#spent hours playing with crabs this is so delightful | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yr-obedt-cicero · 1 year

Note

any good hamdad anecdotes? i've heard of a few and they're always really cute

Absolutely. I'll spare you the sad ones.

The time Hamilton chose crabs over Angelica's pie and teasingly reassured her it wasn't because they moved it (Hamilton was prone to forgetfulness, it's likely Angelica taunted him about this);

Give my love to Angelica & assure [her] that I did not leave her pye out of resentment for her having changed its original destination; but because it was impossible to take it with us without abandonning a basket of Crabs which was sent to my care for Mrs. Rensselaer. It has always been my creed that a lady’s pleasure is of more importance than a Gentleman’s, so the pye gave way to the Crabs. It was a nice question, but after mature reflection I decided in favour of the latter. Perhaps as a Creole I had some sympathy with them.

(source — Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [1801])

Three days before the duel, Hamilton laid out under a tree with all his kids until it got dark;

The next day, Sunday, before the heat of the day, [Alexander Hamilton] walked with his wife over all the pleasant scenes of his retreat. On his return to the house, his family being assembled, he read the morning service of the Episcopal church. The intervening hours till evening were spent in kind companionship; and at the close of the day, gathering around him his children under a near tree, he laid with them upon the grass until the stars shone down from the heavens.

(source — Life of Alexander Hamilton, by John Church Hamilton)

While preparing for the Grange, camping out in the yard reminded Hamilton of his war days and he told the kids about war stories;

[D]uring the erection of [Hamilton’s] rural dwelling, he caused a tent to be pitched, and camp-stools to be placed under the shading trees. He measured distances, as though measuring the frontage of a camp; and then, as he walked along, his step seemed to fall naturally into the cadenced pace of a practiced drill. It was his delight in his hours of relaxation to return to scenes and incidents of his early life, when fighting for this country, and praying for its protection.

(source — Life of Alexander Hamilton, by John Church Hamilton)

Hamilton often slept besides his kids, and found amusement in playing with Holly;

I am here my beloved Betsy with my two little boys John & William who will be my bed fellows to night. The day I have passed was as agreeable as it could be in your absence; but you need not be told how much difference your presence would have made […] The remainder of the Children were well yesterday. Eliza pouts and plays, and displays more and more her ample stock of Caprice.

(source — Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [March 20, 1803])

Hamilton used to sing while Angelica played the piano;

Hamilton's gentle nature rendered his house a joyous one to his children and friends. He accompanied His daughter Angelica when she played and sang the piano. His intercourse with his children was always affectionate and confiding, which excited in them a corresponding confidence and devotion.

(source — Reminiscences of James A. Hamilton)

Hamilton used to take James on carriage rides when he had to travel places and gave him advice;

While we were living at the Grange I used to drive out with my father, and often accompanied him when he dined with his friend Gouverneur Morris. During one of these drives, soon after my conversation with my uncle, I told my father what I had learned, and made the suggestion which Mr. Morton had requested. He replied without hesitation, ‘‘No, my son; if I received a part of the profits of that business, I should be responsible for it; as I cannot attend to it, I cannot consent to receive what I do not earn.’’

(source — Reminiscences of James A. Hamilton)

Hamilton often helped his sons with their speeches, and once gave James a thesis on discretion as a subtle hint he was a bit too talkative;

The first impression as to the words underscored was, that I might need the Thesis as an exercise. Immediate subsequent events of the most painful character induced the belief that it was intended as an admonition that I wanted that ‘homely virtue,’ discretion, of which the thesis treated. How far I have profited by the admonition this relation of the errors of my life may prove. The reader may perhaps say that in attempting to write these reminiscences I have shown that the admonition was thrown away.

(source — Reminiscences of James A. Hamilton)

Hamilton was overjoyed at Philip's performance at his last oration, that he said he was the only one who could have surpassed him;

The eldest child was a son, on whom his hopes rested with a confidence that would not have been disappointed. Distinguished for genius and elevated feeling from his earliest years, this youth had recently graduated at Columbia College. So satisfied was his father with the display of talent in an oration delivered by him at the end of his academic career, that he re-marked: ‘‘I could not have been contented to have been surpassed by any other than my son;’’ and never was he more delighted than with the gratulations which poured in upon him on this occasion.

(source — History of the republic of the United States of America, as traced in the writings of Alexander Hamilton and of his contemporaries, by John Church Hamilton)

He used to play marbles and fly kites with his younger boys;

What a home Hamilton's lovely nature made to all its inmates! By his family he was adored; the humblest member of his household seemed contented with his lot, as he walked forth at early morn to direct their labors with kind greetings and kinder smiles. “Would not this be well?” “Might not this be better?” were the terms of his guidance. [...] Their education now was under his frequent supervision; their course of reading was indicated, and their themes corrected. Every source of usefulness and virtuous pleasure he would cultivate with severer studies—music; (he sang a little)—the graces and the arts; with his younger boys he played marbles and flew kites, making merry pastime.

(source — History of the republic of the United States of America, as traced in the writings of Alexander Hamilton and of his contemporaries, by John Church Hamilton)

Hamilton was too anxious about letting Philip travel on his own, so he barely let him travel for very long and had a friend keep an eye on him;

As my eldest son Philip, who lately graduated, will pass through Providence on his way to Boston, I give him this line barely to introduce him to you; since the time I have prescribed for his return will not permit the stay of more than a day at Providence.

(source — Alexander Hamilton to Jeremiah Olney, [August 12, 1800])

The night before the duel, Hamilton slept besides John C.;

I recall a single incident about it with full clearness. [...] The day before the duel I was sitting in a room, when, at a slight noise, I turned around and saw my father in the doorway, standing silently there and looking at me with a most sweet and beautiful expression of countenance. It was full of tenderness, and without any of the business pre-occupation he sometimes had. “John,” he said, when I had discovered him, “won't you come and sleep with me to-night?” His voice was frank as if he had been my brother instead of my father. That night I went to his bed, and in the morning very early he awakened me, and taking my hands in his palms, all four hands extended, he said and told me to repeat the Lord's Prayer. Seventy-five years have since passed over my head, and I have forgotten many things, but not that tender expression when he stood looking at me in the door nor the prayer we made together the morning before the duel. I do not so well recollect seeing him lie upon his deathbed, though I was there.

(source — Interview with John Church Hamilton, reminiscences about his father)

That's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there's more.

88 notes · View notes

dustofthedailylife · 8 months

Note

Zhongli had always been a stoic figure, but on this special evening, he was determined to cast aside his usual solemn demeanor to celebrate the birthday of his beloved.

For weeks, Zhongli had been meticulously planning the perfect birthday surprise. He knew that you had a fondness for quiet, intimate moments, so he decided to create a romantic candle-lit dinner beneath the starry sky. He had prepared for this evening with great care, summoning his adeptal powers to set the scene.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, Zhongli stood in a secluded grove, a serene oasis hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the city of Liyue. The air was thick with the fragrance of blooming flowers, and the gentle sound of a nearby river provided a soothing backdrop. He had chosen this place for its natural beauty and tranquility, perfect for a romantic celebration.

Zhongli's adeptal powers came into play as he summoned stone pillars from the ground. These pillars, each adorned with glowing Geo crystals, encircled a beautifully set table for two. The crystals bathed the grove in a warm, amber glow, casting enchanting patterns of light and shadow.

Next came the culinary aspect of the surprise. Zhongli had spent hours in the kitchen, meticulously preparing your favorite dishes. He had chosen a diverse menu that included exquisite Liyue cuisine, from stir-fried lotus head to fragrant crab roe. The table was also adorned with an array of exquisite wines, elegantly presented in jade wine cups.

As the final touch, Zhongli carefully placed countless candles around the grove. The soft, flickering flames danced with the breeze, creating an enchanting and intimate ambiance. Each candle was chosen for its unique fragrance, adding an extra layer of sensory delight to the evening.

With everything in place, Zhongli waited patiently for your arrival. When you finally entered the grove, your eyes widened in astonishment at the breathtaking sight before you. The Geo Archon greeted you with a warm smile, his usual stoicism replaced by a gentle tenderness.

You sat down at the table, and the evening unfolded in a symphony of flavors, scents, and shared memories. Zhongli regaled you with stories of your time together, each anecdote punctuated by laughter and affectionate glances.

As the night wore on, the stars above twinkled in approval of the love that filled the grove. Zhongli's birthday surprise had indeed been a success, a testament to his unwavering devotion. And as the final candle burned low, he raised his glass to toast to the most precious treasure in his life—his lover, whose birthday celebration had become a memory you would cherish for eternity.

...

Happy birthday <3

-🌸(a mutual- teehee guess who i am)

Aaaah oh my gosh!! this is so well written and feels so comfy and cozy and romantic and... 🥰

"For weeks, Zhongli had been meticulously planning the perfect birthday surprise"

This is such a Zhongli thing to do, please. The man truly has all the time in the world 😭

Thank you so much for writing this! This is so cute!

I also know this writing style, I feel like I've read it before (duh, Dust, you're mutuals. Of course you do). I have an idea who you are but I do not dare to make a guess because I'm scared I might be wrong LMAO 😂

#🍁 dust mail #🍁 dust moots #🍁彡 gi #birthday wishes

7 notes · View notes

koravelliumavast · 1 year

Text

A week of the Nine Delights:

Experiencing at least 3 of the 9 delights per day.

Monday: 11/7

Enthralment! I spent like an hour or so writing fanfic and it was fun and enjoyable

Deliciousness! I had the Mediterranean food place on campus for lunch and it was good! I even tried falafel for the first time and it was interesting but nonetheless delicious.

walkin around! i walked from the library back to the dorms and on my walk saw people using a vacuum type thing to pick up leaves. it was kind of smart and cool and something i would never have thought of

Tuesday: 11/8

Amelioration! it wasn’t super enjoyable but i did work on my betterment of my math skills by my stats homework. It was kind of hard and confusing but not too difficult.

Wildcard! I got all the assignments that are due by the end of the week done this morning and that felt really nice to check things off the list. And since I didn’t have anything to do this afternoon i got to play the sims for a little bit which is always a plus

Fellowship! Met some new people!!

Wednesday: 11/9

Amelioration! I got myself out of bed and got to my chem lecture at 7:45 even though I didn’t want to and got better at my chem knowledge so sick!

Deliciousness! I tried something new and VERY american: crab Rangoon pizza. And interestingly enough it was delicious?

Wildcard! Music! I got to spend like an hour today reading and also listening to music and it was great. I love being able to spend time with earbuds in playing music as it makes everything feel much more relaxing and not as much. Plus it’s always fun to be able to find pockets of calm in your day for sure.

Walking around! Today was one of the last nice days in a while and I got about 3 miles in of just walking around

Thursday: 11/10

Fellowship! My learning community went to the tearoom today and we had a good ol time with laughter and whatnot.

Deliciousness! I had some focaccia bread today at the tearoom and it was really good. I also had lasagna and I was suprised that I liked it because I HATE lasagna. (It’s a texture thing. I don’t like cottage cheese.) maybe they used ricotta or something idk

Goofing! Seeing people in shorts and a short sleeve shirt being cold because it was like 70°(21C) and humid at like 8am but within the span of a few hours it wasn’t humid, got windy and dropped over 20 degrees and is now 47°(8.3C) but feels like 35°(1.6C) and it’s only getting colder.

Friday: 11/11

Goofing! laughing in class because the professor asked what the caloric content of reduced fat nilla wafers was if it says 60% reduced fat and the regular one has 140 calories and she showed the front of the box where it says 120 calories right on it.

Wildcard! First snow of the year! Not anything more than a flurry

Deliciousness! This Oreo cake in the dining center.

Saturday: 11/12

Transcendence! I felt really on top of everything this morning and did some things that I just haven’t been able to do all semester (washing sheets deep cleaning under desk etc)

Wildcard! We got the first snowfall of the year!

Antifellowship(?)! I spent like all day alone and it was great and exactly what I needed.

Sunday: 11/13

Enthralment! I Heard a new song today that made me sit there jawdropped in awe over its musicality. Please listen to it if you have 12 minutes it’s so beautiful. I cried.

Wildcard! I got a lot of reading done and I finished both the bands of mourning and howls moving castle and

Goofing! Allomancer Jak and the pits of Eltania is the funniest cosmere story I’ve read (no debating on this)

Reflection:

So all in all I feel that finding at least three of the 9 delights in my day helped make me feel more motivated in doing things and by the end of the week I felt more relaxed and less stressed about the week to come. Most daily lifestyle things are about strengthening your body it seems but this is great for your mind. Even on the days when I felt like shit physically (cramps yay) my focus and drive to get things done was going good, which is interesting because normally my focus is all outta wack during those days as my adhd meds don’t help regulate as well. I’ll definitely continue to stick with finding the 9 delights of the days. However I might change them slightly to fit me more. Like instead of coitus maybe musicality as that’s something that’s more delightful and something I’d see in my day much more than some fuckin.

#nine delights #real #kind of a study idk

10 notes · View notes

shiny-jr · 4 years

Text

❝ ᴛ ʜ ɪ ɴ ᴋ ᴀ ʙ ᴏ ᴜ ᴛ ɪ ᴛ ❞

➼ 𝕐𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕖𝕔𝕙 𝕋𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕤

The ocean was unpredictable, but they still loved it.

Everyday in their youth, (Y/n) would travel to the beach, a private little area hidden by rocks and the tide. Playing there by themself for hours upon hours. Making sandcastles for the crabs, collecting seashells to share with their friends and family, practicing and teaching themself how to play a kalimba, until when it was dark a relative would come to drag them back home. For years, the beach became their safe spot where they retreated to get away from it all, but as life moved on so did (Y/n).

Soon, (Y/n)’s time was swallowed up by the problems and turmoil of everyday life, as they spent less and less time in their safe haven, now stuck in land. Eventually, they stopped going to the beach altogether, only occasionally taking a stroll there every month or so. It was still as peaceful and calming as they remembered. However, not everything could remain the same-- peace was never meant to last.

Those deep waters that held the unknown-- were wild and terrifying, so when fishermen and whole ships began to go missing, everyone assumed it was a tragic accident: a shipwreck, a terrible storm, or somehow becoming lost at sea. That is, until these so called accidents were becoming all the more frequent. It seemed like every week a poor fisherman went missing, every month a ship never to be seen again. Bodies of the dead lost at sea often found their way to shore, limbs missing or twisted and bent in impossible angles, visible signs they had been in a struggle.

Rumors began to float about, all ranging from a curse being placed on the town to the possibility of sea monsters lurking in the waters that caused these accidents to occur. Of course, in their paranoia and terror, the townspeople would believe anything, all except one person. They refused to believe in the rumors without proof, not allowing fear to get the best of them.

Everyday, (Y/n) continued to roam the now empty beaches in search of trinkets and treasures buried in the sand. And everyday, their family’s worries grew. Was it really wise to continue going to the beaches when there was an unknown threat in the waters? Still, no matter how hard they attempted to persuade them to stop and find a job further inland, (Y/n) always refused. As long as they stay away from the deep water, they will be fine, right?

Well, they were correct in a sense that they themself would not be harmed, but that didn’t mean that danger would stop from befalling on others.

It was a normal day, the salty breeze was warm and delightful, the clouds provided just enough cover from the hot sun. The waters were calm, steadily washing up to the shore. (Y/n) walked along the land, stepping along the warm sand and cool tides. In their hand they held an instrument, a wooden board with metal tines, a kalimba handmade and gifted by their parents. Aimlessly they tapped the metal, creating soft chimes that matched the clanging of freshly discovered treasures collected in their satchel that sounded with every stride they took.

They barely paid any attention to the lone fisherman out at sea, not too far from where they stood on the shore. The middle-aged man appeared to be too occupied with his work to even notice their presence as well. Using his nimble fingers to prepare the end of his rod with a hook and bait.

(Y/n) looked up with interest as they heard a splash in the waters. Had the man caught something so quickly? Their eyes widened as they saw the tip of a teal-colored tail emerge from the waters, the fisherman noticing it as well.

Think about it, think about it.

The fisherman placed down his rod, looking over the side of his boat that the person on the shore was unable to see. In an instant, two webbed hands grabbed the man by his shirt, dragging him underneath the waves and successfully stopping his scream from alerting any others in the vicinity, but (Y/n) had watched the whole thing unfold with growing horror.

What felt like hours were mere seconds they spent waiting, hoping to see the man reemerge safely. What should they do? Should they try to help somehow? But they couldn’t risk going further into the water! Should they run and get help? It might be too late if they came with help. Before they could make a decision, the man’s hat appeared and floated on the waves, but there was no sign of the fisherman-- until the blue waters began to turn a crimson red, blood making its way to the surface.

Think about when you were there.

(Y/n) stifled a shriek, quickly shoving the kalimba back into their satchel and switching out their sandals. Struggling to put them on as quickly as possible, they would run back to town and inform authorities about what they had witnessed. As they nearly fell and tried to slide on their sandals, another splash emitted from behind the boat, a voice making their blood run cold.

We know it.

“Eeeeh, what a weakling. There wasn’t much to squeeze! Didn’t you hear something earlier, Jade?”

