Short almond acrylic nails
Help me pick a summer sandal!
2023.06.07 01:38 RoahZoah Help me pick a summer sandal!
Hi all! I need a summer sandal I can wear almost daily. It can’t be too high because I have to chase little kids but it also can’t be too flat because it’ll hurt my hips/knees/feet after a while. You know how it is.. I realized I have a lot of sandals but I would rather have 1 good pair that checks off all the boxes, than 4 ok pairs.
This is my number one choice:
Nisolo Flatform in almond
I love it, I’m just worried this style will become lame. I do like it and I wish it was a little girlier but I think it seems like it checks off all the boxes. I think it’ll look nice with most daily pants, shorts and dresses. Thoughts?
Other options:
SOREL absolutely love these but they just seem a bit too high.
Michael Kors I love the look of these and think it’s the most feminine of all. The height is also good. Cons: not real leather, loud branding
Was looking at espadrilles but unsure..
I like Tory Burch but don’t want to pay $300 for flat sandals.
I already have Birkenstocks Arizona and am looking for something a bit different and girlier next!
What do you guys think?
Anything else you guys can recommend?
Thanks so much!
submitted by RoahZoah to fashionwomens35 [link] [comments]
This is my number one choice:
Nisolo Flatform in almond
I love it, I’m just worried this style will become lame. I do like it and I wish it was a little girlier but I think it seems like it checks off all the boxes. I think it’ll look nice with most daily pants, shorts and dresses. Thoughts?
Other options:
SOREL absolutely love these but they just seem a bit too high.
Michael Kors I love the look of these and think it’s the most feminine of all. The height is also good. Cons: not real leather, loud branding
Was looking at espadrilles but unsure..
I like Tory Burch but don’t want to pay $300 for flat sandals.
I already have Birkenstocks Arizona and am looking for something a bit different and girlier next!
What do you guys think?
Anything else you guys can recommend?
Thanks so much!
2023.06.07 00:56 D0WNGR4D3 Beast World #45: Secrets & Misunderstandings
First Issue!
The perimeter walls of their small village have been reinforced by Runhar's earth molding magics. Rok and Brekda have been assisting him in keeping the perimeter watched at all times.
This precaution was necessary as a lot of the Tuskir village's able bodied fighters have been rendered less than optimally effective in combat. Although generally safe, a small tension filled thought gnawed at the back of their minds. The chance of a second assault was something the tribe considered.
Honestly, at a first glance this would be a most opportun time to assault the place, especially with their elder and most skilled healer, Urla, still mostly bed ridden due to exerting herself when healing others.
Still, they tried to go back to a normal state of operating as best as they could, having to make certain compromises. Discussing among themselves the whole group decided to give as best an aid as possible to the two wounded Hay-yen that they still found alive within their walls, asking their previous captives, the ones more willing to co-operate to take care of them. The procurement of constant supplies of food and water up to the present time made them quite willing to assist.
During this time Michael had been spending his time along Zurra and Woh. Zurra, having taken on the responsability to assist the, hopefully temporarily, crippled hooman, has been going about this task while giving aid in any other mundane endeavors like taking care of the children along side Runny, Brekda's wife.
In one such moment did Michael find a moment to reflect upon the situation as he was left at the base of Spek's tree alongside Woh. Still, contemplation would have to wait as the human's amphoran companion seemed rather excited for chit-chat, indicated by repeating irregular and excited croaks leaving her throat.
"Michael! Michael! Its been a few days! Can you walk, yet?" Woh asked her question with such a light hearted and casual tone as if she expected Michael to grow back his legs if he actually lost them.
The young man, taking a moment to process the question, shook his head while arching an eyebrow. "Pfft. I'd wish, honestly. To be fair they hurt as all hell, but I am glad whatever herbs Zurra's been reapplying my bandages with have been numbing them. I don't know how well healing magic will work to help me if... at all, but I have been terrified that... I might not walk again. At least... not properly." Michael said choking a bit on his words.
Nervousness washed over him as he looked down at his wrapped up legs, faint blood stains covering them here and there. He only looked at his legs once when Zurra was changing the bandages, he was numbed up good, but the sight of them was something too visceral to not make his mind aware of the pain he should be in. Although suppressed, he could feel his legs burn in a muffled agony.
The mana burn had turned the young man's skin and toe nails to actual ashes that Zurra had to clean off, a rather painstakingly slow endeavor due to how caked in blood the ashes were. From bellow the knees the young man was akin to one of those skinless statues showing the human's body muscular fiber, only minor patches of actual skin hanging on here and there.
Woh kind of grew silent for a moment, before shaking her head as her big round eyes looked at Michael. "W-well don'tcha worry! Even if you can't walk we're here, s-so... we'll be able to help! If I was bigger I wouldn't mind lugging you about like a sack of timber! 'Cause you'd be the best sack of timber to ever be and 'cause we're friends." Woh said with a happy croak, trying her best to cheer up the young man.
Michael snickered and smirked and he shook his head, petting Woh's covered back. "Thanks. It'll be my honor to do my best interpretation of a heavy sack, but I'm hoping I can be fixed." After taking a moment to lean back against Spek's trunk and to look up at his crown of branches and leaves, the young man took in a deep breath. "Woh... I'm going to need your help with something. I know you might be not too happy about it, but if you'll allow it...I'd like us to make some vials of your poison, even if it is distilled with some water."
"O-oh... uhm... well... uhh... ya been sayin' that it doesn't do you much harm and... it has been helping you fight, so maybe I don't mind if we make a small bottle or two of it, but ya gotta promise to still be careful, ok?! Ribbit, last thing I want to do is hurt you with it." The tiny pink frog like woman said with a small croak of worry leaving her throat.
Michael sat silent a moment as he looked at his hands and forearms and at the slight yellowish hue they had. His skin has taken to the color just recently, bit by bit. His brown irises with eyes ever so faintly yellow as well, would look at Woh, a small smile accompanying it, although preceeded by the human sucking in his lips slightly. "Y-you won't be hurting me. You can trust that. Hell after what happened, you're the last person that could do that. So no need to be afraid. Whatever choices you make, you can do me no foul."
Woh looked at him, with an ease washing over her tiny form. "Fair enough then. Say. Since its been kinda borin' around 'ere, mind using your magic thingy, what ya called it... ah! Your phoon! To put on that one song you said it is about happiness and not worrying? I liked how it sounded."
"Hah. Gladly. We'll be around here a while, at least until Zurra wants to do my physical therapy. Still kind of regreting telling her about that when she asked about what my kind do to help maintain one's muscles when they can't train and how to deal with pain." Michael said with a small laugh, followed by a grunt of discomfort caused by a stab of his sore body at itself due to the contracting muscles. He'd soon go through his phone and put the tune in question to play on repeat.
"Hah~ there it is... I don't get why, but the song does make me happy. Thanks!" Woh said with a greatful ribbit as she laid down inbetween some of Spek's roots and using them like a lounging chair. She would look up at the tree for a moment too, mouthing a silent 'thank you' to it.
The day would go on to pass as calm as can be, until the late afternoon, when Runhar nearly had a scare for a moment, when he saw torch light coming from deeper within the woods. Still, with a sniff of the air and feeling the scents of Gharna, Oinna, Azhul and Yenna, the guard captain would calm down as he then asked Rok to prepare opening the gates.
When the group came within sight they could be seen pausing as they looked about, their heads clearly turing to examine the surrounding outskirts of their village on the outside.
"What in the name of The Hunt Father happened?!" Gharna yelled out eventually as they got closer, their pace having increased as they saw their home in shambles. "The wall is lookin' like a mess. Is everyone alright?"
"Most, aye!" Runhar yelled and after a moment paused. "Come, there's more to discuss!" The guard captain added as he descended from the watch tower he had climbed up on while on watch.
The group of four was eventually welcomed in and after a quick retelling of their journey and a quick stock of what they brought, which was pulled to storage, Runhar would recount the events that occured here. The whole endevour was burned upon his mind... he couldn't help himself to not go into details, some of which made him visibly look saddened or furious. He eventually even backtracked to what happened to Spek and... how it happened.
To say the least... it was a lot to process, and the news about Spek becoming a... tree... had a mix of reactions.
"Gah... the situation is shite, but I'm kinda pissed I missed ma' using the family technique. I still can't do it nowhere as good as her. Got the getting bigger part down somewhat though." Azhul said with a huff.
"S-seriously? That's yer first concern?!" Gharna added with a snort as she stared up at her bigger hunt sister.
"What do ya wan' me tha do?! Cry about it? I feel like shite, but I ain' gonna break apart over it. Not when we have tha keep things together." Azhul oinked back in retort.
"I-... I have to agree with Azhul. I will check on Urla and see to who's still wounded. If Michael is taken care of at least somewhat for now, I will see to make sure everyone else that can be dealt with quicker, is up on their two feet!" Oinna said with a determined huff as she excused herself and trotted off.
"I'mma be sleepin' a bit. Sleepin' on the road has been a pain." Yenna added with a half dozing off snort as he left. Although he was hit by the initial shock of the situation as well, it only added to the mental exhaustion that traveling has taken on him.
Azhul and Gharna were still lightly huffing at one another, until the latter's eyes sparked with a realization. Gharna's eyes would look at Runhar. "Say, cap'. Ya said Zurra's been takin' care of Michael. Thought we should talk with her, too. Where's she?" She asked very curious, a snort leaving her flat nose.
"Ah... think she might be in his shack with 'im. She said that she wanted to do- " Before Runhar could finish his sentence properly, Azhul seemed to be hit by panic.
It didn't take long to the large Tuskir woman to realize what Gharna was asking and partially hearing Runhar's reply, sent her in nearly a frenzy of embarrasment. "DO HIM?! MA! STOP!"
On the way here Azhul tried telling herself it wasn't possible for something like this to happen, but as her heart rate spiked she attempted to take off toward's Michael's hut.
The nearly stampede like charge though, would be prematurely stopped by Gharna, who wrapped her arms arounds Azhul's waist. While trying to not snort out of sheer amusement, she coughed trying to sound serious. "Wait a wee moment. If ya barge in there while she's doin' him, ya really want tha see that? Might be better to see what the situation... pft... ahem... is... quietly."
Runhar a bit surprised by this whole situation, wanted to finish his sentence, only to be interrupted by Gharna's clear gaze to not utter another word. He even took a moment to chuckle internally, appreciating the bit of amusement after the shit show they have been through.
"Y-yeah... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah... Don't wanna make it worse... oh... h-ho... Hunter Father... please don't let it be too late." Azhul muttered as she walked at a really fast, yet quiet pace.
Gharna would follow up after whispering some words of thanks to Runhar. "Ya kno' can't really blame her, if Michael faught like Runhar says he did. Yer mother did always... pft... ahem... a-appftt... preciate a... ahem... sturdy warrior type o' man."
"I will wrangle your throat if ye utter another bloody word." Azhul said to Gharna, without even looking back.
Still, as they approached Michael's hut and listened, Azhul's expression would only change to that of someone who has seen or heard the most disturbing of the secrets held by eldritch gods of the cosmos.
The sound of a creaking bed frame, the moans of Michael in a mix of pain and pleasure and the groans of Zurra as if she was riding a most unruly beast. The trifecta of trauma had fully hit Azhul into a silent stunned coma as he charge stopped to a full halt.
"Agh- god... you're working the knots out of me." Michael could be heard groaning in pain before letting a grunted moan of relief.
"Told ya boi. If we huff... just changed positions a bit and ye gave me a pointer or two... I could get ya done. Ya ain't so different from any ol' tuskir man. Huh... yer givin' me a bit o' a workout." The older smithy woman could be heard lightly panting.
Gharna got silent as well, feeling embarrased as all hell, but nowhere nearly as bad as Azhul, who seemed to have been shell shocked, her eyes staring into nothingness.
"O-oh! Oh no! Hah! That's sensitive t-take it easy on me a bit! Hah!" The young man groaned, which prompted Azhul to crumble to her knees.
The sudden sound of the short fall made the sound from the hut stop. Heavy steps would soon approach the door and open it, as Zurra looked out towards the two.
"Oh! Yer back! Glad to see ye two fine an' well. Uh... what are ya doin'?" The old Tuskir woman asked as she stretched herself a bit, then popping her knuckles.
The two younger women stood silent, until Gharna could finally utter something. "We-... uh... we're good. W-what... uhm... what were ya doin'?" She said nearly choking.
"Ah. Just givin' da boi a massage. After the fight we had he's in shambles if ya haven't 'eard. Gettin' a wee bit tired, so I could use a hand." Zurra said most casually.
To this reply, Azhul go on her palms as well and pressed her snout to the ground. "Thank ye, Hunt Father... oh huh... thank you..." she said whispered, in a slightly whimpering tone, with sighs of relief leaving her.
Gharna calming down too, nodded. "Ye. Gladly." As she passed by Azhul though, she snickered and whispered to her. "Nearly had tha call 'im daddy there, ay?" She asked before stepping up and inside.
Azhul took a moment to calm down, as she contemplated the repercussions of murder, before approaching the shack and talking with her mother. Glad to see one another, the two went into detail about all the events that happened, together with Michael, who was happy to see them both her and Gharna.
submitted by D0WNGR4D3 to HFY [link] [comments]
- Author's Note: So... its been 3 months. I still live and my writing gobo too. Also I just recently realized its been a bit over 1 years since the series has begun so.... HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EVERYONE! I hope you'll enjoy the read and please let me know if you'd like me to do anything specific to celebrate 1 year of Beast World. You can support the series by donating my writing gobo a cookie here!
The perimeter walls of their small village have been reinforced by Runhar's earth molding magics. Rok and Brekda have been assisting him in keeping the perimeter watched at all times.
This precaution was necessary as a lot of the Tuskir village's able bodied fighters have been rendered less than optimally effective in combat. Although generally safe, a small tension filled thought gnawed at the back of their minds. The chance of a second assault was something the tribe considered.
Honestly, at a first glance this would be a most opportun time to assault the place, especially with their elder and most skilled healer, Urla, still mostly bed ridden due to exerting herself when healing others.
Still, they tried to go back to a normal state of operating as best as they could, having to make certain compromises. Discussing among themselves the whole group decided to give as best an aid as possible to the two wounded Hay-yen that they still found alive within their walls, asking their previous captives, the ones more willing to co-operate to take care of them. The procurement of constant supplies of food and water up to the present time made them quite willing to assist.
During this time Michael had been spending his time along Zurra and Woh. Zurra, having taken on the responsability to assist the, hopefully temporarily, crippled hooman, has been going about this task while giving aid in any other mundane endeavors like taking care of the children along side Runny, Brekda's wife.
In one such moment did Michael find a moment to reflect upon the situation as he was left at the base of Spek's tree alongside Woh. Still, contemplation would have to wait as the human's amphoran companion seemed rather excited for chit-chat, indicated by repeating irregular and excited croaks leaving her throat.
"Michael! Michael! Its been a few days! Can you walk, yet?" Woh asked her question with such a light hearted and casual tone as if she expected Michael to grow back his legs if he actually lost them.
The young man, taking a moment to process the question, shook his head while arching an eyebrow. "Pfft. I'd wish, honestly. To be fair they hurt as all hell, but I am glad whatever herbs Zurra's been reapplying my bandages with have been numbing them. I don't know how well healing magic will work to help me if... at all, but I have been terrified that... I might not walk again. At least... not properly." Michael said choking a bit on his words.
Nervousness washed over him as he looked down at his wrapped up legs, faint blood stains covering them here and there. He only looked at his legs once when Zurra was changing the bandages, he was numbed up good, but the sight of them was something too visceral to not make his mind aware of the pain he should be in. Although suppressed, he could feel his legs burn in a muffled agony.
The mana burn had turned the young man's skin and toe nails to actual ashes that Zurra had to clean off, a rather painstakingly slow endeavor due to how caked in blood the ashes were. From bellow the knees the young man was akin to one of those skinless statues showing the human's body muscular fiber, only minor patches of actual skin hanging on here and there.
Woh kind of grew silent for a moment, before shaking her head as her big round eyes looked at Michael. "W-well don'tcha worry! Even if you can't walk we're here, s-so... we'll be able to help! If I was bigger I wouldn't mind lugging you about like a sack of timber! 'Cause you'd be the best sack of timber to ever be and 'cause we're friends." Woh said with a happy croak, trying her best to cheer up the young man.
Michael snickered and smirked and he shook his head, petting Woh's covered back. "Thanks. It'll be my honor to do my best interpretation of a heavy sack, but I'm hoping I can be fixed." After taking a moment to lean back against Spek's trunk and to look up at his crown of branches and leaves, the young man took in a deep breath. "Woh... I'm going to need your help with something. I know you might be not too happy about it, but if you'll allow it...I'd like us to make some vials of your poison, even if it is distilled with some water."
"O-oh... uhm... well... uhh... ya been sayin' that it doesn't do you much harm and... it has been helping you fight, so maybe I don't mind if we make a small bottle or two of it, but ya gotta promise to still be careful, ok?! Ribbit, last thing I want to do is hurt you with it." The tiny pink frog like woman said with a small croak of worry leaving her throat.
Michael sat silent a moment as he looked at his hands and forearms and at the slight yellowish hue they had. His skin has taken to the color just recently, bit by bit. His brown irises with eyes ever so faintly yellow as well, would look at Woh, a small smile accompanying it, although preceeded by the human sucking in his lips slightly. "Y-you won't be hurting me. You can trust that. Hell after what happened, you're the last person that could do that. So no need to be afraid. Whatever choices you make, you can do me no foul."
Woh looked at him, with an ease washing over her tiny form. "Fair enough then. Say. Since its been kinda borin' around 'ere, mind using your magic thingy, what ya called it... ah! Your phoon! To put on that one song you said it is about happiness and not worrying? I liked how it sounded."
"Hah. Gladly. We'll be around here a while, at least until Zurra wants to do my physical therapy. Still kind of regreting telling her about that when she asked about what my kind do to help maintain one's muscles when they can't train and how to deal with pain." Michael said with a small laugh, followed by a grunt of discomfort caused by a stab of his sore body at itself due to the contracting muscles. He'd soon go through his phone and put the tune in question to play on repeat.
"Hah~ there it is... I don't get why, but the song does make me happy. Thanks!" Woh said with a greatful ribbit as she laid down inbetween some of Spek's roots and using them like a lounging chair. She would look up at the tree for a moment too, mouthing a silent 'thank you' to it.
The day would go on to pass as calm as can be, until the late afternoon, when Runhar nearly had a scare for a moment, when he saw torch light coming from deeper within the woods. Still, with a sniff of the air and feeling the scents of Gharna, Oinna, Azhul and Yenna, the guard captain would calm down as he then asked Rok to prepare opening the gates.
When the group came within sight they could be seen pausing as they looked about, their heads clearly turing to examine the surrounding outskirts of their village on the outside.
"What in the name of The Hunt Father happened?!" Gharna yelled out eventually as they got closer, their pace having increased as they saw their home in shambles. "The wall is lookin' like a mess. Is everyone alright?"
"Most, aye!" Runhar yelled and after a moment paused. "Come, there's more to discuss!" The guard captain added as he descended from the watch tower he had climbed up on while on watch.
The group of four was eventually welcomed in and after a quick retelling of their journey and a quick stock of what they brought, which was pulled to storage, Runhar would recount the events that occured here. The whole endevour was burned upon his mind... he couldn't help himself to not go into details, some of which made him visibly look saddened or furious. He eventually even backtracked to what happened to Spek and... how it happened.
To say the least... it was a lot to process, and the news about Spek becoming a... tree... had a mix of reactions.
"Gah... the situation is shite, but I'm kinda pissed I missed ma' using the family technique. I still can't do it nowhere as good as her. Got the getting bigger part down somewhat though." Azhul said with a huff.
"S-seriously? That's yer first concern?!" Gharna added with a snort as she stared up at her bigger hunt sister.
"What do ya wan' me tha do?! Cry about it? I feel like shite, but I ain' gonna break apart over it. Not when we have tha keep things together." Azhul oinked back in retort.
"I-... I have to agree with Azhul. I will check on Urla and see to who's still wounded. If Michael is taken care of at least somewhat for now, I will see to make sure everyone else that can be dealt with quicker, is up on their two feet!" Oinna said with a determined huff as she excused herself and trotted off.
"I'mma be sleepin' a bit. Sleepin' on the road has been a pain." Yenna added with a half dozing off snort as he left. Although he was hit by the initial shock of the situation as well, it only added to the mental exhaustion that traveling has taken on him.
Azhul and Gharna were still lightly huffing at one another, until the latter's eyes sparked with a realization. Gharna's eyes would look at Runhar. "Say, cap'. Ya said Zurra's been takin' care of Michael. Thought we should talk with her, too. Where's she?" She asked very curious, a snort leaving her flat nose.
"Ah... think she might be in his shack with 'im. She said that she wanted to do- " Before Runhar could finish his sentence properly, Azhul seemed to be hit by panic.
It didn't take long to the large Tuskir woman to realize what Gharna was asking and partially hearing Runhar's reply, sent her in nearly a frenzy of embarrasment. "DO HIM?! MA! STOP!"
On the way here Azhul tried telling herself it wasn't possible for something like this to happen, but as her heart rate spiked she attempted to take off toward's Michael's hut.
The nearly stampede like charge though, would be prematurely stopped by Gharna, who wrapped her arms arounds Azhul's waist. While trying to not snort out of sheer amusement, she coughed trying to sound serious. "Wait a wee moment. If ya barge in there while she's doin' him, ya really want tha see that? Might be better to see what the situation... pft... ahem... is... quietly."
Runhar a bit surprised by this whole situation, wanted to finish his sentence, only to be interrupted by Gharna's clear gaze to not utter another word. He even took a moment to chuckle internally, appreciating the bit of amusement after the shit show they have been through.
"Y-yeah... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah... Don't wanna make it worse... oh... h-ho... Hunter Father... please don't let it be too late." Azhul muttered as she walked at a really fast, yet quiet pace.
Gharna would follow up after whispering some words of thanks to Runhar. "Ya kno' can't really blame her, if Michael faught like Runhar says he did. Yer mother did always... pft... ahem... a-appftt... preciate a... ahem... sturdy warrior type o' man."
"I will wrangle your throat if ye utter another bloody word." Azhul said to Gharna, without even looking back.
Still, as they approached Michael's hut and listened, Azhul's expression would only change to that of someone who has seen or heard the most disturbing of the secrets held by eldritch gods of the cosmos.
The sound of a creaking bed frame, the moans of Michael in a mix of pain and pleasure and the groans of Zurra as if she was riding a most unruly beast. The trifecta of trauma had fully hit Azhul into a silent stunned coma as he charge stopped to a full halt.
"Agh- god... you're working the knots out of me." Michael could be heard groaning in pain before letting a grunted moan of relief.
"Told ya boi. If we huff... just changed positions a bit and ye gave me a pointer or two... I could get ya done. Ya ain't so different from any ol' tuskir man. Huh... yer givin' me a bit o' a workout." The older smithy woman could be heard lightly panting.
Gharna got silent as well, feeling embarrased as all hell, but nowhere nearly as bad as Azhul, who seemed to have been shell shocked, her eyes staring into nothingness.
"O-oh! Oh no! Hah! That's sensitive t-take it easy on me a bit! Hah!" The young man groaned, which prompted Azhul to crumble to her knees.
The sudden sound of the short fall made the sound from the hut stop. Heavy steps would soon approach the door and open it, as Zurra looked out towards the two.
"Oh! Yer back! Glad to see ye two fine an' well. Uh... what are ya doin'?" The old Tuskir woman asked as she stretched herself a bit, then popping her knuckles.
