Buttercup

A little back story, Buttercup is my imaginary dragon, she is only a few years old, and taking her through the terrible twos was quite a feat.  I had made her up for one of my nieces, was telling her stories of the troublesome Buttercup.

"My name is Buttercup."
Zhor choked on his chicken leg, sputtering, "you have to be kidding!  You're a dragon!"
Buttercup shrugged her large shoulders, bumping the ceiling, "My mother's master had a strange sense of humor, he gave all of his dragons cutsie names, thought it would make us less scary.  So here I am, in a cave with you."
Zhor looked up, "Well, I have to admit, you are not the typical dragon.

National Writing Day

So I am working on practicing writing, am I getting anywhere? Who knows, but I am trying.
So I was on facebook today, and a friend of mine posted this:

So, I guess I will put this as the background on my computer, and make sure I read this on a daily basis. 
Why do we write? Is it because we have something to say? or that we might have thoughts to work out?  I honestly do not know.  Writing is like reading for me, its an addiction.  I have to always be writing or reading something.  If I am not doing either, than I feel incomplete.

Ever since I was little I was doodling, writing, writing words, ideas, and sometimes nothing, just drawing lines.  Never could draw for anything, but the ideas were stuck in my head, and I wanted them OUT!

So today is National Writing Day, and next month is NaNoWriMo.  I have been working on it, will it get me anywhere? Who knows, but I will have fun doing it!

The letter

Ana lay the flowers down, and got a rag and bottle of all purpose cleaner out of her duffle bag. She kneeled in front of the tombstone, and sprayed it, and gently rubbed the winters grime away from the words on the stone.

She leaned back, and gently smiled. Her aunt had always been meticolous about things like that. Everything had to be cleaned at least twice before going on to the next thing. Never do it just once, that gives the impression that you do not care.

Josiah picked the flowers up, and put them in the urn next to the tombstone. But he did not say a word, he knew that Ana had always been very close to her aunt, especially once her parents died.

Emmeline had taken Ana in when she was 5 years old. A scared, and shy child, who had lost her parents in the most horrible way a person can. Emmeline held Ana, and nursed her in the best way she knew how. She and Ana ended up having an even better relatationship than most mother and daughters. They were always very close, and had a connection that could never be broken by death.

“When I was nine, Emmeline walked in my room one day, and gave me a key. She said that now that I was nine, and about to begin a different stage in my life, she wanted to give me that key. She was giving the key to my door, so that if I ever felt the need to lock her or anyone else out of my room, I was allowed to. I never used that key.”

Ana reached up to her neck, and began fingering the key that was on a chain.

“I always wondered where that key came from, but I figured it was something from your parents.”

“Emmeline gave me the freedom and confidence to always trust other people, I only partially wear the key in memory of her. I also wear it to remind myself that even if others lock us out of their lives, I will always allow those within my heart to have the freedom to roam within my life.”

Ana then noticed there was something sticking out of the ground near the corner of the tombstone. She pulled at it, it was a plastic sandwich zip bag with a paper within it. She took the paper out and unfolded it, and began to read:

“My dearest sister, I am so sorry things happened in this way. You were never supposed to get involved, I wish things had been different. When you took Ana in for us....”

Ana gasped and stood up, and looked around as if looking for someone. Josiah stood up next to her and took the paper from her. He quickly read the entire letter, and then took Ana into his arms, he knew she would be needing him when she finished the letter.

“Josiah, who would be so mean to write a letter like that! My parents died! They didnt survive the bombing, I know they didn't!” Ana leaned into Josiah and let him hold her.

“Ana, I do not know how far you got into the letter, but you need to finish it, it is really important.”

Ana took a deep breath and pulled back from Josiah, and then took the letter back, and again began reading:

“My dearest sister, I am so sorry things happened in this way. You were never supposed to get involved, I wish things had been different. When you took Ana in for us, it was the best solution all around. I will never forgive myself for what I put Ana through. She never deserved any of that pain and suffering. But Luke and I could not stay alive any longer. The bomb was not supposed to do as much damage as it did, it was only supposed to look like it took out our corner of the building, but it unfortunately took out the entire building. I will never forgive myself for that. Thank you for sending us pictures of Ana as she grew up, that made things both easier, and harder. I just hope Ana will forgive us when she finds out who her true parents are.

