"Throughout history, people have seen things that defy explanation. To dismiss them all is to erase a part of who we are."

Sometime around 11:30 p.m., Badger yelled me awake.
Apparently she’d gotten sick, called me, and I didn’t hear my phone.
How in the world I slept through the Addams Family theme blaring at my head, I can’t tell you.
She wobbled in and collapsed on my floor, where she stayed until Cowboy finally dragged himself to bed, probably around 1:30 a.m.
Then she went to sleep on the couch.

We had the ER follow-up with her regular doctor.
He wasn’t convinced by the ER’s diagnosis, but told her to stay on the medicine anyway.
He brushed past what happened the night before and didn’t seem too concerned.
Instead, he suggested she follow up with a specialist.
As Cowboy said, basically a wasted trip.

Right now, everything medical is on hold until Cowboy is squared away. 
The doctors are taking a cautious approach, and he has a test coming up next week that we’ll deal with first. 
It feels like it came out of nowhere. 
Once that is behind us, we’ll figure out the rest.
Badger’s turn will come.

After we got out of the doctor’s office, we stopped at Peacock’s Walmart, by that I mean very close to his house.
It was close to our doctor.
I don’t care what Cowboy thinks; every Walmart has different merchandise, and this one was no different. I found me some pumpkin yogurt that hasn’t come to ours yet.

We got home just in time to catch Heron before he left for his girlfriend’s place. 
I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but she just wrapped up EMS school and earned her license. 
One of her final training runs had her escorting a patient on a medflight.
She texted Heron afterward, admitting she was terrified of heights, and yet there she was in a helicopter. She made it through, and now she’s certified to take care of you if you ever need an ambulance.

I was trying to figure out how to descale my Keurig when Hippie Aunt sent me a text.
Cousin had a doctor’s appointment, went to Uncle’s house afterward, and the door was partially open, and someone had mowed his yards.
Late this evening, Cousin sent me a text, said she heard fire alarms beeping.
So the door was partially open, she pushed on in, went to Uncle’s room, and removed the batteries.
She kept hearing more beeps but couldn’t find the source.
Apparently, she decided to prowl around a bit.
She said the pictures we’ve sent her were awful, but actually going in and looking around, it was a hundred times worse.
She said she couldn’t be inside more than a few minutes at a time.
I’m guessing that’s the thick stench of mold and rot, mixed with the sour reek of rotting meat, a smell so heavy it clung to her throat and followed her back outside.

I told her it was extremely dangerous to be inside.
To be walking, there are no floors anymore, and the ceiling is coming down.
But if she wanted to prowl, she wanted to prowl.
At least now she knows we didn’t lie.
We didn’t magic bad pictures.
It’s truly a dangerous place.

To begin with, Hippie Aunt locked the door and shook it really hard. 
It was securely shut. 
Cousin said windows were open, but you couldn’t access windows to open them.
Again, the house has no floors, you're walking on beams.
Uncle did not have any fire alarms. 
I don’t know where that alarm came from, but it wasn’t Uncle’s.
We had gone through the house at least three times, and there were no alarms.
Mow the yard? 
Who the living heck would do that, and why?

I don’t see how it would be possible for anyone to take shelter in there, but maybe to use it for the wrong kind of doings.
As long as someone stayed in the living room, they’d be reasonably safe.
Well, safe if you ignore the mold and the sour, lingering odor that hung in the air.

Hippie Aunt said not to call the police. 
If the town knew the house was abandoned, they would condemn it and order it torn down. 
None of us could afford that.

I don’t know.
I really don’t.
It’s just an empty house on a quiet street, and I can see how it might catch the eye of people wanting to hide out, and not for anything good.

Uncle swore Mom still slept on the couch, solid as ever, not ghost-like. 
We even saw lights come on in a house with no electricity.
So if anyone wishes to take shelter in a genuine haunted house, more power to them.
I’ve seen enough in there to scare anyone straight.

The day went by like it always does, and before long, Cowboy was heading off to work.
Badger still isn’t feeling great. 
I keep saying it’s the antibiotics.
We watched TV all night, and she actually sat with me.

We bought a Dolly Parton chocolate pie and had such high hopes for it. 
I love Dolly-but Dolly should stay out of the food business. 
Her cake mix turned out like cornbread, and this pie was just... no ma'am. 
The crust was awful, the filling was salty, and it was incredibly hard to get out of the pan.

I don’t really have anything else.

Tomorrow, Badger has therapy, and I’m hoping I’ll have gotten some sleep by then.
 I sure didn’t today, and I feel it.
I need to do some cleaning; I’ve let things go.
That’s about it. 
It’s almost time for my pill, and then I’ll head out to feed my stray.