Saturday, October 13, 2012

ENGLISH 238- Creative Writing

Life is good. Creative writing class has opened up a little bit of a window for me as far as writing goes, see what you think---

The assignment, write a scene from our lives in which we were NOT the main character, or even a participant, but an observer who plays no part in the story. I wrote the following.

The Birthday

The excitement lay in the air, as petulent as smog that fills the eyes and lungs with a burning for action. There are a dozen 3 and 4 year olds sitting at two rectangular tables the perfect height to inflict a painful bump on the shin, if the walker doesn't exercise caution. The tiny chairs look barely large enough to seat dolls. The Learning Center Daycare is a small hair on the arm of Columbia South Carolina, but it’s occupants are filled with prominence and anticipation today.
 Dotie squirms in her chair, or stands and paces a small space in front of it. Even when she's seated, which is a rare thing, her legs are twitching and extending and supporting her weight.  The movement seems almost involuntary, as she maintains a blank look straight ahead, unfocused and unemotional. She is never more than perched on her chair, her body weight is suspended in 2 inches of air above her seat. She is taller than all of the others, yet her face seems younger, more juvenile.
Alexxis is wearing shoes that light up when she stomps, and she seems to take this as an invitation to stomp frequently. She is enamored with the blinking lights, perhaps encouraged that in this hectic atmosphere, she is in complete control of the tiny blinks.   A little boy named Jack ran up to and made an abrupt stop within inches of running over her in his excitement. Jack was definitely not using his inside voice when he shrieked, "Happy Birthday Alexxis!"
Alexxis barely breathed out a reply, a "Thanks" that you'd need a stethoscope to hear.
The teacher for the 3 year old class repeats herself in a more than slightly harassed tone, "Please, everyone, sit down and stay seated! We won't have any birthday snacks until you listen!" This proclamation finally elicited a positive response, and all 12 children sat obediently; except for Dotie, who remained perched with her legs in the spastic motion of enthusiasm barely contained.
The special birthday snack was rice crispie treats, with neon colored sugar sprinkles on top. Every little one ate them differently. Several removed the sprinkles and ate them methodically first. One or two removed the sprinkles and refused to eat them at all, appearing to be slightly intimidated by the tiny pieces of colored sugar, as if they were not to be trusted. Perhaps fearing they were broccoli or some other nutritious food in disguise.  No matter how much it was asserted that the sprinkles were sweet and delicious, they were still regarded with blatant distrust and shifted to the furthest corner of the plate, and never touched again. Some separated them into piles of color and ate one color at a time, a carefully constructed dance of eating that they alone understood the choreography of. There were a couple who ate around the edges of their crispie square, and some who took tiny bites to make the treat last. One little boy took one bite and had a huge grin on his face as he walked the rest of his square to the trash and cheerfully threw it away.
Only Dotie seemed unimaginative in her eating. She simply finished her square, one boring bite swiftly following the next. She didn’t even appear to swallow one portion before she energetically tore off the next lump from her square. She managed to finish her snack before the others had even started properly. Then the pervasive wriggling started again as her excitement for the sugary snack had led to an infusion of sugar which made even more hyperactive behavior follow. Within 45 seconds of finishing her snack, Dotie ran aimlessly around the room like a hatchling on its first purposeless flight as her teacher protested loudly while her classmates still worked on imbibing their snacks.
One by one snacks disappeared into eager bellies, and the teacher pleaded ineffectually for the class to sit down for story time. There followed universal physical rejuvenation and general chaos reigned. Then the screaming started. The cause? A baby lizard barely twice the length of a quarter on the window. The INSIDE of the window. When that little tidbit of knowledge was determined by the teacher, her behavior also became chaotic. 3 year olds running and screaming in mock terror cannot possibly outrank a grown woman running and screaming in genuine terror.
There was a rescuer in this case, as there always is when a tiny reptile is discovered in a classroom. The brave woman heard the commotion and hurried to the rescue, releasing the terrible, terrified baby lizard into the safety of the outdoors, with 12 pairs of tiny inquisitive eyes watching in rapt attention from the windows, and one pair of frightened grown teacher eyes downcast in horror as she attempted to recover from coming face to face with her fear of reptiles, even tiny baby ones.
The excitement and horror of the birthday party has passed, and 12 tiny 3 year olds gathered finally calm, huddled in a circle to hear Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse read. Relatively calm at least. Alexxis occasionally stomps her foot to see the lights, and Dotie is only hovering over the floor, like an eagle who is ready for sudden flight, but has not yet decided when to soar.


Totally unlike anything I've ever written. So very... IMPERSONAL. I loved writing it.
The next assignment was-- Take a factor or two from the previous story, and come up with a FICTIONAL story from a detail or two. I came up with this.


