An Important Announcement

To the Readers of This Blog,

After a considerable time of thought, I have come to the decision to discontinue posting on this blog.

It isn’t that I’ve run out of ideas by any means, rather, it is because my ideas are too time consuming, I believe, for me to continue writing at the pace and on the schedule that I have — more or less — been writing for the last eight years and change.

This time-consumption is not a negative, I don’t believe, but a positive, because the fact that I want to spend so much time developing my characters and enriching my worlds will assuredly only mean that the finished products will be rich with interest and intrigue for all — hopefully including you — who might someday read them.

However, this increase in time spent on the planning phase of my projects has had the negative effect of leaving me, with each successive project, less and less time between the beginning of the planning process and the date that I’d set to begin writing the manuscript, and although I did take two successive months off this summer in an effort to get ahead, the lead I gave myself has already almost completely evaporated, thus I am not ready to begin writing a manuscript tomorrow, and even have my doubts as to what state I’ll be in come January.

As a result, I’m inclined to reduce my writing frequency, which would, in turn, reduce my posting frequency, and I have no idea how often I might write manuscripts in the future either. Since I cannot guarantee when or how often I would write, I feel that the maintenance of this blog is pointless, as the purpose of a blog is to be posted on with some degree of regularity or consistency, neither of which, at this point, I can guarantee.

In closing, I would like to thank any of you who may’ve been regular readers of this blog for your interest in what I’ve had to share over these years, and I hope that you will someday have the privilege of reading the full and complete stories of which you’ve read early-draft excerpts.

Sincerely,

R.A. Millet

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 15

Word Total: 90,017

Year to Date: 810,384

Summary of Events:

Weston's father tried to call Andie's brother, but the operator informed him the phones were down owing to a tornado. Andie immediately became frantic and begged to be taken home to look for her brother, which Weston's father eventually agreed to do. They encountered heavy wind and so much rain it was like a whiteout blizzard as they drove, but no tornado. Reaching the trailer park, they weren't able to go far before tangled debris clogged their way, so Weston's father got out of the truck and asked a policeman at the scene about both Andie's brother and Shannon. A medic approached and revealed that Shannon was sitting relatively uninjured in an ambulance cab, so Weston, Andie, and his father went over to see her…

Excerpt of the Day:

“We were all home,” Shannon said, her jaw quivering. “I don’t remember seeing the tornado… or even really anything after the windows shattered. I heard a really loud roar, like we were right beside a train at top speed, and then I woke up on the ground in the rain and a medic found me.”

“Don’t try and remember anything now,” Dad said gently. “You’re alright, I’m here, and the tornado’s gone.”

“Will I be able to go home with you?” Shannon asked.

“Well, if you’re deemed medically fit you should be able to,” Dad replied. “I’ll go check with the cop to be sure.”

Shannon nodded and Dad strode off immediately, leaving Weston and Andie standing in the rain while Shannon was sheltered from the still-falling rain by the ambulance’s cab.

Weston looked at Shannon after a moment and saw that she looked like she still wanted to be hugged, and he had to admit that he wanted to hug someone too, so he wrapped Shannon in a tight, two-armed embrace. Shannon wrapped her arms around his neck and started to cry again, which caused tears to start flowing from Weston’s eyes and his body to quiver with shaky breaths.

“I was so scared for you,” Weston whispered. “You should’ve stayed with Gramp and Gram for the weekend. But… you’re alright… so… I guess…”

Shannon said nothing, continuing to cling to Weston, who detected after a moment that Andie was struggling not to cry.

Carefully he released one of his arms from around Shannon to beckon to Andie, who immediately joined in the embrace and started crying against Weston’s other shoulder. As he held her, Weston felt a sense of dread within himself at the thought that Andie might not be able to have the same kind of reunion with Tony. He hoped she’d be able to somehow, but he had no idea.

Hearing the sound of approaching feet, Weston looked up and saw Dad walking up to them. The tears still clouding his eyes made it hard for Weston to see what kind of expression was on Dad’s face, but he loosened his grip on both Andie and Shannon as Dad approached, prompting them both to raise their heads from Weston’s shoulders and turn.

“The officer says that if the medic clears you, you can come home with me,” Dad said to Shannon. “Come, let’s go have you looked over.”

Nodding, Shannon released Weston and walked over to Dad. Weston could tell Shannon was shivering, which was no surprise considering she was absolutely drenched and not wearing any rain gear in the least. She wasn’t even wearing shoes.

Weston closed the ambulance cab door so as to keep it from getting any wetter in there than Shannon’s soggy clothes had made it before gently wrapping Andie in a two-armed embrace.

He wanted to say something to Andie to encourage her, but he had no idea what to say, so he just held her close and hoped that Tony was alive and safe somewhere, just like Shannon had been found.

Next Post: 31 October

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 14

Word Count: 84,035

Summary of Events:

Friday dawned very hot, prompting one of the farmhands — who always fussed about the weather — to predict a tornado. Weston invited Shawn over to play some games in the shade until he had a dentist appointment. Once Shawn left, Weston and Andie walked around in the shade and ended up learning from the fearful farmhand that the Weather Radio station he always listened to had broadcast a tornado warning, which caused Andie to fret until she called her mom, who reported that the weather forecast was only for a late-afternoon thunderstorm. Later on, however, Andie's oldest brother called to report his girlfriend's grandmother had seen a tornado heading north and he couldn't get a hold of Andie's other brother who was at home, prompting Andie to fret again. Weston was certain that the tornado wouldn't be severe, or jump the deep river valley that bisected Edmonton, as was his father, but eventually heavy winds and rain reached the farm and Weston's father came in from working in the shop to take Weston and Andie into the basement, where they sheltered in the spare bedroom closet…

Excerpt of the Day:

Weston appreciated Dad’s touch and closeness as he listened to the wind buffeting the house with a voiceless, heaving moan, the rain and hail striking the house in rapid-fire staccato that sounded like someone spilling a bagful of something hard on a wood floor.

