Stories!

Okay. I had a totally bizarre and freaky dream last night, woke up crying (that hasn't happened in ten years), and hence am going to post a short story in lieu of writing. It's not my normal happy stuff, but sometimes I need to branch out, you know?


Speak

She fidgeted, twitching a French fry between her fingers. Juan and Kara were seated behind her. Most people would not hear their conversation, or care. But she inherited good hearing from her mother. It was genetic, so how was the guilt she felt her fault?

Kara sighed, the sound fighting for rights in the chatter of the cafeteria. “I don’t know anymore. Why shouldn’t I?”

Juan took a moment to answer. “You still have your mom.”

Kara snorted. “Yeah, in all her Walgreens-employee glory.”

“She’s still someone.”

"Yeah? Barely.”

“Still. Just because of the accident – you can’t just leave off like that.”

The girl listening tried not to listen. She lifted her sandwich and took a measured bite. It tasted like paper.

Kara’s voice rose. “Just because? I lost my dad and both sisters in one night because some idiot driver didn’t turn his lights on. My brother’s in Iraq so he’s practically done for. My boyfriend ditched me yesterday because some other two-timing little twit is better looking. What’s the point?”

“College? You have good grades.”

“College? Come on, I might be a geek but I’m not gonna live for college.” Kara laughed, not normally. “That’s what I’m saying. What am I living for?”

The listener pursed her lips. There was a lot to live for. A God to live for. Could she say that? Out loud?

From the corner of her eye, she saw Juan shrug. “I dunno. I thought you were Catholic.”
“Yeah, so? What does that mean anyway?”

The words surged at her lips. She could turn and tell Kara what it meant. She knew. A surge of adrenaline pulsed through her. She swiveled on her seat. “Hey, Kara?”

Kara glanced up, skin under her eyes dark through makeup. “Yeah?”

The words poised on her lips died as she saw Brittany seated next to Kara. The cheerleader tilted her head and arched her brows, as if interested in what her teammate had to say to this math whiz.

She swallowed as words crumpled into themselves and shriveled. “I was wondering if you had notes from Friday. I wasn’t here.”

Kara blinked. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll give them to you after school. Out front by the benches?”

She nodded stupidly, numbly.

Brittany returned to her salad, gutting a cherry tomato with her fork.

Kara mumbled something to Juan before grabbing her tray and vanishing.

She waited, but Kara was not there after school. The news came quietly, through one of Kara’s friends. The doctors pumped a full bottle of sleeping pills from her stomach. She would be in care for several days.

The listener, the coward, the not-speaker sighed. Too many what-ifs. It could not occur again. She drove toward the hospital and asked for Kara’s room number

I survived!

Ughhh. That was the longest road trip of my life. I am now a road trip warrior. I've now driven in multiple states, like Alabama and Tennessee and a blip of Georgia and Pennsylvania. A painful, painful rain-hammering-down ten-mile-an-hour stint in Pennsylvania. And then we drove back, with better weather, thankfully.

Running camp was a mix of fun, pain, irritation, and fun. Some of the workouts pushed me farther than I cared to be pushed, but I guess it will make me resilient. Every night we played Ultimate Frisbee in teams, hence the irritation. My team was third place last year. It was seventh of eight this year. We had one guy on our team who was...I say this kindly, not in awful shape, but he had no endurance. Furthering my annoyance, he didn't work hard and didn't cover his guy.

I'm not the best thrower, so out of reflex I defend well. There's a rule you do not break around me: COVER YOUR MAN. And then in the last game, one of our girls made a beautiful save for a goal. We were tied with the number two team, and it's now overtime, sudden death. Looking particularly at this guy, I say "Alright, let's cover them tight." Forty seconds later the other team scores, and the dude my teammate was supposed to guard was on the opposite side of the field. He scored because my teammate slacked off.

Okay, rant over. Mostly. My sister put it the best way: "I get angry about things quickly and get over them quickly. It takes you a longer time to get angry, but it also takes you longer to get over it." Wisdom from the mouths of babes. Okay, she's not that young *winces at punch*. Come on, sis! It's figurative.

