Stress Relief

With the help of my family and friends, I decided I needed to do something outside of the house in order to keep my sanity. There are a lot of things to do in this city, but I decided that I wanted to go on a hike or something because hikes tend to relieve stress, which there was, and sadly still is, a lot of in this house. Of course, there was no way I was going on this hike alone, so my good friend Alison agreed to go with me. We decided on going to Forest Park as it is one of the best places to hike, and is a relatively public place. We arrived at the park eventually, and we were on our way.

Forest Park is a really cool place. I've never spent a lot of time here, but whenever I go there it's just as cool as it was before. I've mostly only been on a couple trails in the park, but according to a google search, they have 80+ miles of trails in there. I wanted to go back onto one of the two trails I had ever been on, but Alison said it would be good for me to be more adventurous. We went on to a random trail we found and just walked around for a while. I felt unusually paranoid, like there were people everywhere that I couldn't see, just watching us. Of course, being in a relatively thick forest didn't really help with that. While walking along the trail I realized that, in hindsight, a forest probably wasn't the best place to go when you were already super spooked. However, in the spirit of relieving stress and being adventurous, I decided to keep on keepin' on. Keep on truckin. That sort of thing. I'm sure there's a more sophisticated phrase for it. Stand my ground? That sounds right. I decided to stand my ground and traverse through the already traversed through trails of Forest Park. The deeper we got into the forest, the more often I thought I saw someone in my peripheral vision or thought I heard someone walking behind me. The deeper we got, the worse it got, is what I'm trying to say. By the time we were about 2 miles in, I just got this overwhelming sense of dread and was unable to move out of fear. Even now, I couldn't tell you why. Alison stopped after a second to urge me forward but I told her we needed to leave. She looked slightly disappointed, but agreed, and began walking back the way we came. I was still having difficulties getting the courage to move a muscle, but she helped me out by just sort of leading me while holding my hand. Then, I saw it. A flash of red hair as I turned around. As clear as day. And I started running. I ran for a whole mile until I got tired and needed to take a rest. Alison caught up with me very soon after and cursed me out for scaring her. I was just sitting there thinking  you bitch didn't you see him? However, I have realized now that he wasn't there. There was no way he could be out in the thick forest, off the trail. I mean, he could be there, but how would he know I would be there? I specifically didn't post an update about it on here so he would have no way of knowing. So I have decided now that it was just my brain creating images in order to fulfill some sick desire it has to scare the ever-living shit out of me.

Ok shit. Someone just knocked on the door. I'm home alone.

I think I have to go check the door. God damn it.

Ok so I creeped up to that door like a fucking panther ok? I wasn't gonna take any damn chances. I had picked up a can of mace on my way out because I didn't know what was going to happen. I threw open the door and immediately started spraying the mace, but it sprayed nothing as there was no one there. I looked down in front of the door to find an assortment of strange things. There were a couple flowers, which after I searched on google for a while I discovered are a Pink Carnation and a Protea. There was also this really odd plant like thing that looked like red fingers or something. It looks much too exotic to be anything that could be found in this state. I looked it up and it is apparently called "Love Lies Bleeding" which is creepy as shit. I don't understand why nature decides to make such weird things. Besides that, there was just a small pile of wing leaf things. You know, the one that like spin around this air when they fall and stuff? I used to love playing with them when I was a kid, much like everyone else in the world, but I haven't really cared to look for them as of late. I, once again, have no idea what this shit means but I'm just glad nobody was at the door to greet me. Talk to you guys later.

-Elaina

Once Again

So somebody in the comments named "Rhavyn" (pronounced raw-veen?) who I have never met before has commented on my last post asking if I could post the photo. First off, hello. Are you a friend of a friend or is this blog being shared more than I thought? Second, I would be more than glad to post the picture but it seems to have just disappeared off of my phone. It's possible the cops took the file as evidence or something but I don't remember that happening. If I'm able to find it, I'll try to post it for you. On to the more prevailing news.

