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Post by seedian on Jul 16, 2010 0:26:20 GMT -5
Gabriel couldn't help but feel amused at her reaction up until her comment about werewolves in which his frown soon disappeared. "I assure you Miss Giles if werewolves were to exist anywhere they would be far more dangerous and heed far more serious recognition than over sized trained lap dogs, perhaps even more dangerous than vampires, werewolves would be a serious threat to any person supernatural or not. And as far as your apparent research on vampires here I don't think you should come to me for anything. Because whether I know or not the information you seek it wouldn't be my place to expose such a marveled race like that and it surely is not my place to deprive you of the fascinating and unimaginable adventure and experience of discover such beings yourself if they were to exist." Gabriel replied taking the werewolf bit personal and trying not to admit to anything as far as vampires went. Gabriel smiled friendly once again "I don't know why you would be surprised or uneasy about these beliefs I hold though Miss Giles, its kinda strange. And I personally think if you are to seek out such notions as vampires living among us you may want to be careful because surely if such beings existed especially this long undiscovered they certainly wouldn't want some curious librarian finding them. None the less I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about as far as I go.....not this weekend anyways, heh." Gabriel finished in a joking manner though being completely honest as no full moon was scheduled for this coming weekend.
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Post by Nina Giles on Jul 16, 2010 0:55:28 GMT -5
Bingo, she thought, definitely hit the mark there. “If they were to exist,” she agreed cheerfully, mentally chiding herself for pushing him as far as she had. So either he had personal knowledge of, knew someone who had run afoul of, or was himself one of the supernatural. Not a vampire, she had pretty much disregarded that notion right off the top, since her odd blood composition tended to alert her to the presence of a vampire at fifty yards or so. He had passed over sorcery without so much as blinking, although his comment about cursed beings was curious in and of itself. Which, combined with his earlier comments about werewolves and his statement that they were infinitely more dangerous than vampires, led her to believe that perhaps there was more to the current situation here than she was aware of. If nothing else, she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Mystic Falls was experiencing a rather alarming jump in its vampire population, and his assertion that they didn’t exist was interesting. She wondered briefly who he was protecting. Still, she shrugged as if it were truly of no consequence one way or the other. “Although in this day and age of technology and science, if vampires and other such creatures of the night were to exist, surely there would have been real, tangible proof of it by now.” She laughed, her own enthusiasm was still a source of embarrassment, even after all these years. “I do tend to prattle on, don’t I? Vampires, werewolves, sorcerers and the like are a particular passion of mine, obviously. I am, however, relieved that you have no plans to turn into anything dangerous this weekend, since you’ve already committed yourself to my landscaping project!”
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Post by seedian on Jul 16, 2010 20:20:13 GMT -5
Gabriel saw the satisfaction she had for pushing him to let his emotions get to him enough to where she could see certain answers without him saying anything. In a sense beating him at his own game. Though in all fairness as gifted as he was he was quite young and still inexperienced not yet having a full grasp and control over his own behavioral gestures more so his emotions. However Gabriel was not offended after all was it even fair of him to do the same to her in the first place it was none of his business to know anything about her but it was not something he controlled anymore it was just in his nature. "Real, tangible proof? Humans tend to over look whats right in front of them and more so they are just as likely to convince themselves what is being seen is not real or imagined if they don't understand something as hugely life altering as the existence of a mythical creature especially the ones that strike fear in the hearts of even the bravest and strongest of men. With all the science and technology you would think they would have real and tangible proof? I assure you Miss Giles such proof does exist but because of human nature combined with the experience of such a old race its far from hard to imagine a being such as a vampire which can live hundreds of years could not live right in the open among us without anyone ever knowing."
Gabriel loved politicians and government officials. Trying to lie to the world but never Gabriel. The government was full of them all the leaders were. If you were not a politician you were a lawyer and both lied for a living at least these ones. "Peoplechoose to believe what they understand, they cannot change anything they don't understand, and that which they do understand is usually something programed into them making it hard for them to think for themselves but instead depend on someone else like their government leaders or the media for example. Every year stacks and stacks of solid evidence exposing our governments degrading efficiency, corruption, and in some areas complete failure yet no one does anything and no one will. It is not the evidence that you need to focus on it is the people. Using them again as an example our politicians find how people think and what the majority of them want and they play off that without so much of a ounce of proof to back up their promises and even when called out on them they weasel their way out. It all comes down to the same thing every time for everything all around the world, human nature."
