with a stunned look on his face, staring into the bonfire.  He appeared to be talking to himself, and when Thal finally reached him, he leaned forward to hear what Kael was whispering.

  "I never imagined.  I never knew.  I didn't think.  What if we hadn't been attacked?  They all would have been killed."

  Thal shook him harshly until Kael finally focused on him.  Bursting into tears, Kael threw his arms around him in a hard hug.  Lyri and El joined them, and shielding him as much as possible, they took him to Thal's cottage where they waited for Kael to compose himself enough to talk.

  He filled in what Thal couldn't remember about the attack on the gnolls, and the human that controlled the ones that had attacked.  He talked about the house he woke up outside of, his encounter with Alexander, and his eventual escape.  He had been forced to swim across a murky canal, heavily filled with a population of wicked water nymphs that grabbed his legs and tried to pull him under.  Nights spent in total darkness where ghosts and evil spirits mocked his cries for help.  He'd been gone for almost three months, but in his mind, it felt like a decade.

🙈🙉🙊

  Alexander hated being made to look like a fool.  More than he hated being cheated out of cheating someone else.  Kael had made him look like not only a fool, but a liar, a trickster, and someone trying to cheat the bidders who had come to see the wood elf.

$£€

  Finding the gnolls had been a one-off happenstance that he didn't expect to ever happen again.  Getting them under his control was simply achieved for the price of a few cheap pounds of raw meat occasionally.  Understanding them and keeping them contained was a different story.  They knew he wanted to exchange the meat for what they could bring him, or do for him, but exactly what he wanted was not translatable.  So, they brought him values found in their raids.  Gold.  Jewels.  Precious stones.  Pure silver.

  One evening the chief gnoll that Alexander had been dealing with drew an image in the sand that they used as a way to communicate an image that was distinctly humanoid, and different from the gnolls.  Alexander pointed to himself with a questioning look on his face, that the gnoll shook his head no.  He then drew an image of a gnoll larger than the figure and pointed to himself, followed by a much larger image of a human and pointed to Alexander.  

  The meaning was clear.  Something else lived in the forest besides the gnolls.  Something smaller, something humanoid.  Something that his business associates at the annex might be willing to bid on.  Dollars, pounds, and Euros danced in his head as he tried to calculate how much just a find could contribute to supporting the lifestyle that he wanted to become accustomed to.  Would it be enough to fly him to Monaco to spend a year playing in the casinos?  Or perhaps to buy his own island casino?

  Alexander pointed to the smaller figure, then gestured with his hands to "bring to me" and nodded fiercely.  The gnoll nodded once to show he understood, then disappeared into the darkness.

Image Source:
Pixabay.com

$£€

  Now, that priceless commodity had vanished and he was a laughingstock.  This would not do.  No longer seeing money signs, Alexander's true face began to reveal itself.

The Words for Wednesday can be found here.

weekend ...

 Yesterday I took a mosaic steppingstone class at the local school of the arts.

While working on it, we were entertained by live bands in the park across the street for the finish line of the "Agony in the Alleghanies" Gran Fondo bicycle race [<link].

Twelve miles doesn't sound like much, but I'm sure there is a reason for it being called "agony."  They took backroads through the mountains.

Breakfast this morning with neighbors Paris & John at a nice little restaurant in Hot Springs.  On the way back we stopped to see the Falling Waters Falls.

Hope that your weekend has been beautiful!

Hugs, Ci💚

friday ...

 The week began with my 63rd birthday. 

Coffee on the front porch in the morning as has become my and Charlie's routine.

With one of my favorite playlists.

As always, I try to include a little bit of humor into my days.

Added a few new buttons in my car.

Just to be fair, if you're ever a passenger you get your own buttons.

Thursday, I applied to be an online volunteer Leadership Coach with a company called Brazen [<link].  They are an amazing organization that works with university students from challenging backgrounds.

Sometime after midnight this morning, I rescued this black racer at my neighbor's house. 

Reinforcing my status as a white woman who ain't skeered of 💩, I was able to relocate it closer to the creek for its safety.  Tho, in full transparency, I did drop it twice when it wrapped around my arm.  It's been a minute since I've handled a snake that size.

After searching for the DSS/Voter Registration office since last fall when I wanted to vote early registration, I finally found their office.  Apparently, Google Maps was programmed by Republicans.

Sad to say that it appears tube tops are back in style this year.

I pity the fools.

It has been a week since I joined the ranks of the happily unemployed.

Time will tell if I will be fully retired or semi-retired.  Part-time work sounds appealing in the future.

Today I donated some books to the local library.

Repotted my Easter/Christmas cacti, Jade, and Copper Spoons plants.

Discovered a caterpillar in my crocks (shoes) crawling on my socks by my toes.

Screamed.

Played sounds a groundhog makes to the groundhog after Charlie twice scared him back into his hole.  Charlie was on the lead, so wasn't able to get to him, but darn that chubby little groundhog moved fast!

I was trying to apologize and tell him he was safe, Charlie was back in the house, but I distinctly saw a side eye of "Yeah, right."

I have arthroscopic knee surgery on Tuesday, so have been getting some areas of the house cleaned up to avoid tripping risks while maneuvering on crutches during my recovery period.  Picked up some groceries and a lot of fast to fix, frozen, microwave meals. I have a stash of books I haven't read yet by the recliner.

Wishing you a weekend of everything that makes you smile.  Happy Mother's Day to all who are moms to two- and four-legged kids, and all who have mom roles in someone's life.

