Christmas Story

I wrote this last year for Christmas. I read over it, and while I might do it a little differently now, I decided to keep it...for now. Maybe I'll start revising it a little every year or something, to see how my writing style and perspective changes...dang...that's a good idea...why do I always have those late at night...

"So, There Was This Teenage Girl" by Kendra Logan, December 2009

So, there was this teenage girl.

She was a good Christian. She was kind and gentle and loved God (she was probably really fun, too, because all real Christians are! XD). She was also a virgin, and her name was Mary.

(Fun Fact #1: "virgin" in the Greek can sometimes just mean "young girl", but in this case, it means, you know, an actual virgin ;D)

Mary was engaged to this great guy named Joseph, who was also a good Christian. He was pretty awesome actually. Really fun, caring, Christian, even brave. They were pretty excited about getting married.

But then God just had to throw a curve ball.

One night, an angel suddenly appears to Mary. *freak out* And the angel said, "Do not be afraid" first.

(Fun Fact #2: We don't know much about angels, but we know one thing for darn sure: they are scary. Every time someone sees an angel, they're panicking so much the angel has to calm them down. Haha, I can see the angels getting impatient now, "*rolls eyes* GOOD GRIEF, WOULD YOU GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF? Oh, I mean DO NOT BE AFRAID.")

So, back to Mary and the angel. The angel says, "God is so proud of you! You're doing great!"

...

...thanks...

Guess what? You are pregnant."

*blink*

O.O

Imagine how Mary must have felt. I know I would have been absolutely panicking. I mean, I wouldn't have doubted it or anything--if an Angel of the Lord says you're pregnant, you're pregnant--but I would have been really scared. And I wonder if Mary was afraid she had done something wrong, you know? I mean, I would have been like, "OH MY GOSH, is there something I've...er...missed..."

The angel went on.

"You are to name the child Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

>insert awkward silence<>insert awkward, ANNOYED silence<

Joseph: "Okay...well, you see, my wife is pregnant, and the baby is expected any day now. Isn't there anything you can do?"

The innkeeper directs Mary and Joseph to the stable.

I'm not even gonna go into what Mary must have been thinking at this point. But anyway, Mary and Joseph head on over to the stable and try to get as comfortable as they can.

(Fun fact #4: most of you probably already know this, but back in the day, stables weren't little barns like we have now. They were usually caves!)

So, Mary goes into labor, and now we will graciously switch over to what is happening with the shepherds.

Now, let's get something straight about shepherds. They weren't really considered important. They were kind of like today's garbage men. You need 'em, you'd miss 'em if they were gone, but it's not exactly what every kids dreams of becoming or anything. For the shepherds to be the first ones God had told (aside from the baby's parents) was definitely ironic to say the least.

That's another thing I love about God: he's got a great sense of humor.

And here comes the part we all know. Say it with me now ;)

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'"

Then tons more angels joined them and sang praises to God!

So, with that, the shepherds decided to go and see what the angels had been talking about. And they went into Bethlehem and found the stable, and WHOA! There *is* a little baby here, just like the angels said! (Shocker, right? ;D)

I can only imagine what Mary was thinking now. I'm sure she was overjoyed with Jesus, and I really don't think she minded having random shepherd guys show up at her "doorstep". I do think she might have been a little frightened, though. I mean, having your first child is supposed to be MONUMENTAL already, so imagine the huge burden it would be to have the SON OF GOD. The random shepherds showing up was probably a whole 'nother level of eye-opening to Mary. She was holding the Son of God in her arms, only a few hours old, and already he was drawing people to himself.

It’s a beautiful story, is it not? It has everything a good story should: love, adventure, realism, excitement, irony, and even a little baby. But not just any little baby.

The baby that grew up and saved my life.

But that's another story ;)

~Kendra

Today's Post :D

The past couple of days have been somewhat of a pleasant surprise. Instead of having four days to get my school work done, this final week of school this semester is only TWO days.

Nothing like having your work load doubled and your time to do it cut in half, right?

I didn't think it'd be that bad until I started looking at all the stuff I had to do yesterday...XD It looks pretty bad.

But having to buckle down and work has actually made me buckle down and work. Weird how that works, isn't it? I actually did school yesterday night, which basically never happens. I usually get sick of everything and quit around 4 o'clock.

Today, I got up at a good time and really hit the books. I've been working steadily since 9 o'clock (so 7 hours, 'cause I took about an hour for lunch etc.). I'm still not where my schedule says I should be, but realistically, I'm doing great.

I'm planning to get up tomorrow like it's a normal school day and work until the Wake Forest game.

Did you catch that? WAKE. FOREST. GAME.

My awesome friend Kirsten invited me and my dad to go with her and her dad :D I'm extremely excited and having fun thinking up ways to show team spirit. At the risk of sounding hopelessly girly, I'll tell you that I have it all planned to wear my gold and black eyeliner...

Ways to Get Away from Pushy Salespeople (from Consumer Reports magazine XD):
241. Say you're just looking. Most likely they won't want to waste their time on you.
242. Be decisive. Either tell them you're ready to check out, or that you'll look on your own and let them know if you have a question.
243. Say you're comparison shopping. You'll seem like a savvy shopper not easily impressed by slick talk.
244. Use body language. Don't smile or make eye contact.
245. Be direct. If a salesperson is being rude, ask them if they're having a rough day. It'll make them check their behavior.
246. Go elsewhere.
247. Give a canned answer. When a salesperson asks you one of those right-out-of-a-book questions ("Would you like to save a hundred dollars today?"), give them an out-of-a-book answer--or two or three ("No thank you, excuse me, goodbye.").
248. Develop "the look." You know what I mean. The look of hitting the mall with a toddler. A cross between exasperation and madness.
249. Ask for a business card.
(there were only 9 suggestions, so the following comes straight from me XD)
250. Ask ridiculous and slightly annoying questions. (Do you know who first invented the fork? Are the toilets for sale by any chance? Can you direct me to the book on liger metabolism?)

Stories I've Started:
251. Cammie and Cousins
252. The Girl and the Ring
253. The Fire Fairy stories
254. The Mirror
255. A Tale of Ethnoc
256. Dream Come True
257. Desirae Mayes
258. Tunder
259. The Magic Ring
260. Vega

Poems I've Written:
261. Twins
262. My Guy
263. To Baffle the Bilious Bureaucracy
264. Broken Heart Summer
265. Kings and Dragons
266. Lines
267. Colors
268 The Globe and the Map
269. The Elven Lady’s Plea
270. 50 Word Friday

~Kendra

Second Person Singular

Have you ever written notes to yourself? Just any kind of notes. Letters to yourself in the future, or story ideas in second person?

I've written letters to myself in the future. When I was thirteen, I wrote a note to myself to read when I was sixteen.

There's something really great about doing that. When you read the note, you're more than just reminded of how you used to be; it's like hearing from a different person. It's like who you are now is completely different from who you were then. It's like seeing yourself from another person's point of view; and who hasn't wished they could do that at one time or another?

Today, I was jotting down ideas for a story that popped into my head. I found myself writing sort of TO myself. Saying things like "this is where you put in the weird stuff that'll happen" and "you don't know why yet, but she decides to keep it a secret." I just replaced all the "I"s with "you"s, and the difference was strange.

When I read back over my notes, the ideas felt different. Just the simple word change transformed my scrambled thoughts from "just something I wrote down" to "someone's fascinating ideas." When I my words were talking to me instead of being an extension of me, I was able to look at the thoughts more objectively.

It's hard to see yourself as others see you. But if I write to myself, when I read it over, it feels like someone telling me about their story, not me reading my own stuff. And it's like seeing myself as a separate person.

I probably sound a little crazy right now, but you should try it. Write a letter to yourself to read in a month, a year, or ten years. Talk to the "Future You" like a separate person. Or write down a story idea substituting the word "you" for the word "I." I think you'll see what I mean.

Who knew second person singular could be so exciting?

~Kendra

Contest

So. I have a challenge/contest for you. But I also need help. This contest serves three purposes:

Purpose 1: I've never held a contest like this before, so it's a first. W00T!
Purpose 2: Exercise your creativity. You need it. I'm doing you a favor.
Purpose 3: I need this for a story idea.

Who: IF YOU'RE READING THIS YOU MUST DO IT. MWAHAHHAHA. Not really. But please do. It'll only be really fun if a lot of people do it. All you people who read faithfully and never comment, this is your day to comment.

