#epostilary

intro, chaps 1, 2

@hesawifebeaterdanusethegun @bjfinn

Sept 5 2025

Okay, soooo . . . I’m a little freaked out. Not just the writing that’s appeared in this journal that I have in my house, in the drawer in my bedside table (I’m gonna get back to that . . .) but there’s something in the woods.

I took Nitro out. Just me and him, trying to get him settled down for the ride this weekend. (note to self: verify there are four people and that they all signed the waivers!) He’s typically fun to just go out and tool around on. He’s sensible too, which is why I use him as my personal ride even though he’s a mule. I thought maybe he was just feeling cooped up in the barn so I took him out on the steeper trail to give his brain something to think about.

Halfway up–like, not in a spot that would be easy for me to dismount, turn him around, and get him situated again, he stopped dead. Like, planted his feet and would.not.move. Weird thing was, he didn’t fixate on any place in particular. We’ve had foxes run in front of us, and once there was a coyote in the brush and he knew about all of them. He’d stop, examine them, then flick an ear back towards me before heading on. This time though . . . those ears wouldn’t stop moving. Just all over the place, like he couldn’t tell what he should be looking at. Lots of snorting too.

I told him he wasn’t a stallion and to knock it off. He ignored me.

Then I realized . . . there wasn’t any sound. No birds. No insects. What the hell? It started creeping me out so I started looking around too. The only noises were him snorting and the saddle leather creaking as I looked around. There were three ravens up in one of the trees. I got the stupid idea they were watching me. After a minute I heard this, idk, low whistling? Humming? In a rhythm, kinda like a sentence but not quite? A rock tumbled in the trail behind us. I wouldn’t have heard it if it wasn’t so damn quiet. Nitro jumped, I jumped and turned in my seat. I can’t be 1000% sure but I think I saw someone? At least some kind of figure in a weird ass cloak? He/She/They/It stepped off the trail just as I turned, so I didn’t get a good look.

The birds flew off then too, over my head. Didn’t like that. Once they were out of sight, Nitro started moving again like nothing happened. Stupid mule. Or maybe smart mule! I wanted out of there and back home asap.

intro, chapter 1

@hesawifebeaterdanusethegun @bjfinn

Monday Feb 8th, 1993

This journal arrived today in a shipment – I didn't order it, since I don't carry stationery, just books. Must've been included by accident, I guess.

Not sure about that introduction saying I'm cursed, and that this place is haunted (well, this is New England!) – it is a nice literary device, though. Maybe this is supposed to be for writing down ideas for a novel?

And apparently it's connected somehow to someone in the future? There's a handwritten entry here, dated 2025. Yeah, okay, sure. Ha ha. Whoever wrote it is from here in town – although I guess there could be another Hal's Convenience somewhere. And apparently they're working (will work? – ha ha) at the stables. But how could someone here in Harper's Mill manage to get a journal into a shipment of books from New York? And why bother? Just to play a prank on me?

And what the fuck is a "text"? Are they talking about a book? A letter? Strange way to phrase it. And how do you "block" someone who sends you one? Curiouser and curiouser. Would make a good opening for a story, though. Sci fi, I'd imagine.

Anyway, it's not my problem.

Okay, so ... a journal. A partly used journal, at that. Can't really sell it, not with an entry already there. And it doesn't really fit with the rest of my stock anyway. So okay, I guess it's mine now.

I've never been much for journaling. But there's something about this journal that ... just makes me want to.

So ... what to write?

Well, there's that weird person I saw this morning walking past the store. Couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman – they were very tall (at least 6' 5") and dressed all in black, with a long, hooded cloak, and their face was covered by a black mask. Could be one of the actors heading to rehearsal, but I hadn't heard anything about the theater putting on a play this month – the season usually starts in the spring, and it's only February. I'll have to ask Dana about it when I see her – maybe they'll be having auditions! I'd love to get the chance to be on stage. If things had turned out different, I might've ended up on Broadway. Oh, well.

There were three ravens, too – they were just sitting in the sycamore tree across the street, not moving, not making any noise. They flew away just as the figure in black passed by. As if they'd been waiting for him or her.

It was a bit creepy seeing all that – Halloween was months ago.

Dear M.O.M,

I hate Peter so much! This whole vacation has been so terrible I can hardly take it. First, D.A.D says it’ll only be 170-180 Rels to get to the Waystation and it’s been only 4 so far and I can’t stand it in here. D.A.D promised us that there was no way the trip could go wrong. He even brought one of those Insta-Atmo™ personal pods, and went on and on like he does about the safety features. I don’t even like travelling, if it was up to me, I’d stay home until the seasons shift and it’s even tolerable to go outside. But that’s nothing compared to how Peter has been acting. 

Every day he’s been throwing tantrums, whining, and generally being annoying, and there’s no way to explain to him the concept of “time” or “waiting”, because he just can’t listen!  Other meta-families don’t have to worry about their Bio-siblings whining and crying the entire trip to Earth. It’s of course only little ol’ me that has to deal with Peter’s steadfast refusal to take his serum, and every 15 Rels he starts the decohesion process willfully! It’s like if D.A.D weren’t here to watch at all, and I’m the only one who’s keeping Peter’s molecules stabilized, all in the confines of the backseat of D.A.D! 

I dunno, it’s like nobody can even see me sometimes. I feel unwanted, unloved and useless a lot of the time. D.A.D said that those kinds of feelings are normal, and that it’ll change once we get to Earth and try our first Earth restaurant. He said they have the finest Human in the galaxy there. Even said it’s where they came from, which I find hard to believe. Peter is finally asleep now, and it looks like we’re headed into a dark nebula for a while. The stars shine brightest right before, as if fighting against the darkness of the oncoming nebula, just before waning out forever. 

- Accordingly,