Wrong house comix

Just to preface this, i've genuinely never dated before. She's my first girlfriend ever, at 26.
I buy her things or pay both our ways whenever we go out. Like when i take her to a movie, i usually cover it all myself. I bought her dinner and paid her shoe rental when we went bowling. Plus i bought her flowers. It's just what i've always assumed a guy does for his date. (Am i wrong for thinking that? i genuinely don't know. I'm new to this and only know what i've seen in movies/tv)
She always does appreciate it, like she seems genuinely moved by it. She'll get emotional, hug me and tell me i either don't need to do it or offers to pay me back. There's also been a couple times where she bought something for herself or me on dates so i'm not covering it 100% (Like after i covered the meal and our shoe rental, she bought her own drink just for example).
Currently, she's between jobs. We were talking on the phone and she was talking about her favorite desserts and in that same conversation, she mentioned how she's struggling financially. She's relying on her savings and her parents help her, but they're trying to get her more independent. I told her if she needed anything to tell me, but she said she's afraid to ask people for things and only takes help that's offered. So i offered to buy her some groceries. At first, i offered to buy her this ice cream she mentioned that she loved, then i asked later if she needed anything else while i was out. Which she accepted, she give me a list of a few things and it was a little pricey (The bill was a little over80 dollars).
I take it to her house and her dad sees the bags and really seems unhappy about the amount of food. Like he wasn't rude or aggressive to me, but there was this tension in the air. Like he wants me gone.
And later, my gf calls me and says her dad fussed at her. He made her feel bad because she got that stuff for free and didn't pay me back anything. I made it clear i did it cause i really like her and i know she's been struggling to get a job.I wanted to help her.
She told me that he doesn't want her to be taking advantage of me and that i was spoiling her. She told me "She eats well"
And now, 3 days later, she hasn't really talked to me since then (we talked almost every day prior) so i think i might've messed up. Either by buying the groceries for her or by just generally buying her gifts and things
She makes it seem like he thought i was spoiling her or that she was taking advantage of me and that's why he fussed at her. She also said it might be because she didn't have permission to have me over or didn't tell them first. I don't know.
Her dad was nice to me, but he seemed like he was trying to kind of...get me out of their house. He told me "You don't wanna keep your ride waiting" and how she "Has a job interview this afternoon". But we shook hands and he asked me about my job.