What: A funny family contest. Everyone's family is weird. Some more than others, but we're all weird.

I need your funny stories.

Your little incidents. That one relative and how they always do (you fill in the blank). How you can count on your aunt to start a food fight, or the way your uncle never calls anyone by their real name. Stuff like that.

Tell me, and I'll post some of my favorites, and maybe put it in this story... (if you don't mind, I'll ask you first). I'll also give you credit if my story ever gets anywhere XD

Oh yeah. And an award. I think that's pretty standard for blog contests :D

When: RIGHTNOW. And until, oh, I don't know...til next Saturday. The 24th.

Where: Here. You can post your stories or funny bits as comments, or you can email them to me at livinglovinglaughinglearning@gmail.com.

Why: I covered that already in the little Purposes thing.

How: That's kinda with Where. So scroll up if you missed that.

Please do it. Even if you think you have nothing to offer, try. Oh, and here's the best part:

They don't actually have to be true. You can make them up! Of course, when you get your imagination going, you might decide to keep the ideas for your own stories! That's awesome too, but if you wouldn't mind, tell me anyway just for the contest part. I won't use anything unless it's okay with you.

So yeah. I know this was sudden and really jumbled, but...do it XD I'll know if you didn't. There is a page views thingie and a thingie that tells where you are in the sidebar >:D

~Kendra

Sol: The Peacemaker and Something-About-Truth (I need help thinking of word for this.)

Meet Sol (and Aiden, but his own introduction is coming later). His God-given power? Sol can discern truth and has a deep desire for peace.

Sit back. Relax. Here's to Sol.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Sol put his head in his hands. All around him the noise of high-schoolers eating lunch and gossiping filled his ears and turned his stomach. Didn’t it bother anyone else how much spitefulness and deceit went on between “friends”?

“Sol?” A boy named Brandon clapped his friend on the shoulder. Sol blinked and raised his head.

“What?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

Sol rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger and grunted. “No. Sorry. What’d you say?”

“I said I talked to Rachel.,” Brandon repeated, obviously impatient. “About what you saw. With her and Michael Hendricks?” Sol felt a frown come together over his nose.

“Yeah. What’d she say?”

Brandon smiled, almost a smirk. “You were wrong. There’s nothing going on between them.”
Sol fought the urge to raise his eyebrows sarcastically. He had never had a good feeling about Brandon’s girlfriend, but after seeing her and the star basketball player locking lips in a corner, he’d had something concrete to tell his friend.

“You believe her?” he asked, almost gently. Brandon’s eyes narrowed.

“Of course I believe her. She’s my girlfriend. And you’re the one who’s always ranting about how relationships are built on trust. Jeez, man.” Sol frowned.

“That’s true,” he admitted, turning away. “I guess if you really think she’s being honest.” Brandon’s eyes narrowed again.

“I do.”

Sol shrugged. “Okay.”

Brandon ignored his moody friend and engaged in another conversation. Sol was secretly relieved. He hated to tell his friend that he knew Rachel was lying. Even if he hadn’t seen the girl making out in a corner, he would have known. Sol considered himself a good judge of character. He almost always was. The minuet he’d seen Brandon’s girlfriend, the word “snake” had popped into his mind.

Sol sighed quietly and absentmindedly ate a Frito.

Suddenly, something happened across the cafeteria, making Sol turn his head sharply to see. He frowned and scanned the back wall of the room, looking for something that would have gotten his attention. Had someone called his name? No, that wasn’t it…No one had dropped a tray or shouted or fallen, or even come into the room. Everything looked perfectly undisturbed.

“What?” Brandon grunted, nudging Sol. “What’re you looking at?”

“I dunno,” Sol said, still searching the room. “Thought I heard something I guess.” Brandon, uninteresting once again, turned back to his conversation. But Sol kept looking in the direction his reflexes had pointed him in.

After another moment, he turned back to his lunch. There was nothing to see. Everything was average in the cafeteria, nothing unusual, unless you counted that boy who’d banged into Ashlyn the other day. He wasn’t looking too good; kind of green and freaked out.

The bell rang; lunch was over. Sol packed his trash into his paper lunch bag and headed for the trashcan. In his back pocket, his phone vibrated. He tossed the brown bag into the garbage and took out his phone. Text message. From…Ashlyn??

Sol frowned and opened the message, walking towards the door.

Fell asleep in English and had a Dream. About you. I think you might be “blessed” too.

Sol stopped in his tracks, making a freshmen girl bump into him. Feelings of shock and almost horror washed over him. Blessed? Him too? With what? He didn’t dream the future. He didn’t do anything special.

He was about to hit “reply” when he turned immediately to the far corner of the cafeteria. His eyebrows rose. It was that boy. He was alone, standing against the wall near the corner of the room. His face was carefully controlled, but he seemed alarmed. Sol sensed his unease strongly, like waves of turmoil washing over him.

Sol frowned. What in the world…?

Everyone was gone from the cafeteria now except for a few stragglers who were on their way. Sol pocketed his phone and warily walked towards the boy.

The boy noticed him almost immediately and pulled out his phone. His fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard, but Sol didn’t think he was really texting.

“Hey, you alright?” Sol asked when he was almost to the guy. The boy looked up, pretending to be surprised.

“What? Uh, yeah. Why?” He seemed on edge to Sol, like he was trying to play something off.

Sol shrugged, his hands in his jeans pockets. “You looked freaked.” The boy snickered and tossed his slightly long hair out of his eyes.

“Nah. I’m good.” He went back to his fake text message and headed for the door, then turned back to Sol. “Okay, this might sound really weird, but…” Sol waited, silently eager. “…do you have any siblings or something?”

Sol deflated a little. “Yeah. You’ve met Ashlyn, kinda. You ran into her the other day.”

The boy nodded, smiling a half smile, and continued to move towards the door. “Right. Yeah. Thought you looked kinda familiar.”

Sol’s eyebrows twitched in acknowledgement. “I’m Sol.”

The boy snorted. “Hi, Sol,” he said, almost mockingly. “What is this? AA?”

Sol’s eyes narrowed, making him look almost formidable. The boy raised his hand slightly.

“Sorry. I’m Aiden. But really, you should stop going up and playing shrink to people. It’s creepy.” He opened the door with a shoved of his shoulder and disappeared, leaving Sol alone and feeling slightly embarrassed.

