Story Time Contest 4!

[Leon Mordecai]

Le bump still 2 weeks left.

[Rye]

 

A day at the Beach

 

It was a hot, beautiful day in the state of South Carolina. A couple of members from here at Steam Gamers decided to get together on this beautiful day and visit the infamous Myrtle Beach in SC. Along for the ride was Smiley, Insidious, Souce Boss, WaVy, marymurder, Kitti, Bread, xDoodles, Black Rain, Crawfish, Cam, Lampshade, and the one crawling out of the cave from where he came, Rye.

 

With such a large group of people, of course they had to carpool in different cars. Black Rain was driving in her leased 2017 Black Ford Mustang, all by herself which she insisted on because her car was so fucking cool, it had a convertible and anything, it was actually really inefficient but she started throwing a tantrum in defense of it. The first group of people was being driven by Souce Boss in his 2009 Cherry Red Toyota Prius, with xDoodles, Crawfish, Lampshade, and Cam, you know like the weebs and stuff. Everyone else was in marymurder's 2005 Nasty Ass Brown Ford Excursion. No one has any idea why she has this massive diesel fueled truck but she does. Insidious, Smiley, WaVy, Kitti, Bread and Rye were all in this beast of a car.

 

As the group all car pooled down to Myrtle Beach, oh, and Black Rain by herself, they were all jamming out to music. Souce Boss and the weeb crew you can just picture listening to shit like

in that cherry red prius. While Black Rain was in her car listening to some

like Dj Khaled she's into that now. While the actual normal people driving with marymurder were all harmonizing to fucking

, cause they're G as fuck, except Bread he just kept silent the whole time.

 

After time passes, everyone shows up to the beach, with Black Rain waiting there standing next to her car because she was driving a fucking mustang and she thinks shes all that, and makes some dumbass witty comment like, "It's about time" as she pulls her aviators down and slightly on her nose slightly exposing her eyes and shit you know, like this.

 

Crawfish instantly jumps out of the car with all his clothes still on and sprints to the water and screams "MY HOME" and jumps into the water, we don't hear back from him again. Cam falls out of the car gasping for air because he was being knocked around as everyone else was freaking out to weeb music and he hated it all because he's not a weeb and he looks like he's about to die. xDoodles gets out and looks at everyone with a kawaii face and says because that's the only thing he fucking says and we are all confused how he was actually able to say that. Souce Boss gets out and makes the statement "Whose your Crawdaddy" and he's already got his swim trunks on and you look and it's these and they aren't even really swim trunks, it just makes everyone uncomfortable. Lastly, Lampshade's dumbass gets out looking like this revealing to us all, that he is in fact, an actual lampshade.

 

In the beast of a truck, WaVy gets out and does the same shit Crawfish did and runs to the water and lays down at the shore, letting the waves pick him up and take him to sea, so he can become a wave himself, really fucking weird, no one expected that from him. Bread rushes out of the car and runs to the sand, takes his hand and begins to viciously right all the lyrics to

song because he can't talk and then he turns around and smiles like he was actually apart of the harmonizing from earlier. Smiley, Rye, Insidious, Kitti, and marymurder all get out, ready to go to the beach, they look for Black Rain but shes long gone, already at the beach flirting with guys and stuff flexing her mustang, really really ignorant of her.

 

With Souce Boss, xDoodles going to the pier and going to the game room to look for more weeb shit to do, Crawfish and WaVy lost in the fucking water 5 minutes in, Cam in the bathroom vomiting because of the weeb he was exposed to, Black Rain flirting with guys and flexing her car being completely seperated from the group, and LampShade bumping in to stuff because hes an actual lampshade, Insidious, Smiley, Rye, Kitti, marymurder, and the mute Bread make their way down to the beach to actually swim like they were supposed to, and everyone has a good time for the rest of the day.

 

WaVy and Crawfish don't make it back home.

 

 

 

 

- Everyone in the story -

 

@xDoodles @Insidious @WavY @Bread @Kitti @LampShade @Cam @marymurder @Crawfish @Souce Boss @smiley :] @Black Rain

 

Thank you everyone for reading have a good day

 

[Leon Mordecai]

Bumpity bump, 4 more days to submit your stories

Also I am changing the 1 month subscriber prize to a 1 month VIP prize

[shoiep]

The Summer That Never Was

 

 

Jess and I stood there. Staring at each other as if we were lovers or something. I crouched down and buried my face into my knees. I couldn't feel them but the tears didn't stop. The only things I could hear were my frantic heartbeats and the crashing of the waves in front of us. I wipe away my tears and look up at Jess.

