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Welcome everyone to another CH Times installment!!! This one is slightly shorter than the ones of late, but please enjoy it, nonetheless!!
~The CH News~ by @Thumbelina16
@Bryanna has created a CH pro-life group for those of whom would like to get more involved in the pro life moment in different ways that are simple to complete. There is a topic for this in Members as well as a link in the topic to a Google Hangouts chat for this purpose.
We've had several active debates lately with the latest being "R: Men should only wear pants and women should only wear skirts" and "R: Wearing a mask is beneficial to preventing Covid-19" . The latter topic has reached 10 pages recently.
Voting for the poetry contest that has been going in closed the morning of July 31 and with votes in, the winner is Ella, with second place going to Megan, and third going to Noah. 
We currently have a total topic count if 22,190 and a total post count of 1,444,006. We are rapidly reaching 1,500,000 posts! Our total member list is 1,217 with our newest being @Ghostwhale14 and we've had a total of 36 new members in the month of July.
Thank you, Thumbelina!!
Dragon’s Call by @Daisy62300
Chapter 1
"The ground shook as Nahana was drowned in darkness once again. It had been eleven centuries since Aanyung had attacked the peaceful land, and both it and the legendary dragon Envoy had faded into legend, only remembered by few elders who were into old tales. Even then, when the serpent of nine heads had been rendered obsolete, everyone who gazed at the sky could only whisper one thing, one name: "Aanyung". What had happened was something no one could have ever predicted. The Envoy's sword, the key to the serpent's prison, had been claimed by a merchant looking for treasure. But when he tried to test it on a straw dummy, the sword, weakened by Aanyung constantly thrashing in it, broke into millions of shards, releasing the demon within. 
This did not escape the goddess's gaze, however, countless years of nothing to do had rendered her weak and lazy. Thus brings us to the present day. I write this all knowing that one day someone will find my manuscripts... but the serpent is outside my door, I can feel its nasty breath travelling down my spine. It has been a month since Aanyung has left its prison... and in that month, it has hunted down every person who knows of the dragon Envoy. Oh Hasuma... please, hear my final cry... save our people". The elder finishes his writing as he looks outside in worry. He folds up his letter into a large scroll, burning it in a lotus shaped candle. He places his hand on the candle as the smoke from it travels to the heavens. His homes shakes as one of the nine serpent heads slithers in from a window, grabbing the elder as it swallows him whole. 
The lotus shaped candle was the elder's final prayer for light to return to Nahana. In tradition, anything burned with a candle shaped like the goddess flower, the lotus, was said to travel to the heavens and end up being received by the goddess herself. As the serpent disposes of the elder, it looks at the candle in disgust, its voice making the home shake "That's the last one, Goddess. No one knows of the envoy now. Every bit of hope they could have had, gone. I know full well you're scared of me, one of the few rivals to your power. Know this. I will make the people you love so much suffer before your eyes, and there is nothing you can do but watch." The serpent the blows out the candle, destroying the house around it with a wave of darkness as it rises into the sky to hunt down more innocents.
Hasuma looks on in horror, her face going red as she screams "Why you... you..." her expression creases into one of despair as she sits down, the elder's manuscript in her hands as she reads it through it. "He's right... I HAVE become lazy... but what can I do?" She looks down from the heavens once more before a determined look crosses her face. "Wait. What if I went down there myself? Waaaait... that would mean taking on a mortal form AND losing most of my power. Sweet. Sounds really useful. Maybe I could search for another Envoy... actually... that's exactly what I'll do!" She teleports over to a bookshelf in her home as she pulls out a book labelled Spells that Affect the Mortal World. She looks through it before chucking it away, pulling out a second book labelled Mortals for Dummies. She flips through it before stopping at a page with a big red bookmark on it, reading "How to Become a Mortal in Three Easy Steps", a big smile appearing on her face. "Oookay, so as a mortal human being, I'll be able to talk to people and find the perfect new Envoy! Perfect!"
