I know you all are probably wondering where on this wide earth I am. Well, I am still alive, thankfully. I have horrible news and awesome news. Some of you already know the terrible news, others haven’t heard, so I’ll say what I can. I am not supposed to talk about it much though b/c the police are doing an investigation and I don’t want any locals getting ideas.
On Sunday morning, the other kids went up to do their goat duties (I stayed home to take care of the animals down at the house). Rachel found one of our kittens, Ivanhoe, curled up against the fence – dead. He was covered in mud and shouldn’t have been able to drag himself home. He had been scalped (badly –whoever it was wasn’t very proficient in their skinning skills) from the top of the nose back to his neck and had no ears left, as well as being quite thoroughly disemboweled. There are few things that can scare me on sight. Bees and needles are normal. But this scared me. There was something evil hanging around him. We’ve had lots of “incidences” lately – single kittens disappearing, the neighbor’s dogs or cats have gone missing, etc, but we just never really thougt about it until now – heck, we live in the country, know for a fact we’ve got fox, bob cats, coyotes, and the occasional bear, not to mention vehicles that squash animals that get in their way. And then, last month, someone twist-tied a 12 gauge wire around the hind leg of one of our Great Pyrs, Dannon. The leg had to be amputated, to the tune of a $450 vet bill. Looking at the calendar after we found Ivanhoe, we found out that Dannon’s “accident” (and the vet told us there was no way he could ever have done it to himself) happened the night of a full moon. We noticed that Ivanhoe’s leg – the same back leg that Dannon no longer has – had some definite trauma to it. Saturday night, the night that Ivanhoe was killed, was the night of a new moon. We are obviously dealing with either witchcraft or Satanic worship. We called the sheriff’s department and they are going to do what they can as soon as they can. They agree that Dannon and Ivanhoe’s injuries are connected and that it most likely is connected to a form of worship, be it spirits or Satan.
I was afraid. I didn’t even draw anything until Tuesday, when I went to Lindsay’s for my art lesson and really began to understand what kind of people they are. I had called her and explained I was going to be late and told her what had happened. When I got there, she told me they (she, Richard, and Sherrie) had talked about it, and that they’d like to pray with me. I got all emotional afterwards and it was really quite embarrassing but they hugged me and we sat and talked about what we could do about it for awhile. I stayed way past closing time with them, got to meet Linz’s fiancé (he’s nice and seems very cool :) ), and we talked about all kinds of stuff. She helped me figure out some structural problems in my kern – they look way better (and slightly more creepy!) now! I’m so happy with that. I told her some about my story and she really liked everything I told and GUESS WHAT???? She can get it published for me!!!!!! I’m so darned excited I don’t know if I’ll be able to write more for a while, even though now I should really get on the stick and write-write-write so I can get it published. Oh, I just love that word...*sigh* Published...It’s so beautiful sounding! :D :D :D it’s my official news-of-the-month. I AM GOING TO GET PUBLISHED WHENEVER MY BOOK IS WRITTEN!!!! :O Ah...Now I just gotta write it. Heh. Anyone interested in reading and reviewing (if you read, you have to review! Ashley’s orders! :P) the prologue, intro, and 1st 5 chapters can go to my fictionpress site (
http://www.fictionpress.com/~dyingrose ) and click on the Elf Blood link. :) Anyway, yeah. That’s my good, most awesome news. :D
My other news is that A) Linda is quitting and I’m taking on an additional 2 days per week, making that 5 days a week that Rachel or I, or both of us, work. B) I’m entering lots of stuff in the fair, if I can get it all done and matted/framed in time. C) Laura and Darren’s wedding is THIS WEEKEND and I’m not going to be there!!!! *sniffs miserably* D)I am still doing school, amidst spiritual and physical chaos E)I am drawing lots and soon will be writing lots F) We are in a proverbial “race against time”. The next full moon is the 18th. G)And, I obviously have been taking pictures a lot. :P
Until next time, farewell, my friends!
~Ashley~
Listening to Stratovarious, “Dream With Me” – beautiful song!