                                                        The Risky Reptile

The sense of comfort was quickly replaced with a sense of panic, as the tiny green lizard awakened from a cozy sleep to taste a new environment on his tongue. The darkness was interspersed with strips of light, through which familiar hues and tastes filtered through. The ground underneath his feet was unlike any ground he’d ever felt before. Warm, slightly moist, and soft, with troughs throughout that felt unfamiliar to baby lizard claws. This terrain was very familiar to 3 year old Jack, however, as it was his own sweaty palm, folded carefully around the small fragile life within.

Jack was ecstatic to have found such a treasure, and he cradled it as if he could sense it’s fragility and the importance of the rapidly beating heart beneath his fingers. Not usually being a quiet boy, Jack surprised himself with the timidity of his voice when he whispered out, “Hello, friend! I have you.”

The lizard was not at all comforted, yet Jack didn’t seem to notice. He was engrossed in his prize as his mother came out on to the porch. She glanced his way and said, “Jack, what have you got there?”

Jack’s proudly extended palm, with the terrified baby lizard held down with a determined thumb, caused his mother to step back involuntarily. But she wasn’t the type who ever stayed startled long, so she shrugged as if unimpressed with her 3 year olds ability to surprise her daily and said, “Put that poor thing down Jack, and wash your hands! They can carry disease, the dirty things, crawling on the ground the way they do.”

“What’s disease?” Jack asked, while scanning the lizard to see if he was carrying anything.

“That means it can make you sick, if you touch a lizard and then don’t wash your hands. Germs, remember dear?”

Jack hesitated in his delight, he had the flu a couple of weeks ago and didn’t relish the thought of this mysterious disease. Lizard transmitted or not it didn’t sound fun. But he wasn’t quite ready to let go of his new prize so he pretended to put it down while really stuffing it into his deep pocket with the zipper instead. On second thought, disease sounds awful. Jack washed his hands. Twice. With soap. Lots of soap. Up to his elbows. Jack really hated being sick.

Jack thought of his lizard as they drove to his school. He couldn’t wait to show Melvin, he would be so jealous. The fateful word ‘disease’ fell out of Jack’s brain for the moment; like the autumn leaves, light and carefree in their expulsion. His bout with flu seemed an awfully long time ago. Now his mind was full of baby lizards and an impromptu show-and-tell.

Marcus was indeed impressed, if slightly wary of the tiny baby lizard. Especially after the word ‘disease’ had been uttered and explained. Marcus, like Jack, currently feared illness as he’d suffered through the same flu Jack had survived. Unlike Jack, Marcus was a very quiet, timid boy. He refused to hold the lizard, and his large eyes had a look that was half envy and half apprehension. The boys admired their reptile as the class ran in chaos around them, small fights erupted, some tears were shed. Toys were played with and book illustrations were eagerly examined, all a whirlwind of activity around these two boys, who were too engrossed to add to the commotion, as they usually did.

Finally the teachers voice sank in their conscious mind. She was talking in that tone of voice that they recognized as meaning that she’d been repeating herself for a while. Oops. “Everybody, come and sit down quietly! We are not going to have snack time until everyone is quietly seated.”

Jack hurriedly replaced the lizard in his zippered pocket, and he and Marcus headed to the tables to take their places for snack, As the rice crispie treat was placed in front of Jack, he realized he was hungry. He picked up his crispie square and took a big bite, even as his brain registered the fact that Marcus was waving his hands frantically around. He chewed energetically and gulped his mouthful down before focusing his attention on arm flailing Marcus. Why was Marcus holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers so crazily?

Jack’s look of confusion gave way to a pale realization, I did not wash my hands! Oh no! Disease!

Jack looked at his hands, even though Mom had said germs were too small to see, he still had to look. If he had seen even a hint of a germ he may have just thrown up. His hands looked perfectly normal, however Jack knew the truth. They had lizard disease germs on them.

Jack didn’t want to have to answer any questions, so he stood up with a smile. He walked non-chalantly to the trash can and threw away the crispie treat that had looked so appetizing a moment before. It now just looked like hours of tummy ache to him.

The next stop was the window. That was as close to outside as Jack was allowed to get by himself, unobserved in his apparent innocence. The tiny lizard was released, to its immense relief. As Jack was rushing to the nearest sink to wash, the lizard was scrambling up the glass in an attempt to reach the familiar light of outdoors. Instead of the feeling of comforting soil under his feet, he slipped and slid on flat coldness in lizard confusion.

