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Loving this bracelet.

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The Lost Soul (work in progress)

The Lost Soul

An unnatural force sheathed this dusty room.  The air was stagnant and stale.  A few beams of sunlight peeked through the broken blinds on the dirt-stained window.  There did not appear to be any solid objects in the room, only shadows of objects and things that once were.  Not a breeze was felt, yet something seemed to stir in the darkened corners.  A figure entered the room.  A man dressed in an oversized brown raincoat with an exceptionally aged face and unkempt hair padded through the room, leaving footprints in the dirt on the floor.  His dark eyes scanned over the floor, in the corners, searching the shadows.  His face displayed a strange expression as he discovered the one he sought.

 “What,” a raspy voice from a darkened corner snarled, “can I do for you, eh?”

The man in the raincoat turned to see a short man.  His face was slightly hidden behind a large flimsy hat.  A heavy black coat was draped over his gnarled body.  The hunched little fellow carried a cane, and his bare feet were black with dirt from the floor.

“This cradle,” the man motioned to the shadow of an old tiny bed, “this cradle is mine.”

“Was yours.”

“IS mine,” said the man, his tone, getting louder.

“’Mine’ is such a possessive word,” the little old chap stated. He began throwing questions at the man in the raincoat, “How come you were not so possessive in the past, eh?  You were so eager to leave that cradle and move into a real bed because you wanted to be a ‘big boy’.  You were so eager to booze it up and get into drugs because they were adult things, and you wanted to be like your friends.  You were so eager to leave high school because it was boring and confining.  You were so eager to move into your own apartment because you wanted to live your own life away from your parents.  You were so eager to run off and get married because you thought you were in love.  And then you were so eager to leave your wife and children because you didn’t want to be tied down.

 “What happened, Mr. Eager?” The small man’s face contorted into an ugly, evil smile.  “Move too fast, did you, now?  Did you miss something along the way?  Can you not look back on your life and smile?  Can you not tell stories to your children? Have still not come to realize what you are really here for?”

“What do you want of me?” the man in the raincoat shouted. “What do you want me to say?” His breath was short and labored, “Do you want me to admit I have regrets?  Okay,” he began, his voice suddenly softer and calmer. “I have regrets! I regret growing up too fast.  I regret doing drugs and drinking. I regret leaving high school. I regret not going to college.  I’m the first one to admit that my life went awry somewhere along the line.  But you wouldn’t understand, because no one ever does; no one ever seem to have regrets.”

“My friend,” the short man replied, “every man, woman and child who ever had a dream, or fell in love, or lost a friend has regrets. And thus, has shadows in this room.  Some, much like yourself, return for them thinking that this is the way to put their life back in order, but it is to no avail.  The shadows in this room are lost from them; unattainable; here to reside forever.”

“Why are you here, old man?”

“Because I was just like you,” the old fellow said, as he motioned to the shadow of a tall, handsome, young man.  “That shadow,” the gnarled man said rather softly, “was my soul.  I put everything aside to pursue the great American Dream of being rich and happy.  I always put off the things that were not seemingly important to me. I was rich; I had everything I wanted; I was a playboy. No one could make me settle down.  I even have children who have no clue who I am.  My whole life was one big selfish dream.  But I thought I had it all.  If I only knew then, what I know now…”

The old man took off his hat and coat.  His countenance turned to horror as the younger man’s face paled and his body began to sway.  He stumbled to the door and back in to the real world.  Outside the crisp air blew in the man’s face, a sign he was out of the room.  As fresh sunlight warmed his back he looked at the ground.  Strangely, he noticed that he cast no shadow upon the earth’s surface. 

Instantly, he understood.

Too good not to share

April Slaughter: Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be. ~Clementine Paddleford 

movie script

Scream meets that 70s drunk ghost hunting show

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Everything Happens for a Reason

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be someone else, live somewhere else, work at a different job, or have enough money to not need a job altogether.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be smarter, more clever, more coy, or have a better humor.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be prettier, to have a better body, to never have to worry about exercise, what I eat, or my weight.
Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I had dated this guy rather than that guy, if I had chosen different friends in high school, chosen a different job to work at.
What if I had chosen not to drink while others around me drinking until they were stupid.
What if I had chosen to hang out with "the smart kids", rather than people that I felt a kinship to.
What if my dad never took a job in Rhode Island, but rather had been able to stay in Florida.
What if I had been able to live with my grandparents rather than my dad insisting that the family stay together, dispite the growing turmoil called his second wife.
What if my dad had stayed a single dad instead of marrying his second wife, changing our lives forever.

What if... 

Too many "What if"s in this life of mine. 

I can say "what if" all I want,
what if things had turned out differently,
what if I had made different choices,
what if my dad had made different choices,
what if my mother had made different choices?

Where would I be today?  What would my life be like?

I can tell you
that I would not have the great friends that I do
that I would not haven been married three times
that I would not have two beatuiful daughters
that I would not have a handsome grandson
that I would not have finally found the love of my life.

I may be in debt, in need of a major payraise and/or a different job, but I would not have the best that God's love has to offer: people who love me back.

Life would be different with one "What if?", but then, where would I be, what would I be like, and what would my life be like.

Everything happens for a reason.

