When I was a child, I had a garden. It was a beautiful, marvelous, glorious garden. It was carefully cultivated by my siblings and me. Every day, we would go out into the backyard and bask in the shade of the gigantic orange tree. We dug and planted and watered. We talked about what we hoped would grow and how wonderful it would be. We grew orange trees, primarily. But also some nut trees, but we couldn’t tell you which because, back then, a nut was a nut. We had some lovely flowers that grew tall and mighty with colorful blossoms that bloomed in all their glory all year round.…
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Black as Light, Part 5
I don’t know how I could have been so stupid, but I decided to remain. Who was I to abandon my oldest friend to a bunch of monsters? When I finally found the kitchen, my helmet now tucked firmly under an arm, I caught Flavian rustling around in the cabinets looking for more cinnamon sticks. He looked at me with a guilty expression and told me Eva was out in the gardens feeding Drago after making me promise I wouldn’t tell her he had been stealing into the kitchen for more cinnamon. After a few wrong turns and another run-in with the zombie, who went running and screaming out a…
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Red rose
My fifth grade teacher introduced us to haikus, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Being ten at the time, I thought it was fascinating, and went a little crazy with it. Yes, I know a haiku is only three lines, but I don’t always like to follow the rules. So, this week’s and next week’s poems are what I like to call haiku-style. Red Rose, oh, Red Rose How may I be of service Red Rose, oh, Red Rose. Thy petals are bright Your petals are small and big Oh, my sweet Red Rose. Your sunshine fills me With happiness and gladness Oh, dearest Red Rose. Red Rose, oh, Red…
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Raven, Chapter 14-c
Tyala caught sight of Caidy out of the corner of her eye. Caidy was lurking just outside the window, peeking every now and then. Tyala knew her friend had to be worried about her when she didn’t meet her at the Angelic Church last night. But she had no way of explaining to Caidy what had happened. Her parents had put her under lock and key and now one of their servants was watching her every movement. She stood at the parlor window, her hands clutching the bottom part of the frame. She could see her friend’s slight, petite figure hiding behind a lemon tree, but she knew Caidy didn’t…
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Raven, Chapter 14-b
Lady Almi glanced between her daughter and her husband. Both were unusually quiet this morning. Tyala, she could understand. They had essentially forbidden their daughter from leaving the manor grounds and had assigned one of the servants to follow her everywhere. She was all but a prisoner in her own home. Her husband, she couldn’t understand. She assumed he had slept as well as she had, but there were dark circles under his eyes and there was a haunted look on his face. It ghosted by every so often, but she had caught it. She dabbed at her lips with the cloth napkin before clearing her throat. “Boys, why don’t…
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The Dark Saga places: Dyjakt
Dyjakt is one of the world’s five continents and is where most of the story takes place. As the most populous continent in the known world, it also serves as the world’s seat of power from which the druids, formerly the faerae, rule. It is also the home of the majority of the human race, though they confine themselves to the northeastern corner as they are the only race incapable of using magic. Dyjakt is surrounded by 5 seas: the Morlay Ocean to the north, Sea of Mystica and the Eswyn Ocean to the west, the Tsala Sea to the South, and the Cabree Sea to the east. Some notable…
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Raven, Chapter 10-c
Night was approaching and Lord Sarlik was most paranoid at night. Especially since the night he had caught that man prowling on his property. It probably wasn’t the best idea to have killed him, but it had angered him to catch a thief in his own gardens. He remembered he had heard creaking from his roof. He had initially written them off as the roof settling and the manor being generations old. But then they had started to sound more like very soft foot falls. That had alarmed him and he had gotten out of bed. The nearest weapon he had at hand had been the knife, so he had…
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Tea Party, Act 2, Scenes 4 and 5
The conclusion of this absurd play. There was supposed to be Act 3, but I couldn’t bring myself to do worse to these characters. Scene Four: In a forest, by a creek. Several large boulders lie nearby and Beatrice is perched on top of one. Calvin stands in the middle of the creek and Rupert is doing gymnastics on a horizontal tree branch. Amelia is seated on a boulder across the creek from Beatrice. Patience is standing on the ground beside Beatrice. Calvin wades to shore and stands by Amelia as Rupert continues to swing overhead. Patience: Now what happened? Amelia: Are you quite finished swinging, Rupert? Rupert: No, not…
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Tea Party, Act 2, Scenes 1 and 2
Now that I can finally get back online, here are Scenes 1 and 2 of Act 2, in which we meet new friends and encounter Jell-o: Scene One: In a walled in garden. A well is at one end and an open gate at the other. There are many shade trees and creeping vines everywhere. Amelia and Calvin are helping Beatrice up from a ditch. Patience is sitting on a moss bed, looking almost hysterical. Rupert has his head down the well. Amelia and Calvin give a final tug and Beatrice stands with them with a green lump in her hand. Beatrice: Where are we? Calvin: (shrugs) Never seen this…
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Tea Party, Act 1, Scene 6
Scene Six: Amelia’s backyard. A large, round table is set up between to flower beds. Beatrice: Tea! Someone get the tea! Amelia: (staring at Beatrice as though she has lost her mind) The teapot is on the table. Beatrice: Oh, okay. What about the pie? Patience: It’s inside with Amelia’s cookies, Calvin’s cake, Rupert’s brownies, and my fudge. Calvin: Okay. Rupert, come help me. Amelia: I’ll go, too. Amelia, Calvin, and Rupert exit. They return a minute later with a plate of cookies, the pie, the cake, a platter of brownies, and a pile of fudge. Patience: I hope they taste as good as they look. Amelia: I’m sure it…
