<![CDATA[I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon.]]>I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. Two beautiful birds Iโ€™ve never seen in the open before started darting just over my head. Eurasian jays, the acorn-burying birds credited with spreading oak trees after the ice age. Whenever I stopped to look straight up at them, they flitted quicker than swifts into the nearest tree and hid. When I walked on, they darted out and circled me again.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/b68fb4d0-d480-4c12-8f95-0b6e05fd8aac/i-took-a-shortcut-through-a-graveyard-this-afternoon.RSS for NodeMon, 05 Oct 2026 01:38:08 GMTSun, 04 Oct 2026 18:28:15 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:40:21 GMT]]>@tanyakaroli Curious. That's it, that's the word. It was a most curious experience. A peculiar sequence of tiny events.

@wannabemystiker

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384335926571722https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384335926571722Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:40:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:32:09 GMT]]>@CiaraNi The whole thing sounds magical and Wonderland-like! What a wonderfully intense and curious experience. @wannabemystiker

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://expressional.social/users/tanyakaroli/statuses/117384303694940082https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://expressional.social/users/tanyakaroli/statuses/117384303694940082Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:32:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:31:33 GMT]]>@benjaminlj Oh no, maybe it is my story now, because I didn't just leave it where I found it, but took it home and retold it.

I had to look up 'roll for initiative' and it seems to mean 'let the battle begin', so now I'm even more slightly unnerved, thank you. I'll never beat that hare - it was kangaroo-beefy.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384301355407879https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384301355407879Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:31:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:20:25 GMT]]>@CiaraNi sounds like it's your story now. And like you need to roll for initiative ๐Ÿ˜…

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://virup.social/users/benjaminlj/statuses/117384257539458439https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://virup.social/users/benjaminlj/statuses/117384257539458439Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:20:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:16:51 GMT]]>@wannabemystiker The reason I walked through the graveyard was because it was a shortcut during a detour from another route. I took the detour to drop by a place where I was picking up some candles. Perhaps I should sing some incantation when I light them to see what I can ward off. Or conjure up.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384243543229403https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384243543229403Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:16:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:08:52 GMT]]>@CiaraNi
It would be quite unnerving to me. I'd be inclined to clap my hands three times as I left and maybe do some other things once I got home. ๐Ÿ˜ฌ

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://expressional.social/users/wannabemystiker/statuses/117384212129699811https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://expressional.social/users/wannabemystiker/statuses/117384212129699811Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:08:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:06:27 GMT]]>@wannabemystiker I can't decide if it was an interesting or unnerving sequence of events. I amn't sure if I've been blessed or cursed.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384202651640281https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384202651640281Sun, 04 Oct 2026 19:06:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:52:40 GMT]]>@CiaraNi
Jaysus, no kidding.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://expressional.social/users/wannabemystiker/statuses/117384148457360789https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://expressional.social/users/wannabemystiker/statuses/117384148457360789Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:52:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:39:21 GMT]]>I feel like I just walked through someone elseโ€™s short story.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384096105398586https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384096105398586Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:39:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:39:02 GMT]]>After the birds left me and the hare left me, I left the graveyard. When I turned the corner of the path through the trees that leads to the side gate, I passed a bench. A man was sitting on it. He was staring at the ground, playing the tin whistle.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384094861833603https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384094861833603Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:39:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:36:47 GMT]]>Farther on, I suddenly felt as if I was being watched. I turned my head and saw a hare so huge that it made it me wonder if kangaroos and hares are related. It was just suddenly there, close by, on a parallel path. It sat utterly still and stared at me so intently that I wondered if Granny Weatherwax was in there. When I walked on, it walked on. When I stopped, it stopped and stared at me. When I walked on again, it walked on again. Then suddenly, from one gravestone to the next, it vanished.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384085982094892https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384085982094892Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:36:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I took a shortcut through a graveyard this afternoon. on Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:31:04 GMT]]>Farther on, a glint of something caught my eye. A gold mushroom, glowing, even though there was no sunlight. It looked unreal. Or surreal.

Farther on, one of the Autumn leaves in the woods waved at me and turned out to be Humpty Dumpty on a stone.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384063487013077https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.green/users/CiaraNi/statuses/117384063487013077Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:31:04 GMT