Welcome to the first chapter of Sometimes The Mountain Buries You (formerly Sheppard & You), a queer novella about the things that threaten your attempt at a much-needed quiet life. Check out the about post for general content warnings, summary, and more info.
///
Here's the bit of writing I got started during Monday's migraine. I got the first four paragraphs down with speech-to-text while in a parking lot far from home.
Sheppard is holding his guts in when you meet him. It's simultaneously the most impressive thing you've seen and the least. When you're done assisting the veterinarian in putting most of him back together, he asks you out for a drink. Without anesthetics, he genuinely soberly asks you out for a drink. You tell him it will be a while before he can drink, given the several layers of flesh stitched together that needs to heal. He smiles.
In two years someone will ask you a question that you don't expect to have an answer for, you realize that you know Sheppard.