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dxrlinggxd · 2 years

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analysing the lyrics to 'august' by taylor swift

this is gonna be a long post but i put a lot of effort into it so i hope you like it <3

before i begin, let me explain the folklore love triangle to the unaware. taylor swift's 8th album, folklore, has a love triangle, with all 3 characters getting a song from their povs. the basic story is this: betty and james are together, james sees betty dance with another guy at a school dance (and to add to it, he has social anxiety). he's upset, and while he's leaving, he runs into augustine. he and augustine have a summer fling, but betty finds out and is mad at him. james then breaks things off with augustine and tries to win betty back. the ending is left up to the audience's interpretation.

[note: taylor has used he/him pronouns for james & she/her pronouns for both betty and augustine, so those are what i will be using in this analysis.]

betty's song is 'cardigan', james' song is 'betty' & augustine's song is 'august'.

i'm going to be doing a deep dive into the lyrics of august, happy reading <3

salt air and the rust on your door, i never needed anything more

the opening line sets the scene. they're near the sea, at a beach, possibly staying in a cabin, a typical setting for a summer romance. augustine says 'your door', not 'the door'. already, he (james) is the one with the upper hand. it's his door, his cabin, his terms, but that's all she's ever needed. she's going along with whatever he wants because she'd do anything & put up with anything if it means being able to be with him.

whispers of "are you sure? never have i ever before"

whispers. this is augustine recollecting what happens, and even when she's reminiscing, they're whispering. the moment is in private. it's precious. there is a fond, longing undertone. even after what has happened, she'd still do anything to get that back. the 'never have i ever before' probably means that this is either her or both of their first time having sex. never have i ever is also a popular teen game, so that lays down a light, playful atmosphere. it's a happy memory.

and the whispers themselves: this could either be 1) a conversation between her & james, or 2) one of them saying both sentences. the "are you sure" sounds like asking for consent. they're probably losing their virginities to each other. either way, one thing is clear: uncertainty is a prominent theme in this memory. they don't know what they're doing, but there's a thrill to the unknown, to the riskiness of it all.

"but i can see us lost in the memory, august slipped away into a moment in time, 'cause it was never mine"

to her, this memory exists outside of time. just thinking about it makes her feel everything she did then. however, she also knows that despite how attached she is to it, she has lost the memory to time. she's holding onto whatever she can, but the truth is, it's gone. it was never even hers. the worst part is that even back then, she knew it never belonged to her. she knew she was nothing but a distraction, a lapse in judgement, but she went with it anyway, because she took whatever she could get. she'd rather be a distraction than be nothing.

"and i can see us twisted in bedsheets, august sipped away like a bottle of wine, 'cause you were never mine"

again, adding to the "never have i ever before" part- they slept together. losing one's virginity is a major experience, and that, coupled with the fact that the experience was with james, makes this something she remembers every single detail of.

when teens drink alcohol, it's rarely wine. it's usually beer, or vodka, but never wine. the usage of wine shows how they were trying to be adults, pretending that they were making a mature decision by being together when really, they weren't.

it was sipped away like a bottle of wine. slowly, they got drunk on august. they took sips, and went about it slowly, day by day, until there was nothing left and they had to face reality. if we're taking it literally, they probably spent the entire summer drinking and hooking up.

and finally, "'cause you were never mine." the first part of the chorus ends with "'cause it (august) was never mine", as if blaming the month, the season, and/or time itself. she was blaming fate. here, though, she switches. it's as if, while reminiscing, she has come to terms with the fact that the problem here wasn't with august, it was with them. with him. it wasn't august that was never hers, it was james.

the difference between 'slipped away' and 'sipped away' is stark. one says that it was fleeting and happened quickly & the other says they took their time with it and enjoyed it. the tone of the memory changes with the emotion that augustine reminisces them with. we must remember that both james & augustine (who narrate what happened) are unreliable narrators.

another interesting detail is this: in the previous line, she says "lost in the memory", which is very vague. she isn't delving into the details, just brushing it off, saying "oh, yeah, it was a nice time i guess, but it's in the past now". she follows that up with "it was never mine". in the second line, however, she gets specific, like she's actually thinking over what happened. "twisted in bedsheets" is a specific memory. and when she really lets herself think about what happened, she needs to accept that HE, not it, was never hers.

"your back beneath the sun, wishing i could write my name on it"

again, visual imagery. the picture being painted here appears to be after james and augustine sleep together. augustine must've woken up before him because she's looking at how his back looks in the sun. she wishes she could do something as public as writing her name on it. it's a metaphor for not wanting to have to be a secret, but she knew, even while drowsy and possibly hungover (remember the mention of wine), that it could never be.

also interesting is that "your back" could also be her saying "you're back". it doesn't make sense in the complete context of the line, but thinking of it as an exclamation, a secret exhale hidden within the lyrics is heartbreaking.

"will you call when you're back at school? i remember thinking i had you"

she's either older than him (which would be weird and illegal because james is 17), goes to a different school, or they never interact at school. for the sake of analysis, i'm going to assume it's the 3rd one, but it's open to interpretation.

which means they weren't friends at school. they did not hang out in the same groups. she doesn't even expect him to acknowledge her in public, all she wants to know is if he might call her. in private. she hates being a secret, but she's begging him to let her be one because all the bare minimum is enough to get her by.

the second line is sadder when you remember that just before this, she was wishing she could write her name on his back, but knowing that she couldn't. she KNEW, the whole time, that this was just a fling for him, but deep down she a part of her still thought he truly cared for her, that she was as important to him as he was to her.

(but i can see us...you were never mine)

"back when we were still changing for the better, wanting was enough, for me, it was enough"

the first part here is a throwback to when they were younger and 'innocent'. when they'd make a mistake, it wouldn't be the end of the world, they'd just learn. that was before her august with james, because that became something she couldn't come back from. if you've heard 'betty', you know that inez, betty's friend, finds out about their fling and tells betty (and possibly more people). seeing as augustine was never a part of their group in the first place, she will likely be always remembered as the girl james cheated on betty with and nothing more than that. this is something that's going to deeply, deeply affect her, both socially and mentally.

but back then, before she'd asked him to get in her car, before the affair, before heartbreak, she'd just been a girl wanting him, and at the time that was enough for her- but it no longer is. now that she knows what it's like to have had him, she doesn't want to go back to merely liking him from a distance.

something else worth noting here is the phrasing of the line. it's as if she's pleading "what you gave me was enough for me, i promise, i don't need anything else, just please come back." or: "i was happy just liking you from the sidelines, but then you turned up and ruined my life", which would have an angry undertone. the beauty of this is that she gives no elaboration, it's just you and your imagination. interpret it how you like.

there's some more wordplay here: when she says wanting, it sounds like she's saying one thing. as in, "one thing was enough." because that's all she needed- him.

"for me, it was enough to live for the hope of it all, cancel plans just in case you'd call and say meet me behind the mall"

the "for me it was enough" makes sense as a sentence both with the line before it and the one after it. the sentiment is the same: she was happy with the arrangement. there are contrasting themes here because she's in a messy situation. she's aware she deserves better. she knows she shouldn't be settling for the bare minimum. but now that she's lost what they had, she misses it and wants it back. she doesn't need anything more than what he's ever given her. even at the time of the fling, she prioritised him so much that she'd even cancel plans in case he decided to call her (again, him being the one to call re-emphasises the fact that he's the one with the upper hand here).

"meet me behind the mall" is, taylor swift herself said, the core of the song. it highlights how secretive they were. they could always lie, say they were going to a mall to hang out with their friends or to shop, and then secretly hook up behind it. it's also interesting when you parallel it to the fact that they were also hooking up along the beach, which is a completely different setting. this implies that this affair lasted for a while. there's alliteration used here, too.

wordplay, again: meet me behind the mall also sounds like "meet me behind them all", which, again, goes to prove how staying a secret was the most important part of their relationship.

"so much for summer love and saying us, 'cause you weren't mine to lose"

a heartbreaking contrast to augustine calling what they had "summer love" is james telling betty (in the song 'betty') that what they had was "just a summer thing". and with the second part of this line, again, we're running in circles. she thinks she deserves better, she wants him back, she's being positive about it and then she isn't. but as we're nearing the end of the song, after going through the myriad of emotions and thoughts she had in the aftermath of the affair, she seems to be coming to terms with a single fact: he was never truly hers in the first place.

(chorus x2)

some wordplay: over here, the words "never mine" repeat. it almost sounds as if she's saying "never mind". as in, forget everything i've said, it's okay, i'm okay.

"remember when i pulled up and said get in the car, and then cancelled my plans just in case you'd call, back when i was living for the hope of it all (for the hope of it all), meet me behind the mall" (x3)

we think the song is over after the bridge and third chorus, but she comes swinging again. the fact that she sings this part thrice shows just how massive an impact all this has had on her. if we take the "never mind" into consideration, this hurts more because she thought she was over it, but she isn't.

she isn't ever going to forget what happened. even though she's come to terms with what has happened, she still can't stop thinking about all of it. she's still hung up, because memories don't let one off that easily.

from 'betty' we know that the fling began after augustine asked james to get into her car. we've only been getting snippets of their time together throughout the song, but now, she's replaying the entire affair, right from the beginning. the line that is sung with the most emphasis is "meet me behind the mall" because this line is what perfectly captures their relationship: lying to everyone about going to a mall and then meeting each other, the promises that he made to her about being with her only for him to ditch her the moment august ended, everything she gave up (like the plans she cancelled) just to be able to spend some time with him, and the fact that all of this was on HIS terms. he was asking her to meet him behind the mall, and now she's the one left reminding herself of all the promises he didn't keep.

before i end the analysis, i wanted to address one more thing: her name. both betty and james are named in the lyrics, but augustine isn't. we only started calling her that after taylor swift said that in her head she calls her either augusta or augustine, meaning that until then, we were all calling her 'the august girl' or 'the other girl'. the thing is, that is how probably everyone in the story thought of her as well. (earlier in the analysis, under the "back when we were still changing for the better" part, i talked a bit about this.)

taylor herself talks about this in 'folklore: the long pond studio sessions', where she says that the 'other woman' is always thought of as a bad person, with augustine, she really, genuinely liked james, trying to act cool in front of him (pulling up and being the one to ask him to get into her car, for example). augustine was intentionally left unnamed, because her story is the one that's always left out.

that's the end of the analysis. thank you so much for reading till the end. please let me know if there's anything i left out, i'll add it and credit you.

and to everyone out there who's had their heart broken, regardless of which side of the story you were on, i'm sorry. we all deserve people who acknowledge our existence, at the very least. we deserve to be remembered, to be talked about, to have our emails replied to. we deserve better than the bare minimum, but the sad part is, we don't necessarily even get the bare minimum in the first place. we're all breaking each other's hearts and sobbing into our pillows about it and breaking each other's hearts all over again. i don't know if love is real, or if at some point the cycle stops, but i do know this: spotify is free. as is youtube. and amazon music. and soundcloud. go plug those earphones in and knock yourself out.

@taylorswift @taylornation

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cruelsummer-ficfest · 2 years

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happy salt air and the rust on your door day (i.e. august first)

Today marks 13 days until the end of our summer-long fic fest! We are honestly and truly so obsessed with every single one of the fics submitted thus far and for the interest and eager participation in this fest.

Every story makes our hearts soar, knowing there are so many talented people who love Taylor Swift and Harry Potter as much as we do!

That said...there are thirteen days left! If you have been lurking on this page and are still considering participating--this is the last week you can request a prompt/song! Prompting will close August 6th, to ensure everyone has at least 7 days to complete their song! So, if you want your fill of Taylor...ask away!

For those of you who haven't submitted yet-- please remember this is all about fun, laughs, and good times. While we know the pressure to get it right and do something justice is real and omnipotent, give yourself some grace to let your characters and your prompt lead you where it will. Anything you come up with will be well loved because it came from you. If you are struggling or feel like you cannot participate anymore, please feel free to shoot us an ask or a DM, we are happy to help.

And, if it makes you feel any better after seeing so many prompts already submitted, one of your lovely mods is also in the boat with you. Paddling away and scraping together a fic, before august slips away like a moment in time.

You got this <3

#cruel summer fic fest #two more weeks!#from your besties grey and andie!#we are so proud of all of you

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fitsinthepalm · 2 years

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Hi 🎶🎵

I'm sorry I haven't been active for a few weeks! I was so busy with life and whatnot. animalanon just made an account! should I do it too?

anyway! I'm gonna ponder on this and think of new music suggestions soon. For this month, we listen to August by Taylor Swift because it's a cultural reset. I hope you don't let it slip away into a moment in time but cherish it.