Gabriel sighed faintly adding somewhat depressed "You spend your entire life trying to figure out the greatest mysteries, puzzles, and challenges of the world hoping if you can grasp a true understanding of the things around you this will enable you to change them for the good, to make things just, to simply have a little control. But it is more complicated than that. The more answers you get the more questions come up and the answers can be far from what you expected them to be. You put your heart and soul into it none the less and try to use what you have gathered to help those around you only to find things tend to only spiral out of control, injustices go unpunished even with the evidence you work to get, and no changes occur. But if you don't try, if you don't question, and if you do not continue to have faith that what you are doing is right then things become worse than ever. It is hard knowing that everything you do means so much and at the same time so little. The blood, sweat, and tears put into trying to make things right and I constantly find myself failing the people around me."
Gabriel forced a smile though the sadness he kept hidden so well could be seen in his eyes. "You know a friend once asked me about love. She was looking for answers and I usually am the guy who has them. And the thing is I could probably quote her a sonnet, could have given her the summary of a hundred love novels I had read, I could probably list her a few of my favorite women perhaps a couple experiences as well, hell I could even lay down some heavy Shakespeare for her. But I didn't and I couldn't because I simply didn't have a real answer. I have never known what it is like to wake up next to a women and feel truly happy, I have never looked at a women and felt totally vulnerable, known someone that could level me with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for me that could save me from the depths of hell. And I have never felt what real loss is because I have never cared for something beyond myself enough for such a thing to occur. This is my goal because through things like this I have learned it is not enough, never enough, to simply know. You need to understand something completely before it ever becomes precious and valuable. I simply am uncertain if I can find all the answers I am looking for let alone help the rest of the world with theirs and that is just very hard for me to simply swallow. Please forgive me Miss Giles I am rambling about things that you probably don't wish to hear. I promise this isn't a habit."
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Post by Nina Giles on Jul 16, 2010 21:59:22 GMT -5
“Not at all. I tend to be a good listener, please don’t ever feel it necessary to apologise for speaking your mind. I find it refreshing, actually, and rather flattering when someone does feel comfortable enough to take me into their confidence.” Now she was torn between feeling bad for pushing him and glad she had, since she wondered if he had someone he could talk to freely, without having to edit his words or ideas to suit someone else’s ideals of right and wrong, acceptable or intolerable. “I think people tend to overlook what’s right in front of them because it’s easier to not have to look too closely at the things that come back to haunt us in the dead of night. For the most part, people want to be told the things they want to hear, to be allowed to believe that things are rolling along the way they should be and to let someone else take the reins. If that wasn’t so, there would be little need for governments to lie to us, would there?”
“I have to say that it’s interesting that you use the term 'humans' rather than ‘people’.” She smiled at him. “Let’s say for the sake of discussion that vampires, werewolves and other mythical creatures do exist. That there are immortal beings existing among us, some of them preying on the mortal world for their survival, but that were once as mortal and human as the rest of us. Does a vampire feel any remorse for the human life he has taken, or does he merely regard his prey as exactly that – prey? Does it depend on the nature of the vampire in question, the kind of person he was before his transformation? Is he able to survive thusly because he has learned to turn off his humanity, the ‘human nature’ he was born with? Or does he truly regard himself as a higher being, and the mortals he feeds on as nothing more than cattle, there for his sustenance and pleasure and nothing else? Either way the behavior is accepted, for lack of a better term, as being in the nature of the vampire, understandable if not entirely forgivable. Now by the same token the werewolf, according to most of the accepted legend, is unable to control the change, unable to control his own actions under the influence of the full moon. Whatever havoc he may wreak, whatever lives he may take, was done in a state beyond the werewolf’s control, and like the vampire it is attributable to simply being in his nature. Does ‘human nature’ come into play at all, or for those few days surrounding the full moon is it completely abandoned? And further, does the nature of the man before he became a werewolf have any bearing on his actions?” She grinned. “Talk about ‘don’t get me started’, I’ll go on for days if someone doesn’t tell me to shut it!”
