Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: accomplished
  • Music: OVFF, "River Lies."

Sometimes the mice sing...bad songs.

It's time for some free fiction, and for checking in on Verity and Dominic as they continue their trip from New York to Oregon, with plenty of stops along the way. They've weathered their time at the Carmichael Hotel with no fatalities. So where to next?

Why, back to Buckley Township, Michigan.

No tour of the history of the American Price family would be complete without a stop in Buckley. That's where Enid and Alexander settled down; where Jonathan brought home the Fabulous Fran, Star of New Mexico; where Alice Healy met Thomas Price. That's where it began.

It isn't where it ended.

You can download the new story now from the InCryptid short fiction page. Please download and save to read locally, rather than trying to read on my poor server.

This also serves as your discussion post.
Tags: cheese and cake, giving stuff away, incryptid, short fiction
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faecat

February 19 2016, 02:10:40 UTC 1 year ago

Yay!!

anne_d

February 19 2016, 02:22:59 UTC 1 year ago

Awwwww. That was lovely, thanks Seanan.

The mice will sing about anything, won't they.

dewline

February 19 2016, 03:27:20 UTC 1 year ago

Yes. They will.

jenfullmoon

1 year ago

  • New comment

lazzchan

February 19 2016, 02:35:32 UTC 1 year ago

Well, that was a nice bit of timing, going to LJ and then seeing this. I am rather speechless, actually-- I had hoped, but didn't expect them to go to Buckley, since there was a mention of the home being infested with black mold and something about a hell pit because of Grandpa Tom's ... literary thirst. Oh, what a visit and Dominic high as a kite on pollen was fabulous. This was also a very somber piece; the tone of it--the scenery and the bittersweet sadness of all of what was.

Thinking on Alice finding the place the first time and what it's become is also very tragic. Bravo, Seanan-- this one pulls the heartstrings just the right amount so that the blood barely shows.

jenfullmoon

February 19 2016, 22:38:00 UTC 1 year ago

What with the allusions to the first Alice short story, I was wondering if she was going to show up in this one.

deborah_c

February 19 2016, 02:49:09 UTC 1 year ago

Yay! A new Aeslin Mice fix to while away the small hours of the night!

liddle_oldman

February 19 2016, 04:03:01 UTC 1 year ago

Once again, thank you!

bree_ramsey314

February 19 2016, 04:06:35 UTC 1 year ago Edited:  February 19 2016, 04:07:20 UTC

Yay, and thank you very much! This one really did touch a bittersweet chord. When Verity and Dominic started into those woods I got so tense, I was actually clenching one fist so hard it made nail prints in my palm. I knew they were going to make it out, but I will never forget the horrible sense of loss I felt when Fran died; the woods around Buckley Township can kill anyone.

This was a wonderful surprise, though I have to say I was a little disappointed Verity didn't let Dominic sing the song. (I'm teasing, of course ... honest!) This just makes me even more excited for March 1st to get here; why, oh why did this have to be a leap year?!

You are the bestest ever! Watch out for angry, concussed owls!

acelightning

February 19 2016, 05:23:56 UTC 1 year ago

I wonder if swamp bromeliads can be domesticated? I'd love to have one; I'd feed it raw meat, but I'd keep it under-fed so it doesn't get too big. And any time I felt a need to relax, I'd just go sit in its room and breathe... (With my luck, I'd turn out to be immune to it.)

The ending was sweet. But I hope the mice put on an entire hours-long wedding ritual, complete with a massed choir performing that song!

dragonsally

February 19 2016, 06:37:12 UTC 1 year ago

I love you Ms Seanan, and your generosity and your stories. Just saying!

arcaneblades

February 19 2016, 07:04:01 UTC 1 year ago

Ok, time to be a grownup, and reference the quotes that made my day better.

Dominic grimaced. "Oh, hooray. But as you see, I am still here, despite the fact that your family's resident cult has decided to treat me to multiple rhymes for ‘scrotum.'" Ok, that one was definitely a dead of lols moment.

His smile became a puzzled look as he grabbed for me again. "No, not poetry. Not poetry at all. You're like a murder ballad in high heeled shoes. It's amazing. Dance with me, please. It's such a lovely night." And that one hit me right in my Nick Cave fondness, with a recall of "Curse of Millhaven," You definitely earn points there.

