Story #65 Is Something To Be Said About Bones.

Story #72, which is a 'Truly like lightning' review.

“The X-files” were my Bible throughout the 90s to 2000s. I fell in love with the character of Fox Mulder long before I fell in love for the first time for real. I didn’t think Duchovny could get any better than that until he started writing and I started reading what he had written. 

“Truly Like Lightning” is not David Duchovny’s first book, but it’s his best so far - it will strike you to the very core and leave you aching, with questions whirling like a snowstorm in the head. 

Set in the desert of Joshua Tree, the story centers around the former Hollywood stuntman Bronson Powers, now a converted Mormon living unplugged in a polygamous marriage. They raise their ten kids away from the evils of society until one day a young ambitious employee of a corrupt real estate company targets their land. Cultures clash. Faith is tested. Choices are made.

The book will hook you and won’t let you put it down… if you manage to push through the first fifty pages. Seriously, it took me two weeks to read that part, where Duchovny mostly explained the background of his characters, and only two days to finish the 445-page manuscript, when the story finally turned into an action movie-like narrative.  

All things considered, it’s worth every minute of reading. What made a successful man abandon all the perks of Hollywood and choose to live the life of an isolated nomad? What happens to Powers’ family once they are forced off their land and into the temptations of the world they left behind? What’s with the children who have never had a say in any of that? 

Read the book. And be prepared to be struck. 

We only heal together

Author: @642stories

For: @msrisallaround​

While investigating a seemingly simple and harmless case, Mulder and Scully find themselves in a situation when their reality is anything but real. 

Link Here

#XFDarkfic2022 11/17

Story #49 is the X-Files fanfiction story

Read it on AO3

Story #56 is a one-shot #3 written at the X-Files writer's workshop in 15 minutes.

A “yes” was forced out of her mouth, but she couldn’t find it in her to say no. She had some good days back at school. There were old halcyon days. Some people she had hit it off right off the bat, and some people she missed. 

Didn’t she use to have a tight-knit network of friends back at school?  Where are they now? Who are they now? There were people from all walks of life. 

“What have you got here?”

“Nothing,” she said as quickly as she could, but he was already reading over her shoulder.

“Oh. Will you go?”

“Only if you join.” It wasn’t an invitation though, more like an easy way out. Of all the people she knew, Mulder would be the first one to bail out of another dull exhausting reunion.

“Gladly.”

One reddish brown arched in confusion mixed with amusement.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.” 

A challenge in his look. Say yes, I dare you. I double-dog dare you. 

“Is it a date?”

“Could be.”

Mulder made a complete 180, picked up his jacket, and headed off, leaving her all alone and confused. It was his turn to keep her guessing.

That's the story behind the fiction article about the local hero.

Story #70 is a message to the mothers of boys.

To the mothers of boys

I am a mother of a wonderful boy of six years. I often hear people, husband included, referring to our son as a mummy’s boy, a term I find derogatory. “You are too gentle to him,” “You are raising a wuss,” “Don’t kiss him. Don’t hug him. Don’t hold hands. Take your pick.

Friends, relatives, and even strangers dare to point their fingers at the fact that my son and I nurture a close bond as if it is something filthy. For reasons which elude me, mother-son closeness is severely stigmatized in our society. 

You encourage your son to try a new hobby and people say you’re meddling with him. You let him cry on your shoulder when he scraped his knee and they say you’re coddling him. You buy him a long-wanted toy and they say you are smothering him. A mother that keeps her son “too close” feminizes him and discourages the development of his manhood. In the world of masculinity, a big macho man is a poster child for success, yet a man who is able to express his feelings freely and be susceptible to the emotions of others is a loser.

This is simply not true. No one is ever going to become oversensitive and maladjusted from being loved and treated with care. Contrary to popular belief, boys who don’t suppress their emotions won’t become clingy wimps hiding under their mother’s skirt – they will turn out to be better equipped to navigate their lives and be empathetic spouses. 

Love won’t hurt. It will heal. So I'm just going to hug my son some more and tell him how much I love him.

Are you a mother of a boy? Maybe you should do the same then.

Story #58 is a super boring CPE report

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to assess the facilities of the “Garden Park” and outline a number of recommendations for improvement that would attract more visitors if implemented. The conducted investigation revealed the following. 

Stalls with food

The park has an extensive network of multicultural stalls of food throughout its area. Mainly, customers have been satisfied with the variety of dishes and beverages as well as the price range. Nevertheless, long queues during peak times might be taken into account as a possible concern, especially in respect to the atrium space.