Hope you're having a great week so far! <3

Love, music anon🎧

hi music anon!!! happy salt air and the rust on your door month! 💛☀️🌼 i hope you are doing well & that you also enjoy this last bit of summer before it slips away! it has been sooo hot where i live but i still love the long days <3

#music anon

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impalas-r-important · 3 years

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Love of my Life - (3) Movie Night

Summary: Y/N and Nick find a way to fill their free time, followed by a movie night.

Warnings: N/A

Series Masterlist

It had been a few weeks since Nick had come to stay at Bobby’s house and the three of you had grown fond of him. You had spent a fair amount of time with Nick, helping him with what he needed, but also just hanging out. You hadn’t been waking up depressed for the first time since you had come back to life. Sam and Bobby went on a quick salt and burn case a few hours outside of town, leaving you and Nick with the house to yourselves. You were sitting on the front porch in a rickety old rocking chair enjoying the sun that had peaked through the clouds on a surprisingly warm February afternoon.

“There you are.” Nick opened the front door and peaked his head out. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all.” You motioned to the chair next to yours.

He sat down with a sigh. “Wow, it feels great out here.” He remarked. “I’m going a bit stir crazy inside that house.”

“I feel you there. Cases have been few and far between lately. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a little break now and then, but I feel like I should be shooting something.”

“Yeah…” Nick nodded, and a smile grew on his face. “Wait here. I’ve got an idea.” He hobbled inside as quick as he could which entertained you. A few seconds later, he came out with a full garbage bag.

“What in the world are you doing?” You asked as he carefully made his way down the steps and towards a rusted, beat up car that had clearly been used for target practice a few times. He set the bag down on the ground and pulled out empty soda and beer cans, lining them up on the hood and the roof of the car. Nick had tucked a 9mm gun into the back of his belt, which he pulled out and handed to you.

“Ladies first.” He flashed a bright white smile at you, and you took the gun from his hand. You walked over to the porch railing and lined up the cans, quickly picking them off one by one until the clip was empty. You ejected the clip, spun the gun around in your hand (a trick you had learned from Dean) and returned it to Nick.

“Oh, damn.” Nick whistled. “I like a girl that can handle a gun.” He looked you up and down.

“Oh, I can handle much more than that.” You winked at him and reloaded the clip. Nick set up more cans and took his turn. He hit every one of them, just like you.

“Alright,” you nodded, “new guy can hit a can from 20 feet away. Let’s up the ante.”

“What do you have in mind?” He mischievously smiled at you.

“Give me ten minutes.”

You went inside and grabbed your sniper rifle. You were so excited to buy this thing, but you’d only ever had the opportunity to use it once. This was the perfect excuse for some practice. You slung it over your back, grabbed a few rounds and headed back outside.

“Now we’re talking!” Nick’s face lit up when he saw the gun you were carrying. You set it down on the porch and picked up the bag of cans, walking to the other end of Bobby’s salvage yard and climbing a ladder to reach the top of an old shed. You set up 5 cans for each of you and returned to the porch.

“Best of 5, loser makes dinner and cleans up the cans.” You explained the rules to Nick as you loaded 2 clips with 5 rounds in each magazine. “Ladies first.” You mocked as you held the rifle out to him.

He slowly took a few steps towards you, giving you a playful look with his tongue pressed to his top teeth. He towered over you for a few seconds, keeping eye contact as he took the gun from your hands and gave you a competitive yet flirty look which you returned. He set up on the small table on the porch and took his aim.

His first shot was a miss. “Relax, relax. Don’t get too excited just yet.” He waved his hand at you. “That was like a pancake, first one is always a tester.”

You put your hands up in the air. “I didn’t say anything.”

He readjusted and cracked his knuckles, looking into the scope. The next 4 were hits. Nick pulled away from the gun and began to eject the clip. “4 out of 5 ain’t too shabby. I’m thinking I’m in the mood for a steak dinner.” He teased.

“Alright, fine. I’ll admit it, you’re good.” You picked up the magazine with your rounds sitting on the table and added one more bullet to it as you brushed passed him and whispered playfully, “but I’m better.” Nick raised his eyebrows at you and watched as you knelt down, calibrating the scope to your needs and fired of 5 rapid shots, hitting each of your cans, before using your added bullet to knock down the can that he had missed. You flipped your hair behind your shoulders and looked over to see his reaction. He was looking you up and down and quickly looked away and blushed when he noticed you had caught him staring.

“You know what, steak dinner does sound good.” You winked, sauntered over to him and handed him the bag to pick up the cans from the yard. “Come on, I’ll help. I’m not going to make the gimp clean them all up.” You walked down the step and bent over to pick up cans. Nick joined you.

“Let me ask you something, Y/N.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I had obviously heard of the Winchester brothers, but I had heard a fair amount about you as well.”

“Oh? Like what?” You were caught off guard that the hunting community knew who you were.

“Stuff like how you look like the girl-next-door, but you could take down 5 demons by yourself.”

You chuckled. “That was one time, and I probably got lucky.”

“I mean, clearly, you’re a dead shot. I just witnessed that with my own eyes. Everyone also talked about how you were absolutely beautiful,” he paused and looked at you with a small smile, “which I can testify to be more than true.” This made your heart skip a beat and you tried to fight the blush you could feel creeping onto your cheeks. “But they all said you were off-limits because you were Dean’s girl, and Dean would kill anyone who even looked at you the wrong way. Maybe it’s none of my business, but what happened between you two? From everything I heard, you were inseparable, but here I am flirting with the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, and there’s no Dean around to stop me.”

You weren’t completely sure that you wanted to talk about this, but you trusted Nick. What happened between you and Dean was over and talking about it was just part of the process of moving on. You took a deep breath and threw a can into the black garbage bag. “I ended up dying in the big showdown with Lucifer. Maybe I was being a reckless idiot, but he was beating the crap out of Dean and I couldn't just stand there and let Dean die."

“Oh, wow. I didn’t know that…” Nick gave you a sympathetic look.

“Sam and I were brought back pretty soon after that. We were confused and went to go find Dean, figuring he had made some sort of dumbass deal to bring us back. I was completely unprepared to see him already living with another woman. He had moved on, which he had every right to. I mean, I didn’t think that I would be back from the dead, and I’m sure he didn’t either, but I was devastated that he had moved on so quickly. I guess he didn’t love me as much as I loved him. Sam and I kept Dean in the dark for a year about us being back because he had a new family and seemed happy. Who were we to take that away from him? But it was a rough year for me. He is, or I thought he was, the love of my life. He was everything to me, and it turns out I was just another girl to him. That was a hard pill to swallow.” You looked around for more cans to pick up but didn’t find any and switched your focus to kicking rocks instead. “He found out that we were back because we had to intervene after some Djinn were trying to kill him and Lisa and Ben. Dean convinced us to make Bobby’s house our home base and stay here in between hunts. He and I have barely talked about our relationship, but it’s been pretty clear the whole time that he’s done with me. Dean and I would always talk about getting out of the hunting life and building a farmhouse in some small town in the middle of nowhere. Maybe even starting a family. But he found that with someone else and I wouldn’t want to break up his newfound happiness.”

“Damn.” Nick joined you in kicking rocks with his non-booted foot as the two of you walked back to the house. “Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m a pretty good listener.” You nodded and he could tell that you were done talking about this. “Now let’s go buy some steak. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m pretty much a grill master.” He gave you a warm smile and placed his hand on the small of your back as you walked up the steps. “Hey, Y/N, did you really punch the Devil in the face?”

“Yep. I didn’t know what else to do when I was standing face to face with Lucifer. That smooth move got me killed.” You shrugged.

Sam and Bobby got home that night while Nick was out back grilling up some steaks.

“Something smells damn good.” Bobby remarked as he entered the house.

Sam inhaled and exhaled. “Smells like steak to me.” A smile came across his face as you walked in the back door holding a plate of sirloins.

“Welcome back boys! That was a quick case.” You gave them each a quick side hug.

“Yeah, fairly simple.” Sam licked his lips. “But enough about the case, let’s talk about those steaks. I haven’t eaten all day.”

“Nick lost a little competition we had earlier. He owes me a steak dinner, but if you ask nicely, I might share with you.”

“Me too?” Dean asked as he walked into the house.

“Look what the cat dragged in. I thought you had forgotten about us.” You greeted him. “You gotta earn your keep though, sorry.” You teased him.

“What do you mean?” Dean playfully frowned.

“I won our shooting competition earlier, Nick is on grill duty, and Sam and Bobby just got back from a hunt. What did you do to deserve steak?” You raised your eyebrows at him.

He held up a plastic bag with DVDs inside. “I brought the movies.” He looked at you, waiting for approval.

“Hmm… Did you bring chocolate to go with those movies?” You interrogated.

“Come on, Y/N/N, I know you too well.” Dean reached in the bag and pulled out 3 of your favorite chocolate bars before dropping them back in.

You gave him a childish smile and ran over to him. “Yay!” You grabbed the bag from him and handed him the steak plate. “I’ll get the movie going.” You explained as you walked into the living room.

Dean smiled at you and watched you walk away, his eyes and smile lingering a little too long. Sam noticed and cleared his throat to break his brother’s stare. Dean snapped out of it quickly and looked to the ground before walking into the kitchen with the steaks. Nick had finished cleaning off the grill and followed suit.

“Hey, the whole gang’s here.” Nick smiled and greeted everyone.

“How you feelin’ kid?” Bobby asked as he put a heaping pile of mashed potatoes on his plate.

“A lot better. The ankle still gives me trouble, but it’ll heal sooner or later.” Nick dished up a plate of his own and grabbed an extra plate as well.

“Two plates, huh?” Dean noticed and asked. “You must be hungry.”

“One’s for Y/N. I lost a bet from earlier today, so I suppose I get to be her waiter.” He joked.

“Well don’t worry about, I’ve already got one started for her.” Dean held up the plate next to him that he had already put a steak on.

“Oh, okay. Thanks, man. I can finish it up if you want?”

“It’s fine, I know how she likes everything.” Dean’s response was short with hints of possessiveness and anger behind it. Bobby could tell and whacked the back of Dean’s head as soon as Nick had left the room.

“Don’t be stupid, Dean. The kid’s got a crush on Y/N, give him a break. He’s a good one.” Bobby warned.

You were sitting in the middle of the couch and Nick sat down on one side of you as you skipped through the commercials before the movie. He leaned in and whispered, “I don’t think Dean likes me very much.”

You giggled and answered, “Dean’s like that with everyone he meets at first. Don’t take it personally.” Dean walked in the room with your food and handed it to you as he sat down on the other side of you.

“Extra mashed potatoes and gravy on everything, just how you like it.” Dean sat his plate down on the coffee table.

“Great,” you thought to yourself, “sitting in between Dean and Nick for a whole movie isn’t going to be weird at all.”

Sam was sitting in the armchair next to the couch and you sent a “help me” look to him, and he just responded with a shrug. You exhaled as quietly as you could and picked up the remote from the table and pressed play.

“Alright, Caddy Shack! I love this movie!” Nick said with a mouthful of food.

Dean loved this movie too, and you could tell he wanted to say something about the movie to Nick but was holding back out of pride. It was going to be a long night.

As soon as the movie was over, Nick stood up and cleared the plates. “I’m beat. I’ll see you guys in the morning.” He shot an extra smile and a quick wink your way. Dean noticed and had to keep himself from balling his fist.

“I’m calling it too, night guys.” Sam gave a wave and headed towards the stairs, leaving you and Dean on the couch together.

“So, any fun plans for your birthday coming up?” You pulled one leg up on the couch and placed your elbow on the back frame, resting your head in your hand and facing Dean.

“Oh, no I don’t think so.” He stretched his legs out on the table and slid one hand behind his head and the other laying on the back of the couch, resting on your arm.

“What? You love your birthday!”

“I do not!”

“Yes, you definitely do! You play it off like you don’t, but we all know it’s your favorite holiday.”

“Yeah, yeah…” He gave you a side smile that made your heart jump a bit. You had to remind yourself that he wasn’t flirting with you, just being nice. It was rare that you and Dean were ever alone together anymore, but it felt natural.

