#22--The SLCaro Blog (Fiction Only)

Alright people! I've started a new blog! It will be more professional looking, and story segments will be more easily organized. The new blog will be connected to this one, so it will be very easy to switch back and forth between the two.

Grace and I are doing NaNo all over again in December, since I failed for November, and, yeah. So, I'm excited to start NaNo next month, and I swear my word count is going to be fantastic! Yeah! Woo!

Anyway, I tried typing this post once, but I failed, and dinner is being cooked by my wonderful husband (mandarin chicken and rice noodles!) and I'm watching How I Met Your Mother. :)

See you all tomorrow for NaNo round two!

haHA!

#21--Haunted by the Mares

It feels like it's been a long week. And maybe it has.

I've had some pretty icky dreams this week that I'd rather not get into at the moment, rather, I'll just mention that they were pretty terrible and didn't make me feel very good overall upon waking.

Most of the holiday week was spent with housework and such, and the first part of the week was rather productive, but I've been slacking off the last part. This makes me feel irresponsible, but I suppose that's how it goes.

There has been a lot on my mind lately as well. I will also not get into these things right now, because I don't want to go into it.

Ha, so let this be the most vague blog posting ever! :-D

I don't mean to be vague but whatever. Take it or leave it.

I really want to start my new job. I really want to get this loan stuff figured out, because honestly its killing me.

I suppose all things will happen in time, as they need to.

More later I guess.

#20--Dreams of Snow and Rolly Chairs

Got a call from the old manager today, wanting my statement as to why I left. I didn't call her back today, but I might just go in tomorrow and have a conversation with her rather than just calling her on the phone. It'll just be easier that way, and it will be easier for her to understand where I'm coming from in person.

I made chili tonight for dinner, and it was fantastic. I made it sort of according to the Mickey Mouse chili recipe and sort of going with my instincts. To go with it, I made beer bread with a pumpkin ale instead of making cornbread. One, because cornbread can be kind of boring, and two, because there are people who are allergic to corn. But I was glad for the change.

On another note, for whatever strange reason I really want it to snow. And I want it to snow like crazy... Usually I hate snow. I mean, I hate it only because its amazingly cold, melts into my gloves and gets into the most impractical places (and then doesn't melt!). But I just really want it to snow.

Also, I love the holidays. Just sayin'. Not so much because of the presents, but because of the time we get to spend with those that we love (like family, even if our families embarrass us or make us uncomfortable). I suppose this is included with the thoughts on snow in a perspective change that I've had at some point between last year and this year.

A slightly different topic now: I really don't understand how anyone can stand to go shopping on the busiest day of the year (black friday) especially when people are so inconsiderate of other people and when lives are very likely at stake. Like last year, when that WalMart employee got trampled because customers broke the barrier to get into the store. And to the other people who never thought to stop and help that person, but who saw the problem: Shame on you. I cannot comprehend the reason for such bad behavior and such lack of compassion. I suppose that's my real pet peeve lately. That term, "pet peeve" doesn't seem to really cut it for me either. It doesn't express the extent to which it really bothers me that people act that way.

But besides all that, I have this week off due to the change in jobs that's happening at the moment. I am very excited to start at the new place soon, since it will pay much better money than my former job, and will include benefits, set hours, and a set schedule, and a rolly chair. :-D

I think this all for now. Ciao!

Morph II

It had been exactly five years since Eva had started at the International Builder's Preservation and Creation Society. She was expecting a raise any day now, but that was not what was bothering her lately.

A new addition to the Builder's team was Inaki, an older gentleman with shaggy salt and pepper hair that got in his eyes all the time. Yesterday was his first official day on the team where he was not being directly supervised by someone. Eva hoped they wouldn't assign Inaki to one of her rooms, because it hardly seemed fair to expect him to create as much as she did in a day.

"I really do not want to be less productive if I have to watch over him. I have to get this room done today, or Bruce is going to be angry with me again." Eva told Marcus at their quaint breakfast table. Marcus was her husband of a year and a half. They had met at IBPCS, and nothing could have kept them apart from each other.

"I would not worry about it too much, honey. Bruce may not even pair Inaki with you today. I bet Inaki still gets to shadow some of the slower builders for a few weeks--Bruce generally has the newbies ease in that way." Marcus took a large bite of his hot cereal and chewed voraciously. Eva only played with hers with her spoon, slowly making swirly patterns with the cinnamon that graced the top of her oatmeal. She sighed and put the spoon aside.

"I suppose you are right, Marcus." Eva subconsciously chewed on her bottom lip.

"Come on now, Eva." Marcus brushed her cheek with his thumb, gently tilting her chin upwards and meeting her shy gaze with his own steady one. "I've never seen you worry about a new builder like this before, but I do not think you have anything to worry about this time either. Bruce knows that new employees slow down the team, and he has already planned for that I am sure." He dropped his hand from her face and held her hands in his. "Do not forget that I love you, Eva."

