Today was a really nice day, so I decided to cut through the town trails to get to work. As I was walking I could hear the birds chirping, and the breeze rustling through the trees. The sun was poking through the branches reflecting off of a stream of crystal clear water flowing along side the trail. I looked at my watch to discover that I was running quite a bit early, so I decided to sit up against a huge rock on the edge of a clearing and just enjoy the peaceful atmosphere for a while. All of a sudden the birds started to rustle and screech in panic, and I could see them flying above the trees all in the same direction. I jumped to my feet and looked across the clearing to find out what was going on, in the distance I could see smoke rising above the forest, and I began running towards the other end of the clearing and along the path on the other side to try to find the source of the smoke.

After a few minutes of running I could smell the smoke and figured I was getting close. I slowed down to a mild jog and was keeping an ear out for anyone who might be in trouble. At this point I still wasn’t sure if as to the severity of this fire, but I proceeded with caution just to be sure.

Further down the trail I start to see glimmers of fire through some trees, as I drew closer I could see that it was only a small campfire sized flame. Looking around, there didn’t look to be signs of anyone around and the fire wasn’t built properly even if campers had started it. I called out to see if anyone was in the area, there was no response. I then proceeded to put the fire out with soil from a dirt pile a few feet away. Once the first armful hit the fire seemed to disappear. All of a sudden I see this squirrel poking its head out of the dirt and scamper off onto the trail. I chased after hit to see if it had been burned but it just kept running. I figured if it could run that fast then it must be all right, so I gave up and slowed down.

As I was nearing the end of the trail I hear this voice coming from behind me saying “That wasn’t very nice of you, throwing dirt on that poor squirrel like that.” I then began to turn around saying “I didn’t know there was a squirrel there, I just wanted to put out the fi…” There was nobody there. I looked around but couldn’t see anybody. “Down here.” the voice said. And to my surprise, as I looked down, I saw her. It was the squirrel! Sitting on a tree stump looking up at me with these big squirrelly eyes. Shocked by the thought of a talking squirrel I stuttered, “I-I-I-I’m sorry. I saw a fire and was trying to put it out before the whole forest went up in flames.” The squirrel blinked a few times, jumped on my arm and climbed up on to my shoulder and whispered in an eerie tone “That was the point!”

After a moment of trying to figure out what she meant I open my mouth to ask, she cut me off and said “I’ve lived among these trees for a few days now and I have decided that it is time for a change. The birds annoy me, the flies are horrible, and this weather has just been too darn cheery.” She continued, “So I have decided to torch the place and move on.” “Why?” I asked, “and how are you able to start the fire?” She hopped off of my shoulder and onto a tree stump higher up on a hill. “I do it because I can,” she explained, “because it makes me happy, I love seeing lesser woodland creatures running for their lives, the smell burning pine, and the joy of the pure chaos. So stand back as I begin my terror amongst these trees!” I step back and watch the squirrel position herself on the stump, still very curious as to how she would start her fire. Then out of nowhere a flame appears above her head, and I could see a fire burning in her eyes. I looked frantically for some loose dirt to try and put her out again, but there was nothing suitable to be found. “Better run!” she bellowed in a devilish voice. “It won’t be very long now.” As she spoke fire started shooting out of her mouth. I then started to bolt out of the trail, still able to hear the squirrels’ evil laugh as I ran. When I reached the park outside of the trail I rushed over to the park attendants shed to warn someone about the fire and have them call the fire department to put it out.

Later that day on my way home from work the fire crew was still at the park. I asked one of them if the fire was still burning and he said “No not really, we caught it soon enough so we were able to contain it pretty quick, we’re just walking around now to make sure there aren’t anymore embers around that could reignite.” I had a smile on my face when I heard the news and said, “Well I’m glad you were able to put it out before the whole forest went up in flames.” As I began walking away I turned to the fireman again and said, “Watch out for squirrels when you’re in there, they can be pretty crazy.”

This guy walked into a bar and said "ouch" and his glass eye popped out. He managed to find the eye but it cracked. He went to his eye doctor and told him what happened and the doctor said "well I can make you a new one but it will take some time" in the meantime I have this plastic temp replacement it's a little uncomfortable but it will do until your new glass one is ready.

