Through an Author's Eyes - Part 21

 Good morning and happy Friday!

It's cloudy this morning and a southern breeze is stirring the trees with their tiny leaves, rippling the flag on the pole, and setting the wind chimes to chiming. The birds are singing and chirping and it's spring. I have short sleeves on since it's already in the 60s F. If it doesn't start raining I'll go walk a mile before breakfast. It's been nice to get a mile in so early.

It's been a good week. And a busy one.

Sunday was a lovely day of quiet. I didn't have to go to church early for music practice or stay late for practice. I got to visit and then go home and read all afternoon.

 Monday was busy. My mom and I spent most of the morning buying flowers for the yard. Then we ended up babysitting all my nieces and nephews in the afternoon/evening so my brother could take his wife out for her birthday. My two-year-old niece wanted to go for walks to "see puppies. See midnights." (Midnights are cats to her.) My oldest nephew helped me pick up the sticks in the yard so I could mow later in the week.

Tuesday was different. The writing class I teach got cancelled because one of my two students (they are brothers) wasn't feeling well. So I mowed the yard in the morning. And then in the afternoon I planted the flowers we had gotten the day before.

Wednesday was pretty normal. My sis, best friend, and I walked a mile before breakfast. Then I had a long list of things I needed to do. I was having a hard time getting going on Don Wood again, so I wrote some on another story and transferred and printed it. Then we had the Awana closing program at church that evening.

Thursday was slower. We walked before breakfast, then I worked on some things, helped Mom, and then wrote. I was trying to break through the being stuck part. In the afternoon my mom/editor and I discussed Don Wood and things that didn't seem right or that came in too late. Yep, I need to do a bit of rearranging. I wasn't sure I could because of when things happened, but I think, if I start the story on Tuesday or Wednesday instead of Thursday I can get things to work better. We'll see. Then last evening my best friend called to see if I wanted to go walk again since her twin sister, my other best friend who lives in Canada was going walking and we'd all wanted to walk together sometime. So we did. We walked and talked and took our picture together. :D 

And now it's Friday. I have a house to clean and then I hope I can work on some writing stuff. Tomorrow my best friend and I are planning on going out for my birthday. We want to get some miles walked and have plans to try a new path and then go walk a 3 mile loop at a State Park. At least I think it's a State Park.

 I hope you enjoy the next part of this story.

Through an Author's Eyes

Part 21

 

    By the time the guys and Annette were back inside the small hut, their fingers were numb and their feet tingled with cold. A large pile of sticks and branches lay along one wall and from these Judah and Levi set about building a fire. Pine needles were liberally sprinkled over all and a match was lit. It took three times before some of the needles caught the small flame, but with careful coaxing it wasn’t long before a bright blaze was casting light and warmth in the cabin.
    After shedding rain jackets, damp boots were taken off and placed near the fire in hopes of drying them, and dry socks were once again pulled over freezing feet.
    “It’s a good thing we have you along, Annette,” Jaina said, holding her hands toward the flames. “We’d still be sitting here trying to stay warm.”
    Annette gave a slight frown. “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be up here to begin with.”
    “And miss all this fun?” Elijah shook his head. “No thanks. No one is hurt or sick and when we don’t show up back at the ranch everyone knows where to look for us.”
    “And Uncle Art will notify the sheriff,” Vic added.
    “And the sheriff will set up a search party,” Gabe put in.
    “And in no time at all we’ll be back at home trying to catch up on all the work we’re neglecting,” Levi chuckled.
    “But we won’t be where they think,” Annette said. “All our tracks will be covered by the snow, they’ll have no idea if we went down the way we came up or if we went a different way.”
    “Cut it out,” ordered Levi. “I expect this snow will stop sometime and then we’ll set off again. I’m sure they’ll get a chopper up, and they’ll see the smoke. We’ll be fine.”
    “If a little hungry.” And Reuben pulled out a granola bar from his pack. “How much food do we have? Annette, you didn’t happen to pack any cans of soup in that pack of your did you?”
    “No, but I have dried soup mix.”
    “We can get snow to melt,” Bethany suggested. “But don’t we need a pot?”
    Annette nodded. That was one of the things she hadn’t brought along.
    Silence filled the old wooden shack and only the crackle of the fire and the wind outside were to be heard. They had no pot or even a pan to make soup, and Annette gave up trying to think of a way. They all had some snacks still left, and no one had touched the energy bars she had brought because she had forgotten them. They wouldn’t starve. But how would they get back to the ranch? In spite of Levi’s words, Annette couldn’t help but consider all the possibilities of remaining lost on the mountain. With her active imagination it was easy to picture scene after scene. What if someone got hurt? Would it be best to stay where they were until help arrived? Should they try to go back the way they had come? Should they continue on the trail they had been going on? Finally she shook her head to clear her thoughts. It was no use to puzzle over it now. They were staying in the cabin for now.
    “I say, Annette,” Reuben said, “if one of us had a metal cup, could we heat some soup up that way?”
    “Sure, do you have one? I left all my cookware and things back home.”
    Every eye turned to Reuben. He may be as quiet as Vic, but if he could produce a cup to heat soup in, they would all consider him a hero. After several minutes of digging in his pack, he pulled out a metal spoon, and then a compact camping set complete with bowl, plate with a rim, and a small pan.
    Bethany and Savanna squealed and hugged him, while as many of the guys as could reach him, slapped his back and told him he was brilliant for bringing it along.
    “I didn’t even know it was in there,” Reuben admitted. “This isn’t my usual pack to go hiking. I couldn’t find it. This was one up in the closet, and I didn’t even look to see if it was empty. Talking about cups made me remember that Gabe and I used to play army and carried these little sets with us.” He shrugged. “They might be kind of dirty.”
    “We’ll wash ‘em,” Bethany promised.
    With the distraction of melting snow, washing the dishes, figuring out how to make the soup in small dishes and then starting the process over again so the next people could eat, Annette zipped her NEO back into its case and tucked it in her backpack. She felt almost a feeling of regret that the story had been forgotten. “It probably wasn’t that interesting anyway,” she thought, accepting the tin cup of hot soup Savanna handed her.

