T-minus 25 days to DEADLINE.: seanan

T-minus 25 days to DEADLINE.

Berkeley, California. June 11th, 2014.

"Phillip! Time to come in for lunch!" Stacy Mason stood framed by the back door of their little Berkeley professor's home (soon to be fully paid-off, and wouldn't that be a day for the record books?), wiping her hands with a dishrag and scanning the yard for her wayward son. Phillip didn't mean to be naughty, not exactly, but he had the attention span of a toddler, which was to say, not much of an attention span at all. "Phillip!"

Giggling from the fence alerted her to his location. With a sigh that was half-love, half-exasperation, Stacy turned to toss the dishrag onto the counter before heading out into the yard. "Where are you, Mister Man?" she called.

More giggling. She pushed through the tall tomato plants—noting idly that they needed to be watered before the weekend if they wanted to have any fruit before the end of the month—and found her son squatting in the middle of the baby lettuce, laughing as one of the Golden Retrievers from next door calmly washed his face with her tongue. Stacy stopped, biting back her own laughter at the scene.

"A conspiracy of misbehavior is what we're facing here," she said.

Phillip turned to face her, all grins, and said, "Ma!"

"Yes."

"Oggie!"

"Again, yes. Hello, Marigold. Shouldn't you be in your own yard?"

The Golden Retriever thumped her tail sheepishly against the dirt, as if to say that yes, she was a very naughty dog, but in her defense, there had been a small boy with a face in need of washing.

Stacy sighed, shaking her head in good-natured exasperation. She'd talked to the Connors family next door about their dogs dozens of times, and they tried, but Marigold and Maize simply refused to be confined by any fence or gate that either family had been able to put together. It would have been more of a problem if they hadn't been such sweet, sweet dogs. Since both Marigold and her brother adored Phillip, it was more like having convenient canine babysitters right next door. She just wished they wouldn't make their unscheduled visits so reliably at lunchtime.

"All right, you. Phillip, it's time for lunch. Time to say good-bye to Marigold."

Phillip nodded before turning and throwing his arms around Marigold's neck, burying his face in her fur. His voice, muffled but audible, said, "Bye-time, oggie." Marigold wuffed once, for all the world like she was accepting his farewell. Duty thus done, Phillip let her go, stood, and ran to his mother, who caught him in a sweeping hug that left streaks of mud on the front of her cotton shirt. "Ma!"

"I just can't get one past you today, can I?" she asked, and kissed his cheek noisily, making him giggle. "You go home, now, Marigold. Your people are going to worry. Go home!"

Tail wagging amiably, the Golden Retriever stood and went trotting off down the side yard. She probably had another loose board there somewhere; something to have Michael fix when he got home from school and could be sweet-talked into doing his share of the garden chores. In the meanwhile, the dogs weren't hurting anything, and Phillip did love them.

"Come on, Mister Man. Let's go fill you up with peanut butter and jelly, shall we?" She kissed him again, and his giggles provided sweet accompaniment to their walk back to the house. Maybe it was time to talk about getting him a dog of his own.

Maybe when he was older.

***

Professor Michael Mason joins our Biology Department from the University of Redmond, where he taught for three years. His lovely wife, Stacy, is a horticulture fan, and his son, Phillip, is a fan of cartoons and chasing pigeons...

When will you Rise?

sheistheweather

May 6 2011, 23:12:29 UTC 6 years ago

New comment

Oh, ouchie. Wow.

phoenixsansfyr

May 6 2011, 23:17:52 UTC 6 years ago

I'm crying because I know what's going to be the end result of Phillip's love for the dogs next door :(

wendyzski

May 8 2011, 00:32:27 UTC 6 years ago

Me too. *sniffle*

artbeco

May 6 2011, 23:28:04 UTC 6 years ago

Ooooh, she did love, once. So sweet, and so tragic.

