QMS News: We all need some change

 A few of the short short stories I included in Quarantine Monster Shorts were inspired by some of the weirder news stories of 2020 where I gave supernatural/paranormal/ridiculous reasons for them happening. I decided to share a brief explanation of those news stories in case you forgot. Here is the fourth one. Enjoy!

The first sign that anything was amiss with the Department of the Treasury was an actual sign at my local grocery store. 

It said something about not giving out extra change, please pay with a card or exact change, no quarters, etc. Then I started seeing them everywhere: drive thru windows, restaurant Facebook pages, and my apartment office. I even heard some places were giving discounts if people paid in change so they could replenish their supply.

Who had coin shortage on their pandemic bingo card, because I absolutely did not see it coming.

I asked the gal at customer service at Hy-Vee (midwest grocery store chain) what was going on and she said she had been told that a couple of the mints closed with the lockdown and supply chain issues was causing the Dept. of Treasure (they really missed out on an opportunity there) was struggling to make enough coins to meet the demand. The teller at my bank said basically the same thing.

Thankfully, I had a small supply of quarters and I spent most of the lockdown wearing the same four pieces of clothing so I didn't have any issues. In fact, I ran out of quarters shortly after coins came back so I got two rolls of shiny new 2020 quarters.

Shiny new 2020 quarters celebrating the
Salt River Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands

One is going in my pandemic scrapbook... if I had a pandemic scrapbook. I think at this point it's just a dusty old shoebox that I will sage and burn once the nightmare ends.

Look for "Coins" in Quarantine Monster Shorts coming October 2021.

QMS News: Mystery Seeds

A few of the short short stories I included in Quarantine Monster Shorts were inspired by some of the weirder news stories of 2020 where I gave supernatural/paranormal/ridiculous reasons for them happening. I decided to share a brief explanation of those news stories in case you forgot. Here is the third one. Enjoy!

I was going to think of something witty for the title but there's something so ominous about "mystery seeds" that I gave up.

In July, people all over the world started receiving packages in the mail that were usually labeled as containing jewelry, but actually held some seeds. Most people chalked it up to a one-off mistake and tossed them until a gardener in England asked a gardening group on Facebook about it and then the news exploded around the globe.

The seeds were traced back to China and after Covid tracing back there also, the panic and conspiracy theories ran amuck. People were convinced the seeds were actually bio-weapons to finish what Covid started, or some sort of spy device.

After investigating, the US government concluded that they were just seeds, but advised people to not plant them or throw them away. Rather, they should burn them, but that was primarily to prevent a rash of invasive species from popping up all over.

Was I the only one kind of hoping this was their one chance of growing a whole army of Audrey IIs?

Picture from WikiSciFi.

Look for "Feed Us" in Quarantine Monster Shorts coming October, 2021.

QMS News: Departure of Royals

 A few of the short short stories I included in Quarantine Monster Shorts were inspired by some of the weirder news stories of 2020 where I gave supernatural/paranormal/ridiculous reasons for them happening. I decided to share a brief explanation of those news stories in case you forgot. Here is the second one. Enjoy!

One of the longest lasting news stories of 2020 and into 2021 was Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan stepping down from their duties as senior royals and moving to Canada, then the US.

I followed the story closer than I follow many news stories in the US for reasons I can't really explain. Could be, like many Americans, I am simply fascinated by the royal family, or because of an inherited case of raging Anglophilia (Britanophilia?) - thanks, Mom - but whenever the British monarchy shows up on the news, my attention immediately shifts to that.

Of course there are a ton of speculation over the departure, even with Harry and Meghan's infamous Oprah interview. Vitriol and rancor was thrown at the couple from both sides of the pond but with the royal family being one of the most closed-mouthed institutions in the world, we will probably never know the whole truth.

But I have a theory of my own:

It was werewolves.

Still from Doctor Who "Tooth and Claw" ep 2, series 2.
Picture found on Warped Factor blog.

Look for "Royal Pack" in Quarantine Monster Shorts coming October 2021.