"Aanyung's origins were unknown, though some say it came from a greater evil, deep within the realm of darkness. The Envoy came from a normal family, and lived a normal life. Chosen by the goddess to slay Aanyung as an adult, he took on the task and somehow managed to do it. This lead many people to believe the goddess always chose the right people for the right purposes. They were all seriously wrong."
Thank you, Sam!
CH Story by @Raelee
Part Two:
@rose._.marie, @Audrey, @Daisy62300 and Rosie, who was so well trained she didn’t need to be on a leash, began walking down a stone path that led deep into the jungle-like-forest. As they walked down the path, which was fully shaded by the dense, green canopy of trees and plants, the group felt much cooler than when they were out on the beach.
After walking for a long time, taking only a few breaks, they still saw no sign of any other life. The sun which had been starting to set when they first started down the path, was now set fully, and darkness started covering the forest.
“We have to find some safe shelter, it's getting dark,” Dais said, and Rosie yipped almost as if in agreement with her master.
“Yes, I don’t want to be outside when there are any wild animals about,” Audrey said, looking nervously around.
“Me too, I don’t want to be eaten by a tiger,” Mar fearfully and also glanced about.
“Don’t worry, I haven't seen any animals or any sign of life outside yet,” Dais said.
Suddenly, Rosie began barking and ran forward. “She smells something, let's follow her!” Dais said. He, Mar, and Audrey quickly and carefully ran down the stone path, trying to keep Rosie in the dark scenery.
Rosie led them down a turn and then into a clearing where Dais, Mar, and Audrey abruptly stopped, bumping into each other. In front of them was a campfire, around which four familiar people sat. They stood up and looked at the arrival of the new group.
“Daisy, Rosemarie, and Aurdrey,  is that you?” a teenage boy who looked to be on the tall side asked, approaching them. He had short black hair, green eyes, and looked to be fifteen. He was wearing a white short sleeve shirt, camouflage shorts, and hiking boots.
“ @Big Nick, it's so great to see you in person.” Dais said, high fiving the teenage boy and addressing him by his CH username. “Nick, this is Mar, and Aurdrey.”
“Hi Nick, nice to see you in person instead of chatting with you on Catholic Harbor,” Audrey said, shaking Nick’s hand.
“I agree,” Mar said and also shook Nick’s hand.
“Is that @AltarGirl, @FaithHope&Love , @Bluebell,  @Fermilab with you?” Dais inquired.
“Yes, we all showed up here around the same time after logging onto Catholic Harbor last night, well last night here, and daytime in our homes,” Nick explained.
“Mar, Audrey, it's so amazing to see you!” a fourteen year old teenager, who was average height, had long brown hair, and dark green eyes. She excitedly ran over to Mar and Audrey, and then hugged them very tightly. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a short sleeve  sky blue tunic, and grey ankle boots with flowers on them.
“I’m excited to see you too, @Bluebell!” Mar smiled and hugged her back.
“I am also excited to see you too! I always wanted to see you in person!” Audrey squealed as she hugged her new friend.
“Aren't you excited to see me too Elizabeth?” Dais teased, addressing @Bluebell by her real name.
“Of course I’m excited to see you too!” Elizabeth smiled and shook Dais’s hand up and down energetically, her sparkly blue gem bracelet, that had flowers, jingling.
        One of the other people present was an average height fourteen year old teenager, with blond hair and blue eyes, who was wearing a hot pink short sleeve dress, a pair of blue jeans, and white sneakers. She ran up to Mar, Audrey, and even Dais, hugging all of them tightly.
        “I’m so excited to see you all actually in person!!!” the ecstatic girl squealed.
        “I’m excited to see you too faithope….I mean Rose,” Audrey smiled.
        “I’ve talked with you so many times on CH but I never thought I’d actually get to see you in person Rose!” Mar exclaimed and tightly hugged Rose.
        The last two teenagers, a seventeen year old girl and boy stepped forward and smiled.
        The boy had short brown hair, hazel eyes, and was wearing navy blue pants, with a short sleeve dark green polo shirt. He shook Mar, Audrey, and Daisy's hands. “Hello, it's nice to finally meet you all in person, `` he smiled. "Me and @AltarGirl  got here before Rose and Nick.”