The two younger women stood silent, until Gharna could finally utter something. "We-... uh... we're good. W-what... uhm... what were ya doin'?" She said nearly choking.
"Ah. Just givin' da boi a massage. After the fight we had he's in shambles if ya haven't 'eard. Gettin' a wee bit tired, so I could use a hand." Zurra said most casually.
To this reply, Azhul go on her palms as well and pressed her snout to the ground. "Thank ye, Hunt Father... oh huh... thank you..." she said whispered, in a slightly whimpering tone, with sighs of relief leaving her.
Gharna calming down too, nodded. "Ye. Gladly." As she passed by Azhul though, she snickered and whispered to her. "Nearly had tha call 'im daddy there, ay?" She asked before stepping up and inside.
Azhul took a moment to calm down, as she contemplated the repercussions of murder, before approaching the shack and talking with her mother. Glad to see one another, the two went into detail about all the events that happened, together with Michael, who was happy to see them both her and Gharna.
2023.06.07 00:56 Ok-Ad9188 Short story i cooked up about a World Eater who gets isekai'd into our world and somehow doesn't start immediately killing everything on his way
Koron the Cleaver tried to make sense of where he was. The World Eater champion had been drifted apart from his warband during a warp-storm that somehow did not bring any of his brothers along. His equipment, however, was still intact: His power sword (or power machete, some would say) "Flesh-Splitter" still crackled with the murderous, ever-hungry power field which had a reddish hue due to the weapon's perpetually blood-stained blade. It was broad and heavy with a sharp edge, perfect for hacking heads and limbs apart, and the flat of the blade ended in a protruding spike that was perfect to maim even the most heavily-armored foes. His Storm Bolter, the "Hatred's Roar", possessed by the spirit of a daemon which made every bolt be fired and fly faster producing the characteristic "roar" for which it was named, still laid by his side awaiting slaughter. The Cleaver then checked his blood-red armor, blessed by the Blood God with runes of strength and war, for damage, but found none. This was not a place he was familiar with. Ever since the days of the Horus Heresy and the Great Crusade to the modern campaigns against the corpse-worshippers he had never been to somewhere so disgustingly peaceful. The setting sun gave the streets a dreamy, calm appearance, and a gentle breeze swept through and made the green leaves of the trees dance. The houses were all neatly arranged, painted in tones of white, yellow and pink and surrounded by well-maintained short wooden fences. But Koron grew impatient. The Butcher's Nails pounded against his thoughts, demanding carnage. If there was no combat to be found on this world, then he would make it. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a squeak, a sound he was barely able to register, but spoken with awe: "WOW DUDE, that's such a sick costume, did you make it yourself?" The Cleaver turned instinctively, but had to look around for some time until he detected the creature from which the words originated. A male mortal. Barely an adult too, by the looks of it. Black hair grew profusely from it's head, making the eyes only barely visible. It was frail in body, even for a mortal, but it seemed of average stature. It wore an unfamiliar garb, not from any of the planets of cultures Koron had know and slaughtered. It also carried a backpack, but the World Eater did not recognize it as being able to contain any sort of weaponry or ammunition. The Cleaver gripped his power sword and was ready to split the feeble mortal in two, but for some reason hesitated. This strange world, with strange people, intrigued him. He wished to know more of his prey. "What is your name, feeble creature?" The warrior spoke, startling the young man and almost making him fall to the ground upon hearing the snarl that came from the giant's throat. "What a pathetic display", Koron thought. "U-Uumm… M-M-My name's Kyle… dude." The mortal spoke in a frightened tone. Every word, every motion of this weakling insulted the World Eater, but he managed to restrain the screaming voices in his head which called for blood. Khorne cared not from where the blood flowed, but Koron felt that offering such a feeble creature as the first sacrifice to the Blood God on this new world would be shameful. There was no honor in staining his armor with the blood of such a wretch. "So uh… What's yours? Y-your name, i mean" The mortal once more spoke. Slightly impressed at the courage the creature managed to build to even dare speak to him, Koron answered: "You stand before Koron the Cleaver, mortal. Commander of the Gut Rippers Warband, slayer of a million foes, scourge of the corpse-worshippers, champion of the Blood God" "That's… so cool, man." the mortal spoke "I work at an electronics store-" Poor Kyle could not even finish his sentence before the hulking chaos marine grabbed him by the collar and raised him up to meet the eyes of his terrific helmet. "No. From this moment forward, you will work for me, mortal." The Cleaver spoke in a low growl that made Kyle shiver and made it clear to him that it was not by any means a request. "Jesus, okay, okay! My house isn't big but i guess you could stay there!" The young man said, averting his gaze. "That will do" The World Eater said, letting go of Kyle "Lead the way, mortal." After a short and very tense walk, they arrived at Kyle's house. The furniture was mortal-sized, unfit for an astartes, but the Cleaver judged it sufficient as a temporary base. "So uh, are you hungry?" Kyle asked his strange guest. "For battle. For carnage." The World Eater answered. "Yeah… i don't think there's any of that around, sorry" "Hrrr…" The Cleaver fumed "Hey hey, no problem, let's find you something to watch" the young man said, rushing for the TV Controller. Kyle switched between channels trying to find something that caught the attention of his companion, until he was interrupted with a resounding "WAIT". Kyle stopped. The channel was playing "Saving Private Ryan", specifically the starting D-Day scene. "This will do." The World Eater said with a hint of satisfaction as he observed the slaughter that unraveled before his eyes. Kyle was a bit disturbed at the childish glee with which his guest (or should it be said captor?) watched the scenes of horrifyingly graphic violence, but decided it was best to leave him to it. "So uh… Can i go to sleep?" He asked the hulking berserker. "Yes. I shall allow it." The Cleaver said in a direct manner. "...Really?" Kyle would soon regret these words as the World Eater's murderous gaze turned to him, freezing him with fear. "Do you take me for a liar, maggot? If i wanted you dead you would be so. Now go have your pathetic rest before i lose what little patience i have!" That was enough to make Kyle bolt toward his room. He didn't want to test what was going to happen if the pressed the monster further. As the youngster rolled around on his bed, praying that the strange warrior would find enough distraction in depictions of war and violence, one thought banged against his head as much as the Butcher's Nails did his companion: "Jesus Christ, what the hell have i gotten myself into?"
submitted by Ok-Ad9188 to Grimdank [link] [comments]
2023.06.07 00:40 poppopglock Frustrations with work
So I’m an 20 year old electrician apprentice and I’m a guy. To say that my coworker Matt has been going through it would be the understatement of the decade. His crazy wife that has tried to kill him in the past kicked him out of the house without any of his shit and is feeding his daughter lies to try to get her to hate him. That’s just the short version but he’s missed a couple of days of work due to his situation.
Now I don’t remember how the conversation started but I was talking with my foreman and another coworker just doing what us union members are good at - killing time, when I mentioned something along the lines of “Man Matt has been going through it lately.” To which my foreman’s response was “yeah but we all are going through stuff, back when I was going through shit I still came to work.” When I heard her say that it kind of set me back a bit. How cold was that response? This man has essentially lost everything in the last couple of days and there wasn’t an ounce of sympathy in her. Her reasoning is “yeah I’ve had problems so everyone else isn’t allowed to.” The fact that he has even come in at all sense honestly deserves praise in itself and if I were going through what that man is I’d probably be one inconvenience away from killing myself. For the rest of the work day I didn’t give a single fuck about my job and although I did shit right, I moved slow as fuck. Because if she didn’t care about him, she clearly didn’t care about me, and if she doesn’t care about me how the fuck does she expect me or anyone else for that matter to give a fuck about their job?
And here in lies the problem and the whole reason why I’m here in the first place. I’m young and I understand there is still much for me to learn but I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around how people manage to have careers. We spend at least 40 hours a week to work, usually to do stuff we wouldn’t exactly do by choice, and to gain an ounce of what we believe we are worth. We do all these things and sacrifice all this time for people who do not give a shit about us or what we are going through. And still they expect us to operate at 100% everyday, for 8 hours straight, show up on time, (some even tell you to show up early) never stop and talk to coworkers, or indulge in any other distractions that might take away from being as efficient as physically possible. Add onto that the politics of the work place where you have to talk different to your boss than your other coworkers simply because of their title and you just have a recipe for a headache that is becoming harder and harder to deal with. It’s like these people (or even society as a whole) expect robots and not human beings. I’ve always struggled with depression and the only thing that consistently seems to take me out of it are other people. I’m an extroverted guy and I love talking to people and just listening to whatever they have to say. I have always had a hunger to learn and I have gained some wisdom and learned a lot of useful things from others. I guess the thing I’m trying to say is that out of all the things I do, I feel the most fulfilled when talking and doing things with other people. I think it’s biological to be honest because like it or not we are social creatures. And I just wish that I could spend more time doing that and not have to put up with all the other bullshit around it.
The thing that drives me crazy is how much we as a society have veered away from “being human.” Like I mentioned earlier, why do I have to talk to my boss differently than I talk to other coworkers? Why do I have to watch what I say around certain people and bite my tongue? Why do we have to wear all these masks to fit into these completely fabricated situations that destroy our authentic selves in the process? WHY CANT WE JUST BE HONEST AMD TRUE TO OURSELF? I’m frustrated with my foreman but also the world as a whole. I understand her job is to make sure that we work and I also understand that she gets paid a lot more than me to do that. But I also understand that I am a pretty disciplined guy and most times I am completely capable of meeting expectations even without supervision. So why can’t I get a break from the monotony and talk to my coworkers for a minute? Why must I be expected to work so hard for someone (or a company) that so clearly does not hold my best interests at heart? Where has our sense of community gone? These societies we live in are absolutely astonishing. We have skyscrapers that reach into the sky, we have made technological advancements that make what used to be hard tasks child’s play, and yet people are killing themselves at higher rates than ever before. All for a green piece of paper.
People say my generation is lazy and doesn’t want to work and I’ve done my damnedest to fight that stereotype and work my ass off but at what point do we stop pretending this life that we live and the shit we put up with is worth it? Is it because I haven’t made enough money yet? Is it because I’m not old enough? What does that even mean? Because if it means that I just accept it for what it is then that’s not an answer that makes me want to live for the future.
Thanks for taking the time and reading my thoughts and listening to me ramble. I don’t really have a family or friends that would. It really means a lot more to me than most of you could truly grasp. Please feel free to share your perspectives. Is there something I’m missing here? Or did I hit the nail on the head with this one?
submitted by poppopglock to Vent [link] [comments]
Now I don’t remember how the conversation started but I was talking with my foreman and another coworker just doing what us union members are good at - killing time, when I mentioned something along the lines of “Man Matt has been going through it lately.” To which my foreman’s response was “yeah but we all are going through stuff, back when I was going through shit I still came to work.” When I heard her say that it kind of set me back a bit. How cold was that response? This man has essentially lost everything in the last couple of days and there wasn’t an ounce of sympathy in her. Her reasoning is “yeah I’ve had problems so everyone else isn’t allowed to.” The fact that he has even come in at all sense honestly deserves praise in itself and if I were going through what that man is I’d probably be one inconvenience away from killing myself. For the rest of the work day I didn’t give a single fuck about my job and although I did shit right, I moved slow as fuck. Because if she didn’t care about him, she clearly didn’t care about me, and if she doesn’t care about me how the fuck does she expect me or anyone else for that matter to give a fuck about their job?
And here in lies the problem and the whole reason why I’m here in the first place. I’m young and I understand there is still much for me to learn but I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around how people manage to have careers. We spend at least 40 hours a week to work, usually to do stuff we wouldn’t exactly do by choice, and to gain an ounce of what we believe we are worth. We do all these things and sacrifice all this time for people who do not give a shit about us or what we are going through. And still they expect us to operate at 100% everyday, for 8 hours straight, show up on time, (some even tell you to show up early) never stop and talk to coworkers, or indulge in any other distractions that might take away from being as efficient as physically possible. Add onto that the politics of the work place where you have to talk different to your boss than your other coworkers simply because of their title and you just have a recipe for a headache that is becoming harder and harder to deal with. It’s like these people (or even society as a whole) expect robots and not human beings. I’ve always struggled with depression and the only thing that consistently seems to take me out of it are other people. I’m an extroverted guy and I love talking to people and just listening to whatever they have to say. I have always had a hunger to learn and I have gained some wisdom and learned a lot of useful things from others. I guess the thing I’m trying to say is that out of all the things I do, I feel the most fulfilled when talking and doing things with other people. I think it’s biological to be honest because like it or not we are social creatures. And I just wish that I could spend more time doing that and not have to put up with all the other bullshit around it.
The thing that drives me crazy is how much we as a society have veered away from “being human.” Like I mentioned earlier, why do I have to talk to my boss differently than I talk to other coworkers? Why do I have to watch what I say around certain people and bite my tongue? Why do we have to wear all these masks to fit into these completely fabricated situations that destroy our authentic selves in the process? WHY CANT WE JUST BE HONEST AMD TRUE TO OURSELF? I’m frustrated with my foreman but also the world as a whole. I understand her job is to make sure that we work and I also understand that she gets paid a lot more than me to do that. But I also understand that I am a pretty disciplined guy and most times I am completely capable of meeting expectations even without supervision. So why can’t I get a break from the monotony and talk to my coworkers for a minute? Why must I be expected to work so hard for someone (or a company) that so clearly does not hold my best interests at heart? Where has our sense of community gone? These societies we live in are absolutely astonishing. We have skyscrapers that reach into the sky, we have made technological advancements that make what used to be hard tasks child’s play, and yet people are killing themselves at higher rates than ever before. All for a green piece of paper.
People say my generation is lazy and doesn’t want to work and I’ve done my damnedest to fight that stereotype and work my ass off but at what point do we stop pretending this life that we live and the shit we put up with is worth it? Is it because I haven’t made enough money yet? Is it because I’m not old enough? What does that even mean? Because if it means that I just accept it for what it is then that’s not an answer that makes me want to live for the future.
Thanks for taking the time and reading my thoughts and listening to me ramble. I don’t really have a family or friends that would. It really means a lot more to me than most of you could truly grasp. Please feel free to share your perspectives. Is there something I’m missing here? Or did I hit the nail on the head with this one?
2023.06.07 00:01 Stunning-Fox-7038 Should I continue? my friendship
First time posting so please excuse my format.
I, F27, met my boyfriend (41) through my friend. We weren’t the closest of friends but we have known each other for 10+ yrs and she’d been there for me at some of my lowest points in my life. I had gone as far as recommending her to two of my jobs, both of which she got. We both still work at our full time job and since she started, we started hanging out more. Long story short, her former boss (my current BF) started taking her out to dinnehanging out. After the second time of them hanging out, she started mentioning how her former boss was taking her out and paying for everything but that he had never made a move on her, nor was she interested in him as he wasn’t her type. She also mentioned that he had asked her to join him on a trip with all paid expenses with no strings attached & she would even have her own room. (Something thats usually unheard of but now that I know him, I see that he’s just a very generous person being that he’s financially stable). She responded that she would only Feel safe going with him if her friend joined them, aka me, & showed him my IG & went as far as telling him that gave good BJs.
After they had this conversation, she begged me to meet him & mentioned the trip. After the first time meeting, the very next day he bought us both the airplane tickets. We all continued to hangout a couple of times and him and I started talking on the phone everyday - this was initiated by him. When I mentioned to her that we started talking on the phone everyday, she made a snide remark and that I was wrong for not going through her to talk to him. So to avoid any conflict we started a group chat.
At some point him and I realized that we liked each other & he asked me to hang out alone without my friend to which I agreed as he lives in another state and was only in town for work so we had very limited time. He was showering me with gifts and sending me flowers to work. After a couple of times of us hanging out alone, I told my friend that we were actually pretty serious about each other & that we had kissed. My friend became upset bc, as she said, “I was only expecting you to f*ck him on the trip”. I was astonished at her response as she was very well aware of my previous shitty romantic partners & this was the first time I was being treated as I deserve. I’m not a confrontational person and decided to let go of her comment, but this was the first of many, including comments regarding all the gifts he was giving me and how she wasn’t getting anything.
We ended going on the trip and all she did was complain. For perspective, she complained about every meal that we ate although these were all expensive meals. I on the other hand was very thankful for the experience as I don’t have the means to travel often and this was all paid by my now BF. At this point him and I had been intimate, but during the trips she was included in all the activities and was not treated as a third wheel.
When we got back from the trip, I learned that he had let her borrow money for her nails which she never got done, she had never thanked him for anything nor had she paid him back as she had promised. I tried to have conversations with her as to why she was acting bothered by our relationship and she said that the only reason she invited me was to feel safer and make it more of a girls trip which made no sense to me as we are both the same height and weight around the same. My BF could absolutely overpower the both of us without breaking a sweat. Furthermore, if she didn’t feel safe why would she agree to the trip in the first place?
After some time I gave up on trying to explain to her that the way our relationship evolved was never done out of malice and that if at any point she felt like a third wheel, that I apologize but that that was not our intention. She then said that she felt like she was losing 2 friend but before I met my BF they had only hung out together 3x and her and I only hung out once in a while. I came to the conclusion that the only reason she was “friends” with him was for the benefits (free dinners, trips etc). I decided to keep my distance as she continued to make snide comments every chance she got and I didn’t need that energy around me, specially when I was starting the healthiest romantic relationship I’ve been in.
We still work at the same company but I no Longer interact with her unless absolutely necessary to avoid our coworkers questioning our friendship. But now I’m questioning if I’m wrong for ending our friendship over this. Should I continue our friendship?
submitted by Stunning-Fox-7038 to Advice [link] [comments]
I, F27, met my boyfriend (41) through my friend. We weren’t the closest of friends but we have known each other for 10+ yrs and she’d been there for me at some of my lowest points in my life. I had gone as far as recommending her to two of my jobs, both of which she got. We both still work at our full time job and since she started, we started hanging out more. Long story short, her former boss (my current BF) started taking her out to dinnehanging out. After the second time of them hanging out, she started mentioning how her former boss was taking her out and paying for everything but that he had never made a move on her, nor was she interested in him as he wasn’t her type. She also mentioned that he had asked her to join him on a trip with all paid expenses with no strings attached & she would even have her own room. (Something thats usually unheard of but now that I know him, I see that he’s just a very generous person being that he’s financially stable). She responded that she would only Feel safe going with him if her friend joined them, aka me, & showed him my IG & went as far as telling him that gave good BJs.
After they had this conversation, she begged me to meet him & mentioned the trip. After the first time meeting, the very next day he bought us both the airplane tickets. We all continued to hangout a couple of times and him and I started talking on the phone everyday - this was initiated by him. When I mentioned to her that we started talking on the phone everyday, she made a snide remark and that I was wrong for not going through her to talk to him. So to avoid any conflict we started a group chat.
At some point him and I realized that we liked each other & he asked me to hang out alone without my friend to which I agreed as he lives in another state and was only in town for work so we had very limited time. He was showering me with gifts and sending me flowers to work. After a couple of times of us hanging out alone, I told my friend that we were actually pretty serious about each other & that we had kissed. My friend became upset bc, as she said, “I was only expecting you to f*ck him on the trip”. I was astonished at her response as she was very well aware of my previous shitty romantic partners & this was the first time I was being treated as I deserve. I’m not a confrontational person and decided to let go of her comment, but this was the first of many, including comments regarding all the gifts he was giving me and how she wasn’t getting anything.
We ended going on the trip and all she did was complain. For perspective, she complained about every meal that we ate although these were all expensive meals. I on the other hand was very thankful for the experience as I don’t have the means to travel often and this was all paid by my now BF. At this point him and I had been intimate, but during the trips she was included in all the activities and was not treated as a third wheel.
When we got back from the trip, I learned that he had let her borrow money for her nails which she never got done, she had never thanked him for anything nor had she paid him back as she had promised. I tried to have conversations with her as to why she was acting bothered by our relationship and she said that the only reason she invited me was to feel safer and make it more of a girls trip which made no sense to me as we are both the same height and weight around the same. My BF could absolutely overpower the both of us without breaking a sweat. Furthermore, if she didn’t feel safe why would she agree to the trip in the first place?
After some time I gave up on trying to explain to her that the way our relationship evolved was never done out of malice and that if at any point she felt like a third wheel, that I apologize but that that was not our intention. She then said that she felt like she was losing 2 friend but before I met my BF they had only hung out together 3x and her and I only hung out once in a while. I came to the conclusion that the only reason she was “friends” with him was for the benefits (free dinners, trips etc). I decided to keep my distance as she continued to make snide comments every chance she got and I didn’t need that energy around me, specially when I was starting the healthiest romantic relationship I’ve been in.
We still work at the same company but I no Longer interact with her unless absolutely necessary to avoid our coworkers questioning our friendship. But now I’m questioning if I’m wrong for ending our friendship over this. Should I continue our friendship?
2023.06.06 23:48 _sono_tumblr_ Is this self harming? Let me share my experience
Ok, this is really hard to do. I haven't told anyone but feel like I need to share this with someone. I'm a 14 years old girl and about a month ago I developed a form of "self-harm". It all started during a lesson, when the teacher was complaining that there were no volunteers at the oral test and I felt terribly guilty. I was so angry at myself for not studying enough that I pressed my nail against my wrist, leaving different marks(no blood). The feeling of having marks on the skin was strangely satisfying. So much so that when the marks disappeared a few days later, I felt sad. A few days later I did my acrylic nails and was almost panicked that I had nothing left to harm myself with, so i tried with bits of plastic. When I was sad about something, I'd go to the bathroom and "scratch" the skin, with no blood and no deep wounds. The marks disappeared a few days later and I was making new ones. Since a few weeks, however, my scratches are always on the same point and I feel like the scar is gonna last longer. I haven't told anyone about it cause I feel like it's not even real self harm, I'm so scared to go deeper but at the same time I feel like going deeper would confirm this "self harm" thing and people would actually care about me. Since I was a child, I always daydreamed about being sick and having everyone's attention. I remember writing about it in my secret diary, feeling like I was strange to think about it but secretly liking it. Even now I feel like I'm doing it for attention so that people would notice them, but when I actually face the reality I really just try to hide it cause I'm too scared. I'm too scared they would see me in a different way, they would think I'm a freak and encourage me to ask for help. I want my life to be better, but I'm so scared of healing. I'm scared of my little superficial scars healing, I'm scared people would think of me of "an innocent happy soul who doesn't understand what real pain is" and all stuff like that. Please share me your thoughts cause I really need someone else opinion without it changing my life and ruining the idea that people have of me.
submitted by _sono_tumblr_ to mentalhealth [link] [comments]
2023.06.06 23:41 snippythehorses MVIS looks to present an attractive short opportunity
Looking at MVIS, there has been alot of internet hype about the stock. It's tough to nail down exactly why it is rallying, but I suspect its purely due to short squeeze mechanics. The shares available on iborrowdesk have shrunk to as little as 59 shares available and the fee has jumped to 59%. Considering how heavily shorted this is and how short sellers have learned how to better control these situations after GME and other meme stock run ups, the smart money is saying its going back to where it came from.
I can remember playing BBBY back in August and similar mechanics were at play. MVIS has run up from about 1.82 low to now to a high of 7.27 or almost a 4 fold run up. BBBY ran from about 5 bucks to 30 for a 6 fold run up which really only stopped because Cohen sold his stake. So there may be more gas in the tank.
MVIS also had a similar run from about $1.80 to $7 back in 2020 leading into 2021. From there it was able to achieve a price of 24 and several months later 28. However this go around, there is no stimulus money available to the public or easy loans for people to take out and yolo on the stock. Considering the liquidity necessary to carry the squeeze on is not there and retail primarily only buys options, I'd say MVIS is primed for a nice run back down to about 5.30 (where it came from today) into the end of this week.
