Geron Kees

I won't spoil it by telling you, of course!

I like old houses, and we often drive around during the warm months and look at what there is to see. There are a lot of old house out my way. I like foursquares. Very roomy and comfortable. Also partial to Queen Anne and Gothic Revival. So of course we own a Dutch Colonial!

Hi CG! I think you know the formula by now. I don't think I could quite do Addams. That'd be like stealing!

You're right. I tend to suspect the guests are not able to leave the field generated by the Ravishaw/Tesla device. I was viewing this as a sort of pocket universe, neither here nor back at their place of origin, but somewhere in between. There is a sort of interface with the house, but the guests are never really inside it physically. Charlie and Kip (and Rick and Adrian) seeing a block creature walking about in their room, complete with floorboards squeaking, was an image placed into their minds. Mr. Ravishaw had many years to study his guests. He had imagination, a desire to know, and compassion for them, once he understood their plight. The communication between them, such as it was, would have been very slow. But given years, mountains may be moved.

Christmas is just 8 weeks away. In these times, that's like yesterday! Some things are not to be answered directly. The block people had obviously been migrating slowly towards the rent in spacetime that gave access to the field of the house. Their mounds were all around it when Charlie was there. Those hidden within were waiting their chance for a dash to safety. The answer is that many more will attempt to come through to find sanctuary. How much space is actually within the field? How big is the place they are fleeing to? You guess. I gave some hints that it's much larger than the house itself. Let's hope it's enough. Their enemy must remain inscrutable. If one of our probes flew over the sands of Mars and witnessed this exact scenario, with alien flying things chasing after block people, we would be left guessing what was happening until we could actually go there. Charlie was an observer, not quite involved in the action, so he could do nothing but guess, too. But one thing to remember is that Charlie can easily find places he has been to before. So... I like to leave some things unanswered. Readers have just as much imagination as writers. Whatever scenario you imagine to be the answer here will be as good as anything I can come up with, and more satisfying for you. Have fun! 🚀 Can't wait until we can all get back together again. Stay safe!

Well...I hope great expectations do not result in some disappointment for you. I often think that some things are best left to the reader's imagination. Don't you?

Another interesting tale, Gary, off to a good start. Here' a subject you don't see very often, either: being gay in the old west. Another plus! I saw some pictures recently of cowboys from that period, and some of the pictures highlighted things that had been missed for many years, clues that the men in the pictures might have been more than just friends. People forget that being gay is not a recently discovered state of being. Anyway, you're breaking some new trail here, pardner! Let's get these here dogies a'movin! Hi-o! 🙂

I have never counted comments before. And thirteen is just as lucky as it is unlucky, depending on how you look at it! Thirteen is a number of change. Fourteen is just kind of there, you know?

I add a new character almost every story, it seems. I have to keep a roster of them as it is now!

Exactly. Another very good answer! 🙂

Lawyers? I see no reason to go where no man has gone before! 😄

Thanks, Paul. Always pleased to have you along for the ride. As for the Christmas journey...it's still in the formative stages, even though I have already started writing the story. Where the guys will end up on their next outing, only time will tell!

Yes sir. And thank you for taking the journey with us. Your company is always enjoyable!

And thank you, sir, for saying!

Thank you. This year seems to have a special need for good feelings and happy endings. Hopefully there will be more to come!

Thank you. Yes, it would be wonderful to share feelings of joy and happiness with the entire world. But I guess we would need to move beyond the limitations of a story to engineer that one. I think Horace will have one of the more interesting Christmas vacations of his life this year.

Thank you. I liked Horace enough to feel he deserved to see more of what he would consider the paranormal world. I mean, magic, when you actually do find it, should be shared with everyone, right?

Young people with principles! What is this world coming to!

I like this answer, too!

See! I LIKE this answer very much!

There is also the very simple notion that Kippy's parents liked the name 'Kip', and that is his given name. 'Kippy' is his nickname. I happen to like the name 'Christopher', though, and think Christopher Lawson has a nice sound to it. It might be fun to reveal at some future date that his real name is... But for now, Kip will do.

That's a good question. I could say that she married a cousin, also named Ravishaw, and retained the name. Much more common back then than it is now. Or, she could have simply reverted to being known as Mrs. Ravishaw after the death of her husband. Or, I could simply have made a boo boo and didn't think of that whole issue somehow, and you caught me. But the cousin answer seems the more likely one!

And for Ivor!

Yep. I can imagine falling in love with a house very easily, as we love where we live. The addition of somewhat spectral guests might make even more fun!

We live out in the woods and only have a dozen neighbors on our very long road. The kids have been growing up here, and last year we only had about ten rings of the doorbell. This year there were none at all. I had already talked to a few of my neighbors and knew they were planning other things for their kids this year. We have not had a huge virus impact here, but many parents felt that it was better to err on the side of safety. As it turned out, it was down in the twenties here last night, and there was enough of a wind to make it feel even colder. Even sans Covid, I don't think the turnout would have been huge. There is always next year to look forward to!