 

"Why?" I desperately tried to mutter.

 

It was the Summer of 2017. Independence weekend was rapidly approaching. Our family had planned every thing out. On the 4th of July, we would go to the beach and watch the fireworks ocean-side together as a family. My parents were very busy people. Each of them held high positions in their respective workplaces. They were barely home most of the year and when they do come home, we barely talked to them.

 

Oh yeah, that's right.

 

"We".

 

"We" as in my sister Jessica, and I. You could say that we were best friends. After all, we were usually the only two in that house most of the time. Life was never lonely or boring without our parents since we had each other. In the beginning, we were both way too shy for some reason. We grew up separated at first but came to build a great relationship as time went on.

 

The two of us decided to come up with something to surprise our parents with when Independence day came around. It wasn't much but it should hold a deeper meaning since it was something the two of us made together. We would show it to our parents as the fireworks went off. We've imagined the scene in our heads plenty of times, and every time, it would be perfect. I just hope that it really does go perfectly when we actually do it.

 

That Independence day, I woke up exceptionally early. It wasn't much of a surprise that Jessica did as well. Our parents told us that they would both be coming home around 10 AM. When Jessica and I told each other we got up early because we couldn't sleep, we just laughed for way too long.

 

"You're way too stupid for your own good, Jay." she would say to me.

 

I usually chuckle and retort with "And you're way too smart for me, Jess."

 

These were the kind of silly interactions I needed in my life.

 

So carefree. So peaceful.

 

Jess was the first to head to the bathroom. I decided to let her take her time in there so I head towards the kitchen. I grab the bag of bread and put in two slices to toast. I grab a pan from the pantry and began cooking up some eggs and bacon. The silence was broken when I hear Jess yell from the bathroom.

 

"Damn, Jay! That's smelling pretty good! We got a master chef in the house!"

 

She was mocking me.

 

I sigh to myself and yelled back. "Someone in this house has to do the cooking!"

 

"Only god knows what would happen if I let you operate a stove!" I added.

 

I can hear a faint chortle coming from the bathroom. I finish up cooking breakfast and prepare two plates. I deliberately made the breakfast light since we were going to be having brunch later with our parents. I place the plates on the table in the dining room and head over towards the bathroom. I hear the doorknob unclick and the door began to open.

 

"All yours, brother." she said as she walked around me.

 

"Yeah, thanks." I replied.

 

It was a pretty normal morning but there was something different about this one in particular. I spent a long time in the bathroom thinking but not knowing what about.

 

In the end, I had to eat a cold breakfast.

 

Jess and I moped around the house, exchanging small talk, and watching TV. We were ready to head out as soon as our parents came home. It was just a matter of waiting for them.

 

Hours passed. Our parents were late.

 

We eventually received a call from our father saying that he couldn't take the trip home. Then after that, our mother called home saying that she had to attend an important impromptu business meeting and won't be making it either. Feeling bad, our parents decided to get one of their friends to take us to the beach. We would continue with our plans but it would just be the two of us.

 

We spent the day having fun, eating good food, enjoying each others time but, something didn't feel right. It wasn't because of how our parents cancelled on us. It was something else. Something I couldn't quite grasp properly no matter how much or how hard I thought about it.

 

Something was wrong.

 

The sun was setting.

 

Where the sun touched the horizon, it created a beautiful mix of colors.

 

Blue with red touching orange and a graceful purple that accented it all.

 

I admire the colors for a while and then look over at Jess sitting next to me. She stared at the horizon with wistful eyes. I don't say anything and look back towards the sky. Suddenly, a sharp whirring sound broke the silence. The explosions of fireworks filled the open air. I didn't say anything. I just left my mouth open in amazement from the mixing of colors from the fireworks and the beautiful dulling backdrop of the sunset.

 

I look over and notice that Jess had stopped watching the fireworks. She stood up and dusted the sand off of herself. She began to walk toward the water then stopped. I couldn't help but get up and follow her. She turned around and took out the gift for our parents. It was a card we had made and designed ourselves.