“A few years ago, you literally made me celebrate ‘birthday week’ with you. Remember?”

“I woke you up at sunrise and we drove cross country to see the Grand Canyon.” Dean smiled, clearly getting lost in his reminiscing. “Then we couldn’t find even the crappiest motel room to stay in, so we slept in the Impala and it was freezing. That was my favorite birthday.”

“Well, I’m still planning on making your birthday pie. If you want me to, that is.”

“Hell yes I do! I’m thinking classic apple. Yours is still the best I’ve ever had. I dream about swimming in that pie sometimes.”

“You got it, birthday boy.”

“Do you remember the first time you made me pie for my birthday?”

“Of course I do. It was horrible. I practiced a lot between then and the next year and you have to admit, I’m pretty damn good now.”

“I just remember the look on your face when I walked into the kitchen and you were covered in flour. I wish I had a picture of that moment.” Dean threw his head back in laughter.

“I wanted it to be a surprise! I didn’t think you’d be awake at 3 in the morning. It was going to be a birthday breakfast pie.”

“How could I sleep with you making all that noise in the kitchen? Plus, I turned over in bed to cuddle with you and you were gone. Obviously, I went to go find you.” Dean paused. “I never really could sleep well without you beside me. Still don’t.” He looked at you with longing emerald eyes, but you quickly broke the eye contact and stood up.

“Yeah… Well, I should get to bed. Goodnight, Dean.”

“Goodnight, Y/N/N.” Dean knew he had over-stepped.

Dean found himself wanting to grab you by the hand and pull you into a big hug or follow you upstairs and tell you that he was still in love with you, but Sam’s words rang true in his head. He had made his bed, and now he had to sleep in it. He chose Lisa, but he didn’t want to go home to her. He wanted you back. He wanted the hunting life back. He wanted to live here with you and Sam, but he felt like he was slowly being replaced with Nick. Sam got along with him, Bobby clearly liked him, and he flirted with you every chance he got. Dean wanted nothing more than to yell at Nick to leave and never come back or to give him a swift punch in the face for looking at you with adoration in his eyes, but Dean knew that he couldn’t do that. He walked across the room and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the basket in the corner and laid down on the couch, hoping to fall asleep quickly.

You made your way upstairs, trying to hold back tears until you made it into your room. It was one thing to remember fun times you two had together, but how could Dean so casually throw in that he doesn’t sleep well without you? If felt like a punch to the gut and you wanted to be mad, but then he would look at you with those stupid handsome eyes and you would melt into a spineless puddle. Half of you wanted to scream and yell at Dean, and the other half wanted to grab him by the hand and take him upstairs with you. The truth was, you didn’t sleep great without him either, but you were afraid of the can of worms that might open if you told him that. The second you shut your door, you leaned against it and slowly slid down to the floor as the tears began to fall from your eyes.

Chapter 4

#dean winchester #dean x reader #dean x y/n #dean x you #dean winchester fanfiction #spn #supernatural #castiel

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novanekoma · 4 years

Text

never mine

part 1 to this series is here!

☼ never mine

☼ tetsuro kuroo x fem!reader

☼ song: August by Taylor Swift

☼ summary: When she finally had him, it was everything she could have dreamed of. Until she realized, he was never really hers to begin with.

☼ status: ongoing

☼ genre: angst, teenage love

☼ warnings: cheating, cursing, some slight suggestive themes

☼ word count: 2.1k

☼ disclaimer: haikyuu, the music and any other assets used in this fic, DO NOT belong to me, all credit goes to their respective owners

☼ A/N: I’ve been feeling pretty angsty today, and this is what came of it! There is a part 3 from the reader’s side of things coming! I’m also working on a Bakugou (smut) fic that should be out sometime soon as well!

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

“All I wanted was him, to be with him, to be his.”

“I fooled myself, thinking I just needed to get him away from her.”

“But once I had him, I quickly realized he would never truly be mine.”

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Salt air And the rust on your door I never needed anything more Whispers Of "Are you sure?" "Never have I ever before"

She never wanted to be the other woman, she never wanted to be the one to steal someone else’s love. But as Kuroo kissed her in the back of his car, fingers tangling into her hair, she found she didn’t care so much anymore. All she could feel was euphoria as her fingers wrapped around his neck, pressing herself closer, bodies tangling as she allowed herself to get lost in his intoxicating taste, into everything she had ever wanted.

Of course you were in the back of her mind, when all this started she knew who you were, she knew who you were to him, but as she fell deeper, the more she didn’t care. For a short period of time, she got to call him hers, she had a little piece of the man who always had her heart. She craved those late summer nights, where it was just the two of them, her and Kuroo, dancing in the moonlight and kissing under the stars.

Honestly, she really didn’t remember how any of this started. Summer was approaching and she fully intended on keeping her feelings to herself, maybe finding someone new to get over him. But then, she heard you two had gotten into a fight and there he was, walking home one night without you and without Kenma.

The rest was history.

But I can see us Lost in the memory August slipped away into a moment in time 'Cause it was never mine And I can see us twisted in bedsheets August sipped away Like a bottle of wine 'Cause you were never mine

This summer had been the best one, right before their third year. You had gone away for the last month of summer to visit some family back in Miyagi, and she had heard the rumours, she knew you and Kuroo were still together, you still got to call him yours, and he you, but she also heard that you were taking a break during this final month apart. Taking a break, she had scoffed when she heard that, you may as well have broken up. And when she saw him standing alone, vulnerable, and walking down that cobblestone street, she took a leap of faith.

Your back Beneath the sun Wishing I could write my name on it Will you call when you're back at school? I remember thinking I had you

Lazy days in the park were her favourite. She would pack a lunch and a blanket and Kuroo would find the perfect spot away from prying eyes and they would lay together in the afternoon sun. Never usually talking, and she was oblivious to the faraway look in his eyes, after all she was the one who sat between his legs, laying against his chest, his arms were wrapped around her waist, as she listened to his heartbeat. His attention was on her, wasn’t it? What more could she ask for? She was the one stealing kisses from him and entwining their fingers whenever she had the chance.

In this moment, he was hers.

“Kuroo?”

Hazel eyes turned from looking at the horizon and towards her instead, she moved to straddle his waist, arms moving to wrap around his neck and tangle into the familiar bed headed mess of black hair. A light hum of acknowledgement came from him, she ignored the hesitant way his arms wrapped around her, focusing only on the warmth it was providing her.

“Are you happy?” she would ask, fingers playing with the locks tangled in her fingers. Her eyes bore into his, studying his face, every movement, how his lips turned into a small smile, hazel eyes only briefly meeting hers before tugging her closer, lips pressing against hers as she smiled into his kisses, her question always completely forgotten as she lost herself in Kuroo.

The last time she and Kuroo were together, they were laying in her bed. She was in her usual place on his chest as a movie played in the background on her laptop. His hand lay on his chest, with hers perched on top. Fingers almost intertwined, and she was content. Lost in her thoughts of the coming year, of more moments spent together like this, she ignored the little voice in the back of her head, ignoring the way Kuroo took his hand out from hers and placed it behind his head.

She rolled on top of him, hands cupping his cheeks as she brought him in for another kiss. Feeling the euphoria she always felt when she touched him, feelings his lips move against hers, the small sigh that escaped him when she shifted on top of him for better access. Her tongue running against his lips, asking for more access, she wanted more of him, as much as she could get her hands on. She wouldn’t let him slip through her fingers.

As August bled into September, she should have known it was too good to be true.

Back when we were still changing for the better Wanting was enough For me, it was enough To live for the hope of it all Cancel plans just in case you'd call And say "Meet me behind the mall" So much for summer love, and saying "Us" 'Cause you weren't mine to lose You weren't mine to lose No

“You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

An answering sigh was all she gave as her friend glared through the phone screen.

“I have him right where I want him,” she replied, her friend let out an irritated tsk.

“Has he called yet?”

Her silence spoke volumes.

“Come on, you’ve been cancelling on me for days now, and he still hasn’t called you.”

She didn’t answer right away, swiping from facetime so she could check her messages, a small frown tugging on her features when she pressed on Kuroo’s conversation and didn’t see any new messages.

“See,” her friend grumbled when she came back to facetime, “This isn’t healthy.”

“It’s the first week of school, he’s busy with prep, we’re third years now,” she said, it sounded like a plausible excuse.

Her friend sighed, green eyes studying, “You know, y/n is coming back this week too. I heard from Inari.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, of course you would be coming back, you were a third year as well. She heard you had been tangled up with something back in Miyagi and would be coming back a few days after the semester started.

Narrowed eyes studied her, “Does y/n know?”

“He’s mine, there’s nothing she needs to concern herself with.” Her tone lacked the confidence of her words.

Another frustrated sigh from her friend, “You do know they didn’t actually break up.”

The hope she had building in her chest was still strong, “They will,” she said confidently, continuing to ignore the little doubt that was bubbling in the pit of her stomach, she knew that whether or not Kuroo was texting her, he was still hers, and it wouldn’t be her heart that was broken.

Right?

She should have known better, the minute you came back it was truly over.

She watched as you walked the hallways with your friends, she still hadn’t seen you and Kuroo together, and there was nothing flittering around the rumour mill. But she knew that wasn’t something that would last, your friend, Inari, would glare every time she saw her, immediately steering you in another direction.

She knew. Of course she knew, everyone did, and it wouldn’t be too long until you did too.

She saw Kuroo around the hallways as well, hazel eyes never quite catching hers as he walked by. Her heart constricted as she watched him, his eyes were glued to your back, always finding your form no matter how far apart the two of you were. His face would flush whenever he saw you, a forlorn look in his eyes as a smile would always tug on his features.

He looked at you like you were the world.

She supposed though, that to him, that’s exactly what you were.

It was never going to be her.

'Cause you were never mine Never mine Do you remember? Remember when I pulled up And said "Get in the car" And then canceled my plans Just in case you'd call Back when I was living for the hope of it all For the hope of it all "Meet me behind the mall"

It wasn’t until a week later that she heard the news of the breakup.

Kuroo permanently had this lost puppy look on his expression, and it worsened every time he saw you. And you, well you didn’t look any better. The happy smiles during your first week back were now few and far between and you avoided Kuroo like the plague. She heard you even switched homerooms.

She also heard from some classmates that you were throwing a party, all third years were invited, and she wondered if that included her and Kuroo. Maybe this was the opening she needed, she and him would be the outcasts, the only ones not invited.

That was until she got the invite, and the rumour mill spilled that Kuroo received one too.

Her heart ached, the party wasn’t for another few weeks, but it was only one week until Kuroo decided to call her.

“I’m sorry,” his voice was scratchy, like maybe he had been crying. His usual crazy bedhead seemed flat, dark circles were prominent under his eyes and the usual bright and mischief filled eyes were dull, it almost made her want to cry with how hollow they seemed.

She sighed, “I’m sorry too,” she murmured. At the end of the day, she knew he was in this mess because of her, she also knew that he wasn’t fully blameless, she didn’t force him into anything, but if she had just left well enough alone…

Then maybe they both wouldn’t be feeling so empty right now.

“You were vulnerable and I knew that.” She admitted, feeling her heart crack as he nodded in agreement.

Kuroo sighed, a hand reaching up to scrub at his face, “We both messed up, I should have said no,” he murmured. The apology was clear in his eyes, and she felt her heart shatter even more.

There was more silence between them and she sighed.

There was just one thing she needed to know, “Were you happy?”

A soft sad smile crept onto his features, “As I could be,” he answered, each word was sincere, but she could hear the silent apology. She wished she could feel his arms around her one more time.

She ended the call, and finally let the tears flow.

She knew what he meant.

Remember when I pulled up And said "Get in the car" And then canceled my plans Just in case you'd call Back when I was living for the hope of it all (For the hope of it all) For the hope of it all For the hope of it all For the hope of it all For the hope of it all

The night of the party she watched him walk down the familiar cobblestone towards your house, and the last of her hope finally left her. She watched as you opened the door, your eyes wide and surprised to see him there, there was a beat of silence and she saw Kuroo’s hands clench at his sides. You spoke to someone behind you before ushering Kuroo outside and closing the door behind yourself. It was only when she watched you take his hand and disappear behind the house that she turned around and began to walk home.

A weight fell on her chest as she blinked away her tears, she knew she needed to come to terms with things before Monday rolled around again, and as memories of moonlight kisses and warm summer nights played through her mind, she knew.

It was never going to be her.