Your loving Sister,

Amelia”

Ana fell the ground, her legs no longer had the strength to hold her up, and there were tears streaming down her face. Ana's head was spinning with so many questions, she did not know the first one to ask. She looked to Josiah, and one question came out of her mouth:

“What the hell is going on?”

Nanowrimo

Next month, I am going to join NanoWriMo, so I am going to begin practicing now!

Today's Title: Stars Blazed in the Night Sky

Josiah looked up at the night sky, and sighed.  Ana looked to him, "What are you thinking?"
"If I could buy you a star, I would."
Ana laughed, "And why would you buy me a star? What would I do with a star?"
Josiah began singing Bing Crosby's "Swing on a Star"

"Would you like to swing on a star
carry moonbeams home in a jar
and be better off than you are
or would you rather be a mule"



"So what does that have to do with buying me a star?"  Ana turned around and walked into the house.  She went into the kitchen, and began taking meat and vegetables out of the refrigerator.  She took her favorite iron skillet out of the oven, and put a spray of oil into it, and turned the burner on low.  Josiah followed her in, and took the chicken, and cut it into smaller pieces. 
"Well, I got thinking about it the other day, what is the one thing we can't take away from eachother?"
"I don't know, our love, our hearts, our trust." Ana said, as she chopped onions and celery and bell peppers into a bowl.
"No, actually, those things can be taken away, either by each other, or others, or certain situations.  Our dreams, and what they stand for.  You want to be a writer, and I want to be a computer programmer, but because of upbringing, and money, and other things.  I am working at Walmart, and you are a nurse.  Not that either of those are bad things, the money give us this home, the food, the things we need.  And true, you love being a nurse, but its not our total passion.  No one can take away our passion for the things we love.  No one can take away the spirit that guides us towards those dreams.  So if I could buy you a star, and bring it to you, I would."  He put the chicken into the skillet, and turned the heat up just a tad, and added salt and pepper, and some soy sauce.  Then he went to the sink and washed his hands, turning to her, leaning against the counter, as he dried his hands.
"Okay, so how about, we buy eachother a star, and thats what we work for?"  She asked, as she stirred the chicken.
"What do you mean?"
Ana tilted her head looking up to the ceiling as she thought about how to word what she was wanting to say. "We each get a box, it looks like a star, and then we begin adding things to it.  You add things to mine, I add things to yours.  Money for school, or supplies, love notes, encouragement, whatever you want.  It would be our way of helping eachother to get where we would want to go in life."  She added the vegatables to the chicken, and turned the burner down a little bit, and added some garlic to it.  She stirred it around to let the aroma surround them. 
"So in other words, we would be buying eachother's dreams, and giving eachother the encouragement to work for them?"  He got the plates down, and got silverwear out for them.  Taking them to the little nook off the kitchen, that they had made into a dining area.
The nook was post likely supposed to have been an area where a washer a dryer once went, but since those were out in the garage now, they had put a small round pub table and stools they had found at a flea market.  It fit perfect in the nook, and was perfect size for the two of them.
He put the plates and the silverware down, and then went and got napkins and glasses. 
"What do you want to drink?"
"Mountain Dew, of course."  She grinned, remembering a time when she wouldn't touch Mountain Dew for anything, and Josiah had introduced it to her.

She dished up the meat and veggies, onto the meat platter, grabbing a bottle of soy sauce, and bottle of sweet and sour sauce, and a spoon to dish it up with, bringing it to the pub table.

She hitched her short self up on the stool, and grinned sheepishly as his chuckle. Josiah was Six foot two, and Ana was four foot ten. Her mom always teased them that they looked like Mutt and Jeff.

When they had gotten married, she had worn 4 inch heels, and nearly broke her foot in the process, and he had to literally carry her down the aisle after wards.

They dug into their supper as they continued their conversation on the star idea.

“Well, I was thinking it could both be a planned thing, and a surprise thing. So lets say, each of us put like ten dollars or some agreed upon amount in an envelope each paycheck. And then, whenever we want, we put like a note, or card, or an advertizement for something we want, or whatever appeals to us, that we know encourages the others dreams. That way we would always feel close to each other, and not only realize our own dreams, but buy each other that star.”

“So if I buy you a star, you will help me build my work room out back?”

“Oh, if I have to, just remember, I'm short, so no stepping on me when you pretend I'm not there!”

Josiah let out a bark of laughter, at remembering their last home improvement project.