 

She looked at me. "End of the line, Jay."

 

She took the card and ripped it in half. Then again. And then again. The pieces of the gift we made floated away with the wind into the horizon.

 

I was confused. Maybe even angry.

 

"Wh-why.. why did you?" I was stuttering hard. My head hurt and I couldn't think straight.

 

"Jay. You just have to listen for now." Jess turned and took a few more steps toward the water.

 

"I really enjoyed the times we had together. The moments we had living as brother and sister.. It was perfect."

 

My heart skipped a beat.

 

She turned around and looked at me. "I love you, Jay.. but.. it's time for you to wake up."

 

She walked towards me placing her hand on my shoulder.

 

I brushed her hand away and crouched down. I bury my head into my knees. I didn't want her to see me and I didn't want to see her. I knew something was wrong. I knew what was wrong. I just didn't want to admit it.

 

I wipe away my tears and look up at Jess.

 

"Why?" I desperately tried to mutter.

 

She smiled solemnly and went down to hold me in her arms.

 

"It's okay, Jay." she said softly.

 

The tears started to flow even harder. "Why? Why did everyone leave me? What did I do to deserve this? It's not fair. Mom.. Dad.. Even you, Jess.. You all left me.. It's not f-"

 

Jess tightened her embrace. "Don't say that, Jay. I'm here for you. It's okay. You're not alone now." She brought my head up and looked into my eyes.

 

"Everything will be just fine. Right now, we're together and we're family. You don't have to cry anymore, Jay." she said as she wiped away the tears on my face.

 

Jess closed her eyes and smiled. "Come on, Jay. You can't be looking this way in front of me, you know. I love your smile so please.. smile."

 

I sniffed hard and took a deep breath. I wiped away the last of my tears and tried my best to smile.

 

A tear rolled down Jess's cheek. "That's more like it."

 

The world began to fade away. Jess was fading away. My smile quickly turned into a face of anguish. I desperately reach forward and tried to grab a hold of Jess.

 

"Please! Don't leave me! Not again! Never again!" I pleaded hard, yelling at the top of my lungs.

 

"Look at you, Jay. Crying.. making me cry too.." Jess sniffed while wiping away her tears. "You're way too stupid for your own good, Jay." she said softly.

 

I let go. I let my emotions go free and tried to relax.

 

"A-And you're way too smart for me, Jess." I said brokenly.

 

She laughed out loud. "Jason.."

 

She looked down, took a breath, smiled and then looked back up at me.

 

"I'll always be with you. Don't ever forget that."

 

Then she was gone.

 

The world had faded away and I was alone again.

 

I woke up in a cold sweat breathing heavily. I looked around trying to gather my bearings.

 

Soon, a dressed up man enters the room with a bottle of water and medicine tray in hand. He walked over to my bedside placing the bottle and tray on the table next to me.

 

"Here you are, sir. Do make sure to take one of each every 4 hours."

 

He turned and looked at me up and down. "Another bad dream, Master Jason?"

 

I looked up at him and tried my hardest to smile.

 

"This one.. wasn't so bad.."

 

 

 

The End.

 

 

[Rhyzhe]

The Summer That Never Was

 

 

Jess and I stood there. Staring at each other as if we were lovers or something. I crouched down and buried my face into my knees. I couldn't feel them but the tears didn't stop. The only things I could hear were my frantic heartbeats and the crashing of the waves in front of us. I wipe away my tears and look up at Jess.

 

"Why?" I desperately tried to mutter.

 

It was the Summer of 2017. Independence weekend was rapidly approaching. Our family had planned every thing out. On the 4th of July, we would go to the beach and watch the fireworks oceanside together as a family. My parents were very busy people. Each of them held high positions in their respective workplaces. They were barely home most of the year and when they do come home, we barely talked to them.

 

Oh yeah, that's right.

 

"We".

 

"We" as in my sister Jessica, and I. You could say that we were best friends. Afterall, we were usually the only two in that house most of the time. Life was never lonely or boring without our parents since we had each other. In the beginning, we were both way too shy for some reason. We grew up seperated at first but came to build a great relationship as time went on.

 

The two of us decided to come up with something to suprise our parents with when Independence day came around. It wasn't much but it should hold a deeper meaning since it was something the two of us made together. We would show it to our parents as the fireworks went off. We've imagined the scene in our heads plenty of times, and every time, it would be perfect. I just hope that it really does go perfectly when we actually do it.

