Category Archives: Sunday Scribbling

The Quest

I’m having a twitchy, can’t think of anything, don’t like it if I do week.  This is for a pile of prompts including One Word Shallow, Sunday Scribbling, Where in the world, Carry On Tuesday, and Three Word Wednesday.

Every inch of the back wall in the little room was tiled.  Thousands upon thousands of little bits of multicolored pieces of glass and pottery.  A mountain of rainbow chaos where someone had reached in, swirled their hand about, and caused a fantasy of ethereal beauty.  There was no way this was done by human, it had to be fae and even so over a long period of time.  There was power in it and a history before time was counted.  How I had even managed to get to this room had to be accidental and now that I was here I wanted to back away before they became aware that I had seen it.  It would not be something they would want me to know about.  I wanted to back away, but couldn’t.  The magic in the color held me spellbound and I felt as though I were falling into it.

A jerk on my arm brought me back to my senses.  I shook my head and turned to see Fin pulling me backwards shading his eyes.. “Come on Nissa, don’t look!”  I pulled my self away with no small effort, back into the darkness outside the doorway.  “What was that?” I asked Fin.

“I don’t know but as soon as you stepped inside I could almost feel a hum in the air.  Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up!  There is strong magic in there.”  He said.

The picture was still in my mind though many details were missing. I could still feel it’s powerful hold, though it weakened when out of view. It was too much to take in all at once.  The flowers were colors not seen in nature and words were swirled through the design “Love is a flower that grows in color” in purple and gold.   When I stepped inside it seemed at though lights bounced from a place far above and reflected the mosaic in a shallow pool in front of the wall. Even now I was drawn to it.

“Nissa, you have to control yourself.”  Fin said.

“Don’t patronize me.  I’m in control and you know it.  I feel the pull but I know it’s the magic.”  I pulled away from him, rubbing my arm where he had gripped it.  He was tall and wiry with dark red hair and he forgot how strong he was sometimes.  I was glad in this instance but I’m damned if I would let him know.  He grinned at me as if he read my mind which he nearly could.  “Lets find a safer place to sit and see if we can figure out where this is on the map.”

Some of the corridors in the caverns were in complete darkness and others were dimly lit from skylights.  There was a main room off to the left that we had traveled through to get here that contained illuminats left by mages.  Illuminats were spelled rocks that held light from the sun for years.  At least I hoped it was years. I had no desire to run into a mage.  We sat down on a rock and Fin pulled the map out of his pack.  “That room doesn’t show up anywhere on the map!” He said.

“Well then where in the world were we?”

“I don’t know” Fin said, “But it must be important to have so much magic.  The Fae have protected it so well that it doesn’t show up on the map.  I bet if anyone has found it before, their bones are in that pool at the base.”

“That’s it!”  The artifact is in that pool!” I was sure that was the answer.  We had been searching for so long.  “Now we just have to figure out how to get to it!”

“Is that all?  Nissa, if we go back in that room we might never leave it!”  Fin said.

“You know  the Fae like riddles and puzzles!  We just have to unravel this.  Simon sent us on this quest for a reason.  Think back to his exact words.  Maybe there was a clue in them somewhere.” I told him.

“He said for us to stick together no matter what.” Fin remembered.  “and to not be afraid of darkness, it is just a mirror of the light, then there was something else.”

“Something about using what we have to get what we need. So lets take stock.  We have rope in your pack.  What if we tie it outside the door to anchor us.  We can tear blindfolds. If we can’t see the mosaic it won’t have as much power.”  I said.

“It’s got to work.  It fits.  You hold me and I will go to the pool.”

“Fin, I’ve already been close to the wall – you haven’t been under it’s spell and besides, you are stronger.  I will need you to pull me out.”  I knew he was going to argue but he also would have to admit that my way made the most sense.

We tore strips of cloth for blindfolds and some more to bind our wrists together in case I tried to let go.  Fin tied one end of the rope to an outcropping of stone outside the door.  He wound some of it around his waist, giving himself slack.  We tied the blindfolds on, leaving them down til we were ready.  Fin tied his wrist to mine and I felt a tingle of fear.  What if I ended up nothing but bones at the bottom of the pool?  Simon wouldn’t have sent us here if it wasn’t important.  Whatever was at the bottom of that pool could help everyone in our valley so we would get it for Simon!

Fin grinned at me, fearless. “Ready?”

I smiled back at him. “Let’s go.”

We pulled the blindfolds down and entered the doorway.  We moved slowly with our eyes covered.  I tried to remember what the floor of this cavern room was like but I had been so mesmerized by the tiled wall that I didn’t pay it any attention.

“Are you okay Nissa?”  Fin called to me.

“I’m fine.  Just easing forward.  There is something on the ground here. I’m going to pick it up.”

I reached down and picked up a piece of glass about the size of my hand.  “ouch!”  I cried. I had cut my hand.  “It’s okay Fin, I just cut myself a little on a piece of glass.”  I moved forward some more.  My toe edged ahead and felt the beginning of the pool.  “I’m going to wade in slowly.” I told Fin.

“Just take it easy, I’ve got you.” He said.  “Just go slow!”

I was a little nervous walking in to the water.  What if there was a trap or a deep hole?  I just had to trust that Fin would get me out.  “I don’t feel anything, Fin.  I’ve gone all the way across and there’s nothing!”  Now what?  We had to be right.  Maybe we were doing things wrong.

“I’m going to take off the blindfold, Fin.” I told him.  I was already pulling it down, I knew he would say no but I couldn’t stand coming this far and then leaving and maybe what we needed was right there – I just couldn’t see it.

Fin was yelling at me to leave it on.  “It’s already off Fin – just make sure that you get me out of here!”  I felt his grip on my wrist binding tighten as he braced and I felt my eyes being pulled to the wall.  Instead I looked at the piece of glass in my hand.  It was a piece of mirror and now there was blood all over it from my cut.  Without thinking, I bent to wash it and as I got close to the surface of the water, the mirror picked up the light from the opening somewhere above and was bent and flashing from a million tiny tile surfaces reflecting the light from the mirror.  It lit up the pool and I could see something at the bottom.  It was a stone but not like any I had ever seen.  I picked it up and Fin started yelling.  “I’m all right!”  I said. “I’ve found something and as long as I only look at the wall’s reflection it has no power.  As I picked up the stone, a drop of blood from my cut fell on it and it began to glow and pulse.  I nearly dropped it.  I was warm as though alive.  “Hurry Fin!  Let’s go.  We’ve got to get back to Simon!”

Outside the room we removed rope and blindfolds and wrapped the stone and put it inside Fin’s pack.  We stared at each other for a moment and then headed back the way we came, map in hand.  Simon would be waiting for us.  As we crossed the great room, the room we had just left, lit up as daylight and then the door disappeared as though it had never been.

Two coins

Sunday Scribbling prompt: plans, Carry On Tuesday #10, and One Word: Coins

Fixed some glaring typos thanks to hubby editing.  Apologies to all.

The Day

She had taken the clothes to Goodwill,  the furniture was sold, what little anyone would have.  The flowered upholstery on the old rocker he sat in everyday was worn clean through and the footstool had been nailed back together so many times it was more nails than wood. His side table was covered with cigarette scars and water marks from his beer bottles. She had pulled the old drapes down and threw them in the trash.  They were so full of dry rot that they came down in pieces with her coughing and sneezing. He had gotten so mean the last years, no one would come over to the house and he stopped caring what anything looked like, or smelled like for that matter.  Most of what was left when he passed was hauled off to the dump and the house would be sold for taxes.

She just couldn’t bear for folks to see how he lived so she did her best to clean out.  She wiped down the shelves in the living room and kitchen, scrubbed the bathroom, and was making one last walk through before she gathered up her cleaning stuff and walked home.  She couldn’t afford the bus and as tired as she was, she didn’t want to try to sleep on the floor here with the ghosts and grime of the past.  Mama had been gone for years and he had just grown more bitter with time.

