Daily Inkling | Skimming It

Daily Inkling Prompt: Skimming It
“Find a book you’re not familiar with. Read the back cover synopsis, and skim a few of the pages. Then, tell us what happens in the book by filling in the gaps with your imagination.”

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My Creepypasta Obsession

Hello, friends. Recently, being the lover of horror and suspense that I am, I finally hopped on board the Creepypasta train.

30 Days of Video Games | Day 8: Something Evil This Way Comes…

Hello, friends! I just lost power in my apartment for about 10 seconds, which wasn’t long enough to put a damper on my night, but thanks to WordPress no longer auto saving anything that I write, it did cause me to lose two paragraphs that I had already written for this post. Aggravating! So, let’s try this again, shall we?

Dream Journal 1/24/17 | Daycare Nightmare

Liam was 3 or 4 years old, and we were on our way to check out a new daycare center that had just opened up in our town. On the outside, the building was massive, and shaped like a giant golf ball, similar to the Spaceship Earth at Epcot. We were greeted by a short, blonde woman, who invited us to spend the day at the center, so that we could see how Liam handled the building, other kids, staff, etc. She ushered us inside, and  gestured to a large, open playroom to the left. She told me that Liam could play in there while she gave me a tour. I left Liam with the staff in the playroom, and followed the woman down the hall.

She turned to me and told me in a very calm voice that I would not be able to be reunited with my son until after the tour, in several hours. I stopped in my tracks and asked her why, but she simply said it was “procedure”. I told her that I was uncomfortable leaving my son alone for that long, and she ignored me, and kept walking down the hall. I followed.

We passed several other rooms, all filled with children of varying ages, and I started to notice that the interior of the building was strange. The walls were all metal, with pipes stretching from the floor to the ceiling. All of the doors looked like reinforced, bunker doors, with small windows. It reminded me of a submarine. We walked in silence, until we got to a room at the end of the long hallway. The woman told me that I had to wait with the other parents, and before I could question further, she shoved me into the room, and slammed the door behind me.

I screamed and banged on the door. There were a few other people in the room, most likely  the other parents the woman spoke of, and they all looked as confused as I felt. There were two, armed men playing poker at a table in the back of the room. I continued to scream and pound on the metal door. Cheerful staff members passed by the door, not even stopping as they smiled and waved at me through the tiny window, either not realizing my distress, or not caring.

Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded throughout the facility, and the fluorescent lights in the room went out, replaced by red, emergency lights. In a panic, I turned to the room of people, demanding answers. The two, armed men just ignored me, but one of the other parents began to explain that this happens several times a day, and no one ever seems phased by it. Just then, the woman who had brought me to this room burst through the door, visibly upset, and demanded we all follow her. We did.

As we walked briskly down the hallway, two of the parents from the room began whispering something about making a run for it, and a moment later, they were gone. The woman said something about a breakout, and someone getting loose, and I asked her why someone was imprisoned in a daycare center. She just laughed at me.

We passed by a small classroom, and I saw my son sitting at a desk by the door. I pushed the blonde woman, opened the door, and grabbed my son. Holding onto his arm, I practically dragged him down the long hallway, until I started recognizing where we were. I could see other parents and kids running out the front doors, and we joined them, pushing our way through the crowd.

In front of the building, we noticed that it was now dark out, and that the large, round facility was completely engulfed in flames, even though there had been no fire or smoke on the inside. There was a man carrying a little girl a few feet from us, and he shouted and motioned for us to follow him.

I vaguely remember driving over a bridge, and seeing a town on fire in the background, and the man saying something about a virus, and test subjects.

And then I woke up.

15 Facts About Me!

Hello, friends! Last night, I grabbed a neat image from my friend @Abashima on Twitter, that looked a little something like this:

At the time that I am writing this, I have a total of 15 cute, little heart likes on the picture! I posted 15 short facts about myself on Twitter, but thought I would list them out here as well, with a bit more detail, for anyone interested!

So here we go!

