Voice command wouldn’t last all night.
Of course he was fast asleep on the couch and felt very mistreated to be dragged outside and forced to urinate in the middle of the night. He gave me a soulful look and slowly inched his way out the sliding glass door. I followed him out to make sure that he went off the porch and into the grass.
I don’t watch a lot of scary movies because my imagination for horror is quite good all on its own. And, with everything I’ve been through, I don’t need any more mental images keeping me awake at night. One of my biggest fears is that, one night when I’m walking across my living room, I will look out into the dark backyard and see a man silhouetted against the white privacy fence. Don’t ask me why that is so frightening to me. It just gives me the willies. About the same freakiness as pressing your face up against a window to look out and there being a face right there looking in. Igh!
I wasn’t really conscious yet, and was trying to stay that way so that I could quickly go to sleep after putting up the dog. I had trailed Harvey over to the dog door before looking up. My heart stopped. There was a black figure silhouetted against the fence. I froze. What to do? What to do? Call Mark? Call the police? Scream? Before I could decide, the screen door behind me squeaked open and I went with screaming.
“Hi, Piper,” a soft voice greeted me.
I managed to choke the scream off in my throat so as to not wake Mark, and what came out was more a gurgle.
“Grgglleph!”
Annabeth was a slight, rather mousy looking woman, at least in her human form. When she shifted she became eight feet of very hairy, very stinky, skunk ape. I had helped her and her son when they had been in a difficult situation and had introduced them to the USB. Annabeth felt like she owed me and had moved into my neighborhood. None of which explained what she was doing in my backyard at one o’clock in the morning.
“Do you mind if I leave my clothes here?” she asked, starting to strip.
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” I yelped. “Hold it! Why are you shifting in my backyard?”
A gentle breeze fanned my neck from behind and Cecily was standing on the porch. Since the night was her time, she was all vamped out and moving at super-human speeds. It took longer for my brain to realize that she was the figure I’d seen against the fence than it took for her to cross the yard.
“Piper,” she greeted me, eyes scanning the yard.
I crossed my arms around my chest. “What’s going on?”
Cecily flicked a glance at me and tried to look innocent. “Nothing,” she said.
“Uh-huh.”
Annabeth slipped out of her dress and started to take off her bra. I closed my eyes and prayed that Mark stayed asleep and in bed.
“What’s going on, Annabeth?” I asked before she could shift and not be able to answer questions.
She looked at Cecily and managed to scrunch even smaller. “She asked me to patrol the yard this evening.”
“Patrol.”
“Yes.” The underwear was starting to follow the bra and I turned my back to give her some privacy. There was a prickling of magic across my skin and then a horrible stench.
I tried not to gag too visibly. I think it hurt Annabeth’s feelings when no one wanted to be near her, and believe me, you do not want to offend an eight-foot monkey.
Cecily was trying to drift away so I grabbed her arm. “What’s going on, Cecily?”
She shrugged. “I just thought that with everything going on, you could use some protection at night.”
I pointed at Harvey who was happily relieving himself in the grass. “I have a guard dog.”
She snorted. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”
I frowned. Harvey was a horrible guard dog. He barked at all the wrong things, and welcomed complete strangers with love. When Mark went out of town on business, I would often wish for a huge, fierce dog that was trained to only bark at red-eyed, drooling monsters. No bark, no monster, no
Of course he was fast asleep on the couch and felt very mistreated to be dragged outside and forced to urinate in the middle of the night. He gave me a soulful look and slowly inched his way out the sliding glass door. I followed him out to make sure that he went off the porch and into the grass.
I don’t watch a lot of scary movies because my imagination for horror is quite good all on its own. And, with everything I’ve been through, I don’t need any more mental images keeping me awake at night. One of my biggest fears is that, one night when I’m walking across my living room, I will look out into the dark backyard and see a man silhouetted against the white privacy fence. Don’t ask me why that is so frightening to me. It just gives me the willies. About the same freakiness as pressing your face up against a window to look out and there being a face right there looking in. Igh!
I wasn’t really conscious yet, and was trying to stay that way so that I could quickly go to sleep after putting up the dog. I had trailed Harvey over to the dog door before looking up. My heart stopped. There was a black figure silhouetted against the fence. I froze. What to do? What to do? Call Mark? Call the police? Scream? Before I could decide, the screen door behind me squeaked open and I went with screaming.
“Hi, Piper,” a soft voice greeted me.
I managed to choke the scream off in my throat so as to not wake Mark, and what came out was more a gurgle.
“Grgglleph!”
Annabeth was a slight, rather mousy looking woman, at least in her human form. When she shifted she became eight feet of very hairy, very stinky, skunk ape. I had helped her and her son when they had been in a difficult situation and had introduced them to the USB. Annabeth felt like she owed me and had moved into my neighborhood. None of which explained what she was doing in my backyard at one o’clock in the morning.
“Do you mind if I leave my clothes here?” she asked, starting to strip.
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” I yelped. “Hold it! Why are you shifting in my backyard?”
A gentle breeze fanned my neck from behind and Cecily was standing on the porch. Since the night was her time, she was all vamped out and moving at super-human speeds. It took longer for my brain to realize that she was the figure I’d seen against the fence than it took for her to cross the yard.
“Piper,” she greeted me, eyes scanning the yard.
I crossed my arms around my chest. “What’s going on?”
Cecily flicked a glance at me and tried to look innocent. “Nothing,” she said.
“Uh-huh.”
Annabeth slipped out of her dress and started to take off her bra. I closed my eyes and prayed that Mark stayed asleep and in bed.
“What’s going on, Annabeth?” I asked before she could shift and not be able to answer questions.
She looked at Cecily and managed to scrunch even smaller. “She asked me to patrol the yard this evening.”
“Patrol.”
“Yes.” The underwear was starting to follow the bra and I turned my back to give her some privacy. There was a prickling of magic across my skin and then a horrible stench.
I tried not to gag too visibly. I think it hurt Annabeth’s feelings when no one wanted to be near her, and believe me, you do not want to offend an eight-foot monkey.
Cecily was trying to drift away so I grabbed her arm. “What’s going on, Cecily?”
She shrugged. “I just thought that with everything going on, you could use some protection at night.”
I pointed at Harvey who was happily relieving himself in the grass. “I have a guard dog.”
She snorted. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”
I frowned. Harvey was a horrible guard dog. He barked at all the wrong things, and welcomed complete strangers with love. When Mark went out of town on business, I would often wish for a huge, fierce dog that was trained to only bark at red-eyed, drooling monsters. No bark, no monster, no
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