First/Previous
The travel took on a less gloomy quality in the day that passed since Gemma’s self-reflection and although there remained a queer distance in her eyes, she seemed in better spirits in losing the weight of the words.
It was a night just beyond Wabash Crevasse that we pushed on till sunset was almost upon us and we were each tired and the food stocks ran low and so we found harbor in a half collapsed cellar where a home once stood; it was only after examining the slatted, rotted boards of the old place, fallen over, tired with decay, that we spied the cellar doors intact; sheets of door metal plied us with safety from the outside world and the interior of the place stank of mold and the deeper recesses were collapsed, but there was a cradle to crossbar the stair hatch and I put my prybar there for the night. We finished the water and canned tomatoes, and I smoked a cigarette, staving off the inevitable doom which would come with the dwindling of our supplies.
I’d peeked through the space where the doors met at the cellar’s entry and watched the full darkness there while the youngins spoke of life and the trivial pursuits of it and I hardly said a word besides.
Sitting on the lowest step with Trouble dumbly maintaining her station by me, by the low glow of the space in the threshold, I saw they’d pushed their bedrolls together and Andrew had fallen asleep with his arm over Gemma’s shoulder and her eyes glowed with shine from the crack, blinked a few times while seeing me; she too eventually drifted to sleep, and I spent time by the secured door.
Gunshots rang across the stillness, and they stirred from their quiet slumber and Gemma asked, “Harlan, is it alright?”
I moved to the space there at the doorway again and listened and watched what I could through that crack and nothing beyond came. “It’s safe. I’ll be up a bit longer. I’ll watch.”
Andrew asked, “Can’t sleep?”
“I’ll sleep in a bit. Don’t worry about me. Rest. Sleep good and we can put more behind us.
They sat up, legs crossed triangle-wise, and Gemma spoke again, “Why do you have such a hard time sleeping? It seems I’m asleep after you and only awake after you too.”
“Yeah,” said Andrew.
“It’s cool at night. I can listen to the wind.” I shrugged.
“You should be the one that tries to get some sleep,” said Andrew.
I said nothing.
They reached out their arms and I shook my head.
“Here,” Gemma said, “Move your bedroll closer.” She reached across the dirt floor of the cellar and dragged my splayed roll so that it sat beside hers.
“I’ll sleep later.” I turned my attention back to the door and ignored them till their sounds of sleep could be heard. The Alukah was nowhere and did not tap on the door that night and when I moved to sleep, I shimmied onto the roll beside them, facing away on my shoulder; the dog followed, laid on the bare dirt beside me and I held the mutt.
Though I refused a noise as they stirred in the absolute darkness, I felt Gemma’s arm fall over my own shoulder and felt Andrew’s hand touch my back, and water traced the bridge of my nose and I slept deeply thereafter.
There was no breakfast without food, and the water was gone; I felt the eyes of the dog on us as we packed up our belongings that next morning and I tried not to imagine the poor animal skinned over fire. I smiled at Trouble, patted its head, scratched its chin; she sniffed my hand like she was looking for something that wouldn’t be found.
We went west again, ignoring roads and pushed through straight wasteland where nothing was and no one was, and with every dry footfall on the dry hard ground, I wished for rain, and I wished that when it had rained, as infrequent as it was, that I had been wise enough to save what we could from the sky; that sky was red and swollen and refused to burst. We pushed on through strange dead thickets where grayed and twisty yellow branches lurched from the ground into the sky like even they too wished for an end to all the suffering. It was days more till we would see Alexandria and though I could stave off hunger (thirst too, if necessary), I was not so certain that the children would be able to push on without it; they did not complain and watched the ground in our march and maintained higher spirits than I could’ve imagined from them.
Early in the day, they spoke often, and I listened and as they wore on, their words came less and even the dog seemed in a lower mood for the unsaid predicament; me too.
Gemma broke the silence on the matter by saying, “What are we going to do about food? Water?”
“We’ll push on.”
“We could turn back?” asked Andrew.
“The more time we spend out in the open, outside of a city, the more likely it is that the Alukah will catch us unawares. Tighten your belts.” Our feet took us around a dilapidated truck, an old thing with a rusty hook which dangled off a rear arm. “Save your urine.”
They made faces but did not protest.
“Does that work? You ever drink pee?” asked Andrew.
I laughed, “I thought we’d be there by now. I took us too long by trying to drop the scent of the Alukah. That thing’s hunted us for days—last night was the first time it ain’t bothered us. It’s got me wondering why.”
Gemma piped up, licking her dry lips before speaking, “Do you think that monster ran into those scavengers we saw?” Then I caught her shooting a look at Andrew, “At least we warned them.” Her smile was faint and almost indiscernible as one.
I shrugged. “Can’t say. Don’t think it’s smart to turn back. Won’t be long and we’ll touch the 40 and then it’ll be a straight on to Babylon—couple of days—can’t turn back though. Maybe without food; that’s doable. Water’s the worst, but if it comes to it,” I paused and looked on the weathered faces of the children, on the lowered head of Trouble which followed her nose across the ground (it searched just short of frantic), “Like I said, ‘save your urine’.”
The first pains of hunger held within me brought up some reminiscence and I wished for nothing more than to hold Suzanne; I could nearly smell them and in the swaying walk which took us on past toppled townships, I held long blinks where I could nearly make out their face and if I really pushed the limits of my imagination, I could feel them. In those moments, as we passed dead places, rotted pits of despair, I could think of little more than their presence. Though I knew it was a dangerous game, hoping for more than I was worth, I hoped for Suzanne then and I wished that I’d taken them up on their offer to travel to Alexandria with them; it could’ve been home—it never was in all the times I’d gone there, but who knows? The thoughts of Babylon brought forth their gardens; the wild gardens and the water which flowed freely through their pipes. I wished I was a different person entirely and that too would’ve been better for Suzanne; how it was that they’d seen anything in me, I don’t know. How it was that they could stoop to the level of being with someone like me—I warded off that thought, because to place the blame there would certainly be unfair. I thought of my love plainly and wanted a different life more suited to them.
Imaginations played more furiously, and I remembered the evening when Dave stopped me from leaping from that roof—it’s doubtful that he even realized that he’d slowed my demise; perhaps he did know—I wished then that I could ask him. Too kind for the world. People too kind for the world were scarce and hardly worth the trouble. Yet, there I was, chaperoning those two across the wastes.
Gemma was a broken person when I’d found her, tortured in Baphomet’s well; Andrew was a dullard boy who’d lost his hand. What a silly predicament.
I stopped in my movements and swiveled on my heel to catch Andrew by the shoulder. “You still got your hand, don’t you?”
In good humor, the boy grinned, lifted the nub on the end of his left forearm to show me, “Nope.”
“Dammit, no! The hand in the jar!”
Andrew raised his eyebrows. “In my pack.”
“Stop,” I commanded Trouble; the dog hardly recognized my words and continued a way then circled back, sad eyes looking up from where she took to sit by my side. Gemma, both arms dangling loosely from her own pack’s shoulder straps, took into the circle we’d formed.
The girl asked, “What about the jar? It’s nasty, but I guess it’s his.”
“I think that’s it,” I said. I took Andrew by his shoulders, looked him in his eyes, “We could use it!”
“What?” The boy almost laughed in the display of our concern. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I think I’ve got it! It’s good for a trap.” I shook him; maybe too hard. I almost smiled. “It’s worth a shot!”
“It’s mine.” He bit his top lip, withdrew from me.
“You’ll feel differently about that,” I said.
Gemma placed a hand on Andrew’s pack and tried ripping it open. “Give it to him!” shouted the girl.
The boy whipped from her grasp, and he spun on his feet, and panic stood on his face. “It’s mine, isn’t it?”
I took a step forward, “No, not anymore.” I put out my palm, “Give it.”
Andrew nearly flinched at the thought of it and shook his head a little. “Why?”
“I told you why,” I said.
“You don’t even know if it’ll work, do you?” his words were long in protest.
The girl started again, “Andrew, please.”
He locked eyes with Gemma and once again, his bottom teeth came up to meet over his top lip and he moved his jaw methodically with contemplation.
“What does it even matter?” she asked.
“It’s mine. You don’t know what it’s like.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“C’mon,” he said, but his pack straps fell from his shoulders, and he hunkered down on the ground and opened his bag; his right hand plunged into the recesses therein and withdrew the jar with his severed left hand. He held the object up, refusing to come up from his open pack, keeping his eyes on the ground. “Take it then.” He shook the jar; its contents sloshed with liquid decay.
I grabbed the thing, held it to skylight; the remains within had congealed and rotted and lumps nearly floated in the brownish liquid which had formed in the base of the container. I shook it and stared for a moment at the miniscule debris which floated alongside the hand; each of its digits had swollen and erupted to expose bone; some had come away in pieces. “Tomorrow,” I said and nodded.
We gathered ourselves and Andrew pulled his pack on again and we moved, Trouble still looked sorry and the boy remained quiet while the girl chattered on with questions while we took through the dying ground in a formation with the dog on point then me then the children.
“What will you do with it?” she asked me.
“Not sure yet.”
Andrew made a noise like he wanted to say something but didn’t.
“You think it will work?” asked Gemma.
“Nothing’s a guarantee. They’re smart—Alukah.”
“Smart enough to figure out a trap?”
I shrugged. “We’ll find out.”
“We could put stakes in a pit.”
“Keep on the lookout for a building. Something with multiple floors.”
With that, we moved on, found a worn, mostly destroyed road and we fell into a travelling quiet and the thought of hunger or thirst arose again, and I pushed it down—though I knew the uneasiness could only last so long before savagery would overtake the human condition; the kids seemed strong enough, but I kept an eye on the dog too. Savagery belonged not only to humans, after all.
The ground of the wastes was harder when it was quiet, and it was flatter further west. The sky—red and full of thin and transparent drifting clouds—seemed an awful sight when stared at for too long; it was the thing which stretched as if to signal there wasn’t an end in any direction, as if to declare we had much more to go till safety. Wanderlust is a thing that I believe I’ve felt before, but under that sky, with those two and the dog, I didn’t feel it at all. It was doom that I felt. Ignorance and doom. And it was all because I was certain I’d made all the wrong mistakes, and it was coming back to me. I was experienced. We should’ve had food and water. Perhaps there was some deep and nasty part inside of me that had intended to sacrifice them along the way. The words of the Alukah might have rung true: You say you make no deals, but I smell it. I think you’d deal.
Surely, I felt differently. Surely.
“Getting darker,” called Andrew as we came to where signposts—worn and bent and barely legible—told us of a place once called Annapolis and the buildings were nearly gone entirely; places, maybe places that were once homes, were leveled—I was briefly caught in imagining what it might’ve been like all those ages ago. As are most places, it was haunted like that and when we came to a long rectangular structure of metal walls—thin walls—we took it as a place for rest for the night.
It once served as an agricultural station, for when we breached its entry, there were a line of dead machines—three in all—cultivators or tillers which stood higher than any of our heads and Gemma asked what they were, and I told her I thought they were for farming. The great rusted bodies stood in quiet shadow as we came through a side passage of the building and the great doors which had once been used to release those machines from the building stood frozen in their frame. I approached the doors, lighting my lantern and motioning for the children to shut the door we’d entered through.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed the doors would roll into the ceiling and the chains which held the doors in place were each secured with rusted padlocks—I removed my prybar from my pack and moved along the wall of doors, giving each old lock a smack with the weapon; each one held in place, seemingly fused there through years of corrosion, and I rounded the cultivators once more, back to the children, near the side door where they’d discovered a rickety stair frame which crawled up the side of the wall to a catwalk; along the catwalk, a levitated box stood at the height of the structure, stilted by metal legs, and we took the stairs slowly with the dog following close behind; the poor mutt was mute save the sound of its own shuffling paws.
The metal stairs creaked under our weight and Gemma held her own lantern high over her head so that the strange shadows of the place grew longer, stranger, and suddenly I felt very sure that something was in the dark with us, but there was no noise except what we made. My eyes scanned the darkness, and I followed the children up the stairs till we met the overhang of the catwalk and I peered into the shadows, the blades of the cultivators—far extended on foldable arms—struck up through the pool of blackness beneath us and I felt so cold there and if it were not for the breath of my fellow travelers, I might have been lost in the dark for longer than intended—lost and frozen and contemplative.
“There’s a room,” said the boy, and he pushed ahead on the hanging passage, and he was the first to the door. “Boxes,” he said plainly.
Upon coming to the place where he stood, Gemma pushed her lantern over the threshold, and I saw what he’d meant as I traced my own lantern to help; the room was crammed with plastic totes and old metal containers of varied sizes. There seemed to be enough empty space to maneuver through the room, but only if one watched their feet while they walked. Carefully.
We moved to the room, and I found a stack of crates to place my lantern then motioned for Gemma to douse hers. In minutes, the place was rearranged so that we could sit comfortably on the floor; crates lined the walls precariously and we breathed heavy from the work done, but we began to unpack and upon watching the children while I rolled a cigarette, I felt a pang of guilt, a terrible summation—all choices in my life had led me here and with them and perhaps it would have been a better world for them without me.
Mentally shrugging this thought away, I lit my cigarette, inhaled deeply, and then withdrew the jar which Andrew had handed over. I held it to the lantern to examine it. The grotesqueness of it hardly phased me and I watched it more curious and hopeful than disgusted.
“I hope it’ll work,” said the boy, “Whatever it is that you plan on doing with it.” He grimaced and maintained a further silence in patting his bedding for fluff. The dog moved to him, and she pushed her forehead against him where he squatted on floor. The boy scratched Trouble’s chin and whispered, “Good girl,” into the top of her head where he’d pushed his own face.
“I’m hungry,” said Gemma; she placed her chin in her arm while watching Andrew with the dog. She sat on her own flat bed there on the floor and stated plainly the thing that I’d hoped to ignore for longer.
“I know.” I took another drag from the cigarette and let the smoke hang over my head. “The dog?”
Andrew recoiled, pulling Trouble closer into his arms.
I smiled. “It was a joke.”
Andrew relaxed, but only a moment before Gemma added, “Maybe.”
The boy narrowed his eyes in the girl’s direction, and she shrugged. “If it’s life or death.”
He didn’t say anything and merely continued stroking Trouble’s coat.
That night, we slept awfully and even in the complete darkness, I felt the cramp of the storage room and the angled shapes of the tools that protruded from the containers on all sides remained permanent well after we’d turned the light off and it felt like those shapes were the teeth of a great creature like we were sitting inside of its mouth, looking out.
Trouble positioned herself partially on my chest, her slow rhythmic breathing brought my thoughts calm and I whispered to her in the dark after I was sure the others were asleep, “I promise it was a joke.” And I brushed the back of her neck with my hand and the animal let go of a long sigh then continued that deep rhythmic breathing.
Still without food or water, the following day was the true indication of the misery to come. Gemma’s stomach growled audibly in waking and Andrew—though he kept his complaints to himself—smacked his lips more often or protruded the tongue in his mouth in a starvation for water. The room, in the daylight which peered through pinpricks of its half-decayed roof, seemed another beast altogether from its nighttime counterpart; it was not so frightening. Again, I admonished myself for the lack of preparation, but there was another thought that brought together a more cohesive feeling; we had a possible plan, a trap for the demon that’d been following us.
We went into the field to the west of the building where there was only dirt beneath our feet in the early sunlight and in the coolness of morning air, I nearly felt like a person. The sun crested the horizon and brought with it a warmth that would quickly become overwhelming—in those few minutes though—it felt good enough. I wished for the shy dew and saw none. The weirdness of holding Andrew’s rotting hand in a jar momentarily caught me and I almost laughed, but refrained and the dog and the children looked on while I held the container up and suddenly, seeing the congealed mass of tissue floating in its own excretions, I was overcome with the urge to run, the urge that nothing would ever be right again in my life, and that I was marked to be that way.
I blinked and tossed the jar to Andrew. “Say goodbye,” I said. He fumbled after it with his right hand and caught it to his chest.
“It’s strange you care so much anyway,” said Gemma, shrugging—her eyes forgave a millisecond of pity and when Andrew looked at her, still holding the jar in his right hand, she smiled and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her pants.
“We’ve enough oil, I think,” my voice was raspy from it being early, “Enough for good fire, but if we use it, it’ll mean a few more dark nights on our way.”
“We’re going to set it on fire?” Andrew pondered, keeping his eyes to the contents of the jar. “It worked good enough last time. It’ll work,” I nodded, “I has to, doesn’t it?”
His dry lips creased into a brief smile, and he tossed the jar back to me and I caught it.
“Let’s dig,” I said.
Without much in the way of proper tools, we began at the ground under us with our hands, then taking turns with my prybar till there was a hole in the ground comfortably large enough to conceal a human head and I uncapped the jar and spilled it contents there and we covered it back and I lightly tamped it with my boot. My eyes scanned the outbuilding we’d taken refuge in the night prior and then to the street to the north then to the houses which stood as merely rotted plots of foundation with frames that struck from the ground more as markers than support. “I’ll take up over there across the street when it gets dark. I want you two in that storage room before anything goes off.”
“We can’t help?” asked Gemma.
“You can help by staying out of the way—the mutt too,” I said; the words were harsh, but my feelings were from worry.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we stuck together?” asked the girl.
I shook my head. “You stay in the room and keep quiet. No matter what you hear, you stay quiet and safe.”
“That’ll put you at a bigger risk,” Gemma furrowed her brow at me and shifted around to look out on the houses across the street, “There’s hardly any cover over there.”
The boy nodded, smacked his lips, and rubbed his forearm across his mouth then audibly agreed with her.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, “No matter what you hear happening outside, no matter, you don’t open the door and you don’t scream—don’t make a noise at all. Alright? Even if you hear me calling you, you don’t do it.”
“Pfft,” Gemma crossed her arms and kicked her foot against the ground. The way her eyes seemed hollowed with bruising showed that the irritation would only grow without food. “Alright,” she finally sighed.
Andrew looked much the same as she did in that; he swallowed a dry swallow then stuffed his hand into his pocket and looked away when our eyes matched.
We gathered our light oil. Altogether, it seemed enough; rummaging through the room of the outbuilding we’d earlier taken refuge within, we managed three intact glass containers—the only ones found that wouldn’t leak with liquid; two were bottles and the third was the jar that’d once kept Andrew’s hand. With that work done, we sat with three Molotov cocktails within our huddled circle of the storage room.
“Is it enough?” asked Gemma.
“We’ll see,” I began rolling a cigarette to ignore the hunger and the thirst.
Andrew took to the corner and glanced over his shoulder only a moment before a steady liquid stream could be heard and when he rotated from the wall once the noise was finished and he held a canteen up to his nose, sniffed it and quivered and shook his head.
As the sun pushed on, I scanned the perimeter outside, and they followed. Far south I spied a mass of shadow inching across the horizon and Gemma commented, “What’s that?”
I pushed the binoculars to her and let her gaze through them.
“A fiend—that’s what we called it back in the day anyway. A mutant.”
She held the binoculars up and frowned. “A mutant? So, it was once human?”
“A fiend was once many humans.” I pointed out to the horizon though she couldn’t see me doing so and continued, “If you look at the edges of its shape, you’ll see it’s got limbs galore on it. Sticking up like hairs is what it’ll look like at this distance. Those are arms and legs. It’s got faces too. Many faces.” I shuddered.
“I can barely see any details,” she passed the binoculars to Andrew, and he looked through them, “What’s it do?”
“What?” I asked.
“What’s it do if it catches a person?”
“It pulls people into it. Makes you apart of its mass. Nasty fuckers.”
Andrew removed the lenses from his eyes and held them to his chest and asked, “It won’t mess up your trap, will it?”
“We’ll keep an eye on it,” I said, “You don’t want to mess with a fiend unless you have to.”
First/Previous
Archive