They had been wanting to turn an area in the garage into a laundry room, and computer room, since they had run out of room in the house. It was just a tiny bungalo, they had bought it two years after they had gotten married. It had been the right size then, but between their jobs, hobbies, and other things, they had outgrown it by leaps and bounds. So they had turned the back ten feet of the garage into a laundry room, and office, but they were already outgrowing that.

Josiah continued to chuckle as he took their plates to the sink.

“You dry, I wash?” He asked as he began filling the sink with hot soapy water.

“Go for it, its always easier to dry them and put them away.”

Ana hopped down from the stool, and ducked behind him and got a tea towel from the basket below the sink. Grabbing the plate as he finished washing it, and handed it to her. She dried it, and put it in the rack above the sink.

The finished doing the dishes, and cleaned up the rest of the kitchen, then flipped a coin as to who got to watch tv that night. They both had a show on at the same time they enjoyed, so when that happened, instead of arguing, they would flip a coin. Josiah won, so he took off for the living room, while Ana decided to go into the office, to check email, and her book club.

Ana turned the radio on that was on the shelf above her computer, and stood listening to the song that was on at that moment. It just happened to be her and Josiah's song. Worried Eyes by Eagle Eye Cherry. She hummed along with it, as tears came to her eyes, she knew something was going on with Josiah, but he was being evasive whenever she asked. They had promised five years ago to always be open and honest with each other, but he was so quiet and hesitant lately, she just didn't know what he was thinking. She looked over at his computer, but knew that getting on his computer would be the biggest sign of no trust. She sat down in front of her own, and hit the power button, wondering if she could maybe figure out what was going on with him.

Two hours later Josiah came into the office, finding Ana lost in a conversation with one of her book buddies in her book club. He looked over her shoulder.

“Tell Iento hi for me” He said as he went to his computer. He looked at his computer, and looked back at her. “Did you get on my computer?”

Ana shot him and look, and said no.

“I have no reason to, have my own computer, duh!” She turned back to her conversation with Iento, one of her book club buddies. They had been friends for about 4 years now, and were reading the same book, and discussing whether they liked it or not. They had been reading “The Kite Runner”. Ana had read it about the time she and Josiah had gotten married, but she had enjoyed it so much, she was willing to read it again.

“Well, someone has been on my computer, its on, and I remember shutting off before I left for work this morning.” He muttered under his breath. He sat down and pushed the mouse around to get the computer warmed up, and then gasped.

Ana looked over about to ask him what was going on, when she herself gasped. There was a grotesque picture of Ana. It had her in a very skimpy bikini, one she had never owned or worn, and she was in a horrible position, it didn't even look like she was alive. There was blood everywhere, and it even looked like she had been gutted.

Ana jumped up “What in the world, what is that?”

Josiah turned around, “You didn't do this?”

“Are you kidding? Why on earth would I do that? Thats disgusting! Shut it off!”

Josiah stood up and faced her, “Are you sure you didn't do this?”

“You think I am lying about this? Who do you think I am, why would I lie about something like that? Hell, why would I even do something like that?” Ana waved her arm at his computer.

“Oh, I don't know, maybe because you are wanting to piss me off, and if you piss me off enough, I might leave.”

“What are you talking about? Why would I want you to you to leave?”

“Well, thats what I have been wondering myself. Ever since I got that email from you last week, I have no clue what you are thinking. You act like nothing is going on, and we have been doing all the same routines, and yet, there are so many little things that just don't make sense.”

“What email? I haven't sent you email in weeks.”

“Of course you have. Here, I will prove it.” he got on his computer and got rid of the bloody picture, and brought up his email, scrolling through the ones from the past week.

“Here you go,” he turned his screen towards her. She bent over and read the email, and then she realized something.

“Josiah, this isn't my email.”

“of course it is, its your name, and thats your email.”

“No, it isn't, its one letter off. Mine is AmericanGypsy1973 with a y, not an I. Here, I will show you.”

She went over to her computer, and opened her email account, and showed him her email.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed, “this doesn't make sense. Where did this email come from?”

“Someone trying to make you think I don't know what I want anymore.”

