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Two days before the beach camping trip, Rodney dials Bob's number on his cell phone. He waits until he hears his friend's voice. "Hey, Bob! Listen! I know this is really short notice, but can I bring my girlfriend with me on the trip?" "Well, hello to you too, Rodney. It's been a while since we last talked." Bob sounds annoyed. "I know, man, I am so sorry that I've been MIA. I've been with Riley and getting to know her for the past several days. It's not an excuse, I know. But she's so special, Bob." "You said that about Tessa, too, and look what happened," Bob says, staring out the window at his apartment. Rodney lets out a slow sigh. "I know, Bob, and I was wrong. Riley... she's... I don't know how to explain it. But when you meet her at the beach, you'll see what I mean," Rodney says. He taps his finger on the table at his condo impatiently. "And hey, I haven't been the only one busy. You and Theodore have been spending a lot of time these past weeks with Chelsea and Carrie." Bob nods. "Yea, that's true, too. And yea you can bring Riley with you. Theodore and I were actually planning to call you to ask if we could bring our girls, too." "This is great! I get to meet Chelsea and Carrie. You two get to meet Riley and then the girls could be friends." Rodney grins when Riley joins him at the table, giving her a thumbs up. "See you all in two days then at the campsite." He says a hurried goodbye and hangs up. "We need to get you some more clothes and hiking boots for the trip." Rodney jumps up from the table, grabs the timer and gives it a good twist. Riley grins and walks over to him. He takes her by the hand, and they head out to his car. Rodney glances down at her hand for a second. It doesn't feel as plastic as it did a week ago. It felt fleshier but still a bit plastic. Ignoring it, he helps her in the car, and drives them to the mall. Brice and an older woman stand outside the camping store, laughing, and Bruce sips on his coffee. Bruce waves when he spots Rodney and Riley heading their way. "Rodney, Riley, great seeing you two again." Bruce shakes Rodney's hand while Riley hugs Bruce's wife. "You, too, Bruce." He hugs the woman. "Hey Barbara." "Hello, Rodney," Barbara says with a cheery smile. "Since you two are hitting it off so well, here." Bruce hands Rodney a card. "This is the group we are with." Rodney reads the card. Living Mannequins and True Love. "Oh?" "We make plans to do things together all the time. And since no one truly understands our kind of love, its best to have friends who love the same as we do," Bruce says, hugging Barbara close. "Plus, they can answer all of your questions I know you still have about the whole situation." Riley hangs on Rodney's arm, looking at the card. Her eyes light up and she looks at Bruce and Barbara. "Rodney is taking me camping in two days with his friends and their girlfriends." She squeals excitedly. Bruce and Barbara look at each other. Rodney sees worry in their eyes. "Hey, don't worry guys. My buddies are cool. It'll be my first time meeting their girlfriends, but I am sure they are cool, too." Rodney pats Bruce's shoulder. "We need to get her clothes and stuff for the trip. I'll call you when we get back though, tell you how it went and all that. And then maybe we all can go somewhere together. You can meet my friends and see they are cool." He says goodbye and leads Riley into the store. Riley waves back at their friends. For an hour, they shop. Riley tries on almost every clothing and shoes item the store has to offer. She picks a few pairs of jeans, shirts, two pairs of hiking boots, a light jacket, a heavy jacket, and a few other things. The last items they buy are luggage then grab a bite to eat. As soon as they get home, Riley packs. She places her new luggage next to Rodney's and joins him on the couch for a movie. She bounces a little, excited about the upcoming trip. Rodney slips an arm around her shoulders and laughs, kissing her forehead before flipping on the movie. Read the full article

Rodney stares at a couple as they walk through the mall, hand in hand. He shakes his head and looks around at the other coupes in the mall. Why did he even come today? "Rodney, my man, there you are." Rodney turns to see his best friends, Bob and Theodore, heading his way. Oh, yea, shopping for their beach camping trip. He pulls his hand out of his jeans pocket and waves at them. Rodney looks at the camping store he has been standing in front of while waiting for his friends. The two mannequins in the front window catches his eye. A skinny bored looking female teenager has taken one down. The teenager removes the teal shirt and dark blue shorts, replacing them with a bright yellow sundress. The teen stands the mannequin up, fixing the short brown hair. The teen pushes