Andie soon started to cry and Weston began to feel the prick of warm tears in his eyes despite the fact that he didn’t want to cry as his mind called up his most recent memory of Shannon at the gas station, being taken back home by Gramp. She would’ve been safer if she would’ve stayed at Gram and Gramp’s through the weekend.

After awhile Weston leaned his head against Dad, but he fought hard to keep from crying, even though he was worried about Shannon. Sure she was a girl, and she was younger than him, but she was his sister, the only sister — or sibling of any sort — he had, and he couldn’t deny that he loved her and knew that she loved him. Losing her would be probably the worst thing he could experience in his life. He hoped she was alright.

Dad’s hand started rubbing on his upper arm just over his shoulder, which Weston had to admit was a comfort, as was the ability to rest his head on Dad’s shoulder and nestle himself as close to Dad’s side as possible. Even Dad’s breathing continuing to be calm and steady gave Weston a sense of comfort and reassurance that even though everyone went on and on about how he was a young man who was practically all grown-up, he didn’t have to be the strongest or the bravest one at the moment, because he didn’t really know how.

Weston had no idea how long they huddled in the closet sitting on the spare pillows and covered by the spare blanket. He couldn’t really see much light through the closet door, as the basement wasn’t very high out of the ground, so the windows were small, making the room dim and dreary compared to Weston’s bedroom upstairs, and he had to admit that it felt long enough that the sun might’ve set.

Eventually, however, Dad carefully shifted his position, drawing his arm off Weston’s shoulder and moving it in front of himself to push the blanket off.

“The wind seems to have gone down,” Dad said quietly.

Reaching forward, he carefully opened the closet doors, revealing that it wasn’t nearly as dark as Weston had anticipated it could’ve been. He straightened out his legs, which had been feeling rather cramped. Dad did the same before easing to his feet and walking over to one of the windows.

“It looks like we’ve got at least part of a tree down,” Dad said. “We’ll see better upstairs.”

“You think it’s safe?” Weston asked.

“The worst of it is past us, I think,” Dad replied.

Nodding, Weston carefully got to his feet and offered his hand to Andie, who eased to her feet and stepped close to Weston, who put his arm around her and followed Dad out of the spare room and upstairs, where the view out the unusually dry front windows showed a decently thick covering of hail and steady falling rain that wasn’t near as heavy as when it’d first opened up.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 13

Word Count: 78,035

Summary of Events:

Weston, feeling sceptical that Darryl had suffered all the injuries Shaw had reported from slipping on his ice cream, stopped by the hospital with Andie, and was surprised to learn that Shaw had told the truth when reporting Darryl's injuries. Before going home, he and Andie stopped for fuel and saw Weston's sister, Shannon, who told them she'd been at Weston's maternal grandparents for a few days because of an incident at home, but was heading back home again, which made Weston a tad concerned. After breakfast the following morning Weston and his father were surprised to be called on by Jarvis Lockhart, Shaw's father, who wanted to know what was going on, having heard that Shaw and Weston's father were no longer friends, so Weston's father explained everything…

Excerpt of the Day:

“Well, thank you for not being upset,” Dad said. “I do feel badly that things have come to this between myself and Shaw, but Weston means more to me than any friendship, and if my friends or their families are out to cause him distress and even harm, I will prioritise his safety and wellbeing, no matter the cost.”

“And that’s only right,” Jarvis said. “Any father ought to care about his children like that, but reasonably. If their child is being a problem and they do such a thing as you’ve done out of denial that their child is a problem, that’s a bad thing, but you’re protecting your son from a problem child, and that’s right. Too many people these days, I think, are shockingly indifferent to their children. They think making money or other things are more important than raising up the next generation that will truly be their best legacy. Children aren’t like cattle, you can’t just feed them two or three times a day, make sure they’re healthy, and keep their fences in good repair, you need to be more involved in their lives, after all, they’re your offspring, not your possessions.”
“Yes,” Dad agreed.

Weston withdrew from the living room door, suspecting he’d not yet been noticed by Jarvis, who was getting to his feet and making his way to the door with a bit of a hitch to his step that Weston had been told was the result of having been roughly head-butted by a cantankerous young steer shortly before he’d retired and handed the farm over to Shaw.

“I wish Shaw were more like that,” Jarvis said. “Darryl might never have been a problem in the first place if he’d not been so focused on turning bigger profits with the farm. It’s not that I don’t want the farm to prosper, but what use is a prosperous farm if you don’t have capable kids to take it over from you?”

From his position in the dining room doorway, Weston saw enough of Dad to see him nod.

“Weston’s a good kid,” Jarvis said. “You’ve done a good job with him, even with all the things you’ve had to deal with otherwise. I’m honestly impressed.”

“Thank you,” Dad said quietly.

“Well, hope you have a good harvest,” Jarvis said as the door opened.

“Thank you,” Dad said. “Goodbye.”

“Bye,” Jarvis replied.

The door closed and Weston stepped out of the dining room doorway. Dad looked at him.

“That was certainly not what I expected when I saw he was on the other side of the door,” Dad said.

“Me either,” Weston said.

“I feel bad for him,” Dad said. “I’ll bet he feels like he was a lousy father, but I really don’t think he was.”

“Then what do you think it was?” Weston asked.