“Guess that was weird of me,” he muttered to himself, heading out himself. He mentally kicked himself. When was he going to stop feeling the need to fix things all the time?
~~~~~~~~~~~
PleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePlease criticize it! :D Or question it. Or point out typos. Or, if you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO, compliment it ;)

~Kendra

Ashlyn: The Prophetess

Today is legit Character Day :D

Okay, I know I'm supposed to do something different ever day, but would you guys mind too much if I focused on those four characters for a while? Sort of a temporary obsession, I guess. Y'all know how I get :)

Anyway, I know the profiles give a general idea of what the characters are like, but nothing captures someone's personality like seeing them in action, you know? So, I think I'm going to post pieces of the story that give you an idea of what each character is like, sort of each character's introduction. Is that okay with you guys? I mean, I know it's my blog, but...I like to post things that interest you!

However, since today is actually Character Day, I'll just go ahead and post Ashlyn's "introduction".

This part of the story takes place near the beginning, after you've gotten to see Ashlyn's power in action. (And apparently Sol and Ashlyn have an older, college-aged sister named Amy. Sorry. They didn't tell me that when I wrote the profiles. *eyeroll* I know, right? Characters.)

Note: Questions, comments, criticism always extremely welcome. I like to hear that you hate my stuff just as much as I like to hear that you love it. Just the fact that you're sharing with me what you think is awesome. Please, don't hesitate :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashlyn held her mug of hot chocolate in both hands, soaking in the warmth. She felt very small curled up on the couch of her living room. Her conflicting thoughts raged, making it impossible for her tense shoulders to relax.

Dang it, Ashlyn thought angrily, a tear running down her cheek. This is my spring break. My time off of school. My time to relax. So why can’t I?

She knew why. She knew it was the Dreams that wouldn’t let her enjoy church. The Visions that made her push God away in prayer. The Premonitions that made reading the Bible feel hypocritical.

Why was this happening to her? She wasn’t this kind of person! What had she done? How had she gotten into the occult without even realizing it? The Bible condemned psychics. It said they were of the devil, demonic, satanic, didn’t it? How could she be that kind of person?

And then, at the same time, there was that smug love of her internal conflict. That part of her that reveled in the power of seeing the future. That feeling of being superior to other, lowly people who weren’t special like her. She liked the drama of wrestling with her ability.

Ashlyn loved her power, and she hated it. She loved being powerful, but she hated the thought of being damned to Hell because of it.

She frowned. How messed up is that? The only reason I’m not completely in love with my power is because I’m afraid of burning for all eternity?

She brushed away the tears and looked to Sol on the other end of the couch, caught up his book. He looked at peace, like he always did. A fierce, angry jealousy gripped Ashlyn. Why was he so close to God and she wasn’t? Sol never had satanic premonitions that would damn him to the lake of fire. Because being a psychic would do that.

Wouldn’t it?

“Sol…”

He looked up, his wide brown eyes so open and carefree. Ashlyn fought the urge to strike out in jealousy. She felt her face twitch in her efforts to contain her tears. She looked away.

Sol looked surprised. “Ash. Are you okay?” He reached out to her, but she flinched away, sloshing hot chocolate onto her sweatpants.

“Yes!” she snapped, setting her mug on the table. She swiped at the brown spot on her thigh. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I just…” She wound her hand into the front of her hair in frustration. “Sol, the Bible says psychics are satanic, doesn’t it?”

Sol blinked. “Er…y—”

He stopped. Something wasn’t right about “yes”. He was suddenly not sure that was the correct answer.

“No,” he began slowly, beginning to realize something he hadn’t before. “No, I don’t think it does. I think it says you shouldn’t go to them. Don’t seek them out. And I think it depends on what you mean by ‘psychic’.”

“Someone who sees the future,” Ashlyn breathed, her eyes wide and intense. Sol leaned his head back at an angle, slowly taken aback.

“You. You see the future?” He raised his eyebrows as he said it. Ashlyn felt a shock of adrenaline run down her spine. All the anger drained out of her face, leaving only fearful desperation.

“I think I might,” she whispered, not meeting her brother’s eyes. “Don’t tell anyone. Please.”

Sol didn’t say anything for a long time. He believed her—he could always tell when his sister was lying—and he believed that she was right—he could usually tell when something was true or not.

“Joseph,” he said finally. He gave a firm nod. “With the coat of many colors. Joseph was psychic.”

Ashlyn looked up suddenly, meeting Sol’s eyes. “Oh, yeah,” she breathed. “Joseph…”

“God used Joseph for His purpose. That was God-given Sight. There was nothing satanic about that.”

“Oh, yeah…”

“But that’s different from your typical psychic, the ones who try weird stuff like summoning demons and talking to the dead and black magic.”

“Yes…”

“So, no. No, the Bible doesn’t condemn the ability to see the future. Like all power, what matters is where it came from, and how you use it.”

Ashlyn stared at Sol, her eyes wide and clear. Sobs of relief made her body shake. “I think you’re right,” she said through her sudden tears. “So…so, I’m not…a bad person? I’m not un…unchristian or unclean or satanic or damned to Hell?”

Each personal accusation she spoke seemed like a separate blow to Sol.

“No!” he cried, putting his hand on her curled knee. “Ash, no. I mean,” he gave a modest shrug, “I’m not God, I’m not even a pastor, I’m not trained in…Biblical analysis, but based on what I can see in the Bible, and in you, you aren’t anti-Christ.”

Ashlyn covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. When she lowered her hands, she was the normal Ashlyn: calm, confident, and in control.

“I guess the question now is, what do I do?”

“You might want to put on some clean sweatpants,” said Amy as she walked through the room. “What’s that brown stuff all over your leg?”

Ashlyn wrinkled her nose at her older sister’s back. “It’s hot chocolate, thank you,” she said, sticking out her tongue.

Sol laughed until Ashlyn turned to him with one eyebrow raised. He cleared his throat and tried to put on a serious face. “What do you do? Honestly?”

Ashlyn nodded impatiently. Sol leaned in to her.

“I don’t know.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like I said, questions, comments, criticism...let me know :) Thanks.

Advice Day and Character Profile: Aiden

First, I got the Creative Writing Award from the awesome Pam Calvert! My jaw actually dropped when I got it XD I was quite surprised. Here's the awesome award:

I am now awarding...

Kyle
Sam
KnightWing
Lia (but her blog is private)
and
Chris

Now. Advice Day...

Advice: I advise you to read this post ;)

I know, I know, that's cheating, but there's just one more character to go before I've introduced my little cast!

I'm somewhat having trouble finding a picture to represent Aiden, but this is close:
1. Name: Aiden Jacob Johnson
2. Age: 16
3. Birthday: July 9th 1993
4. Family: Mom; older brother, Brent
5. Hair color: black
6. Hair length: slightly long for a guy
7. Hair style: slightly shaggy
8. Eye color: brown
9. Height: medium, 5'10”
10. Body type: kind of...medium
11. Loves: music
14. Hates: nosy people
13. Strength: usually good self-control
14. Weakness: when his anger does show, he has a very bad temper
15. Sucker for: little kids
16. Irritated by: bullies
17. Wants most: to get rid of his Sight.

God-given power: Aiden can see demons.

Truth Revealed and Character Profile: Skye

Hello :) I didn't have school today. Yay :D

AND I wrote about 2000 words in that story I've been posting about, also yay :D

Okay, now to answer yesterday's Fact or Fiction Day question:

Question: Is marijuana addictive?

Answer: No. Fiction.

Only Tragedy101 and Milli got it right! Good job, you guys!

To answer the question further, it depends on how you define "addictive". Marijuana isn't addictive like nicotine, but it can become a habit. Just about anything can become that kind of "addictive". But technically, nope, marijuana isn't addictive.

However, it does pose tons of obvious health risks, so I would highly recommend you don't go out and start smoking it. Oh, yeah, and it's illegal XD

Now, because I'm really into this story right now, I'm going to ditch Memory Day (*gasp*) and do another character profile :)

1. Name: Elizabeth Skye Daniels (goes by Skye)
2. Age: 15 (almost)
3. Birthday: February 12th 1995
4. Family: Mom; Dad (divorced); little brother, Mark
5. Hair color: blonde/strawberry blonde
6. Hair length: medium-long
7. Hair style: thick and straight with short side bangs
8. Eye color: blue
9. Height: small, 5'1”
10. Body type: petite
11. Loves: languages
12. Hates: kill joys
13. Strength: very smart and cheerful
14. Weakness: innocence
15. Sucker for: foreign languages/accents
16. Irritated by: rudeness
17. Wants most: her parents to get back together