AITB for buying my girlfriend groceries?
Just to preface this, i've genuinely never dated before. She's my first girlfriend ever, at 26.
I usually do buy her things or pay both our ways whenever we go out. Like when i take her to a movie, i usually cover it all myself. I bought her dinner and paid her shoe rental when we went bowling. Plus i've bought her gifts, like the groceries and i bought her flowers. It's just what i've always assumed a guy does for his date. (Am i wrong for thinking that, i genuinely don't know. I'm new to this and only know what i've seen in movies/tv)
She always does appreciate it, like she seems genuinely moved by it. She'll get emotional, hug me and tell me i either don't need to do it or offers to pay me back. There's also been a couple times where she bought something for herself or me on dates so i'm not covering it 100% (Like after i covered the meal and our shoe rental, she bought her own drink just for example).
Currently, she's between jobs. We were talking on the phone and she was talking about her favorite desserts and in that same conversation, she mentioned how she's struggling financially. She's relying on her savings and her parents help her, but they're trying to get her more independent. I told her if she needed anything to tell me, but she said she's afraid to ask people for things and only takes help that's offered. So i offered to buy her some groceries. At first, i offered to buy her this ice cream she mentioned that she loved, then i asked later if she needed anything else while i was out. Which she accepted, she give me a list of a few things and it was a little pricey (The bill was a little over80 dollars).
I take it to her house and her dad sees the bags and really seems unhappy about the amount of food. Like he wasn't rude or aggressive to me, but there was this tension in the air. Like he wants me gone.
And later, my gf calls me and says her dad fussed at her. He made her feel bad because she got that stuff for free and didn't pay me back anything. I made it clear i did it cause i really like her and i know she's been struggling to get a job.I wanted to help her.
She told me that he doesn't want her to be taking advantage of me and that i was spoiling her. She told me "She eats well"
And now, 3 days later, she hasn't really talked to me since then (we talked almost every day prior) so i think i might've messed up. Either by buying the groceries for her or by just generally buying her gifts and things (IE: i bought her some flowers, the food, i usually pay whatever food bills when we eat out)
I don't know what the issue is. She makes it seem like he thought i was spoiling her or that she was taking advantage of me and that's why he fussed at her. Or maybe he was offended by me giving her the food instead of him as the dad (Her family is a little traditional christian type). She also said it might be because she didn't have permission to have me over or didn't tell them first. I don't know.
Her dad was nice to me, but he seemed like he was trying to kind of...get me out of their house. He told me "You don't wanna keep your ride waiting" and how she "Has a job interview this afternoon". But we shook hands and he asked me about my job.
But yeah, i mean...it got her fussed at and she hasn't really been engaged in talking to me since. So i think i might've gone too far.