After this downturn which is likely to be a daily grind down, it may be a good time to look at going long again until you see another blow off top on very big volume.
Going long again due to another hype cycle via an event they are participating in June: MVIS ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Technology Expo in Stuttgart on June 13-15. Will showcase MAVIN and MOVIA lidar sensor product line. Visitors can also catch MOSAIK Suite.
I like the idea of everyone in over $4 being wipped out and that probably presents a good long price point. It posted 30M today in volume which is almost up there in terms of 12 month volume highs. The company posted earnings on the 9th losing $19 million in the 1st quarter and made only 782k in revenue. 2022 saw only about 600k in revenue compared to just 2017 with 17.61 Million in revenue (pretty sharp decline).
So MVIS is either going into the ground tomorrow and friday. Or it resists going lower and powers into June 13-15. The news whatever it is on June 13-15 will be no different of an effect than how AAPL just had a nice decline into their event. Plan accordingly
submitted by snippythehorses to stocks [link] [comments]
I can remember playing BBBY back in August and similar mechanics were at play. MVIS has run up from about 1.82 low to now to a high of 7.27 or almost a 4 fold run up. BBBY ran from about 5 bucks to 30 for a 6 fold run up which really only stopped because Cohen sold his stake. So there may be more gas in the tank.
MVIS also had a similar run from about $1.80 to $7 back in 2020 leading into 2021. From there it was able to achieve a price of 24 and several months later 28. However this go around, there is no stimulus money available to the public or easy loans for people to take out and yolo on the stock. Considering the liquidity necessary to carry the squeeze on is not there and retail primarily only buys options, I'd say MVIS is primed for a nice run back down to about 5.30 (where it came from today) into the end of this week.
After this downturn which is likely to be a daily grind down, it may be a good time to look at going long again until you see another blow off top on very big volume.
Going long again due to another hype cycle via an event they are participating in June: MVIS ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Technology Expo in Stuttgart on June 13-15. Will showcase MAVIN and MOVIA lidar sensor product line. Visitors can also catch MOSAIK Suite.
I like the idea of everyone in over $4 being wipped out and that probably presents a good long price point. It posted 30M today in volume which is almost up there in terms of 12 month volume highs. The company posted earnings on the 9th losing $19 million in the 1st quarter and made only 782k in revenue. 2022 saw only about 600k in revenue compared to just 2017 with 17.61 Million in revenue (pretty sharp decline).
So MVIS is either going into the ground tomorrow and friday. Or it resists going lower and powers into June 13-15. The news whatever it is on June 13-15 will be no different of an effect than how AAPL just had a nice decline into their event. Plan accordingly
2023.06.06 23:39 pawsitively_anon Bridal Nails?
 | Hello. I’m looking to get this design for my wedding coming up but I don’t get my nails done often so I don’t know much about how to ask for this. I’d like this designe and length. Is this short oval or short almond? Can anyone tell me uf it’s acrylic or gel x? submitted by pawsitively_anon to Nails [link] [comments] |
2023.06.06 22:47 No-Panic-5876 Nail Spots in/near Irvine
Hi all!
As the title says I’m looking for a nice place to get my nails done. I’m probably going to get acrylic, because idk how gel works hehe. I also want to get my toes done, all for graduation.
Can anyone suggest places where you got good quality nails done? Price isn’t top priority I mean if it’s good quality and decently priced great haha.
Thank you!
submitted by No-Panic-5876 to UCI [link] [comments]
As the title says I’m looking for a nice place to get my nails done. I’m probably going to get acrylic, because idk how gel works hehe. I also want to get my toes done, all for graduation.
Can anyone suggest places where you got good quality nails done? Price isn’t top priority I mean if it’s good quality and decently priced great haha.
Thank you!
2023.06.06 22:35 idk_katie_ Freezer Spell Help- Need it stronger??
I'm new here, autistic and cptsd, and an over explainer, so please bear with me. Long story short, I put my mom in the freezer (with her current boyfriend and my ex, two separate people lol). I don't wish my mother any harm, and I have a "thing" about wishing bad on people. But also need her to leave my kids and I ALONE. It worked for like a week or two and she showed up today while I was out and talked to one of my kids (*we live with my paternal grandmother. This complicates things with keeping her away because I cannot make my grandmother tell her not to come over). I just want her to leave us alone and not be in our business. No questions or probing or showing up unannounced, no leaving us "gifts" or "thought you could use these", none of that. Do I need to be way more specific? I read if I thaw and refreeze it can strengthen it?
When I put her in the freezer, I smoke cleansed the jar, wrote her and the other two on the paper, said my intentions, and rolled it up and filled it with vinegar and peppercorns, sealed it, and wrapped it with foil bc I read somewhere that can help. I'm always doubting myself and thats probably part of whats going on too lol. But today she showed up with plants for my veggie garden and seeds, which I have said very clearly I DO NOT WANT OR NEED, and left them with my grandmother. I definitely don't want her things growing in my garden lol. YIKES. She crosses boundaries a lot like this and I can't stand it and she and her bf have maintained a relationship with my ex (including providing him updates and went so far as to try to talk to my kids about how he loves them etc. We have a PERMANENT RO on him. Forever!!). She is not a safe person to be around my kids. I'm trying to move but circumstances have been so hard lately.
I might talk to my sister and have her come over and give me a little boost in confidence with it lol. She's like a mental bouncer for me and told me the other day she put my ex and mom's bf in jars (with old iron nails etc) and tossed them into a swamp. Lmao. Idk if I can go that far with my mother though even though things have been so hard (which probably has made me doubt the entire thing and I'm worried about it being weak).
submitted by idk_katie_ to witchcraft [link] [comments]
When I put her in the freezer, I smoke cleansed the jar, wrote her and the other two on the paper, said my intentions, and rolled it up and filled it with vinegar and peppercorns, sealed it, and wrapped it with foil bc I read somewhere that can help. I'm always doubting myself and thats probably part of whats going on too lol. But today she showed up with plants for my veggie garden and seeds, which I have said very clearly I DO NOT WANT OR NEED, and left them with my grandmother. I definitely don't want her things growing in my garden lol. YIKES. She crosses boundaries a lot like this and I can't stand it and she and her bf have maintained a relationship with my ex (including providing him updates and went so far as to try to talk to my kids about how he loves them etc. We have a PERMANENT RO on him. Forever!!). She is not a safe person to be around my kids. I'm trying to move but circumstances have been so hard lately.
I might talk to my sister and have her come over and give me a little boost in confidence with it lol. She's like a mental bouncer for me and told me the other day she put my ex and mom's bf in jars (with old iron nails etc) and tossed them into a swamp. Lmao. Idk if I can go that far with my mother though even though things have been so hard (which probably has made me doubt the entire thing and I'm worried about it being weak).
2023.06.06 22:15 little-red-bird I hit my hand last time I had acrylics, and it lead to this monstrosity😭😭 any tips on fixing this? When do y’all reckon I can get my next set?
 | So I had some long af acrylics and I hit my hand while I was sleeping. I woke up to extreme pain and a bit of bleeding (lol I almost passed out🙃). I cut off as much of the acrylic that I could and then bandaged my finger. Once the pain went away for long enough, I removed the acrylic and then cut off all of the unattached area of my real nail. It’s been about one or two weeks and this is what I’m working with. My nail tech said I should be good in like two weeks, but y’all I’m scared. I can’t find any info online, so I’m coming to y’all! Any tips for making my nail regrow faster? And any ideas on how long this could take? Also, is it safe to put acrylics on a damaged nail like this? submitted by little-red-bird to Nails [link] [comments] Thank y’all! |
2023.06.06 21:56 TheManIsInsane [GIVING AWAY] Wardrobe/Storage Cabinet
I've got a white wardrobe/storage cabinet (71" height x 31" width x 19.5" depth) that I'm looking to get rid of, for completely free. It's divided into two compartments length-wise at the top and has two medium-sized drawers at the bottom. The left sided vertical compartment has three movable shelves and the right has a small hangbar that's about 15" wide. As for the drawers, they glide in and out smoothly but one of them has a few spots of water damage (see photos) but its structurally sound. There's also a small command hook attached it its left side. There are a few small signs of wear and tear on the outside of it (see photos) and it could probably use a few more nails in its backing but, all-in-all, it's in solid condition. Not sure what the brand/make of this is since I inherited it from the previous tenant but seems to be made of particle board.
While it is free, you'll have to pick it up in Crown Heights, which will also entail carrying it down a 1 floor walkup (no turns though) and a short stoop. It's not too heavy with the drawers and shelf inserts removed though. Definitely something two non-disabled people could carry.
See this craigslist post for photos.
submitted by TheManIsInsane to NYList [link] [comments]
While it is free, you'll have to pick it up in Crown Heights, which will also entail carrying it down a 1 floor walkup (no turns though) and a short stoop. It's not too heavy with the drawers and shelf inserts removed though. Definitely something two non-disabled people could carry.
See this craigslist post for photos.
2023.06.06 21:52 traj250 [FS] [USA] RARE MASSIVE COLLECTION $ALE: Balenci Galore, SI, OW shirts/crew/backpack, Vetm shirts, YZY, Gal Dept, BPE, Haider Ack, BURB, DR x KAWS, VL0NE, GIV Hoodie, LV, MONCLR, J1, AM97, J6, Sacais, FOG 1s, J5 OW, CMN PROJ, TS AJ1/AJ4, Sean Cliver, D!OR B28, R!CK OWENS
WE BACK!!!
What's good fam, back with another gigantic post. Got a metric shit ton of clothes to sell as I have a problem (as you can tell from this post).Will be adding more clothes to this post in the week, stay tuned!
- I'm a vouched seller and have been around since 2015, so operating with Paypal gift
- Please hit me in PMs for questions.
- First come, first serve.
- Flakers get blocked.
Vouch History (since 2017)
- 2 year ago: https://www.reddit.com/RepVouch/comments/fucayf/traj250/
- 4 years ago: https://www.reddit.com/RepVouch/comments/7lk7ns/traj250/
- 5 year ago: https://www.reddit.com/RepVouch/comments/8t6ksq/traj250/
- 6 years ago: https://www.reddit.com/RepVouch/comments/60dx90/utraj250/
All my homies hate Imgur, Google Photos gang. Tag and timestamp in the first linked album.
CLOTHES: https://photos.app.goo.gl/R4qwWtCEFVYWhhjV7
SHOES: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hzXLXbFhpt7Qz6kZ7
ACCESSORIES: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9PYpQr8bwZ7yFDNN8
---
SHIRTS
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RETAIL Rare Bape Hong Kong HK Camo 3rd Year Anniversarysize L (Japanese sizing so tts M-L depending on desired fit)
90 + ship
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Undercover shirt
size 2 (fits S - M)
From my ex, need gone
20 + ship
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RETAIL "Be True" ACG Logo Shirt
size L (fits oversized so more like XL)
45 + ship
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RETAIL Babylon x Off White Shirt
size XL
150 + ship
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VL0NE I Heart ATL Shirt
size XL
40 + ship
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VL0NE Playboy Shirt (green)
size XL (fits L-XL)
30 + ship
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VLNTO Shirt
size XL
40 + ship
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RETAIL Tyler Outsidelands CMIYGL Shirt
size L
100 + ship
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H3LMUT [email protected] Logo Shirt
size XL
35 + ship
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[email protected] [email protected] Blurred Logo Shirt
size XL
35 + ship
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Bape x Chrome Hearts Shirt
size XL (fits L-XL)
brand new, never worn
45 + ship
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V3TMENTS Ferrari Red Shirt
size L (tts or oversized M)
fire collab, rare shirt featuring the classic ferrari motif on front and back
60 + ship
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V3TMENTS The Pirate Bay Shirt
size XL (fits XL - XXL)
Never worn. Phenomenal shirt. Korean/hq chinese batch so print, material, spelling, etc is on point. No rush to sell this, will wear if doesn't sell. (listed for what i paid)
80 + ship
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K!TH Flowers Gardens of the Mind Emboridery Shirt
size XL (fits L-XL)
Nice emboridery and details on this shirt.
35 + ship
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[email protected] DEPT Porsche Shirt
size XL (fits XL-XXL)
65 + ship
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Number N!n(e) 9 Mickey Mouse Shirt
size 2 (fits M to slim L)
45 + ship
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Baby Milo Bape Shirt
size XL (fits L)
Might be retail. Bought from a user who was unsure of authenticity. Don't see a lot of baby milo reps often, so something unique to drip.
40 + ship
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RETAIL Polo College Logo Chest Shirt
size XL (tts)
Great casual drip or a solid present to a friend.
45 + ship
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Nike Real Eyes Realize Shirt
size L (fits L-XL)
Great quality blank and print. New nike product has that a1 sauce that reps haven't gotten yet.
35 + ship
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ENF RCH DEPR (ERD) Blue Judgement Day Shirt
fits M-L
ERD is such a dope brand, but heavily overpriced. This shirt is super nice quality and feels amazing to the touch, it's the high-quality batch. Bought off a user from qReps. Don't sleep on the true drip.
100 + ship
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Palm Angels Mermaid Shirt
size XL (fits XL-XXL)
High quality blank and print. Feels like retail, dont sleep
75 + ship
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Palm Angels Butterfly Button Up
size XL (fits XL-XXL no problem)
This is basically retail. HQ palm angels reps have nailed the designs and material quality that retail uses. Fire piece for summer. Not cheap quality batch that has sizing/print wrong.
85 + ship
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Rhud3 Flamingos Floral Silk Shirt (Green)
size L (fits XL or oversized L)
another summer staple. Will confirm 1:1 gf 2-3 days friend. Was expensive because its a silk and viscose blend which feels phenomenal to touch and fits awesome
90 + ship---
Rhud3 Floral Silk Shirt (Black)
size L (fits XL or oversized L)
Brand new. same as prev quality
100 + ship---
PANTS
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YZY Season 6 Sweatpantssize XL
65 + ship
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SI Sweatpants
grey XL
65 + ship
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R!CK OWNS Berlin Pants
fits XL
Great pair of versatile pants that fit either for lounging around or for fits. Bought off a user who copped off the pink elephant seller or something from qReps. Haven't had a lot of wear on these, but tempted to keep them.
85 + ship
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Haider Perth Sweatpants (Brown)
fits 36-38 (maybe smaller depending on if an oversized fit is desired)
These are amazing. Love the details on the garment. Has a great feel to the touch.
70 + ship
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Cactus JOR Warm-Up Track Pants
size XL
Great pair of pants to wear on top of shorts to go hoop, or even dressed up. Love the attention to detail on this piece too, like the zippered pockets, the tags, as well as a Nike logo and adjustment facilities on the foot cuff.
70 + ship
---RETAIL Nike Tech Fleece Shorts
size XL
These are hella nice utility shorts. Some summer classics.
25 + ship
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[email protected] Colored Camo Shorts
- blue (XXL, fits 36-38)
- purple (XXL, fits 36-38)
Incredibly difficult to find Bape without shark prints, even if looking for just camo or colored camo--haven't seen these for sale ever. These are OG reps that are actually high quality, and that's communicated through details like the tags from the inside of the shorts to the front as well. Don't sleep, these are some of my favorites.
75 + ship each
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[email protected] Reversible Pink Shorts (swimming trunk)
size XL brand new
60 + ship
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RETAIL Bravest Studio LV Camo Shorts
size XXL (fit tts)
Would keep if they were an XL but just a lil too big on me. These are retail and are amazing quality for wearing out or flexing at the gym/while hooping
85 + ship each
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RETAIL Nike ACG Technical Cargo Shorts
- Orange
- Black
- dark grey (mesh pocket)
All size L (adjustable waist) brand new w/tags
Amazing quality shorts. Collect a lot of ACG and these are so good for spring/summer. Lots of pockets and selling for a steal
75 + ship each
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RETAIL Polo Boat Knots Boat Shorts
size L (tts)
40 + ship
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RETAIL Nike ACG Color Essential Shorts (Orange)
size XL brand new w/tags
45 + ship
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Rhud3 Green Shorts
size XL (fits L - XL depending on fit)
Heavy high quality details on this jawn
65 + ship
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Rhud3 Reflective Shorts (Green and Red)
- green
- maroon/red
size XL (fits L-XL)
60 + ship (each)
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GUCC! Lightweight Jersey Material Shorts
size XL
65 + ship
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GUCC! Cloth Stripes Shorts (Stripes on side)
size L
85 + ship
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HOODIE / LONGSLEEVES
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RETAIL Babylon x Off White Longlseevesize XL
180 + ship
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SI Shadow Projects Crewneck
size XL (tts)
85 + ship
Great crewneck, basically brand new.
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RETAIL Supreme Nun Crewneck
size XL
A classic piece. Snag for a steal.
80 + ship
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Rare [email protected] Varsity Jacket
size L
Hard to find bape reps without the shark motif. But this jacket has it all, the details are phenomenal and the print is super unique.
150 + ship
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RETAIL Puma x Ader Anorak
fits XL
80 + ship
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RETAIL Nike ACG Vintage Pullover Anorak (new w/tags)
size XL
150 + ship
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SI Hooded Sweater
size XL (fits L-XL)
60 + ship
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BLCG Embroidery Black Hoodie
size L (fits XL)
100 + ship
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BLCG Maroon Logo Hoodie
size XL
27 in bust, 25 in shoulder and 30 in length
100 + ship
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BALENC!AGA Washed Hoodie
fits XL-XXL
Another amazing hoodie. Feels awesome and looks even better. Has an awesome fit, that layers well with jackets on top or can be worn by itself. I believe it's Amy batch iirc.
100 + ship
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K!TH x TOMMY H!LFIGER Reversible Jacket
size XL (tts)
150 + ship
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BURB3RRY Blue Anorak
size XL (tts)
150 + ship
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BLCG Elephant Windbreaker
fits XL - XXL
Nice color blocking with the grey, black and red highlights, this piece is of phenomenal quality. I believe the BTS user I bought off of said it was either reon or Amy batch, can't remember which, but it was one of the two as they were the one's making the high-quality reps of this. Haven't worn this at all, still brand new.
170 + ship
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SI 3M Hoodie
fits XL-XXL
Great hoodie, versatile and nice stone island detailing.
65 + ship
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BALENC!AGA ANORAK JACKET
size XL - XXL depending on desired fit
As worn by Travis Scott. Amazing older balenciaga piece, haven't seen around sub or anything for sale. Also very tempted to keep this.
200 + ship
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BALENC!AGA Padded Flannel
Size 52 (fits L-XL)
This is reon's 300$ batch, never worn by me. Just been posted in my closet. Details and feeling of materials are immaculate on this, the Koreans know what they are doing about reps fr.
300 + ship
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[email protected] G00SE Expedition Parka
size XXL (fits tts XL, or slimmer XXL depending on desired fit)
Amazing jacket. Get a lot of compliments on this piece. Tempted to keep it for this upcoming winter, but have too many jackets! Definitely a trooper of a jacket. Also, the attention to details on this replica parallels retail CG, from the fuzzy pockets to keep your hands warm when its cold as bricks
300 + ship
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GUCC! Tracksuit Jacket
size XL tts
80 + ship
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KAPITAL Sweater
size L (fits M-L)
Awesome knit pattern. Fits awesome
100 + ship
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Rhud3 Green Zip-up Hoodie
fits L
High quality zippers and quality of materials
85 + ship
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G!VENCHY Light Blue hoodie
size XL tts
100 + ship
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Human Mad3 x Lil Uzi Vert
size L (tts L - slim XL)
Brand new w/bag
75 + ship
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Arc'teryx Beta AR Jacket Maroon
size XL
85 + ship
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RETAIL Call me if You Get Lost Merch
- brown hoodie (100 + ship)
- brown workers jacket (150 + ship)
Brand new. Bought from Seattle tour
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Harley Davidson Zip Up Vintage hoodie
size L (fits L-XL)
65 + ship
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[email protected] Fleece Anorak
size L
75 + ship
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ACCESSORIES
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SUP x TNF Compass (new)25 + ship
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SUP Dollar Chain (new, mainly trade)
75 + ship
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Chrom3 Hearts Wallet Chain
Brand new, never worn. Listed for what I paid.
200 + ship
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Chrom3 Hearts Bead Bracelet
Real silver in this jawn. Nice ass piece.
70 + ship
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GUCC! Ghost Thick Ring
size 9 or so iirc
Great quality silver ring. Feels very solid and features iconic Gucci ghost print.
50 + ship
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[email protected] x Jam Home Made Ring
RARE and super dope piece. Haven't seen this around in sooooo long, bought off taobao circa 2017. From the deep vaults of my personal collection
80 + ship
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CH Ring 1 (listed in order on google photos)
50 + ship
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CH Ring 2 (listed in order on google photos)
50 + ship
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CH Ring 3 (listed in order on google photos)
50 + ship
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CH Ring 4 (listed in order on google photos)
50 + ship
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CH Safety Pin
45 + ship
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GCCI Ghost Chain
Ah, a classic staple piece. In phenomenal condition and can go with any fit, whether dressing up or regularly wearing.
85 + ship
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LUIV x Virgil Silver Bracelet
Great bracelet, wore it to a few parties, defo gets attention, esp under proper lighting. Still got a lot of wear left in it.
45 + ship
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LUIV x SUP Belt (New Darcy batch)
size 38
150 + ship
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LUIV Bandana/Scarf
60 + ship
---HERM3S Blanket
Great quality piece. Never used, only kept in storage. Was planning to give it as a gift to my ex (lol). Rare piece, hard to find. The stitching is awesome, the material feels good, and no visible flaws in the pattern.
200 + ship
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SI 3M Reflective Tactical Vest (new)
150 + ship
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OW Backpack (new)
Brand new, never used. Details on this are phenomenal. Had retail off white backpack and the rep does an amazing job from the zippers to the pockets and different storage facilities in the bag.
200 + ship
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D!OR Backpack (new)
Brand new and never worn.
70 + ship
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AM!RI Bandana Silk Keychain
Super nice quality keychain. This thing feels amazing!!! Love the silk on this. Perfect to add to an outfit as an accessory or to a satchel or backpack.
60 + ship
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OW Rubber Belt
O/S
35 + ship
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D!OR Bookbag
O/S
85 + ship
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LV Mini Soft Trunk Monogram Eclipse Black
Brand new w/all accessories.
180 + ship
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RETAIL Bape Pink Side Bag
100 + ship
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LV Fragment Apollo backpack
200 + ship
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Arc'teryx Collab Maka Bag
brand new w/tags
Copped off grailed for a trip but it arrived too late.
100 + ship
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LV Keepall Duffle 55
250 + ship
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RETAIL OVO x Klean Kanteen
Brand new. Copped from vancouver store and never used. Super nice quality bottle, KK makes great bottles
40 + ship
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SHOES
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RETAIL AM97size 13
120 + ship
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J0RDAN 1 Turbo Green
size 12
120 + ship
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[email protected] x NK LD Waffle (Grey)
size 13
130 + ship
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J0RDAN 6 Maroon
size 12
90 + ship
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[email protected] N!KE LD Waffle (Grey)
size 12
85 + ship
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N!KE Dunk Low - Medium Curry
size 12
Great pair of shoes, go with a lot of different outfits. Very versatile and dope pair of shoes.