As she walked through the bedroom to the front of the house she spied a box on the closet shelf.  “Wonder how I missed that?” She thought.  She set her bucket and rags down and reached up to pull it down.  It was an old boot box, crumbling and faded.  She could just make out the lettering and the picture of steel toe work boots.  She sat down on the floor with it and pulled off the top.  Inside was a treasure.  Mama’s bible and a few pictures, an old lace trimmed hankie that Mama had embroidered, and a little red plastic coin purse – the kind you squeeze to open.  Inside were two coins.  They were odd looking with markings she couldn’t read.  She put them back in the purse and covered the box and set off towards home, hugging the box to her chest.

She trudged up the stairs, unlocked the door of her apartment and flipped on the light switch.  There wasn’t much to see and it needed painting but it was as clean as she could get it and it was hers as long as she kept the waitress job at the diner. It paid the rent and she got a free meal.  Tips bought a few little necessities.  It kept her off the streets and out of the shelter anyway. She put up her cleaning supplies and opened up the box.

She dug out the nicest dish towel she had and smoothed it out on the little box she used for a table.  She laid the bible gently on it.  She folded the hankie and placed it inside the cover where her Mama had signed her name and the date she had been given the bible.  It had her and daddy’s wedding date and the date she was born.  Another lifetime ago.  She closed the cover.  She took the pictures out of the box.  There were her parents, young and smiling.  Another showed her mother holding her when she was born, smiling and proud.  She slid them inside the back cover of the bible. She put the little coin purse inside her tote bag and set the box on the counter.  Stifling a yawn, she headed to the shower and got ready for bed.  She was tired and slept almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Day Two

He walked purposefully down the street glancing neither right nor left.  He knew exactly where he was going.  He carried his leather briefcase close to his side and held himself with the dignity of a British royal, even though he was actually a glorified messenger boy.  He turned at her apartment and climbed the steps, debating on whether he should use his handkerchief to knock on the door, this place was back alley seedy and not to his liking at all.  He sighed and raised his hand and rapped on the peeling wooden door.

She washed her breakfast dishes and as she was putting them away there was a loud knock on the door.  She peeped through the little hole and didn’t recognize the man outside.  He definitely wasn’t from around here.  She cracked open the door, peering from behind the chain and timidly said “Yes?”  The gentleman removed his hat and said “Miss Lydia Rose?”

“Yes, that’s me.  But who are you?” She asked.

He passed a business card through the narrow opening.  “Here is my card.  I represent a firm of solicitors in London.”

“England?” She asked.  “You must have the wrong person, Mr. uh, Mr. Brown!  I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Yes Miss.  That is correct.  My employers wish for me to speak to you about some coins.  If I may please come inside?  I feel a bit uncomfortable discussing this through the door.”  He replied.

She fumbled with the chain, finally removing it and held the door open for him.  “I’m sorry.  I don’t get many visitors.  Please come in.” She said.

“If I may?” He said pointing to the table and chairs.

“Sure” She said.

He placed his briefcase gingerly on the table, flipped it open and took out a stack of papers. He set the papers down and reached into his inside jacket pocket and took out his glasses and put them on.

“Miss Rose, just to clarify, you are the daughter of one recently deceased, Johnny Rose?” He asked her.

“Yes I am, but I don’t understand how that’s any of your business.” She replied.
He raised an eyebrow at that.  Maybe she wasn’t as much of a pushover as they thought.  “There is the matter of Mr. Rose’ estate and we have to verify your identity before we can release it to you” He told her.

“Estate?  My dad?  That’s a laugh.  If this is some kind of a joke Mr. Brown, it isn’t funny.  You need to go back and tell your bosses that they have made some kind of mistake.  The have the wrong Johnny Rose!  My dad didn’t have anything.”  Politeness was wearing thin.  He had a look on his face like he had eaten something sour and she had the feeling that he thought that just because she was poor she must be stupid too.  She had noticed the way he looked around when he walked.  Like he was afraid to touch anything in case he caught poverty like you caught a disease.  She worked and she paid her own way.  She might not have much but she stood on her own two feet and she was proud of it.

“Miss Rose, this is not a joke and I assure you that I wouldn’t come here without a good reason.  If you allow me to explain I think I can prove my story.”  He said.

“Well, then let’s sit down.  Sounds like this will be a long tale.”  She said, pulling out a chair.  He frowned, looking at the other chair and then shrugged and sat down.  “Your mother was Glory Rose, maiden name Jackson?”  He wasn’t really asking her, but she nodded anyway.  “She came to possess two coins.  My employers have been hired by a man who wishes to remain anonymous.  It is his desire to purchase those coins.  If you are able to produce the coins there will be a very generous compensation.  We are assuming that you now have the coins?”

“So estate is not exactly correct. How does this man know my mother had some coins and why are they so important to him?”  Lydia decided she might need to learn a little more before she answered any more questions.

“The coins belonged to his father many years ago.  Your grandmother was working as a housekeeper for his family and she and this man fell in love.  His parents did not approve of course, and sent her away.  He, being young and foolish,  gave her the coins before she left.  He told her to sell them to help her get a start somewhere and he would come for her when he could.” He explained.

“What do you mean ‘his parents did not approve, of course’, Mr. Brown?”  She was getting more than a little tired of this stuffy little man in a too tight suit, who obviously looked down, not only on her, but everyone related to her.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Miss Rose.” He said.

“Well you are, Mr. Brown.  I’m not sure we need to go on with this conversation!”

“Oh. Goodness. I am sorry.  Please let me finish. I think you will be very glad that you did.” He said.  He used his handkerchief to wife a little sweat from his shiny red forehead. It occurred to her that his employers might not be too thrilled if she threw him out and refused to talk to him anymore.  She tucked that knowledge away for future use.  It was always good to know where you stood and what you might be able to use.

“I take it mister young and in love rich boy, never went looking for my grandmother.”  She said.

“On the contrary.  He searched but was never able to find her.  It has taken me years to locate her and by the time I found her, she had passed away.  In her belongings was a letter that she never mailed to him. In it she told him that she kept the coins to remember him  and that she ended up with so much more. She had a child.  That child was your mother, Miss Rose.” He finished triumphantly.

“How did your ‘employers’ end up with a letter that my dead grandmother wrote?” She wanted to know.

“By the time your grandmother passed, your mother was married to Mr. Rose and as I understand it, the two of them didn’t get along.  Your grandmother had been dead and buried for several months before your mother found out.  Notices were sent but she never responded.  We went to her house and there was a box of her things in the garage that the new owners were more than glad for us to take off their hands.  The letter was in that box.  She also wrote that she had given those coins to your mother and told her that they would lead to her father’s family someday.”  He told Lydia.

Lydia stood up and walked around the kitchen, pretending to wipe the counter which was already spotless.  Trying to give herself a little time.  She had known her dad had a mean streak but not that he would have been so cruel to keep her grandmother’s death from her mother.  Even as she thought it she new that it was true.  He was a strange and insecure man.  He didn’t like her mother to go anywhere without him.  It must have been like a prison all those years but she wasn’t the type to get a divorce.  She stuck it out until it killed her.  Did she know about the coins?  She must have known they meant something or they wouldn’t have been in the box with the bible.  It’s a miracle that her dad didn’t find them.

“I’d like to see a little more proof that you are who you say you are, Mr. Brown.  She said.

“Certainly” He said “He pulled out a sheaf of papers with the letterhead to a firm of Solicitors in London.  The address matched the one on Mr. Brown’s business card. “Here is a photocopy of the letter your grandmother wrote to your mother.”  He handed her another piece of paper.  He had a lot of paper.  She took the copy and read through the letter.  She felt the pressure of tears but was determined not to cry in front of this stranger.  “How much are these people willing to pay for this little keepsake my mother left me?” She asked him.

