Day Eighteen: Monsters REALLY Want…

Papercraft shrub with bells on
A blue shrub! With honey bells!

Narlee is really excited to see the jug of golden syrup, according to today’s narrative. “Golden Goo!” is what he calls it. It’s a mystical substance, apparently. In the mythology of Narlee’s people, when you pour Golden Goo onto trees and shrubs, golden honey bells will appear.

Now, I’m not sure what a honey bell is, or why you’d want one. Snow Monsters love them, though. Maybe for eating. Maybe for wearing.  And where do they come from? Does the syrup make them grow? Or what?

Personally, I like to think that the honey bells have always been there, and that the Golden Goo, like the Silver Key that got Randolph Carter into so much trouble in Lovecraft’s narratives, simply revealed the truth “behind the void” that was always there. Will this revelation drive the adventurers mad? Who’s to say? Stay tuned!


In other news, we finally put the Christmas tree up this morning. We’ve been putting it off because I’ve not been feeling well, and the sheer effort of breathing has been leaving me short of breath. This morning, thanks to a course of Prednisone (boo Prednisone!), I am feeling much better. So the tree’s up! Here’s a picture of resident cat Guffaw investigating half the tree, just to make sure it’s going up properly:

Grey cat in Christmas tree
Guffaw approves

Also, apropos of nothing, here’s a portion of my computer’s desktop wallpaper:

A cartoon penguin in front of a tree
Pancake approved

It’s the Linux penguin! Dressed like Santa! In front of a Christmas tree! Now, I no longer use Linux as my desktop environment (Scrivener 3 was why I moved to Windows 10), but I still use Linux for my server environments. But this is still Pancake approved, I think.

It’s a mystical, fuzzy holidailies!


Advent  wreath with four candles lit
Fourth week of Advent

It’s the fourth Sunday of Advent, and today’s entry in the Episcopal Advent Calendar (Worship) reads, “Linger before leaving your worship time today. How is God calling you to hear and sing along with Mary’s Song? Read Luke 1:39-55.”

See, this is why I dislike the song, “Mary, Did You Know?” Because, based on our reading of Luke 1:39-55, we know that she already did.

Anyway, I may not make it to worship today. But, then, I haven’t been able to for a couple of years now. And not for a couple of weeks to come. But this coming year, I plan on making spirituality a focus for the new year, so hopefully I’ll get there more often.