75 + ship
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N!KE Blazer OW Wolf Grey Serena Queen
size 13
85 + ship
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FOG Oatmeal 1s
size 12
have accessories bag, basically new
170 + ship
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D!OR STUS B27 (white and black)
size 45 (fits 11-12)
80 + ship
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UB Creme 1.0
size 12
65 + ship
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HR Hindi Core White NMD
size 12
65 + ship
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OW AF1 Volt
size 12
65 + ship
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J1 Mocha
size 13
100 + ship
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D!OR B27 (red)
size 45 (fits 11-12)
120 + ship
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C0MM0N PROJECT Achilles Heel
size 46 (12-13)
80 + ship
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J0RDAN 4 Laser Black Gum
size 12
80 + ship
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Kanye West [email protected]
size 12
300 + ship
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N!keCraft Mars Yard Tom Sachs
size 12
150 + ship
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R!CK Owens Ramones
size 45 (fits 11-11.5)
120 + ship
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R!CK OWENS Dunks Daft Batch - Dust Colorway
size 47 (US 12 - 13 depending on the desired fit)
Daft's batch, enough said. Haven't worn these, have too many shoes. Bought for 400 + shipping fees off a user on BST.
350 + ship
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RETAIL New Balance 2002R
size 12
Brand new, grab for a steal
120 + ship
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2023.06.06 21:51 TheManIsInsane Giving Away A Wardrobe/Storage Cabinet
Not sure if this is allowed here but figured I'd try since this is for free. Let me if not know mods!
I've got a white wardrobe/storage cabinet (71" height x 31" width x 19.5" depth) that I'm looking to get rid of, for completely free. It's divided into two compartments length-wise at the top and has two medium-sized drawers at the bottom. The left sided vertical compartment has three movable shelves and the right has a small hangbar that's about 15" wide. As for the drawers, they glide in and out smoothly but one of them has a few spots of water damage (see photos) but its structurally sound. There's also a small command hook attached it its left side. There are a few small signs of wear and tear on the outside of it (see photos) and it could probably use a few more nails in its backing but, all-in-all, it's in solid condition. Not sure what the brand/make of this is since I inherited it from the previous tenant but seems to be made of particle board.
While it is free, you'll have to pick it up, which will also entail carrying it down a 1 floor walkup (no turns though) and a short stoop. It's not too heavy with the drawers and shelf inserts removed though. Definitely something two non-disabled people could carry.
See this craigslist post for photos.
submitted by TheManIsInsane to crownheights [link] [comments]
I've got a white wardrobe/storage cabinet (71" height x 31" width x 19.5" depth) that I'm looking to get rid of, for completely free. It's divided into two compartments length-wise at the top and has two medium-sized drawers at the bottom. The left sided vertical compartment has three movable shelves and the right has a small hangbar that's about 15" wide. As for the drawers, they glide in and out smoothly but one of them has a few spots of water damage (see photos) but its structurally sound. There's also a small command hook attached it its left side. There are a few small signs of wear and tear on the outside of it (see photos) and it could probably use a few more nails in its backing but, all-in-all, it's in solid condition. Not sure what the brand/make of this is since I inherited it from the previous tenant but seems to be made of particle board.
While it is free, you'll have to pick it up, which will also entail carrying it down a 1 floor walkup (no turns though) and a short stoop. It's not too heavy with the drawers and shelf inserts removed though. Definitely something two non-disabled people could carry.
See this craigslist post for photos.
2023.06.06 21:50 TheManIsInsane Giving Away A Wardrobe/Storage Cabinet
Not sure if this is allowed here but figured I'd try since this is for free. Let me if not know mods!
I've got a white wardrobe/storage cabinet (71" height x 31" width x 19.5" depth) that I'm looking to get rid of, for completely free. It's divided into two compartments length-wise at the top and has two medium-sized drawers at the bottom. The left sided vertical compartment has three movable shelves and the right has a small hangbar that's about 15" wide. As for the drawers, they glide in and out smoothly but one of them has a few spots of water damage (see photos) but its structurally sound. There's also a small command hook attached it its left side. There are a few small signs of wear and tear on the outside of it (see photos) and it could probably use a few more nails in its backing but, all-in-all, it's in solid condition. Not sure what the brand/make of this is since I inherited it from the previous tenant but seems to be made of particle board.
While it is free, you'll have to pick it up in Crown Heights, which will also entail carrying it down a 1 floor walkup (no turns though) and a short stoop. It's not too heavy with the drawers and shelf inserts removed though. Definitely something two non-disabled people could carry.
See this craigslist post for photos.
submitted by TheManIsInsane to Brooklyn [link] [comments]
I've got a white wardrobe/storage cabinet (71" height x 31" width x 19.5" depth) that I'm looking to get rid of, for completely free. It's divided into two compartments length-wise at the top and has two medium-sized drawers at the bottom. The left sided vertical compartment has three movable shelves and the right has a small hangbar that's about 15" wide. As for the drawers, they glide in and out smoothly but one of them has a few spots of water damage (see photos) but its structurally sound. There's also a small command hook attached it its left side. There are a few small signs of wear and tear on the outside of it (see photos) and it could probably use a few more nails in its backing but, all-in-all, it's in solid condition. Not sure what the brand/make of this is since I inherited it from the previous tenant but seems to be made of particle board.
While it is free, you'll have to pick it up in Crown Heights, which will also entail carrying it down a 1 floor walkup (no turns though) and a short stoop. It's not too heavy with the drawers and shelf inserts removed though. Definitely something two non-disabled people could carry.
See this craigslist post for photos.
2023.06.06 21:21 Historical-Try-7683 questioning if i’m a system
the more i read about OSDD the more i see myself in it. ive talked to a couple close friends and therapists about it but i’ve been met with a level of skepticism that is understandable but not necessarily helpful. in contrast when i tell my girlfriend who has DID about some of my experiences she relates, even enthusiastically. we started dating about 5 months ago and i started to read a little bit about did. at the same time i’ve been going through my own journey with identity, trama, and disassociation. i think meeting her has definitely been a catalyst for some of this. i was aware i had some kind of disassociative disorder since childhood and i know for sure i have cptsd but i started to ask more questions about my own dissociative disorder about a month ago, after being badly triggered. the other side is that i’ve finally gotten to a safe place about a year and a half ago and i’ve spent a lot of that time finally being able to process that trauma. so im afraid i’m going through some denial/uncertainty. i’m nervous to tell my girlfriend just yet, and i feel like it might be helpful to hear the opinions of other systems.
so now i’ll get a lil into some of the details. i won’t go into everything because it’s really a lot. yesterday i filled 6 or 7 page’s of things that suggest the possibility of being a system.
after being badly triggered i had a day where i blacked out most of the day. i suspected i had ran an errand and my therapist suggested i look at my bank statement. when i did i remembered some of the things that happened but only in the 3rd person. i actually did a lot, it was a busy day by any standard. my memory is of being very distressed and disassociated but i’m watching myself function on a level that exceeds my masking ability and my own executive function on a good day. i have autism, adhd, and acute dyslexia resulting in terrible executive function and it makes this very difficult to explain.
shortly after this i told my therapist how affective and calming it was to speak to my inner child during a crisis. they told me about IFS. i started to discover parts, and this is when i really started to suspect that there might be a lil more than CPTSD.
i’m a trans woman and i’ve noticed that my memories of when i presented as male are almost all in the 3rd person but my memories of presenting femme are all in the first person.
i also have a near constant dialog with a voice in my head. it usually takes on the voice of people in supportive relationships in my life. it doesn’t say much but it can be critical, and it asks a lot of questions. it’s always analytical, logical, and fairly stoic. it seems to help me process my thoughts and feelings. i speak with them so much, i spend hours a day pacing around my house having discussions with them.
i noticed in the last year that i sometimes have two streams of consciousness. it doesn’t last long and it can be difficult to focus on one or the other. i initially brushed it off and kind of assumed it was normal
yesterday i really leaned into my doubts about it and heard an agitated voice tell me how stupid and annoying that i feel this way.
a part also wanted me to tell my girlfriend not to do this thing that is triggering to us. i couldn’t imagine her doing something like that but it seemed important to tell her anyway, so i did.
theres a lot of other stuff and it pretty much nails the cptsd diagnosis but a lot of the cptsd experience seems to fall short of explaining what i feel like is agency in some of my parts. i’m trying to be patient but i we’re a lil frustrated with the process at times. i want answers and my parts sometimes feel alienated by my questions, but my history of ignoring their needs to focus on external pressures.
it’s easy for me to rationalize things and explain them through autism or dyslexia.i also struggle with imposter syndrome which is particularly not helpful part of me is fine with not having definitive answers, kinda like if it’s working why question it so much. but part of me also wants some external validation, especially considering my anxiety about what that means for my relationship with my GF.
any input is greatly appreciated 😊
submitted by Historical-Try-7683 to OSDD [link] [comments]
so now i’ll get a lil into some of the details. i won’t go into everything because it’s really a lot. yesterday i filled 6 or 7 page’s of things that suggest the possibility of being a system.
after being badly triggered i had a day where i blacked out most of the day. i suspected i had ran an errand and my therapist suggested i look at my bank statement. when i did i remembered some of the things that happened but only in the 3rd person. i actually did a lot, it was a busy day by any standard. my memory is of being very distressed and disassociated but i’m watching myself function on a level that exceeds my masking ability and my own executive function on a good day. i have autism, adhd, and acute dyslexia resulting in terrible executive function and it makes this very difficult to explain.
shortly after this i told my therapist how affective and calming it was to speak to my inner child during a crisis. they told me about IFS. i started to discover parts, and this is when i really started to suspect that there might be a lil more than CPTSD.
i’m a trans woman and i’ve noticed that my memories of when i presented as male are almost all in the 3rd person but my memories of presenting femme are all in the first person.
i also have a near constant dialog with a voice in my head. it usually takes on the voice of people in supportive relationships in my life. it doesn’t say much but it can be critical, and it asks a lot of questions. it’s always analytical, logical, and fairly stoic. it seems to help me process my thoughts and feelings. i speak with them so much, i spend hours a day pacing around my house having discussions with them.
i noticed in the last year that i sometimes have two streams of consciousness. it doesn’t last long and it can be difficult to focus on one or the other. i initially brushed it off and kind of assumed it was normal
yesterday i really leaned into my doubts about it and heard an agitated voice tell me how stupid and annoying that i feel this way.
a part also wanted me to tell my girlfriend not to do this thing that is triggering to us. i couldn’t imagine her doing something like that but it seemed important to tell her anyway, so i did.
theres a lot of other stuff and it pretty much nails the cptsd diagnosis but a lot of the cptsd experience seems to fall short of explaining what i feel like is agency in some of my parts. i’m trying to be patient but i we’re a lil frustrated with the process at times. i want answers and my parts sometimes feel alienated by my questions, but my history of ignoring their needs to focus on external pressures.
it’s easy for me to rationalize things and explain them through autism or dyslexia.i also struggle with imposter syndrome which is particularly not helpful part of me is fine with not having definitive answers, kinda like if it’s working why question it so much. but part of me also wants some external validation, especially considering my anxiety about what that means for my relationship with my GF.
any input is greatly appreciated 😊
2023.06.06 21:18 bananacandy24680 What are my options for nails?
I am wondering about cosmetic options, not lifestyle ones.
I have very short and brittle nails which are entirely genetic. I have had them since I was a little kid. I eat well, and get regular blood tests to make sure I am getting adequate nutrients, and I am. I have also tried many different supplements, so I wan't to hear my options for improving the look of my nails through soft-maxing.
Currently, I moisturize like crazy. At night, I use Vaseline and sleep with gloves on. I hear urea cream is supposed to be great for nails, but unfortunately I haven't yet heard of a vegan brand, so I have to hold out on that until I find one. Most importantly is I try to avoid warm water as much as I can.
I got little baby-length gel extensions once, and I loved how long they lasted, but I had a very hard time with them as I use my hands a lot and am very sensitive to things on my body, so I was not able to adapt to them.
I find normal nail polish lasts about 1-2 days before it chips, while gel lasts 5-6. Gel polish makes my nails worse off than they are naturally, which is okay as long as I keep it up, but its always a messy end result doing my own gel nails on my right hand and going to the salon 1-2 times a week is not feasible.
What other options do I have?
submitted by bananacandy24680 to Splendida [link] [comments]
I have very short and brittle nails which are entirely genetic. I have had them since I was a little kid. I eat well, and get regular blood tests to make sure I am getting adequate nutrients, and I am. I have also tried many different supplements, so I wan't to hear my options for improving the look of my nails through soft-maxing.
Currently, I moisturize like crazy. At night, I use Vaseline and sleep with gloves on. I hear urea cream is supposed to be great for nails, but unfortunately I haven't yet heard of a vegan brand, so I have to hold out on that until I find one. Most importantly is I try to avoid warm water as much as I can.
I got little baby-length gel extensions once, and I loved how long they lasted, but I had a very hard time with them as I use my hands a lot and am very sensitive to things on my body, so I was not able to adapt to them.
I find normal nail polish lasts about 1-2 days before it chips, while gel lasts 5-6. Gel polish makes my nails worse off than they are naturally, which is okay as long as I keep it up, but its always a messy end result doing my own gel nails on my right hand and going to the salon 1-2 times a week is not feasible.
What other options do I have?
2023.06.06 20:19 Verrgasm On The Borders Of Madness
Lora Jones gazed blankly into the forest as she sat alone, knees hugged tightly to her chest, almost forgetting the uncomfortable flaking boards of the porch beneath her. The air was still and deathly quiet, and an indeterminable stirring had drawn the girl outside; cutting through the silence as if calling directly to her. Lora listened intently, intermittently escaping her daydreams to scan the treeline in hopes of encountering something unreal. Something different. Better.
The feeling of being watched was one Lora never found respite from, but as she sat there perched on the porch’s top step the understanding that this wasn’t of the usual malevolence that stalked her wherever she went seemed almost inherently undeniable. This presence was one of positive intent. Soothing, like the mother she’d never had but always longed for.
Lora tentatively got to her feet, the bare skin of her soles rubbing against the moist evening grass, still wet from the prior day's soft rain. As she was about to turn and go back inside, the forest cried out to her in an ethereal, desperate wail. But only ever so briefly. The girl froze, unsure of herself despite the deep, revelrous rays of affection pulsing and radiating from within the trees. She desperately wished to explore, to become one with it all, however her father had expressly forbade her from any such excursions beyond the property’s borders. Especially past the treeline, into those woods that may as well stretch on until the end of the universe. Lora knew what the consequences could be if she were to disobey.
The rusted hinges of the wooden front door creaked and with its closure disappeared anything resembling warmth or hope. Simply cold, fetid air; tainted by the stale musk of Lora’s father as he sat slumped, dozing in his chair. Lora crept across the floorboards, each squeaking almost as if to spite her. Her father stirred, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Lora gripped the knob of her bedroom door, twisting it ever so slowly so as to not make another sound, but it was too late. She turned, stifling a scream as she saw him swaying in the hallway towards her.
“Where do you think you’re going, girl?”
Lora’s father’s breath stank, and it was all she could do but to gag when he stuck his tongue down her throat. The bedroom door clicked behind them, and in her mind Lora went to the forest. She didn’t return until it was long over, but even then she was only half present. Her thoughts reduced to little more than grating static. Lora resolved through the fog that it was time to be free from all the nastiness of her homelife, even if it meant starvation or being ravaged by some sick wild animal. One with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws. Anything would be better than staying there, in that decrepit old cabin on the border of the ancient woods. That horrid, ramshackled shack on the cusp of the forest that breathes.
Lora awoke, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she caught her reflection in the grime-smudged bathroom mirror she couldn’t help but vomit, holding her long dark hair back with one hand while gripping the seat with the other; grasping onto it like someone on the verge of falling. Tight enough to make her fingers ache. She washed her face, then, trembling, crept down the hallway into the living room. Her father’s chair sat empty. The television, off. The fridge was devoid of alcohol, explaining his absence. Unfortunately the cupboards were barren as well, and the young girl’s stomach growled in its emptiness. She settled on the crumbs remaining in an old box of off-brand sugary cereal, the sweetness of which tasted strangely bitter.
As Lora looked absently through her wardrobe for something to wear, she remembered the vow she’d made to herself in the night. About how she’d be freed from this nightmare, one way or another. A flash of vengeful determination made its home in the depths of her gut and it spread until she was no longer acting with conscious thought, snatching a black trash bag and stuffing clothes and keepsakes inside. Lora’s eyes glistened as she rubbed the friendship bracelet between her fingers before sliding it onto her wrist, trying to recall the face of the friend that’d given it to her all those years ago. She couldn’t, and her desire to escape grew ten-fold. Anger was overtaken by remorse and then dread before coalescing into an anxiety-ridden desperation. Looking over the bottles of medication atop the dresser, Lora sent them rattling to the floor with a shriek. Just another set of cogs in the terrible machine that made her feel so awfully hollow. She wouldn’t need them anymore, Lora told herself. Not where she was going.
Her father had locked the front door behind him, a cruel attempt to keep his daughter captive. Luckily for her, Lora had learned many useful things during her confinement. Like how to pick the lock. She removed the pin from her hair before retrieving a thin sewing needle, getting to work. He could be back any minute. A long, increasingly tense struggle ensued as Lora strained to find her way through the locking mechanism; dark as it was inside with all the windows boarded up, allowing in only thin slivers of sunlight. Finally, she felt the click. But her joy was as short-lived as any other feeling considered to be good. Lora shivered with the rumble of her father’s truck as it rolled into the gravel driveway. When he found out what she’d done, anything could happen.
Without another thought or even a look over her shoulder, Lora flung the door open so hard that the wood splintered against the frame and she burst through the threshold, abandoning her bagged-up belongings on the filthy living room carpet. Her sneakers connected with the overgrown grass of the yard before meeting the somehow tamer undergrowth of the forest floor for the very first time. Lora kept running, and she didn’t stop until her father’s furious screams faded deep into the distance behind her. Then, she ran some more.
‘Lost’ was the wrong word, because as confused in her surroundings as she was, Lora felt her trepidations slowly recede into the background. Unseen birds chirped overhead amongst the treetops, welcoming her. Encouraging her to go on. So, she did. She walked for miles through that inviting brush, all laid bare before her as if the very spirit of the forest itself were parting every obstacle in her path, and yet her legs didn’t tire, not at all. A smile quite unlike any other she’d expressed in a long time found itself upon her face. Every breath felt like heaven. The air, sweet and intensely lovely; scented like fresh pine and whipped cream. Everything, Lora felt in that long, perfect stroll among the undulating swathes of greens and browns, everything was going to be alright. Afterall, with a feeling that good, how could anything possibly be bad?
The sun hung fixed above, beaming down from the center of the cloudless, blue sky. By the time Lora realized that it hadn’t and refused to move since the start of her escape, she had begun to notice other curious things about the forest as well. Like how the densely wooded landscape had steadily and subtly changed. The ambience seemed tinged, almost. A sepia-like tone washed over the plants and trees so that all appeared almost entirely brown, punctuated by the dark silhouetted blacks of branches and leaves. They writhed, indistinguishable from one another. Still, her joyous sense of adventurous freedom had hardly faltered and Lora continued on, becoming evermore aware that the path ahead was becoming increasingly treacherous. Thorn-covered thickets threatened to claw at her skin, penetrating the denim of her jeans and scratching at the pale flesh underneath. Lora grew timid in her steps, becoming disenchanted in the forest’s solitude.
For the first time since she’d stepped foot in those woods, Lora stopped, and knew instantly that she was utterly alone. It crushed her, sending the girl to the floor. She sobbed quietly to herself, feeling the pine needles dig into her hands as she grasped at the earth. As she was on the verge of giving up and simply laying down to die, she looked to her left and saw them a foot from her reddened, tear-streaked face. A bush, packed full of ripe blackberries, as appetizing as anything she’d ever seen. Lora ravenously wolfed down more than she could count, as quickly as she could pick them, and after a nourishing feast she lay with her back against the nearest tree where she slept like a baby. Someone uncorrupted.
When Lora opened her eyes, she saw to her surprise that the sun remained unmoved. The area around her had once again changed in hue though, from the sickening reddish-brown to one of a much more affable pink appearance. Sparkling particles danced and winked through the lush clearing ahead, leading the way. The air now tasted sugary, like Halloween candy. Lora couldn’t remember the last time she’d been allowed to go trick-or-treating. Maybe she never even had to begin with. Every sad recollection and vicious intrusive thought slid right off the young girl as she concentrated on the soft crunches her feet made and nothing else, unable to touch her. Eventually, when Lora had to stop once more to regain her bearings - having abandoned a linear path hours before - she realized to her stunned delight that the woods weren’t quite as empty as she’d previously thought.
Through a gap in the trees, past an impassable grouping of thorny thickets, Lora spied a congregation of creatures that she couldn’t quite explain. Even to herself, even though they inspired no fear, their nonsensical appearance left her paralyzed beyond reproach; completely frozen where she stood, and yet grinning ear-to-ear. Cooling themselves from the heat of the summer sun in the shade of a monolithic toadstool, fluttered a peaceful assortment of strange winged women surrounded by translucent stubby things whose jovial laughing mouths led to no innards. Frogs the size of cows croaked from the sidelines and other ineffable beasts hunched and clung to the taller branches above. Lora yearned to join the scene, to be among friendly faces, but she innately understood that were she to call out, they wouldn’t hear her. Let alone begin to understand. Crestfallen in her exclusion, but invigorated by the magical presence she now knew to truly exist, Lora went on her way. Hopeful of meeting someone or something that could take her pain away, if only for a little while.
The tinny brass screech of horns bellowed in the distance, but from which direction, she didn’t know. Contrary to everything she’d learned from books about wilderness survival, wandering aimlessly proved to be the correct approach, and Lora found herself looking in on another group. Who, this time, seemed much more humanoid in appearance, for the most part. Men and women, of over two dozen in number and all intricately clothed in ornate robes and dresses as if attending some grand ball and not just a clearing in the woods stood around, enjoying one another's company. Dwarves pottered about, shrilly chuckling with each other over the din as the brass players began to toot a song likely never before heard by mortal ears that even the sunflowers seemed to dance along to. It was beautiful. To Lora, at least. The partygoers seemed nonplussed by the sweet sounds, going about their conversations and business as if they’d heard them every day of their infinite lifespan. A sickly stream of opaque, swirling orange fog separated the two parties, and again Lora knew that her pleading shouts would have no effect on the beings should she try to call out to them. Distraught, she staggered away, crippled by the dreadful loneliness which was now very much unbearable.
She wandered as if in a daze; unthinking, unfeeling. Ready to perish. The air, once sweet and warm, had turned bitterly sour and in her terror Lora craned her neck to the sky, shivering, and saw that the sun had vanished. The perfect blue sea above had begun to degenerate, turning darker by the second. It exuded an implied emptiness, devoid of stars, as if everything she had felt and seen was all just some cruel joke played by no-one. A thick, miasmic fog began to form around her, and the trees grew less dense and full of audible life. The fetid stench rising up from the swamp was intoxicating. Sickening. Lora’s belly rumbled, begging for food as if it hadn’t ever been full, and she began to weep once more, imploring some vague altruistic force to save her from her torment. She screamed into the blackened sky until her bone-dry throat stung and she could scream no longer.
Then, as quickly as she’d entered, she was no longer among trees, surrounded by the vastness of an unending and desolate desert. Lora didn’t care. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder to see what she’d left behind, she simply continued forward; unable to go on any other way. A violent wind was picking up, carrying clouds of coarse gray dust which slashed at the girl’s eyes. The dunes stretched onto the horizon in patterns that seemed to repeat infinitely and they had nothing to offer except for slow and excruciating death; a suffocating abyss.