I have seen him again. This time, I was walking home, on my street, when I saw him standing outside my house looking up at my window. I froze with fear and his head rolled in my direction and I saw the top of his head. His hair was a shockingly bright orange, smoothly slicked back and almost glossy. Seeing him up close was very odd. He was rather tall and very thin, almost to the point of emaciation. He seemed to be wearing a very loose top, almost like a sweater, and very loose pants. He also still seemed to have his arms crossed, even though it didn't look like that comfortable a position for his arms to be in. He turned his body fully toward me and I started to run away in the direction I came from. After running for only a short time, I looked back as so many people do, and found him to be gone. He had slipped into the darkness instead of following me, which allowed for me to get into my house and scream into my friend's face because that was one of the most terrifying things I had ever experienced. This happened only a couple hours ago and I'm still shaking. It's difficult for me to keep typing because of the amount I'm shaking. I have asked around and nobody else seems to be able to accommodate me currently, so we're just going to make sure everything's locked, and I'm going to sleep in the same room as my friend because I will die of fear if I don't. This situation will probably last longer than either of us wants but it will only last as long as it has to. Also, there's something I forgot to mention. When I got to my front door, I looked down and saw a few roses tied together with a ribbon. It was 3 roses, one red, one white, one black. The red one and white one were thornless but the black one was not. I've heard of the language of flowers, and I'm  sure this means something, but I'm currently too spooked to look it up. I feel like it'll only make me feel worse. Wish me luck.

-Elaina

Attempt #2: Classmates

Sorry about the delay, guys. Some stuff happened recently and the police had to get involved. In short, Nobody in my class ended up being the secret admirer. Nor did anyone else I know personally. It turned out to be some weirdo who just stalks me everywhere. I saw him outside my window the night I was going to post my update about class. Due to the darkness of nighttime, I couldn't make anything out but it looked like he was just standing there with his arms crossed or something. I took a picture of him so I had evidence in case he ran away, and called the cops. Of course, by the time they got there he was gone. However, I showed them the picture, and they said there wasn't much they could do but I should go stay somewhere else if I can and the next time I called they would respond much more promptly. I thanked them and made arrangements to stay with another friend for an indefinite amount of time, and that's where I am right now. I haven't seen any creepy guys following me since so I hope the whole thing is over, at least for a while. Talk to you guys soon, maybe. Bye.

-Elaina

Attempt #1: Coworkers

So I'm trying to find out who sent me those flowers. Today, I started out with my coworkers as that seems to be the most likely pool of people. Though I am straight, I also decided to not leave women out of the equation as not all women are straight. I did also not leave out older people, even though I probably wouldn't feel the same way back, because I still want to find out who it is.

I work out Powell's which, for those of you who don't know, is a very large, multistory book store in downtown Portland. I have only now realized the pun in "multistory" and I deeply apologize. But yeah, I came in to work this morning and just sort of started hinting at things. Like, you know, saying, "Man I got this really weird present for my birthday yesterday. It was just one rose from a secret admirer, just sitting in front of my door," and trying to read their faces afterward. No dice. I then asked one of my work friends if she had heard any gossip. Any rumors. She said she heard that there was a person working there who wanted to "get dat" as she put it, but she didn't know who it was. While it's possible that it's her, I highly doubt because. Then, before I knew it, it was the end of my work day and I had to leave. No success. Better luck next time. C'est la vie. Tomorrow I'm gonna try asking around my classes at PSU and hopefully I'll dig something up. Till tomorrow, dear readers.

-Elaina

Happy Birthday to Me

Today I have turned 20 years old! Most of the people reading this probably already know this, but I thought I might as well put it out there. Though this isn't as big a birthday as 21 or even 18, it's still two decades that I've been alive which is kinda crazy when you think about it. Hmm. Can't think of much to write in this post. Introductions, I suppose. My name is Elaina Lancaster and I have just recently moved from my hometown of Portland, Maine to my favorite town Portland, Oregon. As with many m age, the first time I had the urge to move here was when I watched the show "Portlandia" which is absolutely amazing, in case you haven't watched it. While I haven't yet been into any crazy situations like on the show, I have been to a couple of circuses and shows and can say that this is a cool cool town. I am currently living with my good friend Alison who so graciously invited me to stay with her while we were in college as long as I payed some rent. I have gotten a job at a nice little coffee shop relatively close to the house so it's not hard to get to. It's a hard life I live. Let's see. Interests. As you guys know, I like Portlandia. I am a nerdfighter. I like a lot of anime including a recently famous anime involving tall guys and steampunk stuff. I have a tumblr so I'm one of those. I watch a whole butt-ton of youtube channels and a smaller but still butt-like ton of tv shows. I like to call myself a writer but it's one of those things where I suck at it. I am a flaming narcissist. I am straight as a rainbow that is very straight. I hope you can tell I'm running out of things to say. Might as well tell you what I got for my birthday.

I got a lot of gift cards and money from family across the country. I got some batman comics from Alison and my other portland friends. Finally, the subject of this blog, I got a single rose addressed to me from a mystery suitor. This blog will be mainly about me trying to discover the identity of this secret admirer and hopefully liking them back. And with that, the first post ends! I've loved our time together so far and I hope you have too! I will be sharing this on all my social media sites, so secret admirer, if you see this, just come talk to me and make this easier on the world.

-Elaina