Jan Fact #1: I went to college in Canada.
I went to Grenfell College, in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada. I moved to Canada with my ex-boyfriend, Matt, and we planned to move to St. John’s, Newfoundland after our second year, to finish our degrees. I had planned to major in Psychology, and minor in Social Work. I am still interested in both subjects, but now am looking more into working with children. I tried to stay active on the tiny campus, and joined the Residence Council. I was the representative for my floor, and relayed information about upcoming activities and events to my RA and the rest of my floor. Despite my outgoing, popular boyfriend, I wasn’t very popular, and kept mostly to myself.
Aside from my ex, and a few people from his floor (who always referred to me as “Matt’s girlfriend”), I really only had two friends, named Kurt and Jenn. Halfway through the year, they started dating, and ended up hating each other, and I was always stuck between them. We eventually parted ways. I also didn’t have a roommate until the second semester, which was awesome. My roommate, Stephanie, was a model, and had one the Miss Newfoundland Teen competition. I did not like her. She always had drunk guys over, and they were loud and awful. But anyway. I had to drop out after my first year for financial reasons, and have yet to continue with my education.

Jan Fact #2: I can not whistle.
So many people have tried to teach me, but I seem to be unteachable! I also was unable to snap my fingers until I was 22 years old. I always had to fake it in band and chorus whenever snapping was involved. People knew. It was embarrassing.

Jan Fact #3: My first pet was a cat named Rocky.
My next 3 cats were also named Rocky, but the 4th was named Napkin, although my mom renamed him “Hunter” after I left home. He passed away last year, at the age of 9. The first pet I ever owned on my own was a cat named Jade. She was a sweet, tuxedo cat, and I had her for 6 years, before re-homing her with a friend just before my son was born. I still miss her.

Jan Fact #4: Jenna Marbles follows me on Twitter!
It is true. She does. Because I am awesome. Duh!

Jan Fact #5: When I lived alone, I couldn’t fall asleep unless Spaceballs was playing.
I need noise to sleep. I am a light sleeper, and can not sleep in dead silence, because the tiniest, sudden noise wakes me up. After my ex and I split, and I was living alone for the first time in my life, I had a hard time coping. And sleeping. I had moved into a bad neighborhood, filled with barking dogs, trains, yelling, and loud music, and it was hard for me to get settled in at night. The first movie I ever watched in my apartment (after my electricity was finally turned on after a whole week), was Spaceballs. After that night, I started putting it in every night, and it helped me fall asleep, and stay asleep. It remains one of my favorite movies, and I have seen it over 100 times. I have memorized nearly every line!

Jan Fact #6: I will never name any of my future children “Saint”.
Ever.

Jan Fact #7: The only dog I’ve ever had was a Dalmatian named Snoop.
Snoop was actually my mom’s boyfriend’s dog. I was 5 or 6 when we moved in with him, and so was Snoop. We we’re the same age. He lived to be 14 years old. My mom accidentally ran him over with her Jeep, but after a long visit with the animal hospital, we were told that he was fine. No broken bones, no internal bleeding, nothing. He died in his sleep 3 nights later. I missed school the following day, and cried for a whole week straight. He was an amazing dog.

Jan Fact #8: I used to be a podcaster.
It is true. Once upon a time, I hosted a fun, little World of Warcraft podcast called Something Suggestive, which was named after a guild I once created in WoW. The final episode (episode 46) was hosted by my good friend @RhoWoW, as an April Fool’s Day joke. Unfortunately, this was during a rough time in my life, which ended up lasting two years. During this time, I was without a computer or internet, and the show died. You can still listen to old episodes on Stitcher Radio though!

Jan Fact #9: I can’t blow a bubble with gum.
I am a broken, sad human.

Jan Fact #10: I wear contacts.
I’ve been wearing glasses since the 3rd grade, and contacts since the 8th grade. I’m blind without them. I haven’t gotten a new prescription in years, and have been suffering really bad headaches because of this.

Jan Fact #11: I love the supernatural.
Despite not really believing in it, I find shows, movies, articles, games, etc. about the supernatural to be fascinating. I’m currently rewatching The X-Files on Netflix! So good.

Jan Fact #12: I still have my baby blanket.
It is a soft, white, knitted blanket, with tiny balloons in pink, blue, green, and yellow. I’m giving it to Liam, once I dig it out of the closet and wash it.