 

That Independence day, I woke up exceptionally early. It wasn't much of a surprise that Jessica did as well. Our parents told us that they would both be coming home around 10 AM. When Jessica and I told each other we got up early because we couldn't sleep, we just laughed for way too long.

 

"You're way too stupid for your own good, Jay." she would say to me.

 

I usually chuckle and retort with "And you're way too smart for me, Jess."

 

These were the kind of silly interactions I needed in my life.

 

So carefree. So peaceful.

 

Jess was the first to head to the bathroom. I decided to let her take her time in there so I head towards the kitchen. I grab the bag of bread and put in two slices to toast. I grab a pan from the pantry and began cooking up some eggs and bacon. The silence was broken when I hear Jess yell from the bathroom.

 

"Damn, Jay! That's smelling pretty good! We got a master chef in the house!"

 

She was mocking me.

 

I sigh to myself and yelled back. "Someone in this house has to do the cooking!"

 

"Only god knows what would happen if I let you operate a stove!" I added.

 

I can hear a faint chortle coming from the bathroom. I finish up cooking breakfast and prepare two plates. I deliberately made the breakfast light since we were going to be having brunch later with our parents. I place the plates on the table in the dining room and head over towards the bathroom. I hear the doorknob unclick and the door began to open.

 

"All yours, brother." she said as she walked around me.

 

"Yeah, thanks." I replied.

 

It was a pretty normal morning but there was something different about this one in particular. I spent a long time in the bathroom thinking but not knowing what about.

 

In the end, I had to eat a cold breakfast.

 

Jess and I moped around the house, exchanging small talk, and watching TV. We were ready to head out as soon as our parents came home. It was just a matter of waiting for them.

 

Hours passed. Our parents were late.

 

We eventually received a call from our father saying that he couldn't take the trip home. Then after that, our mother called home saying that she had to attend an important impromptu business meeting and won't be making it either. Feeling bad, our parents decided to get one of their friends to take us to the beach. We would continue with our plans but it would just be the two of us.

 

We spent the day having fun, eating good food, enjoying each others time but, something didn't feel right. It wasn't because of how our parents cancelled on us. It was something else. Something I couldn't quite grasp properly no matter how much or how hard I thought about it.

 

Something was wrong.

 

The sun was setting.

 

Where the sun touched the horizon, it created a beautiful mix of colors.

 

Blue with red touching orange and a graceful purple that accented it all.

 

I admire the colors for a while and then look over at Jess sitting next to me. She stared at the horizon with wistful eyes. I don't say anything and look back towards the sky. Suddenly, a sharp whirring sound broke the silence. The explosions of fireworks filled the open air. I didn't say anything. I just left my mouth open in amazement from the mixing of colors from the fireworks and the beautiful dulling backdrop of the sunset.

 

I look over and notice that Jess had stopped watching the fireworks. She stood up and dusted the sand off of herself. She began to walk toward the water then stopped. I couldn't help but get up and follow her. She turned around and took out the gift for our parents. It was a card we had made and designed ourselves.

 

She looked at me. "End of the line, Jay."

 

She took the card and ripped it in half. Then again. And then again. The pieces of the gift we made floated away with the wind into the horizon.

 

I was confused. Maybe even angry.

 

"Wh-why.. why did you?" I was stuttering hard. My head hurt and I couldn't think straight.

 

"Jay. You just have to listen for now." Jess turned and took a few more steps toward the water.

 

"I really enjoyed the times we had together. The moments we had living as brother and sister.. It was perfect."

 

My heart skipped a beat.

 

She turned around and looked at me. "I love you, Jay.. but.. it's time for you to wake up."

 

She walked towards me placing her hand on my shoulder.

 

I brushed her hand away and crouched down. I bury my head into my knees. I didn't want her to see me and I didn't want to see her. I knew something was wrong. I knew what was wrong. I just didn't want to admit it.

 

I wipe away my tears and look up at Jess.

 

"Why?" I desperately tried to mutter.

 

She smiled solemnly and went down to hold me in her arms.

 

"It's okay, Jay." she said softly.