Palestinian Happy Family
A short story.
A father in his 30s named Ammar, looking so weak and exhausted. With his 7 year-old daughter named Lara, a thin injured girl in her arm with bandage under her brown hair covering wounds having green eyes filled with holded tears. They live inside a ruined house in Gaza.
Everything around them is dead. Wrecked streets are dead. Collapsed Schools are silent. Children and families used to fill the air here with life are now either dead, injured with no hospitals to rescue, or forced to leave places they have always belonged to.
The girl breaks a long dead silence saying to her father: “Dad…why all that happened? What was the wrong thing we did to deserve this punishment?” The father replies in disappointment: “I don't know!”.
After short silence while Lara is looking around to see what happened in pity and pain, she asks again in confusion: “How comes?! My mother and brother were killed…lost 5 of my friends who were killed also…what was our fault…before all this happened to our district, we were playing Hide and Seek after finishing our school day…can Hide and Seek game deserve this punishment?”
Ammar with a smile: “wouldn't you eat? I baked this loaf of bread to you using the oven we made together yesterday from mud, sticks, and cement…Oh! Thank God…we are really genius.” The girl looks at her father longly into the eyes and says: “Where's your loaf?” He answered: “I ate a piece from yesterday’s bread…we are out of flour now…but don't worry…I will find my way to some flour again. Don't underestimate your father.”
The girl began eating hardly but stopped again after eating two small pieces saying: “Dad! You changed the subject…what did we do to deserve this punishment?” She continues on: “You know dad! I heard someone say that it's because we are Muslims…but what about my friend Cristina who was killed last week?” Ammar says: “Oh Lara! I didn't ask my old brother all these questions when my father and mother were killed when I was at your age…I know that you have the write to ask all the time…but sometimes questions have no answers.”
Lara looks at her father's face silently and after a while she asks with pain: “Dad! Are you trying to hold your tears? Didn't you get used to being into this throughout your life? You spent your life either in war or in calm ordinary big prison sieged by poverty, corruption, soldiers, tanks, and planes.”
Ammar keeps silent and silent. All of a sudden, he breaks down crying while trying to hide his face by his hands. He begins talking with distorted voice: “What a shame; I can't do this…I can't be weak in front of you…there's no one left for a tiny girl like you in this world but me…but I’m a human…I can't stand all of this…won't I see my girl go to school in peace and joy?! Won’t I see my girl in a home again?! Will I be able to find you a loaf of bread tomorrow?! What if I can't?! What did you do to deserve all of this?! What did your mother and brother do?! What did my father and mother do?! What did my imprisoned for life older brother do?! What did your tiny friends do?! I feel weak in front of you and it kills me every single moment as a father…I and you despite our weakness should be proud…we will die but inside ruins of our home…these bricks are not of bricks…every brick means home, means motherland, means dignity, means resilience, means glory and pride…real pride.”
Lara rises up and hugs her dad who is sitting tired after a hard speech leaning on a wall standing tall from the wrecked home. Rain comes heavily on their heads. They hide under remains of a roof. Sounds of a new air raid are heard.

Hi, I am pretty sure you know where this post is going.
It’s been a year to my marriage and my life has become a living hell, only because of my MIL. I had an extremely stressful job before marriage which I left. I took a break from work and used to read, paint etc. I started looking for jobs again but it’s hella difficult to find the one I am looking for in this market. This is professional background.
Now while all of this happening, my MIL is a conservative woman with old ideologies and OCD. This makes living with her a complete hell. She fights with everyone in the house. We have permanent staff for cooking and cleaning. Still she is after each and every family member, pin-pointing things we should do correctly every single day. And taunts are just another level. My relation with my husband is also getting strained cause of this.
I am grateful for a lot of things but I am just not the type of person who could imagine being suppressed and humiliated like this. I even fight with her when she belittles our staff, I just feel it’s wrong.
I am not able to cope with this environment and thinking of living in a separate house with my husband.
Just looking for advice on how to sail through it all. Cause I am definitely losing my mind.

Sorry english is not my first language.
Almost 1 yr old boy, refuses any formula and cows milk, or pumped milk, even if it was just produced.
In terms of behavior he is an angel in the day, eating solids since 6 months old. It is at night that he cries like someone is killing him.
I am living with my parents still and each time this happens, interday lately, I get the shame on you look, my mother says "I cant believe a mom cant calm down her own baby, whats wrong with you?"
Baby's dad or my parents cant calm him either or put him to sleep for naps or at night, only me! He cant fall asleep on his own. At night it usually is harder and I can spend up to 1 hour to make him fall asleep.
I really try... each time I try to hug more or give kisses to the baby when he is in a crisis I feel like it is worse, he pushes me away or beats me and scream louder.
He cant be sleep trained because my parents wont allow me to let him cry because they say that is heartless and cruel, the baby gets trauma, etc. Of course I know that is not true, but their house, their rules.
I believe it is important to mention he breastfeeds from only one boob since a long time ago, when he was 4 months old, because he didnt like my other nipple, both were inverted but only one managed to get out. I also really tried to fool him to take the other boob, it worked some nights and one day he just would not take it anymore and it dried.
I try to eat a good dinner and drink a lot of water, I also have snacks at night but some days there is just no letdown or if he is sick and cant suck, it becomes a real drama, I have to put him in the stroller and try to rock him there with fingers crossed so it wont take more than one hour.
I WFH full time and get help in the day from my father to play with the baby, take him out, feed him with solids. But the night I sleep alone with him because babys dad is a medical resident and sleeps in another room and is all day out usually or doing night shifts.
Baby never slept more than 3 hours. I am really tired phisically, emotionally and of course it hurts to see baby suffer and know I cant help him. I am performing low at work also, had fights with my partner because of me being jealous I am the only one not sleeping because of the baby.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

...

Today, I ruined everything. So, I was happy as can be in my genderfluid existence, consuming biographies of trans women and of course “Whipping Girl”, when I realised that I don’t have full autonomy of my wardrobe, body or appearance.
I realised there isn’t an inch of shame in me left to spend on my dreaded “transness” as depicted in the media and in phobic discussions around various dinner tables and coffee shops over the years.
I’ve got this bundle of twine inside me that I call my gender experience; and until this point I would look at it quizzically and think: “hmmm, that’s weird.” I would fall in love with dresses and shoes, and make up and wigs. And I would still go out and enjoy my cis male privilege in the world. Some kind of genderfluid transness in the shadows where it’s safe, but for all intents and purposes a man in the light.
Because for 25 fucking years I was told that MY gender experience was wrong; and it would get me excluded, disadvantaged, discriminated against, maybe killed.
So the dual life I chose; because it felt safe. Not liberated, but liveable at least.
And suddenly it clicked; I wanted to shed my male privilege, take off the armour of falseness and start fighting the good fight in a pair of heels. I wanted not to become a man or woman, but a TRANS PERSON. I wanted to become a raging pink flame in the darkness of patriarchal oppression that the younglings could see and say “look, there’s a fucking way to be who I am.”
I imagined a goddess on HRT, thick booty and thighs, cute lil boobies, a strong jawline, soft skin, the years rolled back. Soft Glam make up every day; whatever fucking combination of grunge, steampunk and cottage core I could dream up. A fearsome picture of genderfucked-ness that says we’re here, we exist and there’s space for every goddamn one of us. A captivating, bold beauty that did not hide anywhere, from anyone. Long punk rock hair (with a regrown hairline) and a shaved side; piercings, the perfect winged eyeliner.
A house, a career, a killer car…. Maybe I get to keep my wife too? Maybe we could be A walking middle finger to the patriarchy that wants us gone.
I let slip that I wanted to put HRT on the table as a possibility for the future. I wanted bodily autonomy that would take me away from pure AMAB. And it broke my wife’s heart. She thinks I’m a liar for ever saying it wasn’t part of the plan (I swear to fucking god herself it wasn’t). She’s currently taking space and deciding what she wants to do.
The kindest, most loving person to ever hold space for me, even the possibility of me being pretty, and I broke her goddamn heart.
WHY THE FUCK DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO HARD.