“Well, Shaw’s always been… I guess you’d say an ‘anything you can do I can do better’ type,” Dad replied. “He’s not good at taking advice that’s offered to him when he doesn’t want it. In fact, I’ve heard that independence is a Lockhart trait, and I always thought that Shaw had it in spades, and that’s seeming more and more to be to his detriment.”
Weston nodded. He had to agree.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 12

Word Count: 72,013

Summary of Events:

Weston, Andie, and Shawn decided to cancel plans they'd made for a hike on Tuesday and go to the swimming pool instead because the day was too hot for them to feel like hiking. After enjoying themselves at the pool, they went for ice cream, and just as they were nearly done, Darryl and three of his closest friends arrived at the shop, but they didn't notice Weston and Shawn — as Andie had to go to the bathroom — until after they'd gotten their orders. Darryl's friends — to Weston and Shawn's surprise — weren't as wont to pick a fight as Darryl was, prompting Darryl to get mad at them, allowing Weston and Shawn to get away. Later on, as Andie was beginning to prepare supper, Shaw came to the farm quite angry, wanting to give Weston the beating that he believed Weston deserved and Weston's father wasn't giving him, but Weston's father intervened…

Excerpt of the Day:

“This has gone far enough Shaw!” Dad declared firmly. “I have every reason to trust Weston is telling me the truth. Nevertheless, if he is found to be lying, I will be meting out the punishment for it, not anyone else.”

“Highly unlikely,” Shaw spat back. “You’re far too blinded by your false beliefs that Weston is too perfect to do anything wrong.”
“Whatever biases I harbour toward Weston pale to near-invisible in comparison to the biases you harbour toward Darryl,” Dad declared. “You’re the pot calling the kettle black, and I’m quite tired of being told that my son is the villain when I have quite solid proofs on which to build my reasons to believe that it is your son who is the villain.”

“What gaslighting!” Shaw raged. “Your monster of a son has done a masterful job of persuading you that he’s the epitome of saintliness!”

“It is Darryl who’s been doing the gaslighting, Shaw,” Dad replied firmly. “And you’re the one who’s been gaslit, and it’s at the point now that I’m really not sure that you and I can be friends anymore.”

“If that’s what you think, then I don’t have any interest in having anything further to do with you!” Shaw declared. “In fact, I’ve wasted far too much of my life spending time with you, and I’ll have you know that I will get your son properly punished for all that he’s done to Darryl in the last week!”

Turning, Shaw stalked off to his truck, getting inside, slamming the door, starting the engine, backing up, and shooting down the driveway at a rapid speed, turning the corner back south without hardly decelerating.

Dad looked somewhat sad as he watched Shaw depart, but he looked at Weston with signs of relief on his face. “Good riddance.”

Weston walked up to Dad and hugged him. Dad returned the embrace and Weston could tell even though Dad didn’t hardly make a sound, that Dad appreciated the gesture.

After a long moment that started to get sensations of awkwardness, Weston loosened his grip on Dad, who released him.

“Also, Dad,” Weston said. “I had no idea Darryl slipped on his ice cream, nor that it did such a number to him to do so.”

“I know you too well to believe you’d wantonly waste food like that,” Dad said. “You know the work it takes to produce food, you’re not going to let it go to waste if you can help it, even though your survival doesn’t necessarily depend on it.”

“The list of injuries he gave for Darryl also sounded rather unbelievable,” Weston added as he fell into step beside Dad, heading around the garage.

“It did,” Dad agreed. “I know most businesses have concrete floors that can be both slippery and solid, but that’s a lot of damage for falling on ice cream. Even if Darryl would be the sort who could go down heavily.”

Weston nodded. He’d thought so too.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 11

Word Count: 66,107

Summary of Events:

Weston, Andie, and Shawn went on their canoe trip on Friday, finding a lovely little beach along the river a little beyond how far Weston and Shawn usually went to enjoy their picnic lunch on. The following day Weston, Andie, and his father went to the Rutledge farm for a farewell party, to which Andie brought an especially fancy dessert as a way to repay Mrs. Rutledge for generously giving her a gift for her mother, while Weston was confronted by Mrs. Rutledge's son-in-law, who told him that Darryl had been calling Sheri all week just to be a nuisance, prompting him — and Weston's father when he was apprised of the situation — to advise Weston to tell Darryl that Sheri wasn't his girlfriend, although Weston's efforts to do so were hampered by Darryl yelling at him before he could begin…

Excerpt of the Day:

Crossing his arms over his chest, Weston gathered his lips, angered that Darryl was trying to claim that he was the one who was the bully when it was, in fact, Darryl who was the bully, and always had been.

“It’s getting so bad these days that I might have to file a restraining order against you!” Darryl went on, continuing to swear. “I really don’t know why you have such an obsession with me, I could care less about you!”
Weston whispered a profanity of his own in dispute of Darryl. It was the other way around. Darryl was the one who had the inexplicable obsession with him, and he was the one who could care less about Darryl.

“You are one of the most intolerable people I’ve ever met!” Darryl exclaimed. “I really have no idea how anyone can possibly like you or live with you without going out of their mind!”

“Are you finished yet?” Weston asked.

“Why?” Darryl demanded.

“Because I came up to you in order to inform you — since you’re apparently too dumb to have figured it out from the abundant evidence — that Sheri Deering is not my girlfriend,” Weston replied. “Thus, I would like you to stop haranguing her and bothering her.”

“Then why did you say she was?” Darryl demanded.

“I didn’t say she was,” Weston replied. “When you asked if she was my girlfriend, I didn’t say anything to either confirm or deny whether she was or not. You just jumped to a conclusion.”

“You’re lying!” Darryl cried. “You’re trying to throw me off the trail.”

“What part of Sheri’s slapping you across the face at the auction and hanging up on you every time you call gives you reason to believe that she and I are dating?” Weston demanded.

“How did you find out that she did anything to me at the auction?” Darryl demanded profanely, his voice getting louder and angrier.

“I was an eyewitness,” Weston replied simply with a shrug.

“How!?” Darryl exclaimed, his voice even louder and more angry. “How did you see what happened? I didn’t see you anywhere! You couldn’t have seen it! There’s no way! How could you have seen it!?”