Well, well, he thought.  Now we are getting down to it.  He could almost taste the nice commission he was going to get if he could just bring this to a close.  “You will be very well compensated Miss Rose.  We are prepared to pay you a fee of ten thousand dollars up front and then another ninety thousand when we have the coins in our possession.” He looked smug as he said this and she found he was really starting to get on her nerves.

“You have that much money on you now?  In this neighborhood?” She asked.  “I’d like to see that!”

All I have to do now is reel the fish in, he thought.  He reached for his briefcase again and dialed a combination that opened a bottom compartment.  There were stacks of cash, all neatly bundled.

She walked around the kitchen, shocked at what she had seen.  She had never in her life seen that much money.  “So what do you get out of this?” She asked.

“Well I get a small commission, of course.  For my trouble you know.  I’ve had to do a lot of research to track you down Miss Rose!”  He was smiling now, certain that his money was as good as in his hands.

Lydia leaned up against the counter and took a deep breath.  When she turned around, the lid was off the box and there was a gun in her hand.  Yes, the box held a treasure.  A wonderful treasure.  Mr. Brown’s eyes were wide and he was stuttering and spluttering and his fancy handkerchief wasn’t going to help him now.  “What are you doing?” He asked.

“Mr. Brown, I’ve decided to accept the offer from your employers but I have a different plan that does not include you.” She told him. “I guess you thought you were going to be my hero today.  I think I’ll be my own hero thank you!” She squeezed the trigger.

She went to her closet and put on her best dress and got out her coat that she saved for church.  She put the bible and pictures in her tote bag along with the bundles of money.  She took the papers she would need to identify herself to the solicitors.  Everything that had to do with him she put back in his briefcase along with the gun.  She would make a little stop at the incinerator on her way out.  She gave a little wave in his direction.  “Sorry to leave you like this Mr. Brown, but I’m sure you would understand.  We don’t want to keep your employers waiting any longer!”

She carefully locked the door on her way out.  The incinerator door was almost too small for her bundle of garbage, but she managed to shove it through the hole.  No one would look for her.  She paid cash for her rent and no one here asked questions or bothered to get to know their neighbors.  They were all too deep into their own misery to notice and by the time the smell from her apartment attracted attention, she would be long gone.  She did a little turn and dance step as she moved down the sidewalk toward the bus stop.

Lydia was lost in dreams of future comforts.  Clothes that fit, plenty to eat, no more crappy waitress jobs!  She never saw the car that came barreling down the sidewalk behind her.  She was dead on impact and hit so hard that it knocked her shoes one direction and her tote bag the other.  There was paper and money all over the sidewalk.  Deserted just moments ago, now there were people pouring out of doors grabbing up cash and stuffing it in their pockets.  The local cop shop would have a busy night as the liquor flowed and the unaccustomed windfall brought disagreements.  No one noticed the little man in the coat with the bullet hole in it as he walked by and scooped up the little change purse.

His chest would be sore for weeks, but the vest had done it’s job.  He had told them he could get the coins for fifty thousand and forty was already in a special account.  Ten thousand wasn’t too much to pay for the coins and no loose ends.  The car driver had medical bills that would be taken care of by the life insurance policy that he had taken out on Lydia a year ago.  He hated losing his favorite briefcase.  He strolled down the sidewalk whistling.  The Widow’s Mites, once delivered to his employers, would find their way into a very private collection and he would get his next assignment.

Post Five Hundred

Carry On Tuesday #8 on a Thursday and Sunday Scribbling #171 Indulgence

I re-worked this a bit.  One paragraph had the word listen in it six times – that’s what happens when I write late at night 🙂

This is my FIVE HUNDREDTH post.  I have lived here in the blogosphere since March 2006.  That’s  40 months, or 160 weeks, or 1120 days, or approximately a post every other day.  Who knew I had that much to say.

This little place has changed since the beginning.  I’ve had several themes (getting bored with this one so a change is imminent) , and the focus has changed depending on where my eyes happened to be pointing at the moment.  I’ve written about my opinions on whatever.  Thought out loud, which can be a bit dangerous!  There were the dark times when Dale was so sick and I poured it all out here and held on by my fingernails.

I’ve posted little computer notes on things I’ve learned, I’ve talked about my faith, chronicled “The Great Kidney Transplant”, recipes, pictures,  thoughts about books I have read, whatever sparkled and caught my eye – it landed here.  Thanks Tony, for setting up the blog, for encouraging me to write, and for always patiently answering my unending questions.  This one is for you.

Tomorrow Light #2

It’s been a month since I crept up to the barn and saw the computer under the floor.   If it gets weird here, I’m gone. These days things are crazy.  You just never know.    Glenna and Tom had been kind and I help with  chores.  Glenna has been teaching me how to knit and a little cooking.  This week she  started teaching me how to play the piano.

There was  no lesson today though.  The house was clean from top to bottom and I was helping Glenna in the kitchen.  There were people coming and they would be hungry she said.  I thought it was crazy for others to know where we lived but Glenna smiled and said sometimes we have to trust folks or we might be safe but there won’t be much point to being alive.  I’m not sure what I think about that. I saw some pretty bad stuff happen before I came here and I’m not jumping in and trusting anyone.

Tom has been out in the barn all day putting benches out. Some, he built this morning out of logs.  He set up some sawhorses and boards to make a table to set food on.  Glenna says some folks will bring food.  I’ve been chopping and peeling all day.  We are using fresh vegetable out of the garden that won’t keep anyway.  That at least makes sense to me.

Most everything is done and Glenna said I should take a nap.  People won’t get here till after dark.  I’m not a baby for Pete’s sake.  I climb up to the loft just to make her happy.  I like it up here.  There’s a little window to let in some sunlight and a quilt that has reds and yellows in it.  Tom let me have some blocks and boards up here for a shelf, and Glenna gave me some books.  Ain’t. (I mean ‘I haven’t’, Glenna says I need to stop saying ain’t) had books for awhile and when I did they were mostly hunting and fishing books belonging to Pa.  My favorite right now is Jane Eyre.  She is a poor kid staying with rich family and they are mean to her but she has this whole other life going on in her head.  The rich kids are hateful and think they are so much better than her because she doesn’t have money.  I like her a lot more than her stupid cousins.  I laid down with my book and the sun is warm coming  through the little window.  Next thing I know, I’m waking up and the lanterns are lit downstairs.

I climb down the ladder and see Glenna setting out the bowls of food to take to the barn.

“Well hello, sleepyhead!” She says.  I’m glad you got some rest.  Do you want to help me take these out to the barn?”  Before we start loading up the bowls there is a sound at the door.

“Is there anybody there?” said the traveler, knocking on the moonlit door.

My heart’s pounding and I am ready to run out the back but Glenna smiles and says “I’d recognize that voice anywhere!”  She opens the door and hugs the stranger as he steps inside.  “Come in Tony. It’s been too long!”

He has dark shoulder length hair, pulled back in a pony tail and he’s carrying a guitar case.  Glenna had told me he came when they gathered and he would play his guitar and sing. Tthe music was important.  “Hi there.” He said to me, smiling.  He had a kind smile.

“Was your trip hard?” Glenna asked?  He looked a little tired.

“I had to stay off the roads during the day.  North of here there was a group of people on foot that looked like they hadn’t eaten in awhile.  I hid out in the woods until they passed.  They didn’t look friendly.”

Glenna looked concerned. “Which way were they heading?” She asked.

They were on the east road that heads out of town. Soldiers passed in a truck and I didn’t see them any more after that.” He said.

A look passed between them and then they looked at me and got that look grownups get when they remember I’m in the room.

“If you want to clean up a bit, you know where everything is.  We are going to take these to the barn and we’ll be back for more.” Glenna told him.

“Sounds good! I’m hungry and those look like vegetables from your garden.” He said.

