March 21st, 2018

I hadn't talked to Candace or Sam to let them know what was going on. So I shouldn't have been surprised this morning when Candace called up asking about joining Hal and I at the gym. I hadn't even been to the gym since Saturday morning. So I got around real quick and suffered my parents disapproval long enough to get something in me and catch the bus.

They weren't all that bad, my parents. They were happy to see me up in the morning like usual, and had seen my applications from yesterday. I guess getting back to some relatively normal behavior on my part helps them to take Mom's advice and move on too.

At the gym I got Candace caught up on what happened. She thinks I should be proud of my actions and that the museum should be ashamed to lose me. I'm not sure she understands how important security is for the museum. Either way, it's a refreshing response to me and makes me feel a bit better.

Since I had already done most of my chores, and had the day to myself anyway, we decided to go take care of some of her things like we usually would. Then head back to her place. I hadn't planned on doing those things so I needed to head back home, which gave me the chance to grab the now completed applications to maintain a certain image in my parents eyes. A few of those applications I decided to turn in anyway, I do need some job after all.

So we ran some chores for Candace, just a couple of things she needed, but she was anxious to get home to work on her garden. I hadn't realized she'd bought so much stuff. I know I was there to watch her buy it, but at the time it was mostly numbers. Seeing the pile of wood, and potting soil, and everything else put those numbers into perspective.

Candace was relying on Sam to build the raised garden for her, and he had already started marking up the boards. But Candace didn't have the tools to cut the wood, so there they sat until Sam had figured out the dilemma. And until it got built, Candace didn't have the ability to work with her pots like she wanted. But we could start with the little pots, and that's what we did, got them ready for the seeds.

At one point I heard a noise that startled me. When I turned around I noticed Candace's cat sitting down after having jumped up onto the fence. He was watching something and when I looked my mind hallucinated a fairy flying away. Candace had been startled by it too, though not as bad as I. She laughed it off telling the cat "Good job, keep those pests out of here."

We lost ourselves in the work until Sam showed up surprised to find that I was there. He had brought a table saw that he could set up to cut the boards with and asked for some help getting it to the back. Candace teased him about needing help, which seemed friendly enough. But Sam scowled at her and so she went inside to clean up and start working on dinner.

Mostly Sam needed help getting it out of the truck, which he had his chain set up for moving the anvil. So we made use of that to get the table saw out, just to make it easy on us. And then it had wheels so even I could have taken it to the back. But someone needed to hold the gate. Once we got it in back we covered it up in case it rained, and Sam said he'd be able to cut the boards down the next day he had off. While we were there though he asked about our conspiracy dinner. He apologized that he'd missed the texts, but he was so busy he wouldn't have been able to make it anyway.

He knew Max had plans on Saturday evening with her family, and Hal and I got caught up in what was going on at the museum, so we hadn't even sent out texts. Which lead into another explanation of what had happened and where I now stand. Sam just listened, and didn't offer any judgement.

While we were eating dinner I vented some more, and admitted the ultimatum that my parents had left me with. Candace said if I needed I could move in with her, and Sam mentioned again needing a hand around the shop and said he could offer me a job if I wanted to help him with that. He couldn't offer me full time, but it'd give me at least some cash if I needed while I looked for something else. And Candace wouldn't hear about me paying rent, so I wouldn't need more than to cover my bills.

Actually, when Candace stepped away to go to the bathroom, Sam said that he really hoped I would take them up on their offers. At least Candace's. He said she's been getting worse lately and that he can't be here all the time. If I could move in with her, he'd be able to trust that someone was looking out for her when he couldn't be there. I asked what he meant by her getting worse. He said it was hard to explain, but I'd understand after spending some time here.

He said he didn't want me being any sort of live in maid, just that Candace needed help with things and if I were here he could trust she'd be fine. And he offered me to consider it my real job, he could pay me so that I wouldn't need to worry about finding another job and with me not paying rent I'd be better off altogether.

I thanked them both for their offers and told them I'd think about it. And while Sam was giving me a ride home, he didn't pressure me, he just thanked me as always.