“That’s for me to know and you ti find out,” Weston replied with a slightly smug tone.

“You’re lying!” Darryl raged, going on to say more, but Weston had a hard time making out what most of it was, and he had to admit that the apoplectic way Darryl was reacting was not what he’d expected at all, in fact, he felt a little disturbed by it.

“We’re leaving!” Shaw’s voice loudly declared over Darryl’s hollering.

Weston turned and saw Shaw towing Kay along in one hand and Jessie in the other, with neither of them looking terribly pleased. Adams came along from somewhere else, not looking pleased either, but also looking like he didn’t want to be left behind, while Darryl gestured rudely at Weston before turning and stalking away with his family without prodding.

Silently Weston watched as they stalked across the yard to Kay’s car and got inside, the car starting, shooting backwards, and whipping around to surge out of the yard in a matter of moments.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 10

Word Count: 60,101

Summary of Events:

Upon returning home from the Lockhart's, Weston went and told his father that he'd apologised before spending the rest of the day with Andie. The following day Weston and Andie had to go to town to get a few groceries, as Andie had decided to make a picnic lunch for the canoe trip she, Weston, and Shawn were going to be taking the day after, and ended up seeing Weston's mother's parents at a coffee shop they stopped at to get a snack. Since Weston had to introduce Andie to them, he worried they might tell his mother as he and Andie sat down for lunch with his father, who noticed his worry and brought it up in conversation shortly…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I don’t know that we ever got snow quite that bad here,” Dad replied. “But we got some pretty heavy ones over the years too. Not that any of this is related to your worry.”

“It’s a welcome distraction,” Weston replied.

“Nevertheless,” Dad said. “What are you worried about?”

“Well, when we stopped for cookies, Gram and Gramp were there,” Weston replied.

Dad nodded.

“They waved me over and I introduced Andie to them because I kind of had to,” Weston went on. “Gram mentioned that she hadn’t heard about Andie from Mom, and I’m a little worried that she might tell Mom, and whatever Mom knows Ross knows.”

“Unfortunately,” Dad agreed with a nod.

“I did call Gram and Gramp and leave a message asking them to let me tell Mom,” Weston said. “So we’ll have to see how it goes.”

“It should be alright,” Dad said. “Frank and Wilma are decent people.”

“But Mr. and Mrs. Cessford were there too,” Weston said. “And since they’re such good friends with Shaw’s parents… well… it might get passed on, all the way to Darryl.”

Dad nodded, understanding evident on his face as he chewed on the bite he’d taken while Weston spoke.

“I would feel really weird calling them and telling them not to tell Shaw’s parents, but I really don’t want them to, and I don’t want Shaw’s parents to tell Shaw, or Darryl,” Weston added.

“I know you’re worried about Andie’s wellbeing,” Dad said. “But you can’t necessarily keep her a secret forever. Her identity’s going to get out there eventually, so you’ll just have to hope that the bad things you’ve been imagining will happen won’t.”

Weston sighed, not terribly encouraged by the fact that Dad didn’t have any suggestions for how he could prevent the information from getting out at all, but unable to deny that Dad was right.

“Remember, Darryl has always been odd and unpredictable, and even though he’s been especially so of late, that doesn’t guarantee that the worst of the worst things you’re anticipating will ever happen,” Dad went on. “But, no matter what, I promise that if there seems to be even the tiniest shred of reason to believe that what you’re afraid of happening might happen, I will do everything I can to ensure Andie’s safety for the entirety of the time she’s under my roof, both during this visit, and any and all future visits.”

Even if that hadn’t entirely been what Weston had wanted to hear, he had to admit that he was grateful for it. He was sure it would’ve happened even if Dad hadn’t pledged it would aloud, but to be able to hear the assurance was particularly encouraging.

“Thanks,” Weston said.

Dad nodded, his gaze showing his paternal affection in its usual somewhat reserved way. “You’re welcome.”

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 9

Word Count: 54,050

Summary of Events:

After being questioned by the police at the station, Weston called his father for a ride home, and on the ride explained the full incident to his father, who listened silently, looking unimpressed, but assuring Weston once he'd finished that he believed Weston and wouldn't punish him. The following morning as they were cleaning up breakfast, Darryl's father Shaw came to the door to talk with Weston's father about both the altercation at the auction and the incident at the grocery store, believing Weston to be in the wrong in both circumstances and needing to apologise. Shaw also claimed that Darryl had told him Weston and Shawn were no longer friends, but Weston's father wasn't persuaded to believe it…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I don’t believe Weston and Shawn have had a falling out,” Dad replied. “After all, Weston was over at Shawn’s on Monday for the same amount of time as always, and they made arrangements to go canoeing together later this week. Additionally, I can’t say that the wild differences between what I’ve heard from Weston and you’ve heard from Darryl are particularly comforting.”

“No, I can’t say that I like that either,” Shaw agreed. “After all, you’ve never been the sort of person to make up stories, thus I find it quite shocking that Weston would be going about creating all sorts of unbelievable tales like these.”

“I find Weston’s accounts of things to be significantly more believable than the accounts you’ve shared with me from Darryl,” Dad replied, his voice sharp with displeasure. “I don’t have any reason to believe that Weston is the one making up tall tales.”

“You’re my best friend,” Shaw declared. “And here you are disparaging my son.”

“You’re doing the same thing to my son,” Dad contended.

“Darryl has been trying to make friends with Weston for years,” Shaw replied defensively. “But Weston has continually and rather inexplicably rebuffed his every effort until just a few months ago, and now already he seems to be regressing to his previous position.”

Dad sighed, sounding on the verge of exasperation. “Should I get Weston to go with you and apologise to Darryl?”

