SS - Honor to Us All & The Flik Machine

(Honor to Us All & The Flik Machine)

“I don’t care if she is stark naked and sprouting a moustache. Find her and bring her here now.” Conductor Flik’s harsh whisper reached Mina as she stumbled to s stop at the foot of the servant staircase. “Maybe dancing au naturale before the entire population of Etris will teach our scurrilous lady the necessity of punctuality.”

Maft. Mina gave up on straightening her skirt’s disarray and snuck a glance around the corner. Several servingmen stood in double row between her and where Conductor Flik stood berating poor Jacqueline. Small mercies… Ignoring amused looks from the opposite side, Mina ran on tiptoe behind the wall of their shoulders.

Raoul drew Flik’s attention away with a gesture and comment Mina couldn’t hear.  They stepped to one side of the doors in conference. Giuseppe offered her his arm and she stepped between the men to take it gratefully. For once Jacqueline managed to keep her surprise silent, moving quickly to unravel the twisted mess of layers Mina had made of her gown during her frantic dash down the stairs.

“And here her royal punctualness is,” said Giuseppe. Jacqueline backed away from the now immaculate gown as Conductor Flik turned around. Mina kept her gaze straight ahead and hoped her face wasn’t horribly flushed under the Conductor’s glare. Sweat trickled down her back.

“Indeed. Music.” Conductor Flik commanded.

A single harp cut through the murmuring of the crowd on the other side of the doors. For a few moments, it became the only sound to be heard, a melody of anticipation.

“Lights.”

A thousand candles in mirrored alcoves and crystal chandeliers sprang to flame. Even with the frosted glass barrier of the doors, the light dazzled Mina’s eyes. She welcomed the temporary blindness. The thought of what awaited her kept her heart racing in an uncomfortable rhythm. Giuseppe elbowed her gently and she loosened her death grip on his arm, “sorry.”

“Fanfare.” Raoul and Connor flung the doors open to a crescendo of brass and strings. “Enter the Princess Regent.” Conductor Flik stepped forward and to one side, bowing with a flourish.

SS - Into the West

Finally! A song scene, albeit a very very short one. :)

----

A white gull flew near the horizon over the sea. Kenta lifted a hand to shield her eyes. Were there silver markings on those wings? The glare of the rising sun off the water made her eyes sting despite her efforts and the bird remained indistinct. “Is it him?” She asked at last, turning away from the glare.

            

 Moshen didn’t answer right away. His hands hung loose at his sides. The light did not bother his keen eyes.

           

Kenta pressed her hands together to keep from tugging on her friend’s arm. “Moshen, is it him?”

           

“Gulls with silver markings are common here, Kenta. I can’t see the pattern to know for sure.”

          

  It was his! It had to be. Kenta leaned up onto her toes and wished she could fly. She hummed and then let the words spill out “And all will turn to silver glass, a light on the water, all souls pass…”

           

“No one has returned from the East yet.” Moshen frowned at her. “You let your hopes fly away with you, small one.”

          

  “So why are you out here at sunbreak then?” Kenta stuck her tongue out at him.

          

  Moshen’s next words almost slipped away with the wind but Kenta heard. “A fool’s hope is better than no hope.”

A Post of Threes

 Three necessary things for an Epic Road Trip:

1)   Duct Tape

2)   All natural peanut butter

3)   Massive amounts of music

Three things I forgot:

1)   my much battered baseball cap (I hate wearing sunscreen on my face)

2)   a towel (apparently Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy failed to impress the dire importance of this on me)

3)   Dutch Blitz (*cries*)

Three questions to ponder:

1)   Why do people laugh when I say I have to go through Saskatchewan because it is on my list of places to visit?

2)   At what temperature is tenting (in an ordinary tent) a bad idea?

3)   Are the Uncle Remus tales racist?

(Possibly) coming up next… Brer Eagle and the Three Roads on the Way to Grandmother’s House

SS - Beautiful Ending and Helpless

April song scene for Barlow Girl's "Beautiful Ending" and KD Lang's cover of "Helpless"

Take 1 (utter inspiration fail)

Crows gather where…

            Derek dove into the room face first. The door swung back against the wall with a crash as he skidded across the floor on his stomach. Paper cranes blew off the tables

            “Ouch.” I winced.

            “Derek, you moron, if you’ve crumpled any of those, I will break your nose again.” Huni said but her eyes never left the pink square of paper between her hands.

