Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

“Mom, you need to get up in the morning. Wake up and get dressed instead of sleeping.”

“Katie, I am awake.”

“Why do I always have to wear a long sleeve shirt?”

“It’s winter.”

“Brianna doesn’t have to wear a long sleeve shirt!”

“She’s wearing one.”

“That’s not fair Mom!”

“Katie, it’s freezing outside!”

“Where is my sweater? Is it in the dryer?”

“The only thing in the dryer is the couch slip covers. Is Alex awake?”

“Yes.”

“Darn it. Turn my light on please.”

“You need to buy me more sweaters for school. I don’t have any.”

“You have a closet full of sweaters, you just choose not to wear them.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. You have that navy one that was Addy’s. You said it’s too big, but it is just your size. You have three other sweaters!”

“That’s not true.”

“Katie, just look in your closet!”

“Those aren’t school sweaters. I want my pink one.”

“I don’t know what you did with your pink one.”

“I’m changing!”

“No Katie, you completely match. You look nice. Now stop arguing with me and stay still.”

“Ow Mom, you’re pulling my hair!”

“I’m not doing it on purpose, your hair has knots in it.”

“You’re doing it too fast! Ow!”

“You should have just left it in a pony tail, then it wouldn’t have knots!”

“No Mom! It’s your fault Mom!”

“Just stay still. Stop itching it, you’ll mess it up!”

“It’s itching me Mom!”

“It’s done. Don’t touch it. Get your shoes on, go downstairs and get breakfast.”

“I want a bagel.”

“Brianna! Come up here, I need to do your hair!”

“Katie, we don’t have time for a bagel. Get a fruit bar. Stop touching your hair!”

“You always make us eat fruit bars.”

“Fine, we do have time. I’ll make you a bagel. Now go downstairs and get your shoes on.”

“Brianna, Mom said we can have bagels.”

“Mom, Katie said we can have a bagel. Is she lying?”

“I’ll make bagels but we need to hurry.”

“Yes!”

“Come here so I can get your hair done.”

“Ow.”

“Stop moving away! You’re making it harder.”

“That hurts, you brushed my ear! Ow!”

“Stop moving then! You keep pulling away and it makes it harder to get the knots out!”

“I’m not moving, you keep pulling me that way.”

“Sorry.”

“Mom, my tooth is really wiggly today.”

“Great. Okay done. Go downstairs. Did you put your lunch in your backpack?”

“Yeah.”

“What about Katie’s?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

“Alex come upstairs!”

“What Mom?”

“Come upstairs!”

“What Mom?”

“Alex, come upstairs.”

“Hi Mom.”

“Hi Alex. Did Daddy change your diaper?”

“No.”

“Come here. You need to get dressed. We need to go to the store to buy Mommy some medicine.”

“Go store buy medicine?”

“Yes. Just pee, no poop!”

“Just pee!”

“How about your Eagles shirt.”

“Eagles!”

“Okay, pants. Socks. I smell your stinky feet!”

“Stinky feet!”

“Wait, shoes on.”

“I do it.”

“No buddy, Mommy do it. We need to hurry. Get sisters to school. Okay all done. Go downstairs.”

“I have bagel?”

“Yes, but lets go. Come on now.”

“You’re only getting half a bagel girls.”

“I have bagel now?”

“It’s got to cook buddy.”

“I have it now Mom?”

“It needs to go in the toaster.”

“I have it now Mom?”

“Fine.”

“Girls, do you have water bottles?”

“Yeah, I’ll fill it up at school.”

“Mom, Brianna never helps me. She’s always mean to me.”

“That’s not true, she’s just saying that to get me in trouble!”

“Stop girls. Eat your bagel. We got to go. First let me pee.”

“Brianna, you’re a mean girl.”

“Stop Katie.”

“Girls! Get your coats on and get in the van!”

“I go in the van too Mom?”

“Yes Alex.

“It’s cold!”

“I know buddy.”

“Stop kicking, Katie!”

“Katie stop kicking Brianna’s seat!”

