#cervidae project

[ajn-illustrated]

A little Red sketch. I hope he cleaned up the blood off the hardwood floor 🧡

[cervidae-project]

A phone call to Tilly S. Cates, from Caribou; transcript

Dated Feb. 25 2009

TILLY: Hello?

CARIBOU: Oh, good, I finally caught you. I'm sorry, I would have left a voicemail when I called before, but it seems your inbox is full—

TILLY: Who is this?

CARIBOU: I'm Cari, I just moved here. Sorry, I should have led with that.

TILLY: Yeah, probably.

CARIBOU: Anyway, I had some questions about the local legends and cryptids and such, and I was told you were the person to talk to. I hear you're an expert.

TILLY: Not exactly an expert. I mean, my degree is in folklore, but I'm just sort of archiving the stories of Redwater that I'm told by the people who have been here their whole lives. Though I'm curious about your relationship with the topic?

CARIBOU: My friends and I were just [pause] curious.

TILLY: Because of the wild animals in the woods attacking things, yeah?

CARIBOU: Why would you think that?

TILLY: Well your friend clearly wanted people to take the situation more seriously than Josef Krakowski did, so I assume you two think something else is going on. Maybe of a supernatural nature.

CARIBOU: Do you actually believe in the stories you study?

TILLY: I think there's truth in many stories. Many are made up to give an explanation to things people don't understand. Maybe something like whatever it is you're trying to figure out.

CARIBOU: Yes, actually. I was hoping I could look at what you know and see if I can get a lead on this situation.

TILLY: Do you know where the library is?

CARIBOU: I can find it.

TILLY: I can meet you there tomorrow at noon if you're available.

CARIBOU: Yeah, that'll be nice, actually. Thank you.

[ajn-illustrated]

Here's Red and Caribou from @cervidae-project I think these two are my favorite characters

[the-halfling-prince]

*sighing dramatically* If cervidae project redwater was a fiction podcast then the little gay people in the webbed sites would be all over it.

[cervidae-project]

Cervidae Log; transcript

Dated Feb. 20 2009

CARIBOU: Cervidae log. February twentieth, two-thousand nine. Caribou.

So, we sent Red to the radio station yesterday to get the word out that the woods need to be avoided by all residents. We listened to the broadcast today and I don't really think he got the message exactly. The radio host, that is, not Red. Red is actually, as I'm saying this, dismantling the cabin radio because he's so frustrated. He will be reassembling it soon, I'm sure.

[Red is heard faintly cursing to himself, mostly inaudible]

And anyway, I've been looking into the incident with the inverted deer, trying to look into any records of folk tales of the town that might give me some sort of clue. Or maybe a report of something freaky like this happening in the past, but I've come up with nothing.

Elk was looking at the camera footage outside but our cameras are still glitching. Red was reluctant to replace them, because he's spent so long trying to fix them, but it's really not that big a deal. Moose is getting some today. I hope, in a bit of a weird way, that whatever did that yesterday comes back after we have cameras up so we can see something. Wish us luck.

End of log.

[cervidae-project]

Redwater Brook Radio broadcast; transcript

Dated Feb. 19 2009

JOSEF KRAKOWSKI: Folks, I was visited at the station yesterday by one of the new residents that lives in the cabin in the forest. I have—until now—only gotten the chance to speak to one of the women, who says her name is Cari and she's quite friendly.

And this new person I met today was also quite personable. His name is Red, and he's a mechanic. I asked if he'd be able to look at our shoddy sound board sometime and he said he'd be happy to.

Oh, he also told me to tell you all that there have been wild animals in the woods, and to tell you to stay out of there. Of course I did mention that, you know, it's the woods, there's gonna be wild animals. Duh? And he said that it was bears and it killed like a bunch of deer. Which like, hey… it's a bear, they're gonna do that. I also made sure to mention that a seven year old at Redwater Brook Elementary could tell you the precautions to take with bear safety, this isn't something we don't know about, but he insisted that I mention it to y'all anyway. Well, the concern was endearing. So, be really careful going into the woods, alright?

It's been a few months since bears have gotten into my trash bin, I'll admit.

The Offspring is up next, then something a little more underground.

[cervidae-project]

Cervidae log; transcript

Dated Feb. 17 2009

MOOSE: Cervidae log. February seventeenth, two-thousand and nine. Moose.

We're still investigating the anomaly that occurred outside the cabin this morning. As I'm sure Red did not properly record exactly what happened, I'll give my recount as well.

Our cameras have been turning off suddenly. They're old and need to be replaced, but Red insisted on fixing them. This afternoon, he went to check that they were still working, and he found nothing but carnage surrounding the cabin. I counted thirteen deer carcasses that had been sliced from neck to stomach and turned inside out, the bones and organs spilling out. Red brought a blood covered skull into the research room to show us. It was dripping all over the hardwood floor and I made him clean it up.

Elk and I collected a few samples, we're not really sure how we'll go about studying them to figure out what happened, but Caribou says she might be able to figure something out.

Despite her hands shaking, Elk joked we'd be having venison for weeks. I laughed. Red vomited.

End of log.

[cervidae-project]

An untitled poem by Violet Krakowski, for her 9th grade English class

Dated Oct. 19 2013

You know common knowledge

You know sugar is sweet and lemons are tart

And the government never has your best interest at heart

You know looking for rhymes is pointless

You know the color of the sky is ever changing

You know the stars fade in and out every night

And you know that nobody escapes the end

But the worst people you know always put it off somehow

You know you'll never hear your mother say she loves you

And you've never heard it before

And you know water is not supposed to be red

And you're not supposed to be trapped in your own head

You're not supposed to blame yourself for the dead

Or the lives you ruined by living instead

You know nothing and you know everything

And you know that you know nothing

You know how weapons in a hand can kill

And you know that in a pinch, negligence can do just fine