Bill W

That time in a young person's life can be confusing enough without moving and changing schools. I'm glad you made it through that time period somewhat unscathed, even though you did have to change schools multiple times. Thank you for the feedback and I'm glad you seemed to enjoy the prologue. I hope your life is going well for you now and that you are happy with what you are doing. I wish you only the best from here on out!

Looks like a view of Skull Island!

The word "turophile" comes form the Greek word "tȳrós"(meaning "cheese") combined with the suffix "-phile" (meaning "lover" or "one whoe loves"). The term is used to describe a person who loves or is an expert in cheese. It was first used in 1938 but gained popularity in the 1950s through the writing and radio work of Clifton Fadiman. Examples of turophile used in a sentence: "For the true turophile, a trip to a cheese shope is an adventure filled with delicious possibilities." "Any turophile will love this shop, with its huge array of French cheeses." "My grandfather was a turophile who bought great wheels of cheese every Christmas." "As a connoisseur of fancy cheese, the turophile enjoyed tasting many different types of the delicious dairy product." "James is a turophile of sorts and enjoys cheese-tasting events more than anything in the world." "Brie, pepper jack, and mozzarella are some of the favorite cheeses of our local turophile."

Objurgate comes from Latin objurgat- ‘chided, rebuked’, from the verb objurgare, based on jurgium ‘strife’. The verb "objurgate" was first used in English in the early 1600s, with the earliest evidence from 1616 in the writing of John Bullokar, physician and lexicographer, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. A few synonyms for objurgate: castigate, chasten, chastise, correct. Examples of objurgate used in a sentence: "The coach objurgated the team for the lackluster performance during the championship game." "If you step on one after nightfall, it will be useless the objurgate." "The little fellow thus objurgated, his eyes scintillating with mirth, now fairly astride of his father's shoulders, clung tenaciously to his prize, and petitioned for a ride in his familiar seat." "After the toddler had a temper tantrum in the store, the angry mother would objurgate her son in his face for ten minutes." "The principal and the teacher objurgate the misbehaving student so loudly that the other students could hear them in the classroom." "With a red face, the judge would objurgate the criminals who would enter his courtroom until they would admit they were wrong." "Army sergeants objurgate in their troops’ faces assigning them kitchen patrol duty for the slightest mishap.'

Thank you, @Cia, for covering for that slacker @wildone again. Sorry, I misread this by @wildone: Quote - "This weekend, I got convinced...", but I thought it read, "This weekend, I got convicted..." Oops! 🤪 Time to get new glasses. My mom, wife, mother-in-law have all passed away, and I never had any sisters, so I'll wish my daughters and cousin a Happy Mother's Day instead, along with wishing all the GA moms Happy Mother's Day, y'all!

Honshee and Xingshu had been hiding out in the cave for so long that they had run out of food, so they came out to find more, but that turned out to be a huge mistakes. Shortly after they emerged from the cave, one of the warriors fighting along border thought they were invaders attacking them from the rear, so he charged them with the knife that he'd been using to gut a rat for cooking. Unfortunately, he stabbed Xingshu before discovering that he wasn't an enemy combatant. Regretably, the wound was left untreated, since no medical supplies could be found.

Scoff is is from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse skaup, skop "mockery, ridicule," Middle Danish skof "jest, mockery;" perhaps from Proto-Germanic *skub-, *skuf- (source also of Old English scop "poet," Old High German scoph "fiction, sport, jest, derision"), from PIE *skeubh- "to shove Scoff first used in Middle English (1300) and first used as a noun in the sense ‘mockery, scorn’. In Hebrew, "scoffer" can be translated from the word "litza" (לִיץ), which means to mock, ridicule, scorn Some possible synonyms for scoff are: scoff, jeer, gibe, and sneer. Examples of scoff used in a sentence: "The critics scoff, but we find this to be a clue." "It was more like a harsh bark of a scoff, rather than a laugh." "Rachel forced a scoff as she turned for the pink canopy bed." "Her converser let out a quick breath, almost a scoff." "it's easy to scoff, but not so easy to do it better yourself" "Shane's upper lip curled up and she emitted a scoff of disgust." "I usually would give such a thing a scoff and forget about it." "William exhaled resignedly and let out a mild scoff." "Luckily I recovered with a scoff, the evil eye, and a quick getaway."