Here is a fun exercise. I may tag some people to do it. The rules: List three song titles, and your immediate thoughts. Then tag three people. I.E.:

No Air, Jordin Sparks. 1. What my sister keeps singing over and over and over to drive me insane. 2. The precise amount of oxygen my sister will be inhaling if she doesn't cut it out.

Train, 3 Doors Down. 1. What I wished I was on while driving down the interminable Route 59. 2. What I was going to throw my sister in front of if she didn't quit singing Bleeding Love.

Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis. 1. Another thing my sister kept singing, in soprano. 2. Sounds morbid, like the previous number 2s.

I like it. I tag...you, and you, and Miss Erin, and Anilee, and Gretch-a-Sketch.

On da Road and My SECOND Tag...

Ay yi yi. 1700 miles later, I am still alive! We're in PA now, and I still have wi-fi connectivity. (Beautiful thing!) So, during the very last leg of the trip, I drove. Silly me. It poured rain, there was an accident, and it took almost forty-five minutes to cover six miles on the freeway. I can almost (not quite) run six miles that fast. But certainly not after a ten-miler, which I did this morning...tough after sitting and waking up at 4 am a couple days ago...but that's part of the great American road trip.

But we're here, and I'll have Internet until Sunday morning, so get them comments in quickly :-) Outside is a veritable paparazzi of fireflies in the twilight. It's around seventy degrees, and low humidity, so different from Houston, where I walk outside and start sweating.

Okay, onto the tag. I was tagged by Miss Erin a couple days ago, and I'm finally getting to it.

The Rules:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

1. Train by 3 Doors Down
2. Merchant of Death by Ramin Djawadi (Iron Man soundtrack)
3. Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield
4. Not Too Late by Three Days Grace
5. What I Want by Daughtry
6. Bad English by Trevor Rabin (Gone in 60 Seconds soundtrack)
7. I suspect it will be something from Viva La Vida (new Coldplay album), possibly Violet Hill

Bonus 8. Smooth by Santana and Rob Thomas

I tag...hmm. Jamin, Somnite, Paris, Judi, Q, Gretch-a-Sketch, and Anilee. If you've already been tagged, disregard this one - unless, of course, you really want to share more favorite music:-)

My goodness...

I'm so busy. We got home from Oregon a week ago, and are leaving Wednesday for Pennsylvania. I'm not sure what to write, in the fear of sounding scatterbrained. So.

Oregon. The weather stayed between forty and seventy degrees. Absolute heaven compared to ninety degrees and 80 percent humidity. The track meet we saw lasted three hours, a good time. It's amazing to see so many world-class athletes in one place. I"d prattle about this if it were something better known like Twilight, and everyone knew what I was talking about.

Speaking of. I heavily skimmed Twilight and am not overly impressed. I did, however, pick up The Host at Barnes and Nobles. I was skeptical. I only bought it because it was 40% off with a member's card. My skepticism vanished about twenty pages in. It's an amazing book. Granted, I know a lot of bloggers (teenage girls) would rather read the Twilight saga, due to the romance and perfection (or not) of Edward, etc. I think The Host is amazing. It's almost the cleanest adult book I've read, but still steamy in some parts and full of action. I thought 600 pages was overkill. There were a few parts I bemoaned an editor's foolishness, but only a few. (Lines such as "He threatened gruffly." The dialogue gets the point across, but minor detail).

So if you haven't read it, for crying out loud, get it! It's the least sci-fi book out there that's classified as sci-fi. It makes me happy.

I haven't written much on book 3 - too concerned with unpacking, ditching the suitcase in the hallway, and five days later hauling it back into my room. The ideas are rolling, though. It has to do with bikers, as in motorcycles built for speed, and a girl trying to find herself, and her messed-up family. I like it, unlike a certain section of the other might-be book 3, in which I want to strangle either myself or the characters for not talking right. The dialogue's giving me a little trouble. Maybe I should go for a short story.