 

The tears started to flow even harder. "Why? Why did everyone leave me? What did I do to deserve this? It's not fair. Mom.. Dad.. Even you, Jess.. You all left me.. It's not f-"

 

Jess tightened her embrace. "Don't say that, Jay. I'm here for you. It's okay. You're not alone now." She brought my head up and looked into my eyes.

 

"Everything will be just fine. Right now, we're together and we're family. You don't have to cry anymore, Jay." she said as she wiped away the tears on my face.

 

Jess closed her eyes and smiled. "Come on, Jay. You can't be looking this way in front of me, you know. I love your smile so please.. smile."

 

I sniffed hard and took a deep breath. I wiped away the last of my tears and tried my best to smile.

 

A tear rolled down Jess's cheek. "That's more like it."

 

The world began to fade away. Jess was fading away. My smile quickly turned into a face of anguish. I desperately reach forward and tried to grab a hold of Jess.

 

"Please! Don't leave me! Not again! Never again!" I pleaded hard, yelling at the top of my lungs.

 

"Look at you, Jay. Crying.. making me cry too.." Jess sniffed while wiping away her tears. "You're way too stupid for your own good, Jay." she said softly.

 

I let go. I let my emotions go free and tried to relax.

 

"A-And you're way too smart for me, Jess." I said brokenly.

 

She laughed out loud. "Jason.."

 

She looked down, took a breath, smiled and then looked back up at me.

 

"I'll always be with you. Don't ever forget that."

 

Then she was gone.

 

The world had faded away and I was alone again.

 

I woke up in a cold sweat breathing heavily. I looked around trying to gather my bearings.

 

Soon, a dressed up man enters the room with a bottle of water and medicine tray in hand. He walked over to my bedside placing the bottle and tray on the table next to me.

 

"Here you are, sir. Do make sure to take one of each every 4 hours."

 

He turned and looked at me up and down. "Another bad dream, Master Jason?"

 

I looked up at him and tried my hardest to smile.

 

"This one.. wasn't so bad.."

 

 

 

The End.

 

 

WHY THE FUCK ARE ALL YOUR STORIES SO SAD ;-;

[shoiep]

WHY THE FUCK ARE ALL YOUR STORIES SO SAD ;-;

 

I like to say they're bittersweet.

[Leon Mordecai]

2 more days left

[Leon Mordecai]

Le bump still got a day left

[Greggy G]

Summer Solstice

 

Wednesday, June 18th, 2012, just two days away from the summer solstice and my entire family and I have been waiting because it’s the day where we gather our closest friends and family members to have one giant outdoor barbecue to celebrate another year gone by without any tragedy or loss of a family member, It was almost like a tradition but it was more than just that. The barbecue is usually held in our village’s large outdoor valley, miles of the most beautiful flowers and the calmest views. We would set up tables that almost feel like goes a mile from end to end filled with the most delicious of all foods, all being homemade brought from whom ever is attending of course. My family spends every holiday together and would always have a blast but even though the summer solstice isn’t technically a holiday, it is still a very important date in my life. Of my eleven years living on this planet I have had the pleasure of having each year celebrating the Summer Solstice which means that every single year since I was born no one in our family had gone through a tragedy and we have been living life peacefully. This was going to be my twelfth year in a row of peace within the family, except…

 

Life had other plans.

 

My only other sibling, who is six years older than me had been falling sick on and off since the start of the New Year and it had started to concern my family and I for it felt very unusual. We’ve all been sick before but not like this, not to the extreme it had been hitting my sister. At her darkest times she would feel as if she couldn’t move and all she could do is scream and weep of all the pain that she was experiencing. No way of making her feel better, no way of calming her down and to say that everything was going to be ok and that all pain would end soon. Useless. That’s who I was, useless. My sister was everything to me, she was the who had taught me everything the world had to offer, more then what school could ever teach in a hundred years. Thankfully it’s been almost a full three weeks since the last time my sister had been ill and my family had felt that the pain and torture had finally ended and that the Summer Solstice celebration will go on as peace had finally returned. Coming to the realization that everything was going well it was time for some summer time relaxation and all I would think about was the perfect celebration as I was being tucked into bed.