Cynical Nymph

May 6 2011, 23:29:37 UTC 6 years ago

O_O

If it weren't totally weirdo-stalker kind of behavior, I would totally take a picture of my arm hair standing up on its very tippy top ends, because you should viscerally understand the kind of chills you just gave me when I read the names at the beginning of this post.

marziek

May 6 2011, 23:48:36 UTC 6 years ago Edited: May 6 2011, 23:49:52 UTC

You and me both.... Because we all know how that's gonna turn out. Just look at that last name.

alessandriana

May 6 2011, 23:33:32 UTC 6 years ago

O-oh God. Poor kiddo. D:

biomekanic

May 6 2011, 23:33:39 UTC 6 years ago

Oh ouch.

May 6 2011, 23:47:24 UTC 6 years ago Edited: May 6 2011, 23:47:45 UTC

Seanan, you know I love you to pieces but why, why, why woman are you posting something that leaves me with this feeling of ominous foreboding dread and yes, I know that's re-redundant, when release is soooooo far away. *sobsbitterly*

I need this book last Tuesday.

fullcontactmuse

May 6 2011, 23:51:49 UTC 6 years ago

An early look at the Masons. Those retrievers are easily over 40 lbs, aren't they? I hope that is not how it will end for Phillip because being betrayed by the thing you love makes it just that much worse.

And this leaves me with a question about the Rules. If viral amplification can happen in any mammal over 40 pounds, does that mean that humans, a type of mammal, must be over 40 pounds as well to go through amplification as well?

That would be almost a god send if there the case, because the only thing more awful than your child meeting an untimely demise is your child getting back up again and someone (namely you) having to put them back.

saoba

May 7 2011, 00:22:42 UTC 6 years ago

My two year old Golden Molly weighs 77 pounds- she's a big girl but not out of line for her breed. Hell she was over 40 pounds by the time she was 4 months old.

Eeep. I'll be in the corner, gibbering.

archangelbeth

6 years ago

lysystratae

shiyiya

(Squicky comment!)

notalwaysweak

herewiss13

May 7 2011, 00:06:46 UTC 6 years ago

There's nothing better than a friendly neighborhood dog like that...until they go into amplification, of course.

ladymondegreen

May 7 2011, 00:17:14 UTC 6 years ago

It's harder now, knowing the Masons before they were broken, and seeing what broke them.

redbird57

May 7 2011, 00:28:10 UTC 6 years ago

That is the saddest thing I've ever read

asthecrowfly

May 7 2011, 00:43:09 UTC 6 years ago

I cried.

smoooom

May 7 2011, 01:09:16 UTC 6 years ago

You are going to make me cry aren't you.

paradisacorbasi

May 7 2011, 01:28:40 UTC 6 years ago

Oh, that is painful.

Painful because we know what'll happen to little Phillip.

Painful because we know what'll happen to those sweet, sweet, sweet, doggies.

Painful because we know what Stacy will have to deal with.

And Painful because this is the weekend leading into Mother's Day.

OUCH, woman.

And thank you.

priscellie

May 7 2011, 01:35:20 UTC 6 years ago

Freaking OW. OW AND WOE.

azurelunatic

May 7 2011, 02:48:52 UTC 6 years ago

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:

(this is good)

gwynnega

May 7 2011, 03:45:45 UTC 6 years ago

Oh, that hurts.

May 7 2011, 03:52:13 UTC 6 years ago

ooooooooooooooo

indilwen

May 7 2011, 04:55:24 UTC 6 years ago

Oh noooo :(

mel_redcap

May 7 2011, 06:50:05 UTC 6 years ago

Oh, man. D: My stomach totally sank when I realised who those characters were.

ironed_orchid

May 7 2011, 13:28:41 UTC 6 years ago

You are mean and I love you.

coloursofdusk

May 7 2011, 13:45:41 UTC 6 years ago

Reading with dread and enjoyment. Thank you for these snippets, they're both fantastic and chilling!

ann_totusek

May 7 2011, 15:12:09 UTC 6 years ago

I have a picture for you but I don't have your email address. I took it at Blackwell's Books in Oxford England. It shows "Feed" prominently placed in the SF section. I thought you might like the visual reminder that you're an international best-seller. :) My email addy is toad at hauntedfrog dot com.