The man thanked the doctor and was on his way home when, a 6-year-old girl selling lemonade in front of her house confronted him. "Hey mister" the little girl said "would you like some lemonade? Only 25 cents a glass". The old man looked at her with a smile and said "sure I'd love some" he gave her the 25 cents and took the lemonade. While he was drinking the little girl asked him about his funny looking eye. The man told her about what happened earlier in the day and the little girl just smiled and said, "I hope your eye gets better soon". The man laughed and thanked her for the lemonade and continued on his way.

Later that day while the man was just about to sit down to dinner his phone rang. It was the eye doctor telling him that his new glass eye was ready. After dinner the man went to the doctors office to get the eye when he ran into the little girl and her mother. The mother said, "Why don't you watch where you're going! You almost trampled over my daughter!" The little girl said to her mom "it's all right mommy one of his eyes is broken" the mom looked at the mans eye and apologized for being so rude, the man also apologized and continued to the doctor.

After he paid for his new glass eye and had it inserted and left. Four hours later as he was getting ready for bed and he decided to watch the evening news. When he turned on the TV something strange happened... his new glass eye started to wiggle in the socket. Then all of a sudden it started to glow and the man was able to see an image projected from the eye. The image was of the little girl and her mother, then has the man was trying to figure out what was going on the image began to move like a video hologram. They were walking and the mom stubbed her toe on the curb and backed into the old man. "The bugger!" the man cried out "I didn't run into her she bumped into me!

The next day the man walked over to where the girl was selling her lemonade. He asked the girl if her mom was home and she said yes. The man walked to the house knocked on the door and the mom answered. The man walked forward and bumped into the mom, "Why did you do that she asked" and the old man just looked at her and yelled "WHY DON'T YOU WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING!" then poked her in the eye with a pen and walked off. Stopping to buy another glass of lemonade from the sweet 6-year-old girl.

Ok listen to this... 4 days ago I went for an evening stroll to the store, and as I was walking I noticed this bright light up in the distance. I decided to check it out and for some reason started running towards it. A few minutes later as I came to this clearing and I see the source of the light. It turned out to be an outdoor set for a movie being shot in the city.


With me being a fan of movies and enjoy how they are made I decided to go down and find out a little about it. I saw these guys dressed in very realistic alien costumes and one of them was yelling at a man with a megaphone, I figured was the director.

I asked a nearby person what was going on, and she said "We're shooting an alien invasion flick and this is supposed to be the scene where those aliens over there get out of the ship, and that loud mouth there as a problem with how he's supposed to walk" and I replied "Stuck up actors" she laughed and said "HEY! You're about the same size as him, there isn't any dialogue and if something happens with that guy maybe you'd be able to take his place". I looked at her with a bit of a surprised look on my face and asked if she was serious and she replied "Yeah why not. This guy is a hot head and I wouldn't expect that he's going to be around much longer. Stick around and see what happens."

So I hung around and checked out the behind the scenes of a movie stuff. I walked by where the alien dude and the director were arguing and saw that they’re still going at it. Then the director snapped. He ripped the alien head of the guy, and told him he was fired. I ran to the girl I was talking to earlier and asked her if she still thought there was a chance to take his place. She looked around and said "Yeah common I'll introduce you to the boss man."

We walked over and the director looked at me then looked at her and asked who I was. She told him that she thought I'd make a good replacement for the guy that was fired. He looked at me again and agreed to give me a shot.

They then sent me to a trailer, where they suited me up. When they were done I looked in a mirror and the realism blew me away. The mask was comfortable and felt like my real face and when I spoke it sounded as though the mask wasn't even there, and the rest of the suit felt like it was my real skin.

I walk out and went to the set. The director told me what he wanted to see and I'll admit what he wanted was kind of weird. He wanted me to walk in a marching fashion but I had to take 3 fairly large steps with my right foot and follow it up with a giant step with the left. Walking like that is uncomfortable and it's hard to maintain balance, so I can understand why the other guy didn't like it. All in all though it wasn't so bad.

After the shoot I offered to help pack things up. I got to know some of the guys there and they invited me to a little get together at on of their places. We sat around talking about the movie and how big they think it'll be. I talked to some of the editors on the picture and they told me what kind of equipment and software they use which I found fascinating and they said when they get into the post part of the movie that they would let me watch how it's done.