        “Yes,” the short brown haired girl with sky blue eyes, agreed. She was wearing a long black maxi skirt, and a white long sleeve blouse. “We got here when the sun had just settled last night.”
        “How did you and @Fermilab eat, Faith?” Mar asked, giving the altar girl a big hug.
        “Me and SenDero gathered some bananas from the trees,” Faith explained, pointing to the trees up above, which the fire illuminated. “We also built this fire because at night it gets very cold out.”
        “Have you seen any wild animals?” Mar asked worriedly.
        “No, no sign of any other dangerous life. We’ve only seen birds, and harmless insects,” Sen replied. “Come join us by the fire, it will warm you up.” he added, seeing the shivering group.
        “Thanks,” Mar said. She, Dais, Rosie, and Audrey sat down around the warm campfire along with Sen, Faith, Elizabeth, Rose and Nick.
        “It's funny how it gets really hot during the day but cold at night, especially in this jungle-like-forest,” Audrey commented as she warmed her hands over the crackling fire.
        “I agree, and it's funny that the sand isn’t sandy and the water wet. It's like we're playing a virtual reality game,” Mar laughed.
        “I wonder if we’ll see any other Cher’s. It would really be fun to meet one of the mod’s, like @SmartKitty16,” Rose said smiling. “I always wanted to meet her.”
        “The chances are great because there are already seven of us, so there are bound to be a few more,” Sen said.
        “Here have some bananas,” Faith gave a banana from a basket to each CHer and then sat down next to Mar. “You know I wonder where we are actually.”
“That's easy, in a jungle,” Mar took a bite out of her banana. “At least the bananas are real. They taste really good!”
“I meant where on planet Earth, if we still are there, or whatever the name of this place is,” Faith said thoughtfully. “I wonder what the rest of this place looks like.”
“Tomorrow we should go exploring and try to find out if there are any other people in this place, and see what other places and wonders we’ll find,” Nick suggested.
“Yes I agree, all in favor raise their hands,” Dais instructed the group of friends. Everyone raised their hands. “Then it's settled. After we gather some supplies we can go exploring tomorrow. For now though, we should get some rest.”
“Your right, I’m very tired and who knows what tomorrow will bring,” Mar yawned.
“Me, Dais, Rosie, and Nick, can sleep a short distance away over by those bushes, and you girls can sleep by the fire,” Sen said. He and the other boys said goodnight and walked over to the area he had specified.
“Thanks! Tomorrow it will be your turn to sleep by the fire then,” Faith called after them. She, Mar, Audrey, Elizabeth, and Rose laid down by the fire and fell asleep very quickly, exhausted from all the excitement of the day.
Thank you, @Raelee!
CH Movie Reviews by @DMC88
Yes Friends!!! Once again, DMC88 has another film to review!! This time we journey
to the seas and an adventure through time itself. This film has some of the best in Hollywood starring
roles: Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, James Farentino (Who also played Simon Peter in Jesus of
Nazareth), Ron O’Neal, Katherine Ross, and Charles Durning. The trailer for this was memorable, so
much that I have to put in what the clip opened up with:
“On December 6, 1980, the nuclear attack aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz, was on a routine
patrol in the South Pacific, when it encountered a storm unlike any other, and disappeared...and
reappeared, December 6, 1941, off the coast of Pearl Harbor. The Final Countdown is about to
begin!”
Oh, and one more thing: Stay tuned after the review for a message from yours truly.