Lora’s knees were long since weary, buckling under her meager weight, but she didn’t stop. Even though the cold, dead sand looked like a fine enough place to fall asleep for the last time. As one leg gave out and she tumbled to the ashen desert floor, Lora stared glaringly into the distance; searching for something deadly that might have the courtesy to look her in the eyes before it killed her. She saw no great and hungry beast with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws ready to devour what was left of her, but an ocean instead. Black and unforgiving. Lora lurched in its direction, and found herself on the shore. Ahead, around an arched rock formation of inexplicable nature, danced a number of fairies, male and female; waving their sparkling wands freely as if entirely without inhibition with their pale white skin exposed for all to see. Cherubs writhed floating in a congealed mass above the figures atop the formation; a loving family, crowned in shining white light. The beings reveled soundlessly as Lora watched on, still observing with fascination even as her body gave in to her exhaustion and she collapsed onto the brittle, jagged rocks at her feet. The divine group seemed to take notice of her then, and some laughed at her misfortune. Others whispered mocking jeers which stabbed at Lora, at her very being, even worse than the inhospitable ground she’d fallen onto. The insults became less direct and softer, but still impossibly cruel. They said cryptic, confusing things like ‘This one’s still breathing.’ and ‘Get her out of here.’ Lora knew that she wasn’t wanted. Not there, or anywhere else. The entire world seemed to throb in and out in a deep wavering much like the ripples on the dark, impenetrable sea and the young girl felt hands on her. Picking her up. Delivering her.
Flashes became another place entirely, until finally Lora could see again. She was at home, being lifted out by strange men. Scorching blue lights streaked her vision through the slats of rotting wood nailed to the windows and a wailing enveloped the night, drawing closer. More sirens. As she passed through the living room, Lora saw her father. All sticky and red in the face. Crushed. Glued to his chair, and bashed in. In that sinking, numbed moment that seemed to stretch on into infinity, the girl knew that the overdose she’d taken hadn’t worked, and that she wouldn’t be free. That they were going to bring her back, so that she could pay for what she’d done. Empty pill bottles littered the carpet along with the stained-brown wraps of her father’s stash, mingling with the usual cluttered garbage. It hadn’t been enough, it could never be enough. But as the blinding white light of the ambulance's interior swallowed her, Lora felt herself slipping away. She fell backwards, forever, and while the paramedics hurried about their duty and their desperate pleas became less and less clear, Lora was glad that it was all finally over.
submitted by Verrgasm to libraryofshadows [link] [comments]
The feeling of being watched was one Lora never found respite from, but as she sat there perched on the porch’s top step the understanding that this wasn’t of the usual malevolence that stalked her wherever she went seemed almost inherently undeniable. This presence was one of positive intent. Soothing, like the mother she’d never had but always longed for.
Lora tentatively got to her feet, the bare skin of her soles rubbing against the moist evening grass, still wet from the prior day's soft rain. As she was about to turn and go back inside, the forest cried out to her in an ethereal, desperate wail. But only ever so briefly. The girl froze, unsure of herself despite the deep, revelrous rays of affection pulsing and radiating from within the trees. She desperately wished to explore, to become one with it all, however her father had expressly forbade her from any such excursions beyond the property’s borders. Especially past the treeline, into those woods that may as well stretch on until the end of the universe. Lora knew what the consequences could be if she were to disobey.
The rusted hinges of the wooden front door creaked and with its closure disappeared anything resembling warmth or hope. Simply cold, fetid air; tainted by the stale musk of Lora’s father as he sat slumped, dozing in his chair. Lora crept across the floorboards, each squeaking almost as if to spite her. Her father stirred, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Lora gripped the knob of her bedroom door, twisting it ever so slowly so as to not make another sound, but it was too late. She turned, stifling a scream as she saw him swaying in the hallway towards her.
“Where do you think you’re going, girl?”
Lora’s father’s breath stank, and it was all she could do but to gag when he stuck his tongue down her throat. The bedroom door clicked behind them, and in her mind Lora went to the forest. She didn’t return until it was long over, but even then she was only half present. Her thoughts reduced to little more than grating static. Lora resolved through the fog that it was time to be free from all the nastiness of her homelife, even if it meant starvation or being ravaged by some sick wild animal. One with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws. Anything would be better than staying there, in that decrepit old cabin on the border of the ancient woods. That horrid, ramshackled shack on the cusp of the forest that breathes.
Lora awoke, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she caught her reflection in the grime-smudged bathroom mirror she couldn’t help but vomit, holding her long dark hair back with one hand while gripping the seat with the other; grasping onto it like someone on the verge of falling. Tight enough to make her fingers ache. She washed her face, then, trembling, crept down the hallway into the living room. Her father’s chair sat empty. The television, off. The fridge was devoid of alcohol, explaining his absence. Unfortunately the cupboards were barren as well, and the young girl’s stomach growled in its emptiness. She settled on the crumbs remaining in an old box of off-brand sugary cereal, the sweetness of which tasted strangely bitter.
As Lora looked absently through her wardrobe for something to wear, she remembered the vow she’d made to herself in the night. About how she’d be freed from this nightmare, one way or another. A flash of vengeful determination made its home in the depths of her gut and it spread until she was no longer acting with conscious thought, snatching a black trash bag and stuffing clothes and keepsakes inside. Lora’s eyes glistened as she rubbed the friendship bracelet between her fingers before sliding it onto her wrist, trying to recall the face of the friend that’d given it to her all those years ago. She couldn’t, and her desire to escape grew ten-fold. Anger was overtaken by remorse and then dread before coalescing into an anxiety-ridden desperation. Looking over the bottles of medication atop the dresser, Lora sent them rattling to the floor with a shriek. Just another set of cogs in the terrible machine that made her feel so awfully hollow. She wouldn’t need them anymore, Lora told herself. Not where she was going.
Her father had locked the front door behind him, a cruel attempt to keep his daughter captive. Luckily for her, Lora had learned many useful things during her confinement. Like how to pick the lock. She removed the pin from her hair before retrieving a thin sewing needle, getting to work. He could be back any minute. A long, increasingly tense struggle ensued as Lora strained to find her way through the locking mechanism; dark as it was inside with all the windows boarded up, allowing in only thin slivers of sunlight. Finally, she felt the click. But her joy was as short-lived as any other feeling considered to be good. Lora shivered with the rumble of her father’s truck as it rolled into the gravel driveway. When he found out what she’d done, anything could happen.
Without another thought or even a look over her shoulder, Lora flung the door open so hard that the wood splintered against the frame and she burst through the threshold, abandoning her bagged-up belongings on the filthy living room carpet. Her sneakers connected with the overgrown grass of the yard before meeting the somehow tamer undergrowth of the forest floor for the very first time. Lora kept running, and she didn’t stop until her father’s furious screams faded deep into the distance behind her. Then, she ran some more.
‘Lost’ was the wrong word, because as confused in her surroundings as she was, Lora felt her trepidations slowly recede into the background. Unseen birds chirped overhead amongst the treetops, welcoming her. Encouraging her to go on. So, she did. She walked for miles through that inviting brush, all laid bare before her as if the very spirit of the forest itself were parting every obstacle in her path, and yet her legs didn’t tire, not at all. A smile quite unlike any other she’d expressed in a long time found itself upon her face. Every breath felt like heaven. The air, sweet and intensely lovely; scented like fresh pine and whipped cream. Everything, Lora felt in that long, perfect stroll among the undulating swathes of greens and browns, everything was going to be alright. Afterall, with a feeling that good, how could anything possibly be bad?
The sun hung fixed above, beaming down from the center of the cloudless, blue sky. By the time Lora realized that it hadn’t and refused to move since the start of her escape, she had begun to notice other curious things about the forest as well. Like how the densely wooded landscape had steadily and subtly changed. The ambience seemed tinged, almost. A sepia-like tone washed over the plants and trees so that all appeared almost entirely brown, punctuated by the dark silhouetted blacks of branches and leaves. They writhed, indistinguishable from one another. Still, her joyous sense of adventurous freedom had hardly faltered and Lora continued on, becoming evermore aware that the path ahead was becoming increasingly treacherous. Thorn-covered thickets threatened to claw at her skin, penetrating the denim of her jeans and scratching at the pale flesh underneath. Lora grew timid in her steps, becoming disenchanted in the forest’s solitude.
For the first time since she’d stepped foot in those woods, Lora stopped, and knew instantly that she was utterly alone. It crushed her, sending the girl to the floor. She sobbed quietly to herself, feeling the pine needles dig into her hands as she grasped at the earth. As she was on the verge of giving up and simply laying down to die, she looked to her left and saw them a foot from her reddened, tear-streaked face. A bush, packed full of ripe blackberries, as appetizing as anything she’d ever seen. Lora ravenously wolfed down more than she could count, as quickly as she could pick them, and after a nourishing feast she lay with her back against the nearest tree where she slept like a baby. Someone uncorrupted.
When Lora opened her eyes, she saw to her surprise that the sun remained unmoved. The area around her had once again changed in hue though, from the sickening reddish-brown to one of a much more affable pink appearance. Sparkling particles danced and winked through the lush clearing ahead, leading the way. The air now tasted sugary, like Halloween candy. Lora couldn’t remember the last time she’d been allowed to go trick-or-treating. Maybe she never even had to begin with. Every sad recollection and vicious intrusive thought slid right off the young girl as she concentrated on the soft crunches her feet made and nothing else, unable to touch her. Eventually, when Lora had to stop once more to regain her bearings - having abandoned a linear path hours before - she realized to her stunned delight that the woods weren’t quite as empty as she’d previously thought.
Through a gap in the trees, past an impassable grouping of thorny thickets, Lora spied a congregation of creatures that she couldn’t quite explain. Even to herself, even though they inspired no fear, their nonsensical appearance left her paralyzed beyond reproach; completely frozen where she stood, and yet grinning ear-to-ear. Cooling themselves from the heat of the summer sun in the shade of a monolithic toadstool, fluttered a peaceful assortment of strange winged women surrounded by translucent stubby things whose jovial laughing mouths led to no innards. Frogs the size of cows croaked from the sidelines and other ineffable beasts hunched and clung to the taller branches above. Lora yearned to join the scene, to be among friendly faces, but she innately understood that were she to call out, they wouldn’t hear her. Let alone begin to understand. Crestfallen in her exclusion, but invigorated by the magical presence she now knew to truly exist, Lora went on her way. Hopeful of meeting someone or something that could take her pain away, if only for a little while.
The tinny brass screech of horns bellowed in the distance, but from which direction, she didn’t know. Contrary to everything she’d learned from books about wilderness survival, wandering aimlessly proved to be the correct approach, and Lora found herself looking in on another group. Who, this time, seemed much more humanoid in appearance, for the most part. Men and women, of over two dozen in number and all intricately clothed in ornate robes and dresses as if attending some grand ball and not just a clearing in the woods stood around, enjoying one another's company. Dwarves pottered about, shrilly chuckling with each other over the din as the brass players began to toot a song likely never before heard by mortal ears that even the sunflowers seemed to dance along to. It was beautiful. To Lora, at least. The partygoers seemed nonplussed by the sweet sounds, going about their conversations and business as if they’d heard them every day of their infinite lifespan. A sickly stream of opaque, swirling orange fog separated the two parties, and again Lora knew that her pleading shouts would have no effect on the beings should she try to call out to them. Distraught, she staggered away, crippled by the dreadful loneliness which was now very much unbearable.
She wandered as if in a daze; unthinking, unfeeling. Ready to perish. The air, once sweet and warm, had turned bitterly sour and in her terror Lora craned her neck to the sky, shivering, and saw that the sun had vanished. The perfect blue sea above had begun to degenerate, turning darker by the second. It exuded an implied emptiness, devoid of stars, as if everything she had felt and seen was all just some cruel joke played by no-one. A thick, miasmic fog began to form around her, and the trees grew less dense and full of audible life. The fetid stench rising up from the swamp was intoxicating. Sickening. Lora’s belly rumbled, begging for food as if it hadn’t ever been full, and she began to weep once more, imploring some vague altruistic force to save her from her torment. She screamed into the blackened sky until her bone-dry throat stung and she could scream no longer.
Then, as quickly as she’d entered, she was no longer among trees, surrounded by the vastness of an unending and desolate desert. Lora didn’t care. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder to see what she’d left behind, she simply continued forward; unable to go on any other way. A violent wind was picking up, carrying clouds of coarse gray dust which slashed at the girl’s eyes. The dunes stretched onto the horizon in patterns that seemed to repeat infinitely and they had nothing to offer except for slow and excruciating death; a suffocating abyss.
Lora’s knees were long since weary, buckling under her meager weight, but she didn’t stop. Even though the cold, dead sand looked like a fine enough place to fall asleep for the last time. As one leg gave out and she tumbled to the ashen desert floor, Lora stared glaringly into the distance; searching for something deadly that might have the courtesy to look her in the eyes before it killed her. She saw no great and hungry beast with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws ready to devour what was left of her, but an ocean instead. Black and unforgiving. Lora lurched in its direction, and found herself on the shore. Ahead, around an arched rock formation of inexplicable nature, danced a number of fairies, male and female; waving their sparkling wands freely as if entirely without inhibition with their pale white skin exposed for all to see. Cherubs writhed floating in a congealed mass above the figures atop the formation; a loving family, crowned in shining white light. The beings reveled soundlessly as Lora watched on, still observing with fascination even as her body gave in to her exhaustion and she collapsed onto the brittle, jagged rocks at her feet. The divine group seemed to take notice of her then, and some laughed at her misfortune. Others whispered mocking jeers which stabbed at Lora, at her very being, even worse than the inhospitable ground she’d fallen onto. The insults became less direct and softer, but still impossibly cruel. They said cryptic, confusing things like ‘This one’s still breathing.’ and ‘Get her out of here.’ Lora knew that she wasn’t wanted. Not there, or anywhere else. The entire world seemed to throb in and out in a deep wavering much like the ripples on the dark, impenetrable sea and the young girl felt hands on her. Picking her up. Delivering her.
Flashes became another place entirely, until finally Lora could see again. She was at home, being lifted out by strange men. Scorching blue lights streaked her vision through the slats of rotting wood nailed to the windows and a wailing enveloped the night, drawing closer. More sirens. As she passed through the living room, Lora saw her father. All sticky and red in the face. Crushed. Glued to his chair, and bashed in. In that sinking, numbed moment that seemed to stretch on into infinity, the girl knew that the overdose she’d taken hadn’t worked, and that she wouldn’t be free. That they were going to bring her back, so that she could pay for what she’d done. Empty pill bottles littered the carpet along with the stained-brown wraps of her father’s stash, mingling with the usual cluttered garbage. It hadn’t been enough, it could never be enough. But as the blinding white light of the ambulance's interior swallowed her, Lora felt herself slipping away. She fell backwards, forever, and while the paramedics hurried about their duty and their desperate pleas became less and less clear, Lora was glad that it was all finally over.
2023.06.06 20:10 Verrgasm On The Borders Of Madness
Lora Jones gazed blankly into the forest as she sat alone, knees hugged tightly to her chest, almost forgetting the uncomfortable flaking boards of the porch beneath her. The air was still and deathly quiet, and an indeterminable stirring had drawn the girl outside; cutting through the silence as if calling directly to her. Lora listened intently, intermittently escaping her daydreams to scan the treeline in hopes of encountering something unreal. Something different. Better.
The feeling of being watched was one Lora never found respite from, but as she sat there perched on the porch’s top step the understanding that this wasn’t of the usual malevolence that stalked her wherever she went seemed almost inherently undeniable. This presence was one of positive intent. Soothing, like the mother she’d never had but always longed for.
Lora tentatively got to her feet, the bare skin of her soles rubbing against the moist evening grass, still wet from the prior day's soft rain. As she was about to turn and go back inside, the forest cried out to her in an ethereal, desperate wail. But only ever so briefly. The girl froze, unsure of herself despite the deep, revelrous rays of affection pulsing and radiating from within the trees. She desperately wished to explore, to become one with it all, however her father had expressly forbade her from any such excursions beyond the property’s borders. Especially past the treeline, into those woods that may as well stretch on until the end of the universe. Lora knew what the consequences could be if she were to disobey.
The rusted hinges of the wooden front door creaked and with its closure disappeared anything resembling warmth or hope. Simply cold, fetid air; tainted by the stale musk of Lora’s father as he sat slumped, dozing in his chair. Lora crept across the floorboards, each squeaking almost as if to spite her. Her father stirred, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Lora gripped the knob of her bedroom door, twisting it ever so slowly so as to not make another sound, but it was too late. She turned, stifling a scream as she saw him swaying in the hallway towards her.
“Where do you think you’re going, girl?”
Lora’s father’s breath stank, and it was all she could do but to gag when he stuck his tongue down her throat. The bedroom door clicked behind them, and in her mind Lora went to the forest. She didn’t return until it was long over, but even then she was only half present. Her thoughts reduced to little more than grating static. Lora resolved through the fog that it was time to be free from all the nastiness of her homelife, even if it meant starvation or being ravaged by some sick wild animal. One with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws. Anything would be better than staying there, in that decrepit old cabin on the border of the ancient woods. That horrid, ramshackled shack on the cusp of the forest that breathes.
Lora awoke, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she caught her reflection in the grime-smudged bathroom mirror she couldn’t help but vomit, holding her long dark hair back with one hand while gripping the seat with the other; grasping onto it like someone on the verge of falling. Tight enough to make her fingers ache. She washed her face, then, trembling, crept down the hallway into the living room. Her father’s chair sat empty. The television, off. The fridge was devoid of alcohol, explaining his absence. Unfortunately the cupboards were barren as well, and the young girl’s stomach growled in its emptiness. She settled on the crumbs remaining in an old box of off-brand sugary cereal, the sweetness of which tasted strangely bitter.
As Lora looked absently through her wardrobe for something to wear, she remembered the vow she’d made to herself in the night. About how she’d be freed from this nightmare, one way or another. A flash of vengeful determination made its home in the depths of her gut and it spread until she was no longer acting with conscious thought, snatching a black trash bag and stuffing clothes and keepsakes inside. Lora’s eyes glistened as she rubbed the friendship bracelet between her fingers before sliding it onto her wrist, trying to recall the face of the friend that’d given it to her all those years ago. She couldn’t, and her desire to escape grew ten-fold. Anger was overtaken by remorse and then dread before coalescing into an anxiety-ridden desperation. Looking over the bottles of medication atop the dresser, Lora sent them rattling to the floor with a shriek. Just another set of cogs in the terrible machine that made her feel so awfully hollow. She wouldn’t need them anymore, Lora told herself. Not where she was going.
Her father had locked the front door behind him, a cruel attempt to keep his daughter captive. Luckily for her, Lora had learned many useful things during her confinement. Like how to pick the lock. She removed the pin from her hair before retrieving a thin sewing needle, getting to work. He could be back any minute. A long, increasingly tense struggle ensued as Lora strained to find her way through the locking mechanism; dark as it was inside with all the windows boarded up, allowing in only thin slivers of sunlight. Finally, she felt the click. But her joy was as short-lived as any other feeling considered to be good. Lora shivered with the rumble of her father’s truck as it rolled into the gravel driveway. When he found out what she’d done, anything could happen.
Without another thought or even a look over her shoulder, Lora flung the door open so hard that the wood splintered against the frame and she burst through the threshold, abandoning her bagged-up belongings on the filthy living room carpet. Her sneakers connected with the overgrown grass of the yard before meeting the somehow tamer undergrowth of the forest floor for the very first time. Lora kept running, and she didn’t stop until her father’s furious screams faded deep into the distance behind her. Then, she ran some more.
‘Lost’ was the wrong word, because as confused in her surroundings as she was, Lora felt her trepidations slowly recede into the background. Unseen birds chirped overhead amongst the treetops, welcoming her. Encouraging her to go on. So, she did. She walked for miles through that inviting brush, all laid bare before her as if the very spirit of the forest itself were parting every obstacle in her path, and yet her legs didn’t tire, not at all. A smile quite unlike any other she’d expressed in a long time found itself upon her face. Every breath felt like heaven. The air, sweet and intensely lovely; scented like fresh pine and whipped cream. Everything, Lora felt in that long, perfect stroll among the undulating swathes of greens and browns, everything was going to be alright. Afterall, with a feeling that good, how could anything possibly be bad?
The sun hung fixed above, beaming down from the center of the cloudless, blue sky. By the time Lora realized that it hadn’t and refused to move since the start of her escape, she had begun to notice other curious things about the forest as well. Like how the densely wooded landscape had steadily and subtly changed. The ambience seemed tinged, almost. A sepia-like tone washed over the plants and trees so that all appeared almost entirely brown, punctuated by the dark silhouetted blacks of branches and leaves. They writhed, indistinguishable from one another. Still, her joyous sense of adventurous freedom had hardly faltered and Lora continued on, becoming evermore aware that the path ahead was becoming increasingly treacherous. Thorn-covered thickets threatened to claw at her skin, penetrating the denim of her jeans and scratching at the pale flesh underneath. Lora grew timid in her steps, becoming disenchanted in the forest’s solitude.
For the first time since she’d stepped foot in those woods, Lora stopped, and knew instantly that she was utterly alone. It crushed her, sending the girl to the floor. She sobbed quietly to herself, feeling the pine needles dig into her hands as she grasped at the earth. As she was on the verge of giving up and simply laying down to die, she looked to her left and saw them a foot from her reddened, tear-streaked face. A bush, packed full of ripe blackberries, as appetizing as anything she’d ever seen. Lora ravenously wolfed down more than she could count, as quickly as she could pick them, and after a nourishing feast she lay with her back against the nearest tree where she slept like a baby. Someone uncorrupted.
When Lora opened her eyes, she saw to her surprise that the sun remained unmoved. The area around her had once again changed in hue though, from the sickening reddish-brown to one of a much more affable pink appearance. Sparkling particles danced and winked through the lush clearing ahead, leading the way. The air now tasted sugary, like Halloween candy. Lora couldn’t remember the last time she’d been allowed to go trick-or-treating. Maybe she never even had to begin with. Every sad recollection and vicious intrusive thought slid right off the young girl as she concentrated on the soft crunches her feet made and nothing else, unable to touch her. Eventually, when Lora had to stop once more to regain her bearings - having abandoned a linear path hours before - she realized to her stunned delight that the woods weren’t quite as empty as she’d previously thought.
Through a gap in the trees, past an impassable grouping of thorny thickets, Lora spied a congregation of creatures that she couldn’t quite explain. Even to herself, even though they inspired no fear, their nonsensical appearance left her paralyzed beyond reproach; completely frozen where she stood, and yet grinning ear-to-ear. Cooling themselves from the heat of the summer sun in the shade of a monolithic toadstool, fluttered a peaceful assortment of strange winged women surrounded by translucent stubby things whose jovial laughing mouths led to no innards. Frogs the size of cows croaked from the sidelines and other ineffable beasts hunched and clung to the taller branches above. Lora yearned to join the scene, to be among friendly faces, but she innately understood that were she to call out, they wouldn’t hear her. Let alone begin to understand. Crestfallen in her exclusion, but invigorated by the magical presence she now knew to truly exist, Lora went on her way. Hopeful of meeting someone or something that could take her pain away, if only for a little while.