“Brianna’s being annoying!”

“Mom, I’m just sitting here!”

“I have a drink Mommy?”

“Girls stop! Geez, enough already! Alex, your cup is at home.”

“Can you put Justin Bieber on?”

“It’s not in the van Katie.”

“Taylor Swift?”

“Nope.”

“Brianna, look at this.”

“Brianna, look at this!”

“Look Bra-nah.”

“Brianna!”

“Mom, Brianna isn’t looking!”

“Brianna just look at your sister! Stop ignoring her!”

“I can’t turn around!”

“Then just say that instead of ignoring her!”

“Fine, I’m looking Katie! What!”

“Remember when. Remember when. Remember when we got these shells. From that place. That place with the water, but the water was gone. That place was fun.”

“Girls, bus! Wait, let me pull up closer.”

“Bye Mom! Bye Alex”

“Bye Mom!”

“Bye girls. Be good. Have a good day at school.”

“School bus!”

“Yep buddy.”

“I go to school?”

“Next year you can go to school! Like a big boy!”

“I go on bus?”

“No buddy, not until you’re older.”

“Okay Mommy.”

“Let’s go to the store. We got to hurry though. Emily will be here soon.”

“I play with Emily?”

“Yep.”

“I like Emily.”

“I need Starbucks.”

“What Mommy?”

“I said I need Starbucks.”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

I started writing this for another post to share a bit of the craziness of getting the kids ready in the morning. I realized I was writing so much dialogue that it was just perfect for this prompt!

-Hemingway was famous for his super sparse writing. He used almost only dialogue in many of his works. Write a piece in which you use ONLY dialogue. Then link up Friday.

What’s in your pantry?

No. Really. What’s in there?

For this week’s prompt, grab something out of your pantry and write a short piece – using all the words in the ingredients. It can be fiction or non-fiction, poetry or prose.

Make sure you join in and link up. It’s fun, I promise!

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Today was challenging.

It was a challenge waking up at 12:30am to my dear sweet husband, after so nicely getting up to put Alex to bed when he woke up crying, informing me the reason Alejandro had been so upset was due to him puking up dinner all over his pajamas and bed.

It was a challenge waking up at 3:30am to my dear sweet youngest daughter waking me up ever so gently and informing me that she had thrown up all over her bed and the carpet.

It was a challenge cleaning up chunks of half digested mandarin orange segments from the sheets after letting them dry overnight, because I was too tired and had no desire to clean it up in the wee hours of the morning.

It was a challenge staying away from the two king-size chocolate confections of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Milky Way sitting in the fruit bowl, when all I wanted was to overdose on sugar.

It was a challenge drinking only water, when all I wanted was to down the ice-cold Vanilla Coke Zero in the fridge.

It was a challenge cleaning and disinfecting everything, when all I wanted to do was take a nap.

Today was challenging.

But.

Tomorrow is a new day.

I started going in a different direction than I originally planned. Change is good. If you didn’t read the first two installments you can find them here: Set Free #1 and Set Free #2. Enjoy. -V

Sirens screamed. My brain fogged overwhelmed with the noise. I was jostled, poked and prodded. My stomach churned at the movement of what I guessed could only be an ambulance. My eyes fluttered open slowly. Ryan, face pale with worry and silent tears that coursed down his hard features, held my hand as he watched the medical professionals do their work. I felt sick. The weight of what happened crushed my chest and the mask that pushed oxygen to help me breathe did the opposite. I couldn’t breathe, the small space of the ambulance closed in on me and I couldn’t take the stupid mask off my face because my arms were strapped down.

“Take it off!” I yelled, muffled by the soft plastic of the mask. I tried to move which only resulted in feeling worse as my head thrashed back and forth. “Take off the mask!”

“Calm down Beth.” The EMT closest to me said as he lifted the mask up off my face. I gasped at the stale air while he shined a pen light in both my eyes that was much too bright. “We need to know what pills you took.”