I know this sub is for Tinder or dating apps, and my life stories may not have a place here, but I have been following this sub for a long time. So, I wanted to share with you guys. I don’t think I was wrong, but let’s see your perspective too.
I have been a good academically and a decent person. I met so many good women in my life, too, whom I dated casually and had a few serious relationships. Except for two times, I exited those serious relationships very early because I didn’t feel anything, so we parted ways on good terms. But do baar mujhe pyaar hua. I will tell you about them only.
1.This is my first love and someone I have known since my childhood. She was the daughter of a relative (I mean my bua’s relative, actually). She used to study at my school too. In high school, she chased me for a year, and finally, I gave in. We started dating; it was my first love, and I was happy. Kasme, waade, sapne bohot dekhe. I was a sort of grounded person; I live in the present and enjoy it thoroughly, but she was futuristic with lots of promises and future dreams. "I will have your kids, we will travel the world," blah blah. I did everything to keep her happy. I used to cook for her, I used to write poems for her, we used to go on dates often, and we traveled. But one fine day, I got an invitation to a wedding. Guess what? It was her wedding. I had so many questions: why, how, when? But I got no closure. I never asked for it. I went to the wedding because it was a family thing, and yeah, I never looked back (this was my longest relationship).
2.After a few years and meeting so many people, I fell in love again. To be honest, this time we fell for each other during the initial conversations. Again, there were dreams, sapne, waade. She moved to North America for me, and we moved together into a single house. By this time, I had become a pro at cooking, so I used to go to study, then the office, then back home to cook something delicious for us. I can cook any cuisine irrespective of the continent or country. Till now, I have learned many other skills like piano and guitar, so I used to sing for her, play for her, and we used to dance together. Everything was good; we had mutual friends, and we knew a guy mutually. That guy didn’t like me, and I didn’t like him. I did have a problem with things because my ex told me he does not like me. But I don’t own her; I don’t own anyone. Actually, anyone can do anything in their life.
So, one fine day, I got a video message. It was them doing the deeds. I was shocked and broken and didn’t understand a thing. I tried to gather courage and be rational. She came back and was trying to talk to me. Then I told her I wanted to break up. She asked me why, and I said I was out of love. She started crying and begging, saying that she loves me. Then she started accusing me and some of my other female friends, implying something was going on. She said, "You used to love me and now want to throw me out. Where would I go? I came here from India for you," and all that stuff. I tried to control myself, but then I gave in and showed her the video. Then she was like, "I am sorry, I love you a lot. You are my life; I want to marry you. He made me drunk and took advantage of me. Please forgive me." At that point, I firmly decided this was it. I told her she could stay till she found accommodation, then I went to my friend's home and stayed there for a few days. But she kept pursuing me. I canceled the lease and changed my house; still, she did the same thing. During this whole ordeal, I had to change my house twice and delete my Instagram, and finally, now I am free.
I don’t know why all this happened. I don’t know what else I could have done so that they didn’t do that to me. Maybe I was not a good partner. There could be any other reasons. But I don’t hold any grudges against them. I wish wherever they are, they are happy.
These experiences were very important for me; they made me who I am today. I don't hold anything against anyone. These are just two instances. In my life, I have met so many amazing women and am friends with them too.
What’s next? I am kinda hopeful that I will find love. But Thik hai, nahi mila to mami Jo karegi Accha hi karegi. But whoever I have in my life, I will look for two qualities in them, no matter how they look or other things: loyalty and the ability to stand for what they believe in. If they leave, they should leave being brave and open about it. I don’t care about other things like distance, looks, status, or whatever else.
TL;DR: I've had a few serious relationships, but two major ones stood out. The first was with my childhood love who suddenly got married to someone else without any closure for me. The second was with someone who moved to North America for me, but she cheated on me with a mutual friend. After discovering this, I ended the relationship and had to move houses and delete social media to get away from her. These experiences were tough but important, shaping who I am today.

The scariest thing about Nothing.. about being Nothing is that nobody remembers. When nothing takes you, it's like you never existed.. till it spits you back out.
Watching the clock at work becomes such a daunting habit. You get so used to the monotony of watching the clock tick away, and somehow the seconds seem to be at an endless supply. Before you know it, the hours are gone, and when you get home it somehow feels as if it all had never happened. Hours of your life so meticulously spent doing just enough now behind you.
Time is so precious because of it's one way trip. You got forward, typical. You got backwards, something for the dreamers.. But Time was different for me today. I think that thing took me.. somewhere else. Like if.. if Time were some straight path, then it pulled me off course.
At 4:37 in the morning I took liberty in shutting off my computer. All things considered, I was running considerably late today. Work was backed up, curtesy of trucking errors. To make a long story short, 4 pallets of produce simply.. vanished. All you'd really need to gather from such meaningless information is that I was suddenly put on the for front of discovering how $5,000 worth of food had somehow grown legs and walked away.
The best answer I had..? None! I had not a clue, and after what felt like hundreds of calls, I was greeted to the warm embrace of humid Georgia air. There were no leads. I was no detective, so the ultimate conclusion of this predicament could be summed up as, "It's not my problem."
All I needed in this moment was to make my way to the bus stop. So, that's exactly what I did. Maybe twelve or so minutes had passed. I was excited to see the bus make it's way around those trees. It was by no means the longest wait, but what can I say? I was a hangry fellow.
I convinced myself that it wasn't my problem, that I wouldn't allow it to be my problem. The unfortunate thing about life is that problems have a tendency to fall into the laps of those who just did as they were told. Now, I'm not one to make some social commentary on the state of the world's general fairness, but the point to be made is my adopted philosophy that unless a problem can't just be brushed off my legs, then I'll leave it to someone else.
So maybe I'm an asshole, maybe I lack integrity, but it's honestly no deeper than "that's how the cookie crumbles." We are all cogs in the world, might as well let one of the other gears have a chance to spin! Make their money's worth.

"Helluva' night, huh?"

I jumped to such a sudden question presented to me. It was a problem, in my lap.
"That obvious?"
I responded sarcastically, looking over my shoulder to be greeted by a young face. Some kid, looked no older than twenty with orange hair and foggy eyes.. eyes that admittedly sent a shiver down my spine. The kind of eyes that.. well, you know how they say a dead person's eyes look cold? It was like that, only I wouldn't describe them as cold. Just.. empty.
"Well between the heavy sigh and tapping foot, just seems like you got somewhere to be."
Whoever this was didn't seem to be looking at me. It was quite uncomfortable that he'd just admit to having analyzed my situation, but perhaps I was looking to far into things. He just had his eyes locked forward, so why he made any effort to speak to me was still unclear. It wasn't unusual for a stranger to try to make light talk during the ride, but something about this kid irked me.
Part of me felt some level of guilt when I stopped the conversation there. I'm not sure if I'm lucky or not to say I think the kid took the hint of my uncomfortably, and for the remaining 20 minutes of the trip he was seemingly preoccupied with staring out the window. It wasn't until I stood upon reaching my stop that he ever seemed to bother looking up.. but not at me.
Again this kid had just stared straight ahead, and even now I couldn't get a great look at his face. His hair seemed to obscure it, and whatever the hair hadn't covered seemed to be so enveloped in shadow to a point that identifying him beyond his hair was seemingly impossible. He was dressed so casually, so casually that detailing his worn black hoodie and faded grey jeans would do no good.
I shook my head.. shook this problem off my shoulders feeling the weight of an unsettling interaction lift from my mind the moment I stepped out of that bus onto the final stretch of pavement between myself and my neighborhood. 5:02 AM
Where is the.. humidity?
I felt a bubbling anxiety, just crossing my arms and lowering my head.. I wanted to hide. My heart was suddenly screaming, and the irrationality of it all hit me like a truck.
"What is wrong.. the hell is wrong?"
I'd confused myself with my emotions, my eyes darting from left to right. Nobody was around me, nobody was behind me, I was alone! So I took a deep breath..
"Helluva' night, huh?"
My eyes shot open, suddenly my heart bounding and my breaths heavy. I know I head him I know I did! But he wasn't here. He was still on the bus, he never got u-..
I turned my head to look in the bus window. The doors screeched, shutting firmly as the bus engine practically roared out into the night. The wheels hummed, the burst of air sounding out as the bus continued motion.
My eyes looked into that window. The window I sat at, where he was next to me.. I was aisle side, he was window side.
He never got up.
He wasn't there.
That was the final straw. I began walking home, speed walking. To hell if anymore problems would fall into my lap. Not this morning, not today! I would get home, I'd climb into bed, and I'd sleep this off. I had to sleep.. I had to go.
"It's not my problem.."
I told myself.
"He moved seats.."
I rationalized the situation. Where did he go? I didn't see him.. He couldn't have just disappeared! Those damn pallets! I did anything I could, fought with my mind to mute my rapid heartbeat. Anything I could think of, any way to distract myself from the fact that the crickets were silent, that the stars weren't out that..
Is something watching me..?
When my house came into view, I wasted no time in fully sprinting to my door, finding my keys and barging that door open, slamming it behind me. I swiftly locked it back. To hell with a shower! I'd be damned if I were too...
"Helluva' night, huh?"
My fully body turned faster than my mind could keep up with. That damned voice!
"GET OUT OF MY HOUS-.."