“There is plenty. We’ll see you in a minute.” Glenna said as we went out the door towards the barn with bowls and serving spoons.

The barn was transformed! There were lanterns hung around the walls and people were all smiling and hugging and talking at one time.  There were already plates and bowls on the makeshift table.  People took the bowls from us and put them on the table and there were kids giggling up in the hayloft. They were all hugging and greeting each other.  Finally we headed back to the house for the rest of the food.

“Do you remember everything I told you about tonight?” she asked me.

I nodded.  She had told me that we didn’t ever mention the computer but that tonight was important because we would get a new password.  I had heard about the internet and how before everything changed, anyone could talk to anyone else and pass information back and forth.  Now the N.U.S.A. had control and when people can’t talk to each other, they have no way of knowing if what the government tells them is true. No one says it out loud but everyone knows they lie.  You don’t need a computer to figure that out.

Glenna told me that now they had small groups of people that could only talk to each other and then only if they had the password.  There were a bunch of these ‘darknets’, she called them and each group could only talk to the people in their network.  When I asked her how they could connect to each other she smiled and called me ‘one smart cookie’.  She said before the world lost it’s mind, cables were laid all over the place.  If you had to dig a hole and put one cable in, it wasn’t much extra trouble to put in several cables.  There were thousands of fiber cables that were never used and mostly forgotten. They were being used now.

We went back to the house and got the rest of the food and Tony walked back to the barn with us.  When we set the food on the table, Glenna smiled at Tom and he put his fingers to his mouth and whistled.  Everyone stopped chattering and Tom said a blessing, thanking God for letting everyone get there safe, for providing food, and good friends, and asking Him to keep blessing us.  Everyone said Amen and started filling plates and passing them around.  I got me a plate and found a seat on a box back in a corner so I could watch.

The flickering lantern light threw shadows around the barn and reflected in smiling eyes. Men talked about weather and traveling. Women talked about their kids and food and health as they ate.  Kids finished eating first and ran around the barn or hid behind mothers who fussed at them to settle down It wasn’t mad kind of fussing because they would smile indulgently. I didn’t run with them but it was nice to see them having fun  Kind of made me sad about my own mama.  Silly, how can I miss someone I don’t even remember.

Empty bowls and plates were stacked in a metal washtub for later and Tony pulled out his guitar and started to tune it.  Everyone settled down and got quiet as he strummed a few chords.  He played a few songs that some of the older folks must have known, because they sang along.  They asked him to play one of his own songs. I watched Glenna sit quietly as  he began to play.

He picked out the first chords and I heard the word ‘dark’ and my ears perked up.  Glenna sat quietly with her head leaned toward the music and  as he sang the chorus  the second time through she sang it with him.  She had  explained how  the password would be in the music.  I was just beginning to learn but I knew there were eight notes in an octave.  At some point the lyrics would mention the word  ‘dark” and those who knew what to listen for would memorize the chorus and later transcribe the notes in the chorus as numbers.

Just a group of folks getting together, eating and enjoying some music. No law against that.  Tony played a few  more songs after that as families loaded up and started  home.  I helped Glenna start cleaning up and Tony packed up his guitar.  I was walking next to him going back to the house.  I looked up at him and said “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure” He said.

“How did you figure all this stuff out?” I asked.

He smiled. “Music is just math out loud.” He said.

Glenna asked him if he could stay but he said he had to move on.  There were others to sing for and miles to go. He looked at me and grinned. “I think I’ll be seeing you again.”

I hoped so.  I wanted to learn more.
To go back to the beginning : Part One

The Dating Game

Sunday Scribbling prompt #170 : human

She dressed with care, having discarded dresses that were too short, too revealing, not sexy enough, made her look fat.  She had finally gone shopping, blew a weeks pay on a little cocktail dress and shoes to match.  Got it zipped, where are those earrings?

Two weeks ago she had made the decision to go ahead and sign up for an account on eLove.com and she had filled out her profile of likes and dislikes and what she looked for in a man.  Hmmph, breathing, single, heterosexual, and employed.  She really wasn’t that fussy.  The website promised an experience that was out of this world. She had splurged on a manicure and pedicure, had her roots touched up,  She slipped on her shoes and examined herself in the mirror.  Not too bad.

The mirror showed a slightly middle-aged woman with thinning hair, a little bit of bulge and skin no amount of moisturizer would make look nineteen again, dressed to go on the prowl.  She saw an attractive, put together, vital creature in her prime, ready for love. She put on her Luscious Wine lipstick, blotted her lips on a tissue and grabbed her little purse with her mad money, I.D., pepper spray, and breath mints tucked in the bottom.

Last week she had checked her inbox and there was an email notifying her that someone had checked her profile and wished to meet.  There was a link to click on to see his profile and respond.  she clicked it and was pleasantly surprised.  He wasn’t bad looking, had all his hair.  He had beautiful green eyes and a nice smile.  He liked traveling, having new experiences, learning new things.  He listed his business status as consultant.  That sounded like it paid well and when she suggested they meet at Brocatto’s he didn’t bat an eye.  She decided to use some of her bill money on a taxi instead of taking the bus.  She wanted to make a good impression on what could be her future and smelling like some of the riff raff on the bus was not her idea of classy.

She took one last look around the apartment.  She had dusted all the knick knacks and arranged her lacy pillows just in case they ended up back here.  You didn’t plan on that, at least for the first date but you never knew.  There hadn’t been a man here since Ted and he didn’t even stay long enough to get the tour.  He finished and half dressed mumbling something about dark bars as he made his exit.  He had never even called back.  Riff raff!

The cab honked and she locked her front door and entered the cab telling the driver the address.  He dropped her at the door and she stepped into the foyer.  She gave the Maitre ‘d the name of the gentleman she was meeting and he escorted her to a secluded table in a quiet corner.  Great place for quiet conversation.  He stood as she got to the table and held out his hand.  They exchanged pleasantries and he held out her chair for her.  He ordered a bottle of wine and they talked quietly.  The waiter came and she allowed him to order for her.  She didn’t care what she ate, she was salivating thinking about her rosy future if she could work this right.  She wouldn’t have to worry about the bill money she had spent and she could quit her crappy little office job.

When the soup came she carefully placed her napkin in her lap and took a taste.  It was wonderful, nothing like the cafeteria food she was used to.  She looked across the table as she raised her face from her soup just in time to see the worm looking thing from his mouth retract leaving an empty soup bowl behind.  His green eyes glittered and glowed and spun as they bulged from his head and then sunk back into their orbits.  He smiled, or at least she thought he did.  How does one know, after all?

The waiter came to remove the soup bowls.  He had ordered her the special House Salad, prepared with fresh greens and the Chef’s own special dressing. He said he preferred to watch her enjoy her meal and the soup was all he required.  He made small talk while she savored the salad.  There was an odd flavor to the dressing that she couldn’t quite identify.  It was delicious though.  She felt very comfortable and found herself chatting about her life and job and for some odd reason it didn’t bother her that his eating habits were a bit well, inhuman.  She chuckled to herself, thinking that her preferences for a mate had not included human.  It was confusing why that didn’t bother but the salad was so good, she had the urge to lick the last drops of dressing from the bowl.  He nodded and smiled as though he read her thoughts and even held the bowl up for her.

He paid the check and took her elbow to guide her out of the restaurant.  On the street she was thinking his travels and wondered if they were on this planet.  He suggested they go for a walk and she just grinned and signaled her acquiescence.  They strolled down the street and turned down a lane that was not as well lit.  She giggled, ready for his kiss and just as the strange proboscis extended from his mouth toward her eye, she screamed.

