Baby Talk

Yeah, there's definitely some gaps, but I'll do my best to fill them in for you...   Visiting the "mom"...   According to the local law this part of the DD (I'm assuming it's a state in the DD's version of the USA) babies and non relatives aren't allowed to see the incarcerated. So, they already ruled out Heather because some people say she's an "Amazon baby" which makes sense until it comes out that they know she's a Little but "looks just like an Amazon baby" when she's fully dressed up. I wasn't questioning this until Amy/Sarah (whatever name is hers) was said to be smaller than Heather and, according to the jail staff, looks like an Amazon newborn (but with a full head of hair xD).   The test the staff in the jail did on Dianne proves she's not Heather's mom which is solid writing, but the game the Amazons are seemingly playing with Heather does make sense (Amazons do love fucking with Littles), but it also can be quite confusing for the reader.    Adoption?   Heather cannot be legally adopted at the jail, but it seems like Sarah/Amy can because she wasn't placed with a foster mother. Again, it's a bit odd and yet, it makes sense. Heather ended up with a Foster mother because an Amazonian child was put into the foster mom's custody and, at the time both the child and Dianne claimed Heather was an Amazonian infant. Sarah/Amy was taken in with the obese woman who kidnapped her in the parking lot of the hotel in the first couple of chapters. She ended up in the adoption program (seemingly ran by the jail) because she was never declared to be an Amazonian Infant. However, the program Heather is in somehow knows she's a Little so... yeah, a bit more confusion but the DD has a shit ton of Adoption agencies so I don't have an issue with the jail doing it but the foster mom/agency taking care of Heather is a bit odd/off to me.   As far as Surgery goes...   I invented Unbirth and Birthing (at least in the context of the DD) and I'm assuming such a "regression" surgery is similar without a Little being implanted in the womb. If I had to guess (and skip to the next paragraph if you are easily squeamish) the surgery would permanently alter or render Sarah/Amy bald and toothless. They'll probably removed her tendons so she cannot walk or crawl and possibly alter her motor skills/coordination so she cannot function properly. Oh, and remove her breasts and add "baby fat"...   Other Little?   I'm not sure if you're talking about the chick from the hotel that got kidnapped in the parking lot or Dianne's Amazonian daughter. Sarah/Amy (yeah that confuses me too) is the other little from the hotel. The other child is a child, Dianne's daughter.    Have you missed something?   To be fair I tend to miss things to and yet I keep coming back to this story because the writer has truly grown and improved since the first page of this story. It's a bit rough, but I'm enjoying it. I've also been under a lot of stress, but I don't think the stress is making this trickier to read. It just needs a bit of revising when the writer finishes it. There's some gaps but not enough to ruin the story.   ---- As I've said, I'm enjoying the story and the early infancy/newborn focus which has suddenly become the focus of this tale. Seriously, few people ever do this so I'm really excited to see what you do. Other than myself, Ausdpr, Long Rifle and maybe one or two other writers.... most people writing in the DD steer clear of newborns.  

