Thirdly

Plus, we have the very finest wines and stronger libations for our nightly soirées. - Not me drowning in my own drool over here. I'm glad Suzie's happy and Peter won't be missing out on some good food.

Definitely a Creature Feature entry that could have been a movie.

Deeper Dive- Before I even started, I wanted to say that this title confused me for the briefest moments. I thought I had one of @Myr's deep dives open on a separate web tab. He signed up for a sleep study. Oceanic Organization. - Well, shit. Goodbye, research budget. So long to half of my savings account. - Ouch. Oh, good heavens, he tried to help. I hope Patrick remains hidden from them.

Read this and you will come to understand how there's a little bit of Bo in everyone.

"No, seriously, this time I meat it, Gerald!" - 🤣 Yes, I named my laptop. - I named mine Gundam Wingie some years back. RIP Gundam Wingie. Exhibit A: my current browser tabs. - 🤣...I have 8 of them open now, trying to respond to messages and catch up on reading anthology stories such as this one. Tab 4: Indeed.com jobs near me. - Yeah I need this tab, too. Tab 5: Is it normal to be attracted to the Beast from Beauty and the Beast? - Uh, he's cute and fluffy? The succulent by the window has definitely been giving me looks. Judgmental little prick. - The audacity of that succulent named Fernando. Subject: RE: Anthology Submission - Proofreading Complete - Would this be considered a fourth wall break? "I'm saying I need you to help me understand how to categorize this thing so I can recommend it for publication." - Good God, I never know what genres and categories my stories actually are. That's my kryptonite right there. I'm going to send it to Devon personally. Some creatures, it turns out, deserve their own stories too. - Oh no! Poor Devon!

Me: (staring at calendar) This was posted last Wednesday. So if there are more entries that will eventually be posted today, which is already next Wednesday, then I better get to reading these now. 😅

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, if my comments didn't show it enough.

All caught up and ready for the next batch.

They were based on mixed Canadian foxes, which, for some reason, popped into my head when the creature feature theme was announced. Glad you enjoyed it! Everything was crafted around the mixed Canadian foxes that popped in my head. 😂 Thanks again, Lee. Adiiiii~ I'm glad it didn't read too weirdly. Thank you for humoring my rants, color charts and all. 🥰 Thank you so much! Thank you, Law!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed reading this one. Thanks, Bennie! Glad you liked this one. Thank you! Thank you so much! Tell me about it! 😂The challenge for me was condensing the story and trying to make it as compact as possible, and it still ended up 9k words.

Lee took the creature feature theme and ran with it...which is ironically what you'll want the characters to do, run!

While Sean and his wife, Liberty, were setting up the RV at their campsite, their two boys went exploring. - Not me already worrying. "Funky looking baby alligator, ain't it?” - To be fair, gators are worse, thus says a prior Floridian. "Oh, fuck! Run Vic!” - And don't look back! A minute later, Ian came running out of the woods. "Shiiiiiiittttt! Run, Vic!" - Dude! How many times we gotta tell you to stop looking back!? In the background, not easily visible because its color closely matched the dirt behind the hole, a male was standing over the eggs. - Good Lord, even more of them. "Holy shit. It's eating it." - And we're not immediately evacuating, why??? Hunter lost his pinky and ring finger. - *motioning frantically* Done did told you to evacuate!! He went to the front of the partially eaten hellbender and pried open its mouth with the barrel. The fingers were there. He picked them up and ran back to the house. After putting them in a plastic bag with some ice, he screamed for Sheila. - I mean, that's one way of doing it. Hunter Harris regained over ninety percent mobility in both his left pinky and ring fingers. - Yay??? Goodness, that was intense.

Oh, man, I'm already concerned.

As far as creature features go, this one delivers more romance than Mrs.Frankenstein. I can't even express how much I enjoyed reading this one!

It was the aroma of culinary surrender. - Huh. That describes 90% of my meals right there. Culinary surrender. “You’ve lost touch with reality, Rowan,” he’d said, his voice dripping with the condescension he usually reserved for domestic cheese plates. “This is your world. A bubble of foams and gels. You couldn’t survive a day outside this city.” - I beg your fattest pardon? The irony was, of course, that Matt himself wouldn’t survive a day without his imported Italian loafers and a reliable Wi-Fi signal. - Right? You tell him! All this green and brown needs a pop of color. A beet reduction, perhaps? - Maybe in autumn? A dramatic “nooooo” escaped my lips, swallowed by the immense, indifferent silence of the ancient forest. -🤣 It was a culinary crime scene, a cry for help from a collection of tragically misused roots. - Again, describing most of my meals here. “It’s… earthy,” I choked out. - 🤣 “Don’t even start,” I snapped, pointing a trembling finger at the muddy puddle. “That was a culinary crime scene.” - 🤣 Fact four: My host, my gatekeeper, was snoring. Angels don’t snore. - 😂Says who? “Confirmed,” he stated, his voice resonating with a newfound finality. “This unit is… Sam.” - Hi, Sam! “Breaking news: Dangerous bear captured in forest – ten tranquilizer darts used! They will put Sam on display!” - Sam's got a point! I squatched him. - 🥰Yay! Let's freaking go! Oh, I absolutely loved this!