Sunday Scribbling: Toys

My toys are all laid out to see
A list of prompts to inspire me
Computer lit up – keyboard in wait
Paper and pens’ appetite to sate

But the most important “toy” of all
The muse that keeps me in it’s thrall
My brain is dead, a dry lump of clay
No one, it seems, want to come out and play

Cassie and Kell won’t answer the door
Katie is mad at Mary Sue, once more
Glenna and John and the girl are asleep
The wizard and his lady are making out – I peeped

Do I force, ignor, make it a chore
Or let it alone, let it marinate more
Is it gone or just refusing to speak
Did it break, hide away, spring a leak?

I’m not in a panic but frustration looms
I hope that it finds its way home soon
I’ll finish this rhyme and hope for the best
I’m afraid I’m failing if this is a test

Sunday Scribbling Vision and Carry On Tuesday #5

The italicized text in the first sentence is the prompt for Carry On Tuesday. and Sunday Scribbling prompt #168 is Vision

Tomorrow Light #1

A lantern light from deep in the barn shone on a man and woman in the door.  I shrunk deep as I could into the shadows.  I couldn’t hear everything they were saying because of the wind.  Then the wind let up and their words were carried through the night mist.

“Think its late enough?” The woman asked.

“Hope so, we have to chance it anyway.”  The man pulled a key from his pocket and they moved deeper into the barn.  The woman had a broom and swept straw from a place on the floor.  She helped the man lift a piece of plywood that had been covered with the straw and together they set it aside.  He knelt down and did something outside of my vision.  They pulled something and a part of the floor came up.  There was a trapdoor in the barn!

They both disappeared into the hole.  Now what?  Do I get closer?  What if they catch me?  Since the “New United States” had been formed people were suspicious of everyone.  There were whispers of people snooping around and next thing you know, nobody is speaking about them and everything about them is just gone.

You never heard about them on the news.  No sir.  All the news has to say is that things are getting better everywhere since the new president.  They say poverty is being eradicated, whatever that means.  Seems to me that everyone I know is poor.  Maybe that’s what they mean.  No one is any poorer than anyone else.

Ain’t no insurance anymore either.  The government news talks about medical care for all but it don’t mention nothing about having to wait so long to see a doctor that you die of old age if whatever you got don’t kill you.

I should know.  That’s what landed me here in the first place.  Pa got a cough that just kept getting worse and by the time he got to see a doc it was too late.  Guess he knew all along because he taught me stuff about taking care of myself.  I grew up in the country so I knew a lot of stuff already.  Ma died when I was little so it had been me and him long as I could remember so I knew how to cook and do chores.  Knew a little first aid.  He showed me plants you could eat in the woods, and stuff you could use for medicine.

He’s been gone two weeks and I found this farm a few days ago.  I’ve been hiding at night in the woods behind and slipping up just before dawn and stealing a little from the garden.  They have fresh tomatoes, I haven’t had anything so good in awhile.  Tonight I had been heading to my hiding spot when I heard the man and woman talking and eased back up closer to see what I could find out.  He spoke nice to her and she smiled at him a lot.

I crawl closer til I’m just outside the door.  I can hear muffled voices coming from under the floor.  I’m sweating and shaking but I can’t stand not knowing.  I get closer and closer trying to be silent.

I am right there now and peep over the edge.  I bite my lip so no sound comes out.  There in that hole is a computer.  My pa told me about them.  Everyone used to have one and they could read stuff and talk to each other.  I always wanted to see a real one but the government had shut down the internet for regular folks.  Only people that had it now were government or a group of folks the government called Downloaders.  They hunted them and rounded them up.  Sometimes there would be a news story about them and according to the news, they were the root of everything wrong these days.  Sucking up all the fossil fuel and something they called bandwidth.  They were accused of stirring up trouble and they would be taken for relocation and rehabilitation. Pa would always snort and say “Never thought the country would come to this.”  Then he’d turn off the tv and refuse to watch it for days.

Sometimes when we were fishing he would talk about the old days.  He never talked about ma though.  I guess it still made him sad.  I’m laying here just thinking and watching and the man and woman are huddled together in front of the screen.  I can’t see it but there must be someone there because a voice is coming from speakers next to it.

“Good to see you, Tom.  Hasn’t been much news from the south lately.  Looks like you’re almost completely cut off.” The voice said.

“We’re having to be more careful.  There’s been a lot of New United States Army trucks on the roads lately. No one is saying much and we’re all staying off the roads.  Don’t want to attract their notice when we have no idea what they are up to. “  The man said.

“How’s Lani and the boys?” The woman asked.

“Doing ok, Glenna. Thanks for asking.” The voice said.  “Our littlest has a cough, but now that spring is here he seems better. Lani misses you”

“Glad to hear they are ok.  You give them my love, Wes.”  The woman named Glenna told him.

“What about you and Tom?” He asked. “You holding up ok?  How’s the garden?”

“Wish we could send you some fresh vegetables.” John  told him. “Glenna canned some vegetable soup for next winter.”

“Lani would love that.  She craves salad and she always loved Glenna’s cooking.  She worries the boys aren’t getting enough healthy food but no one is these days. You stay safe and try to get word to us if you learn anymore about those N.U.S.A. trucks.”

“Will do,”  John said. “Same to you and Lani and the boys.”

The screen glow changed colors so voice man must be gone.  Time for me to move.  I start to inch back and  a loose piece of straw falls and lands next to the keyboard.  The man was shutting the thing down and he and Glenna both looked up at the same time.  Forget being sneaky.  I jumped up and ran for it but I guess all the sleeping in the woods and eating stolen scraps hadn’t done me any favors, because fast as I was, the man was much faster.  I was almost to the edge of the circle of light outside the barn when he grabbed hold of a fistful of my shirt and backpack and I went down.

I wasn’t taking any chances on how nice they were. I came up kicking and scratching and he just wrapped huge arms around me and lifted me all the way off the ground.  I still fought but there wasn’t much I could do.  I didn’t yell. because who was going to come?  No help that’s for sure.  I f anyone did come they might be worse than what I had gotten myself into with these two.

I kicked out and he let out a little yelp of pain and backed into the barn door.  Soon as we were inside, Glenna shut the door and stood in front of it holding the broom like a weapon.  “Don’t try it.” She said, shaking her head.  My escape cut off, I settled down.  Guess I was going to have to play like I was scared (which wasn’t to hard to do) and watch for my moment.

“Why Tom – it’s a little girl!  What are we going to do now?”

He asked me if I was going to be quiet and not try to run.  Said he would let me loose if I promised.  I nodded my head and he turned loose of me.  I dashed off a few feet, rubbing my arms where he had nearly squashed me.  I stood there looking at them with my arms crossed.

The man asked me “What’s your name?”
“Where’d you come from?”  Silence.

I just stared at him.  What difference did my name make?  The woman was looking at me, eyes all full of pity.  I knew I had lost weight and I needed a bath.
“Tom, she looks like she’s starving.  We have to feed her” She said softly.  Tom  frowned and sighed.  “Let’s get you in the house and I’ll draw some bath water.  You’re covered in mosquito bites and if you don’t get clean you’ll get an infection and I don’t want some dead kid on my conscience.”  The thought of food and a bath!  I can always take off later.  I nodded and said thanks.  Glenna opened the door and the man kept his hand on me like I might take off if he turned loose and I followed them inside.

A look passed between them and I couldn’t tell what they were thinking.  Tom had a helpless look on his face and Glenna was smiling at him like she had just gotten a present.  Maybe they aren’t so bad and they DO have a computer.

Cassie and Kell are telling me their new story right now – they will be back soon 🙂

Stealing Time #5 Sunday Scribbling

Sunday Scribbling prompt was absurd.

Cassie and Kell walked down the street.  The street was familiar and yet it wasn’t.  Subtle differences caused by time. “Look!  The Community Center is still there!” Kell exclaimed.

“Maybe we shouldn’t get too close until we know a little bit more about this time.”  Cassie said thoughtfully.

“You’re probably right.”  said Kell as he glanced around and behind him uneasily

They turned down a side street and headed toward a line of shops.  There were people strolling down the sidewalk.  Some were looking in windows, some talking, and some sharing a cone from the ice cream shop.  About halfway down the street they spied tables and chairs at an outdoor cafe.