“Indeed, Floyd, I did. Perhaps there’s another human in the area?”

Finally clipping their sandals on their feet securely, they bolted. Running as fast as their feet could carry them on the sand, too afraid to look back. Failing to notice their musical instrument fall out of their satchel and into the waters. (Y/n) was far too focused on getting away as quickly as possible, only one destination was in mind: the town. They had to get to town and report what they witnessed. Behind them, they were just able to make out the words being said by whatever creatures remained in the waters.

We already know it.

“Aah, there they go! They’re running away like a scared little shrimp!”

“That’s a shame. It seems humans are quick to flee.”

❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂

The twins had occasionally swam to the surface when in their youth, and while mischievous and troublesome, they had never attacked a human. They had been children at the time, just two little eels. However, their visits soon became frequent upon discovering a hidden rocky beach behind a cliff, and while they played with the crabs and watched the seagulls, they spotted the first human they ever saw.

Jade and Floyd nearly submerged themselves fully in the waters, poking the top of their heads out. From the darkness behind some rocks jutting out of the waters, they watched with fascination as the land creature played all alone by themselves.

Floyd stared with wide eyes before looking at his twin, “Hey, hey, isn’t that sad? That little human is lonely. I have you, but they’re all alone!”

Jade nodded, watching the human with a tilt of his head, “Yes, that is sad. But they don’t look lonely.”

On the contrary, (Y/n) appeared delighted despite the lack of company. They laughed and chased away those pesky seagulls, making shapes and small structures from the sand that amazed the twins, and even played a strange musical instrument. They had to wonder, were all young humans like this?

Think about it, think about it.

“Jade, that small shrimpy is pretty funny.”

“Yes, Floyd, they are very interesting.”

It soon became habit for the young Leech twins to venture to that secret beach in search of that amusing little human. As the years went by, the human’s trips to the beach became infrequent until it stopped completely. However, the two never forgot about the human named (Y/n), the memory of watching them play constantly lingering in the back of their mind.

It disappears in three days, and fills up again.

After years of not visiting the surface, their return meant chaos and misfortune for the land dwellers. What better fun was there than humans? Oh to see them struggle in their tail’s grip, gulp and gasped for air only to get a mouthful of water, and how they struggled was all so much fun! It was a shame they never lasted long, a single squeeze was all it took to break any unfortunate human they came across.

“Save me! I’m scared!” All day long.

❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂

I knew it.

(Y/n) retreated away from the ocean, as far as they could go, not wanting to be reminded of what they witnessed. Those recent memories engraved in the front of their mind, the terrified faces of the authorities they reported the accident to, the grief-stricken family of the fisherman, and the incident itself with the blood and those creatures that continued to lurk in the salty waters.

I saw it.

They had run to the forest, hoping they could calm themself and find peace of mind here. The forest, lakes, and rivers should be safe, right? The beach was miles away, they were safest here, right?

Think about it, think about it.

The sound of running waterfalls and the chirp of birds filled the silence, slowly providing them a sense of calm. It’s as if the gentle flowing water extinguished the flames of their fear and guilt, leaving them at peace. Softly the wooden path they walked on creaked, the healthy green leaves from branches overhead provided shade, the water of the river was a clear emerald green. Their eyes admired the many waterfalls, taking a shaky breath, Reaching for their satchel, they cursed underneath their breath upon realizing their musical instrument was gone. Instead, they opted for humming, singing softly in this space where they believed they were alone.

We worry all day long.

Two particular sea creatures stopped from exploring this new strip of water, perking up at the distant humming and soft singing. They stopped swimming, looking towards the direction it came from.

We worry about what we’re going to eat when the night comes.

Jade listened to the distant voice, smiling at the lovely melody and soft voice. Slowly a grin appeared on his lips, revealing his sharp teeth. “Hm… Are my ears deceiving me, or do you hear that as well?”

“Yeahhh! It sounds like a merfolk’s song!” Lowering the little wooden musical instrument he had discovered on the shore earlier, Floyd shook his head. “Eh, but merfolk are too wimpy to come inland!”

“That is true… Considering that, it must be another human.”

“This is getting boring here… I know! Let’s find that little human!”

To win is to survive.

(Y/n) hopped along the smooth stones, kicking the water running along by their feet. Parting their lips, their dulcet voice flowed out and rang through the air, partially disrupted by the waterfalls. “Now’s your moment. Floating in a blue lagoon~” Aimlessly spinning along the stone, careful not to misstep and accidentally fall in the water. “Boy, you better do it soon! No time will be better~”

The Leech twins neared at a slow pace, taking cover under the darkest shadows that covered the river. However, before they could zoom forward and drag them underneath to have their fun, the duo stopped upon catching a proper glimpse at the human’s face. Their olive colored eyes soaking up the familiar features while their golden eyes glowed dimly. In that instant, like a lightbulb switching on, they both recognized the human as the same one from the morning, the same human they used to watch years ago.

Think about it, think about it.

“Aaah~~~! It’s Shrimpy~~!!!”

(Y/n) jumped at the shrill shriek, eyes going wide as they recognized the voice as one from this morning. Freezing in place, they looked up and nearly fainted on the spot as they spotted a figure in the waters coming straight towards them at unbelievable speed. A mix between a terrified whimper and a yelp escaped their lips.

The small wooden dock behind them leading into the forest was too far, they’d never make it before that thing would snatch them up. Sprinting along the stone, they approached the waterfalls where the wall curved in to reveal a sizable cave safe from the water.

“Hey, hey, wait up~!”

Seeing no other option, they dove inside, scratching their skin against the rocks and slamming against the wall in the process, just as they heard a loud splash behind them.

(Y/n) stumbled up, ignoring the aching pain on their back and the scratches littering their arms. Eyeing the sea monster before taking slow steps back, nearly screaming as a second one popped out of the water beside the other, nearly identical to the first one.

Your riddle will make us happy, free, and alive.

Both of the sea creatures had human-like faces but with gills; their upper bodies were shaped like a human’s but their lower-halves were long tails resembling that of an eel. Their skin tone was almost entirely teal, with portions of their chest and face white. The only difference between the two was their eye color: The first had a right eye that was olive color while his left was a golden hue, in comparison, the second had a right eye that was a golden hue while his left was an olive color.

“Shrimpyyy, come here! Let me squeeze you~!” The first creature whined as he stretched out his arms, but (Y/n) was too far to grab. When they showed no sign of approaching him, he pouted while his sharp nails scratched the rocky floor. “I have to greet you with a hug, come on!”

“Hehehe, it appears we’ve frightened them.” The second creature chimed in, chuckling at their fear. “I like observing people, but I am not the best at it. We couldn’t even refrain ourselves from seeing you again.”

Images of the gruesome sight from earlier that day flashed in mind. Reeling away as they felt their stomach churn. (Y/n) managed to find their voice, barely squeaking out, “A-Again…? You m-mean f-from earlier…?”

“You’re not completely correct. My, my… I seem to have gotten ahead of myself and acted rather unsightly this morning. Heheh… Forgive us for what you had to witness. But unfortunately, you wouldn’t recognize us. We haven’t properly met yet.” Holding up his hand, he held the musical instrument they left behind at the beach. Extending it out to them, he offered a charming smile, “I believe this is yours, is it not?”

Silently (Y/n) nodded, gulping as they hesitantly stepped forward, cautiously watching the duo that seemed amused with them. Shakily the human snatched up their kalimba--

“Baaam~!”

They flinched and jumped back, clutching the kalimba close to their chest. Stumbling back away from them until their back pressed against a stone. Frantically their eyes searched for a way out, there was only the stone rocks to hop on but those twin sea creatures could easily grab them if they chose that path. This small cave was a deadend, however, if they could somehow climb upwards until they reached the top of the waterfall, they could escape that way…

“Just kidding!” The first creature let out an unevenly-pitched laugh at their reaction, grinning as the tip of his tail poked out of the waters, “Little Shrimp is funny, look at them tremble!”

“Certainly very amusing.” The second creature hummed, eyes glimmering with mischief as he admitted. “It’s strange, isn’t it? For the longest time I believed humans were dull, but you’re not very dull, (Y/n).”

(Y/n) felt their heartbeat stop. Softly they asked, unable to stop from stuttering and tripping over their words, “H-How do you k-know m-my name…?”

“Allow us to properly introduce ourselves firstly.” The second creature placed a webbed hand to his chest and began, “I am Jade Leech. This is my twin, Floyd.”

The first creature, Floyd, grinned and folded an arm behind his head as he sang, “Hello, I’m Floyd! I’m sooo happy to see you again, Shrimpy!”

Your riddle will erase the shadow of death and we’ll live in a dream world!

“We’ve seen you many times before, years ago. Our favorite pastime was watching our beloved little human play on the beach.” Jade feigned a sad frown, as if the mere thought of it wounded him. “So I’m certain you can imagine how heartbroken we were when you stopped coming by!”

“Ooh, we were sooo sad when Shrimpy left! We wanted to play with you and swim with you!” Floyd explained eagerly, a toothy grin growing steadily with every word he said, “Now, we can talk to Shrimpy and we’ll have all the time in the world to have fun together! Hey, hey, you should play us a song like you used to!”

(Y/n) backed away slowly, shivering under the watchful gazes as they stuffed the kalimba in their satchel. Approaching the wall of the cave, their fingers gripped the moist stone surface. Slowly attempting to climb the slippery surface, careful to avoid getting too close to the twin sea creatures and cautious to avoid the water from the waterfall to avoid being drenched or pushed down.

Jade’s charming smile faltered, watching their feeble pathetic attempts to climb higher and higher to land away from their grip. “Now where do you think you’re going?”

The human paused before slowly continuing, responding carefully, “Look, I-I have to get home… T-Thank you kindly for not killing me, but I r-really have to get goin--”

Splash!

Floyd jumped out of the water, his wet and firm webbed hand gripping their ankle, weighing them down and dragging them back down to the water. “Heheh, why did you think you could win and leave~?”

Unable to flail about or fight back, two long slippery tails curled around their entire body. Every movement in resistance threatened to squeeze tighter until they wouldn’t be able to breath. They felt so small in their grip, left to stare in terror at the creature's wide toothy grins. Specks of blood staining and bits of flesh stuck between their shark-like teeth, making the human even more afraid. The duo kept (Y/n) afloat as they pleaded fearfully, “P-Please… let m-me go--”

“It’s been some time since we’ve seen you. Why not stay and keep us company? After all, we have a lot of catching up to do, my little anemone~”

“When Shrimpy is here it’s so much fun, I just can’t get enough! You won’t even think about leaving again, right, Shrimpy~?”

Think about it, think about it.

- You might like this!

2K notes · View notes

bellatrixobsessed1 · 3 years

Text

Protea (Part 7)

Mai hasn’t stopped by yet, Snapdragon supposes that it is just as well, she hasn’t finished her gift yet. It is quite simple but she is still proud of it. She hopes that Mai will enjoy it as much as she is thrilled to be making it.

So far the necklace has six charms, a very vividly colored paradise-peacock feather, a small elephant-rat paw bone, a naturally polished and very shiny stone with a hole in it, an aged fork, a clam shell, and one of several old coins that she had found buried in the jungles of Hira’a.

She thinks that the cord can hole at least one more trinket and a few beads. She scampers through her piles sorting through ribbons, thimbles, and empty bobbins. She inspects shards of glass before ultimately deciding that those are all too pointy to wear around the neck. She picks up a crab claw and puts it on its own pile, a candidate for being the final trinket. She finds her collection of beads and plucks out a few black and dark red ones, Mai seems to enjoy the gloomier shades.

She scrambles over to her plant specimens. Mostly they consist of interestingly shaped twigs but there are several dried leaves, petals, and roots. She thinks that the leaves and petals are too frail to be threaded onto the cord. But the roots, those might very well work. And they would make sense too. Mai works with flowers and plants so the necklace should have at least something to represent that. Snapdragon’s current necklace represents her.

She feels it against her chest. It has at least eight charms, a few of them don’t mean anything in particular to her. But she has recently added snapdragon roots between the tiger-monkey claw and her a dusty, broken geode. A tiger-monkey claw for her fierceness and her love of climbing and a rusty cog for her love of old factories and abandoned places. There is a coconut chip to remind her of her days in the jungle and a blunt tip of a broken dagger. She isn’t entirely sure about the geode but it speaks to her on some level. The coins, beads, and the piece of tattered red cloth are more for show than anything else.

She twirls the root in her hand before ultimately deciding that they will be the perfect final addition to her necklace. She ties it onto the cord with a satisfied smile and holds it up. It is perfect, an asymmetrical cluster of things that don’t seem like they should go together. But they are harmonized in their chaos.

Her smile fades, she isn’t sure that Mai would like to wear something so odd. Especially in a palace full of watching, judging eyes. She supposes that it’s okay if she only wears it around her and then takes it off when she gets to the palace.

.oOo.

It is raining quite heavily but Mai doesn’t particularly care. The pounding of the drops drowns out the angry beating in her mind. Zuko is being unbearable. Everything is an argument, everything is taken so personally. And she doesn’t care for that Jin girl that he has been bringing around.

She can’t quite place it at first but she thinks that it might be a twinge of jealousy one that she wishes she could permanently purge. She isn’t sure why she is jealous, she has made it clear that things were over between the two of them. And yet she can’t shake that nagging sense that it should be she who is going to be attending Ember Island Players shows with him. That was their thing and now their thing is being shared with some ditzy, doe-eyed, air headed…

Mai tightens her fists in her pockets. Small puddles are gathering uncomfortably in the folds of her robes and she has no one to blame but herself. Why does Snapdragon’s factory have to be at the very other side of the city? Why did she neglect getting herself a palanquin ride? Zuko probably wouldn’t have let her borrow one anyhow. Not mid-squabble.

Her feet slosh through puddle after puddle, soaking through to her socks. She shudders, there is no greater discomfort. No greater suffering. But at least she isn’t bored.

She finds Snapdragon, also soaked thoroughly, leaping from puddle to puddle. She, unlike Mai herself, seems absolutely delighted to be dripping wet. She hasn’t yet noticed mai. Even in the misty gloom, Snapdragon is a splash of color. The necklace she wears today is particularly flashy as it clanks against her chest. Mai is inclined to believe that she has chosen it specifically to stand out in the drabness.

“I’m glad that you’re having fun.”

Snapdragon comes to an abrupt halt, kicking up a splash of oily mud. “I like rainy days sometimes.”

“You would enjoy playing around in the mud.”

“It’s too slick for climbing ‘n jumping on roofs today.” Snapdragon shrugs. “So I’m pretending that the puddles are roofs ‘stead.”

“Interesting.” Mai remarks stoically.

“I ain’t realize you liked walks in the rain.”

“I don’t.”

Snapdragon tilts her head, “then why are you walking in the rain?”

She shakes her head, “just...don’t worry about it. Can we go inside, I need to wring my clothes and hair out.”

Snapdragon flounces over to the door and holds it open, “after you, hotwoman.”

Mai rolls her eyes. Normally it would be enduring, today she just finds herself annoyed by the woman’s uppity antics. She sighs and gives her hair an overly forceful twist and squeeze. She can’t let herself take her frustrations out on Snapdragon. The girl has been nothing but pleasant.

“Hey, stay right there! I gotta go get something!”

She doesn’t give Mai a chance to answer before darting off and scrambling up her rickety ladder. It is probably a good thing, she very well might have muttered a harsh, ‘where else am I going to go, Snapdragon?’ Mai rubs her hands over her face. Maybe she should try to lighten the mood. Maybe she should try to drink in some of the delight that Snapdragon radiates.

The girl comes back down with another one of her gaudy necklaces. She is beaming from ear to ear. “What do you think?”

Mai inspects the jewelry. “It’s...uh...it’s unique. Very you.”

“I was trying to make it more you.” She holds it out. “See, the roots are supposed to represent your flower shop.”

Mai tries to muster up a smile but it probably looks more like a grimace.

“It’s for you.” She retracts her hand slightly and thrusts it out again.

Mai takes a deep breath and tries for a joke, “I don’t know if I can pull off a trash necklace.”

Maybe it is her deadpan delivery, or maybe she has simply uncovered and hit some hidden raw spot, but Snapdragon’s face falls. Mai could slap herself. “No, no. I mean it’s a cool necklace, I like it. I just wanted to make a joke.”

Snapdragon forces a laugh. She doesn’t try to hand the necklace to her again.

“You’re not going to offer it again?”

“It’s alright, Mai, you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to.” She forces a smile.

“I do want to.” She holds her hand out. Snapdragon sets the necklace in her palm. Mai tries to make small talk with her but she mostly answers with simple yes or no’s while toying with the charms on her own necklace.

And Mai considers that maybe Zuko isn’t the problem at all. Maybe it is her. She does have this amazing ability to drag everyone down instead of allowing them to lift her up. It always happens eventually. She wishes that she weren’t so unremarkable.

.oOo.

By dusk the rain comes to a slow. After an hour or so of getting nowhere in conversation, Mai had declared that it would probably be best to make her way back home before it gets dark and the second round of storm clouds roll in.