I'm not sure I like him making these arrangements behind Candace's back, not without any good explanation of why. I also know that I've been feeling like I need to watch out for her from him for a long time. I've got so many questions about these two, including how he has the money to make this kind of offer. I'm a little worried about what I might be getting myself into, but this would be an opportunity for me to answer some of those questions. And I don't exactly have anything else going at the moment. I'll sleep on it tonight, and talk with them again tomorrow.

March 10th, 2018

Our conversation tonight was dominated by today's news. The town of Smithwick, South Dakota has disappeared. And I don't mean the town's population, oddly the population didn't disappear. But the town itself, the physical location, is gone. And noone seems to be able to explain how this could have happened.

Our maps haven't changed, even the GPS type maps that track where your going, they still show the town being where it should be. But people have been testing that all day. They'll use GPS navigators to guide them to Smithwick, or directions that would take them through the town of Smithwick. For about three miles around the town the GPS will jump location. Two people holding GPS systems can be standing right next to each other, and the GPS locators will say they're standing three miles apart. They've circled a particular location in South Dakota where this is happening, corresponding with about a three mile diameter around the town.

But as I said, the population didn't disappear with the town and the people can't explain how that is. They just know that they took a step at some point and found themselves at this central point. As often as not that step being getting out of bed. One lady was embarrassed to find herself having just stepped out of her shower. And this didn't all happen at the same time, it seemed to happen as each person took a step whenever it was they did. It sounds like this started about three am as that was when the first person reported finding themselves at this central point in the middle of working their morning shift.

There's a lot of speculation from all sorts of people. Everything from UFO's bending space/time, to one or another deity's magical or miraculous intervention. The only people who seem to be willing to admit they don't know are the scientists, and this is only encouraging everyone else to announce they know what the scientists don't.

At least no one has gone missing this time, but how does an entire physical location disappear? A three mile radius of land, and buildings, an entire small town? Yet the people don't? Even animals, family pets are showing up in the same way the people did. It's fascinating, and chilling, and makes everyone question their sanity.

So we spent most of our conspiracy dinner talking about that. I was hoping it'd distract Hal from telling everyone about what's happening at the museum, I didn't want him telling them he wanted to sneak in after hours. But I couldn't stop him when he did.

Max was all on board with the idea of sneaking into the museum after hours to try and spy Nephmesu. Sam seemed to be the only one talking sense and warning us that it was a very bad idea. And I know he's the one to be cautious about everything, but in this case caution is what we need.

Hal's wishful thinking sounds more like he's wishing we'd be supportive of his plan, rather than wishing his plan was something we could do. And Max isn't helping with her "I know, but what if?"

If there were any other topics to discuss, they were forgotten after those two particular issues. By the time I thought to look at a clock to figure out the time, I should have already been home and getting ready for bed. With as late as it is, I'm wondering if I even want to go to the gym in the morning. I could make it up and hit the gym on the way home. Hal'll be off training with Brigida anyway.

I could make it, but I'm kinda thinking I want to get some rest tonight. This morning I woke up to a couple of doves cooing outside my window this morning. When I opened my window, I could have sworn that one of the doves was actually a little hispanic boy who'd wrapped himself up in a leaf. But I startled them by opening the window and they were flying away before I could look a second time.

I'll mark it down as a hallucination, but that could have just been my eye's playing tricks on me.

I should mention that work was very stressful today. They doubled up security and it felt like they were watching us like hawks. Every time I was reaching into my drawer I was making doubly sure I didn't accidentally grab the wrong bill or anything. And I know, things going missing is a really big deal, but they're watching us during the day. Whatever's been taken was taken over night.

And I get to do it all over again tomorrow.

March 6th, 2018

Today was a nice day at work. Things are still stressful after all the weird stuff, but Dr. Paulson was able to get her work space back into an order she was happy with. Even more importantly, she hasn't reported anything missing. Still no one has stepped up to take responsibility, and we all feel like we're being watched closely. But it went by without incident, and even the visitors were pleasant.

