Dog sitters near me

It's the freaking weekend finally! Haven't been out drinking lately but damn I'm in the mood for a drink. All my friends are out of town and busy. I would love to have some company. I'd like to go to Metrowalk or anywhere near Ortigas but open to anything in Metro Manila.
About me: 31 I think I'm fit AFAM (from US) Shaved head like Jason Statham 5'6

Over the last few days, I’ve been having nearly panic attacks and in a depressive episode thinking about how my I will eventually pass, my parents, and so on
I’m 23 years old and I have a history with anxiety. I was never like this until my uncle was diagnosed with cancer; which was my first real confrontation with death.
Is there anything I can do to help myself? This is ruining me

"Astrologer Rakesh Joshi is one of the BestAstrologer in Veraval Near Me. You can contact (Call +91-9727079981).

I can know what is wrong, I can learn to avoid seeking others to help me to regulate my painful emotions & pain, so as not to alienate people. I can set goals and attempt to meet them as best I can, so as to improve my circumstances.
However, it is almost insurmountably difficult without ANY support, any true friendships, family or love, coming from a place of being on a low pay capitalist hamster wheel.
I have no object permanence with people. Since childhood, absolutely everyone has made it clear that I'm only worthwhile if I suit their needs and have none of my own. People will disappear and never return, once out of my vision.
Making friends as an older adult is nearly impossible. Everyone already has their people. I need to be Exceptionally appealing for anyone to have more space at this point, their people supply is full. So I cannot afford to be less than scintillatingly entertaining, while I am so exhausted and world weary, I just want to die, already.
Most therapists, and many regular people cannot conceive of this level of social destitution.
At least there are reddit trauma subs.
I can scream into the void without offending anyone. May my life be much shorter than it potentially could be.
Thank you, CPTSD.

"Astrologer Rakesh Joshi is one of the Best Astrologer in Gondal Near Me. You can contact (Call +91-9727079981).

Backstory:
I [42M] live on the east coast. I met a man (call him A) 19 years ago, and we were in a relationship for nearly 13 years.
About six years ago, A ended up in California due to some personal stuff (addiction), and we entered an "it's complicated" period for three years during which we were going to work on ourselves, with the goal that he would come back to the east coast and we'd date again and potentially end back up together. Three years ago, we both mutually agreed that that was never going to happen, so we officially broke up.
I no longer have any feelings for A other than friendship and some fond (and not so fond...) memories of someone who was an important part of my life for so long. There is zero chance of any kind of re-ignition of anything; we're very different people these days. Plus, he has been dating someone else in California for nearly three years! We text occasionally -- checking in on how things are going or letting him know a local quirky store we both loved is closing. I have seen him in person a total of three times since he left the east coast.
I started dating someone (let's call him J [37M]) about eight months ago. It was a long-distance relationship at first, so we spent a good deal of time together visiting the other's city over the first three months. J has since moved in with me here in my city, and things have been going well. I have been completely open and honest about both my past and my current relationship with A.
Now, the question:
J is on a text list for regular sex parties in his home city. He has also hooked up solo with the host of those parties, several times! He gets these invites every few weeks, which already made me uncomfortable though he says he ignores them and they were unsolicited. He definitely doesn't go to the parties -- his home city is far enough away that it would not be easy to hide.
Well, today he got a sex party invite from a new number, and rather than just ignoring it, he had a full on conversation with the host, even going so far as to say "okay, I'll update your contact info" and then... actually updating his contact info.
Needless to say, being in contact with a former hookup is ... not okay with me! I confront J about it, and he likens it to being in contact with A. J insists he hasn't been "up my ass" about my contact with A, when in fact J has repeatedly demanded to read texts from A, which I have let him do with no hesitation because I have nothing to hide even though it's an invasion of privacy. We had quite the fight about it.
Am I crazy for thinking they're two completely different things, and contact with a former hookup in a new relationship is far more problematic than contact with a long-since ex?