I'm not exactly what you would call a numismatist and I'm not numismatic, but it seems that I always end up with a pocket full of coins.

The town they had lived in had been totally destroyed, but they'd been hiding out in a cave, which is the only reason they'd survived. When they emerged from the cave, they looked around and all they saw was death and destruction, which made it infeasible to remain there, so they decided to flee to an area unaffected by the conflict.

The noun numismatics and the adjective numismatic came to English (via French numismatique) from Latin and Greek nomisma, meaning "coin." Nomisma in turn derives from the Greek verb nomizein ("to use") and ultimately from the noun nomos ("custom" or "law"). The term itself first appeared in English in 1829, meaning "the study of coins and medals". It's derived from the adjective "numismatic". This adjective, meaning "pertaining to historical coins and coinage," emerged in 1765. It was borrowed from the French word "numismatique," which had its origins in the late 1500s. Examples of numismatics in a sentence: "Numismatics, the study of coins and currency, can provide valuable insights into the history and culture of a civilization." "The university's new museum houses a remarkable collection of numismatic artifacts." "Numismatic experts often specialize in specific regions or periods of coin history." "The ancient coin, with its unique design, is a valuable numismatic find." "My grandfather was a dedicated numismatist, meticulously cataloging his collection of coins." "The recent discovery of a hoard of Roman coins has ignited excitement in the numismatic community."

It had been a long hard conflict along the border, and there had been many casualties along the way, so Honshee was looking forward to rebuilding his life, and the lives of his family, as he reached out to touch Xingshu.

Hey, I have a lot of stories with fewer chapters. It's just those in the books in my series that tend to get a little longer, since I have a lot to say. And where do you think I would fall in your title? In the middle category - fool?

I believe it may be the same evil skinwalker that's just showing up at different locations, although we don't know exactly why or how it's doing it.

Maybe you need to go to "Charm" school. 🤪

The word "demure" has an interesting and somewhat uncertain etymology. While it likely originates from Old French and Latin, its precise path through English is not fully clear. The word is thought to have roots in Old French words like "meur" (meaning "mature, ripe, serious") and "demorer" (meaning "to stay, to delay"). The Old French "meur" is derived from Latin "maturus" (meaning "mature"). The Anglo-French form became "demure" in Middle English, and Initially, "demure" meant "sober, grave, serious." But over time, its meaning shifted towards "affectedly modest, reserved, or coy,". The word "demure" was first used in English in the Middle English period, between 1350 and 1400. Specifically, the earliest documented use is from 1377. The earliest known use of the verb demure is in the early 1600s. OED's earliest evidence for demure is from before 1616, in the writing of William Shakespeare, playwright and poet. He used it meaning "to look demurely," but only the older adjective form has persisted. Examples of demure used in a sentence: "She wore a demure knee-length skirt." "I masked my true feelings with a demure smile." "The Amish women are typically quiet, demure, and soft-spoken" "How could she be so demure one second, and such a raging animal the next?" "She smiled demurely." "Demure clothes do not reveal your body and they give the impression that you are shy and behave correctly." "She was wearing a demure high-necked white blouse." "She is very demure and sweet."

Michael has spent many hours talking to his mother about why he doesn't want her trying to influence where he gets married, where he looks for a job, when they'll have children, etc., but she just doesn't seem to take the hint, so he's moved on to a new tactic. Devin and Mac think the skinwalker has formed some sort of a connection to them, since it is capable of reading other's thoughts and even controlling their actions. It might have attempted to control them at one point and failed, so maybe it's just curious as to why it failed. We don't know for sure at this point. Thank you for the feedback.

Orifice if from French, from late Latin orificium, from os, or- ‘mouth’ + facere ‘make’. Orifice came to English during the late Middle English period (1150-1500), specifically before 1425. The Oxford English Dictionary cites Guy de Chauliac's "Grande Chirurgie" as an early example of the word's usage, before 1425. Examples of orifice used in a sentence: "I was stuffing cake into every available orifice." "The water is expelled from the branchial chambers by one or two tubes opening by one orifice in most Batrachians." "There are likewise two pulmonary veins, entering the left atrium by one orifice." "The funnel, which is not large, appears to open, as a rule at least, into the segment in front of that which bears the external orifice." "Intromittent organ of male lying within the genital orifice. "Before passing into the pupal stage, the larva partially closes the orifice of the tube with silk or pieces of stone loosely spun together and pervious to water."