©novanekoma2020

#haikyuu #haikyuu x female reader #haikyuu x reader #kuroo #kuroo tetsurou #kuroo tetsuro scenarios #kuroo tetsuro angst #angst #cheating #HQ!!#hq #songfic

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theliterateape · 3 years

Text

Quatrains Out of Synch - A notebook of four line poems

by Dana Jerman

I thought of

a good prompt:

Begin. Keep going. End.

3 parts. Like anything.

On my birthday

John Giorno only thought

of a poem,

but he didn’t write one.

A dance, a tic, a grin

sur le vif

in media res

on the spot.

Dad wants a new love

Bedtime in Trumpistan

He’s left his arms in the closet with

The Brass Ring Catcher’s Little Black Book.

Some Jazz, a tease

to Latin. Word of

the day after a

storm: orphic.

Making some Christmas happen

A few cards thrown around

the green jacket

the white marshmallows.

Here, I rehabilitate

the failures of my imagination

opening tombs, to

let the light reclaim.

Can’t kick this headache

Sedentary living and beer

Meanwhile, time, busy

working its angry miracle.

A mantra for dessert:

Blush will catch up to you

While you wear black

and eat white cake.

Old soundtrack nostalgia

Not drunk but romantic

Furthest from rude

is this idiot smile.

The composite of

the town I grew up in-

Dreaming preloads it

with the same old young characters.

All of January

My nose draining

The cold like a knife.

Bright sun: weak star.

Every damn chance

in the whole world

that the people’s hero

is knocking on your door.

What has brought me here?

A healthy condemnation for school

Not much sense or care for too much money

And one true love.

Hours creep by

music playlists continue

chocolate before sandwhich

Busy without being busy at all.

Someday I’ll look back

on a holiday spent propped

in a bookstore with a fuzzy

sweater, whisky, and this soundtrack on repeat.

Paracinema:

up all night

too much popcorn-

no work tomorrow.

Alarm out, I brought

the dream with me:

A casino with the slots and seats

set impossibly high along the walls.

Remind me to wash

the windows

on the first

warm day.

Echoes of voices and music

From an unknown destination

Siren song on New

Years Day in Chicago.

‘Fighter’ rhymes

with ‘writer’

for a

reason.

Found books

are a call to action

Last stand for

the invisible hand.

I wanted to call them “Tatters”

Couplets written after Harryette Mullen

Like: Shredded rainbow-

dried blood in a unicorn tooth.

Sore neck in the AM

Not a busy morning

put ginger on my toast

for the first time ever.

It would have been a perfect night

in front of that fireplace in the

house about to be sold. But my

companion and I had no words.

The mental eye

deep in hypnotic recall

all senses employed

time catapulting reverse.

Do not knock-

Do not open-

Tiny writer

is dreaming.

All that summer trip long

I only had Reader’s Digests.

But I read them anyway.

It was all I wanted to do.

A confession and mirror

Aware of the furniture hex

No clunky frame or hidden desires-

I despise rolltop desks.

My life, your life.

Most of our deus

ex machina will

remain forever invisible.

hey sweet thing- maybe

there can be a code name- a word

we can link to sexiness to trick it into being

happiness.

A smart case, Death.

hanging around the night

with its patient wits,

its cigarettes, its camera.

Steam became smoke

salt to the walks

mulled plum twilight

smoke became steam.

I bite away half

the chocolate just to

see what it is. It’s my

box, I do what I want.

Now, I have to take

up all those bad

decisions- every move

I would not make- and build the unlikeable character.

It really is the end

of era in here.

but it doesn’t feel that way

to me. Not yet.

Early train. Sun

coming. A magic fireball

swinging a fixed line

across thin bare trees.

Monday afternoon-

wine at work

while reading

an Italian poet.

Quiet neighborhood-

snow looms late afternoon

Hours so songless, only the

bus driver dares go thru them.

Still air

at bedside

candles in silent vigil

no unsoft thing is here.

Dust, rust, mold.

Mars rotting is my crotch’s

monthly waves knotting goodbye-

a color, a flavor, a wash.

In the windows facing out

of the lamplit cafe beyond fireplace

and bookshelf, my good man stands and smokes

his last pipe of the day, first of the night.

Pink salt sky.

All morning to twilight.

Late winter city hurled

toward evening on a blossom’s hue.

Today they cleared the

trees in the back.

lovely summer shade

now gone to make way for…

The dead music of jackhammers

begins next door

in the snow flurries

and grey.

Snow thin as an abstract wish-

Bundled passengers stop and start

warm jazz soundtrack ambience

to this well-lit retail saturday late afternoon.

New Years Day close

as a star, a dream.

I will bless the decade

and ask for nothing.

A seemingly

inquenchable thirst

for alcohol

and good music.

Cataclysm of ideas

groovy songs amid bad

is the band name

Fever Chart taken?

Today is the day I awaken to

the knowledge that some poets

must think space is as good

as the next word.

A plum color and

an old lable.

Deep in the glass the scent

of my grandparent’s cellar.

Making dinner

lots of lights on-

jazz calms me down

as the snowy day spins.

Editing his book

listening to jazz

craving sex and the next

good line.

Fill in the blank:

Drunk as a — (Lucian Freud)

in— (Goya’s studio)

looking for— (God).

Wilde’s hand

low at his side

turned to shape

the Paris breeze.

My back itching

in that same place

where my husband gets

a little obstinate blackhead.

The week my father died

I threw many books into the fire.

Under those nights, blue as a dream,

past become prologue again.

Newest in self-care technology

a coat hangar with brains-

HAID: Home Abortion

Interface Device.

Love was the crag in

the way of my

youthful need

for seeing.

Draw a flag

on a bill

and burn

two crimes.

The annoyance of

an old mistake

come true, and here,

with consequences.

Cardinal crashing against

ex-boyfriends bedroom window

the spirit of my future husband

come to liberate my misspent love.

Kid eats my apple

coughs into the air

eats some more

smiles, runs and neighs.

Spare papers and pens

bag of cheeze curls

B-sides on repeat

good free afternoon.

Sighways…

long straight roads

Billboards for places

you don’t want to go.

Mother will say “morbid”

When I admit to

wanting to be buried

in her wedding gown.

“Bring a torch,

Jeanette, Isabella.”

Holding back tears at

my xmas retail job.

Remember the night

we were so alone and

sad and bored that we

chased a firetruck until it disappeared over a hill?

Old Story: “He makes me unhappy,

but I love him.

What should I do

this time?”

I want 1989.

The best night of

that year in the honkey-tonk

bar that later got torn down.

Potato chips and

chocolate covered

anything help to

conspire comfortable magic.

East coast news.

I could smell the snow

coming toward the city

all day thru hi-clouds.

Echoes of construction-

At home the reverb

rattles my building,

my body, my teeth.

If I become a statistic

I’ll tell you

its worth it.

I’m not gonna live in fear.

#city living #collected poems #silent moments #new years day #seasons change #desiring #having #keeping #quatrain

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orangeflavoryawp · 4 years

Note

Hi Orange! For the writing ask, could you do 8, 20, and 24 please? Thanks! Also, you’re awesome and I love your work and I’m so excited to have found your tumblr! The new chapter of From Instep... is gorgeous and I am just constantly in awe of you. Thank you for sharing :)

Damn, okay, so uhhhhh, we’re gonna forgive the fact that I’m so effing late in replying to this and just skip straight to the gushing gratitude, mmkay? :D

This ask made me so stupidly happy, I just want you to know. And it’s greatly appreciated, hon. You’re too cool. <3

For the questions, I answered 8 in a separate ask so I’m just gonna copy that answer here real quick:

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

Definitely. I want my insides torn up. I want to have the wind knocked from me. I want to feel things viscerally and without mercy. Make me struggle for air, make me claw for it, or don’t bother at all.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Hmm, okay, I mean, this is a lot to unpack, not gonna lie. I guess you could break the meta of my writing down to ‘survival of the human spirit’. That’s not necessarily to say that my writing is hopeful, above all else - more that it’s a struggle, it’s an uphill battle with no promise of dawn, it’s choosing to fight even when the fight seems pointless. Whether my characters win or lose that fight varies with each individual story.

I play around a lot with grief, loss, duty vs love, war and its aftermath, identity issues, dark family dynamics, guilt - all things that involve some element of survival. And it comes by tooth and nail to my characters. It comes by ugly and and painful and every day. You’re gonna find that in all of my stories, one way or another.

As far as symbolism goes, I do tend to gravitate toward certain things, I’ve noticed. Birds, doors, blood and bone, hands, the sun, ghosts, teeth, the sea, shadows, seasons, lungs, salt, near touches, the color red, letters/words, smoke, dawn/dusk, blades, snow, carrion, stains/rust, and plenty more that escape me at this moment. Not sure if there’s a pattern behind all that, but yeah, that’s where my mind often goes. These are the things that echo over and over in my brain. The things that mean something to me. They slip into my writing each time, without fail, whether I’d meant to let them or not. There’s probably some psycho-analytical reason for all that but I’m not about to touch it with a ten foot pole, let’s be real.

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

Without a doubt. I mean, doesn’t everyone’s? I’d say I’m tackling a lot of the same themes, for sure, but my writing itself is drastically different year after year after year. Sometimes I go back and read stories I’ve posted well over a decade ago and yeah, okay, I cringe. I cringe a lot. But that writing got me to where I’m writing today. It’s all important. It’s all worth it. I’m glad for the change, for the evolution, but every iteration of my writing is something I’ve come to love as its own. What I wrote yesterday, what I wrote last year, what I wrote ten years ago - they all share the same roots, in me. But nothing lasts forever. Stagnancy is an impossible state for human beings. I will always be growing. I will always be changing. And that goes for the stories I put out into the world. I love them each in their newness, and in their familiarity. The way I hope readers love them.

* * *

Thanks again for this lovely ask, anon! You’ve made my day with this. <3

Fun Meta Asks for Writers - ask me!

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agilenano · 4 years

Text

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Aokbean 50pcs Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Openers Wedding Favor Souvenir Gift Set Pillow Candy Box Escort Gift Card Thank You Tag French Ribbon

Aokbean 50pcs Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Openers Wedding Favor Souvenir Gift Set Pillow Candy Box Escort Gift Card Thank You Tag French Ribbon - The key bottle openers are made of alloy,sturdy and useful,length265 inch. The kraft paper can be used with markers/stamps or ink, perfect for wedding, graduation, party, cloth tags, price tags, gift tags, bookmark tags, cupcake toppers, wish trees, love notes, scrapbooking ect. Size pillow candy box535 inch(folded size 354261 inch) ribbon039” wide50 yards lens tags3515 inch. All in one creative pillow candy box,useful key openers,elegant silk ribbon and white gift tags,you can’t miss it. The rich set contains key bottle openers,pillow boxes,ribbons ,tagssome candy or chocolate can be placed in the pillow box as a cute gift for your guest at the wedding party.

RUJFISH Retro Vintage Key Rack Holder Hooks Cast Iron Wrench Spanner Shape Decorative Wall Mounted Antique Man Cave Garage Tool Holder Coat Hat Hooks Rack Hanger Wall Decor

RUJFISH Retro Vintage Key Rack Holder Hooks Cast Iron Wrench Spanner Shape Decorative Wall Mounted Antique Man Cave Garage Tool Holder Coat Hat Hooks Rack Hanger Wall Decor - ❤ Man cave gift, it is good for christmas, birthday, housewarming, thanksgiving man’s/father’s gift. ❤ Solid, heavy duty product, wall mounted key rack, 3 hooks total. ❤ We believe this will make you satisfied consult us if you have any questions,rurah let’s enjoy the joy of life together. ❤ retro vintage, antique, shabby chic rustic style, brown color wrench design/shape key rack holder coat hat garage tools hooks holder, wall mounted. ❤ Wall hooks for coats, hats, keys, tools and more uage in entryway, hallway, garage or door look very charming.

Makhry 52pcs Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Opener with Love Heart Escort Thank You Tags and Keychain as Wedding Favor for Wedding Guest Wedding Decor (Gold)

Makhry 52pcs Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Opener with Love Heart Escort Thank You Tags and Keychain as Wedding Favor for Wedding Guest Wedding Decor (Gold) - Perfect for all of your theme party whether your party is vintage,classic,rustic or modern style,these party favor just suit you, add extra charm to your wonderful party by gifting these gorgeous skeleton keys that are actually bottle openers. The kraft paper can be used with markers/stamps or ink, perfect for wedding, graduation, party, cloth tags, price tags, gift tags, bookmark tags, cupcake toppers, wish trees, love notes, scrapbooking etc. A must-have set the wedding favor souvenir set, a nice decoration to your vintage/rustic wedding, party favor. Size key318 inches tags35 x 15 inches,keychain47 inches. The key bottle openers are made of alloy,sturdy and useful,never get stained.