“Yes,” Shaw replied, sounding almost arrogantly pleased, as if he’d been waiting for Dad to make that offer for some time.

Having not had his indignation allayed by anything that’d been said since it’d been roused within himself, Weston stalked immediately and briskly from the kitchen, startling Dad slightly when he appeared before Dad could even utter a sound that might’ve become his name.

Weston crossed his arms and glared at Shaw, who looked at Weston with an expression of displeasure that seemed to have the same hint of arrogance to it as his last comment had.

“I’m not entirely confident that he’ll apologise,” Shaw said sceptically.

Although Weston didn’t shift his gaze from Shaw’s face, he could see Dad in his peripheral vision, and he could feel that Dad was fixing him with a sharply pointed gaze.

“He will,” Dad said sternly.

Weston knew by Dad’s tone and gaze that he was going to have to manufacture as much sincerity as he could muster in order to not be sent back to apologise over again, for as many times as it would take for him to at least appear appropriately sincere, and Weston had no intentions of seeing any more of Darryl than he absolutely had to.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 8

Word Count: 48,041

Summary of Events:

Weston was assigned to go into town and run errands, so he took Andie along to tour her around Fort Saskatchewan, as she'd never been there before, while running the errands, which ended at the grocery store. Partway through their shopping, Weston noticed Darryl entering the store, and Darryl ended up seeing Weston, so Weston sent Andie out of the store and hoped to finish the shopping himself, but Darryl accosted him, throwing Weston's shopping cart over on its side before the two argued, then got into fisticuffs, which ended when Weston shoved Darryl toward the downed cart, over which Darryl fell…

Excerpt of the Day:

A rather loud shout of pain came from Darryl’s mouth as he continued to go over, toppling back onto his shoulders and rolling over. Weston saw blood on Darryl’s right hand as he pulled it around to clutch against his chest. He also noticed jagged pieces of pickle jar standing upright in the midst of spilled green brine, and signs of blood in the brine around the glass, with the brine discolouring the blood so that it looked brown.

Darryl, clutching his hand to his chest, started to get up, looking savagely at Weston.

“It’s not my fault,” Weston snapped. “You’re the one who threw my cart over. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Before Darryl could even utter a retort, however, uniformed police officers appeared behind him and grabbed him with restraining hands. At the same instant, officers did the same to Weston, who startled somewhat involuntarily at their solid grips.

The two officers holding Weston scowled at him disapprovingly, and Weston felt a flash of anger that they were upset at him when he hadn’t even started the whole thing, but before he could let his anger get the better of him, he told himself that it would go best for him if he calmly and maturely cooperated with the officers, in addition to telling them what had actually happened.

“I was just getting groceries for myself and my dad,” Weston said calmly. “He’s the one who started it.”

“And who is he?” one of the officers asked sternly.

“The son of a neighbour,” Weston replied. “He suddenly came up to me from over there looking like he wanted a fight with me. He shoved my cart at me, I think his intent was to knock me over, but I managed not to fall over. I didn’t want to fight, so I was going to leave, but he hadn’t cleared the front left wheel of my cart and it hit his toes, so he chucked that jar of pickles at me, then he grabbed my cart and threw it over, and he seems to think that I know what he was doing all this for.”

“Yes, I saw it,” an older man said. “That boy there was quite angry, and he didn’t even have any groceries. He came up and accosted this boy and knocked over the cart before they argued and came to blows.”

Several other people — to Weston’s grateful relief — also spoke up to corroborate the account Weston had given.

“He is the one who’s bleeding, though,” the other officer pointed out.

“It’s his own fault,” Weston replied. “He’s the one who knocked the cart over and made the glass break in the first place.”

“I doubt this is the first altercation you two have had,” the officer said. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to take you in and ask you some questions in maybe a bit more private of a setting.”

Weston felt a bit disappointed, but he nodded. He was just being questioned, not booked, it shouldn’t be too bad.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 7

Word Count: 42,103

Summary of Events:

Weston went out for morning milking on Monday, where he first had to get the cows all into the barn before he was given charge of two of the machines for milking the cows. Following a full day of work around the farm, including picking up some of the items his father had bought at the auction which had been too big to haul home on Saturday, evening milking, and a late supper, Weston took Andie to Shawn's house, where he introduced Andie to Shawn's father and sister before Shawn suggested they go outside and enjoy the beautiful evening chatting around a fire…

Excerpt of the Day:

“So how was the auction on Saturday?” Shawn asked.

“It seemed like any other auction to me,” Weston replied, shrugging. “Not that I really saw all that much of it.”

“Oh?” Shawn asked. “Why?”

“Because she needed the bathroom,” Weston replied, pointing at Andie.

Shawn’s eyes widened in shock, but a smile quickly crossed his face and he laughed.

“I’m sure it wasn’t the bathroom break to end all bathroom breaks,” he said.

“No,” Andie replied. “Mrs. Rutledge thought I looked like someone she knew.”

“Sounds typical,” Shawn said. “She knows everybody, or thinks she knows everybody.”

“But it was actually true,” Weston said.

“Oh?” Shawn asked.

“Yeah, my dad’s mom, Grandma Lorna, and her were childhood friends in Beverly, where their fathers were coal miners,” Andie replied.

“Really,” Shawn said. “I thought Mrs. Rutledge was from by Edmonton.”
“Beverly’s now a part of Edmonton,” Weston replied.

Shawn’s brow furrowed. “Coal, in Edmonton? I thought it was only in the mountains.”

Weston shook his head. “It was in the River Valley too. Apparently the mines at Beverly supplied Edmonton with a lot of their coal in the early days, but then Beverly got into debt problems and accepted absorption into Edmonton to get rid of their debt.”

“Hm,” Shawn said. “When was this?”

“Only twenty years ago or so, I think, based on what Mrs. Rutledge said,” Weston replied.