God-given power: Speaking in Tongues (Skye can speak, read, write, and understand any language naturally.)

Picture Day: Sol

(I had this post prepared last night, but Blogger wasn't letting me post it. So, here's the post for yesterday; today's post coming later :D)

Yes, I realize that using a picture of a character and then talking about the character is cheating for Picture Day. Deal with it ;P I'm too into these guys right now to quit.

Name: Solomon Bricker
Age: 16
Birthday: July 18th
Hair color: very dark brown
Hair style: short, slightly curly
Eye color: brown
Height: 6'
Build: athletic
Loves: practical jokes
Hates: liars
Strength: highly perceptive
Weakness: people-pleaser
Sucker for: honesty
Irritated by: purposeless arguing
Wants most: God's will

God0-given power: peacemaker, truth

Character Day: Ashlyn

Name: Ashlyn Sophie Bricker
Age: 16
Birthday: July 18th
Hair color: very dark brown
Hair style: long, straight, straight bangs
Eye color: murky blue-green
Height: 5'8"
Build: athletic
Loves: action
Hates: goody-goodies
Strength: passion and persuasion
Weakness: lacks tact
Sucker for: flattery
Irritated by: total innocence
Wants most: justice

There's a lot of information about Ashlyn, but the most important thing about this Child of God? That's not something any standard fill-out asks.

God-given power: prophecy

Some people don't believe God still gives out "real" gifts. Tell that to Ashlyn and her twin brother, Solomon. While you're at it, tell their friends Aden and Skye, too. They might disagree.

The Dark Side of Power
In a fallen world, can God show His glory through four chosen teenagers?

Stay tuned for more character clips from my latest project ;)

Character Day: Cosa and Degan

Today has been arguably better than yesterday, and...um, actually, I kinda don't really wanna talk about it.

So, Character Day:

Say hello to my WIP (Work In Progress) twins! I made up the names a long time ago (last February, I posted about 'em HERE and HERE), but they came back to me a couple of days ago. Will they ever amount to anything? It's hard to say, but for right now, they have my full attention!

Apparently I had a plot idea back in February, but that remains to be remembered. It can't have been THAT good then, right? XD

I still don't have a story to stick these two twins in, but they're working on it. In math, I had an idea for a story called "Castles and Cottages" (working title), and I came up with a couple of ideas for it. Maybe Cosa and Degan belong there? *shrug* We'll see.

Cosa
Not a typical Kendra Main Girl Character. For the most part, my characters are strong-willed, kick-butt, pretty and out to break the rules for the greater good. Cosa breaks the stereotypical Kendra Mold.

While she's very clever and not exactly one to go with the flow, she's quieter. Her style is quiet and unassuming, her voice is low. She's stubborn, but more likely to try to change herself than persuade others to change.

Degan
Degan is my attempt at a non-Kendra-stereotypical guy. I've always felt like than in literature lately, the guy twin is the quieter one, the more passive one. I think that was an attempt to break the original stereotype of guys being the louder and more aggressive. However, that original stereotype has been broken, and now there's a NEW stereotype: the guy is the quieter one.

Well, Degan speaks for the twins. He and Cosa are really close, but I guess their relationship and personalities kind of fit the original stereotype...but since that stereotype was broken, does that still make them stereotypical...?

Have I confused you? 'Cause I think I've confused myself XD (Actually, no, that was just being polite. I'm actually not confused. But I am COLD -_-)

Whatever. More about Degan. He is...a bit wild and rash and protective of Cosa. He has a soft spot for little kids, and hates spiders.

(I did NOT just make all that up on the spot... >.>)

Anyway, that was a very jumbled Character Day! Hope you found it worth reading XD

The Story of Cinderbelle (read previous post, too please :D)

I feel the need to explain my desire to change my username.

Cinderbelle is my new favorite nickname (courtesy of Cavender XD). Actually, my only favorite nickname. Most of mine are really annoying and/or embarrassing (with the exception of TSGIW :P)

The name came when I was having to do an insane amount of chores one day. I was complaining to Cavender, who called me Cinderella.

I pointed out that I was definitely not Cinderella, because she was a lot more gracious about chores than I am XD We'd already established the fact that Belle was basically the Disney version of me, so he suggested instead:

CINDERBELLE.

And voila, Cinderbelle is born.

~Kendra

13 Christmas Legends

First of all, let me draw your attention to the poll on the right! Can we get all 80 followers to vote? Well? CAN WE? Yes or No? ;)

The Open House was today! Lots of goodies and even more friends! Wow, I had a great day! We had an amazing guest band at church called "Ember". (Ironic and awesome, right, all you FF?) The band was made up of kids ages 15-college freshmen. Boy, were they on fire for God! When I see people like that, it gets me so excited! I wanna be like these people! The lead singer/lead guitarist used to play the drums for my church a few years ago; that's how we know them. Yeah, he's super talented. He plays the drums, guitar (acoustic and electric, obviously), piano, bass, and he sings! He might do more and I just don't know about it, haha! But anyway, that was a great start to a great day.

Next was the Open House. That was so much fun. We teens hung out downstairs until the little kids invaded our territory (lols), and then we were forced out into the freezing screened-in porch. We played LotR Risk! I had no idea how to play. This guy named Jes and Daniel tried to teach me and Brianna how to play. Well, apparently, the colored spaces are divided into even smaller spaces. I didn't know that. (It all seems painfully obvious now.) I didn't really get it, and Jes was giving me Matt Lessons (those I-Won't-Really-Tell-You-What-To-Do-Just-What-You're-Doing-Wrong lessons), and I kept putting my guys in his "territories". Of course this is before he told me about territories.

And then he had to explain how the archers are 1, the cavalry are 5, and the eagles are 10. Well, I started calling the numbers "points", just so I could call them something when explaining them to Brianna, but NOOOOOOO they're not "points", which is apparently very important to Jes and Daniel.

I was about to give up and call it a "boy's game", but I stuck it out and actually beasted up some territories, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I did especially well considering they kept picking on the territories where I had only one lonely little guy. LOLS, the whole thing was just really hilarious, but I think it's a "you had to be there" thing. Sorry for wasting your time, lol!

Then we played charades, with Katie ("little sister") telling us all what to be. I was a house, Rudolf, a window and a book among other things. Haha, someone was a bookshelf, and Katie took it upon herself to be snow. She stood on a chair and launched herself scrunched into a ball. *shakes head while smiling* Ya gotta love that will-be-eleven-in-36-hours girl :)

So then I texted this guy named Daniel (not the usual Daniel) for a while as my family and I ate "real" food and watched Cosby.

The day was awesome. Playing Risk is like the best thing ever. It was really, really, really funny, but a definite "had to be there" thing unfortunately.

Okay, now for what you've really be waiting for: the Christmas Countdown!

THERE ARE ONLY THIRTEEN DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!! OMG!!

Hmm, what should I do thirteen of?

Well, thirteen is supposed to be a "creepy" number, so why not something sort of mysterious? Thirteen Christmas Legends anyone? (The four with the * are the ones I suggest checking out!)

1. The Story of Black Peter

2. The Snow Maiden and Grandfather Frost

3. *Legends of Nature at the Nativity

4. The Christmas Spider

5. *The True Story of Santa Claus

6. The Magi

7. Twas the Night Before Christmas

8. The Legend of the Boar

9. The Legend of the Evergreen Trees

10. *The Legend of Mistletoe

11. The Legend of the Nutcracker

12. *The Legend of Christmas Stockings

13. The Legend of the Candy Cane

MERRY THIRTEEN-DAYS-UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Predictable Love Stories

I saw New Moon for the second time today! (TEAM JACOB <3) I went with Kathleen (my eighteen-year-old cousin) and Lizzy (my thirteen-year-old sister). Lizzy liked it okay, but it was kind of intense for her and she had trouble following the story. *shrug-sigh* Kathleen really liked it.

It was good the second time, but SOO infinitely much better the first. There's nothing like seeing a good movie for the first time. All the lines hit you, and you don't know what's going to happen next. Jacob's line that almost made me bawl the first time didn't bring tears to my eyes this time around. Still, it was good. I don't really want to see it again for a while, but it was good.

Keeping with the theme of love stories, I'd like to talk about something I've been thinking about lately: predictability in romances.

Let's face it: you can pretty much tell who will end up with whom ten minutes into a movie, or four chapters into a book. The average girl and the new guy. The new girl and the bad boy. The rocker and the ballet dancer. The human and the vampire :) We still like the stories and movies, but we often sigh at how obvious the outcome is.