The tinny brass screech of horns bellowed in the distance, but from which direction, she didn’t know. Contrary to everything she’d learned from books about wilderness survival, wandering aimlessly proved to be the correct approach, and Lora found herself looking in on another group. Who, this time, seemed much more humanoid in appearance, for the most part. Men and women, of over two dozen in number and all intricately clothed in ornate robes and dresses as if attending some grand ball and not just a clearing in the woods stood around, enjoying one another's company. Dwarves pottered about, shrilly chuckling with each other over the din as the brass players began to toot a song likely never before heard by mortal ears that even the sunflowers seemed to dance along to. It was beautiful. To Lora, at least. The partygoers seemed nonplussed by the sweet sounds, going about their conversations and business as if they’d heard them every day of their infinite lifespan. A sickly stream of opaque, swirling orange fog separated the two parties, and again Lora knew that her pleading shouts would have no effect on the beings should she try to call out to them. Distraught, she staggered away, crippled by the dreadful loneliness which was now very much unbearable.
She wandered as if in a daze; unthinking, unfeeling. Ready to perish. The air, once sweet and warm, had turned bitterly sour and in her terror Lora craned her neck to the sky, shivering, and saw that the sun had vanished. The perfect blue sea above had begun to degenerate, turning darker by the second. It exuded an implied emptiness, devoid of stars, as if everything she had felt and seen was all just some cruel joke played by no-one. A thick, miasmic fog began to form around her, and the trees grew less dense and full of audible life. The fetid stench rising up from the swamp was intoxicating. Sickening. Lora’s belly rumbled, begging for food as if it hadn’t ever been full, and she began to weep once more, imploring some vague altruistic force to save her from her torment. She screamed into the blackened sky until her bone-dry throat stung and she could scream no longer.
Then, as quickly as she’d entered, she was no longer among trees, surrounded by the vastness of an unending and desolate desert. Lora didn’t care. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder to see what she’d left behind, she simply continued forward; unable to go on any other way. A violent wind was picking up, carrying clouds of coarse gray dust which slashed at the girl’s eyes. The dunes stretched onto the horizon in patterns that seemed to repeat infinitely and they had nothing to offer except for slow and excruciating death; a suffocating abyss.
Lora’s knees were long since weary, buckling under her meager weight, but she didn’t stop. Even though the cold, dead sand looked like a fine enough place to fall asleep for the last time. As one leg gave out and she tumbled to the ashen desert floor, Lora stared glaringly into the distance; searching for something deadly that might have the courtesy to look her in the eyes before it killed her. She saw no great and hungry beast with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws ready to devour what was left of her, but an ocean instead. Black and unforgiving. Lora lurched in its direction, and found herself on the shore. Ahead, around an arched rock formation of inexplicable nature, danced a number of fairies, male and female; waving their sparkling wands freely as if entirely without inhibition with their pale white skin exposed for all to see. Cherubs writhed floating in a congealed mass above the figures atop the formation; a loving family, crowned in shining white light. The beings reveled soundlessly as Lora watched on, still observing with fascination even as her body gave in to her exhaustion and she collapsed onto the brittle, jagged rocks at her feet. The divine group seemed to take notice of her then, and some laughed at her misfortune. Others whispered mocking jeers which stabbed at Lora, at her very being, even worse than the inhospitable ground she’d fallen onto. The insults became less direct and softer, but still impossibly cruel. They said cryptic, confusing things like ‘This one’s still breathing.’ and ‘Get her out of here.’ Lora knew that she wasn’t wanted. Not there, or anywhere else. The entire world seemed to throb in and out in a deep wavering much like the ripples on the dark, impenetrable sea and the young girl felt hands on her. Picking her up. Delivering her.
Flashes became another place entirely, until finally Lora could see again. She was at home, being lifted out by strange men. Scorching blue lights streaked her vision through the slats of rotting wood nailed to the windows and a wailing enveloped the night, drawing closer. More sirens. As she passed through the living room, Lora saw her father. All sticky and red in the face. Crushed. Glued to his chair, and bashed in. In that sinking, numbed moment that seemed to stretch on into infinity, the girl knew that the overdose she’d taken hadn’t worked, and that she wouldn’t be free. That they were going to bring her back, so that she could pay for what she’d done. Empty pill bottles littered the carpet along with the stained-brown wraps of her father’s stash, mingling with the usual cluttered garbage. It hadn’t been enough, it could never be enough. But as the blinding white light of the ambulance's interior swallowed her, Lora felt herself slipping away. She fell backwards, forever, and while the paramedics hurried about their duty and their desperate pleas became less and less clear, Lora was glad that it was all finally over.
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The feeling of being watched was one Lora never found respite from, but as she sat there perched on the porch’s top step the understanding that this wasn’t of the usual malevolence that stalked her wherever she went seemed almost inherently undeniable. This presence was one of positive intent. Soothing, like the mother she’d never had but always longed for.
Lora tentatively got to her feet, the bare skin of her soles rubbing against the moist evening grass, still wet from the prior day's soft rain. As she was about to turn and go back inside, the forest cried out to her in an ethereal, desperate wail. But only ever so briefly. The girl froze, unsure of herself despite the deep, revelrous rays of affection pulsing and radiating from within the trees. She desperately wished to explore, to become one with it all, however her father had expressly forbade her from any such excursions beyond the property’s borders. Especially past the treeline, into those woods that may as well stretch on until the end of the universe. Lora knew what the consequences could be if she were to disobey.
The rusted hinges of the wooden front door creaked and with its closure disappeared anything resembling warmth or hope. Simply cold, fetid air; tainted by the stale musk of Lora’s father as he sat slumped, dozing in his chair. Lora crept across the floorboards, each squeaking almost as if to spite her. Her father stirred, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Lora gripped the knob of her bedroom door, twisting it ever so slowly so as to not make another sound, but it was too late. She turned, stifling a scream as she saw him swaying in the hallway towards her.
“Where do you think you’re going, girl?”
Lora’s father’s breath stank, and it was all she could do but to gag when he stuck his tongue down her throat. The bedroom door clicked behind them, and in her mind Lora went to the forest. She didn’t return until it was long over, but even then she was only half present. Her thoughts reduced to little more than grating static. Lora resolved through the fog that it was time to be free from all the nastiness of her homelife, even if it meant starvation or being ravaged by some sick wild animal. One with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws. Anything would be better than staying there, in that decrepit old cabin on the border of the ancient woods. That horrid, ramshackled shack on the cusp of the forest that breathes.
Lora awoke, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she caught her reflection in the grime-smudged bathroom mirror she couldn’t help but vomit, holding her long dark hair back with one hand while gripping the seat with the other; grasping onto it like someone on the verge of falling. Tight enough to make her fingers ache. She washed her face, then, trembling, crept down the hallway into the living room. Her father’s chair sat empty. The television, off. The fridge was devoid of alcohol, explaining his absence. Unfortunately the cupboards were barren as well, and the young girl’s stomach growled in its emptiness. She settled on the crumbs remaining in an old box of off-brand sugary cereal, the sweetness of which tasted strangely bitter.
As Lora looked absently through her wardrobe for something to wear, she remembered the vow she’d made to herself in the night. About how she’d be freed from this nightmare, one way or another. A flash of vengeful determination made its home in the depths of her gut and it spread until she was no longer acting with conscious thought, snatching a black trash bag and stuffing clothes and keepsakes inside. Lora’s eyes glistened as she rubbed the friendship bracelet between her fingers before sliding it onto her wrist, trying to recall the face of the friend that’d given it to her all those years ago. She couldn’t, and her desire to escape grew ten-fold. Anger was overtaken by remorse and then dread before coalescing into an anxiety-ridden desperation. Looking over the bottles of medication atop the dresser, Lora sent them rattling to the floor with a shriek. Just another set of cogs in the terrible machine that made her feel so awfully hollow. She wouldn’t need them anymore, Lora told herself. Not where she was going.
Her father had locked the front door behind him, a cruel attempt to keep his daughter captive. Luckily for her, Lora had learned many useful things during her confinement. Like how to pick the lock. She removed the pin from her hair before retrieving a thin sewing needle, getting to work. He could be back any minute. A long, increasingly tense struggle ensued as Lora strained to find her way through the locking mechanism; dark as it was inside with all the windows boarded up, allowing in only thin slivers of sunlight. Finally, she felt the click. But her joy was as short-lived as any other feeling considered to be good. Lora shivered with the rumble of her father’s truck as it rolled into the gravel driveway. When he found out what she’d done, anything could happen.
Without another thought or even a look over her shoulder, Lora flung the door open so hard that the wood splintered against the frame and she burst through the threshold, abandoning her bagged-up belongings on the filthy living room carpet. Her sneakers connected with the overgrown grass of the yard before meeting the somehow tamer undergrowth of the forest floor for the very first time. Lora kept running, and she didn’t stop until her father’s furious screams faded deep into the distance behind her. Then, she ran some more.
‘Lost’ was the wrong word, because as confused in her surroundings as she was, Lora felt her trepidations slowly recede into the background. Unseen birds chirped overhead amongst the treetops, welcoming her. Encouraging her to go on. So, she did. She walked for miles through that inviting brush, all laid bare before her as if the very spirit of the forest itself were parting every obstacle in her path, and yet her legs didn’t tire, not at all. A smile quite unlike any other she’d expressed in a long time found itself upon her face. Every breath felt like heaven. The air, sweet and intensely lovely; scented like fresh pine and whipped cream. Everything, Lora felt in that long, perfect stroll among the undulating swathes of greens and browns, everything was going to be alright. Afterall, with a feeling that good, how could anything possibly be bad?
The sun hung fixed above, beaming down from the center of the cloudless, blue sky. By the time Lora realized that it hadn’t and refused to move since the start of her escape, she had begun to notice other curious things about the forest as well. Like how the densely wooded landscape had steadily and subtly changed. The ambience seemed tinged, almost. A sepia-like tone washed over the plants and trees so that all appeared almost entirely brown, punctuated by the dark silhouetted blacks of branches and leaves. They writhed, indistinguishable from one another. Still, her joyous sense of adventurous freedom had hardly faltered and Lora continued on, becoming evermore aware that the path ahead was becoming increasingly treacherous. Thorn-covered thickets threatened to claw at her skin, penetrating the denim of her jeans and scratching at the pale flesh underneath. Lora grew timid in her steps, becoming disenchanted in the forest’s solitude.
For the first time since she’d stepped foot in those woods, Lora stopped, and knew instantly that she was utterly alone. It crushed her, sending the girl to the floor. She sobbed quietly to herself, feeling the pine needles dig into her hands as she grasped at the earth. As she was on the verge of giving up and simply laying down to die, she looked to her left and saw them a foot from her reddened, tear-streaked face. A bush, packed full of ripe blackberries, as appetizing as anything she’d ever seen. Lora ravenously wolfed down more than she could count, as quickly as she could pick them, and after a nourishing feast she lay with her back against the nearest tree where she slept like a baby. Someone uncorrupted.
When Lora opened her eyes, she saw to her surprise that the sun remained unmoved. The area around her had once again changed in hue though, from the sickening reddish-brown to one of a much more affable pink appearance. Sparkling particles danced and winked through the lush clearing ahead, leading the way. The air now tasted sugary, like Halloween candy. Lora couldn’t remember the last time she’d been allowed to go trick-or-treating. Maybe she never even had to begin with. Every sad recollection and vicious intrusive thought slid right off the young girl as she concentrated on the soft crunches her feet made and nothing else, unable to touch her. Eventually, when Lora had to stop once more to regain her bearings - having abandoned a linear path hours before - she realized to her stunned delight that the woods weren’t quite as empty as she’d previously thought.
Through a gap in the trees, past an impassable grouping of thorny thickets, Lora spied a congregation of creatures that she couldn’t quite explain. Even to herself, even though they inspired no fear, their nonsensical appearance left her paralyzed beyond reproach; completely frozen where she stood, and yet grinning ear-to-ear. Cooling themselves from the heat of the summer sun in the shade of a monolithic toadstool, fluttered a peaceful assortment of strange winged women surrounded by translucent stubby things whose jovial laughing mouths led to no innards. Frogs the size of cows croaked from the sidelines and other ineffable beasts hunched and clung to the taller branches above. Lora yearned to join the scene, to be among friendly faces, but she innately understood that were she to call out, they wouldn’t hear her. Let alone begin to understand. Crestfallen in her exclusion, but invigorated by the magical presence she now knew to truly exist, Lora went on her way. Hopeful of meeting someone or something that could take her pain away, if only for a little while.
The tinny brass screech of horns bellowed in the distance, but from which direction, she didn’t know. Contrary to everything she’d learned from books about wilderness survival, wandering aimlessly proved to be the correct approach, and Lora found herself looking in on another group. Who, this time, seemed much more humanoid in appearance, for the most part. Men and women, of over two dozen in number and all intricately clothed in ornate robes and dresses as if attending some grand ball and not just a clearing in the woods stood around, enjoying one another's company. Dwarves pottered about, shrilly chuckling with each other over the din as the brass players began to toot a song likely never before heard by mortal ears that even the sunflowers seemed to dance along to. It was beautiful. To Lora, at least. The partygoers seemed nonplussed by the sweet sounds, going about their conversations and business as if they’d heard them every day of their infinite lifespan. A sickly stream of opaque, swirling orange fog separated the two parties, and again Lora knew that her pleading shouts would have no effect on the beings should she try to call out to them. Distraught, she staggered away, crippled by the dreadful loneliness which was now very much unbearable.
She wandered as if in a daze; unthinking, unfeeling. Ready to perish. The air, once sweet and warm, had turned bitterly sour and in her terror Lora craned her neck to the sky, shivering, and saw that the sun had vanished. The perfect blue sea above had begun to degenerate, turning darker by the second. It exuded an implied emptiness, devoid of stars, as if everything she had felt and seen was all just some cruel joke played by no-one. A thick, miasmic fog began to form around her, and the trees grew less dense and full of audible life. The fetid stench rising up from the swamp was intoxicating. Sickening. Lora’s belly rumbled, begging for food as if it hadn’t ever been full, and she began to weep once more, imploring some vague altruistic force to save her from her torment. She screamed into the blackened sky until her bone-dry throat stung and she could scream no longer.
Then, as quickly as she’d entered, she was no longer among trees, surrounded by the vastness of an unending and desolate desert. Lora didn’t care. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder to see what she’d left behind, she simply continued forward; unable to go on any other way. A violent wind was picking up, carrying clouds of coarse gray dust which slashed at the girl’s eyes. The dunes stretched onto the horizon in patterns that seemed to repeat infinitely and they had nothing to offer except for slow and excruciating death; a suffocating abyss.
Lora’s knees were long since weary, buckling under her meager weight, but she didn’t stop. Even though the cold, dead sand looked like a fine enough place to fall asleep for the last time. As one leg gave out and she tumbled to the ashen desert floor, Lora stared glaringly into the distance; searching for something deadly that might have the courtesy to look her in the eyes before it killed her. She saw no great and hungry beast with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws ready to devour what was left of her, but an ocean instead. Black and unforgiving. Lora lurched in its direction, and found herself on the shore. Ahead, around an arched rock formation of inexplicable nature, danced a number of fairies, male and female; waving their sparkling wands freely as if entirely without inhibition with their pale white skin exposed for all to see. Cherubs writhed floating in a congealed mass above the figures atop the formation; a loving family, crowned in shining white light. The beings reveled soundlessly as Lora watched on, still observing with fascination even as her body gave in to her exhaustion and she collapsed onto the brittle, jagged rocks at her feet. The divine group seemed to take notice of her then, and some laughed at her misfortune. Others whispered mocking jeers which stabbed at Lora, at her very being, even worse than the inhospitable ground she’d fallen onto. The insults became less direct and softer, but still impossibly cruel. They said cryptic, confusing things like ‘This one’s still breathing.’ and ‘Get her out of here.’ Lora knew that she wasn’t wanted. Not there, or anywhere else. The entire world seemed to throb in and out in a deep wavering much like the ripples on the dark, impenetrable sea and the young girl felt hands on her. Picking her up. Delivering her.
Flashes became another place entirely, until finally Lora could see again. She was at home, being lifted out by strange men. Scorching blue lights streaked her vision through the slats of rotting wood nailed to the windows and a wailing enveloped the night, drawing closer. More sirens. As she passed through the living room, Lora saw her father. All sticky and red in the face. Crushed. Glued to his chair, and bashed in. In that sinking, numbed moment that seemed to stretch on into infinity, the girl knew that the overdose she’d taken hadn’t worked, and that she wouldn’t be free. That they were going to bring her back, so that she could pay for what she’d done. Empty pill bottles littered the carpet along with the stained-brown wraps of her father’s stash, mingling with the usual cluttered garbage. It hadn’t been enough, it could never be enough. But as the blinding white light of the ambulance's interior swallowed her, Lora felt herself slipping away. She fell backwards, forever, and while the paramedics hurried about their duty and their desperate pleas became less and less clear, Lora was glad that it was all finally over.
2023.06.06 20:09 LUMBERMENS Is it possible to earn $1,000,000 per year in the sawmill industry?
 | People frequently inquire about the possibility of earning one million dollars annually in the sawmill industry, as is the case with any other business. Operating a sawmill can indeed be a very profitable business venture, and if the right conditions are met, it is not only possible but highly likely to earn a significant monthly profit. However, it's important to keep in mind that running a business solely for profit is not long-term sustainable. Any business will experience ups and downs, and owners won't be satisfied with their work during those low points if profit is the only goal. Although operating a sawmill to its full potential necessitates a lot of effort, it can be a lucrative investment. Getting into the sawmill and woodworking industry is often a labor of love for many people. Those people are most likely to make a lot of money because they will still enjoy their work, preventing burnout and allowing them to grow the business to its full potential. submitted by LUMBERMENS to u/LUMBERMENS [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/3lg4rzzfuf4b1.jpg?width=656&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e172742ca40f005453fbe5ce34fec172303c8ce The Art of the Deal In the sawmill industry, earning $1,000,000 per year is more than just having fun at work. You must start any business with the right plan and goals to succeed. Before diving into the woodworking and sawmill business, take a look at the following advice to ensure that you provide yourself with the best possible chance of success. The Worth of Your Equipment The tools you use are one of the most important investments. There are a number of high-quality used sawmill equipment to choose from, but most experts agree that Lumbermens is the best mill for lumber milling. Cost vs Production Although sawmills can be pricey, there are ways to offset those costs and speed up the time it takes for your sawmill business to become profitable. You can save money on a quality sawmill by buying it used rather than new, just like you can when you buy a car. A sawmill, on the other hand, is a tool at its core and will make you money in the short and long term, in contrast to vehicles, which only lose value when you buy one. A new, high-quality mill can cost anywhere from $30,000 to $70,000, whereas a used sawmill typically costs between $15,000 and $40,000. For used sawmill equipment the Lumbermens is the best option. You should budget for your blades separately from the costs of maintenance. The bandsaw blade is the most common type of mill, and it costs between $20 and $30 per blade. You should be able to cut between 400 and 500 board feet per blade if you manage your lubrication and feed speeds correctly and don't run into nails, staples, or other metal obstructions in the wood. The price of using a kiln to dry your lumber is the final crucial aspect of this rule to keep in mind. Even though the individual costs of drying wood can be as low as $0.15 per board foot, they are more likely to be around $0.50 per board foot. Although this may seem like a small amount, it quickly adds up if you regularly turn a lot of lumber. How to Earn Money When broken down, the sawmill industry is not all that different from other industries. The amount of work required is the primary difference. Even if you have the best machinery in the world, you will only be able to turn a certain amount of product per year if you run a one-man business. When you subtract all of your expenses from the potential profit, you will likely fall short of the $1,000,000 per year that was mentioned earlier. Keep in mind that a significant portion of your profits will need to be reinvested in the company. You will need to constantly have a revolving door of people buying logs and selling lumber. The good news is that running a sawmill doesn't break the bank. A sawmill only requires about five gallons of gas to run for an entire day, and the majority of the costs come from purchasing and replacing the blades in the beginning. Conclusion In the end, you won't make $1,000,000 a year running your sawmill business when it's just starting. However, you will undoubtedly be able to create a profitable sawmill business for yourself if you are passionate about your work, if you are willing to bargain where you can, and if you are not afraid of physical labor. You can certainly scale it up to that goal with time and dedication. |
2023.06.06 20:09 Verrgasm [HR] On The Borders Of Madness
Lora Jones gazed blankly into the forest as she sat alone, knees hugged tightly to her chest, almost forgetting the uncomfortable flaking boards of the porch beneath her. The air was still and deathly quiet, and an indeterminable stirring had drawn the girl outside; cutting through the silence as if calling directly to her. Lora listened intently, intermittently escaping her daydreams to scan the treeline in hopes of encountering something unreal. Something different. Better.
The feeling of being watched was one Lora never found respite from, but as she sat there perched on the porch’s top step the understanding that this wasn’t of the usual malevolence that stalked her wherever she went seemed almost inherently undeniable. This presence was one of positive intent. Soothing, like the mother she’d never had but always longed for.
Lora tentatively got to her feet, the bare skin of her soles rubbing against the moist evening grass, still wet from the prior day's soft rain. As she was about to turn and go back inside, the forest cried out to her in an ethereal, desperate wail. But only ever so briefly. The girl froze, unsure of herself despite the deep, revelrous rays of affection pulsing and radiating from within the trees. She desperately wished to explore, to become one with it all, however her father had expressly forbade her from any such excursions beyond the property’s borders. Especially past the treeline, into those woods that may as well stretch on until the end of the universe. Lora knew what the consequences could be if she were to disobey.
The rusted hinges of the wooden front door creaked and with its closure disappeared anything resembling warmth or hope. Simply cold, fetid air; tainted by the stale musk of Lora’s father as he sat slumped, dozing in his chair. Lora crept across the floorboards, each squeaking almost as if to spite her. Her father stirred, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Lora gripped the knob of her bedroom door, twisting it ever so slowly so as to not make another sound, but it was too late. She turned, stifling a scream as she saw him swaying in the hallway towards her.
“Where do you think you’re going, girl?”
Lora’s father’s breath stank, and it was all she could do but to gag when he stuck his tongue down her throat. The bedroom door clicked behind them, and in her mind Lora went to the forest. She didn’t return until it was long over, but even then she was only half present. Her thoughts reduced to little more than grating static. Lora resolved through the fog that it was time to be free from all the nastiness of her homelife, even if it meant starvation or being ravaged by some sick wild animal. One with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws. Anything would be better than staying there, in that decrepit old cabin on the border of the ancient woods. That horrid, ramshackled shack on the cusp of the forest that breathes.
Lora awoke, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she caught her reflection in the grime-smudged bathroom mirror she couldn’t help but vomit, holding her long dark hair back with one hand while gripping the seat with the other; grasping onto it like someone on the verge of falling. Tight enough to make her fingers ache. She washed her face, then, trembling, crept down the hallway into the living room. Her father’s chair sat empty. The television, off. The fridge was devoid of alcohol, explaining his absence. Unfortunately the cupboards were barren as well, and the young girl’s stomach growled in its emptiness. She settled on the crumbs remaining in an old box of off-brand sugary cereal, the sweetness of which tasted strangely bitter.
As Lora looked absently through her wardrobe for something to wear, she remembered the vow she’d made to herself in the night. About how she’d be freed from this nightmare, one way or another. A flash of vengeful determination made its home in the depths of her gut and it spread until she was no longer acting with conscious thought, snatching a black trash bag and stuffing clothes and keepsakes inside. Lora’s eyes glistened as she rubbed the friendship bracelet between her fingers before sliding it onto her wrist, trying to recall the face of the friend that’d given it to her all those years ago. She couldn’t, and her desire to escape grew ten-fold. Anger was overtaken by remorse and then dread before coalescing into an anxiety-ridden desperation. Looking over the bottles of medication atop the dresser, Lora sent them rattling to the floor with a shriek. Just another set of cogs in the terrible machine that made her feel so awfully hollow. She wouldn’t need them anymore, Lora told herself. Not where she was going.