“There!  Let’s see if they have pizza.  I know I could think more clearly if my stomach wasn’t growling!”  Cassie said. Cassie and Kell walked down to the cafe and went to the window to place their order.  There was a chalkboard menu to the left of the window and thank goodness, pizza was listed.  Cassie looked at Kell and he grinned and turned to the tattooed, pierced, and bored looking teenager behind the counter. “Two slices of Pineapple and Canadian Bacon Thin Crust and two bottled waters please.” he said.

After he had paid, they found a table and chairs in the shadows and sat down to eat.  Neither one spoke for a few minutes, too busy chewing and licking melted cheese from their fingers..  Cassie reached out and stole a piece of bacon from Kell’s pizza,  “Hey!” he laughed.  The smile kind of died on his face.  It seemed so absurd to be sitting here eating pizza as if all were normal.

“Maybe we need to figure out what we know and then work on what we don’t” Kell wiped his mouth with a napkin and took a swig of water.  We know we are in the future, but we don’t know when.”

“And we know you are supposed to do something – but we don’t know what.” Cassie added. There has to be a reason for my dreams and my uh, ability.”

They finished their water and bundled up their trash and threw it in the can by the counter.  “Come on, lets get a newspaper and some supplies and head back.” Kell grabbed Cassie’s hand and they headed down the street to the drugstore.  They picked up a paper, and some toiletries, coffee and breakfast bars for in the morning.  Kell paid for their purchases and they headed back towards the apartment.

The sun was getting lower and more people were out walking.  Cassie and Kell strolled with the crowd, taking their time.  As they neared the apartment, Cassie glanced in a window as they passed and saw a face reflected that stopped her in her tracks.  Kell stopped and turned to her and saw where she was looking.  As he peered at the window he too saw a face in the crowd that was looking directly at them.  It was there for a second and by the time Kell whipped around to see the real person, the face was gone.  Cassie still stood frozen in place.  Kell grabbed her ice cold hand and rubbed it.  One look at her pale face told him that the face was the one from her dreams.  “Come on Cassie, lets get inside!”  Cassie stumbled blindly, as Kell pulled her along.  He unlocked the door and then relocked it once they were inside.  He flipped on the light and dropped the shopping bags on the table.  “Cassie, talk to me baby!  Sit down here, come on, are you ok?  We are safe now.  We’re inside and he’s gone!”

Cassie slowly sat down and sat at the table shaking. “It was him.  He is here and he terrifies me.  I don’t even know why, Kell!”  She looked up at him.  “I’ve only dreamed of his face.  How can a dream face scare me so badly?”

“Cassie, I’ve never even dreamed of him and it scared me.  There was something about those eyes. They were so cold, even though he was smiling. We can’t let him freak us out though.  You got us this far Cassie.  You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.  We can get through this!”  Kell, held onto her hands as he spoke.

“That’s the longest speech I’ve ever heard you make, Kell.”  Cassie let out a long sigh. “Ok, we can do this.  I’ll try not to freak out too often.”  As she spoke, Kell picked up the newspaper that was rolled up in the bag and laid it on the table.  They both looked at the paper and there on the front was a picture of the man they had just seen on the street.

The Reluctant Wizard

This is long and I’m sorry but it was just fun.  It combines the Sunday Scribbling prompt Soul Mate and the Carry On Tuesday Prompts #3 and #4

I had also used the prompt “intersect” but couldn’t find the link to the site – here it is.  One Single Impression.

Simon finally gave up on sleeping.  He rose and stoked up the fire.  The night air was warm but he felt a chill in his bones anyway.  He put water on to boil and made himself tea.  The fire threw shadows on the old wood walls and made his white hair glow like it was on fire too.  He sighed as he drank his tea.  His bones told him that he was too old to be about this kind of business but the dreams didn’t care about old bones.  They came every night now.  It had been so long since he slept through the night he wasn’t even sure he was asleep when they came.  He knew he was at an intersection.  He could stay on his life path and be comfortable, healing the people who lived in the valley; or follow the dreams.  He knew if he chose to stay that there would be terrible consequences for more than just him.

When he had drunk most of the tea he swirled the dregs and stared into the leaves hoping for answers.  As usual, none came.

Morning would fall over the valley soon and if he got an early start he might make the mountains before nightfall.  He packed some hard bread and cheese and filled a skin with water.  He gathered some herbs and wrapped them with the food in an extra cloak and got out a piece of parchment and some ink and a pen.  He wrote a note saying he had gone on a journey and would return when he could.  Whoever found the note was welcome to shelter and any vegetables that might be left in the garden.  He knew it might be awhile before he returned to his valley and his hut.  It made him sad to think about but when the dreams called, they didn’t take any notice of creature comforts.  Simon hoped that in his absence the warm little hut would hold the spirit of hospitality and kindness would still be dwelling here waiting for him.

He threw some of the ground herbs and dried flowers on the fire. Sweetpea for friendship, rosemary for blessing, and anise for protection and purification.  He said a prayer as the herbs burned and then doused the fire with water from the stream that flowed nearby.

Simon tied his white hair with a leather thong and hooked the clasp on his cloak.  He grabbed his bundle and his carved walnut staff.  He slid his knife into his boot not because he wanted to but because the dream told him to.  He didn’t relish the thought of hurting another living creature but he could if he had to.

He took one last longing look around and opened the door. The darkness wrapped it self around him like another cloak but he didn’t need light to start on this part of the trip.  The path from his door was so well worn, his feet knew the way even if his eyes hadn’t been able to see shadows that hinted at approaching dawn.  He heard a mourning dove cry and an owl in the old walnut that shaded his hut, complained.  The smell of spring was all around and he wondered if he would ever see his home again.  Maybe it was better leaving in the darkness.  His heart might turn him around otherwise.

Simon headed east and crossed fields and a brook.  As the night slowly gave way to early purple morning he continued walking.  No one saw him leave, there were no close neighbors and it could be days before anyone knew he had gone.  He had taught Avery all he could about his herbs and healing.  Avery was a good lad and would help his friends if need be.  He would miss them all.

The purple gave way to grey mist and that slowly lightened to blue.  He could see the mountains in the distance now and though the path was gone, he knew the way as clearly as though the land itself was drawing him further and further from home.  The grass became sparser and the path now led upward as he entered the foothills.  Simon saw a rabbit out for his breakfast and then watched as a hawk swooped down and grabbed him.  He shivered, wondering if this was an omen.

He felt his muscles protest as the climb grew steeper.  The sun was climbing as well and he knew that before long the heat would be unpleasant.  Still he climbed.  He could turn and look over the whole valley now.  He spared one look and then squared his shoulders and turned away, climbing over rocks and around trees.

He knew from the dream visions that he was getting close to his destination.  As he clutched a tree branch to help himself over the next outcropping he spied the opening in the cliff above.  It was dark against the sun drenched rock and he felt a chill even though his cloak seemed to be holding in the heat now.

He finally climbed over the last rise and stood at the entrance to a small cave.  Simon sat down under the shade of a tree nearby and opened his bundle.  He took out a water skin and his bread and cheese.  He poured a few drops of water out for the local gods and ate his meager feast.  He left a few crumbs for the squirrel that was watching from up in the tree and tied his pack up again.  He rested for a few moments and then sighing, he rose and entered the cave.  There was a torch just inside and next to it in a little hollow in the rock was a piece of flint and some steel.  He took it out and struck sparks to light the torch and when it caught, he replaced the flint and took the torch and carefully moved deeper into the cave.  Near the back wall was a pile of skins and a fire ring.  There was a snake coiled on the skins and he chased it away with his staff.  He moved the top skins back and underneath was a book.  The book was thick and black and covered with dust.  He wasn’t surprised.  Everything he had seen in the dream had come to pass.