Hey everyone! One more chapter to go after this one! Yay! We can talk amore about the future (what comes after evefhing)   Now… last but not least and as usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter of my story! Chapter 19: A Mystery Through the Woods My pulse was racing. I turned slowly with Fred. I could see from his face as well that we were both utterly terrified. It wasn’t a monster… it had spoken, but that didn’t exactly narrow down the field. If it was someone like Ms. Peachy, we could have been fine. She knew our plan if she was only half-listening. But if it was pretty much anyone else? Punishment… maybe even a note of accusation of trying to run away… again. But the figure then stepped into the light. “Tommy?” I questioned, seeing my old friend hovering around before us, looking maybe only an ounce younger than when we were last cabinmates. He was in ACTS and I saw him around the camp, but especially being in yellow cabin now, my interactions with him were severely limited. “Is that really you?” He smirked and nodded. “It’s me. Heard you two were going to come out here like a bunch of idiots back at the ACTS cabin. Didn’t think you all would be so stupid to try and get yourselves caught like this… but here we are.” “But Tommy…” Fred seemed less shocked and still angrier and perplexed by what we had just seen of our fellow former cabin members in Havenswood now post-bounce… and not the city. We had been lied to, and Fred clearly didn’t like that. “Look.” He pointed back towards all the former campers currently dancing around and playing with each other as if they had always truly been babies… not adults or teens only weeks or months ago. “It’s almost all the ones that bounced in red or yellow cabin. They’re here. This damn camp lied to us!” Tommy sighed. “Yes… but come on. We need to talk about this where we won’t be immediately discovered by Bran. He’ll make his trip over here pretty soon to bring back bread for his dinner tonight.” I almost questioned how he would even know something like that, but Fred pulled me right alongside him as he followed Tommy away from the daycare scene and back into the forest we had come from. Coming to a nearby clearing, Tommy finally stopped and turned back to us. “This should do.” “Fine, fine,” Fred said dismissively, clearly biting at the bit to get some answers. “Now, what the hell was going on back there? Did we really see all those former red and yellow cabin members? Has the camp been lying to us this whole time?” Tommy sighed again and nodded. “Yes, those are the former red and yellow cabin members, and yes, the camp has been lying to you.” He then sat and we followed suit. “Gonna take a sec here, but I don’t know if you remember, but we’ve always talked about the bargain between the camp and the commune. Everyone knows about the first two parts.” Both of us nodded. Tommy being Tommy though, still elaborated. “First, in exchange for the land to be used by the camp, campers would help where they could in town.” By now, I had baked bread, mended fences, painted toys, ploughed fields, picked berries, and about a dozen or so other tasks around the commune. Being a part of their daily lives, the first part of the bargain was well known to every camp member by now. “Second part,” Tommy continued, “is inviting the commune into the camp. First by the communal meals we have three times a week, second by the bonfire and the skits put on, and third by the volunteers that come in to help with varying tasks… especially in red and yellow cabins.” I nodded again. Without looking, I knew that Fred knew it too, but he hadn’t fully experienced it beyond the dinners and the bonfires. For me though… countless names were now etched into my mind of the volunteers. Persephone… Josephine… Esther… Emma… so many and all helping out. Not all as successful. “And I’ve always heard about a third,” Fred piped up, his impatience showing fully today. “Is there one?” Tommy nodded gravely. “Hidden and unknown to most… in the beginning, the camp staff had gone into the city that day for some time off… and got hit by the mist. In two days, the camp already worried deeply if they would even be able to continue.” “Enter Havenswood…” I bemoaned. Tommy nodded. “Exactly. Mrs. Claw and Mildred struck their bargain. They knew with the orange mist, there would be a huge influx of needy ARs wanting to get away from a stressful, infected, and chaotic city. So, those that didn’t go home with their families or didn’t have any family to speak of, came here and were the first batch of ARs to come through. And any that became toddlers or babies basically… were then turned over to the commune. Low birth rates and all… the camp provided us ARs as a new resource for the commune.” Fred and I were both flummoxed by the notion of the bargain being struck that long ago and just the sheer almost barbarity and sickening nature of it. Fred though… with a skeptical streak deeply entrenched in him, wanted more. “But… how do you know all this? Is this just a rumor or some story or…?” “I was a former camp counselor here,” Tommy revealed. “Art counselor… went off to check out the waterfront area with my girlfriend in town… got popped. With