Thirdly

9/17/2025 Update: I seem to have all of my ducks in a row! On the 23rd, I stop working altogether and start going to my pre-op meetings (and clearing fireman's paths in every room I have to walk through, starting from the garage). That weekend, I pick my sister up from the airport. Then, on the 1st, I'm going under.

Yeah, it wouldn't have been a @Lee Wilson story without surprises, which is why my contribution was mostly adding tidbits here and there. I didn't want to rob Lee of one of his signature endings, though I hope Jeremiah was spared because of me. 🤣

I can't wait to read yours, Adi! Don't even bother responding to this message if you're still in the middle of writing, though. 🤣

...but could have also been written by like five other people. Glad you enjoyed reading it. Thank you. I just wanted to focus on that one snapshot of a moment and felt anything more would have been surplus. Flash fiction. I'm forever lacking the terminology. Thanks, Jason!

Success! If at least something made you laugh, I'm content. Glad you enjoyed reading it. It's nice to know when the other person feels the same. I was snickering the whole time I thought it up. I knew some others would also enjoy writing about hidden feelings and confessions, but I knew no one would have thought of a confession playing out exactly like that. Glad you liked it, Aaron! 🥰

Right? His thoughts were going right there, too! 🤣 Thank you. They'll be fine. They have a strong foundation. Thank you, Gary! Thank you!

Glad you thought so. Hope it made you chuckle. I had a hard time pinning the right people down this year, too, so I can't even say anything. I was one hundred percent the first entry (though I might not be next time to shake things up!). Gave the mods a good laugh about it and everything. I'm already picturing it played out as a sketch now. Thank you, Cane!

Thank you! I hope you join us next time, too! Just don't tell us if you are or not, as it still has to be a secret. I wish! 🤣 Hope I was one of them. You could have easily have written something like this, too. I knew you'd find me out somehow. I wasn't hiding as hard this time since last time I wasn't easily caught. "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!" 🤣

Hopefully it was a smoother read than the first time if you did? You should have seen the look of complete and utter despair on my face when I realized that while the stories themselves had only one POV all the way through, each one alternated from first to third in the collection. I had to change this one, my anthology piece, Suspicious Seaweed, AND that one oneshot Sparkling Water. But I did it. 😂

"Are you sure about this?" Cove asked, his voice trembling with a mixture of excitement and nerves. Golden sunlight streamed through the kitchen window, casting shifting patterns across the cluttered table. Instructions and tools were scattered everywhere—a testament to both our determination and uncertainty. "Yeah, it says right here that we have to use the Allen wrench for that part," I replied, tapping the pamphlet for emphasis. "We've been following along page by page…mostly." My hands

Too cute. I loved it. 🥰

That's one way of putting it. Think the short double drop of Busch Garden's Shiekra roller coaster.

That's one way of putting it. Rut? 🤣

...opens mouth to say something and closes it again.

Do what you gotta do. 😂