    The little cabin was hushed and still. Only a small glow from the fire gave proof that someone was still awake. Huddled close together, the girls, with all their sweatshirts, socks, hats and gloves on, lay on one tarp, while the guys dozed here and there, taking turns keeping the fire going. Outside the snow still fell though the flakes were growing smaller and the harsh wind was a mere whisper.

Would you be willing to eat off old dishes that were found in a backpack?

Have you gotten any walking in this week?

How has your week been?

Happy Birthday!

 Today is my birthday!

And because it's my birthday I am going to be different today. I'm not going to give you a story, instead I'm going to send you over to Read Another Page so you can enter the 39 different giveaways! Does that sound like a good idea? (Click the image below to be whisked over there.)

This week has been rainy and chilly most days. But yesterday it actually got warm! And today is sunny and already about 70º! I've gotten more walking in. In fact yesterday most of my nieces and nephews were over and they wanted to walk twice. And since I'd already walked with my sis, I ended up walking about 3.5 miles. 

I'm still working on Don Wood. Finally got all the edits and the bit of rewriting done up to where I had left off. Now I just need to go write again. Maybe I can do that this evening.

Anyway, like I said, not much going on this week as far as anything interesting goes. Tomorrow we're heading up to visit my grandpa and my aunt. (It's her birthday today too.)

Do you share a birthday with anyone you know?

How has your week been?

Did you enter any of the giveaways?

Through an Author's Eyes - Part 20

 Happy Friday!

I hope you have had a good week. Mine has been pretty good. We've had a lot of days with strong wind and that kicked up my allergies. I'm not usually bothered too much by spring allergies, but I think the wind was blowing everything and it didn't stop so . . . I'm just praying my voice is fine for Sunday as I'm supposed to sing in the ladies ensemble for church. And I'm supposed to play violin.

This week I really haven't done much writing. I did reread and edit the first 33k words of Don Wood and added several hundred words to it and cut out quite a bit too though. Now I'm ready to write again, so hopefully I can work on that today. I would love to reach the end of this story by my birthday, but I don't think that will happen unless things just come together really quickly, but maybe at least by the end of the month.

I'm still walking my miles for the Spring 100 challenge. So far I have walked 27 1/2 miles. Are you walking for the challenge? 

Well, here's this next part of the Author story. I hope you enjoy it.