It was remarkably easy to forget that she was talking to a high school student. “Forgive me for saying so, but you are awfully young to have taken so much on your shoulders. The world isn’t always a happy place.” She thought for a moment. “Eventually you come around to the realization that no matter what path your life takes you on there will always be people who have expectations of you, but ultimately the only person you have to answer to at the end of the day is yourself. If you can look at yourself in the mirror and know that you did the absolute best you could with the things that you do have control over, then you haven’t failed. Don’t let mankind’s failings become your own, you’re far too young to carry the weight of the world alone.”
She debated sidestepping his comments about love altogether, but the depth of unhappiness in his eyes went way beyond the average teenager’s. She remembered being young and despairing of ever finding the one person who could complete her, and at the ‘advanced’ age of 25 she had been considered far too old for marriage and family. “As far as matters of the heart go, I’m probably not the best person to be giving advice.” Best, she thought, not to mention the one she had fallen so hard for, six hundred years after her immortal life had begun. Betrothed to one woman, completely ensnared by another, and she had found herself caught between a malicious delight in the end of his engagement to the first and a blinding, unreasonable fury towards the second. In her pain and indecision she had simply chosen not to act while his life had been systematically destroyed, although if she were given the opportunity to go back and make amends she honestly couldn’t say that she would have done anything differently. “I imagine you’re tired of hearing it, but you are young, and you have your entire life ahead of you. Make sure you have something worthwhile for yourself before you worry about finding someone to share it with. For now, at least, allow yourself to be a little more worried about you and less about the rest of the world.”
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Post by seedian on Jul 17, 2010 1:51:01 GMT -5
Gabriel hated the experience he went through every time he changed. Sometimes he could avoid changing but it was small catalysts that often triggered his transformation. "Vampires have no excuses as far as I am concerned. They get a choice and they have an eternity to figure themselves out and what they really want to do as a higher being. Werewolves....it is like nothing you can possibly imagine. An induced hallucination beyond anything humanly possible, beyond any hypnosis, and beyond any drug. Trying to stay in control, focused, trying to stay human is unbelievably difficult as your senses go wild, urges bombard you, instincts go to war with you to take control, and through all this chaos its impossible to think clearly only pain and a force that seems stronger than gravity tugging away at your mind as if someone was pouring acid on it and directing it right before your eyes. Noises so loud, eyes too focus, smells too strong things always ended up in pieces, flashes, fragments it seems impossible when you wake. Though it is not impossible. Werewolves even under the influence of the full moon can stay human unchanged and untransformed. When transformed they can hold onto what humanity they can and have a fair amount of control over themselves with time, practice, and training." Gabriel speaking straight out of experience finally caught himself now worried. He added quickly as fast as he could "At least thats what I have read in some stories."
Gabriel wiped the sweat from his forehead that was now pouring out. "Vampire and Werewolves are nothing alike. Vampires are either evil heartless creatures or a being struggling to keep their humanity while living on in the light. Either way they get to choose which makes their actions unforgivable. A werewolf is an animal, a fiend, a beast. Even with the control of the man inside of him his instincts will never changed he is genetically programmed to be and act a certain way. Their evils though equally evil can at least be forgiven. And in many cases Werewolves can be a force of good their abilities being natural. Vampires can act in good nature of course but there power is not natural it is dark and they are easily swayed and easily corrupted. I am sorry I don't know why I am arguing about a mythical creature in books it makes no sense heh" Gabriel was silent for a little while deep in thought before he said anything else. His words now were softer more sincere.