The Final Countdown

The film begins with a mystery. Warren Lasky (Martin Sheen) is sent for a few day cruise on board the US Navy’s best aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz. However, his send off is watched by a shadowy figure, whom we only know as Lasky’s boss, Mr. Richard Tideman. As Lasky arrives on board ship, the carrier’s air group is beginning to arrive, and Captain Matthew Yelland (Kirk Douglas) is overseeing the arrival until the CAG (Commander of Air Group), Commander Richard Owens (Simon Peter... I mean, James Farentino) lands on the ship himself. Owens becomes a major character as the story progresses. Soon after he arrives, Capt. Yelland is surprised to see the weather begin to turn ugly. He calls for his weatherman, Black Cloud, and teases him by asking if he’s been doing, “unauthorized rain dances again”. However, Black Cloud shows him something disturbing:
The water has become dramatically cooler, barometer readings are incorrect, and a strange vortex-like storm system has appeared on the radar. Unusually though, it keeps fading in and out, forcing Yelland to send the Nimitz’s escorting ships back to Pearl. Meanwhile, the last of Owens’ planes is experiencing technical problems and has to make an emergency landing, diverting everyone’s attention away from the ever increasing and ever closing vortex. Too late do the crew see it, but what happens is unlike anything that has ever happened to anyone: the vortex surrounds them and suddenly stops every piece of electronic use on the ship, and the crew are plunged into a strange audio-type of agony. After what seems like an eternity, the ship emerges, and the crew recover themselves. Soon, hard evidence points to the fact that the Nimitz, with all her crew, have traveled back in time to December 6, 1941. One of the best parts of the film provides one of the last pieces the crew finds that connects the Pearl Harbor puzzle; two F-14 Tomcats discover and pursue two Japanese Zero planes, which destroy an American yacht. A thrilling dogfight ensues, in which the Tomcats shoot down both planes. The only survivors, who are rescued by the Nimitz, are Senator Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning), who Ownes realizes would have been FDR’s running mate in the next election, had it not been for his mysterious disappearance just before Dec. 7. Also rescued are his secretary, Laurel (Katherine Ross), and one of the Japanese pilots, who survived his aircraft’s destruction. Eventually, Laurel and Owens fall in love, and Captain Yelland decides to change history by ordering his entire strike force to intercept the Japanese planes before they reach Pear Harbor on Dec. 7.
However, can history be changed? The sudden reappearance of the time vortex will decide that.
Opinion: I love this movie, period. Although this film was moderately received by critics, the Navy loved it, and used it as a promotion tool. Almost the whole film was filmed while the actual USS Nimitz was on deployment, with only a couple shots filmed on land. The music was awesome, and I still get a little chill during the time travel scenes. Although there are a couple moments where a sexual reference is made, some language is spoken, and some violence, (spoiler alert) particularly when the Japanese pilot goes on a homicidal rampage and is eventually gunned down himself, I give this a CH-F10 rating, as it can be enjoyed by the family, but it’s not for little ones.
 
On the subject of the Navy... (Disclaimer: In no way shape or form is this Seton-run or promoted. This is a personal invite to all CH’ers)

Greetings one and all!!! You know me as DMC88, but to a few, I am ND1701A, commander of “The 33rd Fleet”, Catholic Harbor’s official clan in World of Warships. For those of you who do not know what this game is, World of Warships is a naval simulator/action game. You can collect, sail and fight with ships from all nations in the WWI and WWII periods. Ships range from the mighty and almost unsinkable Japanese battleship, IJNS Yamato, to the legendary American light cruiser, USS Helena, to the German cruiser Konigsberg (jeez, I’m really going here...), the British carrier HMS Hermes, and the little tin cans of destroyers, such as USS Mahan. But besides these countries, you can sail with French, Italian, Chinese, and Commonwealth ships. At various times throughout the year, special contests are held, where you can obtain special rewards, including ships that normally cannot be acquired. If you’re wondering if there’s any gory violence or anything, this game has none of it. It is strictly ship-to-ship combat with no human crew.
Now that I’ve made my pitch, I am extending invitations to all of you to join us in this amazing game. As a member of the official clan of CH, you have the privilege of battling alongside fellow CH’ers, and wearing the clan tag of “JMJ”. Thank you for reading this, and if you are interested, feel free to pm me or my Executive Officer, @pianoplayingpony. God Bless You All!!!
Thank you, @DMC88!
That wraps up this entry,  thank you all for reading!  If you would like to contribute something to this blog, or have questions about it,  please ask us on this topic: https://www.catholicharbor.com/topic/22213-ch-times-editorial/
God bless you all!
Natalie