nowhere else to go, I ended up here.” My mind quickly connected the dots. His knowledge of this place… his art on the walls… the caginess that Mr. Pinter and the others had exhibited when I asked about it. I couldn’t even imagine how he had to feel staying here. One day he’s head of arts and crafts and the next… he’s gluing pieces of paper together and coloring within the lines with markers himself. At least I got away from the city and any reminders of my old life. It was hard in some ways but so much easier in others. In the end, I could only think of one thing to say. “Damn…” Fred nodded while Tommy smirked and then spoke up. “Yeah, well… it is what it is. Not been easy, but… I know things. Good memory, a sometimes in with the staff, and a little leeway… it varies but it’s nice.” Fred stepped forward and seemed to pop out of his momentary stupor. “Like?” “Like I know that some can leave this place,” he noted. “It’s not all doom for red and yellow. You just need to keep your head down and contact anyone outside of here that you know. If you have family, friends, associates… anyone who could take you in, call ‘em. Those with those connections leave… those without…” His eyes shifted back towards Havenswood. He didn’t need to say anything more about it. And it all lined up. Someone like Pearson from blue cabin had dropped into red for about a week only. After bouncing, he went to go live with an aunt and uncle somewhere up north in the state. People like everyone I had seen though… no relatives. Knowing someone like Brian the best, I knew his family were all dead or never communicated much. He would probably rather die than ask his ex-wife… so, that left Havenswood. My fate practically seemed sealed by now. I was glad Tommy had been honest with Fred and I, but as we walked back, I nearly felt my feet sink into the world around me at what awaited me. In less than a month, I would bounce, but worse now… I had no family. Parents were dead and both were only children… and all my friends were either here with me or had gotten hit themselves and were now scattered over five states. It’s the way things crumbled sometimes. With our deadline of being back sooner rather than later, needless to say, even after, my attempts to keep my panic low as we later went to dinner were mostly unsuccessful. Curiously though, the next day throughout my classes Emma practically stuck to me like glue. Before, I wouldn’t have paid any attention, but there was something different about her. She was more patient, caring, attentive, and even affectionate. I might not have minded, but after what I had seen in Havenswood, every action she or any other commune took seemed suspicious. And seeing her now, it was hard not to paint her as a hidden villain lurking in the shadows ready to strike when the time was right. She had been my rock for so long now. I actively came to her with my problems, and while trusting someone around here I think is one of the big differences between someone like me and Brian, all my actions and her reactions to them feel like deliberate attempts on her part to get closer to me. Not as a friend… but someone I could seriously consider a caregiver of mine already. ‘Is it too late for me so close to the end here? If I was to bounce, do I even have a say in the matter? And… crud. Was she almost prepping me for life with her in our little chats?’ It was a horrid thought, and I didn’t want to believe it, but knowing what I did, my conclusion didn’t seem so irrational. “Penny for your thoughts, honey?” she asked, rocking back on her front porch with me nudged tightly on a bench nearby and trying not to spill my glass of ice-cold lemonade. I looked up at her, trying to discern any quality I could find to be treacherous or deceitful… but I couldn’t find any. Just her warm smile and open features of understanding and her ability as a great listener. “Just… thinking about my future is all…” I wasn’t exactly lying… mostly the truth, but I also knew that was the best way to evade the whole truth right off the bat. “Oh?” She set her own glass down on the table beside her right next to the peonies she had recently plucked. “Anything in particular or…?” She paused and eyed me closely. “It’s about bouncing… isn’t it?” My throat seized for a moment. ‘Crud! Does she know that I know about this place and the ARs getting stuck in Havenswood?’ I wasn’t sure but I knew I had to proceed with caution or be ruined on the spot. Something told me that if they found out that I knew, punishments or something even worse would soon follow. “Yeah… just thinking about what comes after all this…” While a part of me was telling her the truth, another part of me was tapping a piece of bait in her direction. ‘But will she take it?’ “That’s tough…” was all she said. Not wanting to fully tip my hat but also curious just how much she was involved, I decided to let her in a little more. If I was lucky, she would fall into her own words, and I would find out more about Havenswood. “Just not one’s telling me anything. Like… do I have a say in what I wear or eat? Is there person taking me in… if anyone does at all, will they accommodate my mental thoughts or am I going to be treated like a baby?” Heavy-handed, yes, but I could already see the previously sympathetic but ultimately stoic exterior of Emma give way. “This place hasn’t been so bad, has it?” I could already hear the nerves in her voice. She seemed to be testing me as well. “No… but this won’t be like what comes after bouncing… right?” I closely kept my eye on Emma. She didn’t miss a beat though. “Maybe… but I think if you give Havenswood a chance, you might actually like it. Heck… we have a fall festival coming up. Known for miles around… one of the best events of the year.” She paused and took a deep and long calming breath. “Plus, the air and the peace here. No pollution… almost no crime… hard to beat that compared to the city…” Now I felt she was directly running an ad on this place right in front of me. Any woes and sadness I had over what I had found out, or even my fears that she knew, were turning into apprehension as we went back and forth. I would push… and then she would push something else.   “The city was my home,” I defended quickly, almost missing it some days. “It has its charms just like this place. Maybe some negatives, but the food scene alone…” Emma smirked. “I think you believe that I’m just some shut in, Miles.” She seemed to take my lack of answer as a yes to that notion. “Well, I might not live in the city, but I go there more than you might think.” “Oh?” I had always assumed commune members were out here for a reason. “Not every week and I know I’m a rarity around here, but…” She leaned closer. “Can’t really find a good slice of pizza out here. Mama Fiona’s isn’t too bad but it’s nothing like that place on main street.” “You know Tony’s?” Half the people that went into the city knew Tony’s, but it wasn’t exactly a place where I would ever expect to meet a commune member. “Of course.” She smiled back and almost seemed to recall in her mind the food there. “Always get the veggie one. It all just comes together, and then the seating by the water?” She kissed her fingers dramatically. “Perfect.” “Absolutely,” I murmured dreamily. “It was small… almost nothing, but someone here going into the city meant a lot to me. If I was to be sequestered here, I would hate my life if I never left this valley or beyond Claw Forest ever again in my life. It was like the tiny beam of light shining through the dark storm clouds hovering all around me. I smiled back at her. ‘You know? Maybe this whole thing wouldn’t be so bad. Emma has been nice to me and I do need help and Havenswood is nice and almost like a place where other would come to retire and relax and that’s not so bad or…’ I stopped myself right away and stood up, fully wanting to punch myself. With that option off the table, I went for plan B in my head. “Sorry Emma. Great to hear about the city, but… gotta go!” Before she had a chance to pop back, I was practically running away. Being in yellow cabin, I probably should have had a chaperone back to camp from here… but I didn’t care. I was almost justifying staying with her. Maybe not the worst… but I couldn’t entertain the notion. I wanted to trap Emma… and instead, she laid one out for me. She had provided a single larger connection between us. The city was meant to soften the blow about staying here. And I had fallen right in. It worried me to the point where I knew I had to do something about it ASAP. “Fred! Fred!” I called, rushing into the ACTS cabin after I had dodged half a dozen black cabin campers and counselors on the way to get here. Fred, Pedro, Uriah, and Tommy all looked up at me. They had finished their tasks up early today and with the August heat still bubbling outside, the cabin was a welcome relief. All looked at me as if I was nuts though… Fred got up and I could already see the pained look on his face. “Yes, Miles?” he asked me, coming over rubbing the bridge of his nose. Ever since he had learned about what happens to the red and yellow cabin members who bounce here, he had been more than a little moody. He had been reaching out to a few outsiders… but most either didn’t believe him or passed the notion off as ‘what the younger ARs needed.’ His briefly elated mood had quickly taken a nosedive. For me, though, I had been seeing things more black and white lately. With my approaching bounce date maybe only weeks away now, I pushed for more of the direct approach. “What do you think about escaping?” Everyone in the cabin stopped what they were doing and looked at me. “Miles…” Fred was black cabin and still a stick in the mud. I could already see that he had the will… but not the faith any scheme would work. Owing to my escape attempts, camp seemed pretty walled off with both the mountains and monsters surrounding us. “I would love to but…” “Count me in,” Eric quickly interjected, raising his hand as he jumped out of his nearby chair and waddled over to us. I suspected he was in pull-ups now… I would never ask him though. “Really?” Eric was a friend but escaping yet again and especially with the plan I had in mind, things could get dicey in a second. “You know we’re not driving, right?” Eric hesitated for a second before nodding his head. “Got it. Can’t say I’m the biggest fan but after what you all saw with Havenswood and with my bounce date