That was a lovely, if amusingly strange piece. Just what I needed after a sucky and stressfull day at work. Thanks so very much for sharing.

groblek

February 19 2016, 07:17:31 UTC 1 year ago

Aw, such a lovely ending, and a proposal that fits the couple so very well. You packed an impressive range of emotion into this short story. Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

melchar

February 19 2016, 07:31:05 UTC 1 year ago

You are too kind to us. I will relish the story and it will make me hungry for more. [But then, buying your books and all is a great use of cash, just for the re-reading value!]

Shauna Hoogland

February 19 2016, 11:32:50 UTC 1 year ago Edited:  February 19 2016, 11:35:19 UTC

Thanks so much, what a great addition to the shorts. It's amazing how you add to the modern story while also adding to the stories of multiple previous generations and all in a short fiction.

After Verity mentioned the possibility of the Bromeliad making people high, my internal dialogue went like this: PLEASE LET DOMINIC GET HIGH PLEASE LET DOMINIC GET HIGH OH PLEASE OH PLEASE HELL YES DOMINIC IS HIGH!!!

I hadn't anticipated the parents of the boys casting Verity as the bad guy (although it makes perfect sense) so that was a nice twist and made the romantic ending even sweeter.

Thank you!

notalwaysweak

February 19 2016, 11:40:48 UTC 1 year ago

Thank you for once again making me laugh and cry within the space of one story.

adafrog

February 19 2016, 14:20:33 UTC 1 year ago

Thanks!

epiphyllums

February 19 2016, 14:59:04 UTC 1 year ago

Thank you!

cereta

February 19 2016, 15:38:23 UTC 1 year ago

Oooh, thank you very much!

dragonsong

February 19 2016, 16:15:25 UTC 1 year ago

Oh Dominic... You are such a lucky, lucky man.

The whole bromeliad scene - there are few things as sweet as your beloved professing their undying love and affection while they are OUT OF THEIR MINDS. (With my husband, it's scotch, but the general effect is similar.)

reedrover

February 19 2016, 16:20:46 UTC 1 year ago

Dear Great Pumpkin - Please cause a huge rift in the time/space universe that allows for a mind-meld of Seanan and Ursula so that we are provided with a color-illustrated version of What Just Bit Me? A Guide to Emergency Triage so that I can horrify and amuse my friends and family.

draggonlaady

February 21 2016, 23:14:04 UTC 1 year ago

I second this wish!

Thank you!

vik_thor

February 19 2016, 18:22:09 UTC 1 year ago

Thank you very much!
I look forward to starting to read it on my lunch break, in just a few minutes. :)

juglore

February 19 2016, 19:16:50 UTC 1 year ago

I was thinking something totally different when I heard the mice were going to sing bad songs. Good story. Thank you Seanan.

Thank you for sharing this with us.

listicath

February 19 2016, 21:23:54 UTC 1 year ago

I wonder... What are the chances that you've already written the Mice's song? :)

badgermirlacca

February 20 2016, 00:15:53 UTC 1 year ago

Just wanted to say "thank you" for all the wonderful short fiction you are so generous to share with your readers--and some of it for free! I love the stories.

lylassandra

February 20 2016, 02:41:15 UTC 1 year ago

I loved this story! Although having people I love unappreciated or misinterpreted is a hot button of mine, so the judgey mom was just ARGH. But it made Dominic's proposal all the sweeter-- sure, this person who doesn't know the truth may think the worst, but THIS person, this person who knows all the dirt, etc, believes in you and what you do and loves you. *cue romantic sighing*

cgbookcat1

February 20 2016, 03:24:18 UTC 1 year ago

Thank you. This was lovely, and improved a horrible day.

Pamela Adams

February 20 2016, 05:03:48 UTC 1 year ago

This is Dominic's brain . This is Dominic's hrain on drugs.

Any questions? (Mine is just how many rhymes for scrotum ARE there?)

Loved the story. Thanks again.

offcntr

February 21 2016, 05:12:32 UTC 1 year ago

Totem.
Verboten...

that's all I got.
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