Prompted Writing

uawildcatgirl asked "How do you feel about the supernatural? Has anything supernatural ever happened to you?"

I think the best way to describe my feelings about the supernatural would be "open-mindedly skeptical." I've never directly experienced anything that could be called even a little bit supernatural, but I've seen friends do or experience things that it's hard to explain any other way.

This is the best story I have on the subject:
When I was about 19, a guy going to MSU disappeared from a party. The sister of the guy I was dating at the time freaked out about it. She claimed she was getting images of a cold, wet, dark place, and a horrible headache. She interpreted these images as a sign that somebody had hit him over the head, shoved him in the trunk of a car, and then dumped him on the side of a road outside of town. Somehow she managed to convince her boyfriend, Kevin, and I to help her go look for him. We spent a few hours wandering around back roads with flashlights, looking in ditches and tall grass. Of course all we found was litter and a few frogs. We convinced her that we'd done all we could and to give up.

But a couple days later his body was found in the Red Cedar. He had apparently leaned over too far and fallen in. He was tangled up in some roots and debris, and had drowned after hitting his head on something.

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I'm trying to post more often, and am looking for writing prompts. You can help by asking me a question or giving me a topic. Anything you want as long as it's safe for work. No promises I'll actually be inspired by your idea, but I'll do my best.

Prompted Writing

uawildcatgirl asked "How do you feel about the supernatural? Has anything supernatural ever happened to you?"

I think the best way to describe my feelings about the supernatural would be "open-mindedly skeptical." I've never directly experienced anything that could be called even a little bit supernatural, but I've seen friends do or experience things that it's hard to explain any other way.

This is the best story I have on the subject:
When I was about 19, a guy going to MSU disappeared from a party. The sister of the guy I was dating at the time freaked out about it. She claimed she was getting images of a cold, wet, dark place, and a horrible headache. She interpreted these images as a sign that somebody had hit him over the head, shoved him in the trunk of a car, and then dumped him on the side of a road outside of town. Somehow she managed to convince her boyfriend, Kevin, and I to help her go look for him. We spent a few hours wandering around back roads with flashlights, looking in ditches and tall grass. Of course all we found was litter and a few frogs. We convinced her that we'd done all we could and to give up.

But a couple days later his body was found in the Red Cedar. He had apparently leaned over too far and fallen in. He was tangled up in some roots and debris, and had drowned after hitting his head on something.

******************
I'm trying to post more often, and am looking for writing prompts. You can help by asking me a question or giving me a topic. Anything you want as long as it's safe for work. No promises I'll actually be inspired by your idea, but I'll do my best.

Sign a Petition: Boy Scouts of America: Reinstate Cub Scout leader who was removed for being gay

Boy Scouts of America: Reinstate Cub Scout leader who was removed for being gay.

The Boy Scouts are generally a good organization. The lessons and skills my husband, my brothers, and many of my friends learned through scouting helped to make them the wonderful men they are today. I would love for my potential future sons to have the same opportunities.

But if I were considering signing a little boy up for an extracurricular activity today the Boy Scouts wouldn't be on the list. It would take some work to find a place (or more likely, multiple places) that would teach the same range of outdoors skills, day-to-day life skills, and good citizenship, but right now it would be worth the effort. The problem with the Scouts is that just as I wouldn't want my children fed a spoonful of poison along with a plateful of healthy food, I don't want them taught intolerance along with all the valuable lessons.

I wouldn't sign a child up for a program that barred people from participating because of their ethnicity, and I don't feel that discriminating against people because of their sexual orientation is any better.

(For now, I'm not worrying about the fact that it's a single gender organization. I'd prefer that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts would merge into a single organization as has happened in some European countries, but I accept that there are also good arguments to be made for staying single gender. I'm also not worrying too much about the requirement that Boy Scouts be monotheistic. Again, I'd prefer more openness, but it seems like a battle for another day.)

Sign a Petition: Boy Scouts of America: Reinstate Cub Scout leader who was removed for being gay

Boy Scouts of America: Reinstate Cub Scout leader who was removed for being gay.

The Boy Scouts are generally a good organization. The lessons and skills my husband, my brothers, and many of my friends learned through scouting helped to make them the wonderful men they are today. I would love for my potential future sons to have the same opportunities.

But if I were considering signing a little boy up for an extracurricular activity today the Boy Scouts wouldn't be on the list. It would take some work to find a place (or more likely, multiple places) that would teach the same range of outdoors skills, day-to-day life skills, and good citizenship, but right now it would be worth the effort. The problem with the Scouts is that just as I wouldn't want my children fed a spoonful of poison along with a plateful of healthy food, I don't want them taught intolerance along with all the valuable lessons.

I wouldn't sign a child up for a program that barred people from participating because of their ethnicity, and I don't feel that discriminating against people because of their sexual orientation is any better.

(For now, I'm not worrying about the fact that it's a single gender organization. I'd prefer that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts would merge into a single organization as has happened in some European countries, but I accept that there are also good arguments to be made for staying single gender. I'm also not worrying too much about the requirement that Boy Scouts be monotheistic. Again, I'd prefer more openness, but it seems like a battle for another day.)