Does anyone know of any websites, pharmacies, doctor offices or places that offer Ozempic or the other comparable weight-loss medications at an affordable price? I currently receive mine at a med spa near me but it's hundreds of dollars a month & gets pretty pricey. I initially decided to get it through this med spa 6 weeks ago bc it was recommended by my Dad and step Mom. My Dad paid for the first month but said he would only be paying for 2 out of 4 weeks after that & that I would be responsible for paying for the other 2 weeks if I still wanted to get it.
Obviously this is completely understandable and I'm very grateful that he's even paying for any of it at all. However, this does mean that I'm still paying a few hundred dollars out of my own pocket each month. I currently only have time to work part-time at my job as I'm taking summer classes full-time and like most other college students, I don't have a lot of money 😅).
I really do love the med spa I go to but if there are other, cheaper alternatives then of course I would like to pursue those instead. Any input, suggestions, or advice would help a lot & would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!!

Astrologer Rakesh Joshi is one of the Best Astrologer in Porbandar Near Me. You can contact (Call +91-9727079981).

The house is under two loans 17 lakh (housing loan) and 20 lakh. We have received the notice, and are in a state of panic as this is our home.
The other properties (two 2cum3bhk flats) we want to replace this with are worth 75–80 lakh altogether. The loaction is great, near a educational institute and in optimal distance with the train station. The flats from inside are fully refurbished, but the tower from outside doesn't look good or is quite bad. There's greenery in the surroundings as well.
Our current house is worth 55–60 lakh. Please tell me if the collateral replacement will be possible in India—Bank of Maharashtra. If yes, what'll be the procedure? Or any terms we should know or any website with related information.
Any other possible solution is welcomed, we just want to save our home.

"Astrologer Rakesh Joshi is one of the Best Astrologer in Jetpur Near Me. You can contact (Call +91-9727079981).

Alam niyo na kung sino si girl.
So it started when I commented dun sa isang video niya. It wasn’t only me who pointed out na may mali sa video niya about info ni Diluc. I honestly forgot about which specific aspect dun sa video, basta it was misleading and spreading misinformation. No pinned comment to correct it, nor no correction mismo sa video. So ayun, there were a handful of comments pointing it out and she skipped reacting to those.
I commented (now deleted) why she wasn’t addressing the issue, because it was important for her as a content creator to give correct information as not to mislead players into spending resources and even real life money. And ang laki na ng following niya.
Aguy. The girl went bat crazy. She sent paragraphs of reply sa comment ko and her boyfriend chimed in, mas grabe yung bf niya personal attack talaga. Na gulat ako kasi ng effort sila mag reply sa comment ko but not address her mistake?
Other mean comments followed suit from her other fans. But one specific followers recognized my username (I didn’t know him) kasi, at that time, I was active sa PH Genshin groups. Said simp defended her and doxed me - he gave out my real name and which group I was from. I literally froze and wanted to vomit. My Youtube username was not my real name, I dunno how the guy found out. I reported the matter to Youtube and they did nothing kasi apparently they don’t focus on the comment section when filing serious reports, more on the video sila and there was no option in the report to specifically point out such comment.
So to protect myself, I deleted my comment along with girl and her bf’s mean comments dun. Youtube still didn’t do anything about my report.
Sobrang sad ko lang because of how girl handled the situation. Hinde ba pwede she talk civilly since sikat siya na content creator? Super red flag din yung bf niya who instead of helping correct her, naging rabid guard dog na tuloy who attacks anyone who points out a mistake she made.
Because of that incident, I stopped being active sa Genshin groups. People are so quick to be mean to real life people while defending pixels in an online game. I get anxious everytime nakikita ko siya online and avoid her videos. This came up lang kasi I just saw her sa Conquest.
I just wanted to vent that not everyone who presents themselves online as sweet are what they really are irl. She wasn’t even trying to hide it. She’s a bully and she’s fueling others to allow bullying. I’m sure she doesn’t even remember this incident, but I do and it brought up a lot of past bullying trauma, and so much so that I don’t enjoy interacting with the Genshin PH community anymore.
If you do find yourself in an arguement online, maybe try not to attack that person personally? Is that so hard to do? Stick sa arguement and don’t be an ass, lalo na if you’re an influencer.
I learned my lesson din how toxic this community can be. I don’t engage na, I only comment on forums to give advice or to help lower AR players with in game stuff. Yun lang. And hugs to anyone who went through online bullying!