Assignment Number 3

10 Topics (again only picking one) that remind you of a particular incident that you can relate in a clearly organized narrative essay.
Memorable Funeral
I will remember that weekend for the rest of my life.
Life was empty and not as exciting after Mike died.  He was a young man that had his entire life in front of him.
 On Friday December 2, 1994, I was at the grocery store with my mother, we were running some errands before our busy weekend.  A really good friend of mine was having his engagement party Saturday night, and then on Sunday we were going to visit family in a town south of us.
While at the store, we saw a couple of women from church, that were my moms contemporaries.  One of them mentioned that they were going to go to Moberly Saturday morning, because a guy from the Moberly Congregation had died.  I asked who, they said Mike S.  I immediately fell apart, they had no clue that I was so close with Mike.  He was my best friends brothers best friend.  She asked how I knew him, and told her that my best friend Kari, her brother, Koby and Mike were best friends, and so of course we were always hanging around together. And also, Koby's wife is sister to Mike's fiance.  I said something about there being an engagement party for Mike and his fiance Saturday night, and that we had been planning on going.
She then told me how the accident had happened.  Mike apparently worked in Columbia on the night shift, and was on his way home that Friday morning, and someone else didn't see him, pulled in front of him sideswiping him, on the highway, and he was immediately killed.
I don't remember much until we got to his parents house on either Friday or Saturday night, all of our friends and his family were sitting around.  I believe someone had brought in veggie platters and some desserts, but not for sure.  There was not a viewing before his funeral on Monday, at least I don't remember there being one.
I don't believe we went to our families gathering on Sunday, at least I don't remember anything about it.  On Monday we went back to Moberly for the funeral.  It was very difficult, we got to the funeral, there were literally hundreds of people there, it was so full, there was nearly only standing room.
Mike was one of those people that everyone loves, he was funny, intelligent, and it didn't hurt that he was cute.
There are two scenes at the funeral that I will never forget, ever.  The first one, is before the funeral, and people are still viewing the body, I was close to the back, finding seats for my mom and I, while she was mingling with friends.  And I saw his fiance go up to Mike, she was crying, not just crying, it was that soul breaking sobbing that takes over your entire body, Annie even attempted to climb into the casket with him, her sister, Katie and her father in law had to drag her away.  I just stood there, with tears falling, watching this, it was so heartbreaking, even now, tears well up, the memory will always be just a tear away.
  The next thing I remember, we are in the car, getting ready to leave for the cemetery, and Koby and his wife, Katie, and Koby's dad walks out of the funeral home, and Koby just loses it, he falls, it honestly scared me, I was really young at the time, only 21.  I had never seen a man so emotional, and it absolutely broke my heart so see a guy I looked up to, fall apart and loose it like he did.
I had grown up going to Kari and Koby's house on the weekends, my dad was an abusive man, and so alot while I was growing up, I welcomed those weekends away.  It was a refuge for me, and to know that Kari, Angie (another good friend), Koby, Mike, and others were there for me, was one of the highlights of my life.  Mike wasn't going to be there anymore, he was gone, life was forever altered, and we still miss you very much.
It has been 18 years since then, alot of lives have changed.  Annie got married a few years later, I have married, and divorced.  Many of our friends  have married and have children in their teens now.  Mike has two nephews, that at the time were around 10-12 years old, they of course have grown, I believe one of them has even gotten married.  One of them looks so much like Mike, its eerie.
Even tho I had a hard childhood, knowing all my friends were there for me, and that I could always "run away" to them if need be, even as we all became adults, and went our separate ways, it was a comfort to know they were there.
I see those friends every now and then, but it isn't nearly as often as when we were kids.  The memories tho are the best of my life.

Writing Assignment Two

Ten Topic Suggestions for a descriptive paragraph or essay:
(I am only picking ONE)
A Waiting Room

