Monday, September 23, 2013

Lost and Found



A 55 fiction written for fun! 

 
     It made no sense.  Where had she gone?  She had been here only minutes before.  Panic set in. I raced through the house calling my baby’s name searching.  Tears sprang to my eyes.  She couldn’t have gotten out! Looking up I spied a fluffy tail peeking from atop the kitchen cupboard. Sweet relief, she’s safe!



Sunday, September 22, 2013

If Only You Were Here....

100 Words on Saturday - Write Tribe



     If only you were here you would have helped me and I wouldn’t have had to figure out what to do alone.  I would have never learned to stand on my own two feet.  I would never have been independent.  I would have continued to depend on you completely.    I would never have become the “me” I am today.  

  

  

     I would have continued to work because you would have babysat the kids willingly.  I would have missed precious milestones but memories would have happily included you.  How happy we could have all been living our lives in parallel, if only….




Friday, September 20, 2013

Free Write

Write Tribe

        It is Friday or payday in my neck of the woods.   While payday is usually a day most people look forward to, I approach it with mixed emotions.  It is on pay day when I have to sit down and figure out where every bit of money will be allocated down to the last cent then I must follow the plan to the letter and carry it out.  As much as I stress out about this, I always feel blessed when I have a plan.  My mom always said that the Lord always provides and she is right and I am always grateful. 



      Lately I have been making an effort to ride my exercise bike 20-30 minutes a day.  One day this week I got on my bike and started to pedal and it simply wouldn’t go.       Something has been going desperately wrong with the tension adjustment for quite a while.  Regardless of that fact it was still quite a shock to the system to climb on and not be able to move the pedals at all!  I looked the manufacturer up on the internet and decided to give their customer service department a call.  A live body was on the phone in no time telling me that they no longer stocked parts for the model I have.  Well isn’t that special?   I didn’t say I wanted to order parts, I simply want the damn thing to go preferably with no tension at all so I can get on there and pedal my way to good health.  That is the idea, right?  After the revelation that there were no parts to be had the kind lady suggested perhaps I could take this beast apart and loosen the bearings and grease them.  I chalked that up on my honey-do list.  On the upside while on the phone I discovered I could pedal my exercise bike perfectly fine backwards!!  Seriously it is almost comical as ass backwards as I am that I have to pedal backwards too now.   I am hoping that pedaling backwards will do more good than going frontwards ever has.





        That honey-do list keeps getting longer.  Perhaps it wouldn’t be quite so long if my husband came home more often.  Unfortunately he won’t be home for another week.  Since his last visit the dryer has been dying a slow death.  Now it will only dry on one setting and it takes several times to accomplish that.  So here I am draping clothes everywhere in an effort to dry them before I put them in the dryer with that fancy little sheet that will make our clothes smell all wonderful and soften the jeans from the cardboard texture you get from hanging them about.  Our blazer’s transmission is doing bad things.  God only knows what is wrong with that but when my husband comes home we will take it for diagnostics so at least we are only buying the parts we need and fixing what needs to be fixed.   Last but not least we all look forward to next weekend because it will be a triple celebration that will be long over due.  We will be celebrating my husband and daughter’s birthdays and going to eat for our anniversary as well.  Nothing like killing three birds with one stone as the saying goes.  Needless to say, I will be glad for my husband to come home.  Things need to be fixed, things need to be celebrated, and after all 3 weeks is just way too long.
      


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Tuesday Tunes: Hail to the King or Are You Sick of It?




        It is time for Tuesday Tunes and today I am in the mood for some hard rock and heavy metal.  I know, I don’t appear the type but I will admit I love all kinds of music and do try to spotlight the best of the best and my personal favorites.  So sit back, relax, and crank your speakers because you are in for a treat.



        When I met my husband he loved Metallica.  While I love a couple of their songs I don’t prefer a steady diet of the stuff.  Last night while checking the Billboard charts for music to spotlight I happened onto a song performed by Avenged Sevenfold that blew my socks off.  An American rock band that originates from Huntington Beach, California, Avenged Sevenfold has a sound reminiscent of Metallica, at least in this song.  “Hail to the King” starts off with amazing guitar riffs that literally get your blood pumping and fire you up from the get go long before the drums start pounding the driving beat that is prevalent throughout the song. It is one bad assed song and I love it.  I love the intricate guitar solos and the driving force of the drums.  It is my kind of rock song. I am caught up with the music until the last guitar riff fades.