She can see them lingeringly darkly on the horizon as she scuttles her way over a heap of wooden beams and crates and shimmies up the husk of an old war tank. She squeezes herself into the hatch and slips behind the wheel. She imagines the war machine roaring to life in a cough of black smoke. Imagines the raw power of it. Imagines being something more than just some downtrodden alley dweller. Maybe then Mai wouldn’t be embarrassed by her. Maybe then, she’d have a chance with the woman.

Her gift was accepted out of pity and nothing more, she knows that Mai is just going to chuck the necklace aside when she gets back to the palace and pretend like she has no idea where it had come from.

Snapdragon gives the rusty metal wheel a turn. Maybe if she spent less time lurking in abandoned places, people wouldn’t abandon affections for her. She supposes that it is hard to love someone who is constantly covered in dust and grime. All the same, she loves her hobby, she can’t really see herself without it.

She finds a little corner of the tank to curl herself up in and wait out the storm. It comes suddenly and with a surprising fury. From the sound of it, the drops are thick as they pelt the side of the tank. And the thunder shakes the ground. It is probably a horrid idea to hole up in a metal tank so she hustles out of it and into the rain.

The puddles are no fun anymore and the rain throws itself violently into her face. She thinks of going into the factory but it is entirely metal too. The lightning strikes it over and over again with a terrifying fury. And yet it manages to stand on, powerful and admirable. She thinks that it is what keeps her safe from getting struck; the lightning is so enticed by it that it doesn’t bother with her as she heads towards Mohi’s home.

The wind lashes at her with a fury and she wonders if and hopes that Mai has made it home.

Maybe if she were a shaper, smarter, noblewoman she would have thought to offer letting Mai stay with her at Mohi’s. Would have walked there with her a while ago.

But she isn’t smarter. She isn’t a noble woman. But she isn’t anything grander than what she is now. Isn’t anyone impressive. She’s just Snapdragon, a girl who doesn’t even have a real name.

#Avatar The Last Airbender #Azula #Mai #Maizula #Fanfiction

7 notes · View notes

greencreeker · 3 years

Text

Ok so today was good, but the goodness actually started yesterday. An hour before my shift ended I went to my manager and let him know that things in my personal life were hitting harder than normal and that I needed to take a mental health day for today. He enthusiastically gave me the time off. We ended up chatting about mental health stuff for 45 minutes. I talk a lot of shit about my job cause of leadship, but let it be known I appreciate my branch manager (and supervisor) more than anything and they are a huge part of what makes staying worth it. I mean, I feel like the luckiest bastard in the world to be able to ask for time off and end up being sincerely thanked for telling him what I needed and allowing him to provide it. Like, what manager fucking does that? Only the best kind, obviously.

I left work yesterday feeling entirely grateful, came home and did my regular routine, and then sat down to just fucking relax. Ended up having another heart to heart with my cousin. Something that has been occurring more regularly in recent months. She is one of the most important people in my life and has been since I was a teen, but neither of us are people who often allow ourselves to be vulnerable. That seems to be changing and we are becoming close in ways I never would have imagined for us. I'm excited for this development honestly.

Later on, after wrapping things up with my cousin Skye prepared dinner. We watched old wrestling clips for hours, and then Skye gave me an epic shoulder rub to help me release tension. Something else I had asked for. I was asleep just after midnight, looking forward to being able to wake up without an alarm.

Today started with being harassed by my cats for breakfast, which after almost 9 hours of sleep wasn't actually a bad way to wake up. Skye made pancakes with a side of bacon not long after and soon we were out the door for a return to one of our favorite beaches after a year away.

And like, ok, so it wasn't great that literally within the first 5 minutes of leaving were almost in 2 different accidents but... we arrived at our destination in one piece about 45 minutes after leaving our home. And then... and then. We spent hours walking on the beach. Going farther than we ever have before because the tide was the lowest we had ever seen it. It was so far out that we couldn't actually hear the sound of waves at all. We found a pockets worth of sea glass, watched a gull eat a crab, admired the many shelters that had been built with drift wood, and felt the sun warm us to the bone for the first time this year. It was so fun. We found so many interesting things washed up on the shore. Found water running down the cliff that we had never noticed before. I even pissed behind a boulder and was ridiculously proud for not getting anything on myself, my shoes, or my clothes.

On our walk back I had a headache from how bright it was, but was entirely happy. We passed someone who had set up camp in one of the drift wood shelters and he had a little American flag flying and was loudly playing Hey Jude. While I don't typically go to the beach to hear someone else's music he was pretty nice, asking if we minded as soon as we were close enough to converse. In that moment I didn't mind at all. Not even a little bit. I actually found it delightful. He was an older gentleman and I was just happy to see him play. Cause that's what he was doing. Playing. I was so utterly content.

The drive home was stress free. No more near accidents. And I reached a level of relaxation that I don't generally reach. Meaning, I ended up so relaxed I was actually nauseated. Which with the backwards way my body works means that I achieved my goals for my mental health day.

I am so thankful. I am so in love. I am so happy to be alive.

#things are hard but it's going to be ok #personal #long post #asking for what i need is a new thing I'm working on

3 notes · View notes

gemma-lemma · 3 years

Text

CLoudy Days - JJ Maybank x Male OC

Chapter 1.2 – Agatha and the aftermath

While Pope and John B were out surfing the surge, parker stayed at the Château alongside JJ, since he didn’t know how to surf. Why JJ wasn’t with his friends either? He had no idea.

“Is there still beer?” He asked, glancing up from his book and to JJ, who had just stood up to go to the kitchen.

“Why don’t you go and look for yourself?” He muttered, but opened the fridge, nonetheless, grabbing a can and throwing it to Parker, who wasted no time to open it.

“Fuck!” He exclaimed as the sticky liquid sprayed all over his shirt, making JJ laugh. “Fuck you, Maybank!”

“Maybe another time, thanks.” He retorted as he watched the Cloud boy put his book to safety and quickly drinking out of the can to prevent further damage. His shirt, though, was already soaked.

“Fucking shit.” He muttered, pulling it over his head and throwing it onto the floor.

JJ swallowed and averted his eyes from the sight of Parker’s slender muscles. “What happened to your arm?”

Parker glanced down at his bandaged upper arm, which had been perfectly hidden by the sleeve of his t-shirt up until now. The memories welled up like a flood, and he bit them back down harshly.

“Doesn’t matter.” He croaked and grabbed his book again, but JJ wasn’t satisfied with his answer.

“Doesn’t matter? You come here one day, out of the blue, not even knowing that Big John is presumed dead, with a bandage around your arm and an unholy stack of cash and tell me it doesn’t matter? I dunno where you’re from, my friend, but around here things work differently.” JJ snapped and stepped closer to the sofa.

Parker was just about to shoot something back, tell JJ off or something, when he realized what the blond had just said. With momentum he stood up, successfully ignoring the blackness appearing before his eyes, and stepped to stand right before JJ. Only now did he realize that he was barely a few centimetres taller, and that the blue in JJ’s eyes was like the sky on a sunny day.

“You went through my stuff?” He growled, making him turn pale with realization. He smiled, but it was not a friendly smile. It was a deadly one, and it caused JJ to glare right back.

“No, I didn’t, you freak. Chill down, man.” He snapped.

“Then how did you know about my cash?” Parker growled, stepping closer to JJ, and delighting in how insecure it made him. He pushed the disgust at himself upon doing so far down, allowing only the boy who grew up between drugs and violence to breathe.

“I- uh, John- John B told me. Yeah, John B told me. Now, get off of me!” JJ stammered, but as Parker didn’t budge, he took a step back himself, regretting it the instant the edge of the table pressed against his thighs.

“But I never told John B about my money. For all he knows I could be poor as a canal rat.” He snarled dangerously low, and JJ swallowed, looking at him with wide eyes. This Parker was different than the one who had pushed him off the boat when they were twelve just for the kicks of it. This Parker was a lot more unpredictable, and a lot more dangerous, too. This Parker wasn’t searching for a good laugh, he was searching for danger.

“So I went through your stuff. So what? You gonna report me to the cops now?” JJ shot back with all the courage he could muster and made sure to return Parker’s glare. Only then did they realize how close they actually were, faces only centimetres apart from each other.

That’s when Parker decided that a bluff was probably the best tactic to stop JJ from investigating further on why he had so suddenly appeared. “Nah, I’d have to explain to ‘em where the gun comes from, then, wouldn’t I?” He grinned wickedly and watched JJ’s big blue eyes widen.

Only then did he let go of the Maybank boy, who in turn let out a harsh breath and continued to glare him down. Bluff or not, now JJ could put together himself why his arm was bandaged.

Parker went back to rereading his book for the umpteenth time, while JJ stormed off to his room, staying there until John B returned from the beach, completely soaked and with a surfboard under his arm.

“Whoa, look who didn’t die!” Parker cheered and tried his best not to flinch as thunder rumbled. John B held up his middle finger for an answer.

“Of course I didn’t, I’m a great surfer.”

“Still not as great as me.” JJ cheered, finally coming out of his room again and seemingly ignoring Parker’s entire existence.

“Yeah, if that’s what makes you sleep at night.” John B chuckled and shook the water out of his hair like a dog. Parker held his book out of reach and gave his cousin his best Billy Idol lip.

“Ya know, dogs usually stay outside for the night.” He grumbled, earning only laughter in return.

“Maybe usually, but not during a storm.” John B teased and went to the bathroom to wash off the salt water. Right after he closed the door, and another thunder rumbled, making distracted Parker jolt violently. JJ shot him a curious look.

“You afraid of thunder, man? Sounds to me like you’re more bark than bite.”

“Fuck you, JJ. I’m still enough bite to chew off your head, don’t forget that.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure you are.” He grumbled, although not sounding offended, taking a beer out of the fridge and throwing it to Parker before retreating back to his room. “It’s just noise, man. It can’t hurt you.”

The rest of the night was hell for the boy, and he only found sleep in the early morning hours, when the thunder finally ceased.

“Morning Parker.” John B woke him up in the late morning hours, passing by JJ too and slapping his leg.

“Yo, JJ. You been outside?”

“I have polio, bro. I can’t walk.” JJ muttered without even looking up. John B didn’t let the two sleepyheads stop him on his way outside though, where he assessed the damage hurricane Agatha had caused.

As he made his way through the garden towards the HMS Pogue, JJ, in a seldom rush of mischief fuelled motivation, jumped off the couch he’d crashed on and decided to tear off Parker’s covers too, who in return just made inhuman noises and flipped him off.

“Now that’s a pretty finger you have there.” JJ smirked. “Sleep well last night, you rabid dog?”

“Fuck you, pretty boy.” Parker responded, hauling himself up on his elbows and squinting outside. When he finally found it in himself to get up, JJ had already taken his half-empty beer can to the front porch, where he leaned against the pillar of the veranda. Parker approached him with sore muscles and followed his gaze towards John B, who liberated the HMS Pogue of some broken branches.

“Agatha did some work, huh.” JJ called out to him and took a sip of beer before burping.

“Yeah, she did.” John B answered and shot a quick glance towards Parker, who heavily sat down on the front steps, shirtless, so even his cousin now could see the bandage.

“Whatcha thinkin’?” JJ asked and walked towards the boat while John B climbed onto it. Parker decided he’d rather stay sat.

“I’m thinking that storm surge pushed all the crabs out on the marsh maze. All those drum are gonna chase the crab.” John B answered.

“What about the DCS, wasn’t that today?” Parker called.

“Nah, they’re not getting on a ferry. Come on, think about it.” John B said and raised his arm towards the water. “It’s God telling us to fish.”

So only little time later the three boys were on the boat, driving through the harbour to pick up Pope. While John B and JJ greeted random people they passed, asking if they had gotten through the storm well and talking about cleaning the mess up all summer long, Parker was sprawled out on the front of the boat, feet dangling from the edge and soaking up all the sun he could get. Presuming that he was going to end up in the water one way or another, he had taken off the bandage at the Château, now openly sporting a barely healed, self-stitched bullet-wound. John B hadn’t asked him about it, assuming his cousin would tell him why he had run away from home whenever he was ready.

“Well, look what we have here.” John B teased when they found Pope, spraying down the deck with a garden hose, and JJ whooped.

“We have a safety meeting, attendance mandatory.” John B said, mimicking static and holding his hands in front of his mouth like they were holding a walkie talkie.

“I can’t,” Pope responded, and Parker curiously raised his head before sitting up. “My Pops got me on lockdown.”

“Hey, Mister Pope Senior!” Parker shouted happily and raised his hand in a wave.

Heyward, who was just walking up behind his son, turned his head towards the voice and squinted. “Parker, is that you?” He laughed.

“Alive and kicking, sir!” He answered with a big grin. Heyward had always liked the boy’s bubbly attitude, and he had spent a lot of time worrying about his wellbeing after Big John had told him that his mother Tamara had died. Parker, in return, had always been fascinated by the way Heyward could get you anything you asked for.

“Nice to see you again, boy! How you doing?” Heyward asked, but was interrupted by JJ talking to Pope, mimicking static just like John B had before.

“Your dad’s a pussy. Over.”

“Oh, I heard that, you little bastard.”

“We need your son.” John B intervened.

“Yeah, and island rules. Day after a hurricane’s a free day.” JJ shrugged.

“Who the hell made that up?”

“Uh, Pentagon, I think.” Parker smirked and shot a wink to JJ, who was surprised that he was playing along.

“We have security clearance.” JJ tore his look away from Parker and cleared his throat, feigning to search something in the pocket of his pants. “I have a card.”

“Do y’all think I’m stupid?” Heyward grumbled, coming closer.

“I’ll do it tomorrow.” Pope promised. “Tomorrow.”

“You think- No, no, no. Hell, no. You doin’ it right now.”

“Get in the boat.” Parker whispered.

“Make a run for it!” JJ cheered, and Pope did, leaving his shouting dad behind.

“See you, Mister Pope Senior!” Parker laughed and laid back down.

“Man, why you calling him that?” Pope asked laughing, finding it strange and extremely funny at the same time.

The Cloud boy shrugged. “Sounds funny. And when I first met him I just for the love of God couldn’t remember his name, so I had to find something else to call him.”

His face lit up like a light bulb when they met Kiara soon after. “Oh, top o’ the mornin’ to ya.” He said and sat up straighter while the others said good morning too.

Pope motioned to the cool box she was carrying, asking if she’d got some juice boxes.

“You know, just some yogurts and carrot sticks.” She retorted and grabbed Parker’s hand that he held out to help her onto the boat as JJ asked if she had his kind of juice boxes too.

“Yeah.” She hummed and sat down next to Parker, motioning to his stitches. “Whatcha got there?”

“Stitches.” He smiled and Kiara understood that he didn’t want to talk about it. So instead of asking further questions, she opened the box and handed everyone a beer.

When they were further into the marsh, JJ climbed to the point of the boat and asked Pope to drive a little faster, who in turn just sighed. “Oh god, here we go.”

“It doesn’t work.” John B groaned as the blond raised the beer so that liquid could fall right into his mouth. “We’ve tried this like 6,000 times.”

Parker watched curiously and leaned forward to get a better look, scrunching his nose when he was hit by little beer drops.

“Oh my god, you’re getting beer in my hair!” Kiara groaned and Parker squatted protectively in front of her, sending a charming wink that made her laugh.

When the boat abruptly stopped, not only did JJ make a salto into the water, but Parker too couldn’t keep his balance and rolled backwards off the tip. When they both resurfaced growling, John B called out to them if they were okay.

“I think my heels touched the back of my head.” JJ whimpered, while Parker raised an arm to sloppily hold onto the boat.

“Yeah, feels like my cranium broke. And my neck. And probably every other bone in my back.” He added in a harsh breath, rubbing his neck where it rolled over the hard plastic of the boat.

“Pope, what did you do?” John B asked.

“Sandbank, man. The channel’s changed.”

“No shit!” JJ exclaimed and swam towards the boat. When he reached Parker, he scanned the boy for any new visible injuries and was relieved when he didn’t find anything. “You good, mate?”

“As good as new.” He answered and shot a look to the beer JJ was still holding. When he noticed, he proudly held it up.

“Hey, I saved the beer, though.”

“Congrats, JJ.”

“Guys, I think there’s a boat down there.” Pope interrupted and everyone pressed to the edge of the boat to get a better look.

“Holy shit, he’s right. Let’s go.” Kiara said, and they all started taking off their shirts.

“Yeah, I’m gonna wait here at the surface.” Parker announced and hauled himself up while the others dove down.

When they came back up, JJ gasped. “You guys saw that?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s there?” Parker asked curiously.

“That’s a Grady-White.” JJ explained excitedly as they swam back to the boat. “A new one of those is 500 Gs, easy.”

“What, some Kook go down there?”

“Yeah, probably.” JJ laughed.

“That’s the boat I saw when I surfed the surge.” John B exclaimed, earning an irritated look from Kiara, that he ignored.

“Do we know whose boat that is?” Asked Pope as John B opened a hatch.

“No, but we’re about to find out.” He promised and grabbed the anchor.

“Dude, it’s too deep.”

