#why did he have to go

[koma-n00dle]

|| first post lolll, just a little Love&Deepspace Caleb x Reader, thought it would be fun to post it since i never really write! ||

warnings: none? just a little bit of angst and some fluff at the end :]

word count: 870! not too long ^_^ (NOT PROOFREAD!!!)

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“you wouldn’t understand even if i tried to explain.” his words were sharp but also worry filled. the brunette boy turned on his heel as he carried the groceries he had bought towards our grandmothers home. 

you trickled after him with a scoffed. “Caleb, i’m not a kid anymore, what could you say that i couldn’t possibly understand??” your words firing back at him and he froze right in front of the door, his head sulking a moment before he turned back towards you with a sigh.

“well then. since you’re all grown up i wont bother covering for you anymore.” he walks into the small home and gently shuts the door, which hurts even more than it being slammed in your face. you sigh and look at the scratch on your hand before swallowing back your pride and walking in. 

Your grandmother hums and welcomes you back, the tension between the two childhood friends growing thicker. so thick you could almost feel it in the air. 

You sit down next to your grandmother and examine your hands as you wait for the rest of the food to be laid out. Caleb lays an assortment of foods onto the small table before sitting down himself and putting his hands together to bless the food. 

He then looks up and glances at you with an almost regretful look before sighing smiling at grandmother. “so grandma, how have you been? have you been well?” his voice was soft as he grabbed his small bowl and used his chopsticks to fill it with noodles. 

Your grandmother did the same and smiled before rambling about how she’s been these days. You can’t help but pick at the food in front of you, Caleb’s words playing on repeat in your mind. you set your bowl down along with your chopsticks and slowly stand up. 

You bow slightly before speaking. “i apologize, i need to excuse myself.” you open the front door and walk out, quietly closing the door. you walk about ten steps away from the home and sigh trying to get a fresh breath. 

you scroll your phone and realize it’s beginning to get dark but you weren’t sure if you could face the violet eyed boy but you decide to go in anyway, as you began to get cold. 

you quietly slip back into your grandmothers home and it’s quiet, Caleb must be helping grandma get settled in bed. 

You walk into the living area and sit in the recliner, you look around at the old timey house, pictures of you and Caleb and your parents in frames on the walls. A soft closing noise triggers you back to reality and you see Caleb walk out into the living space. 

You look away almost instantly before mumbling an apology. His ears perk before he kneels in front of you, his arm resting on his knee as his eyes find yours. “What was that? i couldn’t quite hear you.” He teased, he heard you but he wanted to make sure you had actually said it.

You snap your head towards him and look into his eyes. “I am.. sorry.” your eyes are full of tears that are threatening to fall and he realizes how dire the situation is. 

his large pale hands reach up and cup your cheeks, using his thumbs to wipe away your tears, soft shushes and comforting words leaving his lips. “[y/n].. listen.. i know you’re not a kid anymore.. and that’s why i’m scared to tell you.. i’m scared you will understand. You will always be my little pip-squeak but i know i cant keep that image of you still being a kid because you’ve grown into a fine young woman..” 

his words plunged into your heart and you quietly just wrapped your arms around his neck and he gladly hugged back. neither of you had to actually say what needed to be said. you already knew and had known for a long time. 

your fingers massaged through his scalp as you cling to him, his hand drawing circles in your back as you two just sit there embracing each other for a moment. 

Soon he pulls away and you wipe the remaining tears on your eyes, looking at him afterwards. 

“i love you, pip-squeak and.. i wont ever stop defending you. no matter how old we get. do you understand?” you nod before smiling and kissing his forehead. 

you both stand up, having to get home to your own homes since you both had high quality jobs. You wrap your arms around him one last time as you two stand outside of your grandma’s house. he cling to you, not wanting to leave just as much as you, maybe even more, but he knew he needed to get back.

“Be careful getting home, alright?” you nod at his concern, patting his cheek before kissing the other and pulling away, you walking in the other direction from him. your heart feels empty. you felt as if you were a puzzle and someone just took away the last piece to complete you. 

your eyes water a bit before you take a deep breath and sigh, knowing it’s what’s best for both of you. 