the hair from the mannequin's painted face. Rodney stares into the mannequin's pretty blue eyes. He chokes a little when he thinks he sees the mannequin wink at him. Theodore pats Rodney on the back, catching him off guard. "Hey, you okay?" Rodney turns to face his friends. "Yea, I'm okay. But I swear I just saw that mannequin wink at me." Theordore and Bob look at the mannequin before they look at each other. They raise their eyebrows. Rodney sees the worry on their face and shakes his head. "Man, Rodney. Tessa breaking up with you has really done a number on you," Bob says, slapping Rodney on the shoulder. "She left you two months ago." "Yea, and you are still waiting for her to come back. Rodney, she's not coming back," Theodore says. "Let's get our camping stuff for beach trip in a couple of weeks." He claps his hands and walks inside the store with Bob right behind him. Rodney follows his friends into the store, his eyes traveling back to the mannequin in the front window. Read the full article

I have recently written a romance short story for my blog, but I know that it isn't any good. How? I just wasn't feeling it. I wrote it, and it's there, but it is definitely just eh. Will I post it? I sure will! Why? Because it is great for my readers to see that there are stories that I will write that just isn't there. The stories aren't always perfect and that is okay. It is a steppingstone in bettering myself in any genre that I write. And since this story is in the genre of Romance, I know that I am very lacking in my writing craft in this genre. I will of course read more in the genre and practice writing more to better myself. Especially before I ever think of writing a full-length Romance novel. I do plan on it since one of my gamer friends had dared me to write a Romance Horror book last year. I plan on writing it someday, but for now, short stories for my blog it is to help me prepare for that future book. So, the next several blogs will be of my not so romanced but fun story based on a Romance writing prompt. Like I said it's not perfect by far, but I am willing to post it to show how not everything I write will be perfect and will just be eh. I still think it's good, but it isn't the best, and I am okay with that. Read the full article

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As the tide rolls in, Archie sits in his car waiting for the others to show up. One by one, cars pull into the spots around him, including the Collins. Archie climbs out of his car and pulls the hood of his deep red cloak over his red hair. The other members of the fan club does the same thing and joins Archie. "Did you all bring out special guests?" "We did, Archie. They are in the trunk of our cars," one young woman says, excitement in her eyes. Archie smiles at her and looks up as Mr. and Mrs. Collins joins the group. "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Collins. I'm so glad you made it to our special meeting tonight." Archie leads Mr. and Mrs. Collins down the stone stairs to the beach below. "You two come with me. The rest of you, please, bring our other guests down on the beach and to the cave." The member s of the fan club rush back to their cars and open the trunks. Archie walks the Collins down the rest of the stairs and across the beach towards a cave. The water laps up closer and closer with each wave as the tide rolls in. Archie and the Collins wait at the mouth of the cave for the other members. The others join them after a few minutes, pushing or pulling other people who are gagged, blind folded, and their hands are tied behind their backs. Mrs. Collins looks at the tied up people, confused. "Are these people joining the fan club as well? Should we have been tied up, too?" Archie smiles at the concerned woman. "Oh no, you're fine. These people aren't here to join. They have a far more important reason in being here." He nods and everyone walks into the cave. The crashing waves behind them echoes through the cave as they walk inside. Mr. and Mrs. Collins glance back at the ocean, watching for a moment as the waves come further up on the beach. They grasp each other's hands and follows the others into the cave. Cool air rushes past the group the further they adventure into the cave. Archie leads the group through the cave until the cave opens up to a large room. The others in the fan club push the people to the ground and light the candles sitting around the room. Melted wax along the sides tell the Collins that they will need new candles soon as much as they light them. Archie walks over to a podium near the middle of the cavern and pulls out a book from a small cabinet that sits next to the podium. He sets the book down on the dark wood and opens it, turning the pages carefully as he looks for something specific. Finding the page, Archie waits quietly while the fan club members finishes lighting the candles. Mr. and Mrs. Collins slowly walks closer to Archie and they see a large pool of water behind the podium. "Tonight, we have potential new members and we have quite a few non-believers of all things H. P. Lovecraft." Archies looks at the Collins then to the struggling captives. "Take off their blindfolds. It is time to prove to these non-believers that H.P. Lovecraft is god and we are but players in the world he has created." The fan club members remove the blindfolds and smiles when their is a few ripples in the giant lake. Mrs. Collins gasps when she sees the water moves and takes a step back, scared. Read the full article