Since I had the afternoon to myself, I caught up with the news. I don't often write about things going on outside my own little world. But the disappearances and the #fairysign stuff are going from being just my own little world to being a part of the wider world. News media is really starting to catch on to this pattern, and I think people are realizing that whatever the effect is, it's spreading. So the questions that are starting to be asked is what the effect is, what caused it, and what can be done about it. Because we're talking about missing persons, they are focusing on social causes. They don't know about the ohveo or the Fomori, or that there might actually be some truth to the old mythologies. So they don't know what they should be asking or how to focus on these issues being something other than social.

And so my little world issues are starting to become part of the larger world. And now I'm wondering how things will be different after the ohveo is completely down. They're talking about hosting the Olympics here in Colorado. It's an exciting idea, but how will that work with fairies and Fomori? Or will we even have an Olympics? What if the fairies compete alongside us? Would that be fair, or would they be separated into their own competitions?

Then there's the school shootings, which are just heart breaking. I was in high school during the Sandy Hook shooting, and that was a scary time for us then. But they were still rare enough that we didn't consider it happening at our school. Now shootings are so common that school practice shooter drills the way we practiced fire drills. I read that some republican thinks thoughts and prayers are enough, but they've been offering thoughts and prayers every time there's a shooting. Not only are shootings still happening, they're coming more often. If thoughts and prayers are having any effect, they're making things worse.

We've got global warming making new records each year, not just in temperatures, but also in precipitation. For all that extra moisture, we don't seem to have a lot of snow on the ground. We just had a pretty intense storm the other week, and the snow was practically gone before the week was out. There used to be snow on the ground from November into March, and I've seen pictures of houses buried in snow around here. But people still deny this is even happening. Calling it climate change as though it's just some part of a bigger pattern.

But considering there are those who still profess a flat earth, maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

I can't help but feel that maybe we deserve what's coming. If Hal is to be believed and the Fomori are actually coming back.

It's a depressing thought, and I hope that's not the case.

Hal did mention at lunch today that next week is his midterms and after that will be spring break. Things are probably going to be a little crazy for him next week, but he's hoping to celebrate a bit afterward. He's already asked if we could do something on that Wednesday since I'll be off. And then maybe we can get the others together on Thursday since I'd be spending the day with Candace. I told him that sounded great, and have promptly started planning on how I might surprise him with a long overdue present.

Tomorrow I'll try and get my chores done early, and then in the afternoon Hal'll pick me up. Since the mid terms are coming I suspect we'll be studying for those.

March 3rd, 2018

Just got back from the conspiracy dinner with the others. I had forgotten to text everyone for confirmation yesterday, but it's become the pattern now. Hal picked me up from work, and on the way to his place we grabbed some frozen enchiladas for dinner. Max wanted quesadillas, so she grabbed cheese and flour tortillas. They were fun to make, though we were melting the cheese in the microwave rather than grilling it on the stove. Still, it was fun and easy, and pretty tasty.

We spent a good deal of time talking about The Stag and his new rival. There hasn't been anything on the news since he was dragged away, and we're all worried what that might mean. In general I think we are in agreement that he wasn't the hero he probably thought he was, but we certainly don't wish him to come to harm. But we also speculated on who this opponent was and what he might have wanted with The Stag.

Max has been finding a lot of interesting things posted with #fairysign. Given her enjoyment of debunking videos, she's turned that talent toward debunking the #fairysign stuff. Lots of pictures of natural phenomena, interesting phenomena, but natural. Also lots doctored photos, some of which look really good, others that look really bad. Even with all that however, there's still plenty of images that aren't so easily debunked or explained. And while we keep a skeptical mind on those things we can't explain, we're also all excited to think there are fairies behind the images.

On the other hand, Max has also been keeping track of reported disappearances. Of course we can't confirm that any or all are people managing to cross the ohveo. If we knew where the people were, they wouldn't be missing. But, Max tries to look for those commonalities that we've already identified. Mostly lone or paired individuals, out in nature, and especially if one disappears away from a group. There have been exceptions, the big one being Albany, Wyoming. And we suspect that disappearances have been starting to happen in more urban areas as well. But as with everything, we can't confirm for sure.