Eva blushed miraculously, and let out a small sigh. She picked up her spoon again and actually ate her oatmeal this time. "I love you too, Marcus." Eva smiled at him and they finished their breakfast contentedly.

**

When Eva and Marcus got in to work, they saw Inaki waiting outside. He was wearing a long woolen trench coat with fur lining in the hat, smoking a fat cigar.

"Afternoon," Inaki said to them.

Eva looked at Marcus and he looked back at her. Marcus smiled a little half smile, sending Eva a wink.

"Good morning, Inaki. Ready to start the day?" Marcus asked politely enough. Eva was biting at her lip again in anxiety.

"More or less. I have to be here, so here I am." Inaki threw down his half smoked stogie and squished it out with his foot. He smirked at Marcus and Eva, following them in through the door.

Morph

Inaki (ardent)

Eva (one who gives life)

Marcus (hammer)

Third person, limited. Get close on emotions and some physical experiences.

**

Napolean Otto bounced along in the rusty old jalopy with some discomfort. The plastic window coverings were missing, allowing the wind to carry heaping mouthfuls of dust into Napolean Otto's frowning face.
'I hate the outback,' he thought to himself in exasperation. 'This better be worth my time.'

Napolean Otto was a short man, not unlike Napolean Bonaparte, his namesake. Otto was still several inches taller, and much stockier than the legendary man. Otto had dark hair, a bushy caterpillar mustache and a hint of olive in his complexion. He was often mistaken as being Hispanic in heritage, but any careful eye could see his heritage was drawn down from Greece.

Otto had been a friend to Doctor Jack Price for some years now, though the two of them had not spoken in recent months. Otto assumed that Jack did not want anything to do with him after he introduced Jack to the love of his life, Mariana Richards.
It must have been February that we last talked to each other, Otto wiggled his large mustache in contemplation. I wonder what precisely Jack has been  up to.

Napolean Otto drove along the deeply rutted path towards the highest crest of the hill, where Jack Price's house was nestled behind some of the tallest scrub bushes around. 

Eva's writing exercise just was not working out for her. She had been trying to write about Doctor Jack Price for some time now, but found it unfulfilling, just like so many other things in her life. Eva heaved a great sigh, scrapped the current paragraph and began again. 

Just as Napolean was preparing to make the final turn onto the path that led to Jack Price's home, the radio in the old jalopy came on. The dispatcher that Otto had rented the jalopy from was needing it for transporting the prime minister in from the airport. 

Again, a dud beginning. Eva sighed, wondering if she should just stop and get back to planning her new room. The plans did not have to be done until Wednesday, so she still had some time. 

Napolean Otto wished he was not on a plane. He had never really like planes, but there were times when it was necessary to use one. He had boarded the flight in Detroit, made a change in San Fransisco, and was about five minutes out from landing in Sydney, Australia.
'I have been on this plane for too long,' Napolean thought to himself, rustling his caterpillar mustache. He huffed a sigh, tilted his head back and closed his eyes. He was not tired, but his eyes did not want to stay open either. The familiar ding, ding of the seat belt activation bothered him more than the average person would generally be bothered by such a plain sound.

He sighed again, quick enough to jostle the bristles of his thick black mustache. Napolean's mustache was peppered occasionally with stark white hairs. His wife always told him that he should dye it all one color, rather than letting it go slowly into a hodge podge of black, white, and gray. "It looks so messy when it is all different colors like that," she would bark crisply at him. She would never look him in the face when she said this, but insisted on it anyway. He would only wiggle his lip at her, to see if she would notice, but she never did.

Napolean Otto wiggled his lip in much the same way now, with that same mild irritation that he always tried to express in response to his wife's comments. He blinked slowly, settling into a fine squint that left him looking very angry indeed. The flight attendant stopped next to him just then, double checking for buckled seat belts and smiling in his direction absentmindedly. He blinked at her, and she gave a small nod in recognition.

"It will just be a few more minutes, sir." She finished off the comment with another practiced smile. Napolean was not buying it. He let his thoughts wander to his mission in Australia.

Doctor Jack Price had been a long time friend to Napolean Otto, and Napolean was not about to forget it. That was why Napolean was going to visit Jack now. Jack had returned from a mission trip for Doctors Without Borders about a month and a half ago, but Jack's working partner had not returned from her mission on her pre-determined date. Mariana Wilkes was approximately three weeks late in returning to Australia, and Jack was concerned for her.

Napolean was not sure exactly the relationship that Jack had with Mariana--they always claimed that their communications and interactions were purely for professional purposes only, but Napolean Otto was not very well convinced.

Napolean was jostled by a bit of turbulence as the plane descended further. He gripped the arm rests for security, and ground his teeth together in an effort to not let his nervousness show on his face. The gentleman to his right urged the woman next to the window to open it, so that they might look at the pink clouds. Napolean did not care about the pink clouds, and rather wished that the woman would not let herself be wooed by the man in the middle. The man was not good at making a smooth line delivery, so her reactions alternated between laughing at him and laughing with him. Napolean was more or less disgusted by it, but he remembered back to when he was courting his own wife, before they were engaged. It had been a fun time, a care free time. Maybe he should not be so quick to judge.