Her father had locked the front door behind him, a cruel attempt to keep his daughter captive. Luckily for her, Lora had learned many useful things during her confinement. Like how to pick the lock. She removed the pin from her hair before retrieving a thin sewing needle, getting to work. He could be back any minute. A long, increasingly tense struggle ensued as Lora strained to find her way through the locking mechanism; dark as it was inside with all the windows boarded up, allowing in only thin slivers of sunlight. Finally, she felt the click. But her joy was as short-lived as any other feeling considered to be good. Lora shivered with the rumble of her father’s truck as it rolled into the gravel driveway. When he found out what she’d done, anything could happen.
Without another thought or even a look over her shoulder, Lora flung the door open so hard that the wood splintered against the frame and she burst through the threshold, abandoning her bagged-up belongings on the filthy living room carpet. Her sneakers connected with the overgrown grass of the yard before meeting the somehow tamer undergrowth of the forest floor for the very first time. Lora kept running, and she didn’t stop until her father’s furious screams faded deep into the distance behind her. Then, she ran some more.
‘Lost’ was the wrong word, because as confused in her surroundings as she was, Lora felt her trepidations slowly recede into the background. Unseen birds chirped overhead amongst the treetops, welcoming her. Encouraging her to go on. So, she did. She walked for miles through that inviting brush, all laid bare before her as if the very spirit of the forest itself were parting every obstacle in her path, and yet her legs didn’t tire, not at all. A smile quite unlike any other she’d expressed in a long time found itself upon her face. Every breath felt like heaven. The air, sweet and intensely lovely; scented like fresh pine and whipped cream. Everything, Lora felt in that long, perfect stroll among the undulating swathes of greens and browns, everything was going to be alright. Afterall, with a feeling that good, how could anything possibly be bad?
The sun hung fixed above, beaming down from the center of the cloudless, blue sky. By the time Lora realized that it hadn’t and refused to move since the start of her escape, she had begun to notice other curious things about the forest as well. Like how the densely wooded landscape had steadily and subtly changed. The ambience seemed tinged, almost. A sepia-like tone washed over the plants and trees so that all appeared almost entirely brown, punctuated by the dark silhouetted blacks of branches and leaves. They writhed, indistinguishable from one another. Still, her joyous sense of adventurous freedom had hardly faltered and Lora continued on, becoming evermore aware that the path ahead was becoming increasingly treacherous. Thorn-covered thickets threatened to claw at her skin, penetrating the denim of her jeans and scratching at the pale flesh underneath. Lora grew timid in her steps, becoming disenchanted in the forest’s solitude.
For the first time since she’d stepped foot in those woods, Lora stopped, and knew instantly that she was utterly alone. It crushed her, sending the girl to the floor. She sobbed quietly to herself, feeling the pine needles dig into her hands as she grasped at the earth. As she was on the verge of giving up and simply laying down to die, she looked to her left and saw them a foot from her reddened, tear-streaked face. A bush, packed full of ripe blackberries, as appetizing as anything she’d ever seen. Lora ravenously wolfed down more than she could count, as quickly as she could pick them, and after a nourishing feast she lay with her back against the nearest tree where she slept like a baby. Someone uncorrupted.
When Lora opened her eyes, she saw to her surprise that the sun remained unmoved. The area around her had once again changed in hue though, from the sickening reddish-brown to one of a much more affable pink appearance. Sparkling particles danced and winked through the lush clearing ahead, leading the way. The air now tasted sugary, like Halloween candy. Lora couldn’t remember the last time she’d been allowed to go trick-or-treating. Maybe she never even had to begin with. Every sad recollection and vicious intrusive thought slid right off the young girl as she concentrated on the soft crunches her feet made and nothing else, unable to touch her. Eventually, when Lora had to stop once more to regain her bearings - having abandoned a linear path hours before - she realized to her stunned delight that the woods weren’t quite as empty as she’d previously thought.
Through a gap in the trees, past an impassable grouping of thorny thickets, Lora spied a congregation of creatures that she couldn’t quite explain. Even to herself, even though they inspired no fear, their nonsensical appearance left her paralyzed beyond reproach; completely frozen where she stood, and yet grinning ear-to-ear. Cooling themselves from the heat of the summer sun in the shade of a monolithic toadstool, fluttered a peaceful assortment of strange winged women surrounded by translucent stubby things whose jovial laughing mouths led to no innards. Frogs the size of cows croaked from the sidelines and other ineffable beasts hunched and clung to the taller branches above. Lora yearned to join the scene, to be among friendly faces, but she innately understood that were she to call out, they wouldn’t hear her. Let alone begin to understand. Crestfallen in her exclusion, but invigorated by the magical presence she now knew to truly exist, Lora went on her way. Hopeful of meeting someone or something that could take her pain away, if only for a little while.
The tinny brass screech of horns bellowed in the distance, but from which direction, she didn’t know. Contrary to everything she’d learned from books about wilderness survival, wandering aimlessly proved to be the correct approach, and Lora found herself looking in on another group. Who, this time, seemed much more humanoid in appearance, for the most part. Men and women, of over two dozen in number and all intricately clothed in ornate robes and dresses as if attending some grand ball and not just a clearing in the woods stood around, enjoying one another's company. Dwarves pottered about, shrilly chuckling with each other over the din as the brass players began to toot a song likely never before heard by mortal ears that even the sunflowers seemed to dance along to. It was beautiful. To Lora, at least. The partygoers seemed nonplussed by the sweet sounds, going about their conversations and business as if they’d heard them every day of their infinite lifespan. A sickly stream of opaque, swirling orange fog separated the two parties, and again Lora knew that her pleading shouts would have no effect on the beings should she try to call out to them. Distraught, she staggered away, crippled by the dreadful loneliness which was now very much unbearable.
She wandered as if in a daze; unthinking, unfeeling. Ready to perish. The air, once sweet and warm, had turned bitterly sour and in her terror Lora craned her neck to the sky, shivering, and saw that the sun had vanished. The perfect blue sea above had begun to degenerate, turning darker by the second. It exuded an implied emptiness, devoid of stars, as if everything she had felt and seen was all just some cruel joke played by no-one. A thick, miasmic fog began to form around her, and the trees grew less dense and full of audible life. The fetid stench rising up from the swamp was intoxicating. Sickening. Lora’s belly rumbled, begging for food as if it hadn’t ever been full, and she began to weep once more, imploring some vague altruistic force to save her from her torment. She screamed into the blackened sky until her bone-dry throat stung and she could scream no longer.
Then, as quickly as she’d entered, she was no longer among trees, surrounded by the vastness of an unending and desolate desert. Lora didn’t care. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder to see what she’d left behind, she simply continued forward; unable to go on any other way. A violent wind was picking up, carrying clouds of coarse gray dust which slashed at the girl’s eyes. The dunes stretched onto the horizon in patterns that seemed to repeat infinitely and they had nothing to offer except for slow and excruciating death; a suffocating abyss.
Lora’s knees were long since weary, buckling under her meager weight, but she didn’t stop. Even though the cold, dead sand looked like a fine enough place to fall asleep for the last time. As one leg gave out and she tumbled to the ashen desert floor, Lora stared glaringly into the distance; searching for something deadly that might have the courtesy to look her in the eyes before it killed her. She saw no great and hungry beast with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws ready to devour what was left of her, but an ocean instead. Black and unforgiving. Lora lurched in its direction, and found herself on the shore. Ahead, around an arched rock formation of inexplicable nature, danced a number of fairies, male and female; waving their sparkling wands freely as if entirely without inhibition with their pale white skin exposed for all to see. Cherubs writhed floating in a congealed mass above the figures atop the formation; a loving family, crowned in shining white light. The beings reveled soundlessly as Lora watched on, still observing with fascination even as her body gave in to her exhaustion and she collapsed onto the brittle, jagged rocks at her feet. The divine group seemed to take notice of her then, and some laughed at her misfortune. Others whispered mocking jeers which stabbed at Lora, at her very being, even worse than the inhospitable ground she’d fallen onto. The insults became less direct and softer, but still impossibly cruel. They said cryptic, confusing things like ‘This one’s still breathing.’ and ‘Get her out of here.’ Lora knew that she wasn’t wanted. Not there, or anywhere else. The entire world seemed to throb in and out in a deep wavering much like the ripples on the dark, impenetrable sea and the young girl felt hands on her. Picking her up. Delivering her.
Flashes became another place entirely, until finally Lora could see again. She was at home, being lifted out by strange men. Scorching blue lights streaked her vision through the slats of rotting wood nailed to the windows and a wailing enveloped the night, drawing closer. More sirens. As she passed through the living room, Lora saw her father. All sticky and red in the face. Crushed. Glued to his chair, and bashed in. In that sinking, numbed moment that seemed to stretch on into infinity, the girl knew that the overdose she’d taken hadn’t worked, and that she wouldn’t be free. That they were going to bring her back, so that she could pay for what she’d done. Empty pill bottles littered the carpet along with the stained-brown wraps of her father’s stash, mingling with the usual cluttered garbage. It hadn’t been enough, it could never be enough. But as the blinding white light of the ambulance's interior swallowed her, Lora felt herself slipping away. She fell backwards, forever, and while the paramedics hurried about their duty and their desperate pleas became less and less clear, Lora was glad that it was all finally over.
submitted by Verrgasm to shortstories [link] [comments]
The feeling of being watched was one Lora never found respite from, but as she sat there perched on the porch’s top step the understanding that this wasn’t of the usual malevolence that stalked her wherever she went seemed almost inherently undeniable. This presence was one of positive intent. Soothing, like the mother she’d never had but always longed for.
Lora tentatively got to her feet, the bare skin of her soles rubbing against the moist evening grass, still wet from the prior day's soft rain. As she was about to turn and go back inside, the forest cried out to her in an ethereal, desperate wail. But only ever so briefly. The girl froze, unsure of herself despite the deep, revelrous rays of affection pulsing and radiating from within the trees. She desperately wished to explore, to become one with it all, however her father had expressly forbade her from any such excursions beyond the property’s borders. Especially past the treeline, into those woods that may as well stretch on until the end of the universe. Lora knew what the consequences could be if she were to disobey.
The rusted hinges of the wooden front door creaked and with its closure disappeared anything resembling warmth or hope. Simply cold, fetid air; tainted by the stale musk of Lora’s father as he sat slumped, dozing in his chair. Lora crept across the floorboards, each squeaking almost as if to spite her. Her father stirred, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Lora gripped the knob of her bedroom door, twisting it ever so slowly so as to not make another sound, but it was too late. She turned, stifling a scream as she saw him swaying in the hallway towards her.
“Where do you think you’re going, girl?”
Lora’s father’s breath stank, and it was all she could do but to gag when he stuck his tongue down her throat. The bedroom door clicked behind them, and in her mind Lora went to the forest. She didn’t return until it was long over, but even then she was only half present. Her thoughts reduced to little more than grating static. Lora resolved through the fog that it was time to be free from all the nastiness of her homelife, even if it meant starvation or being ravaged by some sick wild animal. One with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws. Anything would be better than staying there, in that decrepit old cabin on the border of the ancient woods. That horrid, ramshackled shack on the cusp of the forest that breathes.
Lora awoke, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she caught her reflection in the grime-smudged bathroom mirror she couldn’t help but vomit, holding her long dark hair back with one hand while gripping the seat with the other; grasping onto it like someone on the verge of falling. Tight enough to make her fingers ache. She washed her face, then, trembling, crept down the hallway into the living room. Her father’s chair sat empty. The television, off. The fridge was devoid of alcohol, explaining his absence. Unfortunately the cupboards were barren as well, and the young girl’s stomach growled in its emptiness. She settled on the crumbs remaining in an old box of off-brand sugary cereal, the sweetness of which tasted strangely bitter.
As Lora looked absently through her wardrobe for something to wear, she remembered the vow she’d made to herself in the night. About how she’d be freed from this nightmare, one way or another. A flash of vengeful determination made its home in the depths of her gut and it spread until she was no longer acting with conscious thought, snatching a black trash bag and stuffing clothes and keepsakes inside. Lora’s eyes glistened as she rubbed the friendship bracelet between her fingers before sliding it onto her wrist, trying to recall the face of the friend that’d given it to her all those years ago. She couldn’t, and her desire to escape grew ten-fold. Anger was overtaken by remorse and then dread before coalescing into an anxiety-ridden desperation. Looking over the bottles of medication atop the dresser, Lora sent them rattling to the floor with a shriek. Just another set of cogs in the terrible machine that made her feel so awfully hollow. She wouldn’t need them anymore, Lora told herself. Not where she was going.
Her father had locked the front door behind him, a cruel attempt to keep his daughter captive. Luckily for her, Lora had learned many useful things during her confinement. Like how to pick the lock. She removed the pin from her hair before retrieving a thin sewing needle, getting to work. He could be back any minute. A long, increasingly tense struggle ensued as Lora strained to find her way through the locking mechanism; dark as it was inside with all the windows boarded up, allowing in only thin slivers of sunlight. Finally, she felt the click. But her joy was as short-lived as any other feeling considered to be good. Lora shivered with the rumble of her father’s truck as it rolled into the gravel driveway. When he found out what she’d done, anything could happen.
Without another thought or even a look over her shoulder, Lora flung the door open so hard that the wood splintered against the frame and she burst through the threshold, abandoning her bagged-up belongings on the filthy living room carpet. Her sneakers connected with the overgrown grass of the yard before meeting the somehow tamer undergrowth of the forest floor for the very first time. Lora kept running, and she didn’t stop until her father’s furious screams faded deep into the distance behind her. Then, she ran some more.
‘Lost’ was the wrong word, because as confused in her surroundings as she was, Lora felt her trepidations slowly recede into the background. Unseen birds chirped overhead amongst the treetops, welcoming her. Encouraging her to go on. So, she did. She walked for miles through that inviting brush, all laid bare before her as if the very spirit of the forest itself were parting every obstacle in her path, and yet her legs didn’t tire, not at all. A smile quite unlike any other she’d expressed in a long time found itself upon her face. Every breath felt like heaven. The air, sweet and intensely lovely; scented like fresh pine and whipped cream. Everything, Lora felt in that long, perfect stroll among the undulating swathes of greens and browns, everything was going to be alright. Afterall, with a feeling that good, how could anything possibly be bad?
The sun hung fixed above, beaming down from the center of the cloudless, blue sky. By the time Lora realized that it hadn’t and refused to move since the start of her escape, she had begun to notice other curious things about the forest as well. Like how the densely wooded landscape had steadily and subtly changed. The ambience seemed tinged, almost. A sepia-like tone washed over the plants and trees so that all appeared almost entirely brown, punctuated by the dark silhouetted blacks of branches and leaves. They writhed, indistinguishable from one another. Still, her joyous sense of adventurous freedom had hardly faltered and Lora continued on, becoming evermore aware that the path ahead was becoming increasingly treacherous. Thorn-covered thickets threatened to claw at her skin, penetrating the denim of her jeans and scratching at the pale flesh underneath. Lora grew timid in her steps, becoming disenchanted in the forest’s solitude.
For the first time since she’d stepped foot in those woods, Lora stopped, and knew instantly that she was utterly alone. It crushed her, sending the girl to the floor. She sobbed quietly to herself, feeling the pine needles dig into her hands as she grasped at the earth. As she was on the verge of giving up and simply laying down to die, she looked to her left and saw them a foot from her reddened, tear-streaked face. A bush, packed full of ripe blackberries, as appetizing as anything she’d ever seen. Lora ravenously wolfed down more than she could count, as quickly as she could pick them, and after a nourishing feast she lay with her back against the nearest tree where she slept like a baby. Someone uncorrupted.
When Lora opened her eyes, she saw to her surprise that the sun remained unmoved. The area around her had once again changed in hue though, from the sickening reddish-brown to one of a much more affable pink appearance. Sparkling particles danced and winked through the lush clearing ahead, leading the way. The air now tasted sugary, like Halloween candy. Lora couldn’t remember the last time she’d been allowed to go trick-or-treating. Maybe she never even had to begin with. Every sad recollection and vicious intrusive thought slid right off the young girl as she concentrated on the soft crunches her feet made and nothing else, unable to touch her. Eventually, when Lora had to stop once more to regain her bearings - having abandoned a linear path hours before - she realized to her stunned delight that the woods weren’t quite as empty as she’d previously thought.
Through a gap in the trees, past an impassable grouping of thorny thickets, Lora spied a congregation of creatures that she couldn’t quite explain. Even to herself, even though they inspired no fear, their nonsensical appearance left her paralyzed beyond reproach; completely frozen where she stood, and yet grinning ear-to-ear. Cooling themselves from the heat of the summer sun in the shade of a monolithic toadstool, fluttered a peaceful assortment of strange winged women surrounded by translucent stubby things whose jovial laughing mouths led to no innards. Frogs the size of cows croaked from the sidelines and other ineffable beasts hunched and clung to the taller branches above. Lora yearned to join the scene, to be among friendly faces, but she innately understood that were she to call out, they wouldn’t hear her. Let alone begin to understand. Crestfallen in her exclusion, but invigorated by the magical presence she now knew to truly exist, Lora went on her way. Hopeful of meeting someone or something that could take her pain away, if only for a little while.
The tinny brass screech of horns bellowed in the distance, but from which direction, she didn’t know. Contrary to everything she’d learned from books about wilderness survival, wandering aimlessly proved to be the correct approach, and Lora found herself looking in on another group. Who, this time, seemed much more humanoid in appearance, for the most part. Men and women, of over two dozen in number and all intricately clothed in ornate robes and dresses as if attending some grand ball and not just a clearing in the woods stood around, enjoying one another's company. Dwarves pottered about, shrilly chuckling with each other over the din as the brass players began to toot a song likely never before heard by mortal ears that even the sunflowers seemed to dance along to. It was beautiful. To Lora, at least. The partygoers seemed nonplussed by the sweet sounds, going about their conversations and business as if they’d heard them every day of their infinite lifespan. A sickly stream of opaque, swirling orange fog separated the two parties, and again Lora knew that her pleading shouts would have no effect on the beings should she try to call out to them. Distraught, she staggered away, crippled by the dreadful loneliness which was now very much unbearable.
She wandered as if in a daze; unthinking, unfeeling. Ready to perish. The air, once sweet and warm, had turned bitterly sour and in her terror Lora craned her neck to the sky, shivering, and saw that the sun had vanished. The perfect blue sea above had begun to degenerate, turning darker by the second. It exuded an implied emptiness, devoid of stars, as if everything she had felt and seen was all just some cruel joke played by no-one. A thick, miasmic fog began to form around her, and the trees grew less dense and full of audible life. The fetid stench rising up from the swamp was intoxicating. Sickening. Lora’s belly rumbled, begging for food as if it hadn’t ever been full, and she began to weep once more, imploring some vague altruistic force to save her from her torment. She screamed into the blackened sky until her bone-dry throat stung and she could scream no longer.
Then, as quickly as she’d entered, she was no longer among trees, surrounded by the vastness of an unending and desolate desert. Lora didn’t care. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder to see what she’d left behind, she simply continued forward; unable to go on any other way. A violent wind was picking up, carrying clouds of coarse gray dust which slashed at the girl’s eyes. The dunes stretched onto the horizon in patterns that seemed to repeat infinitely and they had nothing to offer except for slow and excruciating death; a suffocating abyss.
Lora’s knees were long since weary, buckling under her meager weight, but she didn’t stop. Even though the cold, dead sand looked like a fine enough place to fall asleep for the last time. As one leg gave out and she tumbled to the ashen desert floor, Lora stared glaringly into the distance; searching for something deadly that might have the courtesy to look her in the eyes before it killed her. She saw no great and hungry beast with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws ready to devour what was left of her, but an ocean instead. Black and unforgiving. Lora lurched in its direction, and found herself on the shore. Ahead, around an arched rock formation of inexplicable nature, danced a number of fairies, male and female; waving their sparkling wands freely as if entirely without inhibition with their pale white skin exposed for all to see. Cherubs writhed floating in a congealed mass above the figures atop the formation; a loving family, crowned in shining white light. The beings reveled soundlessly as Lora watched on, still observing with fascination even as her body gave in to her exhaustion and she collapsed onto the brittle, jagged rocks at her feet. The divine group seemed to take notice of her then, and some laughed at her misfortune. Others whispered mocking jeers which stabbed at Lora, at her very being, even worse than the inhospitable ground she’d fallen onto. The insults became less direct and softer, but still impossibly cruel. They said cryptic, confusing things like ‘This one’s still breathing.’ and ‘Get her out of here.’ Lora knew that she wasn’t wanted. Not there, or anywhere else. The entire world seemed to throb in and out in a deep wavering much like the ripples on the dark, impenetrable sea and the young girl felt hands on her. Picking her up. Delivering her.
Flashes became another place entirely, until finally Lora could see again. She was at home, being lifted out by strange men. Scorching blue lights streaked her vision through the slats of rotting wood nailed to the windows and a wailing enveloped the night, drawing closer. More sirens. As she passed through the living room, Lora saw her father. All sticky and red in the face. Crushed. Glued to his chair, and bashed in. In that sinking, numbed moment that seemed to stretch on into infinity, the girl knew that the overdose she’d taken hadn’t worked, and that she wouldn’t be free. That they were going to bring her back, so that she could pay for what she’d done. Empty pill bottles littered the carpet along with the stained-brown wraps of her father’s stash, mingling with the usual cluttered garbage. It hadn’t been enough, it could never be enough. But as the blinding white light of the ambulance's interior swallowed her, Lora felt herself slipping away. She fell backwards, forever, and while the paramedics hurried about their duty and their desperate pleas became less and less clear, Lora was glad that it was all finally over.
2023.06.06 20:08 Verrgasm On The Borders Of Madness
Lora Jones gazed blankly into the forest as she sat alone, knees hugged tightly to her chest, almost forgetting the uncomfortable flaking boards of the porch beneath her. The air was still and deathly quiet, and an indeterminable stirring had drawn the girl outside; cutting through the silence as if calling directly to her. Lora listened intently, intermittently escaping her daydreams to scan the treeline in hopes of encountering something unreal. Something different. Better.
The feeling of being watched was one Lora never found respite from, but as she sat there perched on the porch’s top step the understanding that this wasn’t of the usual malevolence that stalked her wherever she went seemed almost inherently undeniable. This presence was one of positive intent. Soothing, like the mother she’d never had but always longed for.
Lora tentatively got to her feet, the bare skin of her soles rubbing against the moist evening grass, still wet from the prior day's soft rain. As she was about to turn and go back inside, the forest cried out to her in an ethereal, desperate wail. But only ever so briefly. The girl froze, unsure of herself despite the deep, revelrous rays of affection pulsing and radiating from within the trees. She desperately wished to explore, to become one with it all, however her father had expressly forbade her from any such excursions beyond the property’s borders. Especially past the treeline, into those woods that may as well stretch on until the end of the universe. Lora knew what the consequences could be if she were to disobey.
The rusted hinges of the wooden front door creaked and with its closure disappeared anything resembling warmth or hope. Simply cold, fetid air; tainted by the stale musk of Lora’s father as he sat slumped, dozing in his chair. Lora crept across the floorboards, each squeaking almost as if to spite her. Her father stirred, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Lora gripped the knob of her bedroom door, twisting it ever so slowly so as to not make another sound, but it was too late. She turned, stifling a scream as she saw him swaying in the hallway towards her.
“Where do you think you’re going, girl?”
