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Showing posts with label Grandfather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grandfather. Show all posts

Sunday, August 4, 2013

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.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

July 10th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –
The beach was lovely yesterday. Not that the weather was perfect, yes it was sunny, but there was no breeze for the first few hours, so it was sweltering hot. Not that the water was perfect, it was cold still, and for some reason there were zillions of dead sand fleas in it, YUCK. It was lovely because I got to sit near the ocean, watching and listening to the waves, which is something I would do every day if I could.
I did bring my laptop with me with the intentions of going to camp while sitting on the sand, but it was an epic fail. I wrote maybe 500 words, half of which I’m going to be deleting, and gave up. The sun was so bright, I was straining to see the screen. When I started getting a headache, I close the computer and opened Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James. The day got much more enjoyable after that.
We left the beach early because there were clouds forming on the horizon which started to worry me and I’m glad we did. Roughly fifteen minutes after we left, supposedly they got hit by a wicked storm. We missed everything and had a sunny ride the whole way home.
I have noticed something interesting going on. I have increased my Twitter followers by 25% in the past week or so, but I have no idea why that is. I would love to find out so I can keep doing whatever I’m doing!
OK, got to get going. Somehow I need to pull an extra 2,500 to get caught up. Don’t think I’ll be able to do it today, I already hear critters stirring.
Your Last Challenge was:


 

I round the corner, see the spot and for a moment I’m six years old again; fishing pole in one hand, my grandfather’s hand in the other. I sit on the edge of the wall, dangle my feet. I notice how much closer to the water they are, and my red, perpetually dirty and untied Keds have been replaced by sandals with polished toes peaking through. I skip a rock over the water’s surface – one, two, three, plop – and sit back and watch the ripples grow until they lap beneath my dangling feet. My hands begin to itch for a fishing pole when I see a fish jump out of the water, but mostly my heart aches for the companion who is no longer sitting by my side.

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

Write a story using the following three words, Cabin, Fire, and Vampire.

 

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.

Monday, July 1, 2013

July 1st Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Aaahhhhh! It’s July 1st!! What have I gotten myself into? 50,000 words in 31 days? Maybe if I locked myself away in a cabin in the woods where no one could find me, I might have a chance. This is summer. The kids are home. We have birthday parties to go to, guests coming to stay, and trips to the beach planned. I must have lost my mind when I agreed to this!

OK, I had to get that out of my system, but I’m sure during the course of the month you may hear me panicking again. I am going to be tackling a modern day romance this time, so at least I won’t have the research taking up a lot of my time. I can just write and write in current American English without thinking “would they have said it that way?”, so it should go quicker.

Well, I’m off to camp while the house is still quiet. Have a great day folks!

Your last challenge was:

If you can have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

 

If you can have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why? A favorite writing prompt for teachers everywhere it seems. I know I have received the prompt at least three times over the course of my schooling, and although my answer has changed, I still wouldn’t mind having lunch with any of my previous selections. In middle school I chose George Burns, in high school, Lucille Ball, and in college it was Edgar Allan Poe. Now I’m not sure who it would be. Perhaps, Pope John; although I’m not Catholic, I was always fascinated by the man with the sweet face. Then again it would be kind of cool to sit and chat with Oprah. I love stories of folks who came from nothing and made good, and Oprah overcame some huge obstacles to get where she is today. Brad Paisley, just because he seems fun to hang out with; or Stephen King, just because I’d love to know how he separates himself from the scary in his head; or Gandhi who I doubt needs explanation as to why anyone wouldn’t want to talk with him.


There are so many wonderful people to choose from for so many wonderful reasons, but I think this time I am going to choose for more selfish and personal reasons. I want to have lunch with my Grandfather Daniel, my Grandmother Helen, my Grandmother Alice, my husband’s Uncle Joe, my Aunt Julie, my second dad Ken, and our friend Norm. All of these folks are no longer here with me and I miss them all terribly. I know I was only supposed to pick one, but as I said, I was going to be selfish.

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

Make a story using the following three words: raccoon, party, mouse.

 

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.