He carefully picked up the book and replaced the skins.  He sat down on the pile of skins and using the torch, he lit the tinder in the fire ring.  It was cooler in the cave and the fire would keep the snakes away. He sat the book on his lap and slowly opened the front cover.  It was made of wood and the boards were bowed and creaking.  It had an old smell to it, like something ancient and unknowable.

The pages were cracked and yellowed.  He took his pouch of herbs from his pack and as he turned the pages the flames leapt up and a face began to appear.  To the flames he added Bay for protection and Lambs Ears to guard against harm, Borage for courage, Sage for wisdom, Camphor to help see and remember, and Lavender for love.  As he added the herbs the flames changes colors and slowly the face became clearer.  It was a face he knew nearly as well as he knew his own, though it had been years since he’s seen her.  She was his soul mate and he had grieved her death his entire solitary life.  As he looked upon the face in the flames a single tear made it’s way down the creases in his sun baked, furrowed cheeks to rest in his snowy beard.

How could this be?  How could she have lived all this time and he not know it?  Yet here she was calling from the dreams.  He turned the page in the book and spoke the words on the page in the language of the old ones.  Her face became clearer still and she looked back at him with such love that was brighter even than the fire.  He turned the page again and traced the runes with his gnarled fingers.  As he did, she became more solid, less ethereal.  He looked down at his own hands and could almost see the page through them.  It was more difficult to hold the book now but he strained to turn the page again. Once again he spoke the words on the page and as he completed them the book dropped back to the skins and the fire winked out.

Hours had passed without notice and the sun had set once again. A dove mourned and a snake hurried out of the cave, no longer interested in curling up on the still warm skins.  Then night sounds returned and a light rain began to fall, erasing the tracks to the cave.  As quickly as it began, the rain ceased and the clouds evaporated as the moon reflected not one, but two faces, forever smiling down on the dark as stars sang to the reluctant wizard and his lady.

Stealing time #4

I’m not happy with this and I’m not sure why.  I’m going to live with it a bit and revise later if I need to.  Made a few minor changes. A few of the sentences were driving me crazy.

For now this is for prompts from Sunday Scribbling – soul mate and Carry On Tuesday #3 There are waking dreams and sleeping dreams.

Kell bent to pick up the letter at the same time Cassie reached for it.  They bumped heads and they both jerked back.  Cassie rubbed her forehead and laughed nervously.  Kell reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  “You okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine” she said. “Read the letter, Kell!  The suspense is killing me!!”

He picked it up and carefully unfolded the letter.  The paper was thin at the creases, where it had been folded for a long time.

“It’s my handwriting!” He exclaimed.  He sank down on the couch by Cassie and they read the letter.

“If you are reading this and you’re me – you aren’t crazy and this IS real.

I don’t have a lot of time.  Cassie will be back soon and I don’t want to worry her.  I think we will be moving on soon.

Just a couple of things that might help down the line.  Trust Cassie, but don’t leave it all on her.  She is your soul mate. Time to start carrying your part, dude. Cassie is only part of it – you are key.

Trust the dreams – waking and sleeping.  Be careful because as you now know, things aren’t always what they seem.

The guy with the eyes is real.  He’ll come through time to stop you.

P.S. There’s cash in our hiding place.”

Me

Kell dropped the letter on the couch next to Cassie and started pacing, running his fingers through his hair.  Cassie picked up the letter and reread it hoping for more.

“Stop us from what?” Kell had stopped pacing and stared at Cassie. “What does it mean – I’m key?” He asked.  Cassie shook her head, suddenly unable to speak.  There were tears in her eyes and Kell sat down next to her and hugged her.  “It’s ok.  At least it will be.  We will figure this out together.  From now on it’s both of us.”  He told her as he smoothed her hair.

“I wish I knew.  The only thing I know for sure right now is..”

“Is what?”  Kell asked.

“I’m hungry!”  Cassie said.

Kell grinned. “Let’s go check the hiding place and see what we have.  Hopefully this future still has pizza! Come on.”  Kell pulled Cassie up from the couch and started towards the bedroom.  Cassie followed, curious.  Kell opened the closet and moved some clothes out of the way and knelt down.  He reached to the side and pulled the molding away from the floor.  There, in a plastic bag was some folded up money and cards.  He took the cards and some of the money out and replaced the bag and molding.

“You’ve done this before?”  She asked.  Kell smiled.  “Yes.  Ever since I was a kid.  I had a stepdad that would take anything we had to buy booze so I learned early to hide anything valuable.  The letter really must have been from me.  Let’s go find something to eat.”

They headed out the door and down the street.    They didn’t see the man in the leather coat across the street.  He was  standing in the shadow of a doorway across the street.  The man  smiled and threw his cigarette at a cat that ran by him.  He headed off in the same direction, whistling.

For the previous Stealing Time stories click the Stealing Time tag at the top of this post.

Sunday Scribbling: Confession (Stealing Time Part 1)

Sunday Scribblings Prompt :Confession

Kell just stared at her, silent.

“Please say something!  I know it’s a crazy story. You have to believe me.”

She was so tired.  All she wanted was to lay down and sleep but she had to make him understand.  “I’m not joking, I’m not hallucinating, and if you don’t listen to me, something terrible is going to happen!

Kell put his head in his hands as she spoke and when she stopped, he sat up and looked at her like he’d never seen her before.  What was he going to do now?  He thought they had gotten so close.  He’d never met anyone like her.  They had talked for hours about so many things.  He couldn’t be so wrong about her.

“Kell, Please?”

She had explained it badly. It didn’t really matter how she explained it.  How could she expect him to believe her?  Time travel didn’t exist right?  Except in her bizarre life it did and the only man she had ever loved was going to die, again, if she didn’t convince him.

“Cassie, I know you believe” he started to say.

“I don’t just believe it Kell, I live it!  It’s real.  Please” she pleaded.  “If I am crazy, what could it hurt?  You call in sick and we wait across the street. If nothing happens then no big deal.  I’m crazy, you’re alive, no harm done.”

“No harm done,” he thought. “No harm done.”  Crazy or not, maybe she just needed to be trusted.  “Okay”, he said.  “You win. I’ll call in, but we don’t have to go down there.  I trust you.”

“I’m glad you can say that Kell, but if this was reversed, I’d be thinking you were nuts.  I want to prove it to you.  You have to see..” She trailed off, tired, but glad he would be safe for now.

Kell saw the shadows under her eyes.  He put his arm around her.  “You’re beat” he said. “Let’s get some sleep.  I’ll do whatever you want in the morning.

She lay down and was asleep in minutes.  When she woke the next morning, the sun was pouring in the window.  She stretched and then realized that she was alone.  She sat up in a panic and saw the note on the pillow next to her.  She scanned it quickly, jumped up, and hopped around as she jerked on her boots.  She flew out the door and down the stairs, almost knocking over old man Clay as she went through the foyer and out to the street.

She ran the six blocks to the Center where Kell worked and as she got close she saw the smoke and lights from the fire truck.

“NO! NO!” she cried, sprinting to the next block.  Why didn’t he listen?  She thought she had gone back far enough this time to give him a chance to get to know her, to trust her. She crossed the street and lost herself in the crowd but stayed close enough to see.  She didn’t want to see, but she couldn’t tear herself away.  She was jostled and pushed, not even realizing that she was crying.  She felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Cassie?”

She went still.  She slowly turned and there he was, white as a sheet. She tried to hug him but he held his hand out to stop her.

“Why?”

Cassie reached out and grabbed his hand.  “I’ll tell you all of it, but right now we have to get out of here.” She pulled him between the buildings and through the alley.  She knew they had to hurry but at least he believed her now.  There was hope.