Suggested action

The installation of several more stalls will be beneficial as it would reduce the waiting time in the busiest quarters of the park.

Bike rental services

Bike rental services are the park's primary entertainment currently available for visitors. Despite the abundance in the number of bicycles, their usage has decreased recently. It appears that the problem occurred due to the absence of electronic payment terminals.

Suggested action

I therefore strongly recommend looking into the possibility of implementing an acquiring payment system as an alternative to payments in cash. 

Playgrounds

There have been several complaints concerning the safety of “Garden Park’s” playgrounds, in particular, their suitability for infants and younger children. Some facilities available for minors are regarded by parents as health-threatening, which leads to their neglect of using them.

Suggested action

In the light of the information gathered, I would propose that we hang sign plates to indicate the age suitability of stated areas.

Conclusion

On the basis of the points mentioned above, it would seem appropriate to regard the implementation of the suggested improvements as they could increase the attendance of the park and enhance its premises for future visitors’ ventures.

(word count 288)

Story #68, which is a negative travel experience.

Here I am in my late 30s. Now scroll down my Instagram and see what I was like nine years ago - practically the same woman but with her first child (and don’t forget to wow me with “you haven’t changed a day!”) So when the baby girl turned 18 months old, our little family of three adventured off to Bulgaria - our first holiday in the status of parents.

It is not unheard of for a newly-minted mother to be cautious and plan everything ahead when a child is involved. That’s what I did. A hotel with a kid’s pool and a playground - ticked. A restaurant with a menu for picky toddlers - ticked. A suitcase filled to the brim with diapers, fruit smoothie pouches, formula, and every medicine imaginable - ticked. I was prepared for everything.

What I couldn’t have been prepared for was that three days into the holiday, Ann, my unlucky daughter, would start burning - not under the hot Bulgarian sun, but with a fever. A nasty virus, caught somewhere at the airport, and oral thrush, caught when she wined and dined herself with the beach sand are both quite innocent, but a deadly bouquet when worsened by a child violently teething. 

We made it through the holiday watching cartoons (frigging Blue Tractor), eating the suitcase of smoothie pouches, and pushing a stroller along the most deserted streets of the town. 

The hardest part was to watch her looking at the pool through the balcony bars, knowing that she couldn’t join the other kids there. The lesson learned hard - I hadn’t taken my second child on an abroad trip until all his teeth claimed their rightful places in his mouth. 

Story #54 is a one-shot written at the X-Files writer's workshop in 15 minutes.

The moon was shining so bright that she regretted she hadn’t taken her shades upon leaving the house.  What the hell she was even doing here - in the woods, literally in the middle of nowhere, at night. 

Was it supposed to be another nice trip to the forest? They were trying to hunt down a werewolf or some other folklore-based creature - she wasn’t even sure anymore. All she wanted was the sky to open up and rain with sleeping bags. Maybe even pillows. And some snacks. Please, add some snacks to the list. They needed some staples. She could already hear her stomach rumbling. Hunger was going to be a problem. It already started eclipsing any other thought in her head. Sanity for sure.

Stealing a quick glance at her partner, his shadow figure wading through the thick woodland just a few feet away, she felt a twinge of envy at the over-exuberant mood he was in.  

Story #75, which is a CPE essay about Children's games.

Game is a fundamental concept in the realm of childhood, designed to teach rules, demonstrate examples, and guide minors through their transition to adulthood. Games reflect the behavioral patterns of their age, thus the play adopted contributes to the impact parents have on their children.

The first text outlines the idea that children's games, be they in the past or present, while chosen freely, sometimes are severely criticized by parents. Unfortunate though it is, family members tend to breed further development of the problem buying juniors the newest exorbitant toys. That state of affairs might be the driving force of why children are not aware of ways to amuse themselves without gadgets or money in their pockets. However, the author fails to take into account that people had limited availability of playthings in the past, and therefore, it was natural for children to make their own amusements.

In the second passage, the author rightly highlights that not only children's play preferences are different in this day and age, but also the nature of games is the subject of constant progress. Social transformations, albeit sometimes disproportional, affect all areas of our lives, so the games children play are no more than a continuation of these alterations. One should consider them as a sign of evolution. This point notwithstanding, parents are in charge of guiding the juniors through a wide range of entertainment means, to enhance their experiences rather than assisting them in further sinking into boredom and, therefore, seeking joy and solace in new toys.

In conclusion, although one cannot deny the fact that children's games are constantly changing, the harmful nature of these changes is rather questionable.

Word count: 277