red thread

I'm going to try to make this as short as I can, but part of me just wants to spill everything. I'm so grateful that I found this place - this isn't stuff I've told anybody else.

My grandpa's lived with us for a few years. He moved in just after I started college, during which time my mom was his main caretaker, and I inherited that responsibility when I graduated so Mom could go back to work.

Grandpa's Wiccan. He claims to be a druid or shaman or warlock or something. Maybe he's all of them, I dunno, he's probably old enough to have gotten around. He claims to have founded a local Wiccan church too, adding on the "high priest" title, but the new library across the street from the DQ I work at doesn't know a thing about it. Maybe he's making it all up. I don't know.

But the other day, I was thinking about Truthseeker and Midnightrunner's case files. And I know he lived in lots of different places when he was in the military, so when I brought him his lunch I asked him if he ever lived anywhere with werewolf legends.

He looked me dead in the eye like he'd never done before. And I mean never - he's had astigmatism or cataracts or something my whole life. And he just nodded really slowly. "Seen em," he said. And he just sat there nodding slowly and staring at me for a solid minute.

It was unnerving. And I got this really deep feeling, this conviction, this KNOWING, that he was telling the truth. I was gonna ask him about vampires too when he said, with undeniable clarity, "Whatever you're going to ask, the answer is yes, but it doesn't matter where I lived. They're all around us. You live with them too."

I swear those were his exact words. And then he just picked up his sandwich and took a big bite and turned his attention to the TV. His eyes went normal again. He just chewed slowly, quietly, like usual. I tried to get his attention again but it didn't work, like he couldn't hear me over the news. Or was ignoring me, which is also normal grandpa behavior.

I think he knows stuff. Lots of stuff. That short conversation messed me up so bad I called out of work and I slept maybe two hours last night. I want to ask him more but I don't know what to ask. Maybe he truly was BSing me, OR maybe he can... I dunno... help us?

What do you guys think? I'm still skeptical, but if he truly does have 96 years of ancient wisdom or something, that could be important somehow... or possibly dangerous.

After all, he's the one who always told me not to talk too much/loud about supernatural stuff, because it could "invite unwanted attention." (Which I thought was always referring to people in college making fun of me, but now I wonder if he was even talking about humans.)

Holy cow, what an intense experience. I would have been shaken to the core too!

I wonder if he could always tell, or found it later on. Was he always Wicca, or did he find it later (during/after his service)?

We certainly look for and need the wisdom of elders who have been around to see things we haven't. If you can get answers from him about things you are curious about, we'd love to hear what he has to say. Just be careful about not letting slip where the information is going, and make sure you protect him and his identity as much as possible. Never say anything that anyone (or any*thing*) can find identifying. And remember, things out there can find you with not just a name and a phone number. Remember the shape and coordinate of your spirit and essence. We all have fingerprints in places we cannot see.

Fly_Mulder wrote: ↑October 21st, 2024, 5:10 am I wonder if he could always tell, or found it later on. Was he always Wicca, or did he find it later (during/after his service)?

I don't know. I think he was a medic in the navy? (I think) for a really long time, and then he retired and took a bunch of community college classes in classics, religion, myths, and stuff like that. So I think it might have been post-service. But I don't know, he doesn't talk about his service or anything before it.

Katat0nik wrote: ↑October 21st, 2024, 1:06 pm We certainly look for and need the wisdom of elders who have been around to see things we haven't. If you can get answers from him about things you are curious about, we'd love to hear what he has to say. Just be careful about not letting slip where the information is going, and make sure you protect him and his identity as much as possible. Never say anything that anyone (or any*thing*) can find identifying. And remember, things out there can find you with not just a name and a phone number. Remember the shape and coordinate of your spirit and essence. We all have fingerprints in places we cannot see.

That sounds like something he would say.

Thanks for the tips - I'll be careful not to hint anything about Here, or the Test, or the Institute. But I'll definitely post if he says anything that feels relevant to us. And guys, feel free to share ideas of what to ask him too. With the possibilities here, it's hard to know where to start.

The reason I asked is that I wonder what about his past let's him be so observant? Is it hereditary, a evolutionary hang over from a more threatening epoch? Is it the tenants of Wiccan, in tune with the natural and supernatural worlds? Or maybe some experience later. Plenty of stories of soldiers seeing the supernatural in/after combat.