As others said, this was indeed a fun read—a story about a couple of struggling teens blended with a bit of forum fun and true to the creature feature theme! I enjoyed it.

On the sidelines, a redheaded cheerleader stood frozen, hands pressed over her mouth as she witnessed the chaos unfold. - This has nothing to do with anything, but we never had a red-haired cheerleader back in my high school. I'd have been totally smitten if we had. I have a soft spot for redheads. "Ace, chill!" - That's an interesting nickname for Angel. I like it. "They started it, Demi," - Ooo! I like that nickname for Demon, too! "Your son chose violence today," Principal Cia said. - @Cia would make an amazing principal. "It didn't feel like it was an accident at the time," he said. - 🤣 even Demon occasionally sticking his head out the window failed to break the boredom. - Wait, what? "Know what, bro?" Angel teased as he moved over to flop onto the bed Demon placed his suitcase on. "I think I want to sleep on this one during our stay." - Ah, siblings. Can't live with them, can't have fun without them. 🥰 The nickname "Feathers" stuck after that—especially once Angel's rival spread it around. Hearing Demon use it was a low blow. - I mean, as far as mocking names go, Feathers doesn't sound all that bad to me... but then again, Angel's a teen, everything is ten times worse to them. "Until night?" Angel asked."Before sunset," Val insisted./"Most of the time," Angel added. Val pointed at him in warning. - 🤣 Picturing Val and Steve wrangling teenagers instead of GA members is just the funniest thing ever. Don't kill me, @wildone and @Valkyrie! "Well, I'm Talon," the person greeted. "This here is Myr. Back over there we have Cane, Ron, and Aaron." - As in, @TalonRider, @Myr, @Cane23, @Ron, @astone2292???? "Did he just say Anal Ace?" Aaron whispered, and Cane nudged him. - I can't breathe. That sounds like the name of a porn star right there. "Sure, sure," Demon drawled. "I know you're jealous of my looks."/"We look the same," Angel refuted. - 🤣 Violet eyes gleamed as Angel—or whatever had taken hold of him—drank the last mouthful of blood from the camper. With a single glance, Demon saw the first camper was already lifeless. - Whoa, that turned dark real quick. Glad this is fiction. If we lost both Talon and Myr, we'd all be in a pickle. "This body is mine now," Angel sneered, his voice cold and mocking. "So are its spoils." - Possessed, too? Get whatever that is outta that teen! "It figures, doesn't it?" Demon said with a crooked grin. "All that golden retriever energy people teased me about—turns out it was hiding something real." - PFFT! "Ace is a vampire, and I'm a werewolf!" Demon blurted. "And then some darkness took over my brother—he went on a bloodsucking spree. Two campers are dead!" - I mean, that just about covers it. "This is the local werewolf trainer, Chris," Val introduced. "And this is a vampire expert, Ben." - @chris191070 and @BendtedWreath??? Dr. Paladin, walked in with the local police, Sheriff Reader and Constable Graeme. - @drpaladin @Reader1810 & @Graeme??? "Demon should come with me," Chris added. "The best place to train a wolf is in the woods." - I can't argue with that logic. Demon found hunting easy as a werewolf, and even if he couldn't bring back animals, Angel could survive on rare steak. - I wish I could survive on rare steak. Ben sent him a rueful smile. "We all have some darkness inside us," he said. "Yours was the result of a curse. Others are a result of their own actions." - I can't argue with that logic, either. As the family began their long drive home, Demon stuck his head out the window while Angel pouted. - 🤣That makes sense now. "Hey," Angel said, his voice steady despite the nerves twisting in his gut. "About last year—I'm sorry. I lost control. You didn't deserve that." - Aww, I like that he reached out. This was such a fun read, guys! Thanks for sharing.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place doesn't even begin to describe being in this comedian's shoes.

This reminds me of the joke Gabriel Iglesias had prepped for if he was chosen to host one of the award shows, something along the lines of (after the Chris Rock versus Will Smith drama): "Once again, a Mexican is doing a job no one else wanted to do." 😂

We're all creatures of habit. They're all just different habits. Here, Adi ensnares our senses and makes us want to adopt a cat and hunt down some pasta- oh, wait, that's just me. 😅

For a while, people have been bringing us hooks from all over the world...- Memo to self: Bring Adi a hook when I come visit. Maybe a hat, too. My brother says I’m a stodgy old man of thirty-four. - Pssh! 34 is not old. 😂 Or a variation of one of my favorite pasta dishes: pear fiocchetti with brown sage butter sauce, or lasagna á la chef. - 🤤 I loved it!

I am here. I'm alive. Going to try my best to catch up today.

Keon, a fox Alpha, presented as dominant when he reached adulthood. He has yet to find a compatible mate who could help curb his persistent pheromones. Is he doomed to be forever isolated from his tribe?

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. 🤣