https://reddit.com/link/13y68r0/video/vb8rxd5p7k3b1/player
My name is Tomasz Majewski, and I am the CEO of Real Invented Studio, a company based in Dzierżoniów, Lower Silesia, Poland. Our firm specializes in creating VR applications and games.
On the 1st of July this year, we will be releasing the prologue for PCVR. I would like you to immerse yourselves with me in the story we are crafting, an adventure that will engross players worldwide during their gameplay in "The Riese Project".
If you haven't heard about the Riese complex, let me shed some light on its history. It is one of the most mysterious and largest projects constructed by the Third Reich during World War II in the Owl Mountains.
The complex is a network of underground cities dug into some of the hardest rocks in the world - gneiss rocks. Additionally, these areas are rich in rare elements such as uranium.
To this day, no one knows its intended purpose. Was it supposed to be Hitler's main headquarters, an ammunition depot, or were the Germans working on some super-secret weapon there? Virtually no documents have survived, and the mysteriousness of this facility is further emphasized by the fact that after the war, there were special units and secret agents in the Owl Mountains guarding something. But what exactly?
We are creating a game based on the history of this place. An ambitious and challenging game in which the player will have to use their head and intellect to put all puzzle pieces together to uncover the secret we discovered. It's a mix of escape room, Indiana Jones, and Uncharted. Lots of puzzles, but not obvious ones. We want to prepare the gameplay to such an extent that players get frustrated, take off their glasses and say: "I won't play this," but when they go to work or school, they will constantly think about how to solve a given puzzle and move forward.
In the game's prologue, which offers 3 to 5 hours of VR gameplay, we embody the character of Anna. We are thrown in at the deep end, right in the middle of the plot. From the start, the player must be very observant to find out: who they are, what they're doing here, what Anna is looking for, what she has found already, and what she might find next. And how to find out everything about our character and find your bearings in the middle of the story? We have prepared a real phone in the game with a full operating system. You have to listen to her hints but also "dig through" her phone where her messages, notes, photos, voice recordings are stored. The phone itself has many different additional features, including a camera needed to take photos in the game to save clues we find. Clues are hidden everywhere. This is just one of many "goodies" we are preparing for players.
In the full version of the game, we do not embody any character. We are writing the script so that everyone who puts on the glasses becomes the main character, so that they experience the adventure, the mystery, and can fully immerse themselves in it. We will also be shifting between two times - the present and World War II. At the moment, we have outlines for 40 chapters, which we will be developing.
Interestingly, the player's main base is a real location. It's the building "Szyprówka Chata pod Sową", which stands in Sokolec, near the Riese complex. As a curiosity, I'll tell you that before we started working on the game, the entire team actually stayed in this building and toured the Riese complex for three days. And we have transferred this building 1:1 into our game. The player will be able to physically travel to this place and see that this building truly exists. Of course, we are also scanning locations from the Riese complex. We're blending reality with fiction while paying attention to every detail.
We are creating the game in the UE5 engine. We are proud of what we have achieved, perhaps as the first in the world. Last month, we implemented technological solutions to VR like Lumen and Nanite - fully optimized. The graphic design and the story itself will ensure that players will delve into the world of The Riese Project.
https://realinventedstudio.pl/en/the-riese-project