One of my personal goals is to write an unpredictable romance. But then I got to thinking...

That would kind of suck.

I mean, we all clamber for some surprises, and surprises are great, but wouldn't you feel bummed if the main character suddenly ditched the crowd favorite went with the underdog? Some of you scream "NO!". But think about it. Some characters were just obviously meant to be together, and you'd be ticked off it the plot messed that up.

Star Wars: Han Solo and Leia. JUST KIDDING, Leia decides to marry Lando Calrissian instead.
Twilight: Edward and Bella. Edward changes his mind and ends up with Jane Volturi.
Cinderella: Cinderella and Prince Charming. Prince Charming ditches Cinderella and marries Drusilla.
You've Got Mail: Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox. Kathleen decides that Joe's not for her and sticks with Frank.

...wouldn't all that kind of SUCK?

Of course, there are some movies that don't end like we expect them to (Casablanca, Gone With the Wind) and they're still good and famous. But we do feel sort of bummed after seeing them for the first time.

I guess my point is, we complain about predictability, but if anyone ever really writes or films a completely unpredictable story, you leave the theater with a curled lip muttering about how crappy it was.

I think we as humans like predictability, whether we like to admit it or not.

So, my challenge to write an unpredictable love story just got that much more challenging:

Write an unpredictable love story that people LIKE.

:)

The Magic Ring Part II

The Magic Ring
Written at age 12-13
Total number of words: 4,214
Words in this installment: 597

Personal Ratings (1-10):
Plot: 5.5
Style: 7
For last installment, click HERE!

Part II:

At five twenty-five, the door bell rang. Katelyn jumped up before her mother could offer to answer it, glad for an excuse to escape. She flung open the front door. It was Caroline and her mother, Mrs. Kirk. They had both moved from London almost two years before. Most of their accents were gone, but occasionally, an English sounding word would slip in. They used words like “lovely” and “horrid” and “repulsive”. They also still called cookies “biscuits” and said some other things differently. Caroline had a brother named Nathan, but after her parents divorced, he stayed with Mr. Kirk in England.

“Caroline! Mrs. Kirk! Boy, am I glad to see you!” Mrs. Kirk gave Katelyn an odd look, but said.

“Thank you, dear. We’re thankful to you for inviting us. It was a lovely thought.” Caroline smiled.

“I couldn’t wait this whole week for today!” she announced. “Since school is out and everything, we never get to see much of each other.” Katelyn led the two guests to the living room.

Everyone, this is my friend Caroline and her mother, Janice,” she told the room full of people. Mrs. Mullen stood up and guided Mrs. Kirk to a chair and the two of them began talking. Katelyn wished she could just take Caroline up to her room and talk, but she knew that would be rude. She and Caroline shared the big armchair Katelyn had been sitting in.

At six o clock, Mrs. Mullen announced that dinner was ready. Everyone went into the dining room and sat down. Mr. Mullen still wasn’t home. Dinner was chicken, mashed potatoes, rolls, strawberries and a chocolate cake for dessert. Katelyn ate and ate. Finally, everyone was finished. Mr. Mullen still wasn’t home. Katelyn was pretty mad since it was her special day, but she didn’t say anything.

“Why don’t we go into the living room and save dessert for when your dad gets home?” suggested Mrs. Mullen to Katelyn. Katelyn nodded. “Okay,” she agreed. “But can we do presents now?” Gram clicked her tongue at Katelyn. Katelyn knew it had been slightly rude to ask, but she couldn’t help herself. Mrs. Mullen looked at Katelyn for a minute.

“Okay,” she consented.

“Yea!” Katelyn exclaimed. She ran into the living room. Everyone followed. Caroline handed Katelyn her gift.

“You’re going to love it,” she said. Katelyn had no doubt. Caroline always knew just what to get. Katelyn tore into the paper. She gasped. It was a beautiful journal with a pack of gel pens to go with it!

“Oh, thank you! Thank you!” Katelyn squealed. She hugged Caroline as hard as she could. “I’m almost finished with the journal I have now!” Caroline smiled even bigger.

“You told me that last week,” she said. “I bet you forgot.” Katelyn nodded. She had. But Caroline always remembered everything.

“You’re the best!” Katelyn shrieked. Caroline blushed. Gram made a little noise in her throat. Katelyn looked at her.

“We have a small gift for you as well, Katelyn Elizabeth,” she announced. Katelyn smiled.

“Thank you,” she said politely, taking the small box from Gram’s shriveled little hand. It was wrapped in proper looking burgundy wrapping paper with a gold cord around it. Katelyn unwrapped the box carefully and opened it. It looked like a jewelry box, the kind that rings come in. Katelyn slowly opened the box and prepared to be dazzled by its beauty and wonder how such awful grandparents could give such a lovely present. The lid came all the way up and the ring was revealed. Katelyn was speechless.

FUNNEST TAG EVER!!

I was not tagged, but I couldn't help but do this when I saw it on Earwen's blog! Sorry if this is cheating! I couldn't help myself ;)

First, list twelve characters from any fandom, then answer the questions below.

Characters (pictures conveniently added for your viewing pleasures):
1. Eragon ("Eragon")
2. Darren (from my book, "The Mirror")
3. Paige (from my book, "The Mirror")
4. Luken (from my book, "The Mirror")
5. Jace ("The Mortal Instruments Trilogy")
6. Soraya ("The Farsala Trilogy")
7. Kavi ("The Farsala Trilogy")
8. Shang ;) (Mulan)
9. Will Turner (Pirates of the Caribbean)
10. Murtagh ("Eragon")
11. Jane Eyre ("Jane Eyre". I'm reading it for school.)
12. Jacob Black (*sigh* Yes, from "TWILIGHT".)

(Yes, I am aware that there are only 3 girls. Stop harassing me.)

Now for the questions...

1. Who would make a better collage prof, 6 or 11?
Oh my goodness, 11 by FAR!! Jane Eyre is actually a teacher! And Soraya is unfailingly impatient.

2. Do you think #2 is hot?
Darren? Shoot yeah! ;)

3. 12 sends 8 out on a mission. What is it? Does it succeed?
I totally laughed out loud. Jacob Black orders Captain Shang on a mission? Hmm, mission: Take down Victoria so she won't kill Bella (let's say Edward is gone). Jacob can't protect Bella himself because he's been ordered by the Alpha for some reason not to. Does the mission succeed? Hmm, I really want to say yes, but no. Vampire Woman against human Captain Shang? No amount of strength, honor and bravery can save him from her!

4. What is or what would be 9's favorite book?
Will Turner's? I don't know actually.

5. Would it make more since for 2 to swear fealty to 6, or the other way around?
Hmm, Darren swearing fealty to Soraya, or vice versa? Darren swearing to Soraya, I think. Soraya is near royalty, and Darren would be a capable aid to her.

6. For some reason, 5 is looking for a roommate. Should (s)he room with 9 or 10?
I love this one! Should Jace room with Will Turner or Murtagh? I think Jace and Murtagh might get along rather well, actually...

7. 2, 7 and 12 are going out to dinner. Where do they go and what do they discuss?
Darren, Kavi, and Jacob Black. I LOVE THAT! Where do they go? I'm going to go with JP Looneys. What do they talk about? Well, Darren and Jacob are both from here and now, so that's not too hard, but Kavi is from the Middle East-ish and a long time ago...Well, regardless, I bet they find SOME way to talk sports XD

8. 3 challenges 10 to a duel, who wins?
LOLS!!!!! Paige vs. Murtagh? I'm sorry, Paige, but you have no chance.

9. If 1 stole 8's most precious possession, how would (s)he get it back?
Eragon steals from Shang...I suppose Shang would hunt Eragon down and corner him and ask him to give it back. From what you can gather from a Disney movie, Shang is a very act-now-ask-later kind of person. Strength, bravery and honor always.

10. Suggest a story title in which 7 and 12 both attain what they desire.
Kavi and Jacob. What does Kavi want most? The best thing for his people, justice. What does Jacob want? Bella (lol). So the title of the book would be...Love and War.

11. What kind of plot device would you have to use if you wanted 1 and 4 to work together?
Eragon and Luken working together? Well, since Eragon has some experience working with Elves and their peculiarities, that might not be too difficult. Although, Luken's arrogant attitude is enough to drive anyone crazy.

12. If 7 visited you for the weekend, how would it go?
KAVI!!! *hyperventilates* I love him!! Well, as a character. Um, it would probably go rather disappointingly, though. He's not a very sociable person and I'm much younger than he is (he's 19-20). I would definitely ask him lots of questions about being a spy and a peasant, etc., but I can't imagine him being more than vaguely interested in visiting.

13. If you could command 3 to perform any service or task for you, what would it be?
Oh, Paige. Um, maybe pull a few strings and get me to Sorayoni?

14. Does anyone on your friends list write or draw 11?
Jane Eyre? Um, no. She's not a very well-known character among people my age, lol!

15. If 2 had to choose sides between 4 and 5, what side would (s)he choose?