“Vicodin and Ibuprofen.” I confessed. Ryan winced as if I had cut him. The other EMT held up a syringe of clear liquid and injected it into my IV.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered to Ryan as my body started to feel numb once again. His weary smile softened his eyes slightly as he squeezed my hand harder.

“It’s going to be okay now.” He leaned over and brushed a kiss against my cold clammy cheek.

Unable to keep my eyes open any longer I succumbed to whatever drugs the EMT had given me.

Ryan stepped down from the Escalade, my drink in his hand. I walked out of the house, going down the front steps and out onto the light stone-paved walkway. He opened the door for Victoria, helping her down. They walked up to meet me as I waved at them, a huge grin plastered on my face. He handed me my treasured Starbuck’s coffee. I took a sip, still hot, but not enough to burn my tongue. I hugged him around the waist, his arms wrapped around me bringing me closer.

“Thank you.” I whispered, smiling into his chest. I looked up into his eyes, knowing he knew I wasn’t just talking about the coffee. The blue was more prominent today because of his cobalt polo shirt; I loved how they changed color like that. He bent down and kissed me softly on the lips.

“Your welcome.” He murmured as he swept a strand of hair that had blown into my eyes behind my ear and dropped his other hand from my waist.

I smiled at Ryan and then shifted my gaze to Victoria. She had changed her blonde hair; it had been past her shoulders, now it was short, cropped in a pixie cut, interlaced with white. She was my height, but only because she had on three-inch heels. Pale, slender and graceful, her wrists looked so delicate with about eight gold bangles resting around each one, they sounded of wind chimes as they collided with every move she made. She wore a long flowing lilac dress. She smiled at me and brought me in for a hug.

My heart felt suddenly heavy. I had the overwhelming desire to rush to Ryan’s SUV, and drive off never to be seen again. I did not deserve all of this love. These people were insane. For a brief moment I wished for my mother, selfish, uncaring, bringing out my very worst side with all the criticisms she was great at doling out. That I could deal with. It was comfortable and yet I knew it completely absurd. Who purposely chose bitterness and pain over love and acceptance? I guess I was the crazy one. I blinked away fresh tears as she pulled away from me.

“You look fabulous!” She looked me up and down.

“So do you, I like the hair.” It really was a better look for her. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

“I told you Beth, there was no way I wasn’t going to be here. Ryan and I had this surprise planned for months.” Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle with happiness.

I grinned sheepishly. “Surprise is an understatement. I was floored.” I glanced up at Ryan. “I’m sorry I messed it all up.” I said averting my eyes from his gaze. My trust issues seemed to crop up at the most inopportune times. I felt so guilty.

“It’s not a big deal, you were about to find out anyway. Ryan explained you were working on trusting him. We can talk about that later.” She winked at him as she grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Ryan smiled at me, outwardly pleased that I would get some sense talked into me.

It was like we had never been apart, but that wasn’t the truth. My shattered heart was only barely held together by the love Ryan was so eager to give me. I wasn’t sure if it was strong enough for this. To have my Victoria back with me, only to have her leave me again. It didn’t seem to matter so much when my parents left; they were never really there to begin with. It had been bad enough when my mother had let her go, but I was still able to see her whenever I wanted. Granted I was so crazed about Jeremy, I had put her on the backburner, but that was beside the point. When we moved, I lost full access to Victoria and it was during that time that I needed her most. It had destroyed me so much more than finding Jeremy in bed with Courtney. Though she never knew it, or she never let on if she did. I kept up the pretense well, made sure everything looked all right on the surface whenever we did have a conversation. It was easy enough to do through email, especially since they were so infrequent. It was my way to put space between us, to distance myself from the pain of having lost her.

Now that she stood here in front of me, the façade proved to be much harder. The only thing to keep me grounded was the thought of the Vicodin in my system. There was much more if I needed it. Though even that wasn’t enough to squash the substantial weight that seemed to want to crush my heart. I had barely begun to spend time with Victoria and I had already started to lose it. I was ecstatic that she was here, but I was not ready for this.