Jack had been in the bathroom, washed his hands up to the elbows, with soap, three times, and come back out by the time the baby lizard was spotted and chaos reigned supreme. Marcus enjoyed the show from a distance as he completed his rice crispie treat, and waited to see if the teacher thought the lizard may be diseased too. Their teacher didn’t get close enough to the lizard to determine the degree of disease carrying possibility however, as she was too busy screaming and running for help. Help quickly arrived and the baby lizard was finally comfortable with the taste of the air and the feel of the rocky soil beneath his feet. He ran swiftly to the safety of the tall grass, and a general sigh of relief was heaved.

In all the excitement, Jack forgot the word disease. By the time the teacher had read them a story, he once again felt hungry. By the time lunch was served, Jack had nearly forgotten his exciting find, and his dangerous brush with illness.




I was very excited to write these, they are incredibly simplistic, but a good start for me writing things that are for the writing only, and not as emotional outlets. because, lets face it, my life has calmed down so much that if I were to rely only on emotional fodder for writing material I'd be out of a hobby. This feels good, being able to write about fun things and not just personally meaningful things. I feel this class has taught me a lot.





Tuesday, April 17, 2012

2012

   OK wow my life has been up and down and back and forth. School- Continues to be wonderful. Work- Continues to pay the bills, albeit sometimes barely. My personal life- Has gone haywire in all of the right ways.
   I met Jimmy on March 9th, and things have progressed quickly and perfectly since then. I could regale you with story after story about how great he is for me and how he is different from anyone I've ever known, and definitely different from everyone I've ever dated, especially recently. But I won't. I'll leave it up to your imaginations. Because anything good and wonderful and loving that you can possibly imagine, I can assure you that he's either already done it, or is planning to in the near future.
   I know I will get concerned loving mother/sister types who will be worried about the speed of this relationship's progression. Please feel free to express your concerns. I promise to listen and consider. And I promise to keep my eyes open and keep using my brain and not just my heart. But I can't promise to slow my roll, because as long as I'm analyzing and talking and using my head and thinking things through, as long as it still feels right I'm going with it.
   I know that I've never been truly respected until now. I've never been with someone who really appreciated my values and ideals and shared them and encouraged me to be a better person. I've never been taken care of before. I feel lucky to be loved by such a person and am very lucky that I found him to love. If all goes as planned and hoped for he will forever be a part of my life. And my life will keep getting better and better.

   Thus begins the beginning of the next era of multi blog postings. I'm rejuvenated!
  

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Decisions

     I have been exceedingly busy, with school and work and friends and plans and hopes and dreams and nightmares and reality and endings and beginnings and decisions new to my mind and decisions a long time coming. All in all, its been a busy summer and fall, and now winter is here, and my life has changed in so many ways since the spring and yet it remains the same in many ways too.

     I read a book for one of my book clubs, entitled What Alice Forgot. It really spoke to me in a way most books don't. I won't spoil the whole storyline by detailing it, but it addressed what happens when someone loses 10 years of memory, and has to come to terms with who they have become in the intervening years without the benefit of remembering what inciting events led to the changes that they've made.
   
     I also found myself relating to a certain character in the book that had fertility issues. She wanted a child so badly and couldn't have one and she was consumed by this. I don't have fertility issues. I do find myself in a position in my life where having a child is fast receding from my list of options. I'll be 34 this year. Not too late yet, but when I think of how haphazard my life is and how my finances sit on a shoestring and my house is in a constant state of renovation I don't even know how to begin to accomplish everything that I would need to do to be ready for a child, not to mention have a willing father on my hands.


     10 years ago however, I didn't want children; had zero desire for them. What has changed, besides the obvious sound of ticking from my internal baby oven? Maybe now I think I would actually be a good mother. Maybe now I think that I can manage to not repeat most of my own mothers mistakes with my own children. Maybe now I know that I have a heart big enough to love forever unconditionally. Maybe now I know that the wisdom I have I could pass on, and benefit someone else. Or maybe its just the clock ticking, and me being afraid that this big lifetime hurdle will soon be out of reach altogether.

     I can't be sure, because as long as my situation remains unsuitable to add a baby to the mix, its not even an option. And maybe deep down that's the obstacle. I want to be stable enough financially and relationship wise, for a baby decision to at least be viable. Because right now, I'm comparable to the infertile woman in that I CAN'T have a baby. It's painful to me, though I definitely admit that it's worse for someone who has the physical difficulty. I cannot even comprehend that pain, and I don't mean to downplay it at all. But I also CAN'T have a baby, I see no end in sight, no option for things to improve and for that to be an option. Adoption also is not an option for me because of the expense involved, and the lack of stability that surrounds me.