The travel industry is booming. For other travel businesses worldwide, there are now better ways to serve customers and target them with relevant online marketing messages. However, along with all these new opportunities, do some challenges. In this article, VietISO outlines seven marketing challenges in the tourism industry today and how they will impact the future of businesses in this sector.
Personalized
Personalization has become very important in many different aspects of the travel industry. It is not only necessary to capture the attention of your audience with your marketing message, but also to provide a good customer experience.
Regardless of whether someone is traveling for business or pleasure, they appreciate and expect personalization, and businesses are doing everything they can to incorporate it into their offerings. For example, Delta Airlines uses personalization technology to help flight attendants support their business customers and includes services such as in-flight amenities, special offers, information on connecting flights, and more. trip, etc.
Hotels can also collect extensive micro-data about their guests and use it to deliver a more intimate experience. Guests interact with the hotel in many different ways during their trip: at the check-in counter, at the hotel's restaurant, with room service, at the spa,... These are all opportunities to collect Collect data and learn about guest preferences.
However, capturing and utilizing this information are two completely different things.
Hotels need to have systems in place to collect this data and connect it to a customer relationship management (CRM) platform to automate personalization activities to encourage repeatability and upgrades. book room. Let's say a previous guest spent the day of their week-long vacation on the golf course. They can be retargeted with a relevant marketing message promoting discounted tee times.
Advertising is no exception to today's traveler's need for personalization. According to a recent travel advertising report, personalization is the number one challenge for travel marketers today, with nearly half (46%) reporting that delivering offers and promotions Real-time personalized reporting is the top challenge for 2020.
Perhaps the greatest personalization opportunity for travel advertisers is catering to the interests and desires of each audience. For example, today's youth are less concerned with luxury and relaxation and more concerned with the experiences they have when they travel:
Aruba.com does this very well with the targeted ads shown above. They also track onsite with MyAruba, an interactive feature that allows you to build your own itinerary of favorite places and experiences:
Personalization is more than just ad targeting. It's also about giving people the autonomy and customization features they need to build the travel experience they want.
Keeping Up With New Technology
Technology is constantly innovating industries decade by decade, but the real impact of new technology on tourism over the past 10 years has been dramatic. Back in 2010, hotel and airline apps were just getting started, but now they're just as important to the travel industry as other big businesses.
One prominent example of new technology that travel businesses need to catch up on is dynamic pricing. Airlines and hotels can use factors like time of year, day of the week, and corporate versus tourist travelers to estimate the right rates to drive conversions. Using technology powered by artificial intelligence, it is possible to make these adjustments based on day-to-day changes in market demand. Some pricing engines have the ability to update fares as often as every 15 seconds, and businesses are starting to notice the big difference this makes in bookings.
The problem travel marketers face, however, is that taking advantage of dynamic pricing requires more than just investing in new technology. The challenge businesses face is to redo their entire data management process, including CRM integration and revenue analytics.
New technologies bring new opportunities for marketing and sales, but they also bring new competition. Airbnb is a prime example of this. The home and room rental platform helps travelers book accommodation at a fraction of the typical hotel price. It also excels at meeting individual needs by providing rentals with co-working and pet-friendly spaces, kitchens, and all the other “home” amenities that people need. want that most hotels do not provide. 49% of Airbnb users use it as an alternative to hotels.
Seize New Opportunities
Marketing channels are constantly introducing new features and content formats that businesses can use to advertise their services. This is especially true of social media. Airlines and other businesses in the travel industry have a presence on social media, but they often have trouble keeping up with the latest marketing opportunities on these platforms.
For example, take a look at Facebook's travel ad. These are dynamically generated ads that contain information based on an individual's travel interests. Let's say someone browses hotels or watches flights. Airlines, hotels, and other travel businesses can target Facebook ads based on dates, specific destinations, and other trip details.
Other new ad types like Story Ads on Instagram or Short Video Ads on TikTok also offer businesses a unique opportunity to reach audiences directly. However, since this is primarily a video format, travel businesses need to be prepared to invest in creative marketing to capture attention and encourage action. Once done, businesses can also take advantage of Facebook video ads as well as ads on TikTok and YouTube to reach their audience with more engaging marketing messages.