“Only for the weak and feeble, JJ.”

“Well, I’m not resuscitating you. I’m just making that clear up front.” JJ assured and Parker sent a wicked grin towards Kiara.

“That’s okay, Kiara can do it.”

“What? No way! Stop encouraging such bullshit, Parker. You didn’t even come down the first time.” She snapped and slapped his arm, right under his stitches. Groaning, he held a hand to it and crunched down, making the girl’s expression go panicked.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” She stammered, but he only raised his head and grinned.

“Huh, gotcha. Didn’t hurt, you fly.” Parker grinned, just as JJ pushed John B into the water and everyone scrambled to the front of the boat to get a better look at the quickly disappearing Routledge boy.

“Should we go get him?” Pope asked after some time without a sign from him, and just like that he broke through the surface.

“Oh my god, that took forever.” Kiara groaned, and Parker swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. He held a hand out for his cousin to grab as Pope asked for dead bodies.

“No, but I found a motel key.” John B answered and held a key with a bright yellow pendant up before grabbing Parkers hand.

JJ groaned and hauled up the anchor. “Great, we salvaged a motel key.”

Just as they were driving back, Kiara’s face lit up. “Guys, we should report this to the coast guard, maybe we’ll get a finder’s fee.”

“Yeah, and not work all summer.” JJ agreed. “Thanks Agatha, ya batch.”

The coast guard though, was packed. After the storm everyone was having problems, and nobody wanted to wait. Parker could even hear something about a dog having diabetes before JJ shoved him back outside again.

“Well, that went well.” He sighed and watched JJ fidget with the white pen he had just stolen.

“So, what’s the plan?” Asked Pope and John B held up the motel key, saying he knew how to find the owner of the boat. JJ leaned an arm on Parker’s shoulder, watching the conversation silently.

“We don’t know whose room that is. It could belong to anyone.” Pope protested, motioning to the key in John B’s hand. Curiously, Parker took it out of his hand to get a better look at it himself.

“I’m in.” JJ said, took the key out of Parker’s hand and threw it to Kiara.

“Come on, I’ll be lookout.” She encouraged and started walking, while John B reminded him of the finder’s fee.

“Come on, bubba.” Parker grinned and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m smelling an adventure.”

“Motel or meth lab?” Kiara asked as they reached the motel and JJ whistled.

“And I thought the Château looked bad!” Parker laughed, earning an annoyed look from John B.

“You be the judge.” Pope answered Kiara’s question.

“Doesn’t look like the kind of place somebody with a Grady White would stay.” John B noticed.

“No, looks like the kind of place somebody with a Grady White would get killed.” Parker agreed, as they pulled the boat on land.

“Hey,” Pope said to John B, as he was about to follow JJ onto land. “Don’t let him do anything stupid.”

“Oh, we will.” JJ retorted as John B said: “I’m not making any promises.”

“Yeah, no. Take Parker with you.” Kiara decided and he raised his head in confusion, having thought that he could stay and chill on the boat for a little while longer. He really didn’t feel like doing anything these days.

“What makes you think I’m not worse, honey?” He asked and raised a brow but stood up to follow the other two none the less. Kiara gave him a look and walked up to John B.

“Be careful.” She said, and then with emphasis: “I mean it.”

John B looked confused as he agreed and stepped off the boat while Parker turned around and mockingly sent her air kisses, to which she replied by flipping him off.

When he reached JJ and John B, he shot a disgusted look at their surroundings. “Why are all the mattresses out here?”

“After a hurricane they have to ditch ‘em ‘cause they’re mouldy.” JJ explained as they walked up the stairs. When they were looking for the right room, he grabbed John B by the shoulders and tapped his cheek.

“Just be so careful, John.” He mocked Kiara’s words and Parker frowned. “What the heck was that about?”

“God, you’re so weird. Maybe she wanted us to be careful, duh?” John B groaned and shook him off.

“Since she heard you’re being threatened with exile she’s just been like, uh, be so careful, John B. Just give me that John D already.” He moaned and ignored when John B pushed him off again.

“Like, when are you gonna swoop on that, man?”

“Bro, you know the rule. No Pogue-on-Pogue macking. Besides, you’re the one who’s always hitting on her.”

“Yeah, of course I am. She’s a super-hot, rich hippie chick slumming with us. Why? I don’t know either, but who cares? I know that door’s locked ‘cause I’ve tried it, have you?”

“You need help, man. A lot. It’s like, every girl that has a heartbeat, you’re like – Uhhh!”

“What, man? It’s not a big deal.”

“If you mind me throwing in my humble opinion as someone who actually pays attention to how Kiara acts around the group,” Parker said, “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want to hook up with either of you. “

“Oh, ‘cause you’re such a ladie’s man or what?” JJ groaned and shot him an incredulous look. Parker just shrugged and nodded towards the door John B just stopped in front of.

“Is that us? Twenty-nine?”

He nodded, and JJ walked up to it to knock in a funny tune. “Housekeeping!” He called in a high-pitched voice.

When no answer came, he went to knock on the window.

“Should we try it?” John B wondered, and Parker shrugged.

“No power, no security cameras.”

Inside the room it was quite dark, and JJ and John B went right to search through the stuff while Parker made sure to keep his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Oye, stop leaving your fingerprints everywhere, you amateurs.” He chided and earned an irritated look from JJ. He grimaced back and kept looking around with just his eyes.

“Definitely over fifty, he’s got new balances.” John B concluded after fishing a shoe out of the bag on the bed while Parker took a look at the map laid out on the bedside table. JJ walked up to him a threw a glance over his shoulder.

“Maybe that’s where they were fishing.” He wondered and let his finger brush over the page. “Right there.”

But when John B followed his finger, he said: “Nah, that’s off the continental shelf. That’s Big Swell. Nobody fishes there.”

Parker kept roaming the room and motioned towards a coffee maker. “Coffee?”

“Standard.” JJ said, illuminating the machine with a torch light. “Tissues, for when you get lonely.” He teased and proceeded into the bathroom. “Uh!”

“Find anything?” John B asked and opened the cupboard with the safe in it.

“Just a really awesome Dopp kit you won’t let me steal.” JJ said, taking a container of deodorant out of it anyways and sliding it into the pocket of his pants. Parker raised a brow but said nothing.

“Yeah, ‘cause we’re not stealing shit.” John B muttered and started punching in random combinations, which JJ mocked.

Getting an idea, Parker walked back towards the bedside table, where a crumpled piece of paper lay. “Hey, try 6-1-6-6-6.”

“I don’t know.” JJ mumbled and bent over the map again while John B tried the code. “I don’t know about the second one. These coordinates, they- Wait! My cousin said you could catch swordfish there.”

“Nah, that wouldn’t make any sense.” Parker interrupted.

“What about a surf spot, then? That could possibly be it.” He looked at Parker questioningly, but he only shrugged, not really knowing anything about the sea or surfing. “Or shoals… Have you heard of shoals?” But Parker wasn’t paying attention to JJ anymore. Instead, he was watching John B take open the safe and take out a wad of cash.

“Uh, guys? I think you might wanna see this?” He said, and the two of them approached him. Before Parker could even say a word, JJ had already taken out the gun. Wide eyed he stared at it, trying not to think about the last time he had seen one up close. Pictures of a red stain growing larger on his best friend’s T-Shirt shot through his mind.

“Dude, dude, dude, dude.” JJ said, cocking it back, while John B panicked: “You grabbed the gun.”

“Put the gun back, JJ.” Parker growled, feeling sick to the stomach.

But JJ didn’t listen. He looked like a little boy on Christmas eve. “This is a SIG Sauer! This is a fucking spendy gatt, man! Just…Bam! Bam!” And acted as if he was shooting it.

“You’re sick, dude. You’re just sick.” Parker mumbled, trying to get some distance.

“Hey, think about it!” John B reasoned, side eyeing Parkers pale face. “We are not stealing anything.”

“Just take a pic of me, alright. Right here.” JJ blubbered and posed like some guy from an action movie. Parker wanted to punch him in the face. Did he not know that guns were fucking serious business?

“Really, dude? And create our own incriminating evidence? Is that what you’re talking about?” John B snapped and JJ finally lowered the SIG Sauer.

That’s when Parker heard tapping on the window and went to investigate, pushing roughly past JJ, who protested. “Hey, did you hear that?”, he asked and slipped his head under the blinds.

Outside, Kiara and Pope were jumping around and mouthing the word Cops. Parker’s blood froze in his veins. “The cops are here.” He started tearing up the blinds while John B jumped onto the bed to look out the window next to the door.

“He’s right.”

“Kildare County Sheriff’s Department.” A muffled voice came from outside and Parker ushered JJ and John B out on the front roof, throwing a quick look at it and estimating the height. Just in time he managed to jump out the window and effortlessly slide off the roof, causing Kiara and Pope to almost suffer heart attacks while watching, and John B to clap his hand in front of his mouth to muffle his panicked scream. JJ’s eyes widened in shock, and he made a mental note to beat the shit out of Parker the moment he saw him walk towards the boat alive and unharmed.

“What the fuck was that?” Kiara whisper-yelled while Pope still clutched a hand over his chest.

“Ever heard of free running?” Parker shrugged nonchalantly and looked up towards the two boys still on the roof. JJ flipped him off and he sent him an air kiss.

“What are you guys doing?” Pope mouthed towards them and waved his hands while Kiara buried her face in her hands and moaned “Oh my god.”

Parker just chuckled and got comfortable on the point of the boat like he had been before and watched the scenery unfold like in a movie. While peeking in through the blinds, JJ seemed to see something he didn’t like and started to gesticulate with his hands. That’s when he accidentally shoved the gun out of his pocket, that fell down with a loud clatter. Parker threw his head back and groaned.

Suddenly, the blinds went up, and Pope and Kiara quickly turned away while Parker just closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

Soon after, the cops left, and the two boys joined their friends on the boat.

“Could have warned us a little sooner.” John B complained and Kiara shrugged.

“We would have, except Pope was on the maths team.”

Parker chuckled when Pope ignored his friend’s comments and said that the cops had taken everything in like a crime scene and asked if they’d found anything.

JJ sat up straighter. “Did we find anything? No, I don’t think so. Oh yeah, we did.” He held up the gun and a wad of cash.

“You took the fucking gun? Are you fucking insane, you damn nutjob?” Parker snapped and JJ glowered at him.

“What the fuck?” Pope exclaimed. “Why would you take that from a crime scene?”

“Are you serious?” Kiara asked John B sternly, disappointment in her voice. His proud smile started to fade.

“I’m gonna lose my merit scholarship.” Pope said and ruffled his hair.

JJ tried to comfort him. “Sh, sh, sh. At least you have us, right?”

“That’s literally the worst possible scenario.” Parker grumbled and JJ shot him an irritated look.

“What’s your damn problem, man?”

“My damn problem, JJ, is, that you stole a fucking gun! Have you ever even held one before? That’s not a toy, but you’re handling it like one.” He snapped.

“Oh, but you have, Mr Perfect? And what was that stunt you pulled on the roof anyway? Telling me I’m insane – Hypocritical much, don’t you think?” JJ waved the gun around angrily to underline his words and Parker narrowed his eyes.

“As a matter of fact, I have. I have held one, I have shot one, and I have been shot at with one. And I jumped off the roof because it’s what I’ve been doing since seventh grade.” He growled and only realized his mistake when everyone looked at him open-mouthed.

“You’ve been shot at?” John B asked. Parker waved a hand dismissively.

“Never mind. Just get that thing out of my sight.” He mumbled and went to let his feet dangle off the back of the boat as a sign that he no longer wanted to talk to them. When they reached the harbour, he was the first off the boat saying he wanted to take a walk towards the Château to clear his head a little.

Parker was chilling on one of the couches on John B’s front porch when the others came, Pope rambling disturbed. “Okay. So, uhm, we didn’t see anything. We don’t know anything. We need to have complete and total amnesia.”

“What’s going on?” He groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. They had been back earlier than he would have liked.

“They found Scooter Grubbs dead in the marsh, near the boat.” Kiara explained.

“Am I supposed to know the guy?” Parker asked but was interrupted by JJ agreeing with Pope and Kiara telling him that not passing the money off to Lana Grubbs would be bad Karma. She sat down by Parker’s feet and he lazily raised them for her to get a more comfortable position. Then he laid them on her lap.

“Bad Karma to be implicated in a felony too.” Pope muttered, and JJ only agreed if it meant for them to keep the money. John B tapped his shoulder and said he didn’t agree.

“What? Why?”

“Just think about it. This is Scooter Grubbs we’re talking about. Same dude that’s buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We’re talking about a dirtbag marina rat who’s never had more than 40 bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden he’s got a Grady White? Just sayin’.” He rambled and Parker finally took the arm off his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m out.” He said, earning a condescending look from JJ.

“Yeah, of course you are, chicken.”

“Maybe I am. But if that guy is just half the rat John B just described, how do you think he got so much money?” Parker shot back and looked at the others too.

“Prostitution.” Pope guessed.

“Square Groupers, bro.” John B said. “They were straight smugglin’.”

“Exactly. Square Groupers means whatever is on that ship is contraband. Contraband that belongs to somebody. I’ve had my fair share of gangsters in life, how about you?”

In the end, John B and JJ could convince Parker and Pope to do it. And to lay low for a while, Kiara suggested a Kegger.

#outer banks jj #jj maybank #kiara carrera #Outer Banks #outer banks fanfiction #john b #pope

5 notes · View notes

garethandjude · 4 years

Text

Sam’s Eulogy

Sam’s funeral was 1 year ago today. Writing Sam’s Eulogy was emotionally the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Reading it in the service was beyond me. Jude and I are ever indebted and thankful to Marc for doing this so well on the day. It read as follows:

I stand before you today, a representative of a family that feel truly blessed to have such amazing support not just through the numbers here but throughout Sam’s journey. Family, friends, the Russell school, social clubs, the medical teams, work colleagues, the whole Chorleywood community and beyond, we are all united in our love, and desire to pay our respects to our wonderful warrior Sam.

Samuel George Hanson, was born in St George’s hospital on St George’s day, the most precious present on his Dad’s birthday. He was instantly welcomed and loved by his brother Rhys and his family. Whether from his brother’s tickles, or the delight of smearing food all over his face, it wasn’t long before he was smiling and chuckling in his unique way, filling our lives with Sammy sized fun.

As a baby and toddler Sam was seldom without a muslin blanket for comfort – Mum and Dad wouldn’t dare leave the house without one. This set a theme for the rest of his short life. The muslin was eventually superseded, by George bear, Sven, Camo. He loved his teddies and each had a name. Over the past few years there was one teddy that Sam would never be without - Rabbity. Rabbity was so precious to Sam that the internet was scoured for an identical backup to be used when Rabbity was washed. Shipped in from the US, Rabitto was always on standby. Rabbity went everywhere with Sam. Every night he cuddled him, during all his stays in hospital, every operation Rabbity was in the theatre with Sam. Up until the very end, right now, and forever – Rabbity will be with Sam to comfort him.

As Sam grew up, some other Sammy traits soon appeared. With his white blond hair, and golden skin he was a beautiful toddler, with a propensity to wear nothing on his feet. Was he destined to be a surfer dude? He had the look. If he could, he would always be barefoot. At a push he would be in crocks, as a last resort trainers. If he went out, shoes and socks were always the last things on and the first things off. When home, he was easy to find as his shoes and socks would leave a Sammy trail from the door to wherever he was going.

As all children should be, Sam was full of life, a little mischievous and very inquisitive. He loved finding crystals in rocks and bringing pretty stones or fossils home. If it sparkled, it got his attention. Was he a budding geologist or was it a palaeontologist? He was encouraged to do it all. Only a few weeks ago he was busy foraging on the beach intently studying what the tide was washing in. Crab shells, dismembered crab claws, pretty shells, he was intrigued by them all and they all went into our bucket to bring home. Maybe he was destined to be an ecologist?

In hospital Sam would relax by watching his favourite movies. Whether they were Disney animations, classics like Oliver or epic compilations like the Lord of the rings, Star wars, DC and Marvel, he enjoyed them all. He also loved dressing up. Inspired by the heroes and villains in all the movies, when he dressed up, his imagination would whisk him away and he became that character. Woody or Buzz, the Gruffalo, a Dinosaur, a Rabbit, Captain Phasma or America, Kylo Ren or Thor. He would boisterously tear around the house in character, wielding his weapon of choice. Rhys was usually the victim and would laugh out loud as Sam battered him with a foam sword or hammer (most of the time!)

There was one costume, more than any other that Sam just loved – his reindeer onesie. He would wear it around the house, camping trips, on visits to the hospital, he even wore it to school. His size 3-4 years was worn until the legs looked like ¾ lengths and the body was skin tight. He didn’t care, he’d say it was snuggly, and it tickled us to see him in it. Sam loved being snuggly and snuggling up to his teddies or under blankets. But if there was some snuggling to be done, top of the list was always snuggling with his Mummy.