But I saw nothing.
Let me paint this picture for you. When I say I saw nothing, I mean there wasn't only nobody there, but there was nothing at all. There was no room behind me, no bed, no door, no world. Empty.. empty like his eyes! There was nothing! Nothing but that one.. light.
There was a white orb. It got closer, and closer. I saw a silhouette.. It was some lengthy figure with no arms? And.. its wore this cloak of nothing. Somehow I looked into a place? No.. There was something else behind it..? Not like I'd ever find out!
One second my room, my world, was enveloped with an infinitely spanning nothingness, and in the blink of an eye it was contained into this figure! It took all the nothing!
My room was back! My world! WHAT IS HAPPENING? I don't.. remember.. But then it vanished. The nothingness was gone.
Watching the clock at work becomes such a daunting habit. You get so used to the monotony of watching the clock tick away, and somehow the seconds seem to be at an endless supply. Before you know it, the hours are gone, and when you get home it somehow feels as if it all had never happened.
Hours of my life so meticulously spent doing nothing now behind me.
It's now 3:37 in the afternoon and I remember. I crashed my car, Thomas is dead. His truck is in that ditch back in Duluth.
I remember.
That's why I took the bus.. Thomas is dead. The truck was flipped. 4 pallets gone.
It visited me tonight. Nothing. I saw that boys face, I just can't remember. Nothing.. almost took me today, but I finally understand why they never looked for me. They all forgot me too. I killed Thomas. I didn't mean to but it didn't matter! Everyone knew! It was on the news, it was everywhere! But..
Nothing walked with me tonight.. and you all forgot. You forgot everything.
~I need you to remember me!~
At 3:37 in the afternoon, two months ago, my car collided with Thomas's truck. He'd fallen asleep at the wheel. I was lucky to make it out with my life. The following weeks my story was covered by local news outlets, and the world moved on. That's what happens with Time.. but it was more than that. I'd forgotten what really happened. That boy.. he was with me, in the car, that day. I think.. I think he is the Nothing. I think he IS the.. the Void. He took Thomas.
We.. we all forgot! 4 pallets? Where'd they go? I couldn't remember the funeral! I was gone for three weeks. When I turned around and saw that light, when I came back.. when he left, it had been three weeks. I didn't have a single call! Not from mom, not from work! I was FORGOTTEN!
But.. it's not my problem anymore.
You all really forgot. I got went to mom's and my pictures were gone. Dad's? Same thing. I was gone, for three weeks. Nothing took me. Nothing is.. mad at me? And I don't know why! I was nothing.. someone please! Suddenly I’m back and all the work I left behind is still here. I was gone! The world has proved it. But.. nobody remembers? All the logs! It’s all here. I WAS gone. You can see it in the company finances, yet nobody thought to look for me? Nobody noticed I’m back..? It’s like I never left?
Do any of you remember?!

First time redditor so apologies for formatting or if this is the wrong sub for this question. Situation - we are moving and dont know what to do with our house.
Some info - We bought our house a couple of years ago for 910k. It was an emotional purchase and in hindsight we should not have signed on to such a large mortgage, but here we are. We still owe 800k and the house is currently "worth" 800-850k according to local agents. We also recently had a rental appraisal done which came back ~$600 pw if we're lucky (small house, rural town).
If the house sells, we will walk away either owing the bank money or (if we are really lucky) with ~10k in our pockets. So basically a loss of up to $90k if we sell.
If we rent it out, we will have to contribute ~$500-600pw to cover all costs. It's also not a very rental-friendly property (no garage, not properly fenced, ALOT of grass to mow, lots to keep maintained etc). So renting it will mean around $30k sunk in the first year, not including any unplanned maintenance issues that pop up.
Our situation also gets a bit more complicated as we are selling our business aswell, so if/when that sells we will have around 130k. We could use this as a new house deposit, or pay down the mortgage and have slightly lower repayments if we rent it out.
We just don't know what to do. We are absolutely gutted that we will lose money no matter what decision we make. We never plan to move back here either so leaning towards cutting our losses now but we are worried that it might not be the best choice as we're moving to Auckland where obviously houses are much more expensive.
Sell now or rent for a few years and sell later?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm a first-time player. I have a town hall, market, and trading post, as well ass a chapel and a schoolhouse. I have stored 20k food, 100 medicine, 50 iron tools, 50 leather coats, 50 ale, and 1000+ firewood. I have 8 houses, 3 empty. I've had all the buildings for at least 2 years, and I've had 5 stars and 5 hearts for 5+ years. I haven't had a real shortage of anything in almost 10 years (occasionally I run low on stone or iron, which I immediately replace). my people are starting to die of old age, I'm 12 years in and I have not gained a single new settler, either by my people having children or new settlers joining my settlement. what am I doing wrong?

Okay so throwaway account, a little bit of backstory so u can understand better (also English is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes) I have 2 aunts which r my mother sisters, they both have a daughter: O has her daughter R and E has her daughter F When I was 4 my father left us and my mother had to work 3 jobs to support me (I will always be thankful for that), I was always a quiet kid and never complained about anything, my cousin F instead (f19) always complained about everything. I didn’t really have a good relationship with my cousin since my mother and my aunts always gave her more attention but I never said anything. Fast forward, I’m 8 and my father wanted the house my and my mother were staying in back, so we had to go away (we lived at my O aunt’s house for a month) and, as much as it hurt me to leave everything and everyone behind, I never said anything, but around this time I stared having emotional outbursts such as crying, screaming, going mute for days, not eating and many other things. No one really gave me any attention since they were focusing on my mom a lot and I felt so lonely and hurt (I also developed an herpes patch on my arm from stress). After a month of living with my aunt (O) we moved to our current house, my mom finds a stable job and I’m going to school, I loose all previous friendships I had at my old place and I start feeling numb, like not really having any emotions, my cousins F also goes to school but does so much worse than me and still everyone keeps telling her how good she’s doing (I had an all 9/10 report card and she had a 6/10 one, but I still never say anything). I start middle school trying to make new friends but, since I wanted to replace my old ones, I never had any friends there, and the third year I start going to a therapist (which I had to beg my mom for), I tell her everything that’s happened to me so far. Fast forward I’m 17 and have been doing good at school (F still does bad but has more recognition than me), my father calls from time to time and it makes me feel like I’m an option for him but that’s not really a big deal, around this time I also buy animal crossing to play with my mom since i know this is a game she would like. One day she sits me down and tells me that a few months ago F was raped and ofc I feel bad and offer my support and all and still keep my feeling aside for her. Once again all my family’s attention goes to F and I feel excluded and lonely so I start to not go to school cause I wanted to feel seen and my family tells me how much my absence from school hurts them and that I’m a bad daughter and that I’m a disappointment. So ofc I start feeling even worse, I can’t get out of bed sometimes and feel physically sick, so I’m not really going to school but when I go I get good grades and pass to the next school year. As for now, I’m not really going to school because I can’t get out of bed and my family tells me I only think about myself and that I’m a bad and awful person, I have emotional outbursts (I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I think I could have a mental illness but my family just tells me that I’m lazy). I pleaded my mom for attention a couple days ago (I wanted to play animal crossing together and we did for like 30 minutes before she didn’t give me any attention anymore because she was editing a pic of her and F together, which I told her i could do the next day but she said no) because she still gives F more attention than me, and today (I stayed home from school) she screamed at me that I only think about myself and that I’m a narcissist, keep in mind she always screams this nasty words to me when I stay home from school. What should I do? I feel like such a disappointment, I want a mom but she doesn’t understand that and keeps insulting me and not showing me love. Thank u in advance at anyone who will give me some advice!!

Okay so—I know the title makes me sound like an asshole but I, 15F have been struggling with my sister 17F. Recently my mother 40F has decided to get a divorce with my stepdad 40F, we moved out in September and ever since my sister has been causing issues. I’d say that ever since she was a child she’s had some “issues”, no one would like to be around her and she noticed that. Our mother left our dad because he couldn’t give us what we needed and they never had a healthy relationship. My sister 17F blames my mom for everything she try’s so hard to think everything’s somebody else’s fault. My father had issues and narcissistic tendencies. My stepdad was a jerk, he’d yell at his kids and my sister. My sister thinks that it’s my mom’s fault for leaving my stepdad and doesn’t want to have a relationship with my mother unless she gets back with him. My sister thinks my mom is a liar and has lied about our dad and everyone else in her life. My mom never disciplines my sister, they only have yelling fits that all our neighbors can hear. Don’t get me wrong I fight a lot with my mom too but she has very bad communication issues and we fight about her not punishing my sister a lot. One time I was in the car with my sister and we were fighting because she was mad she had to pick me up from school, and also she kept taking wrong turns, she was so angry she pulled over and told me to get out after I had stood up for myself (of course I didn’t get out) and I was scared I didn’t know what I would do, the area we were at was far from our house and my mom was working so she drove me to my moms work and told me to get out and continued to scream at me. This is making me mad just writing this. Then the only thing my mom did to discipline her was yell at her. My sister never cleans up after herself and whenever I ask her to clean or do anything really she takes it as a personal attack and screams at me and says that I’m not her dad (her dead beat dad was never around to tell her what to do anyways). I don’t know what to do, and I won’t kiss her ass. Feel free to leave some parenting advice as well I will show my mom.