“Come on, we have a lot to catch up on.” I ushered her ahead of me as Ryan’s cell started to ring and he looked at the display as we walked toward the house.

“It’s my dad, I have to take this. I’ll be right in,” he took off onto the thick plush carpet of grass. “Dad, what’s up?” he answered as we stepped inside. I closed the large oak front door behind us.

“Wow, it’s beautiful. I can’t believe you have this huge house all to yourself.” Victoria said as she glanced around.  We walked through the foyer along the neutral marble tiles, passed the grand oak staircase that led up to the second floor, through the kitchen, down a step and into the two-story family room. A soft taupe colored the walls, the opposite side lined with floor to ceiling windows, framed with dark navy flowing window treatments, the mid-morning light filtered through. Victoria sat on the deep brown leather couch faced towards the kitchen, the sun to her back. I set my Caramel Macchiato down on the coffee table.

“Can I get you anything?” I asked as I walked back towards the kitchen.

“Some water would be great.” I grabbed a glass out of the maple cabinet next to the stainless steel refrigerator and filled it with ice and water from the dispenser on the fridge door. “You’ve been sucked in too, huh?” she said as I walked back to the family room, my copy of Twilight in her hand.

“Of course, I’ve read it five times! Team Edward or Jacob?” I asked excitedly, slightly surprised she had read it, though I guess I had never mentioned my obsession with the saga in our emails.

“Jacob, all the way.” She grinned. “And you?”

“Edward! Real men sparkle.” We both laughed as I handed her the glass. I grabbed my drink and sat down on the leather club chair adjacent to the couch and tucked my feet beneath me. I brought the cup to my nose, inhaled the sweet aromatic combination of vanilla and caramel and took a long sip. I reveled in the warmth and rich flavor. The caffeine that would be absorbed into my system a needed bonus. Starbuck’s was a small indulgence, a little piece of heaven in a large paper cup.

“Ryan is wonderful. I’m glad you found someone who cares for you so deeply. It’s nice to finally meet him in person.” She took a sip of her water and set it down on a red leather coaster to protect the table from the inevitable condensation and then crossed her legs, her clasped hands rested on her knee.

“He’s amazing.” I was reminded that I had no details on how this surprise came to be. My curiosity was piqued. To some extent it made me uneasy. They had been in touch and I had been completely unaware of it. I didn’t like being in the dark, I needed some modicum of control. “How did you two start talking?” I took another sip of my drink and waited to hear the story.

It’s the first prompt of the year over at The Red Dress Club! I look forward to participating fully this year. It’s a wonderful way to get your creativity going. You should join in the fun and link up!

Your assignment is to write a short piece – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, whatevs – in which each sentence starts with a the next letter of the alphabet. Starting with “A.” So, yes, your finished product will consist of 26 sentences.

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At first it did not look like rain, the sky now churned with violence.

Brilliant light flashed through ugly thick purple clouds as booming thunder shook the house at the seams.

Cautious, I stepped outside the first fat raindrops collided with my upturned face.

Down in torrents the rain lashed my smile wide with glee.

Every inch soaked through I twirled and jumped.

Flip-flops squelched, the water squished between perfect pedicure toes.

Green hues change the scene, the severity of my surroundings escalate.

Hail.

Ice chunks pelt my skin they scatter the ground.

Just run into the house through beautiful French doors.

Kick off shoes and grab the plush sage towel off the barstool.

Leave a trail of water through the house and up the stairs.

Mom and Dad still not home.

Often I am alone, left to fend for myself in the big quiet house.

Peel the wet clothes off my body, warm pajamas out of the dryer.

Quilt made from Nana with love, wrapped around me.

Read a new book, escape to another world as the trees thrash wildly outside.

Siren.

Tornado possible.

Unconcerned I retreat to the basement.

Victory is not mine without power.

Wait it out in flashlight glow surrounded by eerie shadows.

Xander, a frightened ball of fluff, is curled in my lap for protection.

You would think I would be scared too.

Zen, as always the storm has passed.