Bill W

Thank you for the link to the article about various bucks attacking and goring people. I'm sure a lot of people will find that article interesting. And I'm glad you enjoyed this and the previous chapters.

I have used it on occasion myself, but when you get our age, people don't give it a second thought, since we're nearly as outdated as the language we use. 🤣

You'll soon see if you are correct, and ty for the continuing feedback.

Yes, Mac has experienced some interesting times so far, and now we'll see what he's made of. Thanks for the feedback and the compliment.

Methinks we've journeyed back to the Elizabethan era with this word of the day. Elizabeth I that is.

Thanks, Chris, I'm glad you enjoyed my description of the evil skinwalker. Yes, Mac has been experiencing some hair raising encounters, which in turn plants seeds of doubt in his mind, but I think he'll be able to overcome that problem with Devin's help.

Thank you, Terry. I'm glad you approve of the shaman's method of training Mac, and hopefully Mac is paying very close attention. The shaman obviously taught the predators first, since that was not only safe for Mac since he was just learning the ropes, but also so Mac would know how the predators think and act once he was the prey. You're correct when you state that Mac isn't about to do the same types of things that Devin has done. Mac seems to be more reserved and level headed, where Devin is more willing to take risks and do things just for the hell of it. That might not be so bad when they're together, because they'll balance each other out, but that's yet to be seen in practice. And you're correct, Mac will have to weigh the life and death situations when he's a predator for a long period of time, because it will boil down to killing another animal or going hungry.

Yes, it was an evil skin walker, and even though it had age and experience on its side, it was also at a disadvantage. It didn't know there were good skinwalkers that could take on the true shape of other creatures, and it was also outnumbered and apparently very hungry. That might be why it didn't just say the hell with it and walk away, but stay proved to be the wrong thing to do . And you're correct. Mac has witnessed the possible dangers, which appears to have given him some doubts, but he might not have those same trepications when he's dealing with humans in another form, as long as they aren't armed.

Nah, no need to shut up. Those are all good questions, and for most of them you'll have to wait and see what happens in those situations. As far as whether a buck could use its antlers like that, bucks fight with their antlers during mating season as they fight for the does. They can use their antlers as weapons at other times as well, although I don't know how often that might happen. You'll just have to wait and see what happens as Mac takes on other forms.

It was a good guess, but being close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and atom bombs. 😁 But I'm glad you're interested enough to make a guess, so thanks for staying involved and adding comments to let me know your thoughts.

Thanks, Al. I'm glad you liked my explanation about the evil skin walkers. As far as Mac's reservations about being a skinwalker, it's true it has some advantages, but he's learning it has dangers as well. They might not face evil skinwalkers all of the time, but he's been told there are other ways he might get killed while in another form as well, so it's giving him pause. We'll have to see if he overcomes these concerns.

Chapter 30 – WTF Was That? As I was bracing to defend myself against the creature’s attack, the clouds slowly drifted away and allowed the moonlight to brighten the ground again. This one small change shined an entirely different light on our current situation and I was able to reevaluate our current predicament more clearly. As I looked closer, I could see a rather large buck was straddling the creature’s body with its head bowed, and there was a large black bear standing on its

From the Latin obstrepere - 'ob' meaning against and 'strepere' meaning make a noise.

It seems like an awfully big word to say a disorderly or rambunctious child.

It's not anywhere near the hundred you mentioned, Steve, but I see there are links posted for four stories for the anthology. Hopefully it will be a lot more.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Steve, Happy Birthday to you! My present to you is that you didn't hear me sing this. I hope you have a great and enjoyable day!

It is said that Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar who was burned at the stake for heresy, imprecated his accusers, Pope Clement V and King Phillip IV of France (and his descendants), as he died. Apparently, Pope Clement died 33 days after de Molay and King Phillip shortly thereafter, and King Phillip's sons died young, failing to produce male heirs, so King Phillip's dynasty ended. It seems de Molay's imprecation proved to be very powerful.

Than either the Brits are less likely to harm the royals or the country, as a whole, has less to fear or worry about.

And to my utter surprise, King Charles was walking totally alone along the trail and wasn't accompanied by any protective detail, and he casually stopped to chat with the bikers. If that was the President of the United States, he'd have a Secret Service detail with him at all times.

Walking into a heated disagreement and misunderstanding between my two best friends, I turned around an left, because I refused to be pulled into the imbroglio.

Let me expand on that definition. Imbroglio: An acutely painful, extremely confused, embarrassing, or complicated misunderstanding.

I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I'm glad that you're getting out and around and seeing the southwest up close and personal.

I started writing stories 25 years ago and posted my stories on a couple of different sites. One of those sites is no longer around, but the other was Nifty. My first story, A Tragic Love, was a reaction to the Matthew Shepard murder near Laramie, Wyoming. I received many positive responses from gay teens and gay tweens about the story, and quite a few of them told me personal stories about themselves, and after hearing their stories, I got to know them at a deeper level. Some were dealing with problems arising from being gay, mostly from their families or the school environment, so I decided to write a story that might help them escape and even cope in some way. As I explored the idea with them, as a place they could go to mentally escape and possibly even supply them with ideas they might use to cope with their problems, the encourage me to write the story. A number of them even asked if they could be a character in the story, and I agreed to loosely based a character on their situation, and that's how The Castaway Hotel came about. Since I was posting mainly on Nifty at the time, I felt pressured to included a lot of sex, but I mainly wanted to tell a story. Eventually, @Myr saw some of my stories and must have enjoyed them, because 20 years ago he asked if I'd be interested in posting my stories on a new site he was creating. I agreed and I've been here ever since, both writing and reading stories.

I've never heard the word rattlebrained before. My grandparents and other older relatives used the word addle-brained or addle-headed instead, which basically means the same thing as rattlebrained.

I couldn't get it to play, but I was able to read what it was about. So maybe Mac, Devin, Pa, Gramps, and Pops are actually out there, along with the evil skinwalkers.