Competition on search networks is so fierce that most travel businesses invest the majority of their marketing budgets in paid search, largely ignoring social media. However, they can't really ignore new features and social targeting anymore.
Google
Google is a problem for travel marketers that most don't realize they have. Google offers all kinds of features for marketing: paid search ads,Google Hotel Search, Trips, Maps, and more. But these opportunities also essentially serve to give Google a marketing monopoly in the travel space. The Google products ecosystem tends to be in its own favor. Google Flight is a feature that allows travelers to make reservations right from search results. Having it appear above the organic results actually encourages people to use it over other options like Expedia or Kayak.
What Google considers to be a feature that improves the user experience is actually just encouraging people to use their other properties. Another example of this is Google Trips, which offers travel recommendations to people based on information gathered from their Gmail accounts.
The growing monopoly of the tourism industry presents businesses with a conundrum. Many people feel they have no choice but to invest their entire marketing budget in Google products. And even then there's no guarantee Google will suggest their business in search results.
There's still not much businesses can do about this particular marketing challenge, other than maintaining a diverse and patient strategy. Google has been fined for favoring its own products in the past, and the issue of tourism exclusivity is currently being discussed with law enforcement.
Voice search
Voice search is a growing concern for search engine marketers in every industry. Alexa, Siri, Google Home, Cortana, and other technologies encourage and empower people to use voice search to get the information they need. This is especially true for travel related queries. According to research by Travelport, nearly half of travelers have used voice search to help manage trips. It takes a lot of work to optimize your content for search engines in general, and considering voice search even more of a challenge. People use voice search differently than they do regular search queries. Here are some key things you can do to optimize for voice search today:
Conversational Keyword Targeting
Voice search users are more likely to use longer keyword phrases in their queries. For example, instead of saying “hotels in Da Nang”, they might say “show me hotels in Da Nang near Dragon Bridge”. Travel businesses should create pages optimized for these long-tail queries to get more traffic. Creating a detailed FAQ page is a great way to do this.
You can explore voice search keywords using Google Search Console. There are also many third-party tools designed to help you brainstorm long-tail keywords. For example, Answer Public shows you common questions people ask related to specific keywords.
Use schema markup
In order for smart devices to provide your website information as query results, it needs to make sure your information is really the type of content people are looking for. Instead of letting the machine guess, you're better off encoding your content to help the machine determine what the information really is. This is commonly done using schema markup. It's a standardized vocabulary that you embed in your website's HTML code. It effectively labels your content. For example, say you have a hotel suite listed with two bedrooms. Using schema markup to indicate the number of rooms helps ensure your listing shows up when people search by voice for “hotel in Boston with two adjoining rooms.”
Optimize Google My Business
Optimizing my Google My Business information is a good idea for SEO in general. When people specifically search for your business, Google My Business information will immediately show up in the search results.
In today's digital environment, with nearly all voice searches going to local businesses, it's even more important to keep this information up to date. Including relevant information like your address, availability, and amenities makes it easier for voice search to display your listings when referring to specific voice search queries.
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I am currently pregnant but my ex and I are no longer together. We found out when I was about 5 weeks and I am now nearly 5 months. He left after telling me he didn’t want the baby to begin with, and I now have screenshots where he has stated to both me and my mother that he never wanted the baby. My mom is worried about filing for full custody so that he does not get anywhere near the kid (ex has a record, is not a stable person, and is incapable of taking care of himself much less a kid). He is currently couch surfing his coworkers place, I live with my family.
My grandmother told me that he would be the one needing to file for joint custody if he wanted to have rights to the baby as he is the one that walked away and made claims he didn’t want it, but I’m not sure if that’s correct. I am in North Carolina, USA.
My question is, is it necessary to file for full custody when he has opted not to be in the baby’s life and has directly told me he doesn’t want it? Is it needed or does it legally need to happen for me to keep the baby away from him to begin with?