All that said, given those filters, Max has now collected reports from all forty eight contiguous states and Alaska. And missing persons statistics are currently far above average.

Hal's been keeping up with the stories of people showing up who have no legal identity. Such stories are not as common, but they're becoming more common as the months wear on. There've even been some news stories about it. We don't have such stories in all the states like we do the disappearances, but they seem to be following a similar expanding area. Texas, California, Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio, Montana, all have reports of such people being found.

Sam apologized again, referencing his commission, but he did say he was trying to keep up with the statistics involving the wildlife. Those reports are much slower to show up and don't catch the media's attention as readily.

I on the other hand tried to look up more on Melia Floros only to find that her site hasn't been updated in the last week or so. The last interviews she had were with college students, and even those were at campus's we believe she visited before even getting to Hal's campus. So I didn't have anything to report there.

What I didn't report was that this morning at the gym, I saw another couple of fairies. They were flying around in the weight room, almost like they were trying to find a way out. These two were both girls, one was even properly dressed. She looked more like she belonged in a renaissance festival though. The other seemed to have wrapped one of the locker room towels around her. I just didn't feel that I needed to report a hallucination at the conspiracy dinner.

Being aware of all this stuff is interesting. I just don't like the idea that we can't prove any of it. We're running largely on speculation, even if we have good reason to think these things are true. Being unable to prove it though mostly just means we can't tell anyone else about it.

There is one other thing that I want to mention though. After the missing tool yesterday, I thought that was a one off. But I got to talking to some of the girls today, and it seems it's not the only item that's gone missing recently. It's just the most expensive. I'm not sure that this has anything to do with the fairies. Not my hallucinations, but the ones we talk about at dinner. So I wouldn't have brought it up, though I didn't think about it during our dinner. I don't know, just weird.

February 24th, 2018

Oh my goodness, today was such a good day. A long overdue relaxing day. It's too bad days like this can't happen more often and really makes me wish I could have a more regular schedule with the weekends off.

Hal picked me up early in the day, and then we headed over to Candace's to meet up with her and Max. And then since Hal's jeep was more practical for the four of us we took his car. We hit up the gym first just so we can say we earned the day. I haven't been able to run with Max in a while, that was nice. And it allowed us to go more at our own pace rather than me feeling like I need to keep up with Hal. Whereas Hal and Candace were really able to stretch their longer legs.

Afterward we went to the Botanic Gardens. And with all the snow we've had recently, the place was beautiful. It's not the lively green of the spring and summer months, but they make the gardens inviting during the winter and have fun with the snow. It was a real treat to be able to go. It also gave Hal a chance to try and check in on Melia Floros, something that we had talked about doing a month ago or so. Turns out, she doesn't work there any more. Probably just as well.

Today they were doing a "Bumblebee Jamboree", a concert aimed and families and kids. We got there late for that, but managed to see a bit of the end. It looked like it was a lot of fun. And all the kids dressed up in bee costumes, or with insect wings on their backs. It was the cutest thing.

Thing was, I was seeing more than just kids with wings. And I don't know if their costumes triggered it or what. But at first it was just a couple I saw sitting on the back of a bench. They were just sitting there, swinging their legs and watching all the people. They seemed to really enjoy the kids and were pointing the kids out to each other. It actually seemed rather normal. One was entirely green, even his spiked hair. He had like little baby's breath flowers arranged in like a crown around his head, and a bow rested over his shoulder and across his chest. Otherwise it didn't look like he was wearing anything. The other was darker skinned, like me, and she was wearing a skirt of petals that made me think of the Hawaiian grass skirts. Long flowing blue hair was all she had to cover her chest.

My first reaction was to do what I'd been doing all along. I asked Max, since she was right there, if she could see them. She thought I was pointing to a couple of kids nearby, I had to clarify that I was looking at fairies and that they were sitting on the bench. Max couldn't see them.

We moved on, and checked out as many of the gardens as we could. There's just so much to see. After that initial hallucination though, I stopped pointing the others out. And there were many, I was seeing fairies in each garden, at least one. The tropical garden had the most, off the top of my head I can remember three separate pairs and another group of three.