“Really,” Shawn said. “I wonder if Dad knows about it.”

“Dad did,” Weston replied. “Apparently Grandpa and Grandma used to have a coal-fired furnace because Grandpa’s parents put it in the house as a wedding gift, but Grandma hated it because it got coal dust on everything.”

“I can imagine,” Shawn said. “I doubt a wood-fired furnace would be much of an improvement.”

“That’s the reason why the chimney goes straight out,” Weston said.

“Yeah,” Shawn said. “So you knew Mrs. Rutledge before the auction?”

“No,” Andie replied, shaking her head. “She and Grandma Lorna lost track of each other after they married because Grandpa Cyrus was in the Army and then became an oilfield mechanic, while Mr. Rutledge farmed out here. Grandma Lorna and Grandpa Cyrus live in Mill Woods now.”

“That is a bit of a distance,” Shawn said, nodding. “Not ridiculous, but at the same time, kind of prevents the paths crossing a little bit.”

“Yeah, a little bit,” Andie agreed.

“But once you got Alma going you couldn’t shut her up?” Shawn asked.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Weston replied. “I mean, I came and went to check on the auction, but she stayed parked pretty much. And well-fuelled with lemonade and shortbread cookies.”

“Mm,” Shawn said. “I do like a good shortbread cookie.”

Weston nodded. “I had some too.”

“And you didn’t bring me any!?” Shawn exclaimed, slapping Weston’s arm. “What kind of best friend are you!?”

Weston laughed while Shawn shook his head, unable to keep the smile off his own face.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 6

Word Count: 36,042

Summary of Events:

Once Weston's father had bought everything he wanted to at the auction they headed home. Weston and his dad put the things his dad had bought away before helping with evening milking. When they came inside Andie had prepared them a delicious supper, revealing that she enjoyed cooking so much she wanted to become a chef once she graduated when she was told she didn't have to cook for them. The following day Weston, Andie, and his father went to Weston's aunt's house, having been invited for lunch, which allowed Weston to introduce Andie to his father's side of the family…

Excerpt of the Day:

“Who’s this young lady?” Grandpa asked as Weston, Andie, and Dad stepped into the living room.

Dad looked at Weston, indicating that it was now up to him to introduce Andie.

“This is my girlfriend, Andie,” Weston replied.

“She doesn’t have a family name?” Grandpa asked.

“Kagan,” Weston replied.

“Andie Kagan,” Grandpa said. “I’m Wyatt Hazlett, pleasure to meet you.”
“You too,” Andie replied, shaking his offered hand.

“And this is my wife Olive, and these are my granddaughters Sheryl and Wendy Barnes, those boys are their special friends,” Grandpa went on.

Andie nodded.

“Who is this?” Grandma asked, having only noticed that Grandpa was talking to Andie when Grandpa mentioned her name.

“Andie Kagan, my girlfriend,” Weston replied.

“Oh,” Grandma said. “A pleasure to meet you dear, come, sit down.”

She patted the seat beside her and Andie stepped forward, sitting down on the couch beside Grandma.

“You too, Weston,” Grandma said. “You don’t need to stand there looking like a man in a women’s clothing store.”
Weston stepped forward and sat down beside Andie.

“So where are you from, dear?” Grandma asked Andie.

“North Edmonton, I live in the same trailer park as his mom,” Andie replied.

“And that would be how the two of you met,” Grandma said.

Weston nodded.

“Yes, I was trying to get the driveway shovelled before my mom and brothers got home from work, but there was so much snow, and along he came to help me out,” Andie said. “And then he went and got it done in no time, it was as if he was shovelling icing off a cake.”

“Well he is always quick to led a hand,” Grandma said. “How many brothers do you have?”

“Two,” Andie replied. “Both older.”

“Any sisters?” Grandma asked.

“No,” Andie replied.

“That’s just like Fern,” Grandma said. “Except she’s our oldest, then are Will and Wally.”

Andie nodded.

“You aren’t older than Weston, are you?” Grandma asked.

“No,” Andie replied. “I just had my birthday, I’ll be sixteen years and one week old tomorrow.”
“Oh, well congratulations,” Grandma said. “So you’ll be in grade eleven like Weston this autumn?”

“Yes,” Andie replied. “Except that we’ll be at different schools.”
“Of course,” Grandma agreed. “How old are your brothers?”

“Eighteen and twenty,” Andie replied. “Stuart is working his way through mechanics at NAIT and Tony just graduated this spring, he’s hoping to get into mechanics at NAIT too.”

“Are they following after their father?” Grandma asked.

“Somewhat, yeah,” Andie replied. “Dad went in for mechanics, but he didn’t end up completing the course, so he drove big truck for the oilfield. His dad had also been a mechanic, both in the army, and then for the oilfield after the war.”

“Oh, why didn’t your father complete the course?” Grandma asked sympathetically.

“He was the hardest working apprentice at the shop, and the other apprentices told the boss that either he had to fire my dad or they were all walking off,” Andie replied.

“Oh dear,” Grandma said. “It’s a shame how little people want to work these days.”

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 5

Word Count: 30,008

Summary of Events:

Going to the house to wait for Andie to come out, Weston was invited inside and ended up learning that Mrs. Rutledge had been childhood friends with Andie's paternal grandmother, and Mrs. Rutledge was showing Andie photos and sharing stories from the past. Mrs. Rutledge proved to have many stories to tell, so Weston left Andie to listen to them and checked in on the second sales ring periodically, eventually bidding on the vase Andie wanted. Darryl noticed him bidding on the vase and bid against him, forcing the price $5 over what Weston and Andie had agreed on for a limit, but, since Darryl chose the wrong vase, Weston was able to get the vase anyways, but as he was paying for it, Darryl came up and took it from him before running off toward where Sheri was standing with her parents…

Excerpt of the Day:

Immediately Darryl turned and launched the vase at the harrows, which the vase struck, shattering into more pieces than the vase he’d thrown at Weston.

