(49) woof

I love my kids! I love running and jumping and chasing birds but not the good bird because we’re friends, but the other birds are fun fun fun fun fun to chase.

This place is very different from the place we grew up in but it’s ok! Less people less noise less light but more fun more green, more of my kids to take care of.

Marcy is older now, not small and squishy, but very busy and grown. Smells less like milk, more like moss and petrol and dust. She still cares, still plays with me good fun a lot of balls lots of tug of war! She was fun when she was still squishy but she is fun now good fun.

She has an angry friend yells a lot but it's ok he means well he yells but he’s nice deep down.

Very deep down but he’s ok.

The air is fresh here! lots of new animals and creatures but I keep my kids safe there’s no need to worry. I’m very fierce I can fight the strange things in the woods that are big and noisy and smell like trees and mud.

I can tell they all had trouble with the change in the air and the woods. It was loud loud loud for days and you could feel the Bad in the air and see it in the sky and hear the panic and the everything.

Then it was quiet.

Then the kids came back! And they were tired and sad and were bothered by the Bad but I can fix it and be there for them and it is ok!

It will be ok.

(48) memories

Or also maybe ‘before the beginning’ because that was the prompt

---

Winters were always cold there. The first big snow storm Steven remembered was absolutely MASSIVE: it knocked out power and swept away trees and forced their town into a stand still for a week.

It was much too cold, his mom said. He wasn’t allowed to go outside, but he wanted to dig his hands into the fresh white powder SO BAD that he tried to sneak out. He picked out his winter coat all on his own and jammed a hat over his head, and was halfway to waddling to the door when his father caught him in the act.

Then his father gave him a stern Look, and Steven immediately burst into tears.

But all children, they say, can be bribed with a good cup of hot coco.

---

This week is shit anyway so have something ive just been sitting on

Did you hear that carrie fisher drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra?

oh wait no!!!!!!

I dont know what to do with this so….. Here i guess?????

---

“Rui what did you do”

“I was drunk and I got the world’s smallest tattoo where they misspelled love as ‘lvoe’”

“RUI”

(47) ancestors

ok so this was GOING to be a part but………. It would have been FILLED with spoilers so

redacted??/

anyway, here

(46) those lost

“Hey.”

Steve jerked and looked behind him to see Chrys coming up on his left among the tombstones.

She sat down, a bottle nestled in between her legs. “This grandpa?”

A nod, “Yeah. I thought… someone should come.” He’d been there for awhile already, just sitting and thinking.

The graveyard was pretty overgrown already, full of weeds and flowers and bird nests, but Steven still did his best to clear away some headstones. Even though the nature would eventually overcome it all, he still thought they should be clear for now.

Steve gave his sister a disapproving look, nodding his head towards the bottle. “You know you’re not drinking that, right?” The paper bag covering the label hadn't fooled him.

She rolled her eyes, but still handed it to him without much fuss. “It’s not for us.”

Oh.

She produced two tiny cups from her pockets, then placed both on the stone before them. Even after they filled them, however, there was still a lot of alcohol left in the bottle.

Steven shifted the bottle in his hands back and forth a little before he wordlessly took a swig and offered the bottle to Chrys.

After that, they sat in silence.

Steve thought about how the word would move on after they died.

Chrys didn’t speak again until the sun had started to slide past the horizon. “I miss them.”

Steve took her hand in his and held it tight. He remembered when she was first born, when his mother told him and his brothers to be careful with her. Chrys was still too small, too fragile. Steven had taken her tiny hand then, held it as gently as he could.

Baby Chrys had held on like his hand was a lifeline. Adult Chrys, it seemed, was doing the same.

“I miss them too.”

(45) mothers

Will’s mother seemed to be more focused on social appearances than her actual children. She would do what she had to, and wished her children well, but spent a great majority of her time at social gatherings. There were once ugly rumors at Will’s school, about how his mother never wanted children but couldn’t handle the social stigma of an abortion. One time, Artie got in trouble for punching a girl in the bathroom over these rumors. Will never told his mom about that.

Marcy’s mother was just like her husband: always working. She was even more distant than Marcy’s father, if that was possible. In the end, it was Marcy’s aunt who took Marcy to her first day of school, and who comforted her when she cried. A small part of Marcy wished it could have been different, but… that never played out.

Rui’s mother did what was best for her daughter. She worked hard to make sure her daughter had food on the table and a roof under her head. She paid for school trips and extra books; listened to her daughter talk about whatever interested her at the time. It was hard on her sometimes, from what Rui was able to see, but she never blamed her mother. Ms. Carter was raising a little girl all on her own, away from other family and support, and Rui loved her for it.

Steven’s mother was the mother of five very particular children. It was hard having so many when they were younger, but once Emile was old enough to drive, she could relax some. Mrs. Segura wanted them to be prepared for anything, made sure they were ready to take on the world regardless of what may be in it. The Segura children grew up in a large and supportive family, in the end. The only time they didn’t go to their mother with a problem was when they didn’t want to worry her too much. Regardless, Steven always had someone.

---

tttake it

(44) fathers

William Grim, Rui Carter, Steven Segura, Marcy ???

---

Will's father was professional. He always dressed in suits and neatly ironed pants. Nothing more, nothing less. Will and his father has a good relationship, if a minimal one. He made sure Will was provided for, and encouraged his interest in computers, if nothing else. Mr. Grim saved all his disappointment for his eldest son.

