When I decided to simplify my life and only do weekly posts, I had to decide if I wanted to keep doing 5-part short stories during the months with 5 Wednesdays (switched from Saturdays). I decided, yes, I will keep at it for a while anyway. The first 5-Wednesday month was in April which seemed like plenty of time for me to prepare a story. If you know me, you know that isn’t my style. I was plagued with my usual writer’s block until the 11th-hour. But inspiration came from real events. I should say, real events mostly. Real events with a little modification and a whole lot of what-if.
Continue readingwriting
The New Seasons: Chapter V
The New Season
After my initial disclosure to grandma and mom and receiving that warm grandma hug I gained even more confidence to expand my circle. I took mom and grandma downstairs and showed them everything I had stockpiled. Grandma was impressed. Mom was a little worried at the cost but grandma just waved her hand at her.
“You’ve been busy,” grandma said.
I smiled. “You have no idea.” I took a deep breath because I knew the time had come to show someone my shed in the back. I almost didn’t want to because it had been my private place for so long. But I knew I needed to do this to truly expand my circle.
I led them back up the stairs. Even though it was technically winter we just needed light jackets outside which we were still getting used to. They followed me through the backyard. We walked the little pathway to the back of the garage. I showed them how to get through my wall of dry weeds I had set up as a barrier and then we stepped into the little clearing with the shed. Of course, they knew about the shed but it had been a while since either of them were back there. Mom took note of the hole I had dug for fuel storage and raised her eyebrows.
“Storage,” is all I said and shrugged my shoulders.
Grandma’s face broke into a delighted smile and she clapped her hands together when she saw my garden of onions and carrots. They walked around a little bit inspecting my work. I had spent so much time working in the area that the whole ground around the shed was clear of weeds and obviously a place often visited.
They looked at each other as I opened the padlock on the shed door and opened it. I didn’t tell them what was inside but gestured for them to step in. They slowly did and to say they were surprised is a bit of an understatement.
Continue readingThe New Seasons: Chapter III
Autumn
I truly became hyper-focused on my little covert well project. I mean, how could I possibly ignore working on it when I spent so much time thinking about it? Doing some kind of action was the only time my racing thoughts slowed down. Which means that despite the near crippling heat, I continued to work on my hidden well. So much so, that when I finally drew my first little bit of water out, I had mixed feelings. Sure, I was elated my hard work had given me a feat and that I – me of all people – constructed something that worked. And I did it by following some diagrams and watching a few YouTube videos. But a part of me felt a tinge of disappointment because now what would I focus on? Also, there was the fact that since I had been so successful in hiding my efforts, there was not one person to share my accomplishment with. I thought of Stuart again and felt a new wave of guilt that I lied to him at that last meeting. I should probably let him know what I had accomplished because of his guidance.
Continue readingThe New Seasons: Chapter II
Summer
I didn’t understand a lot of Stuart’s handouts he gave me but I found a couple helpful. One had a simple diagram of what a backyard well should look like and a list of tools I needed. For tools, I knew the first place to look: my grandparent’s shed. It was at the back of their property behind the garage and fairly hidden from the growth of trees. There was an old alley that was hardly accessed on the other side of the fence which opened up to some undeveloped area on the other side. We always referred to this as “grandma’s desert” and I used to play there when I was younger. I could drive down the alley and park my truck, and climb over the old chain link fence to get to the shed. That way, I could avoid both my grandma and my mom who lived with her and wouldn’t have to explain to anyone why I was interested in the shed. Or get a fresh round of mocking. I assumed my grandma hadn’t been to this side of her property since grandpa died. The lock was rusted so I picked up a large rock and broke it. As I was rummaging through what was left of tools, I realized this would make an excellent cover for a well. On my first visit, I tore up the floor and threw any unnecessary tools into the back of my truck to make room inside the shed that was about to become a well.
Continue readingThe New Seasons: Chapter I
Spring
It had been a mild winter.
There had been mild winters before but not like this. That is to say, in my 25 years of existence, I could remember times of drought. But even during those dryer years we still received some snow. Maybe most of it came toward the end of winter but eventually there were a few decent snowstorms. The mildest winters typically meant some water restrictions in late summer, but we always made it from winter to winter. To say we were going to have a dry, brown summer this year was an understatement. There had been exactly one night of snow back in November over the Thanksgiving weekend. It didn’t even accumulate enough to get the snow shovels out. And then nothing really. Maybe one or two days of rain here and there but nothing to really saturate the ground or top off our water supply.
Everyone waited all winter. Most enjoyed the warmer than normal weather. Some started worrying. And a few started doing some figuring.
Continue readingYou bring feeling to my life (not necessarily good feeling)
I admit, for me it is not always an easy task to come with something to write about. Most of the time, I need a little inspiration to get the ideas flowing. Inspiration can and has come from a variety of sources. It could come from a general situation or an observation I made. It also most certainly can come from a specific person. Many people have been unwitting muses for me. A lot of them good and positive. A few of them, well, let’s just create a category and call them a venting muse. In other words, they inspire me to write out my frustration and grievance instead of, you know, confronting them.
Continue readingA New Shift
I started this little blog at the end of March 2011. At that time, the primary purpose of my blog was to serve as an outlet for my writing. I am the person that always had these little pieces of paper everywhere I went with thoughts written down. This seemed to be a natural course even though I didn’t really understand what I wanted to say. I just knew I had something to say. And to be honest, I thought I had something so worth saying that people were going to love my writing.
Continue readingMy masterpiece
There was a good stretch of a few years, that I had a daily goal to write 20 minutes a day. It was mostly fluff stuff but it was still something I actually did. A goal I actually accomplished and me and goal fulfillment has not always been a thing. I filled up a couple of small thought notebooks and probably shared most of my writings on this blog. Then one day, I stopped writing in my little book on a daily basis. Mainly because I didn’t feel like I was improving any so why bother? One day became two which became a week, a month, and a few months without writing daily. I just don’t write things down like I used to. I would not declare it a tragic loss but rather just life moving downstream with different goals and agendas prioritized.
Continue readingStory Behind the Post: A New Chance
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I was excited for another opportunity to write a Thanksgiving story. However, this fall I worked on two fairly big projects that both culminated the same weekend in November. The second. One finished with a big event on Friday and the other on Monday. Sharing all that to explain I was pretty busy all of October and into the first part of November and did not spend as much time on my 5-part short story yet again. But I always say that, don’t I? So, let me just jump in and share the inspiration for this story.
Continue readingA New Chance – Chapter V
Home for Thanksgiving
The next morning, Chance sat on the edge of his bed. He had taken the sheets off and put them in a pile on the floor. His bag was packed and he was ready for Andy to take him to the Child Services.
To his great surprise, it wasn’t Andy that came down it was Marabeth. To add to his shock, she invited him to stay with them for a while. The Lucas-Simpsons would become his foster family if that was all right with him. He assured her it was all right with him. The rest of the day he felt like he was in some kind of alternate universe or something. This could not be happening to him. Especially after getting JJ in a fight last night. He didn’t take Marabeth or Andy to be the joking kind and if this was a joke it was cruel. But neither one said it was a joke. In fact, the next day, Marabeth took him to the school to register.
Even after he started school a week later, he waited for the other shoe to drop. One week became two which became a month. And that shoe never dropped. He exceled in all his courses except public speaking. That was his lowest grade with a steady B.
Continue reading
ck's days 