Dreams and Disasters

It's been a little while since my last update (3 months), so I thought I'd share a little about what's been going on with me. The title of this post (why yes, it's an Owl City song) pretty much sums it up...although, perhaps disasters is too strong of a word.

You last heard that I won the Writing Excuses Scholarship to their writing retreat coming up in June and I was editing my novel in earnest. I had goals. Apparently absurdly unrealistic ones... HA! I wanted to be finished editing my novel by May. It's May. Am I finished? No. No, I'm not. Have I made progress? YES! Surprisingly, I have! :) I can now say that I have finished over 1/3 of it. (33.6%, but I like the OVER a third idea...) I still have dreams of finishing the whole thing before the retreat in June, but... We'll see. I'm trying! Also, I've written a couple of scenes in my middle grade fantasy novel, and I'm really enjoying it.

What you don't know (or, at least, I haven't posted it on this blog) is that the very same week I won the scholarship, my hubby got a job offer in another state. This is a good thing, but it has turned our world upside down for the past three months. I have gotten a part-time job. We are cleaning and packing and trying to sell our house. My writing time has all but disappeared. Life seems like chaos at the best of times. I have gained 20 pounds. :(  Our house is still not sold and we are leaving in less than 3 weeks.

Let's not focus on those 'disasters' though. I've decided to get back in gear. I'm running again. I've lost 4 pounds so far. I'm trying to get in editing whenever I can...it's slow going, but I'm making the time. I think I've cleaned my house more in the last 2 1/2 months than I have in the 4 years we've lived here. We continue to have a lot of showings, hopefully that will get us an offer soon. And I'm headed to the writing retreat in a month!

You see, God is good. He knows my dreams and he knows my disasters. He has a plan for my good and his glory. The waiting is a hard place to be, but I'm trying to be faithful. I need more sleep than I've been getting (I've borrowed, probably too much, from my sleep time to write/edit), but things are getting done. Prayers are appreciated. Perhaps I'll have time in the next month to post again, but if not I'll certainly post after the retreat! :)

Practice

I wrote a story for Flash! Friday yesterday and didn't get a chance to post it. Picture prompt with 190-210 words. I came in at 209...actually 210...I added a word here that wasn't in the one I submitted. Ah, well. :) Enjoy!

“Please, Louisa? You have the best posture of anyone! How am I going to have the trick ready if no one helps?”

Louisa closed her book with a snap and set it on the bench. “It is unladylike, Balin. My Mother would-”

“She’s gonna love it! I promise!” Seizing her hand, he pulled her out of the garden toward the practice grounds.

Louisa stumbled behind him, glaring. “You know this will not go well.”

“There won’t be any chickens, pies, or fertilizer this time. What could happen?”

Almost a candlemark later – including several kicks in the head, an elbow in the eye, and a tear in her dress –she was long past finished.

 “Once more. Please, Louisa? I almost had it!” Balin sounded desperate.

Louisa sighed loudly but held her hands out. The would-be acrobat flipped himself gracefully upside-down over her head – perfection at last? – No; he’d flipped too far. They tumbled to the ground.

“Louisa!” A female voice thundered.

Balin’s head snapped up. He was lying on top of Louisa! He scrambled to his feet, red-faced.

Louisa stood calmly and brushed down her dress. “Yes, Mother?”

“What is the meaning of this?” The woman’s face blazed.

Balin stepped forward. “It’s not her fault! It was my idea… Your Majesty…”

Debt of Honor

:) This is my entry for Monday Mixer over at Jeffrey Hollar's blog. 150 words exactly (as per the rules) and I've used ALL NINE words! WHAT???? I know! Crazy! I may not win the over-achiever award, but I feel like an over-achiever! (I totally should have been editing my novel, but once I started I couldn't stop!) I hope you enjoy it! (The bold words are the prompt words)

My eyes swept his chosen arena. The trees were sparse this high in the taiga. Moss gave the ground some bounce, but the lakes dotting the landscape made it squishy.

I opened my portmanteau, fingering the ammo I’d hoarded from the repository. The voluble idiot! His calumnious accusations had cost me everything! I demanded the Debt of Honor – giving me choice of weapon, but him time and place.

He would arrive soon. I pulled a rusk from a vest pocket and nibbled; I needed my strength.

Sunrise struck the horizon, and in its effulgent glow appeared my nemesis.

He smirked at the ammo, “Your concertina would’ve been a better choice – debilitate me instantly, like it did Julia.”

“Julia had the flu! She loved my songs you wretch – you’ve been spreading lies!” I reached for several water balloons. “Arm yourself! And remember the price of defeat. You agreed.”

“So did you.”

Ignorance is Bliss

I wrote this a couple weeks ago and never posted it. Oops. It's been that kind of couple weeks...Actually, it's been that kind of couple months! It was for the Flash! Friday #20 on April 19th. I enjoyed writing it, but I think the last line was a bit too forced. If I had a few more words to work with I think it wouldn't have felt so... morally. Yeah, I know that's not a word, but that's the one I want... :) It was a 300 word limit, but I needed a bit more to make it feel natural. Ah, well. Hope you like it anyway! :)

 

“Miranda! Have you seen this?” Gerald thrust the newspaper before her jabbing at the article for emphasis.

“What makes you think I’ve seen it? I don’t read the paper, Gerald.” Miranda turned her nose up and glanced away.

“Fine. Stupid question. But have you heard…”

Miranda stared at the patterned wallpaper across the room, counting the tiny flowers that grew in precise patterns. One, two, three… She didn’t like to listen to bad news. Her mother always told her that ignorance was bliss and she intended to prove it.

