Considerations

This began as a blog for school; creative writing to be exact. I think I will continue it in a personal capacity, writing down recipes I like and thoughts. I'll begin with this one statement that I considered posting to facebook, but decided against. Most people would not understand it in anyways.

"Just watched Avatar again for about the 5th time. It confirms what I want to do with my life, studying the creatures in our world. Leave the cities to lawyers and bankers. Just give me a life out in the forests. That's all I want - to be part of life in the big picture, to have more meaning to my existence than money and clothes... to be free."

Coffee Gossip

Coffee Gossip

“And so I told her, ‘Cindy, you have got to stop this nonsense’. Naturally, I was talking about her husband’s cheating on her. She’s decided she wants a divorce, but ladies, we cannot let that happen. Then she began wailing about how shocking her life is and how unfair it is that her husband has been unfaithful to her,” Marie chattered to her friends Claire and Elizabeth as they nursed their morning coffees.

“What happened then?” whispered Elizabeth, anticipation evident in her voice.

Marie looked scornfully at Lizzy, “What do you think happened? I told her that no matter what Ricky had done she was his wife and divorce is against our rules, but matter what I hinted or warned she just wouldn’t budge.”

“So she’s really going to do it?” Nancy gasped, shock scrawled all over her expressive face.

“She’s so incredibly stubborn! She never listens. As far as I could tell she really meant it, so I warned her, ‘Cindy’, I said, ‘You do know that we can’t be friends if you go through with this’, but do you know what she said?”

“What?” asked the other girls; leaning forwards towards their ringleader to hang on her every word.

“I’ll tell you what,” Marie paused, enjoying the attention she was getting from her two sidekicks, “She stopped crying, and looked at me with puffy red eyes. I was about to suggest a cream for her to use – couldn’t have one of us walking around looking like that – but then… she spoke” Marie smiled slyly. She was loving this. She continued with the scandalous story, thinking to herself that she should have been an actress. “Now ladies, you will be shocked by our former friend’s behavior and blasphemy, but I must repeat verbatim, the Good Lord forgive me.” She closed her eyes and placed her hands in a prayerful position.

The other girls were sitting on the edges of their chairs, coffees quite forgotten in their eagerness to hear what their ringleader would tell them.

“She said to me – to her oldest and truest friend – that if I was ever her friend, I should be backing her. She said that as I was obviously more concerned with what our church would think than the fact that her world was falling apart, maybe she should cut our friendship right away to save me the embarrassment of association with her. And now comes the unforgiveable part girls. I am afraid that we can never converse with poor Cindy again. She has broken the rules and we cannot be seen to have any association with her any longer.”

 “What did she do?” the other two women whispered, enraptured by the outrageous tale.

“She told me to go and eat some holy dirt. Can you believe it? She disrespected our faith and us. We cannot let this happen to us girls. All this unpleasantness began when her husband was unfaithful. We must all go home, and check our husbands for the ‘signs’. Commandeer their phones and look through them, check their clothes drawers for hidden letters, call their offices to make sure they were there all the time they should have been, and visit their secretaries. We must protect what is ours, and unlike Cindy, we will not be dragged down to such a deplorable level.”

The other girls were speechless. They might hang on every scandalous word, but they had never dreamed that this would be the result of the story. Marie smiled craftily; it was so easy to make her little followers do what she said. Poor Cindy. Marie would help as much as she could, but she would not involve her naïve little followers in this. This was her own project, and while she would not let her simple friends get into any mischief, letting herself get into mischief was another matter entirely…

Polished Piece #1

Midnight Phantom

Moonlight filters in through the window, forming pools on the dark blue quilt. Cold, frozen snow drifts in garlands of gossamer through the open bedroom window, landing lightly on my eyelashes. I hear a creature’s quiet call out in the dark woods. What is this creature that has ventured into our forest in the middle of winter? A few minutes later, I creep among the trees, y dark jumper and jeans contrasting against the high, bright snow that blankets the forest floor. A rustle to my left. I turn, wary of what might be here with me, invisible in the night, but see nothing. A flick of black, a soft thud. I move slowly, deliberately, slinking like a shadow beneath the forbidding glares of the towering, malignant pines. I peer around the trunk of a bare, lonely birch tree – frozen inside itself, waiting for spring to release it from winter’s icy grip – and watch as a beautiful apparition steps through the deep snow drifts. I blink several times, astonished, making sure that this magical phantom in front of me is indeed real.