Lora’s father’s breath stank, and it was all she could do but to gag when he stuck his tongue down her throat. The bedroom door clicked behind them, and in her mind Lora went to the forest. She didn’t return until it was long over, but even then she was only half present. Her thoughts reduced to little more than grating static. Lora resolved through the fog that it was time to be free from all the nastiness of her homelife, even if it meant starvation or being ravaged by some sick wild animal. One with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws. Anything would be better than staying there, in that decrepit old cabin on the border of the ancient woods. That horrid, ramshackled shack on the cusp of the forest that breathes.
Lora awoke, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she caught her reflection in the grime-smudged bathroom mirror she couldn’t help but vomit, holding her long dark hair back with one hand while gripping the seat with the other; grasping onto it like someone on the verge of falling. Tight enough to make her fingers ache. She washed her face, then, trembling, crept down the hallway into the living room. Her father’s chair sat empty. The television, off. The fridge was devoid of alcohol, explaining his absence. Unfortunately the cupboards were barren as well, and the young girl’s stomach growled in its emptiness. She settled on the crumbs remaining in an old box of off-brand sugary cereal, the sweetness of which tasted strangely bitter.
As Lora looked absently through her wardrobe for something to wear, she remembered the vow she’d made to herself in the night. About how she’d be freed from this nightmare, one way or another. A flash of vengeful determination made its home in the depths of her gut and it spread until she was no longer acting with conscious thought, snatching a black trash bag and stuffing clothes and keepsakes inside. Lora’s eyes glistened as she rubbed the friendship bracelet between her fingers before sliding it onto her wrist, trying to recall the face of the friend that’d given it to her all those years ago. She couldn’t, and her desire to escape grew ten-fold. Anger was overtaken by remorse and then dread before coalescing into an anxiety-ridden desperation. Looking over the bottles of medication atop the dresser, Lora sent them rattling to the floor with a shriek. Just another set of cogs in the terrible machine that made her feel so awfully hollow. She wouldn’t need them anymore, Lora told herself. Not where she was going.
Her father had locked the front door behind him, a cruel attempt to keep his daughter captive. Luckily for her, Lora had learned many useful things during her confinement. Like how to pick the lock. She removed the pin from her hair before retrieving a thin sewing needle, getting to work. He could be back any minute. A long, increasingly tense struggle ensued as Lora strained to find her way through the locking mechanism; dark as it was inside with all the windows boarded up, allowing in only thin slivers of sunlight. Finally, she felt the click. But her joy was as short-lived as any other feeling considered to be good. Lora shivered with the rumble of her father’s truck as it rolled into the gravel driveway. When he found out what she’d done, anything could happen.
Without another thought or even a look over her shoulder, Lora flung the door open so hard that the wood splintered against the frame and she burst through the threshold, abandoning her bagged-up belongings on the filthy living room carpet. Her sneakers connected with the overgrown grass of the yard before meeting the somehow tamer undergrowth of the forest floor for the very first time. Lora kept running, and she didn’t stop until her father’s furious screams faded deep into the distance behind her. Then, she ran some more.
‘Lost’ was the wrong word, because as confused in her surroundings as she was, Lora felt her trepidations slowly recede into the background. Unseen birds chirped overhead amongst the treetops, welcoming her. Encouraging her to go on. So, she did. She walked for miles through that inviting brush, all laid bare before her as if the very spirit of the forest itself were parting every obstacle in her path, and yet her legs didn’t tire, not at all. A smile quite unlike any other she’d expressed in a long time found itself upon her face. Every breath felt like heaven. The air, sweet and intensely lovely; scented like fresh pine and whipped cream. Everything, Lora felt in that long, perfect stroll among the undulating swathes of greens and browns, everything was going to be alright. Afterall, with a feeling that good, how could anything possibly be bad?
The sun hung fixed above, beaming down from the center of the cloudless, blue sky. By the time Lora realized that it hadn’t and refused to move since the start of her escape, she had begun to notice other curious things about the forest as well. Like how the densely wooded landscape had steadily and subtly changed. The ambience seemed tinged, almost. A sepia-like tone washed over the plants and trees so that all appeared almost entirely brown, punctuated by the dark silhouetted blacks of branches and leaves. They writhed, indistinguishable from one another. Still, her joyous sense of adventurous freedom had hardly faltered and Lora continued on, becoming evermore aware that the path ahead was becoming increasingly treacherous. Thorn-covered thickets threatened to claw at her skin, penetrating the denim of her jeans and scratching at the pale flesh underneath. Lora grew timid in her steps, becoming disenchanted in the forest’s solitude.
For the first time since she’d stepped foot in those woods, Lora stopped, and knew instantly that she was utterly alone. It crushed her, sending the girl to the floor. She sobbed quietly to herself, feeling the pine needles dig into her hands as she grasped at the earth. As she was on the verge of giving up and simply laying down to die, she looked to her left and saw them a foot from her reddened, tear-streaked face. A bush, packed full of ripe blackberries, as appetizing as anything she’d ever seen. Lora ravenously wolfed down more than she could count, as quickly as she could pick them, and after a nourishing feast she lay with her back against the nearest tree where she slept like a baby. Someone uncorrupted.
When Lora opened her eyes, she saw to her surprise that the sun remained unmoved. The area around her had once again changed in hue though, from the sickening reddish-brown to one of a much more affable pink appearance. Sparkling particles danced and winked through the lush clearing ahead, leading the way. The air now tasted sugary, like Halloween candy. Lora couldn’t remember the last time she’d been allowed to go trick-or-treating. Maybe she never even had to begin with. Every sad recollection and vicious intrusive thought slid right off the young girl as she concentrated on the soft crunches her feet made and nothing else, unable to touch her. Eventually, when Lora had to stop once more to regain her bearings - having abandoned a linear path hours before - she realized to her stunned delight that the woods weren’t quite as empty as she’d previously thought.
Through a gap in the trees, past an impassable grouping of thorny thickets, Lora spied a congregation of creatures that she couldn’t quite explain. Even to herself, even though they inspired no fear, their nonsensical appearance left her paralyzed beyond reproach; completely frozen where she stood, and yet grinning ear-to-ear. Cooling themselves from the heat of the summer sun in the shade of a monolithic toadstool, fluttered a peaceful assortment of strange winged women surrounded by translucent stubby things whose jovial laughing mouths led to no innards. Frogs the size of cows croaked from the sidelines and other ineffable beasts hunched and clung to the taller branches above. Lora yearned to join the scene, to be among friendly faces, but she innately understood that were she to call out, they wouldn’t hear her. Let alone begin to understand. Crestfallen in her exclusion, but invigorated by the magical presence she now knew to truly exist, Lora went on her way. Hopeful of meeting someone or something that could take her pain away, if only for a little while.
The tinny brass screech of horns bellowed in the distance, but from which direction, she didn’t know. Contrary to everything she’d learned from books about wilderness survival, wandering aimlessly proved to be the correct approach, and Lora found herself looking in on another group. Who, this time, seemed much more humanoid in appearance, for the most part. Men and women, of over two dozen in number and all intricately clothed in ornate robes and dresses as if attending some grand ball and not just a clearing in the woods stood around, enjoying one another's company. Dwarves pottered about, shrilly chuckling with each other over the din as the brass players began to toot a song likely never before heard by mortal ears that even the sunflowers seemed to dance along to. It was beautiful. To Lora, at least. The partygoers seemed nonplussed by the sweet sounds, going about their conversations and business as if they’d heard them every day of their infinite lifespan. A sickly stream of opaque, swirling orange fog separated the two parties, and again Lora knew that her pleading shouts would have no effect on the beings should she try to call out to them. Distraught, she staggered away, crippled by the dreadful loneliness which was now very much unbearable.
She wandered as if in a daze; unthinking, unfeeling. Ready to perish. The air, once sweet and warm, had turned bitterly sour and in her terror Lora craned her neck to the sky, shivering, and saw that the sun had vanished. The perfect blue sea above had begun to degenerate, turning darker by the second. It exuded an implied emptiness, devoid of stars, as if everything she had felt and seen was all just some cruel joke played by no-one. A thick, miasmic fog began to form around her, and the trees grew less dense and full of audible life. The fetid stench rising up from the swamp was intoxicating. Sickening. Lora’s belly rumbled, begging for food as if it hadn’t ever been full, and she began to weep once more, imploring some vague altruistic force to save her from her torment. She screamed into the blackened sky until her bone-dry throat stung and she could scream no longer.
Then, as quickly as she’d entered, she was no longer among trees, surrounded by the vastness of an unending and desolate desert. Lora didn’t care. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder to see what she’d left behind, she simply continued forward; unable to go on any other way. A violent wind was picking up, carrying clouds of coarse gray dust which slashed at the girl’s eyes. The dunes stretched onto the horizon in patterns that seemed to repeat infinitely and they had nothing to offer except for slow and excruciating death; a suffocating abyss.
Lora’s knees were long since weary, buckling under her meager weight, but she didn’t stop. Even though the cold, dead sand looked like a fine enough place to fall asleep for the last time. As one leg gave out and she tumbled to the ashen desert floor, Lora stared glaringly into the distance; searching for something deadly that might have the courtesy to look her in the eyes before it killed her. She saw no great and hungry beast with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws ready to devour what was left of her, but an ocean instead. Black and unforgiving. Lora lurched in its direction, and found herself on the shore. Ahead, around an arched rock formation of inexplicable nature, danced a number of fairies, male and female; waving their sparkling wands freely as if entirely without inhibition with their pale white skin exposed for all to see. Cherubs writhed floating in a congealed mass above the figures atop the formation; a loving family, crowned in shining white light. The beings reveled soundlessly as Lora watched on, still observing with fascination even as her body gave in to her exhaustion and she collapsed onto the brittle, jagged rocks at her feet. The divine group seemed to take notice of her then, and some laughed at her misfortune. Others whispered mocking jeers which stabbed at Lora, at her very being, even worse than the inhospitable ground she’d fallen onto. The insults became less direct and softer, but still impossibly cruel. They said cryptic, confusing things like ‘This one’s still breathing.’ and ‘Get her out of here.’ Lora knew that she wasn’t wanted. Not there, or anywhere else. The entire world seemed to throb in and out in a deep wavering much like the ripples on the dark, impenetrable sea and the young girl felt hands on her. Picking her up. Delivering her.
Flashes became another place entirely, until finally Lora could see again. She was at home, being lifted out by strange men. Scorching blue lights streaked her vision through the slats of rotting wood nailed to the windows and a wailing enveloped the night, drawing closer. More sirens. As she passed through the living room, Lora saw her father. All sticky and red in the face. Crushed. Glued to his chair, and bashed in. In that sinking, numbed moment that seemed to stretch on into infinity, the girl knew that the overdose she’d taken hadn’t worked, and that she wouldn’t be free. That they were going to bring her back, so that she could pay for what she’d done. Empty pill bottles littered the carpet along with the stained-brown wraps of her father’s stash, mingling with the usual cluttered garbage. It hadn’t been enough, it could never be enough. But as the blinding white light of the ambulance's interior swallowed her, Lora felt herself slipping away. She fell backwards, forever, and while the paramedics hurried about their duty and their desperate pleas became less and less clear, Lora was glad that it was all finally over.
submitted by Verrgasm to scarystories [link] [comments]
The feeling of being watched was one Lora never found respite from, but as she sat there perched on the porch’s top step the understanding that this wasn’t of the usual malevolence that stalked her wherever she went seemed almost inherently undeniable. This presence was one of positive intent. Soothing, like the mother she’d never had but always longed for.
Lora tentatively got to her feet, the bare skin of her soles rubbing against the moist evening grass, still wet from the prior day's soft rain. As she was about to turn and go back inside, the forest cried out to her in an ethereal, desperate wail. But only ever so briefly. The girl froze, unsure of herself despite the deep, revelrous rays of affection pulsing and radiating from within the trees. She desperately wished to explore, to become one with it all, however her father had expressly forbade her from any such excursions beyond the property’s borders. Especially past the treeline, into those woods that may as well stretch on until the end of the universe. Lora knew what the consequences could be if she were to disobey.
The rusted hinges of the wooden front door creaked and with its closure disappeared anything resembling warmth or hope. Simply cold, fetid air; tainted by the stale musk of Lora’s father as he sat slumped, dozing in his chair. Lora crept across the floorboards, each squeaking almost as if to spite her. Her father stirred, but he didn’t open his eyes.
Lora gripped the knob of her bedroom door, twisting it ever so slowly so as to not make another sound, but it was too late. She turned, stifling a scream as she saw him swaying in the hallway towards her.
“Where do you think you’re going, girl?”
Lora’s father’s breath stank, and it was all she could do but to gag when he stuck his tongue down her throat. The bedroom door clicked behind them, and in her mind Lora went to the forest. She didn’t return until it was long over, but even then she was only half present. Her thoughts reduced to little more than grating static. Lora resolved through the fog that it was time to be free from all the nastiness of her homelife, even if it meant starvation or being ravaged by some sick wild animal. One with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws. Anything would be better than staying there, in that decrepit old cabin on the border of the ancient woods. That horrid, ramshackled shack on the cusp of the forest that breathes.
Lora awoke, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she caught her reflection in the grime-smudged bathroom mirror she couldn’t help but vomit, holding her long dark hair back with one hand while gripping the seat with the other; grasping onto it like someone on the verge of falling. Tight enough to make her fingers ache. She washed her face, then, trembling, crept down the hallway into the living room. Her father’s chair sat empty. The television, off. The fridge was devoid of alcohol, explaining his absence. Unfortunately the cupboards were barren as well, and the young girl’s stomach growled in its emptiness. She settled on the crumbs remaining in an old box of off-brand sugary cereal, the sweetness of which tasted strangely bitter.
As Lora looked absently through her wardrobe for something to wear, she remembered the vow she’d made to herself in the night. About how she’d be freed from this nightmare, one way or another. A flash of vengeful determination made its home in the depths of her gut and it spread until she was no longer acting with conscious thought, snatching a black trash bag and stuffing clothes and keepsakes inside. Lora’s eyes glistened as she rubbed the friendship bracelet between her fingers before sliding it onto her wrist, trying to recall the face of the friend that’d given it to her all those years ago. She couldn’t, and her desire to escape grew ten-fold. Anger was overtaken by remorse and then dread before coalescing into an anxiety-ridden desperation. Looking over the bottles of medication atop the dresser, Lora sent them rattling to the floor with a shriek. Just another set of cogs in the terrible machine that made her feel so awfully hollow. She wouldn’t need them anymore, Lora told herself. Not where she was going.
Her father had locked the front door behind him, a cruel attempt to keep his daughter captive. Luckily for her, Lora had learned many useful things during her confinement. Like how to pick the lock. She removed the pin from her hair before retrieving a thin sewing needle, getting to work. He could be back any minute. A long, increasingly tense struggle ensued as Lora strained to find her way through the locking mechanism; dark as it was inside with all the windows boarded up, allowing in only thin slivers of sunlight. Finally, she felt the click. But her joy was as short-lived as any other feeling considered to be good. Lora shivered with the rumble of her father’s truck as it rolled into the gravel driveway. When he found out what she’d done, anything could happen.
Without another thought or even a look over her shoulder, Lora flung the door open so hard that the wood splintered against the frame and she burst through the threshold, abandoning her bagged-up belongings on the filthy living room carpet. Her sneakers connected with the overgrown grass of the yard before meeting the somehow tamer undergrowth of the forest floor for the very first time. Lora kept running, and she didn’t stop until her father’s furious screams faded deep into the distance behind her. Then, she ran some more.
‘Lost’ was the wrong word, because as confused in her surroundings as she was, Lora felt her trepidations slowly recede into the background. Unseen birds chirped overhead amongst the treetops, welcoming her. Encouraging her to go on. So, she did. She walked for miles through that inviting brush, all laid bare before her as if the very spirit of the forest itself were parting every obstacle in her path, and yet her legs didn’t tire, not at all. A smile quite unlike any other she’d expressed in a long time found itself upon her face. Every breath felt like heaven. The air, sweet and intensely lovely; scented like fresh pine and whipped cream. Everything, Lora felt in that long, perfect stroll among the undulating swathes of greens and browns, everything was going to be alright. Afterall, with a feeling that good, how could anything possibly be bad?
The sun hung fixed above, beaming down from the center of the cloudless, blue sky. By the time Lora realized that it hadn’t and refused to move since the start of her escape, she had begun to notice other curious things about the forest as well. Like how the densely wooded landscape had steadily and subtly changed. The ambience seemed tinged, almost. A sepia-like tone washed over the plants and trees so that all appeared almost entirely brown, punctuated by the dark silhouetted blacks of branches and leaves. They writhed, indistinguishable from one another. Still, her joyous sense of adventurous freedom had hardly faltered and Lora continued on, becoming evermore aware that the path ahead was becoming increasingly treacherous. Thorn-covered thickets threatened to claw at her skin, penetrating the denim of her jeans and scratching at the pale flesh underneath. Lora grew timid in her steps, becoming disenchanted in the forest’s solitude.
For the first time since she’d stepped foot in those woods, Lora stopped, and knew instantly that she was utterly alone. It crushed her, sending the girl to the floor. She sobbed quietly to herself, feeling the pine needles dig into her hands as she grasped at the earth. As she was on the verge of giving up and simply laying down to die, she looked to her left and saw them a foot from her reddened, tear-streaked face. A bush, packed full of ripe blackberries, as appetizing as anything she’d ever seen. Lora ravenously wolfed down more than she could count, as quickly as she could pick them, and after a nourishing feast she lay with her back against the nearest tree where she slept like a baby. Someone uncorrupted.
When Lora opened her eyes, she saw to her surprise that the sun remained unmoved. The area around her had once again changed in hue though, from the sickening reddish-brown to one of a much more affable pink appearance. Sparkling particles danced and winked through the lush clearing ahead, leading the way. The air now tasted sugary, like Halloween candy. Lora couldn’t remember the last time she’d been allowed to go trick-or-treating. Maybe she never even had to begin with. Every sad recollection and vicious intrusive thought slid right off the young girl as she concentrated on the soft crunches her feet made and nothing else, unable to touch her. Eventually, when Lora had to stop once more to regain her bearings - having abandoned a linear path hours before - she realized to her stunned delight that the woods weren’t quite as empty as she’d previously thought.
Through a gap in the trees, past an impassable grouping of thorny thickets, Lora spied a congregation of creatures that she couldn’t quite explain. Even to herself, even though they inspired no fear, their nonsensical appearance left her paralyzed beyond reproach; completely frozen where she stood, and yet grinning ear-to-ear. Cooling themselves from the heat of the summer sun in the shade of a monolithic toadstool, fluttered a peaceful assortment of strange winged women surrounded by translucent stubby things whose jovial laughing mouths led to no innards. Frogs the size of cows croaked from the sidelines and other ineffable beasts hunched and clung to the taller branches above. Lora yearned to join the scene, to be among friendly faces, but she innately understood that were she to call out, they wouldn’t hear her. Let alone begin to understand. Crestfallen in her exclusion, but invigorated by the magical presence she now knew to truly exist, Lora went on her way. Hopeful of meeting someone or something that could take her pain away, if only for a little while.
The tinny brass screech of horns bellowed in the distance, but from which direction, she didn’t know. Contrary to everything she’d learned from books about wilderness survival, wandering aimlessly proved to be the correct approach, and Lora found herself looking in on another group. Who, this time, seemed much more humanoid in appearance, for the most part. Men and women, of over two dozen in number and all intricately clothed in ornate robes and dresses as if attending some grand ball and not just a clearing in the woods stood around, enjoying one another's company. Dwarves pottered about, shrilly chuckling with each other over the din as the brass players began to toot a song likely never before heard by mortal ears that even the sunflowers seemed to dance along to. It was beautiful. To Lora, at least. The partygoers seemed nonplussed by the sweet sounds, going about their conversations and business as if they’d heard them every day of their infinite lifespan. A sickly stream of opaque, swirling orange fog separated the two parties, and again Lora knew that her pleading shouts would have no effect on the beings should she try to call out to them. Distraught, she staggered away, crippled by the dreadful loneliness which was now very much unbearable.
She wandered as if in a daze; unthinking, unfeeling. Ready to perish. The air, once sweet and warm, had turned bitterly sour and in her terror Lora craned her neck to the sky, shivering, and saw that the sun had vanished. The perfect blue sea above had begun to degenerate, turning darker by the second. It exuded an implied emptiness, devoid of stars, as if everything she had felt and seen was all just some cruel joke played by no-one. A thick, miasmic fog began to form around her, and the trees grew less dense and full of audible life. The fetid stench rising up from the swamp was intoxicating. Sickening. Lora’s belly rumbled, begging for food as if it hadn’t ever been full, and she began to weep once more, imploring some vague altruistic force to save her from her torment. She screamed into the blackened sky until her bone-dry throat stung and she could scream no longer.
Then, as quickly as she’d entered, she was no longer among trees, surrounded by the vastness of an unending and desolate desert. Lora didn’t care. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder to see what she’d left behind, she simply continued forward; unable to go on any other way. A violent wind was picking up, carrying clouds of coarse gray dust which slashed at the girl’s eyes. The dunes stretched onto the horizon in patterns that seemed to repeat infinitely and they had nothing to offer except for slow and excruciating death; a suffocating abyss.
Lora’s knees were long since weary, buckling under her meager weight, but she didn’t stop. Even though the cold, dead sand looked like a fine enough place to fall asleep for the last time. As one leg gave out and she tumbled to the ashen desert floor, Lora stared glaringly into the distance; searching for something deadly that might have the courtesy to look her in the eyes before it killed her. She saw no great and hungry beast with razor-sharp teeth and killer claws ready to devour what was left of her, but an ocean instead. Black and unforgiving. Lora lurched in its direction, and found herself on the shore. Ahead, around an arched rock formation of inexplicable nature, danced a number of fairies, male and female; waving their sparkling wands freely as if entirely without inhibition with their pale white skin exposed for all to see. Cherubs writhed floating in a congealed mass above the figures atop the formation; a loving family, crowned in shining white light. The beings reveled soundlessly as Lora watched on, still observing with fascination even as her body gave in to her exhaustion and she collapsed onto the brittle, jagged rocks at her feet. The divine group seemed to take notice of her then, and some laughed at her misfortune. Others whispered mocking jeers which stabbed at Lora, at her very being, even worse than the inhospitable ground she’d fallen onto. The insults became less direct and softer, but still impossibly cruel. They said cryptic, confusing things like ‘This one’s still breathing.’ and ‘Get her out of here.’ Lora knew that she wasn’t wanted. Not there, or anywhere else. The entire world seemed to throb in and out in a deep wavering much like the ripples on the dark, impenetrable sea and the young girl felt hands on her. Picking her up. Delivering her.
Flashes became another place entirely, until finally Lora could see again. She was at home, being lifted out by strange men. Scorching blue lights streaked her vision through the slats of rotting wood nailed to the windows and a wailing enveloped the night, drawing closer. More sirens. As she passed through the living room, Lora saw her father. All sticky and red in the face. Crushed. Glued to his chair, and bashed in. In that sinking, numbed moment that seemed to stretch on into infinity, the girl knew that the overdose she’d taken hadn’t worked, and that she wouldn’t be free. That they were going to bring her back, so that she could pay for what she’d done. Empty pill bottles littered the carpet along with the stained-brown wraps of her father’s stash, mingling with the usual cluttered garbage. It hadn’t been enough, it could never be enough. But as the blinding white light of the ambulance's interior swallowed her, Lora felt herself slipping away. She fell backwards, forever, and while the paramedics hurried about their duty and their desperate pleas became less and less clear, Lora was glad that it was all finally over.