After all that I was feeling a little ragged. It's distressing enough to know I'm seeing things, but to see so many in such a short time. I don't know if it's a result of the stent, or the new medication, or a combination of the two. It was just a lot. And the others were noticing that I was struggling. When they started asking, Max admitted that I had hallucinated earlier, so they just assumed I was struggling and needed rest. Which isn't entirely wrong, it's just that I was struggling with what I was seeing.

But it was getting around lunch time, and we were getting hungry. So we headed out to Max's favorite restaurant, Casa Bonita. Candace couldn't remember ever having been before, so it was a real treat having her look wide eye'd at everything there is to see. Max had been texting Sam, and he joined us there to take a break from his commission. And then when it was time we all went and saw a midday showing of Black Panther.

That movie was so good! So well done in every way, definitely one of the MCU's best. Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger was such a relatable villain, not just one who's motivations we can understand, but someone we could so easily be. Boseman's T'Challa on the other hand was all about stepping into his role and defining it for himself. The struggle between tradition and whats right, his view of his father versus finding out what his father's done. It's a common storyline, the growth of the hero, but almost redefined or reforged in this movie. Personally I loved Letitia Wright's Q, I mean Shuri. She reminded me of Batel so much, but in her I could see my own admiration for my brother.

I could go on and on, everything about that movie is testament to the records it's breaking.

But I need to also mention what happened afterward. Sam had to get back to his stuff, and I was getting tired. So we stopped by the store on the way back to Candace's and grabbed groceries for to make dinner. By the time we were getting back to her place a news story interrupted Hal's station. There was a big fight happening right now between The Stag and the other cloaked individual he'd faced just the other day. Hal and Max rushed right into the house and turned on the TV to see the live coverage, leaving me to help Candace with the groceries.

All that aside. As usual, we don't know what started the fight, how or really where. Reports are that they were already fighting by the time it was reported to the news stations. Helicopters and vans were sent to Cherry Creek state park, and they were able to broadcast live the last of the fight. Again, both cloaked figures were paired off, the deer mask versus the fur mantle and spear. This time though, the opponent was making The Stag look like an amateur. Not that I'm an expert, just that for all his strength, The Stag couldn't land a hit. His opponent seemed to deflect and counter all of The Stags attempts to strike him, as much as he could he avoided facing The Stag directly, he did. They were both fast, but the opponent was faster.

We're aware of how strong The Stag is, maybe not specifics, but being able to push an overturned car is evidence of his strength. His opponent didn't seem to be as strong, but no weakling, especially not while using that spear. When he'd hit The Stag, The Stag was sent reeling. It was apparent his blows were forceful. Even still, The Stag took the beating. And he would not stop, by the time I'd joined Hal and Max, both of them were saying the fight was over, and they were still going at it.

I think what impressed me was how well the opponent was using his spear. He struck The Stag with his feet, his hands, and the butt and haft of the spear, but never with the point. It kinda made me wonder why he was fighting with a spear to begin with, but he used it masterfully.

The Stag on the other hand, he was relying on his strength way too much. Like I said, it was clear to us that The Stag wasn't landing blows. But he just kept trying to overpower his opponent with his strength. Candace stopped by real quick to ask for help in the kitchen, and taking a quick look at the TV I heard her mutter, "no self control." I told her I'd join her, but as I was turning to leave the sound of sirens was starting to be heard on the TV. I knew whatever would happen, the fight would be over shortly. So I stopped to finish it out.

The Stag, despite all his impressive strength and stamina, was being worn down. Whoever his opponent was, had fought him almost to a stand still. But The Stag must have a stubborn streak, he charged one last time. And his opponent finally used his spear like a spear. Just planted the butt in the ground and let The Stag run right into it. Using the momentum of The Stags charge, and the leverage of the planted spear, he lifted the spear throwing The Stag over his head. And as The Stag passed by, he jerked the spear pulling its head free, bright fresh red blood covering it.

The news stations cut the feed almost immediately, apologizing for the graphic content. At that point Candace turned the TV off and again asked for help.