Through an Author's Eyes

Part 20

 

    Silence filled the cabin for a few minutes except for the quick typing of Annette’s fingers.
    “Ah,” Levi spoke for the first time, “is Marie also a middle name?”
    “Yes.”
    “What’s her first name?”
    “That would give it away.”
    “Were you named for her?” Jaina asked.
    “No.”
    “So it’s not the name that was past down?”
    Annette shook her head. This was as bad a twenty-questions. How was she going to get this scene written if they kept talking to her?
    Levi spoke again. “Was Aunt Marie named for a president too?”
    “Yes.”
    “Were you named for a president as well?”
    “Yes.”
    Instantly names were flung at her until Annette wanted to hide her head. “No! My name is not Fillmore or Van Bureun! I--”
    “Is it Taylor or Madison?” Bethany questioned eagerly.
    But Annette shook her head and gave up all hope of finishing the scene. Savanna started naming the presidents starting with Washington and Annette turned off NEO. It would be a long wait as she shook her head over each name listed. Several times Savanna stumbled over the order and after she named the second Roosevelt she gave up.
    “I can’t name the rest in order. Can anyone else?”
    Jaina gave it a try until she suddenly stopped short. “Is it Reagan?” she demanded.
    “Yes.”
    “Goodness, that took a while,” And Elijah, who hadn’t said a word the entire time, looked at his watch. “Twenty-eight minutes to be exact.”
    “Well, we passed some time, but not much,” and Savanna sighed. “I’ll read it, Annette.” She held out her hand for NEO, but Annette shook her head.
    “Can’t you at least give me a little time to finish writing a scene? I was almost finished with it.”
    “Then hurry up,” Gabe said, drumming his fingers on the floor beside him.
    “And get them off the mountain if they’re still there,” Vic added.
    Ignoring both boys, Annette turned NEO back on and looked down at the screen. It was darker now and she reached back for her head light.

    “Finished?” Savanna asked, sitting up as Annette turned off her light.
    “For now.”
    “Then let me read it aloud.”
    “I don’t know--” Annette bit the side of her lip and glanced around the room. She knew her stories were enjoyed by many, but she had never been in the same room when any were being read. “I haven’t even had a chance to reread the whole thing. I’m sure there are typos and--”
    “Who cares?” Reuben said. “We won’t see them. Only Savanna will, and I doubt she’ll read them aloud. Hand it over to her before I start telling jokes.”
    “You’d better not,” growled Elijah looking at his brother.
    Without another word, Annette handed her precious NEO over to her cousin. “It starts on file one and you’ll have to push the ‘home’ button to get to the top of each one. Need a light?”
    After Savanna settled down with her back to the wall and NEO on her lap, Annette’s light turned on her head, and her ankles crossed she looked around the room. “Is everyone ready?”
    Heads nodded. Annette was thankful for the dimness of the cabin for she knew her cheeks were flushed as her cousin began reading her story. “I wonder if I changed enough things or changed them too much?” she wondered, sliding down so her head was resting on her backpack.
    It was different, she had to admit, hearing her story instead of just reading it silently. Several times she made mental notes to change the wording on something or take out or add a few words. As she lay, she watched the snow falling outside the open door. Silently it came down, covering the drab floor of the forest where the summer’s light hadn’t penetrated enough to bring much green, and piling on the branches, giving the leaves a white blanket. She wondered idly if it was snowing down below and if her uncle and aunt were worried about them.
    Suddenly she sat up. “We should have thought of that sooner,” she exclaimed, interrupting Savanna’s reading.
    “Thought about what?” Levi asked.
    “With the way the wind is blowing, we should have gathered dry wood and stuff for a fire.”
    “The chimney--” Gabe started.
    “Not the fireplace. The doorway. The smoke would get pulled out of the cabin. And the floor is dirt so we wouldn’t run the risk of setting the cabin on fire. We’d at least be able to dry our boots some and keep the place from freezing. I have matches if no one else does.” As she spoke, Annette pulled off her dry socks, stuffed them in her backpack and began pulling on her damp ones.
    “What are you doing?” Bethany asked.
    “Going to go out and get wood. There’s no telling how long we’ll be here, and if we’re here overnight, as is quite possible, I at least, would like to have a little warmth besides my sweatshirts.”
    The guys were following suit and soon, with rain jackets on, and headlights shining, they set forth leaving Savanna, Jaina and Bethany inside.
    “We should have thought of this before the snow started burying things,” Gabe called over from one side of the cabin.
    “I know. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it,” Judah replied. “Here, I found a large branch. Too bad we don’t have an ax or a saw.”
    Annette, pulling an old bandana from her jacket pocket, opened it up. Crouching down under a pine tree she began to brush away the snow.
    “What are you doing?”
    She looked up to find Vic behind her. “Gathering pine needles. They’ll burn even if they are damp. Want to help?” 