New story ideas

The Adventures of JBK13 - a series of young reader stories that tell of 13 cousins and their adventures, together as a group and as individuals.
Katrina, Missy, Beth,
Zurich, Ethan, Henry, Daphane,
Thomas, Christina, Victoria, Ivy,
Louisa, and Adelle

Zurich's Mountain - the quest of a young boy to get to the top of a local mountain, and see what resides at the top.
Ethan and the Bike - a young boy's bike goes missing, and it's up to Ethan and his cousins to find it.
Henry - Ghost at the Arcade - Henry's quest to be the top winner of his favorite game is thwarted by the sudden appearance of a ghost that threatens to shut down his local arcade.
Daphane - The Girl with the Golden Hair - While shopping at the local mall with her friends, Daphane is witness to a shoplifting crime. But the only fact about the person they can remember is her Golden Hair.
Thomas - A Day at the Space Center - As Thomas and his cousins take a trip to the Space Center, their trip is interrupted by unmarked black SUVs swarmming the complex, and the public being asked to leave the premises. What is going on? Thomas and his cousins aim to find out!
Christina - A Place to Call her Own - Because Christina comes from a family of 6, finding alone space is hard to come by. Until one day, while trekking through the woods behind her family's new house, Christina comes across a place to call her own.
Victoria -
Ivy -
Lousia -
Adelle - Every Day is an Adventure - The life of Aspie

Need more ideas, and need to get those ideas down in print.

Story Ideas, first thoughts

Zack's Mountain: An independent freelance photographer loses her father to cancer, and inherits a family cabin in the mountains of NC.  She struggles to deal with her loss but manages to keep her sanity by writing and turning to her love of photography.  She discovers that the cabin in the woods holds a few secrets of its own.

Cynthia's Cottage: A young girl living in a cottage finds friendship a in an English countryside, surrounded by wildflowers...

Under Maddie's Bridge:  One never knows what will be found under a bridge.

Teddy's Rocket: A boy intrigued by science builds a rocket that he hopes will fly him to another planet.

A Cheer for Valerie: Encouragement, hope, and a dose of self-esteem boost.

A Portrait of Ingrid:  Love, innocence, and admiration

Everett's First Ride: A young man's first car provides the most memorable ride of his life.

Katherine's Lullaby:  Soft, soothing

Diana's Crown: An only daughter surrounded by brothers lives life like a princess

The Music of Harrison:

Abbie's Garden:  Sweet, unique, wildflower garden and the peace within the walls.

Lydia's Style: Punky, wild

Brooke's Shadow: A girl and her horse

Driving... my thoughts

Mondays. I really don't like Mondays. 
They make me ill many times - physically and emotionally, and mentally.
It starts with the alarm clock telling me that the weekend is over. 
And it never gets better.
Having to drive my daughter to school, and myself to work, I have to deal with drivers.

So I have compiled a small list of my driving Pet Peeves

I encounter, on a regular basis, drivers who:

Do no put on headlights in the early AM, cloudy days, or when the sun is setting (the lights are for ME to see YOU, I dont really care if you don't need lights to see where you are driving);
Think they can text and drive, but lack the attention span to do both, often weaving between lanes, changing lanes from a turn lane to a travel lane without looking to see that a car may already be in said travel lane;
Talk on their cell phones and drive, but lack the attention to do both, again, weaving and changing lanes without looking;
Change lanes without using a blinker, because they are distracted or because they feel they own the road;
Turn on to a side road without using a blinker (see reasons above);
Stop in the middle of the road for no reason (again, no blinker);
Roll through a stop sign (if no car is seen, safe to proceed, right?);
Speed through a yield sign (because no car is seen);
Speed through school zones (no cops, no radar, who cares, right?);
Blantantly run a redlight  (dramatic increase in speed);
Speed through a yellow light when there is plenty of time to stop;
Turn on a red light in to oncoming traffic (my personal favorite: someone from across the way is making a left turn on green arrow);
Turn from a side road in front of oncoming traffic (and do not get up to speed in front of said traffic);
Go slower than the posted speed limit for no apparent reason (Sunday drivers?);
Use a pause-and-turn lane for their own personally travel lane to get around a long line of traffic;
Same people who use the P-n-T lane have to dart back in to traffic because... someone else is actually using that middle lane to... Pause and Turn!!
Same people who use the P-n-T lane make it to a traffic signal only to dart back in to the normal travel lane, having sped past a long line of cars heading in the same direction;
Pass a semi on the highway only to squeeze in between said semi and a car slowing down, causing the semi to slam on brakes, or worse, go off the side of the road (which I have personally witnessed).

Actually, I have witnessed all the above... some several times a day.

I understand that not all people are perfect, and not all people can be a perfect driver.  I'm not asking for perfection, just that people pay attention.

Yes, I have many pet peeves when it comes to driving.  There are many people that get glares, imagined (and not so imagined) hand gestures, and at least once a day, someone will get the "Idiot of the Day" award. This is the person I deem to be the stupidest driver of the day because of a really stupid driving maneuver.

I say, if you can't talk on the phone, text, smoke, eat and drive a stick shift car - get off the road.  Save the rest of us.  And bring our insurance rates back down.

That is my rant for today.

Until next time,