KAJordan2

I am so pleased to return to Wattpad with a quirky new story: Last Stop For Gas. It was one of my mother's short stories, a mere 3k words total. I've expanded it into this novella that I'm going to bring to about 50k words.
          	
          	"Last Stop For Gas" is about Breanna, a young woman who started out on a dream trip down Route 66 with her boyfriend, only to be abandoned at gas station, a hundred miles from the nearest bus stop.
          	
          	Once the shock wears off, Breanna adapts to her new circumstances as quickly as she can.  She gets a job at the diner delivering lunch to Mrs Hamilton, a disabled senior citizen whose house has been take over by a mob of cats.
          	
          	Then a horse is abandoned in a metal trailer in the baking sun, and Breanna must face her fears to save the beautiful creature. Can she learn to handle a animal that weighs a thousand pounds more than she does? 
          	
          	Breanna's compassion and determination win her a place in this tiny community, and soon she forges a new life in the middle of this desert town.

KAJordan2

I am so pleased to return to Wattpad with a quirky new story: Last Stop For Gas. It was one of my mother's short stories, a mere 3k words total. I've expanded it into this novella that I'm going to bring to about 50k words.
          
          "Last Stop For Gas" is about Breanna, a young woman who started out on a dream trip down Route 66 with her boyfriend, only to be abandoned at gas station, a hundred miles from the nearest bus stop.
          
          Once the shock wears off, Breanna adapts to her new circumstances as quickly as she can.  She gets a job at the diner delivering lunch to Mrs Hamilton, a disabled senior citizen whose house has been take over by a mob of cats.
          
          Then a horse is abandoned in a metal trailer in the baking sun, and Breanna must face her fears to save the beautiful creature. Can she learn to handle a animal that weighs a thousand pounds more than she does? 
          
          Breanna's compassion and determination win her a place in this tiny community, and soon she forges a new life in the middle of this desert town.

Nablai

Hey Kat ❤ How are you? Hope this post finds you well. Long time no see and we are worried... Everything okay, my friend? You have been missing from Wattpad and LOL35 for a while. Miss you very much, Kat! ❤❤

KAJordan2

@Nablai Hey! Great to hear from you. Sorry I haven't been around, got a little frustrated with Wattpad and writing in general. So I decided to start Gaming again, and have ended up the Dungeon Master in a D&D game. It has been GREAT fun! I'm amazed at how much I have to make up on the spot, and it's been giving my stale brain an amazing workout. My husband plays, we've got a table of 6 or 7 most weeks, all strangers and yet it's a grand time. All good wholesome fun, with goblins and dragons and such. The Gaming store was empty on Sundays, now there are 3 games and people are driving an HOUR to come play.
            
            The farm is going well. Chickens are still alive, which is a record for an area as full of predators as this. We got through the miserable heat and humidity of summer, a lot better in Kentucky than the West Coast. We had plenty of rain, in fact. 
            
            I miss talking to you and Anne a great deal. I pop in from time to time, but I don't have any books in the works...at least not anything new. 
            
            How are y'all doing? How are things in India? I hope all is well with you and Anne's families? I don't see as much in the news as I did, I hope that means that things are better, or at least improving.
            
            I'm still watching videos of the Water Cup and marveling at how a short burst of effort can make such a difference in a landscape. (Meanwhile the people in our West are treating beavers as an invasive species. Nothing quite beats 'shoot the messenger' when it comes to the environment.)
            
            Take care and give my fondest regards to the Discord group.
            Kat
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KAJordan2

The moon is full, the stars are bright, the air is bitter cold. The geese are honking with alarm and the yard is full of scuttling shadows. Sammy charges out of the house, tail flagging her eagerness to work.
          
          I don’t see the alpacas, but the geese are loud, by the door of the barn, demanding I open it up for them.
          
          Is that coyote song, trembling on the bitter breeze?
          
          The cold nips my nose. It’s too cold for the little dogs. I left them in their blanket nests. Black coated Sammy trots happily to the barn door and waits. The threshold is coated in crunchy ice, I have to shove the door with my shoulder. 
          
          The geese are making wheezing noises and I’m positive I hear coyotes in the distance. 
          
          Where are the alpacas? How far must I chase them tonight? Sammy sticks her noise between the back doors and sneezes. Maybe I’ll get lucky tonight?
          
          I heave the big door open, and look around. There’s Star, a shadow on the snow with a shadow of his own. Oh the snow sparkles under the full moon! The alpacas are there, I get a bleated question as I shove the door open and go back for grain.
          
          But they hesitate at the door, not liking the confinement and even the rattle of grain isn’t enough to settle them. They tiptoe in, wheel and leap for the door, once, twice, three times, accusing Sammy of coyote affiliation as they bolt for the top of the hill.
          
          I rattle the grain bucket and call for Ivan, who knows his name means food. He dips his nose in the bucket for a mouthful, bribed he goes in the stall, and Sammy chargers the stragglers. Stalls closed, the barn door next, and the animals are safe for the night. I feed them all, the alpacas whine and spit at each other a moment before they settle in.
          
          All closed up behind me, I heave the last door closed as the maniacal yipping of coyote slaying songs carries on the crystal cold air. My boots squeak on the snow as I hurry to the house and warmth, Sammy beside me.

VeraLoy

@KAJordan2 I hope you are keeping a record of all these posts - they'd make a great story :)
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KAJordan2

There's a nor'easter coming. I can feel it in my bones, too. Well, we got critter feed today to make sure all the critters will have food no matter what. (New York is getting 12 to 30 inches of snow. Not sure what Kentucky is gonna get, but COLDER has already happened.)
          
          The ducklings are getting big. They are growing tail feathers and shoulder feathers, but are mostly fuzz. So I got out the brooder box and put a light in it. Now they have two lights. Wasn't sure they would understand the brooder box, but not 2 minutes after I turned on the brooder box light, the littlest ones were inside. One species taken care of.
          
          The Goose monsters - rounding them up wasn't easy. I finally put Sammy inside and started calling Jamie. He brought the flock to me. I so dig my Jamie Goose. I gave them horse feed, because that was all I had at that minute. They got a second feeding later.
          
          The hens -- yesterday I took a load of hay into the outer part of Chicken World. Then I turned them loose in the barn this afternoon. It's funny to watch them scratch and eat hay. But that little bit of green gives the eggs an orange color and a great taste. 
          
          The girls were not happy that Sammy kept putting them back in Chicken World. They just don't think it's fair, I can tell because they complain. We got 8 eggs today, the numbers are going up after a month of barely having enough. 
          
          The alpacas -- Oh the dumb is strong with this bunch...very strong. When I brought in the round bale, they gamboled and cantered to meet us. Then I moved it. Two days later they are still looking for the bale where it was before. This afternoon, they found it in the leanto. Well, four of them found it. Ivan was still looking for the bale where it was. 
          
          There's just not a whole lot I can teach them.
          
          I will bring them inside tonight. The weather is supposed to go bad at 1 am, so the alpacas are coming in, like it or not.

KAJordan2

@DELynch43 rats got a duckling the other night. Gruesome. 
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KAJordan2

@DELynch43 there's way too much death and gruesome ones at that for kids.
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DELynch43

@KAJordan2 how did I miss this? Ever think of writing a children’s book? This may not be the platform for it, but your farm stories are really entertaining.
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