Royal Brands Decorative Wall Mounted Vintage Key with 3 Hooks Key Holder – Rustic Cast Iron

Royal Brands Decorative Wall Mounted Vintage Key with 3 Hooks Key Holder – Rustic Cast Iron - Organization never waste time again looking for your keys with the simple 3 hook design. Overall dimensions 13 x 4 x 1 inches this cast iron key hook organizer is a great size for your home or office 3 key rings make it simple to find and grab your keys on the go. Functionality hang this beautiful cast iron key hook organizer on your wall for convenient key storage the 3 hooks to hold your keys are large and durable. Unique design this key hook organizer features a vintage and rustic looking appearance, that will look great in your home or office. Premium quality cast iron key hook organizer is durable with 3 individual hooks for your keys it’s made out of solid cast iron for a key hook organizer one can depend on a quality piece of functioning art that will not rust or tarnish over time.

46pcs Wedding Favor Souvenir Gift Set with Candy Box Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Openers Thank You Gift Tag Silky Ribbon (Rose Gold)

46pcs Wedding Favor Souvenir Gift Set with Candy Box Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Openers Thank You Gift Tag Silky Ribbon (Rose Gold) - All in one set creative pillow candy box,useful key openers,elegant silk ribbon and white gift tags,the wedding favor souvenir set, a nice decoration to your vintage/rustic wedding. Size pillow candy box5 x 35 inches(folded size 354 x 26 x 1 inch) ribbon3/8 inch x 25 yards x 2 rolls tags 35 x 15 inches. Note,you need to cut the ribbon yourselfa hot melt cutting machine is highly recommended to prevent the edge frayingsuggested length for a ribbon1 yards. The white tags is blank one side while other side has been pre-printed, can be used with markers/stamps or ink, perfect for wedding, graduation, party, cloth tags, price tags, gift tags, bookmark tags, cupcake toppers, wish trees, love notes, scrapbooking ect. The key bottle openers are made of alloy,free of lead,sturdy and useful,length34 inches.

ZJCilected 50Pcs Key Bottle Opener, Vintage Skeleton Key Opener, Skeleton Key Bottle Openers Wedding Favors Antique Rustic Party Decoration with 50Pcs Escort Tag Card and Twine(#1)

ZJCilected 50Pcs Key Bottle Opener, Vintage Skeleton Key Opener, Skeleton Key Bottle Openers Wedding Favors Antique Rustic Party Decoration with 50Pcs Escort Tag Card and Twine(#1) - With escort card tags,you can write guest name,message or table numbers on themengage your guests, as they look around for their personalized tag, or get seat. Vintage look with deep tone bronze color finishing the place of opening the bottles is thicken a round hole at the top of upgraded key, you can put through with twine or key rings. These keys make stylish bottle openers keep them in your kitchen or bar, or hook them onto your key ring your guests would remember your wedding or party for a long time. Material metal alloy, kraft paper,nature jute twine. Perfect for wedding, party, christmas, halloween, bridal shower, baby shower, special day, souvenir, etc, your guests would remember your party for a long time.

Aokbean 50pcs Wedding Favor Souvenir Set Pillow Candy Box Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Openers Escort Gift Card and French Ribbon(Rose Gold)

Aokbean 50pcs Wedding Favor Souvenir Set Pillow Candy Box Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Openers Escort Gift Card and French Ribbon(Rose Gold) - The white tags are pre-printed one side while other side is blank for your blessings, can be used with markers/stamps or ink, perfect for wedding, graduation, party, cloth tags, price tags, gift tags, bookmark tags, cupcake toppers, wish trees, love notes, scrapbooking ect. A must-have set the weddig favor souvenir set, a nice decoration to your vintage/rustic wedding. The key bottle openers are made of alloy,sturdy and useful,length3 inch. Size pillow candy box 5×35 inch(folded size 354 x 26 x 1 inches) ribbon3/8 inch x 50 yards key3 inches, tags 35 x 15 inches. All in one creative pillow candy box,useful key openers,elegant silk ribbon and white gift tags,you can’t miss it.

20pcs Key Bottle Openers, Wedding Favors for Guests Party Favors Rustic Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Opener with Escort Card Tag, Bridal Shower Favors, Antique Decoration (Silver)

20pcs Key Bottle Openers, Wedding Favors for Guests Party Favors Rustic Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Opener with Escort Card Tag, Bridal Shower Favors, Antique Decoration (Silver) - Strong silver key bottle opener these practical vintage key bottle openers are made from lead free metal alloy, with silver finishing work well to open bottle caps, your guests can hook these rustic key bottle openers on the keychain the key measured 295″ x 12″ . The key bottle opener wedding favor with tag included 20pcs silver skeleton key bottle opener, 20pcs rose gold foil stamping on black color tags, 1 roll grey color ribbon 25yards, and 1 free multifunctional wine opener. Time-saving with the tags’ pre-printed greeting without the need to stamp or write the message by yourself however, you can also personalized yourself by write your guest name, message or table numbers on the tags you can use this meaningful and elegant party favors in engagement party favors, housewarming party, birthday celebration, baby shower. Free multifunctional wine opener worth $99 each package included a free wine opener with skeleton key logo printed on it this would be a memorable bonus item for you in your big day. Rose gold foil stamping on black color tags the tags come with unique preprinted message, the message read “thank you for celebrating with us we’re so glad you’re here” the tags are measured 374″ x 177″.

Jashem Decorative Wall Mounted Key Holder Vintage Key with 3 Hooks Wall Mounted Rustic Cast Iron with Screws and Anchors

Jashem Decorative Wall Mounted Key Holder Vintage Key with 3 Hooks Wall Mounted Rustic Cast Iron with Screws and Anchors - Key hanger for wall — as a utility tool to store and organize your keys, dog leashes, towels, hats, scarves, purses, handbags, mittens, and more hanging items. Rustic, vintage, antique hook rack — stylish look is great decoration in the front of entryway, hallway, living room, kitchen, master room, mudroom, utility room, garage, office, cabin, garden might be a special birthday, christmas gift for your family and friends. Vintage entryway organizer is good present ideal for christmas, birthday, housewarming, thanksgiving man’s, father’s gift. Easy to install — screws and drywall anchors are included for quick and convenient installation the hooks are rotatable. Cast iron wall hook rack — made with one solid piece of forged cast iron antique rust brown color measures around 9 x 4 inches.

KiaoTime Retro Vintage Key Rack Holder Hooks Cast Iron Wrench Spanner Shape Decorative Wall Mounted Antique Man Cave Garage Tool Holder Coat Hat Hooks Rack Hanger Wall Decor

KiaoTime Retro Vintage Key Rack Holder Hooks Cast Iron Wrench Spanner Shape Decorative Wall Mounted Antique Man Cave Garage Tool Holder Coat Hat Hooks Rack Hanger Wall Decor - Material cast iron, measurement 95″ length x 4″ height x 175″thickness. Wall hooks for coats, hats, keys, tools and more uage in entryway, hallway, garage or door look very charming. Retro vintage, antique, shabby chic rustic style, brown color wrench design/shape key rack holder coat hat garage tools hooks holder, wall mounted. Man cave gift, it is good for christmas, birthday, housewarming, thanksgiving man’s/father’s gift. Solid, heavy duty product, wall mounted key rack, 3 hooks total.

Awtlife 50 Pcs Vintage Key Bottle Open and Sheer Bag for Wedding Party Favors 5 Style

Awtlife 50 Pcs Vintage Key Bottle Open and Sheer Bag for Wedding Party Favors 5 Style - The white on the key, the pastel white card and ribbon accentuate your wedding décor with a shiny or rustic touch. Write guest name, message or table numbers on the escort tags keep your guests engaged, as they look around for their personalized tag, or get seated. Package included 50pcs rectangle kraft paper, 50pcs vintage skeleton bottle opener and 50 pcs sheer bags. Wedding sournirs brown kraft paper gift tags rectangle tags with vintage skeleton bottle opener and nature jute twine. 5 styles rustic vintage key bottle opener perfect suit contains the wedding favor which you need.

DerBlue 40 PCS Reindeer Key Bottle Openers, Red Bronze Vintage Key Bottle Opener, Wedding Favors Key Bottle Opener Rustic Decoration with Escort Tag Card

DerBlue 40 PCS Reindeer Key Bottle Openers, Red Bronze Vintage Key Bottle Opener, Wedding Favors Key Bottle Opener Rustic Decoration with Escort Tag Card - 4 best choice for celebrations- whether your theme is vintage, classic or rustic, the key bottle opener as celebration favors will add extra charm and adorable. 1 material- the key bottle opener is made of sturdy and quality metal alloy, the escort tag card is made of kraft paper. 2 quantity and size- one package include 40 bottle openers, 40 kraft tags and 40 chains the key’s size 3114 inches, weight 165g kraft tag 37177 inches. 3 features- the reindeer shaped bottle opener and front of the tag card is printed with snowflakes to create a christmas atmosphere, on the back is blank you can write something to express your own greeting. 5 quality guarantee- if for any reason you’re not completely happy with your purchase, we will replace or refund to you.

NUIBY 30 PCS Skeleton Vintage Key Bottle Openers Wedding Favors for Guests Rustic Party Favors, with Escort Card Tag and Twine (30 PCS Bronze Vintage Style)

NUIBY 30 PCS Skeleton Vintage Key Bottle Openers Wedding Favors for Guests Rustic Party Favors, with Escort Card Tag and Twine (30 PCS Bronze Vintage Style) - Made of metal alloy, durable and strong enough for opening bottles, make an impression for your guests on the party. Money back guarantee the products could be 100% replaced or refunded if there is any quality problem. Personalize escort card tags and engage your guests write guest name, message or table numbers on the escort tags keep your friends and guests engaged, as they look around for their personalized cards tag, or get seated. Include 30 pcs wedding favor key bottle opener, 30 pcs escort tag card, 30 pcs ” love is the key to happiness ” stickers and 30 yards nature jute twine. Useful & meaningful gift for your guests, friends, family, with quoted “love is the key to happiness”, it could be the best meaningful favor on your wedding add extra charm to your wedding by gifting these gorgeous keys that are actually bottle openers.

Hapwedding Rustic Vintage Key Shaped Bottle Opener for Wedding Favors (50PCS)

Hapwedding Rustic Vintage Key Shaped Bottle Opener for Wedding Favors (50PCS) - -It is the perfect decoration for classical wedding and traditional festival. -100% brand new and high quality. -Size26 x 11 inches ,colorbronze. -material made from alloy,which has a special texture. -Package included 50 pcs of opener,each opener weights 039 oz.

50pcs Multi Function Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Opener Place Card Holders for Weddings Table Name Cards for Guest Souvenir (Antique Silver)

50pcs Multi Function Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Opener Place Card Holders for Weddings Table Name Cards for Guest Souvenir (Antique Silver) - All in one,a must-have setplace cards, multi-function key bottle openers and elegant handmade tassels, a nice wedding favor souvenir set,a nice decoration to your vintage/rustic wedding. A creative “key to your heart”opener,fresh your guests’ eye definitelya eye-catching part of your wedding/party centerpiece. Ribbonsingle sided,silver, 3/8 inch,25 yards. Place card157 x 295 inchesdouble side pre-printed,can be written with marks/stamps or ink, double pre-printed as picture shown,perfect for wedding, graduation, party, bride shower,baby shower etc. Key openers 312 inches,made of alloy,antique copper plated, free of lead, sturdy and useful,never get stained,can be used as a bottle opener as well as a place card holder.