           

Take 2

Crows gather where the saints fall

All Agnes wanted for her birthday was a picnic in the woods. With ice cream and lemonade and peanut butter raspberry jam sandwiches and dill pickles and cake. It  didn’t seem like too much to ask for for her one and only sixth birthday.

Six was ages older than five. Six year olds could go to sleep away camp and play on baseball teams. Six meant riding the long yellow bus, a matching lunchbox and backpack, and spelling bees.

S-U-P-E-R-C-A-L-I-

Agnes pulled the Velcro straps tight. She wiggled her feet and scrutinized the sparkly pink runners. Were they on the right feet?

F-R-A-G-I-L-I-S-T-I-C

She stood up and jumped up and down a couple times. They felt alright but she’d been wrong before. “You are lucky you don’t have shoes.” Agnes told Gus. She blew a kiss at him through the bars but he was entranced by the carrot from lunch.

E-X-P-E-A-L-I-

She held both her arms out for balance going down the stairs, hopping over every third step. After all, you can never be too careful about monsters. Every jump shook her hat off balance until, as she hit the landing, it tumbled off and hung from its ribbon. Hmmm… Agnes squinted against the sun and dusties. Eight steps went from the landing to the floor. She bent her knees and stretched out her arms.

D-O-C-I-O-U-S

But she didn’t float like the sun-dusties. Her knees hit the floor first, then her chin but her tongue hurt the worst where it caught between her teeth. Poop!

            “Agnes!” Footsteps and worry noises came whirling down the long hallway. “What were you doing?”

            “Falling.” Agnes blinked back tears. Blood was welling up on one of her knees. She hoped this wouldn’t ruin her picnic plans. Mama had already made the sandwiches and cake but it would spoil everything to eat them inside at a table.

            And she really really wanted to show Mama and Dadda the sparkly gate by the willow tree. Then they could tell her why it was sometimes invisible and couldn’t be rained on and smelled like vanilla without being baked.

            And whether it was okay to ride a unicorn when he invites you to tea.

SS - Ready

March Song Scene for Britt Nicole's "Ready"

POV character is from my middle grade (?) fantasy series. This scene takes place during the timeline of the second book but probably won't be included. Lisa is a character I have been coming to know but all the others in this scene are totally new to me.

The green hill between three mountains came into view.  By now, sentries would have alerted the Rhabdi to Lisa’s arrival. Too late to turn back. Lisa closed her eyes and took a couple slow breaths. Relax, she told herself. The heat of the summer sun ran through her wings and a delicious summer wind pushed her along but she couldn’t unclench her fists and her pulse throbbed inside her head. The small bag between her wings might have been loaded with rocks the way it seemed to press against her back. 

            Lisa descended lower. She could identify the four people gathered on the open grass now. Aerad waited with arms folded, wings out of sight. Sunlight flashed from the rings on his hands and the bronze scales on his arms. Toma lounged on the grass, a dark grey shadow against the bright green and yellow. His presence might have been a welcome reassurance except for the last two: Iras and Guinevere. 

            Lisa’s nails bit deeper into her palms and the pain brought a halt to the panic threatening her composure. Liars. Anger welled up afresh and the fear dissipated. She vanished her wings while still above head height. The heavy impact of her landing against the soft turf was very satisfying. She straightened up and raised a bent arm over her head briefly in greeting to Aerad. 

“Blue skies, abAearad, and a wind to your back.” Lisa nodded to Toma and turned a radiant smile to the two women. “Pardon my interruption.”

Suspicion darkened Iras’s face but Guinevere smiled back, “Pardoned indeed! Great news is always a welcome interruption.”

“You have returned much earlier than planned.” Aerad said. “You were successful?”

Lisa kept her smile in place as she swung the velvet bag from her shoulders. “More successful than planned.” She held the bag loosely in front of her.

Toma rolled onto his back, “Don’t torment them, child, spill your secret.” He opened one yellow eye to look at her. “I hope the truth is at least half as sensational as some of the rumors. I’ll be disappointed in you otherwise.”

“With all respect due to my elders, I would like to propose a trade.”

“A trade? You know whatever you have reclaimed is already the property of the Rhabdi.” Aerad’s expression didn’t change but he’d slipped into his disciplinary lecture tone.

“Oh, not for this, abAerad.” Lisa lifted the bag slightly. “Toma mentioned sensation and rumors. I only want to trade truth for truth.”

