Thirdly

Before reading- You had me at the summary. A judgmental cat named Nyx, too? Let's freaking go. There were still some computer setups in the room, of course, for those who didn’t want to lug their computers around. - Why does this lab sound like heaven to me? All it needs is a jar full of MnM's and I'd live and die right there. “I need to get this laptop working, and it is being unusually stubborn.”/“Oh. Maybe some fresh air and a break for some food will help?” - My dumb IT support subconscious immediately thought "cool air maybe, but laptops can't eat food" 😂 “Noah, Carl Sagan was talking about life outside of Earth there, not ghosts. The next thing you’ll say is that it's Ancient Aliens.” - I wonder if something like this is how the creator of DanDaDan got his idea. Multiple files on the screen showed corruption, but the corruption very clearly spelled out “I SEE YOU”. - Time to burn some sage up in here. Make a salt circle... The air smelt heavenly, with sauce, garlic, and sausage smells wafting about. - Not me drowning in my own drool over here. It was a neat rendition of Nyx, capturing the luscious black fur with what looked like a piece of bread tied to her back. What the hell? His mind ground to a halt for a moment before it rebooted. “Nope. I don’t want to know.” - LMAO!! “Penne with sausage meat sauce. I used sweet Italian sausage, don’t worry. It’s not hot at all.” - 🤤 “Maybe the ghost isn’t random static,” Noah said. “Maybe it’s her trying to rebuild herself.” - I mean... “Translation: ghost with Wi-Fi.” - LMAO! Elliot looked down at him. “You realize we just performed a paranormal data rescue.” - Right?? For once, Elliot didn’t overthink. He leaned in, just as the lights dimmed—not from ghosts this time, but from the storm finally passing—and kissed him. - Yaaay! On the screen, a folder blinked open—Mara Jensen’s Project. Clean, intact, archived under her name in the university servers, marked with attribution and a short memorial notice that Noah had insisted they write together. - Let's go! “Meh, you are like a memory leak—too much of you and my whole system crashes.”/“You say the hottest things,” Noah said, and kissed him, soft and inevitable. - LMAO!! Elliot realized that logic and wonder weren’t opposites. They were a circuit. And somehow, improbably, their loop was closed. - 🥲 Aww. Combine the two, and the cat would spin mid-air as the feet attempted to hit the floor and the butter attempted to land butter-side down. - LMAO!! Well, I absolutely loved this entry!! Thanks for sharing~

Holy shit. So many of my favorite people's work this week. Guess I won't be playing PokemonZ-A today. Not until I read all of them. 😂

Thank you so much! I know it felt like it could have been a longer, chaptered story, and I forced it down to a one-shot. But I do revisit worlds in many of my stories, so I'll definitely come back to this one! ❤️I'm glad for all the feedback and that this story's world didn't come off as too convoluted. 😂Just ask@Aditus, there really were charts created!

Done and ready for the rest!

A pair of soulmates try to find a way to be together, when just about everything in their lives try to keep them apart.

Derek was annoyed. First, at the heat, then at Jordan for leading him out of his beloved city, and finally at complaining and sounding like a small child. Both of them now counted eighteen summers - 18 feels like a small child to me! Complain away, Jordan! "You are about to give your oath to become a cleric. What you were about to ask is barred from you." - Dude! He's not a cleric just yet! Jealousy bloomed in Jordan’s chest like a thorned vine. - Oh, dear... "Of course I am! I'm your best friend, and you push me aside for a stranger with a speech impediment!" Jordan struggled to control his voice. - LMAO! "Do you remember the legend of the Scourge of the North?"/Derek didn't. "Some necromancer slaughtering innocents, right?" - Wow, those events sure twisted like the telephone game centuries later. "What happens now, Father?" Jordan dared to ask./The older man didn't look at the acolyte. "We will go to war, and many a good man will die by the machinations of this evil creature." - Dagfriggin nabbit. And it ends on a cliffie, too? Here's to hoping Jordan has enough trust in Derek.

Simply killing his relatives was insufficient payment for what they had inflicted on him. - Wait, his relatives? The anticipation threatened his concentration, and he focused on the mental link to his undead servants. - Necromancer? Its skin was the colour of dirty emeralds, slick and veined with pulsing black ichor. Horns curled like twisted iron from its brow, and its eyes, two pits of molten jade, locked onto the magician with a gaze that could curdle milk and unravel sanity. - *flips laptop dramatically* Law, I just freaking love the way you describe colors and details. It always hits me. I am SUCH a sucker for colors, especially non-bland ones like dirty emerald and molten jade (and I also love the fact that you keep it balanced, not everything is overly detailed or specifically hued). Now, the once soft face was hard, and the once well-braided blond hair was cut short as an intended insult to his clansmen, who indicated status by the length of their braids. - A clan that denotes status by braid length? Awesome! The first screams of terror reached the necromancer. - I knew it! "And I'm very grateful to her. I would've told her myself if you hadn't killed her."/"It was her time. She ate more food than she was worth." - No respect for the elderly! "Too long have I lived in hate. I deserve a loving future, too. I'll seek a priest powerful enough to resurrect Keldan." - Wait, what??

I just sat here for two minutes trying to leave a review without spoilers. This right here is a 100% certified slapper: action, friendship, romance, comedy, spicy times! Give it a chance. You won't be disappointed.

Before I even started reading, that summary had me all kinds of confused. Who or what is getting bitten where? 😂 The wolf stood, stretched his body, and then shook. Fur flew in all directions. He turned and issued a sharp bark. Wake up! His pack stirred. - I imagine one was grumbling "five more minutes" somewhere in the back. He found himself unconsciously sitting and lying down when the man issued that order to his dogs. He almost revealed himself once when the man had shouted, “Come!” - 😂 The man whistled the command to sit./Immediately, the wolf-man sat. - 🤣 “He wants me to sniff your ass.” - 🤣 Like? I love it! Our Nick named me Farley. Why didn’t you ever think of naming me? What good are you?” - 🤣 The only thing I didn't like was that this story came to an end. It was so enjoyable. Sucks that Farley/Wolf lost their original pack to another wolf, but I'm super glad he found a new shifting pack with Nick.

You don't have to be a dog fan to enjoy this story of a bond that was forged at the right time and only strengthened with time. Hits you right in the feelings. Please read this one.

Then from the bushes limped a German Shepherd puppy, its gaze locked on Jake, silently pleading for help. - My heart! 🥰 How would he convince his parents to let him keep the dog? - That's always the question. Jake cut last night's roast beef into slices. - 😂This is the kinda thing that would have never worked in a Hispanic household...all the meats are so marinated and seasoned, it'd have given the pup indigestion. Then it hit him, Buster. - That's the perfect name for the pup!!💯 “I was worried I had lost my best friend when I heard you were in the hospital. I don’t want to lose you.”/Jake saw something in John’s eyes he hadn’t seen before—a flicker of hesitation, a softness in John’s eyes that didn’t quite match the joke. - Oh my. John met his gaze, eyes uncertain but steady. “I like you, Jake. Not just as a friend.” - Let's go!🥰 Jake nodded as the tears slipped silently down his cheeks. “I don’t know how to say goodbye.”/“You don’t have to,” John said softly. “He knows.” - Gushing tears.😭 This was such a beautiful, beautiful entry in this year's anthology!

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!