DerBlue 40 PCS Reindeer Key Bottle Openers, Red Bronze Vintage Key Bottle Opener, Wedding Favors Key Bottle Opener Rustic Decoration with Escort Tag Card

DerBlue 40 PCS Reindeer Key Bottle Openers, Red Bronze Vintage Key Bottle Opener, Wedding Favors Key Bottle Opener Rustic Decoration with Escort Tag Card - 2 quantity and size- one package include 40 bottle openers, 40 kraft tags and 40 chains the key’s size 31214 inches, weight 165g kraft tag 37177 inches. 4 best choice for celebrations- whether your theme is vintage, classic or rustic, the key bottle opener as celebration favors will add extra charm and adorable. 5 quality guarantee- if for any reason you’re not completely happy with your purchase, we will replace or refund to you. 3 features- the reindeer shaped bottle opener and front of the tag card is printed with snowflakes to create a christmas atmosphere, on the back is blank you can write something to express your own greeting. 1 material- the key bottle opener is made of sturdy and quality metal alloy, the escort tag card is made of kraft paper.

Makhry 52pcs Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Opener Party Favor Wedding Favor Guest Souvenir Gift Set with Escort Thank You Tag Card Fench Ribbon (Antique Silver)

Makhry 52pcs Vintage Skeleton Key Bottle Opener Party Favor Wedding Favor Guest Souvenir Gift Set with Escort Thank You Tag Card Fench Ribbon (Antique Silver) - Perfect for all of your theme party whether your party is vintage ,classic, rustic or moden style,these party favor just suit you, add extra charm to your wonderful party by gifting these gorgrous skeleton keys that are actually bottle openers. Size key32 inches tags35 x 15 inches,ribbon3/8 inch,25yards. A must-have set the weddig favor souvenir set, a nice decoration to your vintage/rustic wedding, party favor. The kraft paper can be used with markers/stamps or ink, perfect for wedding, graduation, party, cloth tags, price tags, gift tags, bookmark tags, cupcake toppers, wish trees, love notes, scrapbooking ect note key and tags in picture 9, we could customize for you . The key bottle openers are made of alloy,sturdy and useful,never get stained.

Imagekind Wall Art Print Entitled Vintage Map of The Florida Keys (1771) by Alleycatshirts @Zazzle | 15 x 11

Imagekind Wall Art Print Entitled Vintage Map of The Florida Keys (1771) by Alleycatshirts @Zazzle | 15 x 11 - Satisfaction guaranteed. Primary colors within this image include white, grey. Poster print entitled ‘vintage map of the florida keys (1771)’. Inks used are latex-based and designed to last. This is a vintage map of the florida keys produced in 1771. Made in usa. Multiple sizes available. Looks great in dorm rooms, kid rooms, offices, and more. Printed on high quality gloss finish paper with archival quality inks.

Cast Iron Wall Hook -Brass Color- Key Shaped Key Rack – Vintage Decor Hanging Key Holder – Three Hooks – Key, Hat, Bag, Coat, Towel Hook – Vintage Hooks

Cast Iron Wall Hook -Brass Color- Key Shaped Key Rack – Vintage Decor Hanging Key Holder – Three Hooks – Key, Hat, Bag, Coat, Towel Hook – Vintage Hooks - This rustic key hanger features 3 hooks for hanging a key ring, a chain and can be used as a coat rack too classic key shape that looks nice as kitchen decor. Cast iron key rack has a brass colored finish that is durable with overall dimensions of 95 x 45 x 2 inches and features a row of 3 hangers. The wall hanger has two holes built in to mount on your wall in your house or office using two screws. Decorative wall mounted hanger organizer features a unique key shape for any wall in your home. Basic installation is hassle free and easy, just mount the key rack on your wall using two screws and one wall anchor for each screw hardware isn’t included. Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) https://agilenano.com/blogs/news/top-25-vintage-keys

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michaelfallcon · 4 years

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The Sprudge Coffee Guide To Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo is the gateway to Sri Lanka’s powder-white beaches nestled in palm groves, expansive paddy fields, and sweeping tea plantations. Days in Colombo start early, where ladies in sarees and high heels march faster to catch their daily commute. Cars and passenger buses whizz past the pedestrians before the office hours begin.

Wee hours in the morning begin with hole-in-the-walls serving piping hot cups of tea. Think of strong black tea or enticing red tea with two spoons of sugar. Often, breakfast ends with a cup of thick milk tea prepared with powdered milk or a layer of rich condensed milk. Chic lounges now pop up in every corner of the city featuring high-end artisan tea brands and exciting tea “dishes” such as tea ice creams, shakes, and tea cocktails.

The island nation has always been one of the largest producers of tea in the world. But before tea, there was coffee. In the first half of the 19th century, the small island in the Indian Ocean was the leading exporter of coffee in the world. Sri Lanka supplied coffee across the oceans to European countries, reaching the then continental demand of six million coffee cups a day. However, plantations began to vanish with the introduction of coffee leaf rust, known locally as “Devastating Emily,” a fungal disease that decimated coffee production here.

Today, several coffee houses are trying to reignite Sri Lanka’s coffee culture with homegrown, handcrafted coffee. Some of them also import coffees from across the world, catering to different profiles of connoisseurs while others provide a collaborative space for the creatives. What follows are some of the dynamic spaces in the city’s evolving, fascinating coffee scene. You should come to Sri Lanka for many reasons—the incredible natural beauty, culture, history, and food—and now again for the delicious coffee.

Kopi Kade

Kopi Kade has been open for just four years, but in that relatively short time it’s become an international go-to spot for coffee in Colombo, and was the first Sri Lankan cafe to be featured on Sprudge, back in July of 2019. Kopi Kade occupies a popular corner on Stratford Avenue which bustles with assorted shops, boutiques, and cafes. Guarded by frangipani trees, exteriors denote a rustic, old school vibe. Walk inside and you will find a sleek, dim-lit space, carefully curated by a local architect.

Sri Lankan born Australian Nimeshan Namasivayam derived the cafe’s name from an old Sri Lankan soap opera. Namasivayam and his small team now offer single-origin pour-overs, espressos, and cold brews, bringing roasts from all corners of the world from Ethiopia to Ecuador, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Kopi Kade aspires to provide an alluring coffee experience for their dedicated audience. There are roaster sessions and brewing workshops for groups and individuals. They also offer tasting notes alongside every order, inviting customers to ask questions and know more about the cuppa they drink.

There’s little for the ‘gram here, but young crowds frequent the spot for Kopi Kade’s French toast with a Sri Lankan twist. Namasivayam aims at recreating his northern Sri Lankan roots through the cafe’s all-day menu. Try nibbles such as the mutton pattie, which accompanies the punchy spicy notes of the Jaffna Peninsula.

Kopi Kade is located at 15/3 Stratford Ave, Colombo. Visit their official website and follow them on Instagram.

Plus Nine Four

Here’s another crowd favorite in Colombo: Plus Nine Four, the sister cafe of popular local food joint Café Kumbuk. While the latter strives to promote healthy living combining both local and international flavors, Plus Nine Four creates a warm, welcoming coffee house experience for city dwellers. The coffee shop has outdoor seating nestled in a breezy tropical garden, set alongside a beautiful cafe compound wall adorned with a monochrome mural of plantain trees and coffee buds.

“We wanted to create a friendly and comfortable neighborhood coffee shop experience,” says owner Shana Dandeniya. Interiors are bright and well-lit, providing a chic, modern ambiance. While there’s a familiar Western feel, the coffee shop highlights Sri Lankan grown produce and flavors. Championing locally grown coffee, Plus Nine Four offers Soul Coffee, a brand that aspires to redefine Sri Lanka’s coffee culture while empowering the local communities.

“Plus Nine Four would not have come to life if not for its collaboration with Soul Coffee,” says Dandeniya. Young urbanites frequent the aesthetic space for their matcha lattes and salted caramel lattes. You can choose between Soul Coffee’s medium or dark roast blends. There’s also a great selection of pastries, cakes, and tarts such as the homemade buttermilk cake or chocolate coffee caramel ice cream tart.

Plus Nine Four is located at 35 D. S. Fonseka Rd, Colombo. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Whight & Co

Whight & Co is one of the first cafes to open each day in Colombo, opening its doors at six in the morning sharp. The coffee shop sits on Marine Drive, facing the roaring Indian Ocean, and is housed inside a historic colonial building, where morning sun flickers through the windows while tall ceilings and pure-white walls create a calm, soothing atmosphere. As the day goes on, the retro space turns into a modern business hub while those who are looking for a relaxing space retreat to the lounge on the first floor. From the top, you get a clear view of the blue sea and the rickey train which runs along the old colonial-era railway tracks. This is as picturesque as coffee gets.

Apart from the go-to lattes and cappuccinos, Whight & Co are popular for their pour-overs, cold drip, and Vietnamese-style coffee made with condensed milk. Australian expat owners seem to have a cafe on nearly every corner of the earth, and so it goes with founders James and Gabrielle Whight. Alongside their team, the Whight’s brew each cup from scratch on the shop’s premises, and also roast Sri Lankan coffee in-house from their own Ruby Harvest brand, established in 2002.

There’s also a modest, refreshing menu for those looking for some fish and chips or an order of Australian lamb pie. Visit during evenings and grab a top floor seat for a stellar sunset view.

Whight & Co is located at Aloe Ave, 24 Marine Drive, Colombo. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

London House of Coffee

The father and son duo behind London House of Coffee had one vision: to bring back the iconic coffee culture of the mid-1800s to modern-day Sri Lanka. With the supervision of agriculturists and coffee specialists, they now grow their organic coffee in the wet, central highlands of the island, and translate that into a coffee bar in the city.

Housed in a beautifully restored building with granite exteriors, London House of Coffee is located in Colombo 07, one of the greener parts of the city. Dark wood interiors with large lavish sofas provide a cozy vibe inside but you can also grab a spot in one of the comfy couches in their open-air balcony.

There’s an ever-evolving list of single origins to choose from, which expands beyond double espressos, macchiatos, hazelnut lattes, and flat whites while caramel cappuccino remains the bestseller. Beyond coffee, they also take pride in their organic smoothies, flavored tea, and an all-day menu crafted with locally-sourced ingredients. Try a bowl of penne pasta with creamy mushrooms, a slice of their Death by Chocolate, and the cafe’s in-house cheesecake.

The ever-smiling friendly staff are crowd pullers at the shop. Dressed in white shirts with long sleeves and an iconic red tie, roasters and baristas are happy to chat with you about their specialty coffee or the brand concept.

London House of Coffee is located at 2B Srimath R.G.Senanayake Mawatha, Colombo. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Butter Boutique

A decade ago, Rukshi Nethicumara was a home baker who sold her cakes in a weekly market in Colombo. Her brainchild Butter Boutique started out of pure love for cakes and coffee. Nethicumara’s first encounter with Niccolo Coffee (a Melbourne-based roaster) was during one of her trips to the United States. Later, she wrote to Davide Drummond, Niccolo Coffee’s founder. Inspired by Nethicumara’s vision, Drummond flew to Colombo to train the staff at Butter Boutique.

The cafe first occupied a tiny space with seating for 10 people, and Nethicumara believes that it was among the very first places in all of the Sri Lankan capital to specialize in coffee and cake. “I wanted to create an indulgent experience with a variety of flavors,” says Nethicumara. One of the first shops in the city to introduce latte art, Butter Boutique soon became a major destination on the Colombo cafe scene.

Now, this cake-and-coffee shop fills a much larger, no less quaint space down Rosemead Place. “Coffee beans are air-flown from Melbourne and we source some of the best ingredients for our cakes and desserts,” says Nethicumara. A pioneer in introducing new bakery flavors to the market, Butter Boutique was also the first shop to introduce tres leches in Sri Lanka four years ago. They’ve been out in front for a decade and continue to be among the country’s very best coffee shops, with outstanding cakes to match.

Butter Boutique has multiple locations in Colombo. Follow them on Instagram.

Coffee & Company

Nestled in a charming corner of Pedris Road, Coffee & Company is all about what the name suggests. Interiors here bring out a homely vibe with cutesy, Instagram-friendly decor. A large, old-school blackboard is hung above the main sofa which says “Know Your Coffee.” A small space, it’s easy to miss this house-turned-cafe, and there aren’t any cupping sessions, workshops or cutting edge coffee theories being experimented upon here. Instead what you’ll find is a relaxing space, great for first dates or seeking out a reading nook with a good book.

There’s a small menu which offers comfort foods, including sandwiches, pasta, and a few dessert options. I like ordering an Americano here, but they also make the city’s best hot chocolate. You’ll look cute here, your coffee will taste good, and your ‘gram will get a lot of hearts. What’s not to like?

Coffee & Company is located at 37/3 Pedris Rd, Colombo. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Zinara Rathnayake is a freelance journalist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Read more Zinara Rathnayake on Sprudge.