#im going insane #i miss him so much #love and deepspace #WHY DID HE HAVE TO GO

[mmmmuffins]

fma spoilers (????......)

#i am Inconsolable #when it comes to these brothers the colonel is known to lose his level headed judgement #THE LAST THING HE SAID TO HIS DAUGHTER WAS #PAPA HAS SOME WORK TO DO #HE SAID #ILL BE BACK SOON #soon #soon... #before dying he said #forgive me i have a wife and daughter to go back home to #his daughter.. his family #he died with their picture next to him... #WHY DID #WHY DID HUGHES #OF ALL CHARACTERS #why did he have to go #he had a daughter he had a family he loved #he took everything concerning the elric brothers upon himself so that mustang could set his sights above himself #fkjhsdgkfjhlfdhsglkjdh

[nyaslashthreat]

shout out to when i told my dad about goncharov and he figured out it was fake because i told him "1973 martin scorsese film with robert de niro" and he said that wasn't possible because the godfather came out in 1972 and the godfather part II came out in 1974 and they wouldn't have had time to make a movie in between. a perfectly good jest, foiled by this man's weird and vast knowledge set

#edit i remembered this incorrectly #i confused robert de niro with al pacino he was actually what tipped my dad off #i'll be honest i've never seen the godfather? the only mafia movies i've watched are goodfellas and 1996 lesbian masterpiece bound #so i'm not really familiar with the genre lol #EDIT AGAIN IF ANYONE CARES: I HAVE SEEN GODFATHER PART I AND II NOW. I KNOW HOW WRONG I WAS. WHY DID THIS GO UP 500 NOTES IT'S BEEN MONTHS #goncharov #goncharov 1973 #eddie genius posting

[huang-er-jiejie]

i. i just realised something about the kiss.

the way when aziraphale puts both of his hands on crowley's back, you can see them kinda shift so aziraphale isn't leaning. he held onto crowley for stability, and leaned in. pushed closer to him. he leaned forward. anyone ever says he didn't want the kiss im going to hunt you down because HE HELD CLOSE!!! HE KISSED BACK!!!!

EDIT: also im like WELL aware he kissed back i was even when i first watched it like its not a big revelation, its just that SOME people☠️ on TIKTOK☠️ KEEP SAYING HE WAS DISGUSTED BY THE KISS???? like i swear some people are watching a different show entirely

#HE KISSED BACK. ANYONE SAYS OTHERWISE I SWEAR TO GOD. #HE WANTS THE KISS!! ITS JUST THAT A PART OF HIM FEELS BAD ABOUT IT! #HE FEELS BAD FOR WANTING IT #even if they spent so long dismantling his belief of 'we're on opposite sides' #hes just always going to feel that way deep down #he wants the kiss. its just that why did it have to happen that way. #good omens #gos2 spoilers #aziraphale #crowley #anthony j crowley #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #azirafell #good omens 2 #'i forgive you' maybe in the way that the kiss can be seen as a temptation #like in the garden of eden #but crowley is the apple. he is the forbidden fruit

[egophiliac]

another one that I'm not super happy with, but continuing to mess with it isn't going to help! so here he is! 🦇 there was a lot I was trying to get across in this one, so uhhhhh hopefully it reads.

we're almost out of unique magics now...just Ace (and maybe Grim?) left!

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 spoilers #unique magic posters #drawing lilia slightly more on-model than i usually do feels so wrong #i just want to draw the tallest spikes #lilia: (writing down his height) 5'6“...5'2” in a hat #(actually i'm pretty sure he would just write 'fun-size' but i digress) #anyway lilia. hey lilia. your magic is not cradle-specific so WHY is it called that #did it come in like 'so in like 500-ish years we're going to have a significant moment with a cradle. just trust me bro.' #'in the meantime enjoy having the weirdest magic name ever' #probably came in useful for raising kids though #don't put that in your mouth don't you know where it's BEEN #because i do #(long stare off into middle distance) i know where it's been

[radiance1]

Another link to this post. Meet the parents style.

So, Danny and Jason have been fake dating for a while now, and ended up marrying each other solely for tax benefits. Also, they got cool ass fucking friendship rings that they just couldn't not wear everywhere and being married is convenient so...