Hi! Me and BF very very probably getting a pup soon, in a week or so! It's the first dog for us both (kinda) and we're super excited, nervous and eager to make the best life possible for her!
When I told my mom she were kinda iffy/a bit dismissive of the JRT as a breed, and tried to imply that she wouldn't help to dogsit if needed, cause it "might be hard to leash walk properly and bark and be unruly". So , I grew up with Danish Swedish Farmdogs, and that would've also been my first choice of dog. They look a lot like JRT, but are supposed to be calmer and have a pinscher-like demeanor, a guard- and rat catcher-dog. And she absolutely meant ( or told me) I should get a DSF instead.
She did backtrack when I said that 1) I'm gonna do my absolute best to train her properly, since I also want a well behaved dog, and 2) did she really wanna go down the road of "i won't help you unless you choose my favourite dog breed"? She doesn't have a say or a veto, helping out is voluntary, not something to be leveraged in my(+BFs) decision. She conceded.
I am however, ofcourse a bit nervous about the differences, and some of the concerns she had. The biggest one being their hunting instincts, and most importantly, our country house.
It's a cottage in the woods, 100+ yards to any road and some farmland nearby. No fencing of any kind. There's no danger to the dog there, and in this part of Sweden there's no real worry for predators, boars are the biggest issue, otherwise it's just deer, foxes, a badger or two, and once some cows escaped their grazing area and came sneaking onto our property. But I am worried that she might want to run off into the woods one night and we won't be able to call her back, that her instincts would be different from the dogs I grew up with, and they'd be stronger than her training. I'll spend ca three months training her before going back to work & school, what can I do from the start to make sure she'll listen to calling? She seems to have a very calm and slightly shy demeanour.
Sorry for such a long post, guess I needed to vent a bit. Advice, assurance for me (or my mom) and possibly some pep would be much appreciated! Lotsa love! xoxo
TLDR; Does my mom have a point in saying JRT might be inclined to run away from our country house/in the woods? If so, how do i train and prevent her from doing that? Any other tips for a soon to be JRT-owner?