 

Does your name carry on a family naming tradition?

Have you had trouble with spring allergies lately?

Do you think you'd enjoy taking shelter in an old cabin?

Two Starts

 Good morning!

This morning is windy! Strong gusts from the north with bits of rain now and then. We've had wind for the last few days. Not just normal wind, but strong wind. I'm ready for a bit of calm. But the birds are singing. Flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and spring is here. Tomorrow I'm planning on working outside. There are things that need done, some grass or weeds that need mowed, some blackberry bushes that need cut back, lavender that needs trimmed, and trash that needs picked up.

This week has been a non-writing week. I have been gone every evening expect Monday and then I was getting my things packed for the election the next day and going to bed early. Maybe I can write some today since I'm not going anywhere unless it's just to walk.

Today's fiction are what I wrote for a picture prompt back in July's KDWC. I couldn't decide if the gray in the photo was fog or smoke, so I wrote two little scenes. Which one do you like best? I also included the Word of the Day which, as you can see at the bottom of the screen shot, is covet. Enjoy!

    The smoke was settling in like a heavy blanket making it harder to see. I knew the fires were some distance away and there wasn’t much wind anymore. Perhaps that is why the smoke closed in as though preparing to take up residence. The sun couldn’t pierce the smokey vale and only gave a whiteish look to the sky. Deciduous trees reached up their bare arms as though seeking the clear air above the smoke and the pins and evergreens became ghostly shadows.
    The lights from my car weren’t helping much and I wished for the tenth time that I hadn’t chosen to take the back roads. They wound around and curved and turned instead of being straight like the highway would have been. I loved the back country roads had wanted to gaze at the homes along the way. Yes, I will admit that there were homes I would often covet, but not today. Today I was thankful I didn’t live in one of them.
    Coughing, I wondered if there was a way to prevent the smoke from coming into my car. It was highly doubtful. I’d just have to drive out of it. If I could stop coughing enough to see the road.

*#*

    The fog was settling in thick and fast. Much like a smothering blanket I didn’t want. The sky was still somewhat light above the fog, but it wasn’t doing me much good. The trees on either side of the winding, curving road were shrouded in the gray mist until I was almost to them. Then they evolved into silent watchers.
    I shuddered.
    Sparing a quick glance to my right, I began to covet my sister’s peaceful slumbers. I was tired. But I had to keep driving. We needed to get as far as possible. I wasn’t sure the fog was helping or hindering us.
    “Please, God, keep me awake and don’t let me crash into anything in this fog. The last thing Sis and I need is to crash out here in the middle of nowhere.”
    I kept a steady watch on the road. Did anyone live out here? I supposed they must or why would there be a road in the first place? I set myself to thinking about what it would be like to live so far from away from everyone. Right then it seemed like a good idea. But it might get lonely.
    A particularly strange looking tree appeared in my line of vision as the road wound once again. I couldn’t help shuddering. Perhaps I didn’t want to live out here after all. I’d always be afraid of what might be lurking in the woods. 
 

Have you had a lot of wind this week?

Do you think the picture has smoke or fog?

Which story starter do you like best?

Through an Author's Eyes - Part 19

 Good morning!

It's Friday once again and the sun is coming up. We've had a lot of clouds this week and rain. And yesterday it actually snowed. Quite hard at times too. But it didn't stick. The sun finally came out last evening and my best friend and I walked a mile and a half in the cold.

Yesterday was the last day of the writing challenge at camp. Girls were working hard and getting their goals met. My tent set a new camp record for the highest percentage for a tent. And they were trying to set a new record for how many campers from a tent could reach their goal, but I went to bed before that was done. I need to hurry to camp and find out if they did it.

Writing has been steady this week. Still working on "Don Wood." I think I'm nearing the end. We'll see how it all comes together. Anyway, I'm keeping this short because, like I said, I want to see who reached their goal by midnight last night!