Ugh. I am crazy. I never write short stories. Ah well! Off to pack a pair of not-yet-smelly running shoes.

Lots to do...

So I'll post a short story. Let me know what you think - this is about a year old, but I don't think it's so old as to embarass me. The assignment was to write a story of less than 500 words that ended with "As he climbed out of the belly of the whale, and onto the shore, he raised his hands in victory."


Arlin’s forehead creased as he breathed in a smell fishy enough to knock him backwards. He glanced at the massive eye studying him from the water. Leave it to that bungler Arthur to lose Excalibur in the ocean.

The great eye blinked, and Karina spoke in a surprisingly breathy voice. “Knight Arlin, does something concern you?”

Arlin bowed. “No, Lady Karina. And I am not a knight yet.”

The waters churned with frothy gray tops as Karina belly-wriggled onto shore. “I can go no further, Knight Arlin. Please, come in.”

Figures. He got respect from kingly whales and none from comparatively scrawny humans. King Arthur ought to take note. Arlin swallowed and walked forward into Karina’s mouth, which gaped like a cave of unparalleled size. The smell grew as he stepped onto her tongue, slime coating his boots.

He had received word from a sea faerie yesterday that the whale princess Karina had a sharp object lodged in the back of her mouth. Fish, wary creatures, would not venture near enough to pluck it out, though Karina promised safe passage.

Arlin had felt his gut sink. “But…but what am I to do?”

The faerie narrowed her sea-green eyes. “Silly man, go in and remove it! Surely you realize it is Arthur’s sword.”

“I am merely a steward, not even a knight! Why should I be gi…uh, honored with this disgusti- I mean, noble task?”

“So, Arlin, that you may yet be knighted.” The faerie blew on her seashell and disappeared, a briny smell lingering.

Arlin trusted himself to speak once halfway across the whale’s tongue. “I trust this does not hurt you, Lady Karina?”

He realized his mistake when her tongue lifted in speech, hurling him face-forward. Arlin thrust his hands out to little avail. His face smacked into Karina’s tongue, along with the rest of his body. “I apologize, lady, but I’m-” Another motion of her tongue sent him somersaulting. “Please cease speaking!”

The tongue stilled. Arlin, imagining the smell of fish creeping into his pores, grimaced and ran. Light glinted from Excalibur’s hilt, a few feet away. Arlin swallowed. He should feel a sense of awe pervading his very bones. But this smell was choking him. Arlin curled his fingers around the sword and tugged it free.

Karina gave a deep sigh. “Ahhh.”

Afraid she was going to speak, Arlin held the sword point-forward and sprinted towards the light. The smell slackened with a fresh breeze.

The faerie appeared inches in front of Arlin and nearly got run through for her troubles. She squealed and backpedaled. “You great bungler-”

Arlin smirked, sliding between Karina’s teeth. “Now, now, faerie, just because you’re inattentive.”

She blinked, regaining her composure. “I congratulate you. You have succeeded, and will be knighted by Arthur himself with Excalibur.”

Arlin smiled. As he climbed out of the belly of the whale, and onto the shore, he raised his hands in victory.

And for the second time, nearly speared the faerie.

SuperSuperSuper Quick Update

Hello, bloggers!

I'm on a hotel computer in Eugene, Oregon, so I'll make this quick. I'm in Eugene for the best track and field meet except for the Olympic Trials (which conveniently are located in Eugene, four weeks later). As some of you know, I'm a pretty serious runner, so I'm looking forward to this.

The weather: Abso-lutely amazing. It was 40 degrees this morning, PERFECT running weather, and it's going to be in the sixties and seventies during the day. Houston weather: 90s and stinking humid. Awful running weather.

So, I'll be out of the loop for the next week. See you later!

The Page Flipper

I know some of you read The Page Flipper blog - today, there is an official Page Flipper website. There aren't any reviews up yet, but the blog was amazing, so head on over!

http://www.thepageflipper.com/