 

      Even though Memphis, Tennessee based band, Skillet, has been around since 1996, I have obviously been under a rock as usual.  I happened across their latest single “Sick of It” quite by accident and LOVED it.  I simply cannot get enough of it and immediately downloaded it to my phone.  My phone is full of music that I must listen to and this song has joined the ranks of a quick favorite.  I love the driving force and energy of the song, the vocals which begin whispery and explode with power at the bridge.  Now that this American Christian rock band is on my radar, I will be exploring more of their music with little doubt that I will love it. They have a great sound.  Starting in October they are touring with Nickelback, another one of my favorites and I can just imagine what an amazing concert that will be.   I hope you have enjoyed Tuesday Tunes this week as much as I have.  Until next time, crank the tunes, and rock on!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Second Chance

100 Words on Saturday - Write Tribe


      Allison cranked the radio, rolled down the window, and enjoyed the freedom her driver’s license afforded her.  She quickly composed a text message saying she would be home soon and tapped the send button.   






      Realizing too late that a truck had stopped in front of her, she stomped on the brakes hard sending the car skidding as the air bag deployed.  Glass shattered, metal crunched, and the horn sounded as she slumped over.   The phone dropped as the darkness claimed her.  




       A week later her eyes finally fluttered open.    Intense pain overwhelmed her.  A second chance, I am truly alive!




Thursday, September 12, 2013

The Slippery Slope

This is a fictional story written for the GBE2 writing prompt.    

       She should truly have her head examined.  She wasn’t getting any younger, but the Olympians on television made it look so easy.  The royal princes of Europe learned as soon as they could barely walk and enjoyed it.  They looked so handsome and athletic on the slopes.  Why not her?  How hard could it be?  She wanted to feel that free just once.  She wanted to learn, and she was determined that she would.  She skied all the time on the Wii.  That should count for something, right?


       She had made reservations at one of the best ski lodges in Colorado.  The lodge had been kind enough to recommend and put her in touch with an instructor, had made arrangements for all the equipment she would need to be at her disposal during her stay, and had even guaranteed that there would be snow.



      Sure she had her misgivings.  God knows, she could catapult down that hill and break her ass and lots of other bones she would need later.  It could be viewed by most as a suicide mission or simply a moment of insanity she was determined to have a taste of.  She wasn’t going to tell a soul because she didn’t want anyone to talk her out of it.  The skiers she had watched on television looked so free, so powerful.  Hell, they looked like they were flying!  She wanted to feel that free.  She wanted to fly.  She wanted to feel the cool crisp air blast her face as she flew down that slippery slope. 



       Buckling on the skis for the first time was awkward.  Standing and moving on them was worse.  The instructor was patient and kind, showing her the ins and outs, explaining techniques.  She listened carefully and desperately tried to do as he explained mimicking his every move.  This was a lot different than what the Wii simulated.  She fell more than once, laughing like a lunatic at first then crying in frustration as time went on.   After much practice and many falls, the instructor encouraged her to try the bunny slope.  She was ready he insisted.  Well hell, he should know.  It was populated with the kindergarten set.  Well maybe some were a little older, but she by far was the oldest out there.  Even the flipping instructor looked like a teeny-bopper compared to her.  Oh God, she must be out of her mind to think she of all people could do this.  She stood at the edge and looked down, took a deep breath, and flew down the slippery slope turning this way and that as she had learned ending up flat with a face full of snow.





         She fell many times after that first try but she got back up and tried again and again until finally she made it all the way down that stretch of slippery slope not only in one piece, but upright.  She finally flew.  She soared.  Her heart exploded with happiness and accomplishment.  She did what she had come here to do.  You can do anything you put your mind to she thought to herself with satisfaction.  You can conquer that slippery slope.