coming sooner rather than later… you haven’t lied to me yet. You were right about everything… even the monsters. So… if there’s a way to escape?” He smirked and took another step forward. “Then count me in.” “Good…” I looked toward the rest of the room and the many staring faces looking at me quizzically. “Anyone else? Pedro? Uriah? Billy? Tommy?” But no one dared respond. And frankly, I couldn’t blame them. Having tried to escape twice already, and with reports of the south being completely monster-infested or inaccessible, any escape plan likely seemed foolish… maybe even dangerous to the point of deadly. For them, by now, I knew they were either resigned to their revealed fate if they hit red or yellow cabin… or they needed more proof of what we had seen. But, regardless of the others, I knew I had to have hope that at least Fred would come with Eric and I. I had a plan if he said no… but two under four ARs wandering around the wilderness by themselves at night, no matter the planning, deeply felt like a bad plan doomed from the start. “Fred?” I finally asked with more than a little worry. “Are you… in? Or…?” Fed scratched the back of his head. His face was written like the foretelling’s of doom already… but he nodded. “Yeah… I’m in. Can’t let you two run off now. I just…” He bit his lip like he wanted to ask me something I would have potentially found insulting. “Do you at least have a plan, Miles?” “I do,” I confirmed before directing Fred and Eric to one of the nearby tables to sit at and discuss what was next. I noticed a few were staring at us, but most everyone went right back to what they had been doing. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. Being so close to the end, I never thought I would need to use it. Thought I dodged a bullet…” Fred flashed me with a sympathy smile and patted my shoulder. “More like delayed… I know the feeling.” Being one of the newer members of the camp, Fred’s diagnosis had been tested and tracked for its progression. It was another sign of the world moving on without us, but for him, I knew he was worried about bouncing into red cabin. And without family… he was just as vulnerable to all this crud as I was. The three of us nodded in gloom before I rolled out a map I had been keeping of the camp and the commune. Since I first made it myself, I made sure to add several notations, including cameras and security tracks… just like I had seen with Ron’s map back in purple cabin. ‘Geesh… that feels so long ago now.’ “Now… we know that the south, east, and western parts of camp are either too dangerous or blocked off.” I pointed to the surface of the map to each of the spots one of us or someone we knew had tried to escape before. With these three blocked off…” My finger moved upward. “We go north.” “North? Are you sure about that, Miles?” Fred asked with a slight voice crack. “You heard the past stories just like I didn’t. Sammy told you all that being so close to Havenswood, the place is guarded heavily.” I nodded. “It won’t be easy and we don’t know about the monsters… but that’s why north as well. From what I’ve gathered around, there should be an easier and more level hike this way. Also… the map shows less woods up there… less monsters.” “Unless we don’t know something…” Eric said softly, looking every bit worried. “Maybe…” I conceded. “But this is our only option. We do this and leave and hit the city… or we take our chances here and wait for what we all know will happen. Of the three of us, I think I stand the best chance of someone knowing me on the outside, and even then… it’s a million and one shot. So… it’s this or bust.” Fred sighed. “I don’t like it… but you’re not lying, Miles…” He winced a little as he rubbed his neck. “So… when do we leave?” It was his affirmation that, no matter how risky or foolhardy, he was in with the plan. I took a deep breath. “Tomorrow night. New moon… we’ll need it.” I could tell my friends were shocked… but neither said no. While there was a baby monitor in yellow cabin and a volunteer coming every thirty minutes, Eric and I made our escapes. Being former military, Killian had mapped this place and all its exits and even how to get out of the cribs at night… just in case. Being the butt-kisser that he was, Alex also knew the code and the key to leave out the front door. He never used it himself… but Eric and I were more than happy to oblige, and five minutes after we started, both Eric and I were outside the door with a nearby and waiting Fred in the bushes. Racing over, we all made sure we were okay and that everyone had brought what they needed. Eric and I caried out own waters and some simple snacks, two flashlights, and a blanket and jacket each. Standard, but Fred… he was loaded down with everything else. Food, medicine, back-up general issue map, compass… his pack stood out much more than ours. We all breathed heavily with our nerves playing havoc on us. But that didn’t do us any good, so I went first. “Okay… we have everything we need. Last chance to back out. Any takers…?” Fred and Eric didn’t say anything. “Well alright then.” Maybe secrecy or maybe nerves… but I definitely nodded and walked off to the path leading us north and out right towards