We didn't discuss what we'd seen. It wasn't until Sam joined us that we started talking again, mostly just talking about how much fun we'd had and the movie. If Sam was aware of the news, he didn't say.

While Hal was bringing me home, he turned his radio back on to the news hoping to find out what'd happened afterward. It seems the police showed up to the park finding evidence of their fight, but couldn't find either The Stag or his opponent. We don't know where they went, if they left together, if the opponent took The Stag, if The Stag was able to leave on his own, or if he's even still alive.

The Stag is no role model, he's brutal and has a tendency to make things worse. And I don't know what he was trying to do, or trying to achieve. But I find myself worried for him, worried what's happened to him and if he'll be okay. I just, I wish I knew.

February 20th, 2018

Today was one of those days where, if I were of the mind, I would have taken my dizzy spell to have been a warning sign. I had finished up Efe's letter last night before going to bed, so on my way to work I was able to drop it off to be delivered. Hal had some chore he needed to run and wasn't able to pick me up. But he still made it to the gym and was able to get me to work.

Work was smooth, and Helene stopped by to apologize for the mix up yesterday. She said she'd taken care of everything and my leave was approved. I didn't get any explanation as to what had been mixed up, or how, I was just happy that she was making sure I was taken care of.

We were busy enough for time to fly by and before I knew it Hal had brought me lunch. He remembered how much I liked Tocabe and brought some of their Fry Bread nuggets.

It was just before my last break that I had my attack. It wasn't a bad one today, I just had to steady myself against the counter for a moment in the middle of helping a guest. After I finished up with the guest I asked if I could take my break a little early and went outside for some fresh air.

Outside there were some kids who were pointing and laughing while their parents talked. Curious, I walked over just to take a look at what they were pointing at. There was a cat, who was being picked on by a couple of fairies. Of course the kids couldn't see the fairies, they were just laughing at the cat. Of course, cats being cats, my brain was probably just interpreting what it was doing. I didn't get to watch for long before one of the fairies tugged the cat's tail and then flew off as the cat chased after. The second fairy followed close behind.

So since I was already walking, I just made my way around the trees like I often do in warmer weather before heading in.

The big thing though was after I'd gotten home. During my bus ride there was another incident with The Stag. Now it seems that our "superhero" has a villain. Another guy in a cloak, though this one doesn't have a deer head mask. His cloak though seems to have a fur mantle, and he was carrying an ornately carved spear. I'm saying he again, considering the two sparred, but they kept their hood low enough that their face was never revealed. It may have still been masked, but at least from the angle of video the news station had picked up, we can't know. The footage itself was more cell phone video taken by a witness. Reports are that the two cloaked figures were already fighting as they entered the park. By the time the cell phone was recording, the two were facing off. The Stag charged his opponent, and body checked him. His opponent was sent flying more than a few feet, but he rolled and was up even as The Stag was charging again. He spun his spear around over his head real quick meeting The Stag's rush, the butt of his spear cleanly catching The Stag at the side of his face. The Stag reeled from the blow and stumbled to his knees. His opponent didn't wait, he turned and ran off. But the time The Stag was back on his feet, his opponent was almost out of the park, but already sirens could be heard approaching even by the cell phone. So The Stag ran the other way.

As usual, noone's sure what all this was about. Everyone seems to be assuming that the opponent is the "bad guy" while The Stag is the "good guy." All I know is that I still have reservations about The Stag being a good guy.

Max has been blowing up my phone about all this. She's convinced we've got The Stag's first rogue for his gallery. Personally I'm just glad this didn't take place anywhere near here. But Max did ask an important question, "Didn't The Stag get shot four or five days ago?" Or were the police mistaken about hitting him?

If he was shot, he's doing very well. He didn't look at all like he'd recently been shot.

My weekend is finally upon me. I've got all my chores to get to tomorrow, and since I'll be going to the hospital on Thursday Candace is planning on joining me all day tomorrow. I'm starting to get nervous realizing it's so close. Hal also wants to make sure to spend time with me after he gets out for the day. So I'm going to try and get my laundry done before I leave, then after running chores we'll head to his place to meet for dinner.