The Sprudge Coffee Guide To Colombo, Sri Lanka published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

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shebreathesslowly · 4 years

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The Sprudge Coffee Guide To Colombo, Sri Lanka

Kopi Kade

Kopi Kade is located at 15/3 Stratford Ave, Colombo. Visit their official website and follow them on Instagram.

Plus Nine Four

Plus Nine Four is located at 35 D. S. Fonseka Rd, Colombo. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Whight & Co

There’s also a modest, refreshing menu for those looking for some fish and chips or an order of Australian lamb pie. Visit during evenings and grab a top floor seat for a stellar sunset view.

Whight & Co is located at Aloe Ave, 24 Marine Drive, Colombo. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

London House of Coffee

London House of Coffee is located at 2B Srimath R.G.Senanayake Mawatha, Colombo. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Butter Boutique

Butter Boutique has multiple locations in Colombo. Follow them on Instagram.

Coffee & Company

Coffee & Company is located at 37/3 Pedris Rd, Colombo. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Zinara Rathnayake is a freelance journalist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Read more Zinara Rathnayake on Sprudge.

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absumink · 5 years

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April: the sky looks like it was injected by a needle-point sewing machine, my eyes look like a paint-by-number dream. nobody told me life eventually got stale, i thought the people who warned me of dullness were all crybaby misfits who were prudes towards colour. maybe i should've payed more attention in science class when they spoke about how the illusion of getting cold is really the absence of heat. my father started making buttermilk hot-cakes every Sunday, he said the weather is just right. it's really because he buys too much cream.

May: heat has crept up on me. the stale breath of the orchids down the street started seeping down the drainage pipes and up evaporated concrete. i didn't have time for lunch because I'd rather be filled till i'm full on decadence and watch plagiarized clouds till my pupils dilate. i turn fifteen and watch my skits start to wrinkle, i'm just paranoid; but maybe my life really is collapsing. my mouse pad was peeling so i ripped it right off. it's sad that i have a tendency to pick at the imperfect, that may be why i have so many scabs. summer is relaxing alone while bluebirds are basking in riverbanks, the wind feels like ghost-silk on the nape of my shivered neck. this is what it's like to be afraid of home.

June: savoury solitudes are spread across my bedsheets. i've been trying to find sweet ones for too long because i'm tired of sleeping on spiced spruce and sourdough that rots of dead roots. the shipwrecks of ice-caps have found their way to the bottom of the pond. i used to run above seaweed when i was six till i got sick of the feeling of fingers on my feet. i wear socks now so my toes don't get so pale. the ocean's sea spray stings my throat but only for cleansing because it knows im hooked on the alcohol that i've let control me. sometimes i wake up in the dead of night, watching it screech up my floorboards in red and yellow and blue. the band-aid on my left ring-finger-knuckle is gnarled and frayed from how many times i scrub it with salted soap. i've wasted eight now.

July: my brother buys a shirt that has the pattern as one of my own, similar at least kids at school scream profanities, it's for a girl. he doesn't care. i remember when he'd crack as deep as a sidewalk crevasse when someone else disagreed. i daydream about what it's like to live a life that free. my body has never looked normal to me, i've always hated how my thighs remind me of jelly fish in southern oceans and my smile as wry as bruised bone structures at age ninety-nine. gulf streams soak up too much of my black pants so I'd rather not put them on at all. but i have to, i'm insecure. speaking of, the pockets on the side of my jeans cup my hands like my mother used to. her skin was softer than this denim. but then again she washed the dishes four times a day. i'm now used to the dampness behind my knee-caps and screams under the slits of my tongue.

August: a birthday party under the saturated sun leaves me singed on the back with a ringing in my cars. my brother is growing up and it's not long until he's dead. it's like everything ?ye ever loved is evacuating from flames. i don't see them but i'm engulfed anyway, i smell nothing but God. there's grapefruit slices in the sky and my window broke its nose trying to breathe so loud i woke up. i remember when sunrises looked more cool toned and took no back to alpine mountains, now it looks like the devil under my bed has thrown up blood and burn stains. pain accumulates on my palms, when he looks at me i'm blue, no i'm red. at least, i feel like it.

September: i see him again and statistics are proof i am no longer shallow. something tickles my throat when we kiss so after i go home, i gargle with cough syrup. my teeth are putrid of grape flavouring and dye number 16185. the dog across the street finally shuts up and whimpers when the sky bleeds. it's not that i'm afraid. i mean. i am but it doesn't matter. my new desk at school smells like rotting moons and werewolves that scream at new ones, maybe they haven't yet marked their territory. tomorrow i'll find carved hearts and ill-fated fantasies. my father said i shouldn't get so caught up in love; i am too young.

October: banshees lay their heads on my shoulders and their tongues shackle to my wrist. i feel as if i can't move without waking up the guard dogs and making them shriek. everyone i ask tells me to keep going, they must not know what it's like to balance demons against your hips and listen to the secrets they say underwater. i wish my collarbones would be striking enough to strangle me like the briar brushes strangle rabbits at the edge of my neighbours yard. fences twist metal words from safe to scared from new to old and old to young. they have stories engraved in their bones. i see him at school and i puke out nervous water weeds, the ones that have sprouted inside me. he says i'm becoming broader and that i should stay small, he can pick me up that way. he sounds like a city man 3 thousand in his pocket and his name scrawled on half the town. i loved a small town boy who smelled like the cherry tree its front of my bedroom blinds, not whoever he is now.

November: i'm homeschooled and i don't see him anymore. he swore he'd come around but his excuses echo how little effort he's flossed between his gums. i guess i shouldn't be complaining but the air i'm surrounded with now tastes technicolor ebony, a muted damsel in distress, a silenced plead. snow attempts to bite at my cheeks, i bite back, except it won't budge and i do. i'd trade the clothes i'm in and the food in my stomach to go back to when things were easy. all the mistakes i made no far have been moulding between my pillow cases. i didn't mind the stench before but now that i spend my life indoors i'm starting to cough a lot more. my father won't make breakfast so I'm stuck with bread and curdled milk.

December: i don't wash my clothes. i've been wearing this sweater for a month and a half and i've only showered twice. every time i step into cold air i look at myself and wonder how anyone could love her. people look for happy girls with shrivelled hips and baby blue eyes. i am the opposite. my front door lock has rusted shut because of how no one will open it anymore. our house is a spirit home made of aged mumbles and clenched fists, the old ache of love has bludgeoned me. i forgot to colour my hair black, he said that was his favourite shade and at the time my hair was a charcoal brown. i promised i'd fix myself and he promised he'd stay so i believe that makes both of us liars. how cliché.

January: people say a new year is a fresh start but the sixty seconds between yesterday and today has done nothing but make me nauseous. i'm done hurdling over high trees trying to reach heaven. i think i'm here already. he hasn't called in 3 months and today i don't care. because people say a new year is a fresh start and maybe their fresh start can be shared. i've stopped missing sun rays because i have hope they'll come back tomorrow. if not i'll still have hope then. i refrain from cracking my knuckles. he did too. it makes me sick to my stomach, which has already been bruised. i'm not fixed but i'm getting there. every afternoon i've began blowing the snowflakes off our tree swing so i can swoon below the sky. i'm waiting for blue to move to gold and gold to wave goodbye.

Februaq: Hallmark's profit went up this month but it was no longer because of me. 'he' is just a pronoun and love is something i'm no longer familiar wills. am i complaining'? no, not any more than i am about my body. which, by the way, isn't as bad as it seems. i still feel like i'm an antiseptic to an open cut but i hope it'll pass like everything else has. a program on television told me i needed weight loss pills and wrinkle cream? i think i look fine. skin folds come with aging and maybe i'll still look beautiful its pounds over one hundred-twenty-five.

Mairh: team broke through my stained glass walls and strained my eyes to purple. everything's in a blue hue and i'm afraid i've gotten bad again. i've worked so hard to climb this peak, this prominent place of ease. i am scared that what i'm looking for at the top of the next one. the veins in my arms haven't yet grown back. they look more like agitated vines on corroded brick walls. rain has visited me again and unfortunately it's making me miss how comfortable i felt knowing i was slowly dying. alas, i'm no longer worried of the dark that looms after six. i go walk for five miles in hopes someone will strike me with their front license plate instead of passing me with their back one.

April: well, this is it. relapse is okay, recovery is better. i'm not afraid to love. yes i am vulnerable but i'm not strung together with cuttable cord. my limbs are stationed with metal pipes and i'm not as fragile as i was before. nobody told me life eventually got harder, i thought the people who warned me of the lack of light were pessimistic outlanders who were afraid of their own shadow. maybe i should've payed more attention to the world when it told me i'd eventually come home. the sky now looks like cotton candy and my eyes breathe burgundy butterflies. i've travelled further than i started, i understand that's the whole point. i find beauty in the most mysterious things, this ground beneath me has bellowed in praise. i've accepted things may become difficult, but i'm no longer afraid of the change.

— ; g.k.

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bestautochicago · 6 years

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2019 Volkswagen Jetta Prototype Review: Der Neue Jetta

Do you know what the best-selling German car in America is? No, not the BMW 3 Series—my initial assumption when the question was posed to me. Why, it’s the Volkswagen Jetta. The iconic brand from Wolfsburg moved 121,107 units of their C-segment sedan in 2016.

Good, right? Well, sort of, until you consider that Honda sold 366,927 Civics and Toyota moved 360,483 Corollas during that same time frame. Hyundai sold 208,319 Elantras, Chevy sold 188,876 Cruzes, and Ford sold 168,789 Foci last year. The Jetta isn’t the worst selling in the segment—it beats the Kia Forte, Mazda3, and Subaru Impreza (don’t feel too bad for Subaru; the tiny Japanese brand still outsells Volkswagen at the brand level).

Obviously, Volkswagen isn’t happy to be in the bottom half of anything, let alone this crucial Brot und Butter segment in the world’s most mature auto market. And with an image that has taken a beating of late (you know, the whole diesel emissions thing), VW needs a win, badly.

So they’re moving their top-selling car onto their best platform, the incredible MQB toolkit/chassis/platform. Mind you, this platform is so good that, back in 2014, we handed our Car of the Year award to the seventh-generation Golf hatchback—the first car to be built from MQB. I don’t even remember what car came in second.

Volkswagen flew a gaggle of us auto journo types out to their hot weather proving ground in Maricopa, Arizona, to have a go in a camouflaged preproduction 2019 prototype. Obviously, this new Jetta has to be pretty good, ja? Keep reading.

Volkswagen themselves are burying the lede (a journalist term, meaning that the bigger point of a given article is given short shrift compared to the headline). Dieselgate, Volkswagen’s self-inflicted emissions-cheating software scandal has cost the company—depending on whom you ask—around $30 billion. Ahem, billion. Could be more than that, but it sure ain’t less.

How do you come back from that? Who knows, but one thing Volkswagen North America Region (NAR) would like you to know is that they’ve been in America for a long time, they employ lots of Americans, and they do so in many locations around the country. Counting a plant in Puebla, Mexico, there are currently eight North American locations, with a new one—the Concept and Innovation Center—on the way.

For this demonstration drive, and for the first time ever, Volkswagen opened the doors to its Arizona Proving Grounds to the press. Part of the reason why is to show that post-Dieselgate, the VW brand has decentralized. It’s no longer a top-down organization with a notoriously iron-fisted chairman/dictator (Hallo, Doktor Piëch!) calling all the shots from his throne in Wolfsburg. Or is that Salzburg? The other part of the story is, sometimes you gotta just change the story.

The 1,600-acre Arizona facility has been in operation since 1992—that’s 25 years—and has become essential to VW’s global operations. Over the past quarter-century, Volkswagen has spent $100 million on the facility, which employs around 200 individuals.

As you’re hopefully aware, Arizona, especially just outside Phoenix, is hot. About as hot as anywhere human beings live. In the winter it’s cooler (mercifully VW had us tour the place in December), so Volkswagen has another hot-weather proving ground in South Africa so they can keep abusing their products year round.

The Arizona facility is responsible, however, for more than just baking metal in the desert sun. The proving ground is responsible for corrosion testing, long-term mileage accumulation (there are 49 different routes through Arizona they use to rack up 7.5 million miles annually), static hot weather testing for 100 cars and 3,000 parts, as well as dynamic, severe hot weather testing. Rumor has it that the aforementioned Chairman Piëch laid out nine engineering benchmarks for the Bugatti Veyron. One was that it had to be able to run at 125 mph in 120-degree heat for 10 hours straight. The Arizona facility’s 5-mile long oval sure would make a great place to try that out. In August.