"How can I worry only about myself when the people around me suffer? If I hold a gift or ability others do not how is it my right to not use it for good and justice instead of to simply suit myself? Humanity or the world may be ready to abandon me quite easily but I surely am not going to abandon them. If everyone lives for themselves first then the cycle will never end. But if we all live for the future and well being of others then a time will come when living for yourself will not be a choice but simply how life is. There is so much going on here in this small little town and I feel like things are over my head. But if people cannot come to me, if people cannot wade through the degrading sorrows and see that I stand uninfluenced, unhindered, and strong, if people cannot get that hope then the hell with my happiness because like dominoes one by one we will all fall. I don't have a choice I cannot abandoned so many people just so I can live content and happy. If I have to sacrifice a few things so that others can live as I wish I could then my life at the very least holds meaning and I would take meaning over meaningless happiness any day. Yes I am young, but I feel my life is short, and it gets shorter everyday. If not now then when? I begin when I am physically and mentally able not when I am older. And if I am wrong and I am not ready than I am ready to accept the burden and suffering that comes with my choice because I know justice is being upheld. These rules, laws, guidelines they are not true justice after all."
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Post by Nina Giles on Jul 17, 2010 11:56:49 GMT -5
Nina regarded him steadily for a long moment before she spoke. “If you indeed hold a unique gift capable of righting what’s wrong in our world then yes, it is without question your duty to utilize it to the best of your ability,” she agreed. “But to assume that you alone can decide what delineates right and wrong, that you have the right to change things to suit your particular vision of them, would be nothing but highest arrogance. Your vision of what the world should be may not necessarily fall in line with what everyone else believes. There have been others, many others throughout history, who sought to change the world, tailor it to their own specific measures, to the point of catastrophic loss of human life. Wars have been started, Mr. Nikopol, by men trying to force the world to fall into line with their ideals.” She had known a few of them, in fact. “Your assertion that all vampires are evil, that all werewolves are deserving of forgiveness, is proof of that whether you realize it or not. What other groups would you ban from your ideal society? Witches and those cursed with immortality? Politicians and lawyers? The deformed, the mentally or physically challenged? You stated it yourself; just because something is different and perhaps unfathomable does not necessarily make it evil.”
“On the other hand, of course, is the fact that most people while not blissfully happy all the time, are at least content with things the way they are. If there were no struggles there would be no victory. Without the darkness there can be no light. There has always existed a delicate balance of right versus wrong, of good versus evil. How could one feel good about achieving anything if every action led to the same, positive results? We are very much beings of choice. Every day we make thousands of choices, both conscious and subconscious, that shape the world around us. Is there truly one among the millions who has the right to stand and say ‘no, that’s the wrong thing to do, your actions should have been thus and so’? Of course not. Give mankind a utopian society to live in and someone will find a way to destroy it, or to use it to his own advantage over the others. Give mankind heaven on earth, and I can all but guarantee you that someone, somewhere, will still want a bigger share. It’s unfortunate, but therein lies a big part of your ‘human nature’. We lie, we cheat, we steal and we kill, all for what we believe are the right reasons. As a species we really are quite unpleasant.”
She looked around surreptitiously, she had noted that their conversation was drawing unwanted attention, and two people she made direct eye contact with shuffled quickly away. “Your own happiness, well-being and contentment are of direct importance to how much good you can do in the world, whether you realize it or not. If you are unhappy with yourself and your own situation, is changing someone else’s going to make you happier? Or are you simply wanting to give someone else that which you want but for some reason believe you are unworthy or undeserving of? I’m not saying turn your back on the world and allow injustices and horror to go on unchecked before your eyes. I’m just asking you to consider that maybe you have as much right as anyone to feel good about yourself.”
He was, she thought, one of the most conflicted people she had ever come across, even for a werewolf. His vivid description of the change undergone during the transformation process all but screamed of very personal experience to her, as did his assertion that all vampires were evil. Hell, she had known vampires that were better people than most mortal humans. As she had known werewolves who relished the strength and power that went hand-in-hand with being one. But standing in the middle of a public store was hardly the place to carry on such a discussion. “As to the more arcane part of this discussion, I would be delighted to continue it, but not standing in the middle of the hardware store. If you would care to, feel free to arrive earlier than ten tomorrow, I’m usually on my front deck around eight with a full pot of my world-famous cinnamon coffee.”