Anywho, so Jason has met Danny's parents but Danny hasn't met Jason's parents. Danny knows that he has some ties with the vigilantee scene due to being a Crime Lord-he still doesn't know what to think of his parents connecting the dots immediately when they only met him once while it took him more than that while living with the guy.

He thinks Jason may have been an ex-vigilantee at some point before turning to crime.

Then Danny gets blinded by rich people aura when he finds out that his bestfriend is the long thought dead child of Bruce Wayne. Frankly, he's insulted.

You mean to tell him that his could've been buying ice cream from that high class place all this time!? He shook (literally he grabbed and shook him) that point into Jason, he doesn't care that Jason never told him he was rich but he could've at least bought some high class ice cream once in a while.

Jason who was busy solidifying his power as a crime lord, avoiding his family and making sure not to leak his identity at all: I'm a literal crime lord, and the only thing you care about is me not buying you ice cream?

Danny: YES!!!!

Jason: Dork.

Right anyways, so Jason takes Danny along to meet Bruce and his fam but did say as soon as he started being uncomfortable they're leaving. The batfam is a bit blindsided by Danny, because they thought Jason was bringing his partner but its good to also get a feel for Danny's personality.

Danny and Jason did what's normal for them when Danny starts getting comfortable around the manor full of things that cost waaay more than his rent. Like half-heartedly insulting each other, being snarky, leaning on each other and other such things.

The batfam start thinking that there's more there than they know of. So they start watching a bit closer and ask a few round about questions that fly over Danny and Jason's heads. They just forget they're married often, unless it's regarding taxes.

All of this sends the wrong message when they walk into the same room and, being nosy, one of the batfam comes up to the door and uh. They hear the bed moving quite a lot.

So.

Meanwhile, Jason is trying to wrestle with Danny because this man does not pick a lane. He'll either be the human octopus (who is cold as hell) Jason has ever seen, he'll try to kick him off the bed in his sleep as if Jason personally offended him in some way, or he'll sleep in some wacky position that interrupts Jason's sleep. The last one is tied to the other two, however.

So, Jason has to frequently wrestle this man into a proper position where they both manage to get some sleep and it wouldn't have been so bad if Danny wasn't a goddamn sleep fighter. He would know, he had to nurse a bruised jaw for a few weeks.

Why do they sleep together? Listen, when you're in an apartment with not a lot of money, you gotta cut costs where you can alright?

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dpxdc #dp x dc crossover #dcxdp #dc x dp crossover #Danny and Jason are platonically married #I'm not gonna put this in the post but I had a random thought of Jack and Maddie meeting Bruce Wayne and they instantly clock him as Batman #It's not even Maddie #Jack just took one look at him and sniffed out something sus until his himbo brain connects the dots to him being Batman #The thing is they managed to find this out with barely any evidence so they think they might be wrong without knowing that they're actually #right #Anyways #Jason is tired of this mfer Danny and how he sleeps #Every time they go to bed Jason walks into their shared bedroom like he's about to wrestle a fucking bear #The batfam think they be fawking but they actually aren't it's just Jason wrestling to get a good night's sleep #Why did I make this? #I have no clue

[kamwashere]

whoever runs the verified batman account in instagram needs their ass ate cause these are hilarious

#10000 CRIMINALS TERRIFIED IS CRAZY #365 days that would have been better with alfred #NOW WHY DID THEY GAG HIM LIKE THAT #you sent the joker once and for all 9 times 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 HELPPP #he’s getting out almost every month #what the fuck are you doing bruce #THE GENRES ARE SOOOO 😭 #gcpd scanner 😭😭😭😭 #amazing #topnotch #no notes #they go to the good omens school of social media marketing #batman #bruce wayne #the joker #tagging this as batjokes because why not #batjokes #dc #kamwashere