I mention Bugatti for a reason. See, it’s not just the Volkswagen brand that uses this hot weather facility. All the VW Group brands do. I saw Audis, Porsches, Bentleys—even a Lamborghini Urus (under a cover)—if the Volkswagen AG owns it, you can bet it gets tested out in Arizona.

The corrosion testing was my favorite part of the tour. First of all, they have several humidity chambers. Cars are placed inside a garage that’s kept at 125 degrees and 100 percent humidity for 19 hours per day. Once out, they are inserted into salt chambers where you can literally taste the 3 percent salt solution in the air. VW claims that a few rounds of this punishment are equal to 12 years of East Coast driving. After enough sessions have been completed, the cars are then completely disassembled—we’re talking down to the welds—as technicians look for signs of rust, wear, corrosion, and/or rot. If a problem is identified, it’s then (obviously) corrected.

All that leads us nicely to the new seventh-generation Jetta, which—yes—was engineered specifically for the American market. Also, much of the road testing took place in the nearby city of Maricopa.

The new Jetta is solid. No surprises here—it’s basically a larger Golf with a trunk. Actually, there was one surprise. I climbed under the rear of the Jetta to have a look, and staring back at me was a beam axle. Also known as a torsion beam, the last Jetta began life with an inexpensive beam axle but then in 2014 switched to a fully independent rear suspension.

Why the retrograde move? Independent suspensions cost more money, and when you’re near the bottom (in terms of sales) of an especially price-sensitive segment, you save pennies where possible. The good news is that like the old beam-axle Jetta, the new one rides and drives quite well. I doubt any customers will mind the cost cutting, and most compact sedan shoppers won’t be able to tell the dynamic difference in the suspension swap. Also, you can go ahead and bet in the affirmative that we’re going to see a hopped-up GLI version of the new Jetta, one that will sport a fully independent rear in addition to much more power.

Volkswagen turned us loose on a tight and twisty single-lane road course to evaluate how the new Jetta drives. Although it’s not a sports car, the new Jetta displays no bad behaviors. There’s no torque steer, understeer shows up when you drive the car harder than 90 percent of its buyers will ever drive it, and its brakes felt strong and healthy.

Power from the turbocharged 1.4-liter inline-four was just OK; call it adequate with your tongue firmly not in your cheek. VW is being mum on the actual output, but 150 horsepower isn’t a bad guess. VW also let us play with the 2019 Jetta on the same banked oval as the Veyron once did. An engineer told me the car’s top speed is 127 mph. I saw 128. Like all good German cars, the Jetta was composed and relaxed at Vmax. Even if it’s not much of a Vmax.

More seat time will be needed to provide a real, proper review. Especially time spent simultaneously driving other cars in the Jetta’s segment. This will happen soon. Volkswagen will be showing the car at the Detroit show in January and will then begin manufacturing the finished product in March.

It will be on sale around the third quarter of 2018. All said and done, I probably had about an hour in the preproduction Jetta, and that’s just not enough time. It didn’t help my thought process that the body was wrapped up in black and white camo and the interior was covered with black fabric.

At one point during my time on the proving ground a VW employee quizzed me about my take on the Jetta. I said that I felt it was very solid, drove like a big Golf, and had steering that was in line with the brakes that were in line with the engine that was in line with the chassis. It had no rough edges. It seemed like a well-thought-out commodity product, though one that doesn’t tug at my heartstrings. This person will remain nameless and genderless, but they said, “Yeah. We built a boring car.” Which, in a world of rapidly shrinking sedan sales, might prove to be the wrong approach.

Luckily for Volkswagen, the magic of MQB is that you can quickly and cheaply deploy numerous products from the single toolkit because 60 percent of the engineering work is already done. Might I suggest tiny little SUVs? I mean, just look at how many crossovers Subaru makes. And sells.

Source: http://chicagoautohaus.com/2019-volkswagen-jetta-prototype-review-der-neue-jetta/

from Chicago Today https://chicagocarspot.wordpress.com/2017/12/15/2019-volkswagen-jetta-prototype-review-der-neue-jetta/

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robertkstone · 6 years

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2019 Volkswagen Jetta Prototype Review: Der Neue Jetta

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felvillalobos · 6 years

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The Shadow It was a sunny Saturday morning. I woke up at 5:30 am as always to take Blair on her daily sunrise stroll. The sun was pouring in through the glass doors to my balcony. I threw back the covers and walked towards my dresser. Pulling on a pair of leggings and a T-shirt, I made my way down the stairs. Blair was sitting next to the door with her leash in her mouth. For years this had been our routine, and nothing would make her change it now. The cool morning breeze was sending chills up my spine. I held Blair's leash in one hand, and a water bottle in the other. Early morning walks always seemed to bring out the eeriness of Twin Lakes Drive. With sun peering through the many clouds of gray that polluted the sky, some houses were illuminated with beautiful patterns of sunlight, and others with oddly shaped shadows that seemed to engulf each home. As I walked down the drive I could hear Shawn saying “There is an evil in that house Shae. Can’t you feel it?” Shawn is my wonderful husband who has dedicated his life to catching and chasing all things supernatural. For weeks he would go on ‘business trips’, and clear houses and other cursed or possessed objects from evil. Being a private investigator I stuck to focusing on evidence I could physically see and touch before me. Whenever Shawn tried to pull me into one of his trips, I would simply state “No face? No case.” I am running with half of a leash in my hand. The cold morning air sending chills up my spine. Where did Blair go? In the 8 years that I have had her, she's never taken off on me the way she just did. I followed the sound of her bark all the way to that one vacant house that never failed to have an eerie shadow fall upon the large front door. The Evans’ house was the darkest house located in a corner at the end of the drive. I stood paralyzed in the narrow twisting driveway before the house. The ancient architecture of the house made it look like a home straight out of a horror movie. Dead trees, rotting and bowed shutters, and two broken statues of angels. My stomach tightened in fear as I wondered if Shawn’s work really was true. For the first time in my life I doubted my teachings and wondered if there was a world beyond the living. “A shadow that’s cast upon a door, holds evil inside its very core.” I shook Shawn’s favorite line from my head and took three small steps towards the slanted staircase that led to the grand brown door. The shadow seemed to shift and grow as I made my way slowly towards it. I wanted to turn around and run straight back to the comfort of my warm bed, but I had to find Blair. I told myself I was being ridiculous. Seven years on the job and I had never encountered anything close to supernatural. But then again, I had never allowed myself to look into the topic of ghosts, demons, or any of the monsters that I saw pile up on our table amongst my scattered case files. My training taught me to avoid what could not be explained using human evidence and I had always done just that. My case files were human evidence. Shawn’s were not. Snapping back to reality, I made my way up the winding path. As I stepped on the stairs, pieces of cement cracked and crumbled under that soles of my shoes. I grabbed hold of the rusted iron railing beside me and looked back up at the house. The windows were boarded up and the grass was long and yellow. Mrs. Evans, the woman who used to live here, moved out after her husband passed away about a year ago, and the house has been vacant ever since. A terrified bark pierced the silence, and without thinking I threw myself at the door. Thinking the door would be locked, I did not prepare for a fall and flew head first into the wall facing the door. Inside, the house smelled of wet socks and rotting food. All the furniture was in place, and paintings and picture frames decorated the floral wallpaper on the walls. These weren’t your average happy family portraits. These were dark. Bare trees lost in the mist, a vacant swingset in a deserted schoolyard, pale children in long black robes, and the most disturbing- the living room as it was with indistinguishable silhouettes sitting in the chairs, and a dead dog on an altar in the center. I had to find Blair. There was something bad in this house. I could see the evidence, and I could feel its presence. Floor boards creaked above my head and I darted towards the kitchen where I hid in the pantry. Inside, shelves were stocked with cans of tomato soup, and lots of quakers oats. Knowing food meant signs of life, I checked the expiration dates. Each expiration date was set between 1890-1910. I could not believe what I was seeing. Mrs. Evans, the woman who had lived here just a year ago would not have survived off of food that had expired a century ago. Something was wrong. Very wrong. All of a sudden, footsteps raced down the stairs and I heard something fall and shatter in the living room. With my face pressed up to the door and both eyes to the mail slot, I looked for any sign of movement. Both the kitchen and the living room were still. I could see the fallen picture frame in pieces on the living room floor. There must have been a draft coming from a crack in one of the windows. There has to be a rational explanation for all of this. As I began to open the pantry door, something black flashed by and threw the door wide open. I sprang back in terror knocking over a perfect stack of oats and fell into the wall. I sunk into the dark corner between two shelves of tomatoes. This had to be a trick. Someone or something was behind all of this. But what did they want? Where was Blair? With both eyes fixed on the hallway outside of the door, a note fell to the floor. My curiosity overpowered my terror, and I made my way to the piece of paper. Stepping out into the open, I looked around for any signs of who had dropped the note. Seeing no one, I knelt down and inspected the old stained piece of parchment. Realizing this could potentially be a crime scene, I took out my phone and snapped a quick picture. After taking a few more pictures of the expired cans, boxes, and paintings, I sent the lot to Shawn and returned my attention to the note. “You will leave the hound. Get out of our home.” If it could write, it could think, and if it could think it must be alive. Right? The dark figure could have been the light reflecting off of one of the many mirrors at every corner of the house. The note was something else. Someone knew I was here. Someone had Blair. She was my partner, and she was in trouble. Out of nowhere started a high pitched ringing. It grew so loud my knees gave out and I fell to the floor with both hands clasped to my ears to try and drown out the sound. There was no use. My brain was pounding and my consciousness was fading fast. The sound was unbearable. Everything was blurry. Then everything went red. My lungs burned from screaming, and when I looked up something dark stood before me. The ringing had clouded my vision to the point where I could not make out where I was or what I was looking at. The dark figure approached me and everything went black. I woke up in my bed. I shot up when I remembered what had happened. Had it happened? Maybe it had been a dream. I jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs in search of Blair, but she was nowhere to be seen. Fearfully I checked my phone. It was 9 pm. Where had those 15 hours gone? There were 3 messages and 6 missed calls from Shawn. The messages consisted of, “Shae get the hell out of there!” “Honey answer me!” “I’m coming home now. Please answer me.” Shawn had been in Des Moines, Iowa performing a home purification on a house that had been built on a Native American battleground. He said there were multiple spirits haunting the grounds where a family had recently decided to build their forever home. He was not supposed to return for another two days, and nothing pulls Shawn away from the job. I knew something was very wrong. I looked back at the messages I had sent him. They were delivered and read at 7:07 am. It was a 14 hour drive from Des Moines to Harrisburg Pennsylvania, so he’d be home any minute. While looking at the photos I had sent him, I realized why he was so worried. In one, a dark shadow appeared on the wall. In another, there were long scratches all the way down the wall by the shelves of tomatoes. The last picture was that of the paintings. When I zoomed in on the picture of the living room, each silhouette seemed to be staring at me. As I zoomed out I noticed the mirror in the corner of the room. Looking closer at my body, I noticed a claw-like hand on my shoulder. Terrified, I yanked on the collar of my T-shirt. There was thin but long hand shaped burn left behind. I was screaming when Shawn entered the house. I heard him slam the door shut and sprint up the steps to our room. He saw the hand print and carefully removed my shirt. He stroked my hair and kissed my forehead. I sat still and looked straight ahead. This could not be happening. I had factual evidence that something evil had happened in that house. Something that could not be explained with human evidence. Shawn got up and frantically dug through his drawers. I wanted to assure him that I was okay, but I could not move. I was in shock. I watched him take out a cup made of silver and fill it with holy water. He then poured some of the same holy water and some salt on to a rag. He walked both the rag and the cup over to me. He sat in front of me, looked me in the eyes and said “Christo”. To his horror, my face jerked upward. I did not understand why my body had reacted the way it had to the word. I took the cup from him and drank the water. It burned. I screamed and threw the glass across the room. My body went into a fit and I looked at Shawn desperately for an explanation and way to ease my pain. I could see tears falling down his face as he reached for a book in his bag. When I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror, I had turned a ghostly shade of pale gray. My lips were scabbed over, and my once bright blue eyes were now a dark black. I stared in terror at the face looking at me. It smiled and let out a low gargling laugh.

#chapter 1