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Post by seedian on Jul 18, 2010 12:10:03 GMT -5
Gabriel could not think properly. He had tried hiding so much from people through the years in the town not wanting to give any hint that he himself had any troubles of his own. He felt like his head was on fire. He couldn't focus or see the truth like he could before. He wondered if through the struggle of helping others he perhaps had lost himself making it that much more difficult to fulfill his goals. Gabriel looked confusingly at Nina and replied quite troubled "Perhaps I don't understand everything as well as I thought. I will though, eventually. But I need to go, I apologize for not staying to help you like I said I would. I need to get home though. Perhaps I will stop by a little earlier Saturday. It was nice to meet you Miss Giles, have a good evening." Gabriel awaited a response out of respect before he headed towards the door. He had to think things through and figure out how to escape his clouded thoughts. He wondered if things were going to get any worst than they already were and he questioned how much he actually could help with the path he took.
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Post by Nina Giles on Jul 18, 2010 23:04:39 GMT -5
“Good evening to you as well, Mr. Nikopol,” Nina replied, then watched him turn and walk away. Conflicted didn’t even begin to describe it, she thought to herself. She hoped he would still turn up at the house in the morning, not just because she needed help, which she did, but because she was interested to see how he behaved among a group of his friends. It was often astounding how different a person could be on his own as opposed to among his peers.
She realized she hadn’t actually picked up half of the things she needed if she were to have a small army of workers tomorrow, and she still had to get to the grocery store as well to stock her kitchen and pantry in order to keep up her end of the deal and feed the kids. Without so much as blinking over the cost she bought garden tools, rakes, pruning shears, a couple of small tree saws and a dozen pair of good, sturdy work gloves, and after stuffing everything into the ‘Vette she drove home, unloaded everything and headed back to the local supermarket. By the time she had everything put away and the kitchen put back to rights it was nearly sunset, too late to begin anything in the yard, so she went into the huge library that the house boasted and started looking through the dusty volumes that lined the shelves. Most of it was old but in excellent condition, especially considering the dust that covered everything.
Three days in Mystic Falls and it already felt like home. Again.
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Post by Nina Giles on Jul 20, 2010 23:45:23 GMT -5
Nina slept badly and woke early, a combination destined to make just about anyone cranky. Unless one was immortal and didn't actually need to sleep, anyway. Nina didn't need to sleep technically, but in her twenty-five years of mortal life she had become rather accustomed to it and it hadn't occurred to her until years into her immortal life that it was unnecessary. The truth of the matter was that she liked to sleep, since she still dreamed, and it wasn't as if she was losing any of her life to it, so sleep she did.
By six'o'clock she gave up entirely on the idea though, had a quick shower while the coffee brewed and by seven she was on the front porch in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt that proclaimed 'Careful or you'll end up in my novel', and a cup of coffee in one hand. She had walked around the place several times in the pre-dawn stillness and had a pretty good idea of what manpower she would put where. By 7:30 she had donned a pair of gloves and was busily ripping down the dead vines off the front porch columns.
It had become apparent to her early in her immortal life that humankind in general would be truly horrified if they had even the slightest idea just how many of what she had come to think of as the Others were among them. Vampires, Werewolves, witches and warlocks. Changelings, and those with incredible powers of the mind, just to name a few. That the monster under the bed was all too often real, despite what parents whispered to hush their children back to sleep. Of course, just as often the monsters turned out to be human rather than something more arcane.
She had no doubt that Erika would be here with her promised kids, but she wondered about Gabriel. She had only known three Changelings in her life, and only one true werewolf, a man whose tastes ran to violence and command through fear. She hadn't sensed anything truly bad about young Mr. Nikopol, but then she had been fully and formidably shielded herself, which tended to affect her ability to read people.
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Post by Erika Mirazida on Jul 23, 2010 13:08:06 GMT -5
--outfitErika was up and about by 8, which was fairly early for her, but she had promised Nina Giles, who was her school librain, that she would round up the football team, and if possible Mr. Saltzman to help out with her house. Also, she wanted to see Jeremy again. They still weren't as clsoe as she had wanted, but in a few weeks and hopefully spending time with him ripping down vines and cleaning up the outside of Nina's house, they'd be very close. She hadn't exactly felt like this since Damon back in 1864. Erika wasn't one to skip breakfast, but she did promise Giles she'd be there by 8:30, the football team hated the idea of getting up early, but she batted her eyelashes and well, she was cute. What more did she need?