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Let the revenge games begin.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #jin guangyao #nie huaisang #He's gonna call his 5 horse friends up. They have to go on a 14 year long journey to finish the job but by god they will do it. #The sheer chaos in the Audio Drama is really fantastic. Reminds me of those traincar murder mysteries. #The lights go off and there's a scream and then BOOM dead body. Who did that!!! #Okay it was qi deviation and he did it to stop himself from killing his brother. He did it to himself. #JGY sadly has the worst alibi ever though. Both the strongest motivation and also uhhh presence at the scene. #Not to nitpick but as someone who loves murder mysteries - I do feel like even *one* other suspect would have made it stronger. #I get that he tried to make it look like an inevitable Qi Deviation and that it *is* something within the family legacy. #And a big part of NHS figuring it all out comes down to his own perceptiveness and intelligence. #If you weren't close enough to JGY and NMJ of course it looks like an accident. #Sadly 'guy who plays the 'poor little meow meow card'' is also weak to 'guy who plays the 'poor little meow meow card''. #NHS was the better subtle manipulator at the end. That's probably the strongest mystery part of MDZS. And why he's in my top 5. #My man pulled the 'kill him just as he falls from the top of his game and loses everything' gambit and I love him for it.

[deep-space-lines]

I am inflicting, or perhaps bestowing, upon you: Garrus as various unnecessarily sexualized references that come up if you look up refs of women with guns :)

(( @milkywayes i know we’ve like almost never interacted but the silly comment i left on your post would Not leave my brain. I need to show u what you inspired ))

#you’re welcome or i’m sorry #look at that high waisted man! he has feminine hips #top 10 birthday gifts for your alien boyfriend who you aren’t even sure celebrates birthdays: big gun. #turians look all big and intimidating until you draw one and have to figure out how to make them not look like they’re going OWO #why did i put so much effort into this #mass effect #my art #mass effect art #mass effect fanart #artists on tumblr #garrus vakarian #he’s so hard to draw but so much FUN to draw. this man is shaped

[introspectivememories]

been watching mashle and oh my god, the eugenics???? the way lance's parents were so ready to give up their daughter??? no second thought???? just "why did this child have to be born to us?"???? um everyone talking in mash's face about how non-magic people are inherently worthless???? the triple line dude fucking making dolls out of people and somehow no one??? is??? checking him???? and then when questioned immediately jumping into "well humans are little more than mindless beasts and i will become a creator deity and reshape the world in my liking!"????? the, um, corruption in the government??? the way this story is so clearly "h*rry p*tter if it was actually funny"??? the slytherin coded characters are blood purists???? they took out hufflepuff??? one of the magia lupus' mage's powerset was just big shuriken???? another one is rip off kisame???? lance is a siscon and the first thing mash says is "that doesn't make it better"???? lemon is genuinely so fuckin funny??? dot is incel-coded but like in a funny way??? dot says that lance is playing life on "easy mode" cause lance has a good face??? dot likes tea??? dot has good manners??? everybody only has one spell they can use??? finn ames is like if you transported is regular human into this stupid ass world??? i think the old man and the cop have explored each others bodies.

#so many baffling things #the show is genuinely funny tho #mash and lance have something going on and i stg this isn't just me putting my shipping goggles on #also lance is a siscon but like in the most non-weirdest way possible??? like he just doesn't want his baby sis to die #and like yeah the power of her photo is enough for him to fling himself backward into a wall hard enough that it cracks #but he's not like in love with her or whatever. bare minimum victories ig #also when the rap starts it gets sooo hype #not to talk about h*rry p*tter in 2024 but why did they take out hufflepuff?? #that was the only good house #everybody else in that world seem insufferable but hufflepuff seemed like you could get along with them #also they need to stop talking shit about non-magic people in front of mash's face #mashle magic and muscles #mashle #lemon irvine #dot barrett #finn ames #mash burnedead #lance crown

[glorious-spoon]

the thing i love about the new backstory for aziraphale and crowley's first meeting is how it makes EVERYTHING about how aziraphale deals with him make so much sense. like, he meets this angel building nebulae, and he's beautiful and silly and full of joy, and he loves these galaxies he's making, they're not even born yet and he loves them, and aziraphale's the one who tells him that they're never going to become, that this beautiful thing he made is just set-dressing for god's toybox. aziraphale is the one who (however inadvertently) sows that first seed of doubt. aziraphale is the one who punctures that joy.