The word "mesmerized" is derived from the 18th century physician Franz Anton Mesmer. He developed a controversial theory called "mesmerism," which involved a mysterious force called "animal magnetism" that he believed could be used to cure illnesses and induce a trance-like state. The word "mesmerize" first meant "to subject to mesmerism," but later broadened to mean "to fascinate" or "to hypnotize". The first known use of the word "mesmerized" in English was in 1829. Examples of mesmerized used in a sentence: "But that day in 1996, the movie Twister mesmerized him." "Check out the fierce glare of the bald eagles — the birds are mesmerizing." "As a child, she was mesmerized by the paint jobs, hydraulics, and the curves of the cars." "Always mesmerized by inner melodies and day-dreaming, on family camping trips he packed his score pad to compose and arrange." "The child is unusually mesmerized by columns of ants on the ground and does not hear the calls." "Pundarika is mesmerized by her beauty and gets into a relationship with her."

Mac isn't shy to let his mom know how he feels. He doesn't want to become like his dad. Yes, there's an evil skinwalker lurking about, but we don't exactly know what it's up to. Devin and Mac will be sure to tell Gramps and Pops about it though.

I believe you're correct when you say we haven't seen the last of the evil skinwalker. He seems curious about Devin and Mac, and let's hope that curiosity doesn't turn into a substantial threat.

Thank you for your feedback and observations, Summer, and I think you're spot on when it comes to Christopher and Caroline, both about their sons and their pets. I believe they also feel that not putting restrictions on Conner about exposing his brother's occasionally nudity allows him to be more prepared for when he reaches puberty, and I surmise they would feel the same about what happened with Paul. They seem to be very good parents, who don't overreact to situations, so I'm sure things will be fine. I also think you're correct about Paul. His shyness may have been a reaction to bullying, but now that he feels he's in a safe environment with Cooper's family, he's ready to the fullest. And yes, he has a code word system with his parents for when he's is awkward or dangerous situation, or also to let them know things are going well. I believe they're also glad that Paul has found a good friend with loving and caring parents who understand the curious nature of growing boys.

Thank you for the feedback, Summer, and I'm glad you enjoyed the prologue. I was trying to come up with they type of story that Comicality might have written, or at least enjoy, and I hope I succeeded in that area. As far as Georgia goes, there are some gay friendly areas, such as Atlanta, but there are other areas that are the total opposite. For that reason, Cooper was justified in worrying when he learned the family was going to move, but fortunately, he landed in an area that would tend to be gay friendly, but it doesn't mean everyone there is. He and Paul are still going to have to watch their step. Thank you for your input, and I agree with you about that one Georgia politician. Luckily, I don't live in her district, but my Congressman isn't much better, just not as vociferous.

Even though Mac's parents know about their ability, the boys don't want to scare them or put them on edge before absolutely necessary. For one thing, Yes, and Mac explained to Devin when he's reacted so harshly when his mom has tried to interfere with their wedding plans and where they should look for jobs, she nags until she gets her way - entirely. Mac claims she did that with his brother and sister, and her nagging might have played a part in their early deaths, and he wasn't about to let that happen to him. Dad isn't so lucky. She seems to have worn her husband done over the years.

Thank you for the feedback, Johnny. The evil skinwalker keeps showing up in different places, but so far it hasn't caused any problems. It just seems to be study Devin and Mac, intrigued by how they appear to be living a normal life in the 21st century. Maybe it's a little jealous. 😜

Chapter 4 – A Thrilling Time When the alarm on my phone went off, Devin and I got up, took a quick shower and then dressed quickly before going across the hall and knocking. Now that we were all together, we walked down to the lobby to have breakfast. As we were eating, I asked my dad a question. “I think we already know what we’re going to do today, because we heard you talking about it with Lonny.” “Yes, it’s something else you’ll enjoy, because we’re going to spend the day