We All Follow

The prompt at Sunday Scribbling is follow and as I sit writing I have a song in my head – Follow That Sound by Sharon Little

I can hear a telephone ringin’
I can hear a gypsy singer singin’

I’m gonna follow,follow that sound
till i know, till i know i cant be found.

there a woman on her knees prayin’
theres a child in the breeze playin’

I’m gonna follow,follow that sound
till i know, till i know i cant be found.

We were strong and thought we could handle anything.  We had a few potholes along the way and thought of them as trials. We had lost people, but we had each other.

Life just kept moving along and crouching in the wings was a lion, ready to pounce and gobble us up.  We knew he was there but as people will, we chose to ignore him hoping he would go away.

Finally one day, his presence was too closely felt and we knew we had to face him or be consumed.

It was a Friday night and D had become sicker and weaker until I could hear his breathing at night – a sound that both reassured me and terrified me.  It didn’t sound right.  We sat down and looked at each other and he admitted that he needed to go to the hospital.  He wanted to wait til Monday because we knew that he would just sit there all weekend and nothing would be done.

Monday we showed up at the emergency room and because of the ongoing construction, I had to remain in the waiting room.  We were so sure it was his heart, and we were right, partially.  His kidneys were failing and it was causing fluid buildup around the heart.  They thought we were crazy because we were encouraged that it was his kidneys.  We knew he could live without kidneys but a heart was a whole other matter.

We followed the doctors instructions.  He began dialysis and I began researching how to feed him.  We were given dietary information which mostly consisted of what he could NOT eat and it was a very long list.  If it had any flavor, dialysis wouldn’t filter the chemicals that create the delicate balance your body needs to survive.  Too much of this, too little of that and the whole pile of cards comes tumbling down.  I was determined that I would find every way possible to give him enough choices to keep eating from being a punishment.  It didn’t always work and he didn’t always accept the choices with grace, but I don’t think I would have been able to accept it as well as he did.

Initially things seemed better,believe it or not.  The dialysis made him feel so much better than he had felt in a long time, that even 4 hours a night, three nights a week seemed to be a small price to pay.  He was soon feeling better but he couldn’t return to work on dialysis so we followed what we told at the dialysis center and learned how to do peritoneal dialysis at home.  After going through the training and making sure our home was set up for it, we followed instructions and diet to the letter!  We were the local poster kids for living with end stage renal disease.  D returned to work and we gradually settled in to a routine.

We had several good years before the lion returned.  D came home from work one night saying he was hurting and didn’t feel right. He did his first exchange and the fluid was cloudy which means peritonitis.  Such an innocuous word for a decent in to hell.  We went to the emergency room again and they gave him antibiotics and called his PD nurse and she called in instructions for more antibiotics to be used in his exchanges.  Nothing worked and things got worse so fast.  He was in so much pain and nothing helped.  We went to the hospital and followed their instructions and for a week met each morning with hope of improvement.  Every day his white count was higher and now he was so medicated for pain that he was hallucinating but still in pain.

I finally made the decision to move him to another hospital and immediately the treatment changed and he slowly started to improve.  He was so close to death when we got there that it took months.  We lived at that hospital for several months total and our children finished the school year on their own. Even after several trips home and then back the process was slow and some of the damage that had been done to his body was permanent.

He was back at the dialysis center three days a week and so discouraged.  We knew at this point he would never return to work.  We were trying to wade through the muddy waters of insurance and disability and in the meantime life went on, kids grew, bills came, and we were taking it one day at a time.  We had beat the lion back one more time.  We knew he just wasn’t feeling as well as he should this time on dialysis and because of hard lessoned learned we monitored everything closely.  Checked his temperature and blood pressure regularly using own thermometer and cuff.  We watched his diet and read his blood work reports carefully.  We talked to his sisters because he was finally ready to try transplant.

His youngest sister was a close match and the process was started.  We are thankful every single day for her gift.  There were other gifts too.  People who supported us financially, with prayer, with cards – gifts so great that thank you just hangs up in my throat.

The family followed us to the hospital.  Friends and pastors too.  We got up and checked the board over and over again.  The board was where they posted progress and approximate time left .  That board seemed to change so slowly.  Finally after what seemed like years, the doc came out and told us that every went well.  We had several hiccups – adjustments in medication were made and finally we were allowed to move from the hospital to an apartment nearby where we could come every day to the transplant clinic at first.  The transplant was Thanksgiving and we finally got to go home at Christmas.  The process is not easy and the anti-rejection drugs are rough at first but we have graduated to checkups every eight weeks.

Following all that, we are remaking ourselves.  Our lives are not what we planned but we are here and the lion, while not gone completely, follows from a distance for now.  Sometimes the paths we follow are not ones we would have chosen for ourselves, but we walk them anyway.  Sometimes they are dark and full of shadows and then sometimes we step out of the shade into the sunlight and the light and the warmth surround us for awhile.

Scribbling Prompt – Scary

The Sunday Scribbling prompt this week is Afraid.  What are you scared of?

A lot of things scare me.  Bees and wasps, snakes, pain, Fiddle Head Ferns (I know but they always made me think of aliens), saying the wrong thing (which I DO frequently – you would think I’d be over it).  There are things I worry about but I think those are a different category.

If I really search for the things that can keep me awake – I am afraid of time.

There have been crystal pure moments in this life, where time stopped and I stepped outside of it, barely breathing. I saw everything at once, heard every laugh, smelled the sun, and knew without a doubt that if I was asked at that very moment, where I would like to be, I would have chosen that time and place.  Every color, intense and perfect, feeling complete and peaceful joy.

I don’t mean the big events like births and weddings. Those things are marked by the calendar.

I mean the small, seemingly insignificant times when for some inexplicable reason, it felt as if God’s finger tapped me on the shoulder and whispered that I should look and remember, take it with me. I mean a time when I wasn’t just there, but I was truly present – in that moment.

As a Christian, I know I have the hope of heaven. I believe that Jesus Christ paid the price for my sins.  I believe that God loves me more than my human self can possibly imagine.

My human self can’t imagine anything more beautiful or joyful than those moments. This is a paradox and my most confusing sin.  We are not supposed to be tied to this world – and yet we are given these gifts of moments that make me love this world in a way that goes to the very heart of me.  Oh, I know there are terrible things in this world.  You’ve only to turn on the evening news to get bombarded by violence and tragedy.  We see evidence of how little humans care for other humans every day.  But when I think of how a person’s mind works and through little lines and sounds that form words and how we make leaps of imagination, form relationships, paint pictures, and create music and love, I am in awe.  When I think of the small every day miracles when someone does the right thing for no reason or when someone makes a small gesture of love without being asked it makes me want to hug the world!

But those moments, oh those moments.  They hold me as much as I hold them.  I fear them stopping.  I fear not being here.  I fear not feeling that connection to another human being.  Will I take those moments with me?  Will I remember?  Will I be remembered?

At the same time I’m curious to see what comes next.  In Mark 9 we find the short but oh so meaningful prayer – “Lord I believe, help my unbelief” That sums it up for me. Am I flawed or do others have this doubt?  If we are to love God and desire to be in His presence, is it wrong to have this love for His creation?  Can we love the Creator but hate His creation?  If it’s wrong then why is creation so filled with beauty?  Is it part of learning to trust?

It’s Easter weekend and it’s scary to me to even post this.  This is a time of celebration.  The tomb is empty, Jesus conquered the grave.  I know these things but I want to know them MORE. A friend told me (teasingly I think) that I’m nosy.  I am, it’s true.  More than nosy – I like to KNOW things.  I like proof of things. I like things to make sense.  I love it when a bible teacher explains something that makes the Bible make sense.  I love the mystery and mystical”ness” but the logic and proof make me enjoy that part more. When I learn something that proves the gospel, it doesn’t all of a sudden make me start believing.  It’s more like YES!  I knew it!

Sooo, I hope I am not judged too harshly for doubts.  Isn’t that what faith is about?  We keep walking because we trust God to guide us, even when in and of ourselves we know we are lost?