okay first of all i’m gonna start off by telling you a little backstory of my family. when i was 1 my parents got divorced, i have lived with my mom for my entire life along with my stepdad and my sisters, i visited my dad every other weekend for most of the 18 years i’ve been alive. my dad never knew me, he always had more important things going for him in his mind than a relationship with me. he always used to tell me he wished he was in my life more but he never changed his ways. at my dads house there is my dad and my stepmom and also my younger brothers who still live with them because they are under age. over the years my dad or my stepmom would start a huge fight with me about random shit. two years ago it was because of thanksgiving when my stepmom tackled me trying to take my phone out of my hands because i was being “disrespectful.” when i was finally ready to go back and mend the relationships with them after a month or so, my dad and stepmom decided to block me on everything, all socials, and imessage. now recently my stepmom and my sister were partying in vegas for my sisters 21st birthday, my stepmom got absolutely plastered and admitted to my sister that our new baby brother, was not my dads baby. having heard this news my sister was distraught in the weeks after, and when i found out i was also quite in shock. my dad and stepmom both knew about this however they decided that if they agree to never tell anyone then nobody would find out and so they decided to lie to all of our family and everyone about this. we all thought he was my dads son which isn’t true. now i had voiced my hurt to my dad and stepmom to which i was blocked by my stepmom. when i told my dad about the hurt i have been going through i told him i don’t know how to rebuild a relationship with him again and he told me to never talk to him again and to have a good life essentially. there is a lot more to this story but this is just the short. basically after telling my dad the amount of hurt i had been going through he told me to not talk to him again and to have a good life, he then also decided to block me on everything. i feel like instead of facing his problems and mistakes he wants to run from them, instead of healing the hurt he has caused he would rather continue the lie and push me out of his life and all of my siblings lives. i love all of my little siblings dearly, i have had to be sort of like a parent to them for all of their lives because of how terrible of a dad my dad is and has always been. my siblings have all told me they want to get as far away from them as possible when they turn 18. but i don’t know who to talk to about this so i thought id type it out on here. i will do an update explaining more of the situation but this is essentially the long story short of it all. is there any advice you guys can give me? am i in the wrong here, i feel like my dad should be the one to mend the relationship because he is the one that lied to me and has made countless mistakes and when he apologizes for them he doesn’t improve himself at all. my dad has always been abusive and one time he put his hands around my throat and choked me when he was angry. idk i guess im just looking for advice because i need an outlet to talk to. i’ll do an update explaining more in the coming weeks.

So my cat that I got we was a stray well it was a inside and outside cat well he would go into peoples houses so he had to be a inside only cat well this morning we got out side and bolted and he came back around 6 or so pm and he’s hurt on his right front shoulder that’s all from what we can tell well it’s very tired and slow moving and we can’t really taking him to a vet unless we need to cause we not doing great money wise so we’re wondering is it normal from him to be slow and tired like this or is something badly wrong and will he be able to kill his wound and be ok we can’t tell what it is but it kinda looks like a mother cat may have gotta it’s claw in his shoulder and pulled it out almost like a tiny stab but it might not be that we’re not sure but we could’ve really use some advice please and thank you

i went on a vacation with my family for about a week and i wasn't forced to interact with people that much so i thought it wasn't that bad. i kinda felt terrible the whole time and i really really wanted to go home. i tried distracting myself by playing dumb video games or reading a book but i was still thoroughly exhausted.
first we went to my grandparents' house with my cat, then we went to my aunt's and dropped him off there and stayed there for a night. then we went to my grandmother's village, then my grandpa's village, then to some wedding of my dad's friend's. oh, and my other aunt and uncle and their two kids were there and they constantly kept asking me to play with them. after the wedding we went to some forest reserve and it was beautiful and i loved it. but i also desperately wanted to go back to my room and just be alone because there were so many people there and some of them kept asking me what was wrong and if i didn't like it there. i was almost on the verge of tears and i told my dad that i really wanted to go back. he was kinda understanding and we both sat in the car together. then we went swimming with my cousins and i hated it because for some reason i volunteered to teach them swimming and i thought i didn't mind it but i did, i really did. a day later we came back home after dropping off my brother in my aforementioned aunt's place (where i saw my cat and i realised how fucking much i missed him). but my parents and i only came back because we had to do something here and we still have to go back to my aunt's to bring my brother and cat back and then stay with my grandparents for a day
i just can't. i feel so fucking exhausted mentally and i just want to sit in my room. my parents want me to go with them and i begged them to let me be in the house alone for two days. i don't know what they're gonna say but i really can't go back tomorrow, i'm so fucking tired of everything. i just want to be home. i keep lashing out at my parents and being so annoyed whenever they speak to me, more than ever. i never let out my annoyance because it will hurt them but it's too much now and i can't stop it.
the only reason i want to go on the road trip is to get my cat back and comfort him because he doesn't like car rides. i miss him so much and it feels silly but i keep going back to the place he has his stuff, half expecting to find him there.
i just feel like i need to be let alone for a few days and i don't know if my parents will let me because they never have before and they don't understand why i'm asking to be let alone. they look exhausted too but i think they'll recover tomorrow. i almost feel feverish and i just want to be in my room doing whatever, alone from everyone.

I'm having self-doubt if this post is in good taste or not, or I'm the one being paranoid here.
So hear me out first.
Char Dham Yatra is supposed to be done to connect your inner self with the God and attain salvation. It means to wash away all the sins and start the life with new motivation.
But so far, I have only seen people coming here just for the sake of coming here.

1. If you really care about being devotional, then why can't you see the sufferings of mules being employed in the Yatra. As a pilgrim, you should see their pain and how horribly they're treated. What I mean to say is I despise those kinds of people who are unable to carry out the Yatra by foot and then employ the service of mules. It's a known fact that how horrible these mules are treated. Yesterday, I saw a real in which few mule owners threw a barely alive mule in the gorge just because he was weak and couldn't carry the pilgrims. I know their sufferings is not on the pilgrims but I can't understand how a person can even sit on a mule who has his ribs poking out of the skin. Though, full marks to those who carry out this treacherous journey on foot.
2. Cleanliness- I saw a video on Twitter in which the person was showing the line and the crowd. What got to me instead was the level of dirtiness in those streets. Every nook and corner is filled with garbage. You have come to the home of God and yet you dare to threw the garbage in the premises. The least you can do is carry that garbage back with you in plastic bags. It's a basic courtesy. Don't treat Dhams like your grandmother's house. Maintain some dignity.
3. Greediness - Every thing at these places are super inflated. Yes, I get that it takes a lot of effort to bring goods to that altitude and I'm all in for rise in prices by 25%, but the items being sold there are inflated upto 400% of their original MRP. Hotel rooms are available at 12k-15k per night. There is literally VIP Darshan if you have money. My father says that all this greediness by business owners lead to the 2013 disaster.
4. Of course the tourism - This has been highlighted very often and I wouldn't add anything to it except that the fact that these Dhams are pilgrimage sites, not some tourist hotspots like Kashmir or Manali.

These points indicate that there is actually a very less percentage of pilgrims who are there with true devotion. Thanks to improved accessibility, most of the "pilgrims" thinks this more as of taking a vacation. Hooliganism is at peak at these sites with people carrying band baaja with them, making reels, dancing, and some even bringing their pets as if they know what it means.
Apart from the people, I also think UK and Central govt is responsible for this.
I might be grossly wrong here, but this is what I think. I have no disrespect for the actual pilgrims, but I think there are more tourists than the pilgrims, and they are the ones who are distorting the sanctity of these sites.
​

Soooo this is lowkey embarrassing to talk about, and I don't wanna seem like an attention seeker because I'm not looking for attention--I just genuinely am curious to know if I'm overreacting.
When I was 5-7, I would have playdates with this girl who was also my neighbor. She was known as the "mean girl" (not like the stereotypical "popular" kid, but just plain mean) among kids in our town. When I would visit her house, she would say, "Let's play doctors!" and she would make me get on her bed. Okay, that's normal, right? But it didn't end there. She would make me take my pants and underwear off, and she would "examine" my....well, you know, down there, because she had to as my "doctor." I felt uncomfortable but I didn't say anything because I was scared of her. I also thought it was okay because she had said that it was necessary when playing doctors. Then a few minutes later, she took out a camera (I remember it was an actual camera, not a toy) and she started taking pictures of my private area. I still remember the embarrassment I felt after she finished taking the photos. I should probably mention that she also touched me there with her dry, dirty hands, because, again, she was my "doctor." It was super painful. After all that, I just felt really uncomfortable and like I had done something wrong. But as a 5-7 year old I didn't know what to think of it. Idk why I randomly thought of this incident from my childhood, but even now the feeling of being scared and embarrassed resurfaces when I think about it. I saw the girl after 10 years last summer, and I don't know if she remembers doing any of these things, so that's that lol. Sorry if the title is too harsh, not sure if this is even considered sexual assault since it was a girl my age, but I put a TW just in case.