Darren choosing between Luken and Jace? Oh, WOW, this is good. Luken and Jace are very much alike in personality, actually. Jace is much funnier and Luken more serene, though. It would depend on the issue, but in general, I almost think Darren would go with Jace...I think he could definitely relate to Jace much more. Then again, there are some things that would make Darren want to side with Luken...Probably Darren would side with Jace, though.

16. What might 10 shout out while charging into battle?
Murtagh might shout something like, "LOOK OUT GALBATORIX!" No, really, I have NO IDEA. I'm awful at that sort of thing.

17. If you had to choose a song to best describe 8, what would it be?
Shang. Uh, "I'll Make A Man Out of You", duh ;)

18. 1, 6 and 12 are having a dim sum at a Chinese Restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left, and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets it?
Eragon, Soraya, and Jacob Black. Soraya most definitely gets it. I can't imagine Eragon caring that much about a pancake, and Jacob (pre-phasing at least) is fairly happy-go-lucky. Soraya is definitely not flexible or selfless by any stretch of the imagination.

19. What would be a good pickup line for 2 to say to 10?
Um, Darren trying to pick up Murtagh...I'm thinking there would be nothing to say, LOL!

20. What would 5 most likely be arrested for?
JACE! I was hoping it'd be him :) Hmm, probably getting super angry and doing some damage to public property...No, more likely he was a smart-alec to a police officer or security guard.

21. What is 6's secret?
*whispers* She's actually still alive and the Daughter of the House of the Leopard!

22. If 11 and 9 were racing to a destination, who would get there first?
Um, Will Turner vs. Jane Eyre. I'm going with Will. It's hard to run fast in a dress :D

23. If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, who would you feel more comfortable walking with, 7 or 8?
*squeal* Kavi or Shang? I'd feel perfectly safe with either. Kavi is quite street-smart, a very good liar and could talk his way out of anything. He'd make you laugh at the same time with his dry humor, too. Of course, he's a good fighter when necessary, but with him, it probably wouldn't be necessary. Shang is your ideal Chinese warrior. Need I say more?

24. 1 and 9 reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4's sinister secret organization. 11 volunteers to help them,but it is later discovered that s/he is actually a spy for 4. Meanwhile, 4 has kidnapped 12 in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5, they seek out 3, who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fiction?

So Eragon and Will Turner team up to save the world from Luken's secret organization (completely plausible). Jane Eyre volunteers to help, but actually turns out to be a spy for Luken! Meanwhile, Luken has kidnapped Jacob black in an attempt to force his surrender. Following Jace's wise advice (haha), Eragon and Will seek out Paige who gives them what they need to complete the quest.

Title of Book: (I have NO IDEA.)

Wow, I know you probably didn't read all that, but that was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Now, I tag...
Einar
Illunse
Christopher Kolmorgen
Bethany
Hannah
Jake

Have fun!

The Magic Ring Part I

Thanks to Sarah and Maggie S (for whom I can't find a blog!) for following!! Wow, 67 is an insane number! You guys are so amazing :)

Anyway, the votes are in. After a measly 12 votes (haha, just kidding), the first partial story to be published in serial form is...

"THE MAGIC RING"!!

Lame title, I know. It's not a real title, just the working title. I only got a few thousand words into the story, so a title was kind of the last thing on my mind.

Stories to Come...
1st runner up: "A Spark of Strength" I'll do this one next; it will probably take a long time.
2nd runner up: "The Girl and the Ring" Same thing with this title; cruddy, I know.
3rd runner up: "The Strange Lives of Zillah and Ria" This is a pet story of mine; I love it :)
4th runner up: "Desirae Mayes" Poor Desirae, no one likes her. LOL, just kidding.

Alright, so now I have to decide how I want to do this. Weekly installments? Daily? If your care, leave a comment, otherwise I'll decide all on my own. >:D Mwahahaha :)

So, without further ado...

The Magic Ring
Written at age 12-13
Total number of words: 4,214

Personal Ratings (1-10):
Plot: 5.5
Style: 7

Part I:

“Katelyn!” Called Mrs. Mullen from the bottom of the steps. “Come downstairs. Your grandparents are here.” Katelyn looked up from her book with a faraway look. Slowly, her brain found its way back to Earth and she yelled,

“Coming, Mom!” Then, she grumbled to herself. “Why now? Why now at the most exciting place in the whole book?!” She sat up from laying on her stomach on her bed and snatched around on the floor for the first two dimensional object she could find. Her hand landed on a piece of wrapping paper from one of her birthday gifts from yesterday. She stuck it tightly in between the pages of the book to serve as a bookmark. Katelyn loved to read, but she could never find a real bookmark when she needed one. The book was a great, epic fantasy with dragons and evil and elves and magic—Katelyn’s favorite kind of book. The book had been a present from her fifteen year old sister Jamie on the occasion of Katelyn's long-awaited thirteenth birthday.

“Why at the best part? Why at the best part?” Katelyn kept muttering to herself. She would have rather read than eaten, much less eaten with her mother’s parents: Gram and Pap.

Gram wasn’t really the sort of person a teenage girl liked to have around. She had gray-ish black hair that would have come down to her waist if it hadn’t been tightly wound into a sensible-looking bun. She was very small and very thin and sort of shriveled-looking. Her nose was sharp and pointed and always seemed to be directed at you. Her thin, pursed lips seemed to just adore pointing out all of Katelyn's faults.

Pap was huge in every way conceived by man. He was tall and fat and loud. He was bald as a bowling ball with big ears and still went to the barber shop every month to chat with the barber and hear some gossip. He had a wide mouth that was always going—and twitching whenever it wasn’t—and he always laughed loudly at his own jokes—which were rarely humorous to anyone else. He was the kind of person who only heard himself and it was better just to smile and nod.

Katelyn slowly made her way down stairs. Gram and Pap had come for Katelyn’s birthday dinner. They and Katelyn’s best friend Caroline had been invited. Of course, Caroline would come on time. Gram and Pap were forty-five minutes early.

“There’s the teenager!” boomed Pap as Katelyn rounded the corner into the living room. Pap roared with laughter and his enormous stomach shook. Gram nodded curtly at Katelyn.

“How are you doing, Katelyn Elizabeth?” she asked rhetorically. Katelyn smiled perhaps a little too big and gave each of her grandparents a hug. It was four forty-five. Dinner would be at six… Katelyn tried to estimate how long it would be before she could get back to her book. Let’s see. An hour for dinner and an hour for talking…Eight o clock! Three hours and fifteen minutes till freedom and happiness! Katelyn’s smile froze on her lips.

Whatever happened to the pursuit of happiness?! She thought bitterly.

“Mom! Dad!” greeted Mrs. Mullen as she walked in from the kitchen. “Sit down. Roger will be here late, he had to work.” Roger was Katelyn’s dad. “Would you like anything to drink?” Pap laughed for no reason.

“I’ll have a glass of iced tea, thank ya muchly!” he said. Gram gave a small, insincere smiled.

“Nothing for me, Grace,” she said. Mrs. Mullen went to get the iced tea, leaving Katelyn alone with her grandparents. Katelyn sank into an armchair and looked around the room. A loud silence settled in the air. Katelyn stole a quick look at Gram. She was sort of smirking or something. Katelyn looked at Pap. His mouth was twitching and he looked almost like he was trying not to smile. Were they trying to make her uncomfortable?!

“Um. I like your necklace, Gram,” Katelyn complimented. She hated it.

“Thank you, dear,” Gram replied stiffly. Pap looked around the room.

“Have you folks redecorated for us?” he asked in a hokey voice.

No, and you know it, thought Katelyn. Instead she answered,

“No, Pap, I don’t think so.” More silence. Time ticked by so slowly. Katelyn felt like it had been hours. How long could it take to get iced tea, for heaven’s sake?!

“Gram! Pap!” said a smooth and beautiful impression of surprise and delight. Katelyn didn’t have to turn around to know it was Jamie, probably with eight year old Emily right behind her. Jamie glided over to her grandparents, silky brown hair swept back into a perfect, medium-length ponytail. Her blue eyes sparkled. Katelyn snickered inwardly. She knew Jamie dislike Gram and Pap as much as she did, but she was much better at hiding it.

Eight-year-old Emily was cute and sweet and loved by all. She had blonde pigtails 24/7 and perfect pink lips, reminding Katelyn disgustingly of Cindy Brady. Gram and Pap showered her with gifts, so she loved them back. Gram and Pap loved Jamie, too. Jamie was sweet and polite and always knew just what to say. Katelyn didn’t think she was so much worse than her two sisters, but she despised Gram and Pap anyway, so it didn’t really matter. Gram smiled.

“There they are!” she grinned as if they were the birthday girls instead of Katelyn.

“How are you?” asked Jamie politely.