I'm from EU,so GAMES SHOULD work pretty much anywhere
NOT BUYING GAMES,ONLY TRADES - games for games or selling for paypal
No interest in TF2 keys,CSGO cases or ANY other virtual currency
BUYER covers the FEES (if outside EU,EU F&F only)
My Steam account so you don't offer me something I own
My Wishlist
My SGSRep
My IGSRep
​
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Only looking for Steam games - so don't offer origin,uplay,rockstar,bnet or ANY other launcher
100% of my games keys are bought by me from official stores & I expect the same in return,so don't offer me keyshop games or game keys you got in a trade as I will decline
I retain the right to ask for proof of ownership for ANY game I want - just like YOU have the right to ask me the same
​
​
List of games I have:
Also have the Earthquake Relief bundle but reddit wont let me write all the games cause my topic would be too big - just ask
7 Billion Humans
8Doors Arum's Afterlife Adventure
10 Second Ninja X
60 Seconds!
112 Operator
140
198X
911 Operator
A Case Of Distrust
A Year Of Rain
Absolver
Aeolis Tournament
Age Of Wonders III
Ageless
Airport CEO
AI War 2
Alien Spidy
Aliens Vs Predator Collection
All You Can Eat
Almost There The Platformer
American Fugitive
Amnesia A Machine For Pigs + The Dark Descent (1 key for both games)
Amnesia Fortnight 2012
Amnesia Fortnight 2014
Amnesia Fortnight 2017
Amnesia Rebirth (X2)
Among Us (X2)
Ancestors The Humankind Odyssey (EU & Africa lock)
Aragami (X2)
Archamon
Army Men RTS
Attack Of The Earthlings
Automobilista
Aven Colony
Avernum 3 Ruined World
Azkend 2 The World Beneath
Back 4 Blood (EU region lock)
Backbone
Band Of Defenders
Banished
Baseball Riot
Batora Lost Haven
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
Behind The Frame Finest Scenery NEW
Beholder 2
Bendy And The Dark Revival (X2)
Bendy And The Ink Machine
Betrayer (delisted)
Between The Stars (X2)
Beyond Eyes
Beyond The Wire
Bionic Commando
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Bird Of Light
Black Paradox
Bohemian Killing
Book Of Demons
Bomber Crew Deluxe
Borderlands 3 + Director's Cut (ask about region locks)
Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe Edition NEW (ask about region locks)
Boreal Blade
Broken Age (X2)
Brothers A Tale Of Two Sons (X2)
Builder Simulator NEW
Butcher
Call Of Juarez
Call Of The Sea (X2)
Call To Arms Basic Edition
Call To Arms Gates Of Hell Ostfront
Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
Chenso Club
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition
Cities In Motion 2
CivCity Rome
Clone Drone In The Danger Zone
Clouds & Sheep 2
Coffin Dodgers
Cook Serve Delicious 3
Company Of Heroes Complete Edition
Control Ultimate Edition
Corridor Z
Cosmic Osmo And The World Beyond The Mackerel
Crash Drive 3
Creatures Inc
Crookz The Big Heist
Crossbow Bloodnight
Crusader Kings Complete
Crying Suns
Dagon The Eldritch Box
Danger Scavenger
Day Of Infamy
Dead Age
Dead In Vinland
Deadly Premonition Director's Cut
Deadbeat Heroes (X2)
Dear Ester Landmark Edition
Death Stranding Director's Cut
Death Squared
Deep Dungeons Of Doom
Deep Sky Derelicts
Demon Turf
Deployment
Desert Child
Destiny 2 Beyond Light NEW
Diaries Of A Spaceport Janitor
Dicey Dungeons (X2)
Dimension Drifter
Distraint 2 + Soundtrack
Divekick
Dog Sled Saga
Double Fine Adventures Complete Series Deluxe
Downwell
Drawful 2
Draw Slasher
Dreadlands
Dread X Collection
Driftland The Magic Revival
Dry Downing
Duke Nukem Forever Collection
Dungeon Marathon
Dungeon Of The Endless
Dungeons 2
Dungeons 2 Complete
Dungeons 3
Dusk
Dwarfs!?
Eador Imperium
EarthX
Eastside Hockey Manager
ECHO
Edge Of Eternity
Effie
Elderborn
Eldest Souls
Elden Path Of The Forgotten
Embr
Emily Is Away
Empyrion Galactic Survival
Epic Manager
E.T. Armies Deluxe Edition
Etherborn (X2)
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Europa Universalis IV
Evergarden
Expeditions Viking
F1 2018 (delisted)
Family Man
Fantasy Blacksmith
Fantasy Versus
Farmer's Dynasty
Farming Simulator 17
FIA European Truck Racing
Figment (X2)
Finding Paradise
Fire Ungh's Quest
First Class Trouble
Five Dates
Fling To The Finish
Fluffy Horde
Fobia St. Dinfna Hotel
Forgive Me Father
Framed Collection (X2)
Friday the 13th: The Game
Fun With Ragdolls The Game
Fury Unleashed (X2)
Gang Beasts
Garage Bad Trip (X2)
Gas Guzzlers Extreme
Gas Station Simulator
Gauge
Generation Zero NEW
Ghostrunner
Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams + Rise Of The Owlverlord
Gloria Victis NEW
GNOG
Go Home Dinosaurs!
Goat Of Duty
Goetia (X2)
Going Under (X2)
Golden Light
Golf Gang
GoNNER
Grand Ages Medieval
Grand Pigeon's Duty
Greak Memories Of Azur
Gremlins Inc.
Grip Combat Racing + Cygon + Nyvoss + Terra + Vintek DLC (X2)
Guts And Glory (X2)
Hack'n'Slash
Haiku The Robot (X2)
Hamilton's Great Adventure
Hammerfight
Headlander
Heal
Hedon Bloodrite
Hell Let Loose
Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice
Hello Neighbor
Hellbound
Hero Defense
Hero's Hour (EU region lock)
Hexologic
Hidden & Dangerous Action Pack
Hidden & Dangerous 2 Courage Under Fire
Hive Jump (X2)
Hiveswap Act 2
Hiveswap Friend Sim (X2)
Homeworld Deserts Of Kharak
Hotshot Racing
Hot Tin Roof The Cat That Wore A Fedora
Hot Wheels Unleashed
Hover (X2)
Human Resource Machine
Hurtworld
I Am Bread
I Am Not A Monster First Contact
Ice Lakes
If Found...
Ikenfell
Impact Winter (delisted)
In Between
Industria
Inexistence Rebirth
Infinite Air With Mark McMorris (delisted)
Influent
Inmost
Interplanetary Enhanced Edition
Intruder
Ion Fury
Iron Danger
Iron Harvest
Jack Axe
Jalopy
Jet Set Knights
Juanito Arcade Mayhem
Jump Stars
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Darkness engulfs me. It devours me like the creature I fear most. I try opening my eyes but there’s no difference. All I see is total black nothingness.
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.