and yeah, of course crowley would have found out eventually. and of course he would have asked questions and aired his doubts. crowley has always been crowley. but i think aziraphale would have carried that kernel of guilt for a long, long time

and then millennia later he meets the demon that angel became, and he's guarded and prickly and suspicious and so carefully, secretly kind, still so clearly the same person, deep down, even as he insists that the angel you knew is not me while he saves goats and children and wayward angels and protests unjust punishments and introduces aziraphale to earthly pleasures for no reason other than to give him the joy of them

he's still, deep down, a good person. he shouldn't have been cast out. he didn't deserve that. the injustice of it must have rankled aziraphale for centuries

and now - now, after all this time, aziraphale can fix it. he can undo the injustice. he can give heaven back to crowley, the way he's always deserved it

and crowley says no.

#good omens #to be completely clear crowley is entirely correct and it's going to blow up horribly #but i have a lot of sympathy for WHY aziraphale did what he did

[emacrow]

First, It was Barb was doing night checks on wayne manor cameras surveillance pt 2

Previous post pt 1

She was in a bit of awe when she saw the newest very rare exotic flower Alfred got bloom under the light of the full moon, revealing beautiful crystallized like petals blossom, only for her widening eyes to take noticed of a tiny little pixie like child to pop his little head out of the center of the flower.

His hair was unnatural white fluff like a dandelion in her opinion, eyes glowing an otherworldly green, freckles that sparkle like the stars themselves, ears a bit long and pointy, wearing a odd clothing with a needles strapped to his back, that she could barely catch in camera, the static buzzing sound from her cameras was making it a bit difficult to hear what sound the tiny little fairy boy made as he floated above zooming around the garden a bit like he was excited.

It made barb's inner child squeals, screaming, flipping her tiny princess table at the possibly of Nederland being possible.

Curious little bug, floating around like the fairies in Disney like except of the Glow pixie dust like she seen on the movies, he left a trail of blueish green light that faded away rather quickly with the way he was flying into the slightly opened kitchen's window...

Wait a goddamm minutes..

Barb immediately switch cameras to the kitchen, looking around, only to see it went through the hallway already, switching cameras again, checking the living room, the hallways, only to catch a glimpse of trail glow zooming around.

Crap crap. OK, no need to panic Barb. What do curious pixie like fairies out in the human world.. bring the season right?!, play with children like that Bell fairy did? Finds and take lost things and secretly repair lost things?..! Fairies are weak without pixie dust, they don't live long without it, each fairies has a different part of the seasons, and if you don't believe in them then they immediately die and that cause imbalance in the world without their influence unless you truly believe in fairies to bring back one fairy.(she went through a whole fairy obsession phase as a kid, she still mourns the lost of the create your fairy open world game)

The fairy must've Found a new type of pixie dust to fly without wings if she could recall that one sequel with the new pixie dusts colors thing..?

It was like a game of Where Waldo except where the little mythical fairy boy that couldn't possibly- no no barb don't think about the taboo words, if you think about it and this poor mythical being dies due to your words then the guilt will haunt you Forever.

3 hours in the catch the glimpse of the fairy boy, flying back at to his little flower holding a tiny cube of sugar, a shiny tiny object that she can't get a clear of, and a plump blueberry the size of his little hesr as he lands in the petals that were closing around him. Crystallized back close as if to guard this little fairy being with its own life.

Right when the full moon glimpse was gone out of the sight of the garden from the sky when the smog cloud from the city covering once more.. Barb is writing that down in her notes..

#barbara gordon #dpxdc #dc x dp #danny phantom #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc #dc x dp prompt #danny is the ghost king #dcxdp #alfred pennyworth #barb haven't seen a fairy disney movie since she was a kid #tim is going to questioned why barb watching t*nker bell movies series early in the morning at 3am #she have notebooks upon notebooks about fairies and other mythic beings #she having a meltdown and hysterical moment that if fairies are real then unicorns could be real too 🥺 #danny the tiny borrower #who got tiny ghost powers #the trace of ecto makes a buzzing sound when he flies #barb is going down the endless rabbit hole of i do believe in fairies #trying to figure out whom to tell without them saying the words that can kill fairies #she did research on the flower and saw that it was a very nearly extinct delicate flower from an unknown undiscovered island

[maegalkarven]

We know what it wasn't a big secret to the cult of Bhaal what their Chosen (Durge) is a lil (a lot) obsessed with the Chosen of Bane.