Chef Diana Halls hums as she gets ready for the dinner rush at The Swan Paradise. She loves her job and can't wait to cook up some delicious food for the customers. Diana brushes off her blue blouse and picks some lint from her black slacks. She ties her long auburn hair into a bun so it will fit under her hair net and chef hat. Diana heads to her car and drives the 45 minutes to the restaurant. She walks into the kitchen with a smile on her face. She says her good mornings to the kitchen staff like she always does and heads to her locker to place her purse inside. She looks in the mirror one last time to make sure all of her hair is in place before she slips on her hair net. The stoves turn on, the ovens are a blaze, and the kitchen staff gets everything ready for the dinner rush. Some are chopping vegetables, some have started mixing ingredients for sauces, and a few grab ingredients from the back shelves. Diana slips into her chef's jacket and puts on her hat over her hair and hair net. She hums while she gets her station ready when the orders start coming in. Diana and the staff make the food, tasting and communicating so the kitchen runs smoothly. Soon they are sending out plates and bowls of delicious food to the dining hall. Diana hears some strange noises in the walk-in closest but becomes distracted as more orders come in. She keeps the kitchen running smoothly, sending out amazing dishes. Diana smiles proudly at her staff and makes suer to make special dishes, placing them around the kitchen so the others can eat while working. A clatter of plates causes Diana to jump. She turns to see the sous chef looking rather pale. "Jeff, are you okay? What's wrong?" "My stomach is killing me," Jeff says, groaning. His eyes widen and he covers his mouth with a shaky hand. He runs out of the room to the staff bathrooms. Diana looks around shocked. Two more of the staff rush out of the kitchen, covering their mouths and hunched over. She watches them rush into the restrooms after Jeff. "What is going on?" She and the staff turn when they hear what sounds like sirens rushing for The Swan Paradise. Dian and the rest of the staff walk over to the swinging doors that lead into the dining hall. Diana pushes the doors open and walks in to see some customers on the ground, groaning and throwing up. She hears sounds behind her and she looks to see the rest of the staff, bending over, groaning, and throwing up. Diana shakes her head, placing her hands on her hips as a figure walks up behind her. She turns to see her boss. "I just don't get what is happening. All of our ingredients are fresh, I made sure of that." Before her boss can talk, the front doors fly open and EMTs rush in pushing gurneys and carrying their First Aid bags. They spread out and begin to treat the customers and the staff. Little by little, the restaurant is emptied. Diana is sitting in the kitchen perplexed by what is going on. She looks around the kitchen at the half cooked food still waiting to be finished and the half eaten plates by the staff. "Everything was fresh. I made sure of it," she mutters again. Her boss joins her and pats her on the back. "Don't worry. We will figure out what is going on. I need to get to the hospital and see if they have any answers. They will have to test the food from here, of course." "Of course, I just can't believe everyone is in the hospital, sick, because of the food," Diana says, shaking her head. Her boss leaves her alone with the police while the officers bag up all the food, pots, pans, and utensils from the kitchen. Diana answers a few questions, but is let go with a warning to not leave town. She lets them know she won't go anywhere and gave them her phone number so they can reach her. After they left, Diana heads to the back door and she hears the strange noises from the walk-in closet again. She shrugs and leaves, locking the door behind her. She gets in her car and drives away, grumbling under her breath about what happened that evening, disappointed she didn't get to finish serving more people. She pulls into the parking lot of her condo and heads inside. She cooks up a quick meal to eat while watching