"We’re both doing well, thank you, Jamie Michelle,” said Gram. Gram always used their full names. Emily skipped over to Gram in her cutesiest way possible and smiled.

“Hi, Grammy!” she giggled. Gram looked down at her.

“There you are, Emily Cassandra!” she cried, giving the tiny girl a hug. Mrs. Mullen came back with the tea.

"Here you go, Dad,” she said as she handed Pap the glass. Pap sipped and made a contented grunting noise.

“Delicious,” he complimented. Mrs. Mullen sat down and brought up things to talk about, and Katelyn kept wishing for a fast-forward button.

P.S. Scroll down past the Followers thing on the right and look at that awesome widget that shows all the different countries that have visited! Well, people from those countries...You know what I mean :) Actually, if you're reading this, you've already scrolled past it, so scroll up a little...a little more...a little more...THERE! ;)

Some of Just About Everything...

I'm in a good mood right now.

Table of Contents for this post as it were:
News About my Writing **mildly exciting**
School *ARE...YOU...READY...TO...GRUMBBBBBBBBLE!*
An Award from Lady Brainsample, and I tag seven people. *woot*
**HIGHLY RECOMMEND CHECKING OUT** Some blog stories I'm hooked on.

WRITING:
Big news! If I compile "Mirror" and all the random will-put-somewhere-later scenes I've written, the total comes to

102, 423 words!!

Yay!! How completely awesome is that?? *sighs dreamily* and I remember the day I hit 30,000...

I've been writing a lot lately, but not adding directly to what I have. I'm just writing random scenes that come into my mind. Maybe (hopefully) I'll use some of them in the actual book.

Hmm. Would you be interested in reading some more of those random scenes? Remember, they'll be really disjointed, and the facts might not even be right. I may never add the scenes into the book, they're just random brainstorming and phrases I've come up with. I'm definitely up for posting them if you WANT me to.

SCHOOL:
You know that presentation I've been working on? The Art Grant Project?

No?

Whatever. Anyway, I spent a long time on it. A very long time. And, if I do say so myself, it's not a bad presentation. I spent almost ALL DAY yesterday working on the poster to go with the presentation. Today I had to present it.

And I left ALL my notes AND the poster at home.

*bleep*

I was so upset. I had to completely wing my presentation. I had NOTHING. Not even the random notes I'd taken months ago. All of it was sitting on my desk. I gave a fairly disorganized presentation that lacked the ease and persuasiveness my original would have.

*sigh*

I HATE IT when stuff like this happens. I supposedly did fine, and I came in third, which isn't TERRIBLE. I still want to know if I could have done better, though, you know? And I never will. I'll never know how awesome it COULD have been.

*sigh*

AWARDS/A FOLLOWER:
So, a week or so ago, Sam started following my blog, but I couldn't find the blog, so I couldn't link back to it. Well, I found the blog, so HERE it is :) Just wanted to make sure Sam didn't feel cheated there :)
I've been awarded by the lovely Lady Brainsample! She's awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award! I'm all about creative, so that's definitely a great compliment! Thanks!

"Rules":
1. Kopy the Kreativ Blogger picture and post it on your page
2. Thank the person who gave it to you and link back to their blog
3. Write seven things about you that we don't know
4. Choose seven other bloggers that you would like to give the award to
5. Link to the bloggers that you choose
6. Let the winners know that they have the lovely award.

#1, check.
#2, check.
#3...is going to be difficult, since I'm definitely pretty open on this blog. What don't you already know?? Hmm...

1. I have a VERY low "idiot tolerance". Some call it being impatient, I prefer my term ;)
2. I am an OCD perfectionist procrastinator. Being one is hard enough. Combine all three, and you've really got your work cut out for you.
3. I hair almost down to my waist in 8th grade.
4. I not-so-secretly love metal music. (I especially love the look on peoples' faces when I tell them that XD)
5. My goal in life (well, one of many) is to write and unpredictable romance.
6. It took me thirty seconds to learn to read an analog clock (the kind with hands), and months to figure out how to read a digital one. *shrug*
7. The sight of people spitting out their toothpaste absolutely disgusts me.

Alrighty, now that we have THAT out of the way...

I award...

1. Earwen
2. KnightWing
3. Mia
4. Gracie
5. Seth
6. Mr. Puddle
7. Insanity

**NOTE** KnightWing, Seth, Mr. Puddle and Insanity: I realize this award is a bit...feminine looking :) I won't be offended if you don't display the award or anything (like I ever am, lol), I just want you to know I love your blogs!

Now all I have to do is tell everyone they've been awarded!

And the last thing I want to mention...

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Two fellow bloggers have going on some really awesome serial-style stories (hah, alliteration XD).

Earwen from Thoughts of a Shieldmaiden has an awesome story going on about Maid Marian and Robin Hood. I really don't like keeping up with blog stories that much, but Earwen has me hooked :) Check it out if you want! The link to the first installment is HERE (the post starts out as something else, keep reading, the story opens towards the middle).

And secondly, KnightWing has an awesome story going on about the Justice League as teenagers. I know basically nothing about those superheros, and I'm still loving the story so far. I definitely recommend dropping by if you want a well-written piece in a reasonable length post (none of this takes-twenty-minutes-to-read stuff). You can find his blog dedicated to these stories HERE.

That's a wrap :) Hope you've enjoyed that Conglomeration of Kendra.

End of Chapter One?

No, I'm not done with my school work.

No, I'm not finished with my cleaning chores for the week.

No, I haven't straightened my room yet.

Yes, I am posting anyway.

BECAUSE IT'S OPENING NIGHT TONIGHT!!

I gotta post on opening night, right? :)

Unfortunately, this is probably the last you'll hear from me until late Saturday afternoon. I'm spending the night with a friend so I can go to the cast party, remember?

I'm very excited, and not as depressed that it's all ending as I would have thought. I still have three cast parties to go to, and it seems like the friendships I've made might be more long-lasting that I'd at first thought.

Am I finally learning to Carpe Diem?

Even though the performances are all only beginning, I feel like I'm starting a new chapter in my life. I have no idea why; I haven't done anything different or said anything final to anyone. It's the strangest feeling. I feel like I've grown up all at once and I'm looking ahead to a blank future just waiting for me to fill it up.

Well, wish me luck! Here comes the first moment of the rest of my life...

(No, THIS is...)
(No, THIS is...)
(Haha, sorry, couldn't resist ruining that solemn moment ;P)


P.S. Thanks for following, Aaron!!

Confessions of a Chocoholic

That's not exactly what this post is about, but close enough. And it sounds cool XD
-----------------------
Advice Day:

Source: Me
Advice: "Chocolate is dangerous. Consume in moderation."
------------------------
Play practice tonight :) Yayy! I still love it.

So, I wrote my short allegory for school today. I would like to put more finishing touches on it and polish it a little more, but I only had today to do it. Might go back and work on it some more. I don't really like it, but I don't completely hate it. It's just kind of blah. I'll post it at the end of this if you want to read it, but don't feel like you have to.

Today begins the first bianual Strange Confessions Week. Because...I feel like it. *blink*

Strange Confession #1: I get hurt in my dreams.

I know what you're thinking. Wow, big deal. I've gotten shoved off a skyscraper in my dreams before, too. Not exactly a confession, and not strange either. That's all true.

But you don't actually BRUISE from falling off that dream skyscraper.

I do.

I wake up with actually bruises from stuff that happened in dreams, and scratches and sore muscles, too.

The scratches thing seems easy to explain, doesn't it? I scratched myself in the middle of the night, and then I dreamed about it. Or, I dreamed about it and then scratched myself. Either way. Unfortunately, that theory flops.

Because, flexible as I am, even I can't make several long scratches stretching from my left shoulder to my right hip, and right shoulder to left hip, and neck to back, etc. etc..

Yes, that has happened to me before. How? Why? *shrug* Who knows? Not me.

End of Strange Confession #1.

*sigh* I feel like my posts are getting weird, strange, stupid, and in other ways not...not...not something. Something about my posts is different, and I can't put my finger on it. They're almost...darker or something. Do you think so, too?

*shakes head* I don't know. I think I'm going to stop typing now. I need to figure myself out. I'm sorry for being so weird. I promise I'm going to try to get back to however it was I used to be :-/


Allegory:

“Do you realize what today is?” Rennite asked Felon as they walked home from middle school. Felon frowned, glancing at her best friend with a quizzical look.
“No,” she said, tossing her dark hair out of her eyes. “What is it?” Rennite grinned.