When the little party ended I set out on my way back to my place. I stopped into the store like I had originally intended and the guy at the counter screamed when he saw me, and was threatening to call the cops on me. I pleaded with him to calm down and I looked at my hands and saw that I was still in the alien costume. I explained to the guy what was going on and he felt so bad about freaking out that he gave me a free bag of chips.

I left the store and continued down the road. A little further down I saw 2 figures, they were walking a little funny and I was skeptical about whether they were friendly or not. As I drew closer I noticed that they were in the same alien costume as I figured that they were the 2 from the movie. When I reached them I said "Hey guys. Man these costumes are comfortable eh? I had completely forgotten I was wearing it and freaked out the shop clerk in the store back there." They looked at me with a blank expression and there was a long pause. After a minute I said "Ok well... I'll see you guys around, taker easy" and when I went to walk past them they grabbed me and I saw this flash of light.

The next thing I knew I was in this room and in there I saw hundreds of people in alien suits. I walked over to a window, I looked out, and saw the earth and it was getting smaller. Now as you can imagine I was freaking out. Which I look back now and see how that might have been a bad Idea because it attracted the attention of all the other guys in the room. They put me in a locked room and a few hours later a guy came in and sat down. "What's going on here? Who are you people?” I asked, "We are the ginsma" he replied and asked, "Who are you and how did you get on our ship?" I told him what happened and how I ended up there. He then got up and left the room. About an hour or so later he came back and said "We have decided to bring you back to your planet, we do not wish to harm you or your people and we apologize for the trouble". I thanked them and they sent me back.

When I came back to my room I saw a basket of fruit on my desk, and there was a card that read "Sorry again for the abduction." I ate a pear took off the alien costume and went to bed. The next day I went to where the movie was being shot but there was nothing there, not even tire tracks, the place looked as if there hadn't been anything there in months. I walked around and saw a guy working on a lawn mower, I walked up to him and said "Hey there, you wouldn't happen to know how I could get a hold of the guys who were shooting that movie here last night would you?" and the man looked at me like I was crazy and said "There was no movie being made anywhere around here". I thanked him and decided to check out the guys apartment that the after party was at, but when I got to the room there was an old couple living there and said that they have been there for years and that they knew nothing about any party. I then figured I'd just let it go and get on with life. I popped into the store for a drink and when I was paying for it I said "Sorry about last night I didn't mean to scare you" and the clerk said he didn't know what I was talking about. I told him that I was in the alien costume, but he still claimed to have no idea what I was talking about.

I then figured it was all just a dream I had and went home. I went to my room to take a little nap and I looked on my desk, and I saw the fruit basket with the card that had the apology on it.

Pretty weird eh?

Ok that's enough for me. Have a good one!


- Richard

Hello, welcome to my first blog on this site. One thing you might notice if you continue to read my stories, ideas, and thoughts, is that I'm a pretty weird dude. If you decide that you want to continue to read my rants then I thank and admire your bravery. So now that that's out of the way, lets get down to business. This entry will mainly just tell you about myself, who I am what I like, and maybe a little about who I want to be.

My name is Richard MacDougall, most people just call me Richard, you can call me whatever you like. Appearance wise, I'm Tall (6'3") light (150lbs maybe less I haven't checked in a while), so as you can probably imagine, I'm skinny, like a skeleton with a little skin. I was born with brown hair and blue eyes, today that remains the case as well. Oh and my skin is as pale as Casper himself. The sun is my enemy, when exposed for too long I burn more then the ball of fire itself, now I haven't had a sun burn in 6 years so I'm not sure if that's still the case but why go out and risk the chance eh? I’m don't classify myself as a shut in, I do go out when I need to, but I do spend the majority of my time indoors.