Even when Sam was poorly one of the activities he’d still find the strength to do was Nerf battles. If it rained, the battle would be indoors, if it was dry it would be outside with bullet guns or water pistols. When Sam was less mobile, whole house or garden battles were reworked so that Sam could take up a static sniper position, and take pot shots at his victims, family or friends. Rhys has a fond memory of when he and a friend were speaking and playing with some girls in a neighbouring garden. The talk soon became squeals and laughter as Samster the Gangster popped around the edge of the shed, naked, brandishing a water pistol and soaked them all.

When Sam was young he had always been a healthy child. When the family had colds he seemed to be unscathed, but in the autumn of 2015 Sam became pale, he was low on energy, and he had a rash. At first the GP thought it may be viral, but after a couple of weeks nothing had improved and his tummy was starting to swell. By this point the family were fearing this could be something bad but the odds said they should be wrong. A blood test was done on the 1st of December 2015, a day the family will never forget. Sam was diagnosed with Leukaemia and their Sky fell in.

Sam’s journey since then has been a tough one. His beads of courage are a lasting memory to the 100’s of procedures he endured over the 3 and a half years of treatment. He amassed 1,850 beads in all and the family give thanks to the medical staff here today, representing everyone that has worked at every hour of the day to care for Sam during his battle with Leukaemia. He was inspired so much by your commitment and professionalism that he’d said he wanted to grow up to be a nurse. Would that have been his future? Sadly we will never know.

If there is one thing that blossomed in hospital, and epitomises Sam it would be his love for Lego. Over the years we had various activities to fill the time. Card games, dart guns and dart boards, Qixels and crafts. He would enjoy them all but the favourite was definitely LEGO. What started with a small Lego set to help while away the time, grew into a ritual fuelled by both Sam’s and his Dad’s enjoyment of it. If Sam was spending any length of time in hospital he’d be doing Lego. The anticipation and the walk to collect a new set from the Amazon lockers in GOSH were all part of the excitement. The real magic was watching him build; so focussed and determined, his tongue out during the tricky bits. When he completed something, the sense of achievement was always evident on his face - in the big beaming smile. From timid beginnings, he fumbled through his first few sets but soon became a master builder completing multi bag sets intended to last days in just a few hours. If there is one thing that demonstrates how much time Sam spent in hospital, and particularly the months in isolation it would be the size of his Lego collection. On display in his room he was always proud to show it to people.

The last 9 months were particularly tough. The disease and treatment taking its toll. Sam was a third heavier, had lost his hair again, and then grew dark hair back almost everywhere. His hearing was impaired and his legs were weak. He would be unrecognisable to those that had not witnessed the change. But to those that had it was still Sam and he was a fighter, he would get through this. His attitude to all the pokes, prods and procedures was inspirational “let’s just get it over with” he would say. He hated general anaesthetics, but to overcome the fear he developed his own routine of yoga breaths and a snuggle with Mummy or Daddy while he had his sleeping milk and just got it over with. His animated moral – “Never give up” that we are so blessed that he made, will live with us forever. Sam you’re a trooper - thank you for being so brave.

Despite everything he’d been through he was still the cheeky, inquisitive boy we all loved. He always had a willingness to learn and would look forward to his lessons in hospital, at home or in school. Even on days post BMT when his mouth was too sore to speak he still had his lessons, writing or using the iPad to communicate. It would be the highlight of his days only missed if he was asleep.

Sam was doing so well in his treatment, he was winning his battle with leukaemia. He was in remission, his transplant was a success and his diseased white blood cells had been replaced 100% by his brother’s donor cells. His recovery was not without issues, that would, and did make him feel lousy, but the bigger picture was always good and in a few more months he was going to get through this. One day, he was going to ring the bell in Hospital that signified the end of his treatment.

On the 21st March Sam was taken by his parents to Watford because of his rapid breathing. This was thought to be a visit like many other. On the 22nd of March suddenly and unexpectedly Sam’s condition deteriorated and after many hours he was stabilised in Watford and transferred to intensive care in GOSH. Sadly, despite battling his biggest battle and supported by an overwhelming number of people and well-wishers, Sam was never to leave. He passed away peacefully in his parents’ arms on the 4th of April 2019. Sam never got to ring the bell.

Sam didn’t quite make the 8th Birthday that he was so excited about, but during his short time with us has achieved more than many may achieve in a lifetime. In his name, 10’s of thousands of pounds have been raised for charities that have benefited him or his family; CLIC Sargent, Be child cancer aware, Children with Cancer and Spread a Smile. The Radio 5 Live broadcast for the ‘No Isolation’ robot has over a million views and touched thousands of people. The hope is that these contributions may bring unforgettable memories, or lead to new treatments that help save the lives of other children in a similar situation and maybe one day ensure nobody has to endure the loss of a child from Leukaemia. Sam, you should be proud.

Everyone gathered here today has been touched in some way by Sam’s life. It may take a long time for friends and family to adjust, but after the grief and mourning, we will be left with the memories and sparkle that Sam brought to our lives. We will reflect on a life full of amazing adventure, love and bravery. Sam’s courageous battle and attitude should and will inspire us to never give up. We will all miss you Sam but may your star forever shine bright. ⭐

02.05.20

10 notes · View notes

supernoondles · 4 years

Text

2019

The last day of 2019 was also the day I fainted for the first time--a fitting metaphor for the year.

2019 was overall very emotionally taxing. This year was emotionally defined by falling intensely, deeply in love with someone (who is a very private person so I will try to be vague to respect that) and being in a lot of pain because of situations mostly outside of our control. There were a lot of intensely joyous moments, and a lot of intensely sad ones. Throughout it all I wish I had communicated better. I also made some bad decisions with another person I really loved and cared about that resulted in us growing apart. Do I think I grew from the experiences? For sure. Do I wish I could have come upon these realizations through a different course of action? Also yes. Am I fully healed from the experiences? Not really, but I've been getting better.

2019 was also very bad in terms of research. It was the 2nd year of my PhD. After I submitted my rotation project I basically felt stuck in the swamp of my advisors rejecting new project ideas for like literally half a year. This, combined with my high emotional volatility (partially due to starting birth control), made me really sad, unmotivated, and susceptible to self-blame. I definitely had high expectations for myself and became frustrated at my lack of progress and felt a lot of pressure from myself to get my shit together. I also felt incredibly bad after most advisor meetings and not supported by one of them to the point where I had to have a conversation with him about the lack of support (which was very scary)! Things started picking up, though, near the end of the year. I published a paper in collaboration with a former post-doc/now professor elsewhere whom I learned a lot from, and started finally building out another system. I also started mentoring an undergrad who at some point told me I helped him feel like he had something important to say and belong at Stanford for the first time and those words meant a lot to me. I think I'm continuing to refine what I value as research contributions and increasingly think about what it means to build systems that aren't used outside of the lab to satisfy the annual conference publishing cycle. I'm also starting to feel the pressure of doing work that follows a narrative rather than random projects that interest me.

Oh, I guess in terms of "program requirements," I did finish taking required classes, passed qualifying exams, and got a master's degree. But honestly those weren't hard at all nor do I think are externally valued in the larger research community, so I don't really celebrate them as accomplishments beyond surface level.

In 2019 I saw two different therapists. The first one was awful, I think directly influenced some of my bad decisions, and also didn't respect my gender identity??? The second one is a lot better and I'm grateful to see her, even if 90% of our sessions are just talking about my relationship (romantic/advisor) issues, which is something I want to move away from in the future. But I also feel incredibly privileged when relationship issues are the primary stressors in my life--I am grateful I feel equipped to handle other crap, like deadlines, and don't have to worry about my own health.

Those were the main things that have colored this year. We'll now move into the section of this post where I go through my photos to jog my memory of other events.

New years started a tradition of getting dim sum with Jasper, Matthew, and Michelle dear to my heart. My high school friend was also visiting and we all attended a really awesome new year's eve party. I was also going on a lot of dates and having a lot of good sex, which made me really happy, and at the same time crying all the time at work. In February I received probably the best gift anyone has ever given me and saw Panic! at the Disco, which I said in an end of the year group meeting was a good memory of my year (it was, to relive my scene days!). In March I roadtripped both to Marin (which I had never to been before, despite all my years in the bay) and LA for Wondercon; it was nice to both see high school friends and go on a trip with the boo. In April I went on a hike with my office which was probably the start of us all becoming closer (we are the social office in the wing now, which I take pride in! Also we draw a lot of Pokemon which warms my heart). In May I went to CHI in Glasgow and then to Paris afterward, and the entire experience was very weird and bad and also too many flights were canceled and/or missed and I vowed to not return to Europe for a while, but man do I love the noodles at Trois Fois plus de Piment. In June we hosted a double apartment party with my downstairs neighbors (side note: I am really appreciative of the place I live in, for the community, convenience, and large-ass space and will be really sad to be kicked out fall 2020) and I started a friendship important to me. I cat-sat for my advisor (the one who doesn't make me feel bad) twice. I went to Redwood State Park with my family and hosted a summer solstice celebration. Over the summer a friend I met in Paris back in 2017 moved in with me. I had a much needed escape from the bay to Seattle where I was reminded how abundant the world can be. I also went to Tahoe to celebrate my parents' anniversary, and really liked stumbling upon a smaller lake with a cheap boat rental. Then I became FOMO about the highly competitive Bay Area camping and did a last minute walk-in at Redwood Basin in Santa Cruz, which made me realize that I don't actually love camping (but was nice nonetheless). I ate an expensive meal at Commonwealth before they closed. For my birthday we made a friendship quilt and I served my favorite dish of cumin lamb but it was also 90 degrees in my apartment (I felt really bad and bought two fans afterwards). I started buying many cartoon frog plush after being gifted a $3.99 on sale Safeway frog (called Baby!). I went on Tinder dates (one of which was at a quaker yard sale marketed as Harvest Festival where I got a 1970s Kermit puppet for like $2) that largely went nowhere. My high school friend visited and we were both sad about break ups. I did Inktober before I went to New Orleans for a conference on Bourbon St where everything felt like it was coated in a sticky film of alcohol. I almost missed my flight home because I fell asleep in a sculpture garden but I had the most amazing Uber driver who snaked his way through traffic (oh and the flight was delayed by like 3 hours). I went to kind of embarrassing haunted houses and pumpkin patches over Halloween, but also had the most incredible bowl of ramen at Mensho. My whole office dressed up as Zootopia characters which warmed my furry heart. I spent like $120 on a Pokemon shirt. I started playing Arkham Horror and rekindled another friendship important to me. In November went on a road trip to Big Sur because again, I had to escape it all. For Christmas Eve dinner I roasted a duck for the first time (which was delicious). Shortly after I waited in line for 2 hours for a rollercoaster at Great America, which taught me the value of buying a fast pass because at this point in my life that money is worth it, and then waited 2 hours in line at the DMV to get a RealID (I had made an appointment, which was the fast pass).

Okay, now we move to the hobby section!

I got really into sewing in 2019, having received a sewing machine last Christmas. I made a Judy Hopps (which I wore to CrunchyRoll Expo) and Korok cosplay (Fanime), several unsuccessful garments, a crab bean bag, a dice bag, a fanny pack, and put hearts nipples on a jumpsuit.

Shows! I think I went to way fewer shows this year. The ones I can remember are Elephant Gym, Thom Yorke the night before I had an 8am flight, Carly Rae Jepsen over pride weekend (also, she is my #1 artist of the year, which makes a lot of sense given my emotional space), Mitski at Stern Grove, Capitol Hill Bloc Party (which was super lame, except for Lizzo, where I cried), and the National (which was a fucking surreal experience as they played on Stanford's campus, I was the only one within earshot of myself who knew the words to Crybaby Geeks, and then the white catalog moms came up to me after to thank me for singing the song).

I also started playing my own music! I started playing viola again for the first time in 7 years (lol) in both pop-up concerts with the Awesome Orchestra (one in Golden Gate Park, one at the Exploratorium) and a string quartet through my school. Sometimes I am filled with joy and delight. Other times interpersonal tensions run high and also I am very bad at being in tune. It's life.

Media! I really liked Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 and Beastars. I feel like those were the only notable anime I watched this year? I saw the Farewell three times--first in Seattle where I sobbed for like 1 hour after the movie, the second time with my parents, and the third where Awkwafina was present for a Q&A. I thought Parasite was incredible and Promare was OK. I have spent an unfortunately large amount of my time playing Pokemon Masters. I finally beat BOTW and completed my Pokedex in Shield like 2 weeks after getting the game.

Resolutions! In my draft of my 2018 end of year post (which I never polished and posted, sorry), I said my resolutions were 1. come out to my parents 2. draw enough to table at an anime con 3. be disciplined about paper reading and have a doc. I did none of these things!!! However, for 1, I feel like I am well equipped to have this conversation but am waiting for my sibling to do it first out of respect. 2 was just bad. I barely drew this year except for gifts. 3 was okay--I did have a large doc in the beginning of the year when I was looking for ideas, but as time went on I abandoned it (I also stopped reading papers, which I don't think you're supposed to do as a grad student...)

My resolutions this year are phrased as intentions (-(c) Matthew). They span several categories. Relationships: I want to open myself to and actively seek experiences of love, because I miss that. That being said, I will only date someone if 1. they have their life together 2. they love themselves and 3. they challenge me to grow. (I do think you can experience love without dating; the thing I'm after is love in an expansive sense.) Work: I want to do enough work so I don't feel guilty about not doing enough work, and also not berate myself for taking a long time to do things. Hobbies: I want to sew at least one thing a month. Chinese: I want to improve my Chinese, especially pronunciation.

Having written this 20 days into 2020, it's not been so bad so far. But I was also really happy in the beginning of 2019. Here's to no global maxima, a monotonically increasing year!

#noon's shitty end of the year summary posts #lol i never post on here anymore but i got 8 years of summary posts so i gotta maintain the tag u get me

4 notes · View notes

cruisebay2020 · 2 years

Text

Best Northern Lights cruises

Imagine being on an elegant cruise and watching the sky play with foreign colors like green and it continues for hours while you can sit back, relax and enjoy soothing music with a glass of champagne. That’s how exotic the arrangements are on Northern Lights cruises. You will have an ethereal experience that is worth every penny. The best part about this cruising experience is that you can cruise through various countries and still see the northern lights and their magnificence. If anything, the patterns of these lights change along with the colors and it’s even more beauteous.

Violet to purple, green and so much more – Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis is a series of multicolored lights that appears in the sky. Interestingly, the colors change – purple, violet, even red, and the basic neon green. It’s a delightful watch across skies of countries like Finland, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, certain parts of Alaska, and Scotland. People from every continent come to see these spectacular lights change colors and patterns. Northern Lights cruise holidays are one of the best ways to have a fulfilling experience of this.

Plan a cruising trip during autumn or winter – The best time to witness the glory of the skies is during autumn or winter months. Northern lights can be seen on Northern Lights cruises, however, September is one of the most suitable times because the daylight is less during that time making the sky performance more prominent. There would be plenty of entertainment options during the daytime, endless celebration and a constant air or fancy and festivity throughout the time on the cruise.

It’s more than just sky watching – Cruise companies offer a trip between seven and twenty days. People on board can explore the towns around which the cruise passes. It is advised to check the route beforehand and plan your sightseeing much ahead of time. Northern Lights cruise companies offer to explore passes but at an expensive price. Local traveling agents and tour companies offer a much cheaper rate if booked beforehand. Explore local cuisines, try dog sledding, boating in rivers with a calm and serene surrounding, buying souvenirs, etc. There would never be a boring moment on the cruise.

Iceland, Norway, Greenland – Iceland has many kid-friendly activities, its capital Reykjavik has whale watching trips, zoos, and ponds where children are allowed to feed ducks. For an authentic Scandinavian taste, visit Norway. King crab fishing, safari in Tromso, adventure sports, and mouthwatering cuisine are its specialty. When not watching the Northern Lights, a trip around Norway can be perfect during the Northern Lights cruise holiday. Bring out the wilderness inside you by paying a visit to Greenland. Watch whales, polar bears, and musk oxen. There is plenty of other sea creatures in open spaces.

Life on a cruise – Cruising has a relaxed and royal side to it once passengers get over the seasickness or the festivities start. There is entertainment in the form of dances, birthday and anniversary celebrations, dance parties, and other formal parties. Food and drinks are plenty to choose from.

Gift your family the Northern lights cruise holiday for winter and let the celebration begin early this year.

Author’s bio: Krutika is an aficionado for cruising and her recent Northern Lights cruise holidays was spent with amazing passengers, crew, and the breathtaking colors of the sky.

#Northern Lights cruises.#Northern lights cruise holiday

0 notes

btsimaginefactory · 6 years

Text

At the Beach with BTS - Moodboards and Scenarios

{{i’m sorry that these are messy but it was so hard trying to paint the picture without the board looking too busy and iM SORRY. It’s less “oo aesthetics” and more that these are to give you pics for your mind. But I hope you’re still into this💖}}

Seokjin

“Are you happy?”

You smile gently at Seokjin words, twining your fingers with his as you both sit on the riverbank. More than a dozen stripped box turtles, all in various sizes and ages, paddle cutely at the edge, waiting for more pieces of carrots to be throw from their generous new friends. “I am so happy Seokjin.”

