So, some stuff happened today... · 10:15pm Oct 1st, 2016
... and it's not good.
I woke up this morning to a call from my mother. She told me that my grandmother's house, the place I grew up in and the place that housed nearly all of my late grandfather's possessions, was on fire. Had been for several hours before the news reached her. Since she had my car, and was already on her way down to the property almost an hour's drive away, I couldn't go down there to see it. So I had to let the knowledge of my childhood home being gone stew in my brain all day.
But that's not everything.
Cut to a few hours after the call, she sends me a text message asking for the list of the guns that were still in the house (my grandfather had about a dozen when he died, but only four were still in the house. I took most of them, and my brother-in-law has a couple as well. I had planned to move the last few out of the house, but never had the time with my work schedule). Turns out, it wasn't an electrical fire or a freak lightning bolt from the storm we've been having for the past couple of days. It was arson. Somebody broke into the house, took everything valuable, and set the place aflame.
But that's not everything.
The police already know one of the people who did it, because one of them had car trouble, and they decided to leave the car there. It even had a few items from the house inside it. So while my family was sifting through the rubble of the one room still standing (my grandparents' room, charred to hell but still there), the police got a search warrant for the woman's house. I'm not yet sure what came of it, but I heard my mother talking on the phone after she came home, and apparently one of my uncles went over there with the police and found something that used to be in the house. Just a little ceramic turtle thing I can barely remember, something my grandmother hid a spare key under outside. The woman told my uncle that it was her's, even though he knew for a fact it wasn't.
They stole pretty much everything, and what they didn't steal got lost in the fire. Pictures, documents, you name it. The only things we could salvage was the stuff from the woman's car - a Cowboys jacket that belonged to my aunt and one of my grandfather's German beer steins, among a few other things I haven't seen yet - and a box of papers and photos that somehow survived the blaze, albeit badly damaged.
And here's a weird twist: some of the stuff they stole had no value at all. Seriously. My mom said they took a framed picture of an ultrasound of a cousin's baby. Something that was hidden away in a closet, out of plain view. The thieves saw that picture and said "I want that. That's a thing I would like to own."
Fucking why?
*sigh* So now we have to play the waiting game as the police do their job. Hopefully we'll get the stolen stuff back soon, or at all. With the damning evidence the police have so far, it might not be too long. Especially if they keep finding things. Guess it depends on what the thieves did with it all.
What was the point of this blog, then? Fuck knows. Guess I just needed to rant a bit. Sorry for making it public on this site, of all places, but I feel more at home here than anywhere else on the web. Surprising, considering all of the flak I've been taking from my... unique story. Speaking of, and to give this blog post some semblance of relevance to the site, the next chapter of The Defector is almost done. I've been picking away at it ever since Chapter 8 went up, and I almost have it to a point where I think it's publishable.
I've also been working on an 8.5 chapter, which is pretty much Rainbow Dash's perspective from the elevator scene in Ch. 7 to the end of the first skirmish in Ch. 8. I'm not sure if I will publish it though. Trying to get into Rainbow Dash's head is a lot harder than I thought it would be, and I've found I've been making her very tsundere to try to establish her conflicted feelings towards Sgt. Blackburn. The way I have it written now, I think it's way too on-the-nose and developing way too fast, so I might just scrap the entire thing and forget about it.
Oh, look at that, I'm rambling now. I'd better wrap this up before I start spoiling things. Before I go, and to brighten this dreadful mood a bit, I'd like to ask if you guys would like to see me try my hand at a Fallout: Equestria story? I just started reading the original (thank God kkat posted it on here) and I have to say I'm a bit inspired to try making one myself. It won't take over The Defector, but it will be something I work on every now and again. Something a bit more "mainstream" that won't piss as many people off as my current story.
Or maybe it will, who knows? This is the internet.
Thanks to everybody who stuck around, waiting for me to publish the next story. You guys are the main reason I didn't cancel it in the beginning, and the reason I keep going.
This all sinks!
As you might have guessed - I volunteer for the American Red Cross Disaster Services. I have helped many people who have suffered thru fires. So you can email me; ask me anything, tell me anything.
Many wish you would continue with The Defector.
I am starting to believe that there are people that give "thumbs down" just to be mean. They do NOT want to meet up with me!
So anyway... please continue with The Defector. I think you are being too hard on yourself. You can email me if you are having problems with any of the chapters. I will offer constructive comments and suggestions.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I'll place many a bet that, by ranting in this blog on the cold, stonehearted Internet, that you're trying to cope with it. I'd give you a hug, but no one wants free hugs apparently. Anyway, you have my sentiment, even if we are just two strangers on the web.
4235897 Thank you for the offer, and the encouragement. This situation does suck pretty hard, but I'm trying to be positive about it. It could have been a lot worse. For instance, my grandmother could have still been living there. Guess her Huntington's disease has done some good in that regard.
I assure you, I am not going to stop writing The Defector. I'm in it for the long haul. I'm not going to let the negativity get to me anymore. I've come to terms with the fact that it is a very niche story that not everyone is going to like, and there is little I can do to change that. All I can do is keep going for the people who actually like it, and hope I pick up a few more down the road. It's going to be a long road, but I think the ending I have planned will make it worth it.
Thanks again for sticking around. There will be plenty more in the future.
4235904 Your sentiment is very much appreciated. Thank you.
How are you doing?
How are things going?
4240636 Better, as of today. We've started finding more stuff, and the police have started doing their jobs. They know two of the people who did it, they just have to find and arrest them. Just a matter of time at this point.