I grew up in the town of Port Hawkesbury, located on the lower part of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Well to be more accurate I grew up right next to Hawkesbury in Port Hastings, but I could cross into Hawkesbury by walking two minutes out behind my backyard. I didn't mind my childhood for the most part. I had good friends, there was a lot to do, hardly any traffic so you cloud play in the street all day without having to worry. The playground across the street was the best because practically nobody outside the neighborhood knew about it so we could have it all to ourselves, we had our own baseball field, in winter there were tons of huge hills to sled down, and there was a seemingly unlimited number of thins to do in the back woods behind our houses (hide/seek, cabin building, and so on). Yep those were the good times... Then the teen years hit and suddenly playing games running around weren't cool anymore. Which in my opinion sucked because all my friends were growing up faster then I was even the ones that were a year or 2 younger then me. My friends started to smoke (which to this day I still don't understand why) and they would even avoid me at times because they didn't want me hanging around when they did because I wasn't interested. They started dating (each other and people outside of the neighborhood bringing in outsiders), it didn't help my case being the tall awkward acne ridden kid either. Then around 15, life began as the outsider. I suddenly wasn't cool enough to hang out with my friends anymore. I would spend all my time inside the house, only leaving to go to school. A year later my family moved into Hawkesbury so I spent even more time inside because I no longer needed to wait for a bus to get back and forth from school because I now lived right across the street. I didn't have any friends in the new neighborhood, so the only social interaction I had was at the school. I'll admit most of my teenage solitude was my fault, I didn't go to any school dances, I excluded myself from other social events, I didn't participate in and groups or activities, and (worst of all) whenever people I actually liked tried to talk to me I was very rude and distant. This was due mostly to a paranoid thought, that when people tried to get to know me, they were trying to set me up for some kind of humiliation. Granted there were reasons I thought this, ever since the 4th grade I was picked on by the "cool" kids (the guys and the girls) so I immediately saw the worst in people who were close to that group. By the end of the 11th grade I started coming out of my shell a little. I enjoyed the small in-class groups I hung around with and I started trusting people more, I guess a lot of them grew out of the bully phase (not all of them). There was still a group of people I had trouble talking to, that group is commonly referred to as girls. There were a few occasions when certain girls would come up and talk to me and I was still a little rude and distant, some people call it shyness, but I call it stupid. So all through high school I never asked a girl out or even had any close female friends. I only went to one class wide party and that was the one that followed my graduation, and I have to say I had a pretty decent time hanging out and drinking Pepsi and Iced tea.

High school was over and the adult life was looming overhead. I went to a small media arts college the following September and I decided to revamp my personality for the new group of people. Unfortunately I over did it and instead of making a bunch of new friends I just irritated everybody. The sad thing is that I realized this fact within the first month but still acted this way for the entire first term (which was mostly a full class basic theory stuff) In the second term I calmed down, the class was split in two (radio/television basics) and we were finally getting to use the equipment. So I focused less on trying to stand out and more on learning how everything worked, and I enjoyed it... mostly. A requirement for the class was that we had to report at least 2 news stories and because of an early dislike of telephones I had the most trouble completing this assignment. So I slacked I helped people with their stories by being the Radio side. Which meant I had to do basic TV all over again when that was done. Radio was all right. The hours were messed but I survived. I think the teachers knew I wasn't a radio guy and cut me a bit of slack. The highlight of the radio class was the ad promotion and other editing aspects to the field, which I caught onto and enjoyed fairly quickly. Once I passed that I had a week before I had to start TV again and the instructors allowed me to start the training for the Computer video editing (which I was very eager to start but was normally not available until after basic TV was passed) and I completed it in four days. I loved it I had 4 hours a day to do the book and I used up every last minute, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do for a living. So I completed my stories and passed basic TV, then focused all my attention on the non-linear edit suite. I put together news intros, graphics for the weekly news show, and spent sometimes hours at a time packaging everything together to be viewed the next day, the show was sometime even good enough to be sent to a local community TV station and played on air for the whole city to see. A little less then a year later I completed the course but still haven't found that dream editing job.

Three years later I'm 23 years old, currently living with my parents in Port Hawkesbury, and I spend most of my day wallowing in self-pity. Since I finished school in 2004 I have moved around and had a few jobs but nothing that would have turned into a career. I lived in Toronto Ontario for about a year and a half and I actually enjoyed it for the most part. I want to go back soon (this year if things manage to work out ok), and I'd like to go back to school for a refresher in video editing and to learn more then what my last school offered. Then after that hopefully settle into the career role that I can sit comfortably at for the next 30-40 years.

So that's basically my life up until now. I can't say I'm the happiest guy in the world, but I'm not the saddest either. I don't have any real philosophy on life. I just live each day like any other. If I have regrets I try not to dwell on them. Some day things will work out for the better and I can enjoy things more, and until l that day I guess I'll just watch the world through the window.


If you read this all the way through then I thank you for your interest. Feel free to send me a note or whatever if you'd like. I like hearing from new people.

- Richard