Eriak sighed as she looked into the fridge, and saw... lots of blood. "Yuck." she said. Erika dug in the fridge, hoping to find a bagel, but found ham burger buns instead. She shrugged and took them out of the fridge, along with the cream cheese. she ate quickily, cleaned up and took a drink of milk out of the carton. Since she was the only one who actually drank it, she didn't care if anyone else saw it.
Erika said goodbye to Stefan and Damon before she left. "Hey," she said to them, "Feel free to stop in and help out." Erika took her phone and shoved it in her pokcet before she left. She made her way to Nina's and stepped onto the porch, "Hello?" she called out, hoping someone would answer her.
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Post by seedian on Jul 23, 2010 13:56:29 GMT -5
Gabriel woke up quite early. He was up by 5 A.M. to go for a run and do some light calisthenics. He ate a power bar and downed some Gatorade quickly then got ready to go help Nina. He left and headed towards a friends house. He made a deal that he would let his friend drive his Impala for the day if he could use his truck. It was a decent truck in fair condition, red dodge ram 3500, diesel, dual rear wheels with the power to haul a building. Gabriel was ok at driving a stick and the truck took a little bit to get use to but Gabriel learned quickly. He headed over to Nina's house parking across the street from her house. You could hear the truck coming a mile away. He looked at the clock 8:35 A.M. He turned off the truck, got out, and headed for the porch. He recognized the girl already there, it was Erika. Gabriel had had the handful of friends meet him there a bit later. Gabriel approached the porch but didn't go on it standing with his hands in his pockets in front of it smiling friending at Erika. He was wearing the normal cloths he usually would worn boots, faded jeans, simple black t-shirt. He didn't care if they got ruined he had a ton of cloths all just about the same. He spoke casually to Erika "Good morning Erika, it is nice to see you again, you look well, I am glad. A decent amount of people seem to be getting sick, I think a bug is going around or something, I guess we are among the lucky ones that haven't caught it. It was nice of you to help Miss Giles out too by the way, I hope you don't mind me being here to help as well, I just felt obligated since I am not doing anything important today." Gabriel did want to genuinely help but his curiosity was spiked still now that he was at Nina's house. If he could see her things, how she lives, especially photos he could paint a fair picture of who she was and what she was all about. Gabriels eyes scanning over the house and the area as well as Erika picking up the little details, catching the moods, seeing everything. When Nina would walk out he would no doubt as it being more of a automatic reaction do the same to her. It was just in his nature to discover things, to know what was what with them, and finally to understand them. Gabriels heart beat fast he was quite interested in finding the answers he sought today that had to do with Nina it was like this with every mystery, puzzle, or case.
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Post by Nina Giles on Jul 25, 2010 21:40:08 GMT -5
The iPod in her ears blocked out most of the sounds around her, but the roar of a big diesel truck cut through even DragonForce, and she hit the pause button and carefully tucked the earbuds into a pocket as she walked around from the back of the house where she had been rummaging around in one of the old sheds. She rounded the corner to see Erika standing on the porch and Gabriel on the walkway leading up to it. She had been working for about an hour and was feeling pretty good, although the coffee smelled amazing even to her.
“Good morning!” she called cheerfully, stuffing her work gloves into a back pocket. “There’s coffee and tea on the little table on the sunporch and I for one need at least another gallon of caffeine in me. Help yourself if you like and we’ll see if we can’t figure out the best way to tackle this thing.” She gestured vaguely to the pile of dead branches in the yard a few feet from the front of the house. “I started tearing the vines down, but so far it looks like they may win this one.”
She picked up the coffee mug she had abandoned on the lowest step earlier and walked up the steps and through the screen door into what she had termed the sunporch. She vaguely remembered it being called the ‘drawing room’ by Mary Margaret Parsons back in the 1860s, but she had always thought it was a pretentious thing to call a screened-in porch.
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