Through and Author's Eyes

Part 19

 

    Soon the tarp was nailed up and the bitter wind was blocked for the most part. It still found its way between the cracks in the log walls, but it wasn’t as harsh as when they were in the open. Two tarps had been spread out on the floor and the tired hikers gratefully sank down, many leaning against their packs. Since the roof was solid, Annette pulled off her rain jacket and hung it from one of the nails by the window as most of the floor space was already full of damp jackets. With her other sweatshirt on, she took off her boots and pulled off her wet socks. “If you have dry socks with you, you all might want to put them on.”
    “I wish we had some way to dry our shoes and socks,” Savanna sighed. Wiggling her toes now encased in warm dry socks, she looked at them stretched out before her. “I already dread the thought of putting those damp things back on.” Her nose wrinkled at the very idea. “Levi, do you think we could start a fire in the fireplace?”
    Gabe had been examining the fireplace with interest, but at his cousin’s question, he shook his head and replied before Levi had a chance to speak. “I wouldn’t. There’s nests of some sort in the chimney and I don’t have a hankering to be smoked out of our only shelter.”
    Settling down on the tarp between Savanna and Bethany, Annette crossed her legs and stared out the door. The snow had grown thicker and the flakes larger, fatter. Already a light dusting of snow lay on the ground. This was certainly an adventure she hadn’t thought of.
    Almost as though Savanna had read her thoughts, she nudged her and said, “Will this work for that adventure you were wanting?”
    “I think so.” Annette grinned back before unzipping her pack and pulling out her NEO. Scooting back until she could lean against the wall, Annette turned on her typewriter and set her fingers on the keys. Moments later the soft clicking of the keys was the only man made sound to be heard.

*

    Huddled against her friend, Kate wished her father or some of his Marine buddies were around. They’d rescue them in no time. Of course no one was hurt and it was rather exciting, but Kate could feel the cold seeping through the cracks in the walls and looked up anxiously at the roof. Was it really as sturdy as it appeared?
    Darkness was beginning to creep over the mountains although Kate wondered if it was just the storm. Surely it wasn’t that late in the day. For the fifth time that day she wished she had remembered to put on her watch that morning before leaving the house.

*

    “Hey!” Someone shook her leg and Annette looked up.
    “What?”
    “Did you even hear a word we said?” Savanna demanded.
    “No. Sorry.” Annette, her fingers still resting lightly on the keys, glanced around. Everyone was looking at her. “What?”
    “We need some entertainment,” Elijah said. “How about you read us some of your story.”
    “It’s not done yet.” And Annette looked down at the blinking curser.
    “Who cares.” Using her backpack for a pillow, Savanna had stretched out. “You are including this adventure, aren’t you?”
    “Yes.”
    “How are you getting your characters off the mountain?” questioned Gabe from across the room.
    “I don’t know. I haven’t gotten that far yet.” And Annette lifted a few fingers to start writing again.
    Bethany’s hand was placed over hers. “Read it to us before it gets dark.”
    “It’s not that late. Besides I don’t know–” Annette began slowly. She’d never read her stories aloud before and wasn’t sure she wanted to begin now.
    “Annette–” Savanna began in warning tones, “–what’s your middle name?”
    Blinking at the sudden change of topic, Annette looked down at her story as the screen went blank. It had been four minutes. “Annette.”
    “You go by your middle name?” Jaina asked, leaning forward from the protecting arm of Levi to look at her.
    Annette nodded.
    “Then what’s your first name?” Savanna rolled over onto her stomach and propped her chin in her hands.
    Though she hesitated a moment, Annette decided that names would be better than reading her story, so she smiled. “You’ll have to guess it, but I will give you a hint,” she added as groans and growls sounded in the small cabin. “My parents kept up the Vogel tradition when they named me.”
    “It must have a V in the name then,” Reuben said.
    But Annette shook her head. “That’s not the real Vogel tradition.” She didn’t miss the puzzled looks that were exchanged between her Vogel cousins and their cousins. “This started in earlier generations.”
    “An earlier generation Vogel tradition, huh?” Vic scratched his head. “That would be Grandpa and Grandma Vogel, Dad, Uncle Art and Aunt Marie. I know Dad and Uncle Art were named for presidents. But not Aunt Marie. Is she named for a First Lady? Does anyone know the names of any First Ladies?”
    Smiling to herself, Annette kept her own council and turned on NEO. Perhaps that would keep them occupied long enough for her to finish writing what she was working on and then she could put it away. It was rather dim in the cabin, and she was thankful she didn’t have to rely on reading the screen too much.
    After spouting several names of the First Ladies, Savanna stopped short and turned to Annette. “Are we even on the right track?”
    “I’d say you were on parallel tracks.”
    “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” And Savanna pushed herself into a sitting position.
    “It simply means that you are close but it won’t get you to your destination.” 

 

Do you ever get snow with flowers blooming?

How was your week?

What do you think Annette's name is?