Fourteen, fifteen… It wasn’t a very scientific study. She hadn’t quite worked out how to judge whether she was happier not knowing something without finding out what she didn’t know, which would ruin the entire experiment.

Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three… She had successfully avoided all manner of news for over a month, but it took focus and careful planning. Sewing circle, book club, even the opera needed to be avoided!

Forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven…

THWACK!

“What was that for?” Miranda massaged her head while she glared at Gerald.

“Did you hear a word I said?” He brandished the newspaper threateningly.

“I’m sure I heard it, Gerald. I just wasn’t listening.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“So. You think this is bliss?” He gestured at her with the paper. “I can prove you wrong right now.”

Miranda quirked an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“Yeah. THIS news?” He tore the paper to bits. “This news makes me SO happy… SO thrilled…” He laughed, “I wanted to share it with you. But you know what?” He tossed it like confetti. “If you want to know what it is, you’ll have to read it yourself.” He turned and stalked out of the room.

“Now that’s just cheating.” Miranda bit her lip, then knelt to find joy instead.

Sunrise of a New World

It's Friday again, and that means another entry into Flash! Friday over at Rebekah Postupak's blog! The picture is SUPER beautiful this week! I'm so excited about it! And I really like what I came up with. Yay! I get to share it with you! I only had 150 words this week (C'mon, just a few more and I could've fleshed it out even more...) with 5 words grace...I used all of them and came in at 155 words. Enjoy!

“Daddy! You’ve gotta see-”

“Not now, Champ, the readings on this are phenomenal!” Gordon plugged his handcomp into the stationary core probe. The final stage of the terraforming process was beginning.

“But Daddy, there’s-”

“Just look at these numbers, Champ! At this rate, the world will be ready for colonization in under ten years! That’s a 54% increase over Gamma 2 – 268% increase over Titan!” He began entering the updated codes on the handcomp, his gloves making it tedious. “In as little as a year we won’t need thermal insulation.”

“But Dad, I really think-”

“Not now, Son. The amount of water vapor being poured into the atmosphere right now is astounding! I can practically see it happening!”

“Dad! Look!” Junior grabbed his father’s face and jerked it toward the horizon, “You can! Just open your eyes!”

Gordon held his son’s hand and watched the sunrise of a new world, tears freezing on his face.

Memory Trivia

This is my entry for Flash! Fiction over at Rebekah Potupak's blog! It's SUCH a fun picture today! There's still time to get yours in! It closes tonight at midnight (ET). 100 words exactly this time...tricky, but fun. Enjoy! :)

Memory Trivia

 

I grunted. Stupid ladder. My hips protested each step. I was too old for this. Mable was going to be wrong this time for sure. As a retired Memory Caster, I knew the difference between clear and cloudy.

The day I met Mable was as clear as glass. She spoke to me first, no question. I looked up. The sky was a beautiful blue, but I wished the projection worked from the bottom of the tree.

Finally. I watched the scene unfold. Dag’nabit! Laundry duty for another year! Perhaps I should concede defeat. Her memory was better. No! Next year…

A horse?

I wrote something fast for Wakefield Mahon's Motivation Monday last night. I probably should've been doing something else...like folding laundry, but I didn't. I usually get my ideas Monday night and write it Tuesday morning (it's not due until noon people - get yours in!), but now that I work on Tuesdays I have to rush it.

It needs editing and I shouldn't even put it up, but I like the idea and thought I'd share. It's got promise. :) The prompt for this one (as always) is the beginning. Specifically, "I saw four men on horseback" (I added the quotes in mine - it didn't have to be dialog.) and the idea of an apocalypse/end of the world that someone survives...or, at least, that's how I read it. The apocalypse idea is just his thought on the prompt, the only requirement is the beginning words. I like this contest because it's the longest one. I get 500 words to play with! Shockingly, I only used 387. (I was obviously half-asleep!)

“I saw four men on horseback.” I stammered as I passed through the gate, panting.

The guard on duty – Jerod – looked at me as though I’d taken a leak on his foot.

“Seriously. They were coming over the hill from the west…” I pointed back the way I’d come.

“Son, ya’ don’ even know what a’horse looks like. I’m sure it was jus’-”

“No! They were horses! I’ve seen pictures!” I had, too. One of the books in the nursery had a picture of a horse in it.

“I’m sure ya’ have.” He looked back the way I’d come. “West ya’ say? Well, sun’s settin’, in’it? Sometimes those shadows look a bit odd…”

“There’s nothing on that hill to cast a shadow! Nothing! They were there.” I could feel the heat in my eyes and I blinked furiously. It wouldn’t do no good to waste water. I bit my lip. Now this was a pickle! “I know sometimes I make out like I seen things when I didn’t. But this time, I really did!”

“That’s what ya’ say every time, Marcum. Now, it’s not as though I don’ believe ya’, exactly. Perhaps you did see something, but it weren’t no men on horseback. There ain’t nothin’ out there. Not no more.” Jarod scuffed his foot in the dirt and took a deep breath, but let it out without saying what was on his mind. He jerked his head toward home, “Get yourself home. Your Momma’s probably worried sick over ya’.”

I hung my head and tramped off down the path, kicking rocks as I went. Stupid. This whole place was stupid. We were just waiting to die. Food and water were scarce, everybody sick with something – any moment we were gonna be toast.

That’s why Papa left. He was gonna find some others – bring back help. Something must’a happened. He’d been gone two years now. I kept scouting to see if I could find some trace of him. I felt like I could hear him call my name sometimes.

I froze.

I did hear him.

I turned back the way I’d come. Four men on horseback. Papa!

I ran. Papa practically jumped off that great big creature – bigger than I could’ve imagined – and held his arm out to me.

He was home.

We were gonna make it.