Toma opened both eyes and seemed interested for the first time but Lisa didn’t look to him. Puzzlement wrinkled the foreheads of Aerad and Guinevere. “What do you want to know?” Aerad asked. 

“Where did the Galth virus come from?”

Aerad’s gaze was steady when he answered, “you know your history, the virus originated in one of their underwater labs, a tragic experiment,” but then, he had been the one to teach her how to detect signs of lying… and how to lie convincingly when necessary. “What else did you want to know?”

“That’s enough.” Lisa shrugged. She reached into the bag and closed a hand on the hidden orb.  She winked at Toma. “The truth is rather sensational.” Lisa locked eyes with Iras. She wanted most to see her reaction. “There are survivors and they had the hab with them all along.” 

She threw the orb down, her wings already unfolding as she leapt away from the explosion. Heat seared her bare arms. She flew straight up until the air became frigid and thin around her where no adult could follow. The cold eased the sting on her arms and Lisa slowed to catch her breath.

Any moment now she would feel the thrill of her victory. Liars. Tricksters. She’d fooled them! But she felt only hollow and lost, worse than the feeling after she had betrayed Maro and left him. Lisa grasped for any remnant of anger. Nothing. Iras’s final expression had erased it. Lisa had been prepared for shock and anger or fear and guilt but Iras had only looked sorry.

Why Nursing?

Why Nursing?
Draft version 1.0

As child when I grew up I wanted to run an orphanage, write books or own a summer camp. In high school, I knew I most wanted to work with children and stories but I didn’t know how to make either interest work as a stable career.


I needed a job:
-working with people
-with the possibility of travel
-and reasonable starting income/job security (mostly for my parents’ sake, I tend to be more idealistic than pragmatic)


Based on these criteria, I applied into nursing straight out of high school.
And discovered I loved it.
(good thing because the degree was not cheap!)


Not only did it fit the criteria but it was satisfying in a variety of other ways.

Additional things to love about nursing:
-Helping people with the “little things” (e.g. the art of positioning pillows, scrubbing itchy backs, setting up at meals)
-Endless new things to learn (overwhelming at times but awesome)
-Being a networker in the healthcare team (communicating back and forth with PT, OT, Physicians, Nutritionists, Lab Personnel, Pharmacists, and more)
-Opportunities to work with a variety of populations and in different specializations (e.g. elderly, newborns, medicine, surgery, palliative, community, etc.)
-More chocolate in a single Christmas time shift than can be accrued trick or treating


Not that everything about being a nurse is lovely (cough-night shifts-cough) but this post is why nursing not why not nursing. ☺

2011 "Wishes"

As per tradition...

1) Write a first draft of a story outside of NaNoWriMo

2) EPIC road trip!

3) At least 2 nursing courses

4) Memorize something especially lovely on the piano

5) Play a song on the guitar

6) Set aside a Spanish only day with JoBro

7) Choreograph 3 dances (any style)

8) Go camping

9) Read through a BBC book list

10) Hopskotch

11) Blog 10 "whys"

12) Read the Gospels every month

13) Arrange monthly night out or in for parents

14) Fill my current journal

15) Add to savings account monthly

16) Have an organized bedroom

17) Figure out cooking schedule

18) Take a dance class (at least one!)

19) Memorize "thank you" in at least 4 more languages

20) Get a student discounted swim pass and use it

21) Visit somewhere new on the Island

22) Have a karaoke night with the Spensts/Ragans

23) Keep memorizing Psalm 119

24) Make a yummy green drink

25) Laser tag

26) Personalized USANA webpage

27) Meet Grandma Miles

28) Spray a fire extinguisher

29) Do an "author" photo shoot with Pure Emotion Photography

30) Have a tea party or other event with mailed invitations

31) Go on a blind date

32) Buy new nursing shoes

33) Volunteer at camp

34) Have an organized bathroom

35) Write to my sponsored child

36) Blueberry picking hike again!

37) Arrange the 2011 family Christmas photo

38) ML for NaNoWriMo again!

39) Visit the local aquarium

40) Organize the family bookshelves to Mom's satisfaction without letting her give away any more books :)

41) IV starts!

42) Shabbat with the Byes

43) Plan either Uganda trip or KoS Summer Olympics trip (or BOTH)

44) Get a totally different haircut (preferably from Liz-Phoenix)

45) Be in the Land of the Living Skies (if only while passing through)

46) Watch season 4 of Alias

47) Write true stories of other people

48) Listen ;)

... and much much more!