Bill W

Chapter 31 – A Weekend to Relax When we woke up Friday morning, I decided to tell the shaman about my first encounter with a mountain lion as he was fixing our breakfast. I explained how Devin had transitioned into a bear to save us, while also informing him that it was the very first time that Devin had ever done anything like that before, or even knew that he could transition. The shaman chuckled and made an immediate decision. “Since you are apparently aware of what a mountain l

I'm not sure, but his last name was Quinlan.

I read where a scientist explained that regular frost, rime frost, forms on foggy night and the moisture collects of the spikey plants. He described hoarfrost as occurring on cool clear night and the moisture rises out of the ground. He went on to explain that Hoarfrost has a fluffier incarnation, so if any of you are so inclined, have fun feeling the hoarfrost to see if he's correct. On a another note, I once knew a girl whose married surname was Hoar. Can you imagine what it would be like if people came up to you and asked if you were a Hoar, or a nurse calling out that she has the Hoar baby and wants to know who the mother is. Personally, I think I'd either force my husband to legal change his name or I'd divorced him.

I'm looking forward to the Leap of Faith Anthology being posted, because I can't wait to read all of those great stories. I've looked over the list of authors who've submitted stories. and this looks like it will be an awesome selection.

For a long time it was believed that the woolly mammoths died out 10,000 years ago. However, scientists in this century believe the mammoth continued to survive on a remote island off the Siberian Coast in the Arctic Ocean until 4000 years ago. It's believed that as the sea levels began to rise after the end of the ice age, a small herd of mammoths were trapped on Wrangle Island and they didn't die out until 2000 BCE. That, however, may change yet again. A Dallas based company, Colossal, is actively attempting to 'reincarnate' the giant beast. They are trying to sequence the mammoth DNA using samples recovered recovered from the Arctic Permafrost. The plan is to recreate a mammoth embryo and implant it into an African elephant. The company is aiming on bringing the woolly mammoth back to life by 2027.

The term night watchman has fallen out of 8se. Now, most people just refer to them as the guard on the overnigh t shift. When I was a kid, the term night watchman was frequently used for the men that roamed the railyards to keep out kids and adults trying to get in a boxcar and ride to somewhere else. It was also used for the men that patrolled the warehouses to keep out thieves. Today, a WATCHAN is a small device shaped like a parachute and about the size of a quarter that prevents blood clots in the left arterial appendage. It is NOT a pacemaker.

Raconteur comes from the Old French word 'aconter' or 'acompter', meaning 'to count'. Those words were the basis for another Old French word 'reconter', meaning 'to tell' or 'to count'. This led to the early 19th century word 'reconteur'. The British have a separate word for a female reconteur, which is 'reconteuse'. I feel we have a fairly good selection of reconteurs on GA when it comes to gay fiction.

Last call? I'll have a 7 & 7.

I believe there are a lot of politicians that must be Karen clones.

I wish I was aware of this word many years ago, because there was a woman I would have liked to call a termagant. It would have fit her well and driven her crazy because she wouldn't have known what I was talking about.

Unfortunately, every small and medium size animal is prey for some larger animals

Yes, there are dangers everywhere.

With Halloween coming up, many people will feign being timorous when confronted by a child in a scary costume.

But if you remember, Devin changed into a hawk to fly out where he changed into a Bigfoot during their freshman year.

I didn't write that Pops know how to transition part of his body. Just Mac has been able to do it so far, after making a mistake in his training where that happened. However, as far as we know, he can't transition parts of his body into different animals at the same time. Sorry.

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.