Yesterday I found out my bf and father of my child cheated on me with a women he sees out of town. He lost all of his money and I was very understanding of his situation. We lived together, I paid all the bills, and things and then I got pregnant. He wanted me to have an abortion because he said we couldn’t afford a baby. I didn’t do it and I feel that’s when he started treating me pretty badly. And would disappear for weeks on end. I was in and out of the hospital and he wasn’t there for me flash forward im 5 months pregnant and we reconciled and went on a vacation out of town. I asked him about a women I was concerned he was messing with and he denied it saying she would give him things for his mom. I believed it because I didn’t want to fight with him again. On the drive back he was arguing with someone over text, he wouldn’t talk to me and didn’t wanna speak and turned his music on. When I asked him what was wrong he said he was having a disagreement with the other mother of his child. I put two and two together now and he was fighting with his other women. When I got back to my house and he got back to where he was staying I had seen him every day until this past Saturday and then he disappeared for 5 days. I realized he was doing it again. I went to the other women’s page and she was posting about my boyfriend she didn’t state his name but I inferred and she had a k in her bio. Which is the beginning letter of my boyfriend’s name. So I messaged her. She didn’t respond until six hours later and she confirmed she was seeing my boyfriend by saying “ yes I am seeing him , he’s my husband. “ I sent it to him and he responded with “your dumb. “ what do I do? And what do you think!

Last Event recap:
Derrick Lewis def. Rodrigo Nascimento
Joaquin Buckley def. Nursulton Ruziboev
Carlos Ulberg def. Alonzo Menifield
Carlos Diego Ferreira def. Mateusz Rębecki
Sean Woodson def. Alex Caceres
Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Robelis Despaigne
Chase Hooper def. Viacheslav Borshchev
Esteban Ribovics def. Terrance McKinney
Tabatha Ricci def. Tecia Pennington
Trey Waters def. Billy Goff
Charles Johnson def. Jake Hadley
Veronica Hardy def. JJ Aldrich

Betting record 2024: 109-70
Prediction record 2024: 125-73
After looking at the matchups, this weekend’s card has to be easily the worst card of the year and honestly, I am not even motivated to watch this card and even I do not even recommend on betting on this card since these matchups are difficult to predict but I will try my best nonetheless because analyzing and making UFC fight predictions is what I love to do.
On another note, I am planning to create youtube videos on MMA soon. The channel will be KnockoutWatcher. So stay tuned for updates on those. Also you can find me at Tapology at “KnockoutWatcher”.

Featherweight: Edson Barboza vs. Lerone Murphy
Edson Barboza is renowned for his exceptional striking, particularly his devastating leg kicks and spinning techniques. He has a wealth of experience in the UFC and has faced top-level competition throughout his career. However, Edson Barboza is 38 at this point and he is way past his prime. He barely survived against Sodiq Yussuff in his last fight
Lerone Murphy, on the other hand, is an undefeated prospect with a balanced skill set. He combines solid striking with effective grappling, making him a versatile threat. Murphy has shown good composure under pressure and the ability to adapt his game plan as needed. His primary weakness is a lack of experience against the elite level of competition that Barboza has faced.
I have to be honest, I was going back and forth on who to pick on this fight and ultimately, I am going with Barboza here as he has more experience in this format and this could go like his previous fight where Murphy is getting the better of him in the earlier rounds before Barboza settle into his rhythm and mount a comeback.
Prediction: Edson Barboza to win.

Welterweight: Khaos Williams vs. Carlston Harris
Khaos Williams is known for his explosive knockout power and aggressive striking. His ability to finish fights quickly with devastating punches makes him a formidable opponent in the welterweight division. However, Williams can be overly reliant on his power and sometimes neglects his defensive game, leaving him vulnerable to counterattacks and grappling exchanges.
Carlston Harris, in contrast, brings a well-rounded skill set to the octagon. He excels in grappling, with solid submission skills and the ability to control opponents on the ground. Harris also possesses decent striking, which complements his grappling-heavy approach.
So this is a classic striker vs grappler matchup and while it may be tempting to pick the younger guy, Harris has performed reasonably well in his last few fights against strikers that that can hit hard like Jeremiah Wells and Gooden. I think Harris has a path to victory if he can bring Williams to the ground and smother him.
Prediction: Carlston Harris to win.

Light Heavyweight: Oumar Sy vs. Antonio Trócoli
Oumar Sy is an emerging talent in the light heavyweight division, known for his athleticism and well-rounded skill set. He combines striking and grappling effectively, showing proficiency in controlling the pace of the fight and capitalizing on his opponents' weaknesses. Tuco Tokkos is making his UFC debut on a short notice here after Antonio Trócoli pulled out. So there is a lot of unknown variable with him. I am going to have to go with my original pick Oumar Sy here
Prediction: Oumar Sy to win.

Bantamweight: Adrian Yanez vs. Vinicius Salvador
I think this fight is a big mismatch. On one hand you have Adrian Yanez , known for his exceptional boxing skills, speed, and precision. Yanez is in interesting prospect in the Bantamweight division as even though he is on a 2 fight losing streak, he had won his first 5 fights in the UFC including multiple KO finishes. His ability to deliver powerful, accurate strikes makes him a formidable opponent in stand-up exchanges.
On the other side of the corner, you have Vinicius Salvador who is a chaotic, aggressive and flashy striker but he has 2 losses since making his debut in the UFC which raises the question if he is even UFC material. I think this is a one sided matchup as Yanez has shown from his previous fights that he is a quality fighter while the other struggles to get even one win at this level. This is a perfect bounce back fight for Yanez to get back into the win column and I think he will outclass Salvador with his boxing skills.
Prediction: Adrian Yanez to win.

Women's Strawweight: Luana Pinheiro vs. Angela Hill
Luana Pinheiro is a rising talent in the strawweight division, known for her judo background and powerful takedowns. She excels in controlling her opponents on the ground and has shown effective ground-and-pound.
Angela Hill, a veteran of the division, is known for her high-volume striking, excellent footwork, and durability. Hill's strengths lie in her kickboxing and ability to maintain a high pace throughout the fight. She has faced some of the best fighters in the division, which gives her a significant experience advantage. I think Hill is kind of underrated despite here record and she should deal more significant strikes in this fight than Pinheiro.
Prediction: Angela Hill to win.

Welterweight: Themba Gorimbo vs. Ramiz Brahimaj
Themba Gorimbo is a well-rounded fighter with a solid striking base and decent grappling skills. He is known for his athleticism, endurance, and ability to adapt during fights. Not sure what the Rock saw in him but he will forever be known as the guy the Rock gave a house to. Ramiz Brahimaj, on the other hand, is a submission specialist with a strong background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His strength lies in his ability to finish fights on the ground, with most of his victories coming by way of submission. Gorimbo should be athletic enough here to beat Ramiz. Again, these fighters aren’t elite but Brahimaj probably can’t keep up with his more athletic opponent.
Prediction: Themba Gorimbo to win.

Middleweight: Abus Magomedov vs. Warlley Alves
Abus Magomedov is a well-rounded fighter with a strong striking base and competent grappling skills. He is known for his powerful and precise striking, which he uses effectively to control the distance and pace of his fights. Warlley Alves may not be in his level in terms of his quality as a fighter. His record suggest that he is nothing more than a mediocre fighter so I expect Magomedov to get the job done here and put him away
Prediction: Abus Magomedov to win.

Lightweight: Victor Martinez vs. Tom Nolan
I really hate this kind of fights. Both fighters may not even be UFC quality. Tom Nolan was knocked out by Nikolas Motta who is a jobber and Martinez had no win in his UFC career either. The odds here is ridiculous but I am just going to pick Nolan because of his physical attributes and potential.
Prediction: Tom Nolan to win.

Women's Strawweight: Piera Rodriguez vs. Ariane Carnelossi
Piera Rodriguez offers a balanced MMA game with strong striking and grappling fundamentals. Ariane Carnelossi is tough and aggressive, thriving in brawls. Rodriguez's technical striking and movement might outmaneuver Carnelossi.
Prediction: Piera Rodriguez to win.

Flyweight Alateng Heili vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
Not sure how Kleydson Rodrigues is the favourite in this fight since he as not been impressive since coming to the UFC so far with his only win coming against Shannon Ross. I am definitely comfortable with picking Alateng Heili as the underdog here as he has more experience in the UFC with 4 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw. He is decent in grappling and striking as well even though he isn’t really excellent in either. I think the bookmakers have it wrong here as Alateng should have been the favourite and I do not think that he should have much trouble handling Rodrigues as the latter may not even be UFC quality.
Prediction: Alateng Heili to win.

Women's Strawweight: Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Emily Ducote
Another low level WMMA fight. Ok Emily Ducote isn’t anything special and should not be a heavy favourite here. She is probably better than her opponent Vanessa Demopoulos but the gap is not that big. I am expecting her to outstrike her opponent but I think Demopoulos has a decent chance as an underdog. What I like about her is that she stays active even when on bottom position by throwing elbows from the bottom to hurt her opponent which was how she got her last win. I am expecting another boring low level fight here and I am just going to pick the underdog because I think the fight will be a lot closer than the odds suggest.
Prediction: Vanessa Demopoulos to win.