TV. "Food poisoning? How did they all get food poisoning?" Diana sighs as she turns on the news. She sits down on the couch with her plate of leftover pot roast and mashed potatoes. She digs into her food when an urgent message scrolls onto the television. She turns up the volumes and sits up straighter, her eyes widen when she sees two newscasters sitting in front of the desk, ready to talk about the restaurant. Diana sets her plate down on the couch next to her and scoots closer to the TV. Turning up the volume, Diana waits impatiently for the newscaster to start talking about The Swan Paradise incident. "Tonight, we have been informed that the entire staff except the head chef Diana Halls and the manager of The Swan Paradise. The customers have also fallen ill and they, along with the staff, have been rushed to the hospital. It happened tonight during the dinner rush. Everyone came down with food poisoning. But we have recently learned that a few of the staff and customers have passed due to unknown complications from the food poisoning. More tests are being run as we speak to find out why these people have passed. The police have confiscated the food and kitchen equipment to also run tests. The police are also looking for Chef Diana Halls to ask her some more questions. More information will be provided as tests results come in and we learn more." Diana turns off the TV and stands, stretching. She grabs the plate and eats the rest of it before she cleans it off in the kitchen, placing it in the dishwasher. Diana cleans up the kitchen before she walks towards the bedroom, slipping off the brown haired wig and letting it fall to the ground. Her dirty blonde hair falls across her face and Diana steps into the bathroom. she looks in the mirror, humming as she takes out her blue contacts, letting them fall into the sink. She washes them down the drain and stares into her murky gray eyes in the mirror. "That's much better. I guess the poison took longer to kill again this time." She brushes her hair and washes off the makeup, peeling off the fake nose and cheeks. She throws away the nose and cheeks and looks at her own skinnier face. "Oh well, I just have to keep playing with the poison until I get it right." The lady walks out of the bathroom and sits down on the bed, pulling out a box from under the bed. She opens it and takes out a bunch of IDs. She goes through the IDs of other women chefs from around the world, wondering who she wanted to play this time. He picks one and smiles. "Holly Kate from New Orleans. I've always wanted to visit New Orleans and try their food. I hear it's to die for." Holly laughs as she puts everything back in the box and closes it, making sure to tie it. She stands up and peels off the clothes she had been wearing, tossing them on the bed. Holly pulls out another bag from under the bed and picks a new outfit, slipping into it and cleans up after self. She cleans the condo all night, not leaving a trace she has stayed there before she packs the little belongings she has into her car. She takes a picture of Diana, as a keepsake, changes the license plate, putting the old ones back on the real Diana's car, and climbs in behind the wheel. Holly drives away, leaving Diana's keys in the garage, and hums as she turns on the radio. She hears that the entire staff is now dead and most of the customers are either dead or on life support. Holly bursts out laughing when she hears the police have found Diana Halls at the restaurant, hiding in the walk-in fridge in a spot no one was able to see or hear her if they went inside. "That was fun," Holly says, pulling her car on the freeway and leaving Las Vegas behind. "I can't wait to see what I can do in New Orleans." She glances up in the review mirror and winks, her sea blue eyes sparkling in the sun and her red hair dancing with the wind. Read the full article

Early the next morning, Fiona got dressed and headed to the kitchen, wondering what her mom would make for breakfast. Her stomach growled in anticipation and it surprised her when she saw her mom sauteing what looked like ground beef in a pan on the oven. “Mom?” Chloe turned and smiled at her daughter as she stirred the meat around with potatoes and scrambled eggs. “Good morning, sweety. Your father went out last night and found us some more meat. We have to get a freezer, though, so we can store the rest of it for later.” Fiona turned to see her father, still bloody from cutting up the meat, enter the kitchen. “Is that enough or do you want to cook more up?” “I think this will be enough to tie us over this morning,” Chloe said and kissed her husband before he disappeared back to the garage. Fiona sat down at the table and thanked her mom when she passed her a plate. Her eyes intensely focused on the sweet smelling steaming meat. Her dad joined them