February 17th, 2018

They got the power back on last night, around two am. We noticed because suddenly a lot of our lights turned on and the TV came on. We had turned off all the light switches, but like my lamp is a twisty switch and I didn't know if it was on or off. Either way, it meant we could have a hot breakfast.

While Hal was taking me to the gym this morning, I noticed some activity in a park that we pass by. When I looked, I saw a group of fairies playing keep away from something else. It looked like a small child, but definitely wasn't. I was tempted to ask Hal if he saw it too, but I didn't want to distract him from driving, and I realized I was probably hallucinating it. Then I noticed there were runners passing through the park as well, and no one else seemed to see the fairies. So I'll mark this down as a hallucination, just to start keeping a record of them like I do my dizzy spells.

Work went well, if unremarkable. It was afterward that Hal picked me up again and brought me to his place. There we got the soup started while we waited for Max and Sam to show up. They brought the stuff for grilled cheese, and it turned out well. It's funny, I've had grilled cheese before at Max's when we were growing up. And I've had tomato soup countless times, usually used as a base for something else. But I've never had them together. I can see now why Max refers to them as a comfort food.

As for our conspiracy talk, Hal started since he's been keeping an eye on Melia Floros. He mentioned that the interviews she'd been conducting were all showing up on her site. Interesting as far as finding out people's opinions on the tree, but not very informative.

Max mentioned #fairysign and brought to our attention the more interesting finds. And while there were a lot of neat things, again nothing substantial. Instead, she brought to our attention that on Thursday about half the people who'd disappeared in Albany earlier this month showed back up. Investigators in the town were surprised to find a young man walking up the road from the little laramie river. He was one of the missing persons, and he lead those in town back down to the river where they found a group of people who'd made a makeshift camp. Those who are still missing were reported to have been out either searching for food, or anything else they could find. A group had gone looking for help a week ago and hadn't come back yet. Those who were out looking for food and stuff had only left moments before, but now they can't be found. To the distress of those who were found. Mostly kids and young adults, a few adults. So we're still missing about half the town.

The thing is, reading over their accounts, it's very similar to Hal's. They didn't wake to find themselves in their own beds, or even in their town. They'd looked around hoping to find out where they were and had started maping the area. Their maps don't correspond to anything in that area. So they started making their own camp near the river for fresh water, and being this time of year they struggled. Almost everyone was underfed, there were more than a few cases of frostbite, but they were all alive. And then that morning, the young man who was found wandering up the road had literally stumbled upon it and followed it into town. They were missing longer than Hal was, but how they got where they were, where they were, and how they managed to be found not far from where they'd gone missing... Even Hal mentioned how eerily it matches his own experiences.

After mulling that over for a while Sam apologized that he didn't have anything to bring to the table, he's just been so busy on his commission. But he's been making progress and finally had some pictures to share. I'm still not sure what it is he's making, but it's impressive. It did remind me though that I wanted to get pictures of everyone for Efe. So we spent some time taking some fun photos, and now I have a bunch I can send his way.

We did talk about The Stag and how much he's been in the news recently. His feat of strength in pushing the car was by far what we found most interesting. And of course Hal spent a lot of time speculating on what that might mean. He thinks The Stag is probably in contact with the fae somehow and they've granted him magical strength. Hal did say it's also possible that The Stag isn't human, that the mask may not be a mask. But if he wasn't human, Hal's pretty sure he wouldn't have helped the bus passengers the other night.

When it came around to me, I just let everyone know about the operation I'll be having and my leave of absence to take things easy. They were sympathetic and supportive. Max even suggested that we take advantage of my leave next weekend and do something. Hal mentioned that Black Panther was out and suggested we go see it, maybe make a whole day of it or something. Sam said he wouldn't be able to do a whole day, but we could grab Candace for the day and he could join us for the movie that evening. If she wanted to go of course.

Having made plans for next week though, there wasn't a whole lot more to talk about. Max and Sam headed out early. Though as they were heading out the door, Max asked Hal if he liked my present. Which lead to a hurried explanation that he'd surprised me and I forgot to grab it. Of course, there was no mention of what "it" was, so Hal's still in the dark. But now he's all sorts of curious, and Max isn't helping, she flat out stated I wouldn't be getting out of it.

