Thirdly

A glint of metal shone in the light before it plunged into the loser. - Oof. What's that one song... Mack The Knife! That's what this line reminded me of. A shaky hand fell upon and stroked my back. It shocked me. To be on Death's final breath, the man chose to greet me with his last grasp. I studied his smiling face until the arm fell limp and his head hung. - Aww, you did a good thing, kitty. Looking back to the alley, I skulked away. Memories would turn into eventual nightmares. Returning was no longer an option. - I wouldn't want to live there, either!

I've been guilty of taking too long in the restroom, but I've never been accused of cheating while I'm in there.

I never check the genres and summary, so I was pleasantly surprised that this is NOT a horror but a romance.

His grandmother, his only family, died during the Ivory Fig Ceremony week. - No, not granny! Sometimes Finn took Matthew’s hand or pressed a fig into his palm, and Matthew didn’t feel so alone. - He's really obsessed with those figs, isn't he? Worried that Finn might feel abandoned, he scribbled a letter and left it at their usual spot, explaining his absence and hoping that Finn would understand. - "Am bringing offering to altar. Hope I don't get killed and sacrificed..." we all get the blessings if the deity’s happy - Wait, what if the deity's unhappy?? “Half?” Matthew croaked. “Like…slicing me in half?” -PFFT! That's what I was worried about, a human sacrifice. “Guess we better make sure you can write out your name neatly,” Matt decided. “When I first saw your dad’s handwriting, it looked like he’d written down Fern instead of Finn." - 🤣Calling him out like that. This was so cute! I'm so glad he wasn't actually sacrificed at the altar.

Words fail me. But you won't regret reading it. Culinary chaos.

“It didn’t explode.” - Haha! What a way to start. “You’ve got that look on your face.”“What look?”“The dumb one you get when you’re about to dash all my hopes and dreams,” Caden replied with a slight smirk. - LMAO! 😂 “Hey,” Caden said, for the third time. He almost felt embarrassed that he couldn’t come up with something better than hey. /The boy looked at him expectantly, and after a moment, tilted his head to the side and said, “That’s the third hey, is that all you wanted to say?” - Cut him some slack, he was totally lost in those pretty blue-grey eyeballs. “Bleach, volume twenty-one.” - Miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari~ 🎵 "It's a human soul that has lost its heart," Kai said. "Literally. There's a hole in their chest where it used to be. They can't feel anything except hunger and they consume other souls trying to fill the space." He looked down at the page. "They're not evil. They're just empty." - Like the heartless from Kingdom Hearts? "There are recipes that use this to create magical potions,but nothing edible as far as I read." - Well, shit. "You said you needed something special to make your sauce exceptionally extraordinary." Kai stepped forward to grab a spoon. - Careful what you wish for. "Fenugreek and the holy Jamie Oliver," Caden said as he stared at the smoke gathering around the pot and tried to cover his mouth and nose. - You can say that again! "They'll know,” Kai looked very pale. “The door broadcasts a signal the moment it's complete." - Well, shit. “Hi, I’m Kevin. How can I help you?” - I mean, he took in in stride, what can I say? 🤣

There's some good stuff in here. Fans of National Treasure will really get a kick out of it. Just be ready for the length!

This story almost killed me at 20k words. Don't get me wrong, it's still very much the forbidden knowledge theme with that hidden ledger. But, I propose everyone limit next year's SA entries at 10k tops for the sake of my short attention span. Billy recognized only a few of them and trusted none. His grandfather had taught him early that historians were the worst sort of gamblers. They pretended to wager only with dates and documents, but in truth they staked reputations, fortunes, and sometimes lives upon the fragile belief that the past could be forced to confess. - Yeah, if I were somehow reincarnated into a cockroach a couple hundred years from now, I'd love to see what humanity thinks what CDs and blurays were. "Plastic frisbees that reflect light!" “Gratitude is not required,” Rusk said. “Discretion is.” “Discretion usually means someone important would prefer not to be embarrassed.” - Right? Fishy fishy. “You realize,” Thad said as the treads bit into the snow, “that we have just acquired enemies in at least two governments and in this pub.” - Seriously. Inside, wrapped in cracked black oilcloth and bound with a cord hardened by age, lay a book no larger than a church Bible and thicker than a banker’s conscience. Its leather cover had dried almost black. Along the spine, stamped in flaking gilt, were two words: War Accounts.- Well, what do you know? “Maybe he feared what daylight would burn,” Thad said. “Or whom,” Silas said. - Exactly. After its publication, history could no longer ask only who killed Grant. It had to ask who profited, who knew, who concealed the truth, and what nations become when they build peace upon an unacknowledged accounts. - Pretty much.

To think he ended up inheriting the property. If that's not familial love, I don't know what is.

Shh. Y'all don't see me. I'm just dropping some more art: *scampers away*

Cassiopeia, my queen, how I adore thee... let me count the ways... 🥰

I love redheads, but I would spank Orion over my knee. Also, art:

@Gary L, so it begins! 😆

A made-up word. Pay it no mind. 😂

Suffering fluffernutters! @Camy never did write more for the story world of Liminal. I'm a sucker for stories like that. @centexhairysub I guess wrong all the time, too! I don't feel too bad about it because the stories are all so good it's more like a compliment, but still.

Happy GA-versary to @Lee Wilson, @Cane23, and @Bill W and anyone else I missed too, just in case I forget or miss it.

I... am not going to threaten to squish you between my boobs in a hug. I see that Val and Andy (or at least I think it was Andy) have already taken care of that. Considering the, uh, shocking (?) day I've had, this was something I really needed. So thank you. And stop worrying, everyone will love STC. I know I do and all I did was goad you into writing smuttier scenes. 😅

Jason, I live for your comments on just about everything.

“Nope,” Malik said firmly, releasing the child. The child looked at him, then took a deep breath, filling their lungs with air.“Hey!” Malik said, using his sternest voice that he had picked up from seeing Mythe and Rhaelce use it with the twins. “Nu-uh. Go.” - Why do I identify with this little fanged child and felt like pouting when he said 'No' just now? Two ladies of Shuza’s race ran the shops, which was another reason he liked it. - Helloooo feline ladies. 👀 Kalloh still hadn’t responded. Malik thought again. *Earth or Air? Which one?*

In my head it was, "Rail" (as in railing The Malik) "Chi" (as in the vital life force in Chinese philosophy).

I love how you're calling him The Malik 😂

The Scarlet Moon - Yep. Still loving that name. I'm glad Malik gave those brats a thrashing. Sorta.

Agreed!

When I came too, I felt a pain in my neck and upper back. I couldn't move my feet much, and my arms felt unnaturally held back. When I tried to move them, my wrists rubbed up against the coiled rope. Before my eyes fully focused, someone slapped me. Teeth clenched, I glared at Alonso, trying to bury the raw, stinging ache on my cheek behind defiant anger. "There's mi diablillo," Alonso said. "I was tired of waiting." "Where's Clint?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady.

Book 1 of Malik's Adventures is a rollercoaster of triumph, heartbreak, found family, loss, budding love, new friendships, and vengeance!