Joel stood up and began pacing. He looked around himself, it was a basic hospital waiting room. The old plastic chairs, the 3 year old magazines on broken down side tables. He hated this place, he had been here too many times in his life to ever like being here.
There was the time his twin brother, Justin, had climbed a tree to save a kitten, and the kitten had scratched at Justin. That causing Justin to pull back too quickly and he had gone flying out of the tree, hitting his head and getting knocked out. He was in the hospital for nearly a week, they were worried about brain damage, but fortunately, nothing had been damaged.
"Justin, remember the time you tried rescuing that kitten?"
"Actually, I remember very little about it. I just remember you crying over me in my bed!" Justin grinned
"I was not, that was mom and Julie. I kept trying to bring that kitten in, and they wouldn't let me."
"That cat was the devil, it was from hell, and it needed to go back to hell!"
Joel sat down on the falling apart chair, and nearly fell out of it, he was laughing so hard. "You never gave the cat a chance, he was sweet as could be."
"To you maybe, that stupid cat loved you, always finding a way into our room, would take a dump in my underwear drawer, then curl up in your bed as if nothing had happened!" Justin laughed and sat down in a chair similar to Joel's. Ugly as sin, puke green, and the stuffing coming out of it.
Why this hospital did not have a better waiting room was beyond him, it looked like it had been designed in the 40's and never had an update.
"Can you believe this waiting room? It looks like our grandparents were born here!" Justin asked
"Actually, I think Mom was born here," Joel replied "I remember Grandpa saying something about it one time. I think when Julie broke her arm, he and I were sitting here, and he looked at some magazine or something, and said it was the same magazine he read when Mom was born."
Justin coughed and laughed even harder, "Was it Popular Mechanics or a Better Homes and Garden?"
"No, I want to say it was either a Consumers Report or something like that, but who knows, I don't know what magazines they had in 1920." Joel grinned, because he knew if his mom had heard him say that year, she would have smacked him against the back of his head.
"Oh, be glad Mom didn't hear that!"
Just at that moment, their Mom came walking through the door. "Hear what?"
Justin and Joel stood up, Joel gave his Mom a hug, saying, "Oh, that Justin has a new boyfriend." Joel grinned at Justin.
"Are you still going on about that? That was just an embarrasing situation years ago, why you boys can't stop picking on each other, I will never understand. How is Rachel?"
"They aren't saying, and I haven't seen a nurse or a doctor since they sent us in here. And this place is crap, why haven't they updated in here? The entire hospital is beautiful except for this room! There isn't even a coffee station or anything!" Joel banged around and stomped around, taking his frustrations out on the waiting room. "If they are going to make me wait so long, they could at least have something decent here!"
Lola put her arm around Joel, "Honey, its okay, Dad is out there asking questions, you know he will get further than any of us ever would, why don't we go down to the cafeteria?"
"No, I want to be here when they finally tell me something about Rachel, Mom, it isn't fair, I finally found the girl of my dreams, and God wants to take her away from me."
"Joel Robert Magnus! I never want to hear you blaspheme again! You know very well God doesn't take away lives! He gives life, He is NOT and Indian Giver!"
The door to the waiting room opened, his father was standing there, "You can go see Rachel, she is out of surgery, but they say she isn't awake yet."

Writing Assignment One

http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/creativity-boost-3-dictionary-excursion/
Today, we’re heading to the dictionary for a creativity boost. Here’s what I want you to do:
You’re going to select six words and use them to write a story of less than 250 words. You will select your six words from:
page 52, 11th word down
page 111, 2nd word down
page 144, 1st word down
page 199, 9th word down
page 225, 12th word down
page 243, 6th word down
Now, that you have your six words, open the dictionary at random, close your eyes and select a word. That word will provide the subject of your story.
Use the first three words in your opening paragraph. The last three words may be sprinkled throughout the story.

(This is SO hard to do!! None of my words have anything to do with eachother, giving them cohesion is impossible!)
Subject word: Mosquito
angler, bartend, blind alley, canned, Chanukah, cincture
The Mosquito
Mike’s bar was down a blind alley that people usually associate with muggers and prostitutes. But anyone who stumbled across it, would be surprised. It’s an Irish Pub with hunting and fishing themes. Mike was an angler and fisherman on his weekends off. The bar was called The Mosquito, and Mke was not just the owner, but a bartenders too.
Mikes dad had started the bar when he was three, he loved fishing, drinking, and being married to Mikes mom. She was Jewish, and he called her his Jewish Princess. She delighted in all things Jewish, the holidays, the Torah, even the diet.
Usually on the very first day of Chanukah, Mike closed the bar and went fishing, while he hired a company to kosher clean the bar.
He got to the bar early that first morning, waiting for the cleaning company, finding his ex girlfriend waiting for him.
“Ihis is a surprise, didn’t expected to see you.”
“I know, I messed things up, I came to ask you a question.”
Mike lifted his eyebrows in question.
“I got fired from my job, and I am needing another job.”
“You? Canned? You are an accountant, what did you do, extortion?”
Miranda got a pained look on her face. “Do you really think that badly of me? No, its simply was last hired, first fired.”
“I’m sorry, I think I can let you do something.”
Mike smiled and opened his arms so he could cincture her in his arms.

Because it had to have a 250 word limit, the story sucks, I had a much better version, but it just was way too long!