Orin def told everyone who would listen about it, as Balthazar's note on "Prayer for Forgiveness" might imply.

But have we thought about the other side of this?

How many of Bane's servants present at Gortash's coronation saw Durge and went "Ugh, not them again. ANYONE but them. Dark Lord Bane, we serve you well and do not deserve this".

How many of banites had to watch their Chosen act like a lovesick fool at his own coronation and tried very hard not to cringe?

Like bhaalists were not pleased with their Chosen's affections, but I bet Gortash was INSUFFERABLE with Durge by his side.

#dark urge #dark urge x gortash #enver gortash #bg3 spoilers #random banist: didn't they die. i heard they died #other banist: ugh i hoped they did. unfortunately they're back. now our lord gortash is going to be insufferable #a new banist: what...is he doing? why is he looking at this stranger like that? #an experienced banist: my dear naive child. you're about to expirience the horrors what are being around when lord gortash loses his mind #over some murder hobo at that #young banist: I've never seen him make such an expression before #older banist: and i hoped i never would have again. who's guarding lord's personal chambers tonight? #older banist: because it definetely won't be me #nwm baneit sounds much better than banist but I'm not retyping all these tags

[thefirstpaleontologist]

Anatomy of Alastors demonic forms

#Alastor #hazbin hotel #we know he got shot in the head by a hunter and that’s how he died #and that that’s prob tied to why he’s a deer demon #and radio dial eyes is obv because of his ties to being a radio host in life and now in death #but do we know anything about the stitches and broken neck #in a lot of scenes we see him twist his neck violently #and in his demons forms it’s always crooked #did his neck get snapped during or after he was shot? #I guarantee you that if we ever get a scene where Alston’s neck is bare it will have a fucked up scar or something #I’ve heard theories that the stitches on his mouth could be tied to his constant smile #either that his smile is such an important feature that it became permanent in death #or that whoever he made a deal with made it so he’s not able to actually talk about it #could be both even because in some scenes there’s only stitches in the corner of his mouth and in the deal scene they’re all the way across #personally the stitches in combo with the deer form and the fact he was killed by a hunter makes my mind go to taxidermy #it kind of looks like he was stuffed and stitched up #I’ve also seen people compare his stiches to those voodoo dolls #but I dont know enough about them to make any kind of comparison

[sysig]

Those wacky skeletons ♥ (Patreon)

#Doodles #UT #Sans #Papyrus #Handplates #You can tell because of Sans' gloves lol #Getting-used-to-them-again doodles as well as just expressing Feeling <3 Happy towards them! Want them to be happy too! #It might seem silly for these - how many sets in now? - to still be getting used to drawing them again lol but it's because they're adults! #Their clothes and the way they hold themselves - but also especially Sans lol I dunno why I have such difficulty with him at times #He's got a cute face and I still find myself like ????how your face #Other than that tho it's just silliness hehe ♪ My favourite lads :D #I feel the need to make the distinction: I do actually have different favourites based on the AU lol #Like for example in classic I still love Flowey just a tiiiiiny bit more than Papyrus but it really is constantly neck and neck #Whereas in Handplates it's no competition even a little bit lol - Papyrus is just my Very Favourite #But Gaster is my favourite Handplates-specific character since he's unique to the AU! It gets a bit in the weeds lol #Sans isn't far behind at all of course the trio are very important! The duo even moreso imo #Going back to gloves tho I did carry over one of my quirks from my original UT doodles about Papyrus' gloves lol #I initially envisioned them as combination mitten-gloves with a free index finger and all the rest together #I still rather like the design! But it is admittedly not Handplates accurate lol #The occasional dip into self-indulgence who me? Lol #Sleeping on each other is important to me as well!! It is such a favourite hehe #Honestly I just imagined Papyrus getting so exhausted that he fell asleep in the snow lol poor lad #Sans teleported in but it's also funny to imagine him just walking up like ''you good? yeah he's fine'' *flop* haha #Silly lads <3 Do love 'em ♪

[foldingfittedsheets]

My mom has this awful friend, Cynthia. My loathing goes deep enough that I’m not even going to change her name. If she ever finds this she knows what she did.