Hugs ... Ci💚

escape ...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click here to be taken back to 1 January 2025, and then look for chapters to appear weekly between Tu-W-Th]

  Alexander had pressed Kael hard for evidence of the wood elf community, but something had made Kael feel uncomfortable with giving more specific information that could lead the human to his forest home.  He saw similarities between himself and Alexander that made him come to the realization that he had not been a good elf in his life.  His loyalties had been more toward himself than to the elves, or the forest, something that now made him feel ashamed of how he had treated both.

  For his own part, Alexander had been very generous with his hospitality and his information, telling Kael all about the strengths and weaknesses of the human race.  On one hand, he seemed to be boasting of the power and might of humans to take whatever they wanted in the world, which Kael interpreted as almost threats to the forest and the elves.  The characteristics he called the "weaknesses of man" had more to do with empathy, love, morality, and kindness.  Things that Kael began to recognize had actually been the strength of the elves, and the things that he missed the most.

  At night, Alexander would walk him up to the room he'd been staying in and bid him good night before retiring to his own room.  But one night, Kael heard the soft click of the door locking him into the room, which caused him concern.  It wasn't as if he could have reached the doorknob to open the door once it was closed, but the idea that he was being locked into the room as if he was a prisoner caused him a great deal of fear.  Kael spent the remaining hours of the night, looking for a way to escape.

Image Source: Clark Pest Control UK

  Just as the sun was coming up, he found an opening behind a large chest of drawers that appeared to have been chewed quite some time ago by a rodent of some sort.  Kael knew that small mice were no threat to him, however, larger wood and river rats could be dangerous.  He could feel a difference in temperature between the room he was in and the crawlspace on the other side of the hole and was certain it must lead to the outside somewhere.  But the stench in the crawlspace was what worried him the most.  Not just about rats, but also for snakes.  Where there were rats, there were often snakes that fed upon them... and that also fed upon elves.

  The lock in the door clicked again, and Kael quickly ran to where he normally slept under the bed and pretended to be just waking up when Alexander came into the room.

  "Ahh, you're awake!  Good!  I've invited some clients to join us this evening for drinks in my office, and they also will be staying for dinner.  There will be a lot of excessive activity in the house today as the staff will be arriving to clean and prepare the meal.  I think it would be wise if you were to stay here in the room today, that is if you won't feel it is too oppressive of me to ask.  I think it would be wise to limit your exposure to only certain people I feel I can trust with your existence."

  Kael looked at him as if he was looking into a mirror.  Yes, the two of them were more alike than he wanted to admit.

  "But of course, Alexander.  You have far more knowledge of humans than I do, and I trust your judgment.  I'll just enjoy the view of the beach from the window while the house is prepared for your guests."

  Nodding as he backed out of the room, Alexander smugly smiled to himself.  Oh, this was going to earn him a pretty penny tonight.  He wondered to himself if he had set the opening bid price too low.  Turning the key in the lock again, he walked quickly downstairs to his office.

  Kael waited for the sound of the lock clicking, and instead of climbing to the windowsill, he dove behind the chest of drawers and through the hole in the wall.  Rats or snakes could not be worse than what he feared Alexander was planning.

  Knowing that he was on the second floor, Kael worked his way through the space in the walls until he saw where the stairs began to lead down to the main floor.  The fact that Alexander was seldom home, or that no one lived there when he wasn't, meant that he wasn't likely to run into any rats or snakes until he hit the main level, and then he would need to make sure he stayed in the dryland of the house away from the kitchen and bathroom.  Where there was water, there were larger insects like centipedes and millipedes that mice fed on.  The rats were more likely to stay near the kitchen where they could prowl for crumbs and food left out.  Both of which would attract the snakes.

  It took Kael most of the day to make his way down to the main floor and then into the basement where he was able to find another hole in an exterior door that took him out to the fresh air.  Never before had he been so grateful to see the stars in the sky and towering trees.  Under the cover of darkness, Kael ran in the opposite direction of the beach as fast as he could.  Behind him, he could hear doors slamming inside the house, and Alexander's raised voice shouting.

  "FIND HIM!  LOOK EVERYWHERE, UNDER EVERYTHING, AND IN EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY!  FIND HIM NOW!!"

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  "Are you alright, Thal?"  Lyri looked at him quizzically, noticing that he had suddenly gone silent.

  It was one thing for Thal to tell his friends about the beating he took from the panicked gnolls running over him.  But it was an entirely different thing to tell them he was hearing voices.

  "Yeah, I just ... I just didn't realize how exhausted I am.  I'm ..." 

  Before he could finish his sentence, El interrupted him, pointing to the opposite side of the bonfire.

  "Hey!  Is that Kael over there?!?!"

  Lyri, looking stunning in a pretty flower pink dress against the backdrop of the bonfire, spun quickly and looked to where El was pointing.

Words for Wednesday!

sunday fun day ...

I was today years old when I learned that Daddy Longlegs are not really spiders!

They are actually crane flies.

But I still don't like them!

I have discovered that I have Chinese Tulip Liriodendron Chinense trees in the yard.

Multiflora Rosa

The tent moth caterpillars are cocooning all over the house.

I'm not a fan of caterpillars either.

Does this hat make me look phat?

Sundays are for mowing the yard.

I was also going to clean out the previous owner's fire "pit" in the yard and move my metal one into it, so I could move my backyard chairs around it for the upcoming firefly season (no bonfires needed).  

But I was rescued by friends who blessed me with an in-window a/c unit since my mini-split was installed incorrectly and creates lakes in the house instead of cooling it.  Now that we have that installed, it has given my back and neck enough time to tell my brain that we are done with yard work for the weekend.

Plus, I remembered I don't have to get everything done today since I won't be going to work tomorrow!

I hope you've had a relaxing weekend!  Hugs ... Ci💚