Rui never knew her father; it was a choice her mother made when she was very young. From a young age Rui was spirited away to the north, away from her father and her grandparents and into the night. When asked about it, her mother said it had been the best choice available to them. Rui trusted her mother.

Marcy's father was distant; he was always busy working. There were mild, obligatory attempts of affection, but it never truly meant anything. For the most part, Marcy grew up away from his gaze.

Steven's father, most definitely, was the best. Mr. Segura did his best to give all his children what they needed; he did whatever he could. Children should be cherished, as should wives and good art. He was very traditional in that way, but loved his children regardless of what they decided to become. If one of his children wanted to pursue an unorthodox profession, he was fine with that. He never pushed Steven to do anything he didn't want to do.

(43) till death do us part

It happened suddenly.

A jerk, and to Rui, time skipped a beat.

Steven and the man were standing close, in an almost intimate position. Steve was leaning in, like the man was telling him a secret. It could have looked normal.

Then a second passed, and the man pulled the knife out of Steven’s stomach only to dig it back in again with another violent move.

Something roared in Rui’s ears, her arms locking up. Marcy screamed, distantly.

The knife went in again.

Steve was falling, wilting like a flower. The front of his shirt looked too red, too bright. Rui moved forward to catch him, but the man held out the knife towards her.

A threat.

“Where am I?”

Jesus christ! How does she even respond to that?

Steven was looking too white, too pale and sickly and limp to be alright, and Rui still couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

“I said, where am I?”

The man shook Steven a little, and Rui blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“You’re here!”

“What does that mean?” He turned the knife to Steven again, and Rui’s knees felt like rubber. “Where the hell is this?”

Marcy whimpered, “Please-“

But abruptly, without any warning, both Steven and the man were gone, having disappeared into thin air.

There was an oppressive silence where they were left, broken only by Marcy’s crying.

Words were still caught in Rui’s throat, everything she could have said or should have said or what she could still say, trying to get out and rising up like vomit and oh wait no that’s actual vomit.

---

Till death do us partAAYYYYYYY

anyways. i cant figure out what’s wrong with the spacing on this doc.

(42) mars

Gloss has 1 prosthetic arm and 1 prosthetic leg, fyi

---

Does she look cute in this space suit or what?

Seriously, her people did not make any attractive space gear. It’s all necessity and extra air pockets, all that boring stuff. But this thing is both fashionable and attractive. It’s pretty good being a Cattlayan sometimes, all things considered.

Maybe one day they could buy their own spaceship, you know, everyone could pitch in or something--

“Rui!”

She jumped, “What?”

Gloss smacked the side of the doorway twice, “Are you coming or what?”

Fine, fine.

The environment outside was dry and bright, the sun large in the sky. Buildings seemed to shine around the trio as they made their way to the outpost, Steve leading the way.

Their destination itself looked like just about every other structure: metal and futuristic. Inside, Steve poked around at the controls for a few minutes before another man came out from a corner, demanding the three of them leave.

“So, do we get to keep these suits?” Rui nudged Gloss.

“What are you talking about? We stole them anyways.”

“Borrowed. But, they are cute.”

“You know what? You’re right. These people are rich, they can buy more. Let’s take ‘em.”

Steve was a little less tolerant of their idea when they were found out, but it didn’t really matter: he was distracted with the issue at hand. He would probably forget when they left, then they could smuggle the suits away where Steve couldn’t get them.

That was what they figured when it all went down the drain, anyway.

Everything was awful and loud and quite frankly, the planet looked like a hell hole, complete with screaming monsters… and Gloss.

No, really. She took off her arm and started beating a monster with it.

They were running for a gap, any kind of opening, just trying to get off this self destructive planet before everything collapsed in on itself. Gloss kept turning back to fight, but Rui continuously tugged her backwards, Steven yelling at them to keep up.

With a crash, they were somewhere Else.

Gloss fell to the ground, dropping her arm by her side, her one sleeve hanging loosely. “What. The hell.”

….Does this mean they get to keep the suits?

---

listen…. I could tell you this wasn’t inspired by Doom 2016 but then i would be Lying.

i also dont remember the original setup for this

(41) woods

This part was originally titled ‘build that ship’ but that’s probs some obscure video game reference so let’s not do that

---

The rain fell down hard onto her umbrella, effectively surrounding her in an an aura of noise. If anything was following her, she couldn’t hear it. It didn’t help that her boots kept sloshing around in puddles, the water soaking right through to her socks.

Rui’s mother had told her a story once, about a little girl who was traveling in the woods alone. Though she was warned at the entrance, the girl failed to leave an offering for  the forest guardian, and lost her way, never to be found again.

There probably wasn’t any forest guardian in this forest, though. Just monsters.

Nothing a can-do attitude and a baseball bat can’t fix, of course!

...Wait.

Rui paused suddenly, to check her peripheral.

Nothing.

At yet… she had the strongest feeling that something was following her.

She started walking again, but this time a little faster.

Feelings of paranoia grew, Rui swore she heard a snarl, and soon she was running as fast as she could through the woods, bat smacking against her legs as mud hit the back of her jeans.

Rui burst through the garage door and just as quickly slammed it behind her, panting.

“Holy shit!” Chrys leapt back from a stool. “What’s wrong?”

Still trying to catch her breath, Rui looked out the window to see--

Nothing. There was nothing there.

The feeling was gone.