Sheri and her parents looked bemused, as did several other people, but Weston’s vision quickly closed on Darryl, his blood having gone from barely lukewarm to a savage boil in an instant.

Surging at Darryl, Weston seized his shoulder and immediately started firing fists at Darryl’s face. Darryl tried to offer some punches back, but they were all poorly-timed and poorly-aimed, not to mention they weren’t delivered with much force.

Suddenly strong hands gripped Weston, who fought against them viciously, wanting to keep beating Darryl until Darryl’s face was bruised, swollen, and bloody.

“Weston Jeremy Edric Hazlett,” Dad’s voice hissed into his ear sharply.

Although Weston wanted to keep fighting, he knew he didn’t dare if Dad was saying his full name, so he let go of Darryl and released the tension out of his body. Dad hung onto his arm and towed him a distance away from the crowd.

“What was that all about?” Dad demanded profanely.

“We saw a vase that she wanted to buy for her mom for her birthday,” Weston replied quietly, knowing Dad would know who he was talking about and not wanting to use her name. “I bid on it for her, and Darryl saw me, so he bid against me, and he won the bidding because of the limit we’d set. It was a choice, and he picked the wrong vase, so I grabbed the one she’d wanted.”

Dad nodded, his gaze still stern.

“As I was going to show her the vase and let her know how much I’d paid for it, he threw his vase at me and it broke when it hit the ground, but he claimed I’d bumped him and knocked it out of his hands,” Weston went on. “Other people saw him throw it and said so, so he made a grab for it, but I got away and showed it to her, she gave me what she had for cash to pay for it, and I went to pay for it. He then claimed it was his vase and I’d stolen it before taking it off the counter and running here. I hope you saw what happened from there.”

“I did,” Dad replied, still stern. “But what did Darryl mean when he said you were Sheri’s boyfriend?”

“He guessed I was, and I didn’t deny it, so he thinks he’s right,” Weston replied. “But now she’s going to be upset because he stole and broke the vase.”

“Wasn’t she with you?” Dad asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

“No,” Weston replied. He didn’t want to tell Dad where Andie was with Darryl so close, though.

Dad’s eyebrows shifted into positions of suspicion consistent with the rest of his facial features. “You ought to tell her though.”

Nodding, Weston sighed with dejection and disappointment. He hoped Andie wouldn’t be too upset, especially considering he’d not even succeeded in giving the woman at the office the money for the vase before Darryl stole it.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 4

Word Count: 24,042

Summary of Events:

Arriving at the auction, Weston looked around vigilantly for signs of Darryl or his family, but saw nothing until he and Andie went to look at the household wares, where he saw Darryl's mother. Because Andie found a vase she was sure her mother would like, she and Weston went to get a bidding number, and while they were waiting in line Andie expressed need for a bathroom. Mrs. Rutledge came to talk to someone else in line, so Weston asked where the bathrooms were and Mrs. Rutledge immediately took Andie inside. Once he'd gotten the bidding number, Weston headed for the farmhouse, only to be approached by Darryl, who erroneously supposed that Mrs. Rutledge's granddaughter Sheri was Weston's girlfriend. When the bidding got underway for the household goods, Weston noticed Sheri among the people watching the action, as he was…

Excerpt of the Day:

Motion behind her attracted Weston’s gaze and he saw that Darryl was easing through the crowd as the auctioneer started describing the items and then launched into his chatter as the bidding began. Weston, not interested in the items on offer, watched with growing tension as Darryl edged his way toward Sheri.

Finally Darryl got himself directly beside Sheri, who didn’t look in his direction, but was moving her gaze around the cluster of people as different people bid on the items on offer.

Darryl leaned over to Sheri and said something, but Weston, being on the fringes of the crowd and across from them, wasn’t able to hear what he’d said over the auctioneer’s chatter, as well as reasonably quiet commentary being made by others in the crowd who were just watching at this point.

Sheri turned and looked at Darryl with an expression of confusion that, as Darryl continued to speak, turned more and more disgusted, but she didn’t open her mouth to speak for some time. Eventually she did speak to Darryl, looking displeased.

Based on the body language he was observing, it appeared to Weston that Sheri was becoming increasingly annoyed and agitated by Darryl, while Darryl seemed almost as if he were pleased to be causing Sheri to be annoyed and agitated.

Someone stepped forward to take an item from the table, indicating the bidding had come to an end and an item on the table had been sold, momentarily blocking Weston’s view of Sheri and Darryl, but as the person stepped away Sheri shrieked above the chatter.

“Leave me alone Darryl Lockhart!”

Quite a few people turned to look at Sheri and Darryl, but Darryl didn’t seem to notice, as his face darkened into a scowl and he seized Sheri in a rough hold, saying something that the chatter of those in the crowd prevented Weston from hearing.

Darryl then let go of Sheri and shoved her backwards. Sheri stumbled, but a man behind her caught her before she could hit the ground, while another man seized Darryl by the arm in the same kind of rough fashion that Darryl had seized Sheri and looked like he was giving Darryl a stern talking-to. Kay appeared in moments and seized her son’s ear, towing him away into the crowd from whence he’d emerged, clearly having witnessed what had happened and not being any more pleased about it than anyone else looked to have been.

Looking toward Sheri, Weston saw that she looked shaken, but her father was by her side and had his arm protectively around her, his face set in a grim expression.