Jan Fact #13: I love Harry Potter.
I was 11 years old when the first book came out, and related to Harry so well. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the book that pushed me into the path of reading, and shaped me as a person. Is that weird? I don’t think so. In grade 6, my English teacher, who also loved the books, divided the class into the four Houses, and we competed all year for the House Cup. I was the head of Slytherin. We also won at the end of the year!

Jan Fact #14: I love horror!
Horror stories, horror films, horror games. I don’t scare that easily, but I love the feeling. I love gore, jump scares, and all that. The creepier, the better. I spend a lot of my free time watching scary game playthroughs on YouTube. I’m looking for recommendations! :3

Jan Fact #15: I already have more baby names picked out.
Well, if my next child is a boy, that is. I’m awful with female names. I don’t like most of them. So, we’ll see how that goes!

I hope you had fun reading my random facts! If you want me to post more in the future, go ahead and give THIS TWEET a like! If I get enough likes on the original post, I’ll post a part 2!

Thanks for hanging out, guys!

Jan

Dream Journal 9/24/15

Present day.

I was in a supermarket with my husband, his mom, and our son. We were in the frozen pizza aisle, when I heard a woman scream as she opened a freezer door. I looked over and saw a swarm of huge, flying insects flowing out of the open freezer door like a cloud of black smoke. The started waving her arms, still screaming, while everyone watched in horror. The insects swarmed around her, and her screams fell silent as she collapsed to the ground.

The cloud of insects idled for just a moment, before splitting up and spreading throughout the store. Panic ensued. I yanked the baby out of the shopping cart and started to run. I could see my husband trailing just behind us, but his mom was nowhere to be seen. There were people screaming and collapsing all around us, being attacked by these giant hornets.

We managed to get out of the building, but we seemed to be the only ones who made it out alive. There was a loud, crashing noise, and one of the walls of the building started to crumble, releasing a massive swarm of crazy hornets into the air. They filled the sky, casting shadows across the town.

We got in the car and drove home.

We got home, quickly boarded up the windows, and retreated to the baby’s room at the back of the house, because it had the least windows. We sat there cowering in the corner, but trying to play with the baby so that he didn’t get scared. Through the gaps in the wood on the windows, we could see the swarms of super bugs filling the streets, strategically breaking apart to ended homes through cracks under doors and through open windows, almost like a cartoon.

The bedroom door opened suddenly and someone I didn’t know walked in, and nonchalantly told us that there was a hole in the side of our apartment, and that there were bugs eating away at the building, and that we had to get out.

We started to freak out, and followed the stranger outside, where we got into a school bus that held a few other people. and the stranger drove us away in silence.

Then it got dark, and the stranger started kicking random people off the bus, one at a time, even if the rest of their family or friends were still there. The three of us were the last ones left, huddled in the back of the bus together, terrified.

The bus stopped by a field, and we looked out the window, trying to see if there were anymore flying creatures. The moon cast an eerie glow over everything, and there was fog hovering over the field. But we didn’t see any bugs.

We walked out into the field, and the bus disappeared, along with the strange man who had been driving. We made a large fire, and sat in the field for a while in silence.

I also very vaguely remember something about Kendall Jenner dying. Weird,

And then I woke up.

Dream Journal 9/23/15

Future.

I was a writer, and was working on my latest suspense/thriller novel, and I was staying in a large, log cabin in the woods, right on a gorgeous lake. Across the lake there was a large campground, and I could hear boats and children playing across the water. I spent most of my time staring out the window, watching the families in the distance, and trying to think of what to write.

One morning, I woke up to silence. I peered out the window while making coffee, and saw police lights, and officers coming the beaches of the lake. I frowned, wondering what happened.

I sat at my desk and continued typing on my computer, but stopped suddenly when I heard a noise coming from the bushes outside my the large bay window in my kitchen. I tensed up and walked to the window, I was immediately face-to-face with a young man, around 18 years old.

“Please, can you hide me?” He asked me, panic in his voice.