Seokjin’s smile gleams in the light of the sunset, and he leans to kiss you on your temple. He’d wanted to go to the beach with you for a long time, and now you finally had the time. Seokjin rented a house situated strategically between the secluded shoreline and the marsh. What had drawn him to this beach was the privacy, yes, but it was also the beautiful variation of landscapes and an abundant amount of wildlife. In the morning you watched wild horses play on the beach from your balcony, naming each one and giving them elaborate back stories, narrating their interactions. Seokjin was startled by how close they came to the house and how at peace they seemed living side by side with humans.

Almost every afternoon was spent under the umbrella on the sand with packed lunches; idly fishing for minnows before letting them free again as you watch the vibrant sunset over the horizon, and nights spent counting endless stars.

“Listen I’m telling you, THAT one is the big dipper,” you stress.

“No, it’s not because that star should be over there if it’s the big dipper!”

“...Jin you can’t just move stars around to prove yourself right.”

Several days the two of you went to local shops, exploring all the beautiful and wacky things you could find. He was especially drawn to a hobby shop that had all kinds of intricately made sculptures from shells and driftwood. Seokjin commented that he liked he couldn’t find any two alike, and in that same way he could never find someone exactly like you who he loved so much. A slap is quickly delivered to his arm at his gushy words, making him laugh, but getting a kiss from you in the end.

Yoongi

“Yoongi you do realize coming to the beach in the winter kind of defeats the purpose of coming to the beach,” you sigh, looking out the sliding glass doors of your hotel room overlooking the ocean shore. He’s already outstretched on the giant king-sized bed, humming in satisfaction when you come and kick his leg.

“Ow sheesh,” he exclaims, eyes meeting your crestfallen face. “Okay well, I did in fact plan this very carefully and invested many hours to make things perfect.”

He rolls over and leans down to his bag, pulling out some pieces of paper and holding them in front of his gummy grin. You have to squint, but the bright letters of a pamphlet for a well know indoor water park is undeniable.

“NO WAY,” you gasp, snatching them out of his hands and rifling through the packet. “Are you serious?”

He nods.

“Really really? As in you’re actually gonna play with me and not be a lazy potato chip?”

“I am! I promise,” he laughs. “Why do you think I spent so much time picking stuff out for us to do? Don’t you see the view,” he gestures dramatically at the balcony. You can’t help but laugh and pull his cheeks in for a kiss, making him look very pleased.

Yes it was true you’d agreed to go to the beach with Yoongi during the dead of winter, but the surprise and lively atmosphere you found was exactly what the two of you needed. The hotel was connected to the water park by an indoor bridge, and surprisingly, Yoongi cared the giant inflatable unicorn proudly each day, bopping you in the head with it constantly. After swimming and playing, and him throwing you down one to many insane waterslides, you crash in the hotel room with warm comfort, room service, and movies.

Yoongi kisses your forehead and smiled as you lay in his arms. “So should we do the same thing tomorrow or should we go see some of the other things around here?”

Hoseok

When you were looking for a place to rent at a nearby beach online, Hoseok was immediately drawn to the strip of brightly colored buildings on the boardwalk. “Let’s go there! That’s so pretty! And there’ll be lots of places to go.” And so you did, spending loads of time in different shops, buying way too many souvenirs, and an equal time relaxing on the beach.

It was probably a bad idea to suggest a sandcastle building competition because 3 hours later you realized you’d both spent the whole day building a mini-utopia; giving up the competition after signing a treaty to no more sand thrown and opting instead to build your own joined kingdoms. Hoseok desperately tried to save one crumbling wall as the tide came in, but sank to his knees in defeat, promptly having a wave crash over his head from behind as if to add insult to injury. He comes crying to you as you laugh at his dripping wet, salty face, but is sure to trap you in a hug to get you wet as well.

“Baby how about we just shower and order takeout,” he suggests when you arrive at the condo, panting after climbing the 3 flights of stairs.

“How can you be tired from that, you literally can dance nonstop for way longer,” you huff, throwing a towel in his face.

After taking a soothing shower together, the two of you crash on the bed with your take out and TV, while finding all the little red areas you missed with sunscreen where each of you were now burned. “See I told you-you should have put some behind your ears,” he scolds and you simply cover his face with your hands.

“Shh, shh, shh, don’ worry ‘bout it.”

Namjoon

It was the best surprise you’ve ever gotten in your life. When you told Namjoon you were staying at the beach with your family, expressing that you wished he could be there to experience it with you, he decided to do just that. After secret communications with your family, seemingly out of the blue he shows up at your door and you almost knock him over completely in your enthusiastic hug. You introduce him formally to your family, and they immediately like him, if only by the way you glowed around him. They realize quickly he must be an incredible person and one who was absolutely good for you.

Being able to share this important time with him was everything; watching him grow comfortable with everyone, and hiding in embarrassment at all the stories they spilled from your childhood; everything felt so at home about him. The next day you were dragging him out of bed much too early to spend it all with him on the beach. Needless to say he was terrified when you warned him about not swimming in the ocean because of sharks, but he excitedly dug for sand-fiddlers and mole crabs, putting them in a bucket and examining them before letting them free again. That very evening, you two were lucky enough to watch sea turtles hatch, lining up with the other people watching, and giving them a protected path to the ocean as Namjoon squeals in delight.

Every night was filled with good meals and laughter, playing in the heated pool under the stars, and cuddling up in bed sharing stories, relishing that you had him there in the flesh. He pushes your hair behind your ear as he cradles you in his arms. “I wish I could stay here with you forever.”

“Me too Namjoon,” you say with a sad smile, trying not to even think of this time together ending.

“But we will soon.”

Jimin

It wasn’t Jimin’s most favorite idea when you told him you had booked a shared home at the beach; he didn’t know if he felt comfortable staying with strangers. It was an older couple who, after their children grew up and left, opened up a section of their house for travelers so they could share this place with people from all around the world. Jimin agrees though, and in only a few hours of being there, he was so glad that he did.

When you arrive at the bungalow nestled in the seaside forest, the couple takes you on a tour around the house, and more importantly, outside on one of the many trails. After getting over that initial little bit of awkwardness, you and Jimin didn’t turn down a single activity they suggested, for all of them were so perfectly new and exciting. You slowly watched Jimin come out of his shell, bouncing around like the happy, adventurous boy you loved. His favorite part was kayaking through the marsh and inlet, canopied by tall, vibrant trees, and hundreds of different species of birds chattering amongst the reeds.

“Woah look at that one,” Jimin yells in a hushed voice, pointing at a bright white, gangly crane fishing at the bank. “Did you see how it just snapped it’s beak in there and grabbed the fish? It was so fast, like whoosh! I could probably do that.”

“... Jimin what are you even saying?”

“It’s because you don’t believe in me, that's why I can’t grab a fish out of the water with my bare hand.”

You have to stop your eyes from rolling all the way back into your head as he giggles. When you return to the house, you’re all gathered around a fire pit in the backyard to eat dinner, eagerly telling the couple all about where you were from. You fall asleep on his shoulder as you lay beneath the stars, peacefully breathing in the salty air and wondering what tomorrow will bring.

Taehyung

“Greece?!”

“Greece!”

You can only pause. “Greece?”

Taehyung nods in confirmation. “Greeeeeece!” He’d seen a picture float across the internet somewhere of this beautiful resort, and he immediately knew he had to take you. Taehyung is one who is always ready for an adventure and travel, so he expects you to be the same. The resort is at the foot of a mountain, the bright blue sea as a backdrop, making the large sanded smooth white buildings look majestic and nothing short of magical. You have a cabin to yourselves, one in front of a small private pool that glowed purple in the evening; one that you convinced him to go skinny dipping in. It’s easy to have fun with Taehyung, even in a foreign place, but he takes special care to make the trip especially romantic and appreciative. He pampers you like royalty and announces that you are going to be his official model for all his pictures he had yet to take.

“Wow you are a natural,” Taehyung chuckles as he snaps a picture of you posed beneath a twisted tree. “I didn’t even have to tell you what to do.”

“Practice makes perfect I suppose, and so does such a handsome teacher,” you say, pecking his lips. The day is spent on the sand under a large tent, and yes you did have to wait before starting to drink your fancy drink because he wanted to photograph it all, but with his cute grin how could you say no?

Jungkook

“Jungkook don’t you think this is a bit much,” you ask, setting your bag down in the foyer just as Jungkook runs past you around the expansive dining room.

“No no of course not! We’re only young once; when else would we have this opportunity? Come on,” he grabs your hand and pulls you along, peeking in every room as if looking for something. After ‘oo-ing’ and ‘aw-ing’ at the bright coral walls and happy paintings, you head downstairs to find perhaps the biggest reason your boyfriend rented this particular beach house.

“Oh my gosh now I get it,” you say, holding the bridge of your nose but getting equally excited as you’re greeted with a giant arcade room. A flat screen tv, new video games as well as classic arcade games, a ping pong table, and even a pool table were all sitting shiny and tempting and Jungkook is giggling like a kid in a candy store.

You barely have time to reach him before his eyes meet something outside the window in the backyard. “Oh. My. Gosh. There’s a jet ski,” he whispers, instantly bolting towards the door with you yelling behind him.

“Jungkook for God’s sake please don’t kill yourself!!”

You’d thought it was a little wasteful to rent a three-story house with 8 bedrooms for only the two of you, but he quickly washes away your worries with the private pool and access to the dock with a jet ski and kayaks, as well as running around the large house and screaming your lungs out just because there was no one there to stop you. The house was at the end of a small, private cul de sac, and a mere golf cart ride to the shore. It was quieter than you would’ve imagined you’d enjoy, but as you sit on the crows nest overlooking the inlet, watching Jungkook photograph the sunset, you couldn’t imagine anywhere else on earth you’d rather be.

{{I’ve actually experienced three of these imagines AND IF YOU CAN CORRECTLY GUESS WHICH THREE, YOU GET *spins roulette wheel anxiously* ... ah... ha ha... apparently to punch me in the d💫}}

-Admin Chaejeong

105 notes · View notes

becksnyc · 3 years

Text

Off the Maine Road

After cancelling our trip to Walt Disney World (for the second time) due to covid, we decided that we would make the most of our time by exploring Maine. We started our adventure in Surrey, Maine, making the 9-hour drive from New York City in one swoop. We landed a lovely VRBO home (Bayport) with a private beach and a beautiful yard, outfit with all of the nature one could hope for after escaping the dirty, humid air in the City.

On our first night, we settled into our new home, and then went into the local town of Ellsworth for dinner. There were several outdoor seating options – we chose a Mexican restaurant with a great kids’ menu, and an even better selection of margaritas. That night we slept soundly with sound of ocean waves and cricket chirping in the background.

Day 1 (Sunday) we set off to visit Acadia National Park. We hit Thunder Hole first, timing it with the tides to see its full glory. We also enjoyed the Ocean Path and Sand Beach. After that, we stopped by the Visitor Center to pick up Junior Ranger packets. We then had lunch in Bar Harbor, and walked around the town a bit. Although it was high tide, we visited the entryway to the Bar Island pathway and the boys enjoyed skimming rocks in the water. Finally, we returned to Bayport to relax on the hammock and swings, BBQ, and enjoy.

Day 2 (Monday) we went to Jordan Pond and hiked around the lake, meeting some friendly rangers along the way, and completing one of the Junior Ranger activities. We saw lots of wildlife along this very easy-to-hike trail, including a large frog. We enjoyed a fabulous lunch at the Jordan Pond Restaurant, including their famous blueberry sodas and popovers. We then drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain, but were engulfed in thick clouds by the time we reached the peak – completely missing out of the lovely view. We still did the quick loop trail, before heading back to Bar Harbor for low tide. It felt almost biblical to walk through the parted waters that we had visited the day before along the Bar Island Pathway. This path is only walkable during low tide, and gives access to Bar Island. We saw loads periwinkles and barnacles along the way. Truly a spectacular experience!

Day 3 (Tuesday) after an adventurous two days, we decided to stay home and enjoy Bayport. We did tide pooling during low tide, discovering many different mollusks in the large boulders along our beach.

Day 4 (Wednesday) after enjoying a beautiful sunrise from our bedroom window, we headed out early on a drive up to Eastport. We then boarded Diver Ed’s Dive In Theater for a one-of-kind boating experience. Diver Ed took us out into the open water, then anchored the boat, and dove below with a video camera. We got to see the ocean floor as he collected sea stars, crabs, urchins, and sea cucumbers. He then brought a bag of these goodies back to the boat, placed them in shallow tanks, and allowed the children to pick them up and learn about the animals. This was one of the highlights of our trip. After a quick lunch in Eastport, we headed to Lubec to see the lighthouse and visit the most Eastern part of the United States. We were close to the Canadian border that my cellphone service actually switched to the Canadian cell towers.

Day 5 (Thursday) we decided to enjoy another relaxing day at Bayport. We tide pooled during low tide, rescuing a few small sea stars and periwinkles. We also visited a local beach and played in the sand and water until high tide forced us to leave. That evening we went to the Great Maine Lumberjack Show, where we got to see axe throwing, log rolling, chopping, sawing, and many other interesting skills demonstrated. The boys even got to participate in their own log sawing experience.

Day 6 (Friday) it was back to Acadia after a few days away. We enjoyed the beautiful views and tide pooling on the figure eight trail at Southwest Harbor. After that, we visited the lighthouse, had lunch in a local town, and then spent the afternoon at Echo Lake. The boys played in the sand and lake for many hours. We then revisited the parting of the waters at the Bar Island Path and had dinner in Bar Harbor. We enjoyed Mountain Desert Ice Cream for dessert – we all really loved the Butterbeer flavor. That night – our last night up north – we went to a very special event on Sand Beach called Stars Over Sand Beach. We brought a blanket and laid down under the stars, while several rangers pointed out constellations with high powered lasers, and provided interesting astronomy related stories and history.

Day 7 (Saturday) we packed up Bayport and headed South to our next VRBO on Drakes Island in Wells. Along the way, we stopped in Cape Elizabeth to see the Portland Head Light (the most photographed lighthouse in the US). We also enjoyed the Trader Joes in Portland, which to our delight, sells wine (and other adult beverages) right inside the store.

Day 8 (Sunday) we had an easy morning, BBQed for lunch and then enjoyed smores by our firepit. We then headed to the sandy beach on Drake’s Island, which was walking distance from our house. Just by chance, that evening we discovered Congdons After Dark Food Truck Park. This venue had about 10 different food trucks with dinner options, along with the famous and delicious Congdons donuts. They also had live music, which we really enjoyed. We ended the evening with a quick hike in the estuary near our house.

Day 9 (Monday) we again had an easy morning at home with BBQ lunch and smores. Next we checked out the Ogunquit beach, and enjoyed the lazy river and beach. After the beach, we went on the Marginal Way Walk, followed by dinner right on the water.

Day 10 (Tuesday) we went to Old Orchard Beach and had fun doing mining, boardwalk games, and the arcade. We also found a huge candy store, and indulged in salt water taffy, fudge, and some interesting gummies. Jonathan chose a gummy pizza and Sam selected gummy sushi. After that, we headed to Portland to set sail with Lucky Catch on a lobstering boat. We got to hoist lobster pots into the boat, measure the lobsters, hold them, and then carefully toss them back into the ocean. We learned how to identify male from female lobsters and even got to feed a few seagulls. That night a doe and her two babies made an appearance in our yard, which was really nice.

Day 11 (Wednesday) we returned to Portland to do a Maine Duck Tour. It was so fun to go from land to sea, although the sea boat portion moved very slowly compared to the lobstering boat from the day before. We ate lunch nearby and then went to the beach in York. We really liked this nice, clean beach. It was pretty empty with easy parking and a nearby playground.

Day 12 (Thursday) we did mini golf and then the boys did a human maze. They really enjoyed both. After that, we went to a small zoo called York’s Wild Kingdom. This was a very impressive little place, with a butterfly garden and an area to feed parakeets. They had many interesting animals including a sloth, kookaburras, capybaras, and kangaroos. The boys also fed deer and goats.

Day 13 (Friday) on our last full day we decided to check out Portsmouth, NH. We went to Albacore Park to see a submarine and learn about its crew. We then visited the most beautiful flower garden at Prescott Park and watched a Vertical Lift Bridge go up for a large boat coming through. We had lunch downtown a delicious restaurant called Popovers on the Square. We ended the day with a hike by the Piscataqua River and did a bit more tide pooling.

On Saturday we drove home, stopping in West Hartford for lunch. We had such a wonderful trip and hope to return to Maine one day.

1 note · View note

reading-time · 3 years

Text

Sanmao’s “Stories of the Sahara”, 《撒哈拉的故事》，素人渔夫 Amateur fishing man, Tâm Anh translated.

Once on Sunday, Jose was at company for over-time work, whole day not home.

　　I, to pass the time, took out all the money Jose has earnt during this year from March till now, counted carefully, noted down on a blank sheet of paper, awaiting him to come back.

　To the evening, Jose was home, I placed the note paper in front of him, saying: “You see, during this half a year we have earnt, sum up, this so much money.”