After they left, Hal spent some time grilling me on his present. I said nothing, I resisted. He's earned it. I'll just have to find a good time.

February 11th, 2018

I had a dizzy spell this morning, about fifteen minutes after clocking in. I was getting set up for the day and just about fell over it had come on so fast. Fortunately it was quick, and I didn't drop the money I had in my hand. That wouldn't have been good. It didn't last long, and was gone almost as suddenly as it had come. Looking over my notes, that's about one every week going back all the way into October when I was doing about two a week. Still more than it had been before my blackout, but much more tolerable.

Simon finished moving out today. Hal reported to me at lunch that he went through the apartment to make sure nothing of his was missing, and that nothing of Simon's had been left behind. It sounds like everything checked out. And I knew Hal would want to do something, so I suggested we take advantage of his place being free and do something there. We've been eating out a lot lately and I don't want that to become the habit.

But when we got to his place after work, I just felt a little weirded out being there. I know Simon's out, and I can even see that his stuff is gone. Even so, I was still expecting him to jump out of some corner and just felt trapped. So when Hal asked what we should do for dinner, I suggested going out.

I feel like such a wimp doing that, and I'm worried that's how it'll be every time I'm over there now. Hopefully with time it'll go away.

Hal had missed out on our Mexican seafood, but I'd just had seafood. So we compromised and went for sushi, which I'd never had before anyway. I'll admit I was a bit squeamish at first. But after trying some, so good!

We talked a bit about the vigilante and what had happened last night. While I was at work, a cell phone video reached the news media. Some kid filmed the vigilante moments before the brawl on Colfax. It clearly shows that there were two groups of people involved, that they started fighting each other. The vigilante was watching them talk when the kids approached him with their cell phone. His voice was muffled behind the mask, but it sounded familiar to me. And he spoke with an accent that neither Hal or I could place.

The kids didn't seem to think anything was wrong, they just started filming him and making fun. Which drew his attention from what he was watching. He responded well to the kids, and when one asked who he was he said "I'm the stag." It was about then that the shouting broke out. There was a loud noise in the background which surprised the kid holding the phone. He dropped it as the vigilante, The Stag, started moving. The fall must've broke the phone 'case the video cuts out then.

So now we all have a name, or title, to go with our new vigilante. "The Stag."

Hal was explaining that in older times the stag was a symbol of strength and virility. Since he had the time to go looking it up, he also found references to Cernunnos. An ancient Celtic deity that we don't know much about, but he was also known as The Horned God. Hal's theory is that the vigilante is emulating that deity.

While he was describing this to me though, something caught my eye. Up on one of the light fixtures was a tiny girl. A fairy. She seemed to be watching over everything, and beyond turning her head this way and that, she didn't move the whole time I noticed her. Unlike the other ones I had seen at the museum, she was dressed. In fact it looked like she was dressed in more traditional Japanese style clothing. As small as she was, and being all the way across the room from me, I couldn't make out her face. But she did have long hair in two pony tails on each side, which also seemed to tie in a couple of long leaves or feathers. I didn't see any wings, though there were some long wide strips of cloth coming off the back of her outfit. And she just stood there watching everything. I took me a bit to realize that she was watching the staff as often as not. Like she was the little proprietor watching over her employees.

I was trying not to stare, and found myself looking away before she might notice me looking at her. But I was also conscious of Hal watching me, my first instinct to hide from him what was going on. He caught me though and asked what I was watching. So I asked him to look where she was, and asked what he saw there. He described the light fixture, and the trim along the wall behind it, and other features to be seen. But he didn't see the fairy. He's not stupid though, seeing the disappointment on my face he asked if I was seeing something. I just nodded.

He wanted to know what, but because I felt she was watching over things, I felt like she'd catch me talking about her. So I asked if we could go and described her to him as he was driving me home. He walked me to my door and made sure to hug me tightly before letting me go.

Part of me just wants to call in sick tomorrow. I should call up Dr. Laurie's office tomorrow and see how much longer it'll be before we get the results back.