Weston felt badly, as he knew that his not denying that Sheri was his girlfriend was the whole reason that Darryl had harassed Sheri in the way he just had. Weston hoped that Kay would give her son the earful he deserved about what he’d done, but Weston had no idea if it would be effective, as he’d never gotten the impression that Darryl entirely respected his mother.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 3

Word Count: 18,022

Summary of Events:

Weston's alarm went off early, so he got up and had a light breakfast of yogurt and tea with his dad before they went out to do the milking. Having left Andie asleep, Weston was surprised to come inside at the end of milking to find Andie in the kitchen cooking a heartier breakfast of sausages, eggs, and pancakes for the three of them, but he and his father gratefully ate their share. Once that was done the three of them got into his father's truck and headed for the auction. Andie asked a lot of questions about auctions and how they worked as they drove, which Weston mostly let his father answer…

Excerpt of the Day:

Andie nodded. “So when does the sale start?”

“Ten,” Dad replied. “People are allowed to look over items beforehand, which is why we’re headed out that way already.”

“Okay,” Andie said. “Are you hoping to find something?”

“Well, there are a few things I’ve heard from reliable sources are on the sale that might be useful,” Dad replied. “But even if I wasn’t, an auction is still something of a community event to which everybody shows up to chat with everybody, so I’d want to go and socialise anyways.”

“Oh,” Andie said. “So there may be people there just for the gossip?”

“Yes,” Dad replied. “Although usually the further a person has to travel to get there, the more likely they’re there to try and buy something. Those who just happen to live next door or down the road a ways will be more likely to just come and chat.”

“How long will the auction take?” Andie asked.

“Several hours,” Dad replied. “And that’s even with two rings going.”

“Two rings?” Andie asked.

“Yes,” Dad replied. “With this auction there’s a lot to sell, including household items, so the auction company is going to have a second auctioneer start selling that stuff separately — as people who come for the farm equipment aren’t likely looking for couches, plates, and other household stuff — so as to get through it all faster.”

“Will there be a lunch break then?” Andie asked.

“No,” Dad replied. “People have to go eat when they can. I believe Kirby and Alma have hired in a food truck of some sort to provide food for people, or maybe the auction company does that, I don’t know, but there will be on-site food.”

“But don’t the auctioneers need to eat?” Andie asked.

“Yes,” Dad replied. “And they will.”

“But how can they keep the auction going while doing that?” Andie asked.

“Every auction company has several auctioneers, and today there’ll probably be no less than four, who will rotate around, spelling one another, as keeping up auctioneer chatter isn’t exactly easy, so they’ll need breaks to rest their voices, and they’ll eat during those breaks while the others keep the auction going,” Dad replied.

“Oh,” Andie said. “Okay, that makes sense.”
Dad nodded and silence fell over the truck as he continued to guide it to Namao.

Weston was glad no comment had been made about his silence during the conversation, as he could’ve supplied some of the information, but the tension and dread he was feeling left him not really inclined to chat too much.

There were no signs that Dad was being followed, but, as Dad had pointed out, auctions were social events, meaning that it was very likely that he could end up running into the last person he wanted to see at the auction, whether he liked it or not.

Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 2

Word Count: 12,188

Summary of Events:

After taking their things into the house, Weston took Andie on a tour around the farm, which included watching his father and the farmhands as they finished up milking the cows before bottles and buckets were filled for feeding the calves. Weston and Andie joined the hired hands in feeding the calves, with Weston giving Andie a tutorial on how to hold a bottle for a calf. After the first bottles had been emptied, Weston went back to get bottles for another two calves and came back to find a hungry calf sucking on most of Andie's hand…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I only meant to give her one finger,” Andie said.

“That’s alright,” Weston replied. “But she’d probably rather this anyways.”
Andie pulled her hand from the calf’s mouth, took the bottle Weston was holding out to her, and offered it to the calf, who immediately latched on and started sucking.

Weston offered his bottle to one of the other calves, who followed suit eagerly. When they were finished, Weston grabbed the last two bottles and he and Andie fed the last two calves that weren’t yet old enough to be bucket fed, but were getting quite close to the age when they would make the transition.

“They’re certainly hungry,” Andie said as she hung onto her third bottle.

“We’re feeding them only twice a day, when if they were out on pasture with their mothers they would be able to go up to their mother and nurse whenever they wanted, so they get a bit hungry between meals.”

“When’s their other mealtime?” Andie asked.

“After morning milking,” Weston replied. “Cows produce so much milk they have to be milked twice a day.”

“Oh,” Andie said. “When is morning milking?”

“We do seven and seven, as the cows are always milked twelve hours apart,” Weston replied. “It depends on how early or late the farmer wants to be up as to when the cows are milked. Some guys do four or five in the morning, but Grandpa established the routine as seven and seven, so we continue doing it as seven and seven.”

Andie nodded. “Why do they look so skinny?”

“Cows are built narrow compared to horses,” Weston replied. “And dairy cattle often look especially skinny because we’re not about fattening them up for meat, we want the milk.”

“Do these calves have names?” Andie asked.

“Some of them,” Weston replied. “But we’re not necessarily planning to keep all of them.”

“Why not?” Andie asked.

“Well, with the economy the way it’s been, Dad’s slowed down his herd growing a bit, so he’s only wanting to keep a certain amount of calves to replace the cows that are getting old, and then just a couple extras to grow the herd a little bit,” Weston replied. “So we typically try to avoid naming the ones we’re going to sell, as it’s not likely that their name is going to be retained by their new owner.”

“Oh, okay,” Andie said.

“But if there’s one Dad would like to keep that hasn’t been named yet, I’m sure he’d be willing to let you name her,” Weston replied.

“These are all girls?” Andie asked.

“No,” Weston replied. “These two are boys. Dad wants to keep this one for breeding purposes, and that one he’s probably going to sell when he gets older.”

Andie nodded as she handed Weston the now-empty bottle and then followed Weston back to the trailer, where the empty buckets had been stacked together by the others, who’d been keeping buckets going to the other calves. They were nearly done too.