Almost as if I was shocked by a lightning bolt I instantly woke up to the sound of my sister yelling out as loud as she could, my parents bolting to her room. Nose bleeding, stiff muscles, pale skin all reasons to drive to the emergency room. My father picked my sister up and ran to our 2008 Buick enclave, strapped her in and drove off with no time to waste. It was 3:43 so thankfully there weren’t many cars on the road to block my father and managed to make it to the hospital in 7 minutes. Leaving me home I didn’t know what to expect out of this, I was weeping for the thought of how much pain my sister must have been in at that time. Crawling back into my bed hoping and praying for what felt was an eternity I had closed my eyes and begged to see my sister back home in the morning when I would wake.

 

*Alarm Rings*

 

Waking up to the sound of ruffling trees and the light chirping of birds made me feel such a grand relief that I wasn’t listening to anyone in pain anymore. First thing I did after I had finished my morning routine of showering, eating, and changing cloths was to call my dad who was still in the hospital and ask if everything is alright. I was nervous but I had to know what happened, finally he picked up the phone and asked if I could give it to my mom. I ran over to her in the kitchen where she was making pot roast chicken for lunch. She started talking to dad over the phone and told me to go to the store and get some fruits, confused why she wanted me out so badly I ran to the store to buy some apples and oranges and then to quickly return home. Finally returning home I opened the door to see my mother sitting on the living room couch crying with my phone in her hand. “Mom what’s wrong? What happened?” With no replay I started getting even mad and even more nervous than ever. “MOM what happened please just tell me, I can handle it.” She finally opened her mouth and said one word. A word that had plagued so many families before us with grief and sorrow. “Cancer…”

 

All emotions, all thoughts drifting out of my head, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what I could do. So I did the only thing I could do, I ran. I ran so fast and without a thought of where to go I ran. I ran to the outskirt of the village but I didn’t stop, I saw no stop for me so I just kept running. Exhausted and weak I fell to the floor to catch my breath, looking above as the sun was gleaming overhead bashing me with all of its energy. The heat of the sun began to feel like small needles constantly pricking my skin but I didn’t move, I didn’t flinch to the pain. Almost one hundred degrees out and I didn’t care, I in fact embraced it as it made me feel as if a slideshow of my favorite moments with my sister was just replaying right in front of my eyes. I didn’t realize at the time but I was so tired from running that I fell asleep, the wind so comforting, the grass so cool and moist, and the sun with a constant glare made me feel at ease.

Waking up I stared at the ceiling of my car. My dad had picked me up from the field I had fallen asleep on. Confused and desperate I cried and asked him “how, how did you know where to find me?” With a deep breath and long sigh “I knew were you where because your sister told me.” “She laid on the hospital bed asking me to go get you from the field because she knew that you would be there.” This was not the first time I ran away, and I had forgotten that the only person that has ever known where I ran to when I was afraid was my sister. She always came to get me when I ran because she would comfort me and always gets me back on my feet and always kept me in check.

 

“Where are we headed to dad?”

 

“To your sister, she has something to tell you and I hope that you will never forget what it is she wants to say. No matter what, never forget that your sister will

be and was always your best friend. Don’t let anyone or anything tell you otherwise.”

 

Coming up to the hospital we were escorted by a doctor to the elevators where he took us up to the fifth floor. The fifth floor of the hospital was the “ICU” floor, only thing is, at the time I didn’t know what “ICU” meant, so I had no idea what was coming for me. Opening the door to room 543, my sister laid patiently.

 

“I’m so glad you’re alright, I missed you so much.”

 

I gave her the biggest hug ever and started to cry.

 

“I knew you would be in the field, please remember, that no matter what happens I will always be there. I will always be right by your side like always and I’m so so sorry I can’t hold your hand to the store or to school anymore.”

 

Confused and shocked as ever I couldn’t say anything. I just stood there listening.

 

“I will always love you”

 

With that being said an obnoxious loud beep noise had started to ring and before I knew it I was being dragged by my dad out of the room but I couldn’t contain myself anymore. All I could do was cry and cry with no end in sight. I felt the need to run again but I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t run anymore because I know the she is right here, next to me because she promised and she never breaks her promise. Looking at my feet I say at a low tone "I love you." The Summer Solstice passed by us like it didn't mean anything to us, nothing special occurred on that day and I had learned that to always value what you have in every moment, not at a fake milestone like we my family had made up. Never take any moment for granted and you will always be in peace with yourself.

 

The End

[Yang]

So when is the winners going to be announce? @Leon Mordecai