freedom. “Off we go…” To say I was more than a little nervous would have been a massive understatement. All day, I had been savoring the taste of freedom, but also the bitterness of fear over anything we would find or encounter out here. Unlike south or west, there were no clearly marked ‘Saty out!’ signs as crossed the border about midway perpendicular to Havenswood. “That’s not ominous…” Fred noted, a tiny crack just noticeable at the end of his words. I blinked at the sign twice and then shook my head. “Just a scare tactic. Come on!” Stepping into the woods was bad enough… I definitely didn’t want to stop if we didn’t have to. Unfortunately, once again, my mind was strong, but I could feel the effects of my weaking body. I was slowing down… but I was also about under three now according to Mrs. Galen. I wasn’t bad as some, Alex maybe hitting two years old, but this was my third escape attempt, and I could already feel the difficulty more than the others. Rowing with Brian on the lake hadn’t been a picnic, but as we progressed, every minute or two, Fred would have to lift me over a log, or I would get smacked by a low-hanging or sprouting branch. Finally, though… the woods started to part. Trees became thinner… frailer. And getting Fred to stop to look at the map, I confirmed right where we were. “Excellent. Just north of the town. Another mile and we hit the norther branch of the trail that should pivot east and head right for the town we passed just on the other side of Claw Forest.” I stopped to see what Fred or Eric had to say about that piece of good news. Except when I looked, neither were looking at me. I was more than a little annoyed, but neither were known to be the difficult one or the ignoring-everyone member of our friend group. If anything, they were the opposite. So, curious, I looked right where their stunned and mortified expressions were staring. And just to our right, there was a creature. Tall… minding its own business but very much alive and hungry. Crunching bones and slurps of something wet and fleshy. It ate crouched down and could barely be seen through the sparse but still present foliage of this part of the woods. And then it looked toward us… only for a moment, but I saw the size… it’s yellow eyes. ‘Wruethroat…’ Knowing it was the largest and most dangerous, I placed my hands on my friends’ shoulder and whispered. “We need to go… slowly. We’ll try to go around…” Eric was practically shaking. He still had his mind but like everyone else in yellow cabin he had still lost something. Like me, it was the normal regulation over his emotions. He turned to me, trembling like the leaves he was surrounded by. “But… what if…?” “No.” I was terrified out of my mind, but I knew for my friend, I needed to at least try and be brave. “We go around. Just slow and steady…” I was relieved to see him nod his head at me. We all then moved slowly around the creature, but the summer had been drier than normal and was coming to a close. The forest was littered with rocks and some early leaves. And dried sticks… where Fred stepped on one, cracking it in half. The Wruethroat stopped eating and looked right at us. Its yellow eyes like burning lightbulbs and tanning lights rolled into one. High… intense… unforgettable. It hunched back… sniffed… roared… and charged. Its roar sounded throughout the forest and we all panicked. “Run!” I screamed. Any plan of dignity or safety or order or discretion had been thrown out the window in less than thirty seconds. The Wruethroat was charging us, and we were running for our lives. A simple equation out here in nature and the inevitable nature of harm or death. This was survival at its finest… and worst. Eric tripped. “Help!” he cried out from the ground. “Shit!” I pivoted back and saw my friend so helpless before turning to Fred and shaking him. “Come on! We need to help him!” Fred saw the charging monster and froze… but not forever. He snapped out of it and helped me get Eric back on his feet and to run some more. Panting breaths. Foul screeches and groans all to shake your bones and beat your courage into the ground. I had never been so terrified in my life. The other monsters had the benefit of either not caring, being close to the border, or by me defending against it was an oar or using my boat as a partial shield. Here, none of that was possible. Just running and more running. I wanted to look back. To see if the monster was still chasing us. I hoped it would just stop like most other wild animals on this farm. But I knew it hadn’t as it stomped its way across the grove, cracking branches and old dead leaves. And with lungs bursting and eyes trying to make out whatever was in front of us while illuminating our path, we ran hard. Stopping seemed to mean death… but also not doing it meant that we weren’t looking at map or where we were going aside from not hitting a branch or tree root or stumbling on a rock. So, we ran right into dead end positioned right at the base of the mountain… looking more fence than anything like a true mountainside though. “Shit! We’re trapped!” I cursed. “Turn around and…” But just as I did, the Wruethroat had stopped as well and had us pinned without a way of leaving. Except