Before he knew it, the plane had touched down, and he stood quickly to collect his bag from the overhead cabin. No one ever dared to take space away from Napolean after he had stood up in the aisle. He was not a large man by any means but plump, and also had an intimidation factor that most people picked up on and also tried to avoid. His wife also told him multiple times that his mustache forced people away from him. Napolean did not mind one way or another what people thought of him and his mustache, but figured that anyone worth talking to would find that his mustache was not that intimidating after all.

Napolean Otto exited the plane quickly, thanked the pilot and attendants on his way out, and made his way toward the customs desk. After his passport was stamped, he went through security and found a beverage counter. The airport in Sydney seemed relatively empty for a weekend, but it could have also been the fact that it was still early morning, and many travelers may not be up and about. He ordered a water and tipped the clerk more than was necessary for such a small purchase.

Napolean walked further through the terminal before he found where all the people were sitting. Most had gone through preliminary security and were sitting by their required gate, waiting for their flights. Still, it seemed odd that so many people would sit still so consistently. The phenomenon made him uneasy, and he quickened his pace toward the exit. Napolean hailed a cab and gave directions to the driver for a small hotel on the western edge of town. I should probably continue on to Alice Springs tonight, Napolean thought, sipping his water in the backseat of the cab. That is another flight though, and that last one wore me out.

Eva wished she could get the beginning right. That was what every writer wanted--to get their story right. She was beginning to feel light headed from all the sighing she was doing, and so gave up on that and started again. She decided to try starting from another view point. Perhaps that would work. 

Doctor Jack Price was a great man.

It did not work.

“Ugh,” Eva paused to rub the chill out of her fingers before putting them to the keyboard again. Her delicate fingers hovered over the black keys, unmoving. She bowed her head with her eyes closed and drew a long steady breath inward. 'This was supposed to be relaxing, not a chore.' Eva shook her head and saved the document anyway, closing the lid of the laptop quickly.

Eva left her part sun room and part office and strolled down the hall to the kitchen. It was a brief walk but the hall was dark, so she moved slowly. Eva had lived in the house for years but she still was not used to the narrowness of the hallway or the creaks in the floor boards. 

In the kitchen Eva poured herself more tea from the kettle on the stove. Twinnings was her favorite, but she had not had any shipped in lately. The flavor did not even matter to her, as long as it was Twinnings, she knew she had the best. She grabbed a yellow note pad from the small kitchen table and looked it over. On the first page was a note that Marcus had written her, ages ago. She touched her fingers lightly to the writing on the wide lined paper. The pencil marks were faint from all the other times she had run her hands over his sweet words. Eva sat the notebook aside and sipped at her Earl Grey tea. The taste seemed off today, but it was more than likely due to her bitter mood than the tea itself. 

Eva's cell phone rang, breaking up the despicable silence with an obnoxious ring tone. She only got that ring tone so that she would actually hear her phone. There was no way you could miss the annoying chant of "Um-ba-rella, ella, ella, ey, ey..." 

Eva picked her phone up from the old battered table, and looked to see who was calling. It was Inaki.

#19--Harry Potter Made Me Miss the Deadline

Today was really eventful.

I know I only have myself to look at for this, but I really was looking forward to submitting a little something to the magazine call for talent. Alas, I did not get that worked out on time, and when I did remember this yesterday, it was already after midnight. :(

Back to today: I got to sleep in! Then I met my friend Gracie for lunch (yayness!) and she drove me to my work, where I very ferociously went in and picked up my check and resigned, effective immediately. I feel so much better to be out of that poisonous place, and out from under that horrible woman and her egotistical power trip. I only hope that other girls who work there realize what's going on and choose a better path for themselves. Additionally, I will be making a call to human resources on Monday, for everyone's benefit.

After that I helped another friend with her decision, and further assisted to help her find another job, and as a result she has an interview on Monday. I'm excited for her, and I really hope she gets it.

In the meantime, I'm VERY behind on my story, but I do hope to pull some kind of magnificent cartwheels out of my ass. The last posting was meant to be the story beginning for the x-th time, but all I managed to stay awake for was finding names for my characters. I literally fell asleep with the laptop in front of me, the tv on, etc. I was sooo tired.

But going to see HARRY POTTER will do that to a person. Also had a magnificent time with dearest Gracie, and this first segment of the last movie was very well done with suspense and overall not-feeling-so-good, while simultaneously injecting small happy moments and dabs of humor. I really cannot wait until the last installment comes out, and I do intend on being somewhere for a Harry Potter movie-a-thon which may span two days, leading up to the midnight release. Twill be epic!

And again, I find myself very tired indeed, but its almost blasphemous to go to bed so early...

So on to NaNo!

Lady Astray ---> Morph

Inaki (ardent)
Eva (one who gives life)
Marcus (hammer)