after he cleaned up the garage and took a shower to wash off the blood. As the family devoured their food, they discussed where to go to buy the furniture and other items they needed for the home. A sudden knock at the front door interrupted the family breakfast. They slowly glanced at each other, and Chloe went to see who it was. Fiona craned her neck so she could see who was at the door. She saw a family of four at the door and wondered what the mother had handed to her mom. Her mom thanked the family again and told them something that sounded like she would see them later at the BBQ, but Fiona wasn’t 100% sure. She returned to eating when her mom closed the door and returned to the kitchen. “What did they give you, mom?” “A casserole made with chicken. And it smells delicious. We will have to hurry and get that refrigerator if we are to save any of it,” her mom said as she placed it on the kitchen counter. The Jacobsons finished their breakfast, got dressed, and headed out to their car. A few other families walked up the driveway, with desserts and other food dishes in hand. Fiona graciously took the containers from the neighbors and carried them back inside. She placed them on the counter. Before she ran back out to the car, she grabbed some leftover meat on her plate. She quickly shoveled the food into her mouth and made her way to the front door, making sure she wiped her mouth clean. The taste is simply irresistible. “Mom, where does dad get our meat from?” Fiona asked as she sat in her seat and buckled upped. She had always wondered where their special meat came from, but whenever she asked, her parents told her not to worry about it. Chloe and Jonah glanced at each other as Jonah headed for their first destination. “I think it’s time we told her,” Jonah said. “She is old enough now.” “Okay, well, daddy goes out and finds the lost ones. Those who have lost their home, have no family, and live out on the streets. So he brings them back home. Then in the garage, he kills them, and processes them so that I can cook them up for our meals. Now we don’t do it often, so people don’t get suspicious or anything, but we get enough for us to enjoy. And we are doing the world a favor by getting rid of those who are homeless.” Fiona thought about what her mother had told her as their father parked in front of a furniture warehouse. She kept quiet for the rest of their shopping trip, still thinking about it all. When they climbed back in their car after their trip to the grocery store, Fiona finally spoke. “So, we are okay, then? We won’t get found out?” “If we are careful and follow the rule of only taking those from the streets, then we should be fine.” Jonah smiled at his worried daughter. “Nothing to worry about, Fiona bear. When you get older, I will teach you what to do for when you want to make any special recipes like mom.” “What if I can’t find anyone who enjoys the special meat like I do?” Fiona asked, this being her worse fear. “Oh, don’t worry about that now, sweety. Our kind has a special dating website that can help you find the perfect match,” Chloe said as she turned in her chair to look at her daughter. “It’s not like how it was when your dad and I were younger and we had to find someone like us by talking and bringing it up.” “Oh, boy, was that tough. Finding other women who ate the special meat like me was tough. I was fortunate that my parents knew your mom’s parents, and we hit it off so well,” Jonah said as he maneuvered their car through the streets to get back home. Fiona helped her parents unload the car after they returned home and went up to her room. She wrote some letters to her friends back at their old home, telling them about the house and the neighbors. She told them about how she wasn’t ready to start a new school year in a new town and how much she missed them. She ended each 4-page letter with a sad face, wrote her name, and slipped them into their envelopes. Fiona carried her letters out to their mailbox and slipped them inside. As she closed the lid to her mailbox, she turned to watch her neighbors bring out tables, chairs, and a couple even brought out their grills. Tonight was the BBQ, and Fiona felt nervous. She crossed her arms over her chest as she watched everyone coming together to welcome her and her family. Fiona wondered what it will be like to live here, and hiding her family’s dark secret. Fiona spotted a group of kids who were playing soccer between two houses in the front yards. She looked around to see more neighbors coming out of their homes to start the BBQ. Fiona turned and headed inside to help her mom make a fruit salad and a Cornish hen tart that her mom loved to make for special occasions. She shut the door and took in a deep breath as the smells of the hen cooking tickled her nose, making her mouth water. Read the full article