On multiple occasions my mom asked this horrible irresponsible chicken brained woman to watch after our animals while we were away. I don’t know why once wasn’t enough, because the first failure was so spectacular that anyone in their right mind would know she couldn’t be trusted with any level of responsibility or direction following.

You might be thinking to yourself, FFS, this level of antipathy is surely unwarranted! But you’d be wrong.

To set the scene, we were living in downstairs of our house when I was about fifteen. My mom has always wanted more animals than can reasonably be kept indoors which is how we ended up with three cats. When she wanted to kick them all outside I protested, and so all three cats lived in my bedroom with no access to the rest of the house.

That really wasn’t great, so in an attempt to give them options we made a window cutout with a cat door in it to give them access to the outdoors. Looking back on this as an environmentally conscious adult it’s wretched, cats should be indoor only, but at the time I was desperate to give them some freedom because one bedroom is too small for three cats.

So my parents and I went on a week long trip to visit family out of state. We told Cynthia to come feed and water the cats, and to scoop the litter box. Most importantly, don’t lock the handle of the door, because we only have the key to the deadbolt.

I’m sure you can see where this is going.

Cynthia locked us out. We arrived home after 12 hours on the road, desperate for the comfort of our own beds. We were met with an unyielding door. With a sigh I volunteered, “I can punch in the cat door and climb in the window.”

I slipped behind the bamboo outside my window and pushed in the cutout. A horrible insidious reek wafted out at me. I paused, prickling with foreboding. But I had a job to do, and by god I’d see it through. I hefted myself up into the window and my hand immediately landed in something wet.

Skin crawling, I pulled myself up and surveyed the darkened room as a miserable odor of decay and suffering poured out of the room around me. I could see dark shapes littering the carpet and it didn’t take a genius to guess that the cats had taken up hunting in a big way during my absence.

I pulled my hand out of the pile of vomit it had landed in and dropped into my onetime bedroom turned now into a hellpit of decomposing wretchedness. I turned on the light. I wished I had not turned on the light.

My eyes scanned across the floor, tallying as they went. Two dead birds, a dead baby rabbit, five dead mice, and one dead snake. I paused on my alarm clock, perplexed to see a stain of white on it. I stepped closer and saw a furtive movement.

The tally suddenly contained also: one live bird that had shit in several places, probably in pure terror to find itself trapped in a room littered with decomposing woodland creatures, which honestly, fair. I coaxed it out the window and finished the survey with five discrete piles of vomit.

I unlocked the door and let my parents in. They exclaimed in disgust at the horrible smell. We stood together in my doorway floored by the magnitude of neglect. The unscooped litter box was a subtle footnote in the tangible reek my living space. I disposed of the parade of ecological disaster, cleaned vomit, and scooped the box after a brutally long day on the road. The cats were fine, and happy to see me. They had a huge dish or food and water so Cynthia’s neglect at least hadn’t harmed them.

Then I slept on the couch while my bedroom aired out, the windows flung wide to dispel the uneasy ghosts of the hunted. I spent the whole night cursing Cynthia’s name for this evil she’d visited upon me. When my mom asked her, "Cynthia, didn't you see the dead animals?"

Cynthia responded, "Yes, they smelled so bad, I just ran in and out as fast as I could." I fully don't believe she did any caretaking, and I'm personally of the opinion that she locked herself out on the first day and never came back.

The next day my room had returned to a habitable level of smellscape and I gratefully crawled into my bed that night. I stretched out and froze as my foot brushed something cold and wet?

The final indignity: one last dead snake, inside my very sheets.

Fucking Cynthia.

#ramblies #story #ffs foibles #keep your cats inside #but also looking back like why didn't I change my sheets #I did not have good bed hygiene instilled in me from my parents #later that lady would go on to leave a huge metal dish of dog food in the middle of the yard #despite the fact that we told her over and over not to feed the dog because he was on a diet #and I knew not to trust her so my friend was coming twice a day to feed him his portioned out meals #he gained like ten pounds in the week we were gone eating rained on mushy dog food #that fucking woman was a menace