     My 10 years ago self would be proud of me that I hadn't had a baby. She'd be pleased that I was careful and didn't get struck down by a 'surprise' that keeps on surprising you every day for the rest of your life. She'd be thrilled that I was in school and making excellent grades. She'd see my house and love it and see every bare wooden floor and scuffed up wall as an exciting challenge. I'm not 24 anymore. This house overwhelms me in its bleakness and need for repair, and the days I'm not overwhelmed by it I don't have enough money to get to work on it anyway.

     So where am I going with all this? I'm not sure, I lost my train of thought somewhere back a paragraph or two ago. All I know that is my life is great, school is great, my friends are great, but there is still something unsettling in this place inside me that takes personal inventory periodically. Perhaps its feeling that nobody really gets me. I often feel like an outsider. I could've had my baby right now. I could have a very different life. Would I feel like an outsider even with my own child I wonder. Perhaps so. The best I can do is keep trudging along and trying to keep my head above water, and hope for a change in the wind.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Time Off

I had 10 days off work. I got to travel a little, reconnect with old friends and meet new ones, (Love ya Ana and Ben). But its Saturday. Monday starts my rigorous work, school, home improvement, gym schedule. And I am pumped and ready to go. I did much more this time off than I have in years. For once, at the end of time off work, I don't feel depressed and alone and let down. AND!! I already have almost $200 squirreled away for December's vacation week. Who knows where I may end up then???? Work, I have missed you and am ready to go back. School, I am excited and ready to learn and study and read and just be a dork in general. House, bring it on!! One floor down, 2 more to go!!!!! Gym....... For this I need a motivational speech by Tony Robbins, but I'll got there. Days are happy, nights are content, and life is good.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

5 Guys Burgers


   All I wanted was a burger. Admittedly, it was a burger I didn’t need and money that could have been better spent. But I wanted it, so there it was. I’d worked all day; I’d sat for 2 hours in algebra class, I wanted, no, NEEDED a burger. So I went for it. From 5 Guys Burgers and Fries, of course the best burger place ever. I thought when I pulled up that I really wish they’d get a drive through window, but stuck with my decision and went inside. And my day changed.

   Behind the counter was a familiar face, a face from my past, a face from a not-so-good part of my past. Not an ex-boyfriend, but something that wrenched my soul even deeper. A face from 18 years ago; a face I never ever expected to see again and could never have even guessed how I would react to. My reaction; I burst into tears. Yes, at the counter of the 5 Guys Burgers and Fries joint, I cried like I’d just lost a loved one. Because, honestly, that’s exactly how my heart felt in that instant.

   The face behind the counter, that face I had never imagined seeing again, was the face of my older brother’s best friend. That statement makes my reaction seem overly dramatic, except for the fact that my older brother, Kevin, killed himself nearly 20 years ago. I still cry regularly, missing my brother, hating that he’s missing my life, hating he missed out on his, having so much to tell him and knowing if he was still here he’d know more than me so I wouldn’t have to tell him anything.

   It amazes me that even with a lapse of 19 years I so easily recognized Kevin’s friend, John. Years go by, we all get older, we all get wiser, and I am glad I had the chance to see him and interact with him as an adult, with my own thoughts and opinions. The honest truth, I love this man. Even though I never really knew him except as my Brother’s friend; because he was a big part of Kevin’s life, and looking at his life now I can imagine what Kevin’s life could’ve been like by now.

   John has an amazing family that he is so obviously proud of and I enjoy looking at his family photos, thanks to facebook for making that possible. There’s a part of me that wants to ask him every question I can possibly think of about Kevin, what he was like, what happened. But mostly, I just want to get to know him. As an adult, on my own, getting to have someone else in my life that cared for Kevin as I did, and who is willing to talk about him.

   Kevin’s life, and death, is a taboo subject in my family. For some because it’s so hurtful, for some because they feel guilty, a few just have a problem facing reality. My mother twists and turns the story and makes up random reasons and then believes her own explanations. John talked more openly, honestly, and feelingly about Kevin in a 15 minute conversation than I have ever heard from any of my family. I want more of that. I want a friendship with this person. Not based on the past; but based on who we are now, as adults. Here’s to John, who made me cry while making my day.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Two-Face

Hide inside this flimsy shell
       in the dark I know so well

Listen as the laughter starts 
      despite the smell of broken hearts

Close my eyes and count to three,
      open and hope I’ll never see

Pain and loss and fear abound 
      bouncing off the laughter sound. 

In my corner bleak and dim 
      trying not to think of him

Meet his eyes, they pierce my soul 
      as I strain to keep control

Might be smiling, I’m not sure,
      lost in striving to endure

My body smiles on and I fit in;
      my soul fights what it can’t win

In this place of broken dreams 
      nothing’s ever as it seems