August 5th Challenge - My 100th Blog Entry!

Hi, it’s Christina –

Happy Monday Morning! As you may have guessed from my friend Karolyn’s response to the challenge question (on FB – I still need to copy it to the blog), we are headed to the beach today. Which means, in order to get this blog done, make lunches and get our stuff together, I’m up before dawn again. Not that I mind. Everyone’s life is so crazy and fast paced, that it is hard to find time to get together with friends. So when the opportunity arises, I try to snatch it with both hands.

Over time through this blog, I’m sure you will hear me mention some of my friends. I have been pretty blessed in the friends department, as a number of my friends I have had for over twenty, thirty and even forty years. Karolyn is one of them, so I am excited to get to spend some time with her today. Our daughters are all old enough they can entertain themselves, so we will have six hours to chat. I can’t wait!

So now I have one last load of towels to throw in the dryer so they can be packed, watermelon to cut, chicken and tuna salads to make, cooler to pack, car to pack, and somewhere during that COFFEEEEEEE. See, I put you guys even above my need for caffeine this morning, and that need is becoming strong, so let’s get to it. Have a great day y’all and happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

Write a story containing these three words: Light, Cave & Shell.

For years I have been coming to this tiny strip of beach just north of Bar Harbor, Maine. I stay in an itty-bitty cabin; a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a porch, that’s it, but it is right on the water and I love it. I started coming here as a kid, and now as an adult, it is my escape cottage.

If asked, I would say I knew every inch of this beach like the back of my hand, so I was quite surprised when I stumbled upon a cave I had never seen. I decided to take a walk after dinner. I do this often. One more dose of crisp salty air would relax me so I could sleep soundly. I would walk for an hour or so, gathering shells or skipping rocks into the ocean if the water was calm.

I had bent down to pick up a shell and a flicker of light caught my eye. I turned to where I thought the light was coming from and scanned the rocky cliff for the source. At first I saw nothing, but then it happened again, a burst of light reflected off the rock. As I approached, it became more apparent the light was coming from inside a cave. But what could be causing it?

 

Dang it, ran out of time. L I am SO not a short story person. OK, off to get ready. Hope you find tomorrow’s challenge fun. Again, have a great day!

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

August 4th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! To say I was unproductive yesterday would be a gross understatement. I did NOTHING. At around eleven yesterday morning I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open, so I went to bed, then proceeded to sleep for six hours. Now, I have been known to take naps. Because of a really bad back, I usually only sleep for a few hours during the night. It just becomes too uncomfortable to lie in bed, so I get up. (Hence the periodic four am posts you might see from me.) But when I take a nap, it is only for an hour, two tops. Yesterday however, I think my body just shut down, saying enough is enough.

I have been running at top speed for quite a while now, and I think I just needed the rest. Today I feel much better. I think I will start making my lists of all the things that need to be accomplished in the next few weeks as well as my “to pack” list for vacation. This way, as I check things off, I will feel I actually accomplished something, and I will also have less chance of getting distracted by shiny objects. Number one on the “to do” list, daily writing challenge, so let’s go.

  

Your Last Challenge was:

 I remember the first time I…

 

I remember the first time I saw a ghost. It was the day after Father’s Day and I was ten years old. It was around two in the morning and I awoke when my grandfather sat down on the edge of my bed. He brushed the hair out of my eye, like he did whenever he woke me up. I sat up and asked him if it was time for breakfast and he told me no, he just wanted to talk to me. He told me he was sorry that he wouldn’t be able to see me for a while, but for me to remember how much he loved me and how special I was to him. I told him I loved him too and I didn’t want him to go anywhere and I didn’t understand. He said I would understand real soon.

I heard the phone in the kitchen ring, my mother get up to answer it and a mumbled conversation through my closed bedroom door. My grandfather gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead and said he had to go, and he was gone. I hugged my knees to my chest and started to cry. That was how my mother found me a few minutes later. She came into my room to tell me my grandfather had died, and I told her I already knew; he came to say goodbye.

 

True story, and since that night, let’s just say, I’ve had some interesting experiences in my life. My grandfather was my most favorite person in the world. Still, almost forty years later, I miss him terribly.

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

Write a story containing these three words: Light, Cave & Shell.

 

You have 10 minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.