His head turns toward me, dark intelligent eyes framed by long lashes, considering me. I can almost imagine he is wondering if I may be a threat, but I would never dream of harming something so lovely.

The moonlight sparkles on the snow dusting his gleaming ebony back, tangling in his long mane like icicles. The black polished stones of his hooves meet the long shapely legs, graced with knee high stockings, rising to join his muscled torso. The graceful neck arches proudly towards the sky, ears flicking erectly forward, pinpointing my movements.

I carefully slide my foot through the snow, moving as slowly as possible so as not to startle him into flight. His eyes roll slightly, legs stiffening, ready to bolt as the smallest sign of danger. I slowly raise my hand to chest height, palm upwards, looking deep into the stallion’s glorious dark eyes. Resting in the center of my palm is a perfect white cube of sugar. His nostrils flare, longing for the precious treat warring with his cautious nature. Finally, he decides and steps forward, neck stretched towards the cube. I draw my hand back slowly, hoping he will come closer. Snorting and stamping his hoof in irritation, he sidles towards me. I feel the soft muzzle snuffling my palm as he delightedly chomps of the sweet treat. A cloud of white fog envelopes my hand, misting it from view.

His fear and caution overcome, he nuzzles my pockets, looking for more treats. I produce several more, and he stands right against me now, mane dancing along my arm as he savors the sugary cube, nodding his head in delight.

Marveling, I run my fingers gently down his moon streaked back, brushing delicate snowflakes from his coat, feeling a sharp twinge of cold against my fingertips as I do so. His coat is velvet soft, black as a raven’s wing. He tosses his silken mane, shimmering beneath the stars, and shifts his weight from one hoof to the other. I stroke from him muzzle, down his smooth neck, over his muscled shoulder, and along the sensitive flank. He does not mind my presence any longer, standing contentedly with me in the silent clearing.

After what seems like an eternity, but in actual fact is only several minutes, I know I must take my leave; I cannot stay out here in the snow-swept forest all night. Reluctantly, I give his finely shaped head one last caress; stroking from the white star in the center of his forehead down to the pale pink snip on his soft nose. I sadly turn my back and unwillingly retrace my steps toward the warm, inviting house. A soft nicker forces my head around. The stallion is standing in the open clearing, snow swirling about his legs, covering my footprints. The moonlight illuminates his coat, turning it to a midnight blue instead of black. He is looking at me, farewell evident in his deep unfathomable eyes and I know I will never forget this wondrous encounter with this gorgeous creature that sparkled like diamonds in the night.

Show Not Tell

I had walked towards the door, eager to feel the rush of biting wind, whipping my long streaming locks about my face. I'd turned the handle and pushed outwards, greeting the snowflakes with a large grin, while pulling my coat tighter about my frame. The snow cloaked the frozen earth like a light blanket of powdered sugar, blowing upwards and drifting about where the wind willed it. This gorgeous sight was disrupted by a tall black-cloaked figure striding across the perfect blanket, leaving flaws behind in her footsteps. I scowled, realizing who this interloper was. Would I never be free of annoying people when I just wanted some peace and quiet? The girl in the black coat stopped when she reached me, her perfectly tan skin at odds with the white all around us. We were exact opposites, she with her golden skin, bright green-brown eyes, short curly gold hair and a temper to match the nippiness in the breeze. I myself had ivory skin, blue-grey eyes like the center of a storm or the blue of the sky, depending on my mood. My shining hair fell to my waist, and while my sister's temper exploded like a microwaved marshmallow, mine simmered slowly like a boiling pot of water that would eventually bubble over, sizzling and soaking everything around it. Coming back to reality from my thoughts, she grabbed my sleeve, huffed irritation, and pulled me away from my beloved stables towards the house, where i could see my mother watching from the kitchen window. I knew why she had sent my sister; she wanted us to talk to each other again after refusing to say more than a sentence to one another for the last two years.

Jerked from my memories by the rush of hot air, I surfaced, noticing that I was walking into my kitchen, Sarah sitting at the table with a bowl of soup, the fire blazing behind her in the hearth. I smiled, and got another bowl out from the cupboard. she looked up and returned my smile with a small sad one. we didn't need words at this moment. Both of us knew what the other was thinking and feeling. I took my bowl of steaming soup and plonked myself down next to her at the table. I wrapped my arms around her and she hugged back, both of us seeking comfort, now that our parents were gone and we only had each other. I was just glad that mother had seen us reconcile before her death. I began telling my sister about remembering this exact day a year ago, and how far we had come since then.