　　He took a glance on the calculation I did, very glad, saying: “Hard to imagine, we have earnt this so much money; enduring the hard days in the desert, it worths our efforts.”

　　“Let’s eat out today, anyway we have this much money.” He joyfully proposed.

　　I knew he wanted to take me to dine at the National Hotel, very quickly I changed clothes to go out with him; this kind of reality was once upon a time.

“We want best-quality red wine, seafood soup, beef-steak for me, four helpings of prawns for my wife, ice-cream cake as deserts, also four helpings, thank you!” Jose said to the waiter.

　　“Lucky, today I have not eaten any the whole day, now we should have a big meal.” I whispered to Jose.

　　National Hotel was one under the organization of the Spanish Government; the dining hall was decorated very nicely like an Arabic royal palace, with very local ambiance, very comfortable soft lights, customers were not many; in here the atmosphere was fresh, no smell of dirt, knife and fork are kept clean to snow-like shining, table cloth was well ironed, soft music sound was like stream water flowing. I was sitting there, almost forgot we were in the desert, but seemed going back to our good old days.

　　After a while, foods were served, on a nice silver plate, a large row of fried prawns lined with green lettuce, glass filled with dark red wine.

　　“Ah! The blue bird of happiness is coming!” I exclaimed in excitement, looking at the dish.

　　“So delicious, from now on we should come here more often!” Jose sounded very generous that evening, like a tycoon.

　　Living in the desert for a certain time, it makes people learn a good thing: any little real-life enjoyment can bring about exceedingly heart-felt satisfaction and make people fly high. In other words, we take our senses more serious than our head.

　　Dinner finished, spent on it a fortune, we were very happy walking home, that evening I was a very happy person.

　　The following day, we of course ate at home; on the dinner plate there was one baked potato cake, one bread, a pot of water.

　　“We’ll share, wait I divide, this cake, you eat 2/3, I take 1/3.”

　　I was one hand sharing the potato cake, the other hand placing the bread in whole in the bowl for Jose, made it look quite full.

　　“It’s very delicious, I have added onion, let’s eat!” I started to eat.

　　Jose, like a tiger, ate up his cake in a wink, then he stood up heading to the kitchen.

　　“There’s no more, today let’s have just these.” I immediately stopped him.

　 “What’s wrong today?” He did not understand, looked at me.

　　“You look on this!” I passed on to him to see another calculating note.

　　“This is the sum-up of our expenses in recent half a year, yesterday’s calculation was of income, today’s calculation is of expenses.” I patted on his shoulder, explained.

　　“This much, we have spent this much? All has been spent!” He yelled.

　 “Yes.” I nodded.

　　“You see, on the note paper it is written clearly.”

　　Jose grabbed the note paper reading the cash flow I have done ——“tomato 60 kuai per kilogram, melon 220, pork half a kilogram 300——"

　　“How come you bought such expensive food, we could eat less a little bit——” He was reading the note and talking to himself.

　　Till he read to ——“car maintenance 15,000 kuai, gasoline half year 24,000——” his voice was louder; he picked himself up.

　　“You don’t need to panic! Half a year we ran 16,000 km, you calculate to see, doesn’t it need to cost this much money on gasoline.”

　　“So, money we have earnt we have spent all, there’s no gain out of this hardship.” Jose looked very annoyed, his looks was like he was on a stage.

　　“Actually we did not waste any, clothes expense was none in the past half a year; expenses were all on eating out with friends, making photographs, long distance travelling; these have eaten up our money.”

　　“All right, starting from today, single friends we do not invite to dinner, photographs only do black and white, travelling also no more, this whole area of desert we have been through how many times.” Jose announced with very much determination.

　　This poor townlet, mentioning cinema there’s only one both dirty and broken, a little bit of bustle also not have, magazines received to hands are mainly outdated, television on average is broadcast two or three times a month, on which images are as terrible as ghosts, home alone people do not dare to watch, power-cut water-cut are as common as daily meal, like to take a walk around then whole day there is strong sandy wind blowing.

　　Days passed by here, except for Sahara people who take it at ease, Europeans most are alcoholism, husband and wife fighting, single persons commit suicide, very common, all these drama are caused by this life in the desert. Only us, can be considered as people who understand 'the art of living', hard days still we can endure, our living still can be considered as not too bad.

　　I was keeping quiet listened to Jose while he was making announcement on plan of expense cut. Then, I started to warn him: “This too economical, you are not afraid three months later we would either become crazy or commit suicide?”　

Jose forced a smile: “Indeed, during holidays if we do not go out, we would be living sad to death.”　

“Think about this, we do not go to Algeria that direction, travel inland no more; we go to the seaside. Why not take advantage of the over 1,000 km coastline here; we should go there to explore.”

　　“Go to the seaside, travel through the desert a round trip gasoline also costs a lot.”

“Let’s go catch fish then, we do salted fish sun-dried, we can save money on food, also can lower money spent on gasoline.” My strength has always been solid, talking about playing, I never lose heart.

　　The following weekend, we carried tent, walked along the seaside to research nearly 100 km rock shore; at night we set up tent sleeping on the edge of the cliff.

　　Rock shore with no sand beach has a lot of good things, using ropes to hang on the edge of cliff was very convenient; when the tide had withdrawn, on the rock revealed barnacles, in between of the holes there were crabs, in the pool there were octopus, barred snake eel, trouts as-big-as-a-plate, also thousands of black seashells growing on the stone, we could recognize they were a kind of mussels, also fatty kelp which can be dried to make an ingredients for soup, driftwood could become a modern sculpture, little stones taken home put onto cardboard would become paintings. On this vast area of seaside, there was nobody around, was still intact and wealthy of resources.

　　“This is King Solomon's Treasure, we get rich now!” I jumped up and down on the shining rocks, yelling, so excited.

　　“This big pile of stones is for you, you collect quickly, tide has withdrawn.” Jose threw to me a bucket, a pair of gloves, a knife; he also put on diving suit, was about to dive into the sea to catch big fish.

　　Not up to one hour later, my bucket was filled up with mussels and barnacles, also 16 red colored big crab sized as big as small washing-basin; the bucket became so heavy, I used rocks to make a blocked jail, temporarily locked them inside. Kelps I collected a big pile.

　　When Jose went ashore, around his waist there was a string of up to 10 big fishes, light pink-colored ones.

　　“You see, not enough hands to catch, there are a lot.” Only at this moment I learnt the taste of being a greedy person.

　　Jose saw my big crab, again went to catch, got nearly 20 black-grey little crabs. He said: “The small one is called Nicholas, compared to big ones they are more delicious.”

　　The tide was gradually rising; we retreated to under the cliff, scraped off fish scales, washed the fish belly, full a big bag. I took trousers off, two trouser legs made a knot, poured all the crabs in, the bucket was also fastened on the rope, that way we climbed up the cliff. That weekend going out on exploration for the first time, could be considered as return with full load.

　　On the way home, I urged Jose: “Quick, quick, we drive back then call colleagues in the single dormitory to come for dinner.”

“You do not do salted fish?” Jose asked.

　　“The first time doesn’t count, we invite friends, they normally also did not eat well.”

　　Hearing that, Jose was very happy; before arriving home even went to buy a case of beer, half a dozen of wine to invite friends.

　　Later, for several weekends, colleagues also wanted to come along to catch fish. We were very delighted, bought 10 kg beef, 5 Chinese cabbages, made 10 more quiche, also brought along an ice-box, a charcoal furnace, 5 big buckets, 6 pairs of gloves, also bought a case of coke, a carton of milk. Several cars were mighty on the road, running up and down along the coastline; at night we set up tents, ate grilled beef, talking, had a great time together; the plan of expense-cut was lost on the way.

In our little family, no one manages money. Money, we put in the pockets of a Chinese cotton jacket, who needs then go to take. Bills, if we remember to note down, then write on any piece of paper at hands, throw into a candy pot.

　　Went out to the seaside not many several times, the jacket pockets has become empty, candy pot has filled up with little by little pieces of paper slip. “Again, nothing left, really fast!” I held the jacket talked to myself.

　　“Initially going out to the seaside was to catch fish making salted fish to save money on food, wasn’t it? Result, even more spending.” Jose was puzzled scratching his head.

　　“Friendship is also priceless wealth.” I could only use these words to console him.　

“Next week, we will simply go catch fish to sell.” Jose again determined.

　　“That’s right, fish we can eat so we can also sell! So smart, I did not think of it!” I jumped up, patted on Jose's head.

　　“Just need to earn enough to balance the expense we spent on playing, that would be good already.” Jose is not a greedy ambitious person.

　“Good, sell fish, next week we sell fish.” I was thinking big, hoping this time gain a fortune.

　　That Saturday early morning 4:30, we got on our car in the dark, set off on the road when it was freezingly cold outside, our teeth were trembling; raising our flag of high craftmanship, boldness, well knowing of the way, we firmly drove in the dark desert.

　　8 o’clock past in the morning, the sun has just arisen for a while, already we have arrived at the cliff; behind us an endless, mysterious, and quiet desert; in front of us stormy waves and cracked shore, the immense ocean and scattered rocks; blue sky was without a cloud, seabirds in flock flied to flied back, here and now a few bird voice, made it filled with even more emptiness and solitary all around.

　　Upturned the collar of my jacket, widen my shoulders, I looked up giving out a breath, kept this posture stood still.

　　“What are you thinking about?” Jose asked.

　　“How about you?” I also asked.

　　“I am imagining some realms depicted in ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’ that book."

　　Jose is a clear and bright spirit; this moment, this scenery, thinking of that book perfectly matches him.

　　“How about you?” He again asked.

　　“I am imagining, I was that one crazily in love with a handsome crippled military officer, I was about to go for a walk with him on this plateau, surroundings us was beautiful heather flowers everywhere, the wind was blowing in my hair, he was enthusiastically gazing at me—— romantic, again dramatic time!” I lamented.

　　Talking, again I closed my eyes, held myself in my own arms, sighed with satisfaction.

　　“You're playing today is ‘Ryan’s daughter’?” Jose asked.

“Your guess is right. All right, now start to work.”

　　I clapped my hands, walked out pulling the rope, ready to climb down the cliff. Through these some wild imagination, getting down to work could get some excitement: this has been the way I came up with to adjust the dry boring life.

　　“Sanmao, today work seriously, you need to give good hands.” Jose was in earnest.

　　We were standing on the rocky edge; Jose went down diving; each time he caught a fish, rose up, he threw it to the waterside; I quickly came up to collect, kneed on the rock, I used a knife to scrape fish scales, washed fish belly, cleaned it up, then put the fish into a plastic bag.

　　Scraped two or three very big fish, my hands were already scratched bleeding, dip into sea water oddly hurtful.

　　Jose was under water floating sinking, continuously threw fish up onto shore; I worked recklessly, placed the well-cleaned fish lined up neatly in the bag.

　　“Earning money is not easy!” I shook my head talking to myself, knees started to swell red.

　　After quite a while, Jose just then arose to shore; I quickly brought him the milk to drink. He closed his eyes, lying on the rock, face was pale white.

　　“How many we've caught?” He asked.

　　“30 more, very big, about 60, 70 kilograms.”

　　“Catch no more, almost tired to death.” He again closed his eyes.

　　I poured the milk, saying: “We, like this, could be called amateur fishing people.

　　“Fish is meat, Sanmao.”

　　“What I am saying is not about meat and vegetable. Previously, in Paris there was a group of people, weekdays they go to work, weekends painting, they called themselves amateur painters. We, on weekends go catch fish, therefore called amateur fishing man, also not bad!”

　　“You are so fancy, catching fish you could also come up with some new title.” Jose was not very interested though.

　　Enough of rest, we took it in three rounds, carried the whole pile of fish, as big as a little mountain, up to the cliff; put them inside car back space, topped up with ice from the icebox. Looking at the desert under blazing sun shining, this more than 200 km road driving back, again was another hard trip; strange it was, this time not yet having much of fun, body was also exhausted.

Car soon arrived in the townlet, I softly begged Jose: “All on you, let me get a little sleep before we go out to sell fish, please! So tired already!"

　 “Can’t. Fish could get stink. You go home to rest, I will sell. “ Jose said.

　　“Go to sell then we go together, I keep up a bit then get better now.” I just rather said.

　　Car passed by castle-like boundering walls of the National Hotel, I suddenly got an idea, loudly called ——“Stop——"

　　Jose stopped the car; I barefoot got off, turned my head to look inside the gate.　

“Hello, hello, ——” I softly called to Antonio at the counter.

　 “Ah, Sanmao!” He greeted loudly.

　 “Shuzzz, do not shout, where’s the back door?” I softly asked him.

　“Back door? Why do you want to go back door?”

　　I have not yet explained, right at that time the hotel manager was walking by, I was so scared hiding myself behind a pillar; he turned his head looking, I could simply sneak out get back on our car parking outside.　

“Can’t! I can’t sell, so embarrassed.” My face was straight.　

“I go.” Jose slammed car door, strode into the hotel. Good Jose, really has a style.　

“Hello, Sir, manager.” He took out his hands towards the manager to greet; the manager came to him; I hid myself behind Jose’s back.　

“We have fresh fish, do you want to buy?” Jose sound plainly, face also not blush, I think there’s a bit pretending.

　　“What, you want to sell fish?” The manager stared at us, worn-out trousers, face revealing a lot of hardship, as if we were humiliating him.

　　“Want to sell fish you go side door, talk to the person in charge of the kitchen——” He pointed to the side door, sounded quite intimidating.

　　I immediately shyed a long way back, recklessly pulled Jose to get out, told him: “You see, he looked down on us, we go to another place to sell; later if there’s any party we still have to see the face of this manager——”

　“This manager is a dickhead; no need to be afraid. Go, we go to the kitchen.”

　　Kitchen people all gathered up to look at us, seems very odd. “How much a kilogram?” finally there’s a buyer.

　　We glanced at one another, did not know what to say.

　　“Uhm, 50 kuai per kilogram.” Jose called a price.

　　“Yes, yes, 50 kuai.” I hastily added.

“OK, I take 10 fish, we go to scale to see how much it weighs.” The person-in-charge was very gentle.

　　We were very glad, flying-like ran to the car, chose 10 big fish for him.

　 “This bill, after date 15th, you can take it to our accounting office to claim your money.　

“You do not pay in cash?” We asked.

　 “We are a public agency, you understand understand please!” The person-in-charge shook our hands.

　We took the bill for selling the first batch of fish, worth over 1,000 kuai, looked then looked, then very carefully I put it into my trousers' pocket.

　　“OK, now we go to Sisters 'Hotel.” Jose said.

　　This 'Sisters' Hotel' is Sahara renowned place; they often provide meals to workers, at night selling wine, upstairs there are rooms for rent. From outside look very glamorous, inside all day playing popular music, lights are green coloured only; often there are groups of gorgeous white women doing business inside.

　　Road construction workers from Spain, once get salary paid, often go to Sisters’ Hotel to play, get drunken then be thrown out; salary of a month of hard work, more than half is spent to these women’s pocket.

　　To the hotel door, I told Jose: “You go inside, I wait outside.” Waited almost 20 minutes, not seen Jose came out.

　　I carried one fish, also walked in; right in time I saw, behind the counter, a sexy 'sister' was feeling Jose’s face; Jose- like a leather-head bird- was standing. I strode to, fiercely straight face shouted to the woman: “Buy fish or not, 500 kuai per kilogram.” Also I put the fish carried in hand heavily slammed on the bar counter, made a loud bang.

　　“How come wildly raise the price; your husband has just said 50 kuai per kilogram.”

　　I stared at her; thought to myself: you dare to touch Jose’s face again, I'd increase price to 5,000 kuai per kilogram.

　　Jose pushed me out of the hotel, softly said: “You really know how to cause trouble; I almost had all the fish sold to her.”

　　“Not buy then leave it, you sell fish or sell yourself? Even let her touch your face.” I raised my hands up to hit Jose, he knew he was on the wrong side, hold his head and let me hit.

　　Calmed down, again I rushed into the hotel taking back that fish we had left on the bar counter.

　　The sun was high on the sky; we were under the heat, hungry, and thirsty, also exhausted, also angry with one another; I was about to think of throwing away all the fish, only was speechless.

　“Do you remember Pug at the Sahara army group kitchen? “I asked Jose.

　“You are thinking of selling to the army group?”

“Yes.”

　Jose did not say a word, drove towards Sahara army group’s camp site; not arrived at the army living quarter yet, we saw Pug right at that time was walking on the road.

“Pug.” I loudly called out to him.

“Do you want to buy fresh fish?” I was so much hopeful, asked.

　“Fish, where?” He asked.

“Inside our car, there are more than 20.”

　Pug stared at me, shook his head strongly. “Sanmao, more than 3,000 persons in this army group, eat your more than 20 fish, enough?” He rejected.

“This is not necessarily; you first take to cook to see! Jesus’ 5 cakes, 2 fish, were enough to feed his more than 5,000 persons; how do you say?” I again asked him.

　　“Let me tell you, you go to post office front door to sell; over there most people passing by.” Pug showed us a way out. Of course, our selling target is Europeans; Sahara people do not eat fish.