Darkness engulfs me. It devours me like the creature I fear most. I try opening my eyes but there’s no difference. All I see is total black nothingness.
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.

Just expressing because I need to vent what the Universe has dumped. So I JUST went through a heart wrenching traumatic sitch where one really old rescued cat had to have surgery to remove an eye and deal with a subsequent respiratory infection to boot. She made it through SO well that her now spunky old ass did a wappy paw with another rescued cat at breakfast and scratched that cat's eye! F me Freddy! It's not looking good, and now I have to find a way to get HER to an extra vet visit for her EYE! Geeze Louise! Is the Universe trying to tell me something, other than that I have too many rescued cats (four)!?! What's with all of the eye issues!?? Oh, and our car died, like died. Not the battery, checked this and looked at that to the point where my husband has been looking at buying a new (used) vehicle. I mean, we HAVE to have a vehicle to even get the cat to the vet! Money sucks! It's been a week since the scratch happened, and the eye doesn't look better. MAYBE it's healing... But probably not. It's starting to look ( ha ha pun but not) like we're going to have our Uber driver clear some time for a vet trip. It would only cost $16 bucks for an Uber, but getting the drivers schedule matched with the vets schedule will be tricky! We live in a place that calls itself a city, but really is just a small town, lol. The Ubers are so few that we know them by name. 😁 That's a benefit that will hopefully play into our court. But we're still playing money catch-up after the first cat eye issue, so finances are, well, nothing! The pet credit service is nil. So for the next several days at least we're on a wait and see (bad pun again) status. This is hard on us financially, and it SUCKS for our poor little black bean cat to have to wait, but I don't regret letting her walk into my home at all. As bad as my rescue attempt is at this point, she IS better off here. She was wild, but felt safe coming to us and our other pets... They accepted her totally! To me, because we two have a weird bond. She was dumped here by a well meaning organization, but she was never capable of being feral. Just being a black cat put odds against her. I swear that I could FEEL when this cat was near before she came inside! During a REALLY hard Winter this cat ran inside my home for shelter, but in truth I felt a bond and concern for her long before that. Weird AF! So, I've GOT to get this eye issue taken care of! I just don't know how I'm going to be able to do it right now. SMH. To anyone wanting, willing, to take in a rescue pet I HIGHLY recommend the credit insurance programs! Life beyond a yearly checkup can unexpectedly F you up! 😆 I'm learning the lesson of be proactive or be F'ed!

This will be relatively short rant (Please share your stories too!) about what the title says.
I was using an ATM at a Rec store a few days ago. It was my dogs first time going there with me (had her since February) and she was good while i used the ATM. I had over the ear headphones on but had 1 side off since i wasn’t fully aware of my surroundings at the time. Then, out of the corner of my eye, i see a man approach, bend down, and tried to pet my dog. I pulled her away and i told him “hey you can’t pet my dog without asking first” and he said “oh, I’m so sorry, it’s just that, you had your headphones on”.
So, you’re telling me, when you are unable to ask for permission, you do it anyways? What logic is that? Keep in mind this man is in his 60’s.
I didn’t fight him on it i just told him it’s fine and i continued on what i was doing. But since then it’s just really bothered me how entitled (if that’s the right word) that man was. He didn’t mean any harm but what IF my dog didn’t like people and gave that old man a chomp on the hand?
I’m glad the worst case scenario didn’t happen and i wish there were more people who ask to pet my dog, and if you think you can’t ask me, then don’t do it (not like anyone in this sub needs to hear that).

Darkness engulfs me. It devours me like the creature I fear most. I try opening my eyes but there’s no difference. All I see is total black nothingness.
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.