for Fred… “You all distract,” he commanded with a strange smirk. “I’ll be right back! Just… distract it, okay? Back… soon.” I wanted to ask what the heck he was doing… except he quickly climbed up and right into the darkness… just as the Wruethroat approached. Now, it was just Eric and I. I took his hand. “Stay strong, man. We got this. Just…” I looked down and found a tree branch. The best I could say was that it was better than nothing. “Get ready… go!” With few options, we could either run or fight. We had no place to run… so that left one thing left. Problem was… The Wruethroat was easily 7 or 8 feet tall… and Eric and I were just too small. Swing after swing, Eric and I lunged at the creature… but that was about it. No definitive blow… now hard-thrusted stab. Just pushing off and avoiding the teeth or the claws of the disgusting green creature in front of us. “We can’t win!” Eric wailed. “We’re going to die.” I hated that language. Eric did it sometimes as a life-long pessimist. In this case though, with my arms already tiring and Fred gone and no way out and this massive creature… I thought he might have a point. ‘No, no, no! Not now. This can’t be how we go out! We just need something…’ “Ahh!” A huge yell came from above and looking there only briefly to keep attacking the monster… but Fred had returned with a large rock and broken thick and sturdy stick. One blow… two blows… three blows! One right after the other and each just as powerful as the last. At last, the monster screamed a horrific shriek and fell to the ground. Not dead… just not moving. “God!” Eric shouted, looking about five seconds away from some kind of mental breakdown. “We did it. I thought we were dead and doomed but…” His eyes warily looked over the unconscious body of the monster. And I did too. Claws tipped their gangly long and green fingers at the base or large arms and legs and body. All covered in green almost leaf-like pieces, lying so still, he more resembled a wide bush. Huge muscles and broad shoulders and a mewing gape of a mouth and seams and… ‘Wait… what?’ I looked closer. Right above the right shoulder… the skin almost seemed punctured and peeled away. If not for the outer leaf-like pattern, it looked alive… but coming face to face with it, there was something more… something right beneath the green covering. ‘But… that…’ “Can’t wrap your mind around it just yet though, huh?” he correctly asked me. “Yes…” I felt like I knew… but it just seemed so far-fetched. “I…” “Go on… say it,” Fred encouraged me. “You see it… you know it… Now, just say it.” I swallowed hard. “It’s… fake?” Fred smiled wide and took a single finger and poked into the seam… and tore down. Not blood or guts or flesh but darkness encasing a perfectly healthy limb. One intact shoulder… then I looked nearby. I saw the chest and neck wrapped in a t-shirt sporting the camp’s logo. My eyes were telling the whole truth… but I couldn’t say it. Instead, I looked at Fred to fill in the answers. Fred only smiled and reached down around the ‘creatures’ neck. “Ah… yep! Here we go.” And with one clean pull, the head came right off. Underneath… unmistakably Mr. Pinter. “I… I…” I was at a loss for words. “How did you know?” Fred pointed to where the previously small seam had appeared. “I saw that earlier. I thought it was a defect in the monster or something… but then I saw it closer when it ran towards us initially in here. I saw it closer. And if I was wrong, I just figured that another direction of attack would be better.” “And you were right…” I noted, my voice almost echoing with its emptiness at the realization of all this one reveal had uncovered. “The monsters here… they’re the staff.” Eric finally stepped up and looked at the monster and then at me and then at Fred. “I… I don’t get it. Is it like a costume? Is Mr. Pinter dressing up?” Fred smirked and shook his head. It was the simple naiveté and the long-held belief of something going bump in the night. Simple concept… difficult realization. “Eric… I know it’s hard to believe… but the monsters are fake. All of them are fake. Every single one we’ve encountered or who has scared us or chased us or fought us… everyone one of them is a fa…” Right then, an object lobbed right into the middle of our group. Before we could even hope to kick it away, it ignited and a huge plume of gray and white swirling smoke emitted from the now obvious cannister. Quick and almost instantly bathing our group, we didn’t have a chance to hold our breaths. In seconds we all collapsed to the ground. The last thing I remember were a pair of boots marching over to me and the hurried commotion of a scene unfolding around Mr. Pinter. Some seemed pissed… some seemed scared. I wasn’t sure what I was… I just knew that the monsters here were fake. Something told me that I was being carted off for even knowing that hugely consequential notion.

Hello there, Mikie Where are you from?  Also you would be interested in being a caretaker for me.  Could you explain a little what that would possibly look like? Also its nice to have someone respond to my thread after about 1 month of not seeing any posts.  

Oh frills, can we be without them? I don't think so!

Plymouth Barracuda