So we again went to the stationery shop, bought a black board, a few pieces of chalk, again to an acquainted grocery we borrowed a scale.　　

On the black board, we drewn a jumping red fish, again wrote "Fresh fish for sale, 50 kuai per kilogram.”

　 When we drove to the post office front door, already 5 o’clock in the afternoon; air-mails, air-packages were arriving; a large crowd of people was there opening their mail-box, very much bustling. We stopped the car, put the black board in front of car window, car back door was opened up. Completed with these, face already blushed quite a lot; we ran to the sidewalk across the street to sit down, not even dare to look at walking people on the street.

　　A crowd of people one group to another walked by; no one stopped to buy fish. Sitting there for a while, Jose said to me: “Sanmao, didn’t you say we are amateur people? Amateurs don’t have to live by selling spare-time stuff!”

　 “Go home?” Really I also ran out of energy.

　　Right at that time, a colleague of Jose walked by, saw us he came to greet: “Ah! Out for fresh air?”

　　“No.” Jose shyly stood up.

　　“Are selling fish.” I pointed to our car on opposite side across the road.

　　This colleague was a single, also a rough-and-ready kind person. He walked out taking a look at the black board, again looked at car back space, got the situation, immediately he walked back, grasped us both across the street to the opposite site.

　　“Selling fish ah, you need to calling out to sell! You two are shy like this do not work. Come, come, I'll help you.” This colleague in passing hands pulled a fish out, held it in his hand, yelled at high pitch: “Yu——yo, sell fresh fish yo! 75 kuai per kilogram yo ——aiyo——fish ah!” He even took his own initiative raised the price.

　　The crowd was attracted by his yelling, immediately gathered up around; we overjoyed at the turn of our selling: more than 20 fish was a little thing, just after a while all were sold out.

　　We were sitting on the ground counting money, more than 3,000 kuai; then again looked around for Jose’s colleague; he has already walked far away with a grin.

“Jose, we should remember to thank him!” I told Jose.

　　Back to home, we were already exhausted. After a shower, I was in a towel yukata to the kitchen boiled a wok, put in a pack of noddle.

　　“Eat this?” Jose was unhappily.

　　“Just let's eat something. I'm almost exhausted to death.” I in fact did not even want to eat any.　

“From early morning working that hard till now, you only gave me noddle, not eat.” He was mad, put on clothes to go out.

　　“Where are you going?” I shouted.

　　“I go eating out.” He said firmly, sound as hard as cement.

　　I could only also change clothes, chased him up, together we went out; the so-called eating out, of course could only be one place to go—— restaurant at the National Hotel.

　　At the restaurant, I whispered to Jose: “This world there’s only you this kind of person. Order the least expensive dish, do you hear me?”

　　Right at that moment, one of Jose’s bosses was clapping hands walking over, loudly he called out: “What a coincidence! What a coincidence! I am having no companion for dinner tonight; we three persons together then.” He by himself was talking and taking a seat.

　　“I heard today kitchen has fresh fish; how do you think, we take three fish to taste, this kind of fresh fish, not often seen around here in the desert.” He was again by himself talking.

　　The boss, accustomed to being a boss, forgot that he should also look at other people's face. Not a word to us yet, he said to the waitress: “Salad, 3 fish, wine, now, deserts later.”

　　The person-on-duty in the dining hall was exactly the one at noon in the kitchen buying fish from us; he was accidentally walking by our table, seeing Jose and I we were eating the fish we sold which now were served on dish at 20 times more of the price; his jaw dropped, like he was looking at two crazy people.

　　After the dinner, we and Jose’s boss competed for the bill, result Jose won, used up the money from selling fish at the post office front door to pay, only left some change money. Just then I sensed, these fish no matter was sold at 50 or 75 kuai per kilogram, was still sold at such a loss; we, after all, were in the desert.

　　The following day early morning, we overslept till late. I got up making some coffee, washing clothes; Jose was still on bed, saying to me: “Lucky, still we have that bill at the National Hotel we can collect; otherwise yesterday a whole day was miserable enough; gasoline cost we also had to offset, not to mention so much tireness and hard work.”

　“You're saying the bill——that bill——”

　I screamed, rushed to the bathroom, washing machine had already closed; out of the load covered up with soap foam, I took out my trousers, put my hands in the pockets to feel the inside——that bill has already been soaked with water, become soft and white a little heap; want to put them together also could not anymore.

　　“Jose, the last fish has also slipped away! We again will have to eat potato cake then.” I sat on the stone steps of the bathroom, crying and laughing out.

[ End of story ]

Image below: Home-grown new bloom. Photographed by Tâm Anh, on 13 August 2021.

0 notes

ryokourecollections · 6 years

Photo

With the end of the rainy season, which, frankly, did not bring much rain this year at all, we’ve successfully transitioned into a cruel, unrelenting heat. Sure, it sucked having to carry around an umbrella everywhere, but every week or so of persistent heat was punctuated by a nice cool shower, which had the added benefit of cutting the humidity that had been inevitably growing in the past few days right down. But - alas - we are now without such fortunes, which leaves a normally summer house bound young adult like myself wondering what to do - and although it is typically not my cup of tea, I had a craving to solve this by going to the beach! I had started to chart out my weekends when the idea came to me, and had 2 possible dates picked out, wanting to be flexible enough to go with the others who had expressed interest in such an event. Super luckily, one of my coworkers had a yearly event among his friends at the closest beach to Tokyo on the very same weekend, so with a ‘the more the merrier’ type attitude, we agreed to join into the thing.

The event was a self described ‘Barbeque and Beach Yoga’ party at the lovely Zushi, a beach about 2 hours south of Tokyo by JR rail. At this particular beach, you cannot drink alcohol or make food on the beach unless you do so on the property of one of the many ‘beach houses’ (read: snackbars with chairs) lining the beach, so in order to have this shindig, we needed to pool our money not only for food, but to rent the space for the day. It was a bit expensive, but the heat was making any cooling activity priceless, so I pressed on. Unfortunately, we lost our other participants for various reasons, so it ended up being just me and the one with the connection to the event... But, in retrospect, this really wasn’t the important part, so I was happy nonetheless! When I arrived at the beach, I was immediately struck by the differences it has with the beaches I’ve known from the United States. It was much thinner, and curvier, than most of them, and the sand was much ‘shellier,’ for lack of a better term, leading to a less than pleasant feeling chunky sand on your feet. I made my way to the event, and made my introductions with the guests, the overpriced ‘locker’ which was just a storage room with shelves, and the 8$ drinks, before quickly hopping into the water for the first of many swimming sessions of the day.

It had been a very long time since I had last swam, especially at the beach (I really, really hate sand), so maybe this has perverted my perceptions, but I think that water was some of the best I had been in. It was oh so warm, and a nice sea breeze collected from the mountains surrounding you kept your bits that were out of the water, but now in the sun, nice and cool. The wind created some sizable, but not intimidating waves to play in, and to my delight, the floor beneath your feet was crawling with cute little hermit crabs (many of which I captured and examined, briefly, in a quest to see which of them was the biggest)!

The barbecue happened soon after, but it was a little dysfunctional - everyone was so eager to eat they were practically picking morsels off of the tinsy-tiny grill we were given as soon as they were done, making for kind of poor conversation since everyone was getting up and down all of the time. Those new people whom I did have the pleasure of speaking with were nice, but we were all quickly bogged down by the large amounts of food. My friend and I took a stroll down the beach to recover, and went for a couple more swimming sessions, but at this point the party had largely dispersed, some people napping, others still trying to finish off the food, and still more in different locations among the ocean. My friend and I were both beginning to feel the onslaught of sunburns, even though we had both applied sunscreen prodigiously, and were a bit tired from the exercise, so we decided to pass on the Yoga, since it was scheduled a whole 2 hours later, and you had to pay extra to participate. On the walk out we were able to catch a sight subtle enough to not really show up on camera - Mount Fuji’s silhouette on lightly embroidered into the pink early-sunset sky. We took the train back into Tokyo together, unlike on the way in, and I really valued the conversation time, since I admittedly hadn’t really gotten to know this friend as in-depth as some of the others that I’ve met here. As I lay down to go to bed, I could still feel the phantom rocking of the ocean throughout my body.

Woohoo! Double feature and I am all caught up! Technically I am still a week behind, but I as I didn’t really do much of interest this weekend past, it is functionally true. I wish I could have taken a bit of a bigger variety of photos for this one, since the beach really was spectacular, but do to the sorry state of a locker I described, my phone was not easily accessible, not to mention all the time I spent in the ocean. Still, I hope this begins to offer just a bit of the relaxing feeling of the ocean in mid-summer!

1 note · View note

ladyoftheshrimp · 6 years

Note

I want Newt and Percival at the beach in the wee hour of the morning, and they're cuddling; being wrapped with a big fleece blanket and Newt is kissing Percival all sweetly and thanking him for taking the time off from work to follow him to this remote island to study that one glowing magical fish and Percival kisses Newt back and pulls him even closer.

The MACUSA ball was in full swing, people were pleasantlybuzzed and the dancefloor was heaving with couples as they followed the beat ofthe music from the band. At the edge of the room Newt fidgeted with his cuff,uncomfortable in the stiff shirt and bereft at the loss of Pickett for theevening to his case. Sometimes he had to wonder just which one of them had thereal attachment issues.

“May I have this dance?” Percival pulled him from hisreverie, one hand outstretched and ready for Newt to take.

“You sure?” Newt muttered surprised. They’d not talked aboutdancing in the public eye before.

“It would make my night.” Percival reassured him with a warmsmile. Hesitantly Newt took the proffered hand and let himself be led to thedance floor. It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to dance, the etiquette lessonshis parents made him take as a child had certainly made their mark. It was morethat he wasn’t practised or overly comfortable and he was self-conscious. Hedidn’t want to make a bad impression. While Percival’s motions flowed he feltwooden and angular in comparison. Newt felt his cheeks heat up as hemechanically went through the motions. Logically he knew nobody was watchingthem, not beyond the curious glances of who the Head of the Department MagicalLaw Enforcement could be dancing so fondly with. Because Percival was lookingat Newt with soft eyes, the hint of a smile tipped his lips into a curve, handwarm on Newt’s waist. He tipped their foreheads together and helped narrowNewt’s world to just him. He closed his eyes and hummed along to the tunesoftly which left Newt captivated.

“So, I’ve wanted to ask you,” Percival began as his eyesopened, “I’ve got two weeks of vacation booked off. Did you want some companyon your next travels to Fiji?”

“You’d come with me to observe the mating habits of firecrabs?” Newt smiled and forgot about dancing in his excitement. His knee bashedinto Percival’s before he stood on the other man’s toes. “Sorry.” He mutteredforlornly at the wince.

“Nothing to worry about. I’d like to come to Fiji with you,if you’ll have me.”

“Everyone in the case will be delighted that you’re comingalong. They do so miss you terribly when you’re gone. Rather, I’m gone frombeside you.” Newt laughed.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll leave together in a few days.”

The trip to Fiji was rather mundane all things considered.Newt smuggled Percival onto the boat in his case which Percival grumbled aboutto no end. But otherwise Percival would have needed to book his own room, noneof the good cabins were available at such short notice and he wouldn’t havespent much time in his own room anyway. Newt’s logic had won him over. ThusPercival Graves, law enforcer extraordinaire became a stowaway on a ship headedfor lands far over the ocean.

Off the boat and at their camping site Newt busied himselfwith setting things up. The beach was a minute walk from their tent, far enoughaway that the tide wouldn’t reach them. Further into the island was a villagethat was preparing for some kind of celebration. The locals were friendlyenough but didn’t pay much attention to two foreigners who camped near thebeach. Newt sighed contentedly as he laid next to the glowing embers of thesmall fire pit and gaze up at the sky. Absentmindedly he patted the ground nextto him and Percival obediently sat.

“We need to be up around 2am, that’s when the fire crabswill be most active. So have a quick snooze if you want.” Newt suggested. Percivallay down with his head pillowed on Newt’s stomach and stared up at the sky.Sleep didn’t come easy to either of them.

“The stars always look so different. Look, there’s Crux, theSouthern Cross. And that there is called Carina – allegedly has more than 300stars in it.” Newt pointed at the sky and Percival tried his best to keep up.But truthfully stars had never been his strong suit so sometimes he just hummedand nodded along to Newt, content to listen to him tell the stories behindconstellations he himself couldn’t quite make out. After a while he shut hiseyes, intent on just listening to Newt’s voice wash over them. Percival’s eyeswere slow to open when he was jostled, a blanket draped around him and Newtmuttering apologies as he extracted himself from under him.

Still half asleep Percival gathered the blanket and trundledafter Newt despite protests. But if Newt was going somewhere then Percival wasgoing to follow him no matter what. They stopped at the beach and stared. Thefire crabs were in full light even under the water, their jewel encrustedshells sparkled in a beautiful haze. Those out on the beach glimmered as theycreated flames to show off and entice a mate.

“Aren’t they glorious?” Newt gushed as he stared at thebeach.

“Yes, quite.” Percival replied but his gaze was held captiveby Newt and his evident delight. The crabs were pretty but to him nothing couldever surpass the beauty of Newt, excited as he was.

“Look.” Newt breathed and pointed as he glanced at Percivalto make sure his attention was capture by the fire crabs too. Percival drapedthe blanket partially over Newt and pulled him close as they watched thecreatures and their peculiar mating habits on the beach. Eventually Newt tippedhis head onto Percival’s shoulder and sighed contentedly.

“Thank you.” He mumbled through a smile. Percival pressed akiss to the top of his head.

“For what?”

“Taking time off. Coming to see the fire crabs with me. Campingwith me when I know you prefer hotels.” Newt sounded like he was reeling off awell-rehearsed list.

“You’re a fool if you think I’d have this any other way. Younext to me, happy. That’s all I ever want. I’d even follow you to the arctic.”Percival paused. “But please don’t take that as an invitation. I’d rather notgo there if at all possible.”

Newt let out a huff of a laugh and craned his neck up for akiss. Fire crabs forgotten they kissed under the blanket until they were tootired to do much other than shuffle back to their camp and fall asleep curledup in a tangle.

They spent a few nights watching the fire crabs. Newt had anotebook where he made details observations about their habits and rituals.Sometimes Percival would join him under the blanket and they shared kisses,Newt sometimes distracted by a particular display as his eyes tracked a crabwhile his mouth was otherwise occupied. In those moments Percival would laughand pull away with encouraging words to fuel Newt’s enthusiasm for hisobservations. Other nights though Percival would have his own blanket andnotebook. In there he’d sketch Newt as he saw him. Sometimes it would be thewide-eyed wonder that he captured while at other times it was the thoughtful ifsleepy expression as Newt tried to decipher what the fire crabs were doing. Andif he had a page dedicated to doodling little hearts with their initials - thatwas his little secret that nobody else had to know about.

They were coming to the end of their stay, Newt’s notebookswere filled to the brim with extra sheets stuck in every few pages as hefigured out how some behaviours were interlinked. Their little campsite wascalm and quiet as they sat and were trying to figure out what to have fordinner. Newt noticed the approaching natives first. It was a group of three menand Percival was taken by surprise at how easily Newt fell into an easyconversation with them. After a few minutes the men left and Newt trotted backto their camp with a wide grin on his face.

“Dinner is sorted. We’ve been asked to celebrate with thevillage tonight. I accepted the invitation.”

Percival looked uncertain but eventually Newt’s infectiousgrin won him over. Local cuisine and a party may well be what they needed tocomplete their little adventure. Together they got ready, mostly distracted bysoft kissed and roaming hands. It was exceptionally difficult to put a shirt onwhen his hands were doing buttons up at the same rate Newt was undoing them topress kisses to the skin he revealed. Amid small huffs of laughter and softgrumblings they were finally ready and presentable. Hand in hand they walked upto the village. There was a large fire burning and the locals were alreadygathered around in a huddle. Music was being played by a group while otherswere singing. It was quite a surreal experience, Percival had never seenanything like it before and he stuck close to Newt who seemed so at ease evenin a group of strangers, like he’d done this hundreds of times before.

They were ushered to sit on a log near the fire and Percivalwatched wide eyed. Food was being passed around, everyone looked to happy itwas hard to stay closed off for long. The music picked up and Newt was shiftingaround next to him as they watched a group begin to dance.

“I know this one!” Newt suddenly exclaimed and shot off thelog without warning, his plate unceremoniously shoved at Percival. He joined inthe dance with a carefree laugh. It was wild, limbs everywhere and nothing likethe formal dancing they’d done in New York. Percival sat back to watch himcontentedly as the love of his life danced without much co-ordination in thefirelight. All of a sudden it felt like a shame that their little holiday wascoming to an end, Percival had never felt more relaxed and he didn’t want it tostop. He found himself already planning and looking forward to their next fewweeks to whatever place Newt felt the need to go.

#gramander #percival graves #newt scamander #newt scamander x percival graves #fluff #dancing #sorry this took me ages to post #but you know what this means?#I HAVE FINISHED MY FIRST DRAFT!#so i'm back in full swing

58 notes · View notes