“I… who are you? How did you get here?” I asked him, suddenly terrified. My cabin was in the middle of the wilderness, a large lake, and thousands of trees, separating me from society. How had he gotten here?

“Please,” he repeated, tugging at his shirt nervously, “I need to hide.” He continued to pull at his shirt, and I realized now that he was soaking wet. He swam here.

“I’m sorry, this is private property, I need you to leave,” I said, reaching to shut the window, “I can’t help you, sorry.”

I pulled the window closed, and the young man took off running around the side of the house. I cursed loudly, unsure of where he was going. I ran to the front door, but it was too late, he was already standing in the doorway, dripping lake water onto the wood flooring.

“I’m not going to hurt you, I promise, please, I just need somewhere to hide.”

“Hide from what…?” I asked cautiously. Just then, I heard a news report on the TV in the living room.

“The body of 13-year-old Elizabeth Moran was found in Great Bear Lake this morning by her parents, Jacob and Theresa Moran. Witnesses say that they heard screaming coming from the beach early this morning, and witnessed a tall male running from the beach. Elizabeth’s 18-year-old brother, Derek, is currently missing and wanted for questioning. If you have any information…”

My eyes widened and I felt my heart beating rapidly in my chest. The young man stared at me intently, terror and sadness in his eyes.

“Are you… are you Derek?” I asked quietly.

He nodded sadly, “I didn’t hurt my sister. I heard it all. I saw a man, running out of the water. I saw her body, but it was too late. I panicked and ran, but there were people everywhere. They saw me, and then they were on their phones, calling the police. I had to run.”

I hook my head. If he hadn’t done anything wrong, couldn’t he just tell the police that? My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of tires on the dirt road leading up to my cabin. Through the trees I could see two police cars driving slowly up the road. Without thinking, I pulled the young man into the house, hissing at him to hide. He obliged, running down the hall and out of my sight.

There was a knock at the door only moments later, and I opened it, greeting the two officers standing there with a smile.

“We’re sorry to bother you, Mrs. Dalton, but we’re looking for a young man who is wanted for questioning in the drowning death of a young girl from just across the lake. Have you seen him?”

I tried my best to look shocked and horrified, “Oh, god! No! That’s tragic! I haven’t seen anyone officers, just been here working on my book. I will certainly let you know though!”

The officer who had been talking to me stared at me quizzically. I could tell he knew something was up. They thanked me for my time and turned to leave. I realized that his eyes briefly flickered over the puddle of water that they had been standing in.

“Better clean that up, ma’am,” the officer said to me, with a hint of warning, “You wouldn’t want to slip.”

My heart felt like it was going to explode as I watched them drive away.

“I didn’t hurt her,” Derek said quietly, walking back into the hall, “I wouldn’t.”

I nodded, and walked back to the kitchen. My coffee had gotten cold.
———————————–

Derek stayed with me for two days, and in that time, I grew to believe his story. The more he repeated it to me, the more I believed in his innocence. But he couldn’t stay in my cabin forever, so we made a plan to get him away.

I was driving through the woods in the dark, Derek was in the back seat with a blanket over him, hidden from the world. We got to a highway, and I gave him an envelope with some money in it, and told him to keep the blanket. He took off, and I turned in the opposite direction, but stopped.

There was a large, black lab sitting in the middle of the road. After a few seconds, a man stepped out from the shadowy bushes to my left, and I realized that it was the officer who had come to my cabin two days earlier. I hit the gas, swerving around the man and the dog, and drove.

About a mile down the road, I turned off, driving through grass and wilderness, avoiding trees in the darkness. Something caught my eye, distracting me for just a moment, and I crashed my car into a tree. The airbag hit me in the face, and my nose started to bleed.

I climbed out of my car in a daze, and could hear dogs barking nearby. I started to run through the woods until I made it back to the lake, and followed the rocky shore to my cabin. I locked myself inside, and retreated to the basement.

I was terrified at what would happen to me for helping a wanted man to escape, but I knew he was innocent. I sat there in the dark, waiting for the police to break my door down, but no one ever came.

So I walked back up the stairs, and sat at my desk. The sun was starting to come up, and I could hear birds singing. I started to type, continuing with my story.

And then I woke up.