“It’s our two month anniversary of being best friends!” she cried. Felon smiled back.
“Oh, yeah,” she agreed. “I guess we did meet two months ago at…um, where was it?” Rennite frowned.
“Elizabeth’s birthday party,” she reminded. Felon nodded.
“Oh, yeah, that was it,” she said. “Do you want to come over to my house and celebrate?” Rennite nodded, her straight, red hair catching the sunlight.
“Absolutely,” she agreed. “A little friendship party, for just you and me!” Felon smiled as the two turned into her driveway. Rennite frowned as she spotted someone sitting on Felon’s porch.
“Who’s that?” she asked, pointing. Felon squinted.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Oh, wait, is that the girl that moved in next door to the Rileys’?” Rennite shrugged, looking a bit uneasy.
“I don’t know. Do you think we should invite her inside with us?”
Felon shrugged, too. “Let’s just see what she wants.” That seemed fair enough, so the two best friends approached the lone little girl with smiles.
“Hi!” Rennite greeted, trying to be welcoming. “What’s your name?” The girl smiled, revealing perfect white teeth. Her curly, blonde hair bounced as she got to her feet.
“Temporania,” she answered. “I just moved here.” She turned to Felon. “Our moms were talking yesterday and they think we should get to know each other, since we’re both in sixth grade and everything.”
“Oh, sure,” Felon said. She tucked a loose strand of black hair behind her ear. “Um, wanna come inside? Rennite and I were just gonna have a snack.” Temporania smile brightly.
“Sounds great!”
Rennite nibbled her lip. Oh well. They could celebrate the friendship thing later…
“I love your house!” Temporania cried, looking around. Felon smiled faintly.
“Thanks. My mom likes to decorate stuff.” Rennite nodded.
“Yeah, her mom has a great eye for colors,” she said, heading for the kitchen. The other two followed. Temporania sat down at the dining room table, Felon got out the cookies. Rennite poured everyone glasses of milk. An awkward silence hovered over the three.
“So, what school are you going to go to?” Rennite asked Temporania. Temporania swallowed the last of her third cookie and answered,
“Just the public school. Right up the road. Is that where you two go?”
“Yes,” Rennite and Felon said in unison. Temporania beamed.
“Great! It’ll be nice to know some people already.” Rennite frowned and looked away. She didn’t want to snub this girl or anything, but the way she was horning in on Felon’s and her afternoon…
“Oh, hello, girls,” Felon’s mom walked in, smiling. “Felon, Rennite, I see you’ve met Temporania. She just moved in down the street. I was hoping you’d all get together.” Temporania, of course, smiled. Felon raised an eyebrow. Rennite looked away. Sensing the awkwardness, Felon’s mother suggested the girls play a game.
After a few minutes of polite, “Oh, I don’t care, whatever you want”, the game Sorry! was selected. They played three games, two of which Temporania one, and Felon one the last one.
“I guess I better head home to start homework,” Rennite said around four-thirty.
“I should probably go, too,” Temporania said, to Rennite’s relief. Felon smiled to both of them.
“Alright. I’ll see you in school tomorrow!” she called as the two other girls exited.
After dinner of , Rennite called Felon.
“Too bad we didn’t get a chance to celebrate our friendship monthaversary!” Rennite said, half joking, half serious. She could almost see Felon shrugging on the other side of the phone.
“Yeah, that was too bad. Temporania seems nice, though.” Rennite frowned.
“I guess so. I’m just a little miffed that she horned in our day. I guess she is nice, though.”
“Sure,” Felon agreed. “My mom says we’ll all be good friends. She invited Temporania and her family for dinner tomorrow night.”
“That’s cool,” Rennite said, starting to feel better. She and Felon were best friends. How could one girl change that?

The next day at school, Temporania continued being the bright, open girl she’d been the day before. Most everyone loved her, students and teachers alike. Rennite shrugged off her feelings of resentment and began to like her, too.
The feelings came back that night, though, when Felon called to talk about what a great evening her family had had with Temporania’s. Rennite tried to feel happy that Felon had a good time, but the way Felon talked about Temporania made her jealous.
Shrugging off the feelings once again, Rennite finished the conversation and went to bed.

“Finally, lunch,” Rennite said to Temporania and Felon as they made their way to the cafeteria the next day. “I’m starving!”
“Definitely,” Temporania agreed. “I could eat just about anything right now.” She looked at Felon, her eyes gleaming. “As long as it’s not plastic!” Felon burst out laughing and Temporania joined in. Rennite blinked and laughed hesitantly. It wasn’t that funny…
“Sorry,” Temporania gasped as soon as she could speak. “Inside joke.” The words hit Rennite like a punch in the stomach. An inside joke? Rennite bit her tongue to keep from telling Temporania to keep her inside jokes inside.
The three girls settled at their usual table and began unpacking their lunches.
“Look what I brought,” Felon whispered to Temporania. She whipped out two brownies—only two.
“Oh my gosh,” Temporania said. She groaned with a smile, as if she’d just heard a bad joke. “I’m guessing they’re not—”
“No, they’re fine,” Felon interrupted, grinning. Temporania took the brownie and tucked it into her lunchbox, ignoring Rennite. Feeling like she needed to prove her closeness with Felon, Rennite repeated one of their own inside jokes. Felon stared at Rennite for a moment.
“Ohhhh,” she realized. “I remember that.” She turned to Temporania and began explaining the inside joke in great detail. Rennite ate her lunch in silence, listening to Felon and Temporania finish each others’ sentences about the evening before.

After she finished her chores that day, Rennite decided to see if Felon wanted to come over and hang out. She picked up the phone and dialed the number she knew by heart.
“Hello?” came Felon’s voice.
“Felon? Hi! It’s Rennite!”
“Oh. Hi.” Was it just Rennite, or did Felon sound…disappointed? “What’s up? I can’t talk long. Temp—er, I have something I have to go do.”
“Oh.” Rennite swallowed hard. “Well, I just wanted to see if you wanted to come over, but I guess you can’t. What about tomorrow afternoon?”
“Maybe,” Felon didn’t sound too sure. Rennite heard the doorbell ring on Felon’s end of the line. “Oh! Gotta go! Talk to you later!”
Click.
Rennite lowered the phone, tearing up. She angrily slapped the tears away and set to work on her homework. If Felon would rather hang out with Temporania than her, fine. If Felon wanted to throw away two months of friendship, fine. If Felon would rather explain inside jokes to Temporania than to Rennite, fine.
But Rennite didn’t have to sit alone all day and listen to it.
Later that night, Rennite called one of her other friends and made a sleepover date for that Friday.

Over the next week, Temporania told Rennite at least fifty million stories about herself and Felon over lunch. Felon always eagerly jumped in to help tell the stories. Rennite tried very hard not to talk over Temporania with her own “me and Felon” stories, but it grew increasingly difficult.
After a couple of weeks of this, Felon stopped phoning Rennite entirely. She created a new email address and kept “forgetting” to give it to Rennite. Instead of Temporania being the one to initiate the inside jokes and stories, Felon began to start them, too. When Felon’s parents went out of town, she stayed with Temporania, not Rennite. Felon and Temporania made up a secret code, and used it around Rennite. At birthday parties and church, Felon out-and-out ignored Rennite when she tried to speak to her.
Pretty soon, Rennite decided that Felon no longer wanted to be her friend at all. She started getting close to another girl, Fidelia. Rennite and Fidelia became close friends as Felon and Temporania did. Soon, the two pairs had almost nothing to do with each other.
Somewhere around Christmas, Rennite spotted Temporania and Felon with a new girl. They all seemed to be getting along fine. Of course, by this time, Rennite honestly did not care, and went about her own business with Fidelia. She didn’t think another thing of it until Felon randomly called one day.
“Hi, Rennite!” she said brightly over the phone. Rennite was silent for a moment.
“Hello, Felon,” she said somewhat coldly. “Can I help you?” There was a slight pause.
“Well, no…I mean, I was just calling to talk. What’s up?” Felon said.
“You mean lately, or for the past four months?” Rennite continued in the icy voice.
“Er, both…” Felon said. “Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to come over later?”
“Why?” Rennite asked, almost genuinely curious. “Is Temporania busy?”
“Yeah,” Felon replied before she realized what she was saying. “She and this other stupid girl are out going to the movies or something.”
“You don’t say?” Rennite answered sardonically. “You mean Temporania ditched you for someone else?”
“Yeah, can you believe it?” Felon fumed. “So, what about later? Wanna come over and hang out?”
“Not really,” Rennite said indifferently. “I’ve actually got plans with Fidelia. See you later!”
Click.
And so the unforgiving Rennite decided it wasn’t worth Felon’s disloyal company, and Felon learned the hurt of being friends with someone who’s only looking for temporary companionship.

Symbolism:
1. "Temporanea" is Italian for "temporary"
2. "Felon" is French for "disloyal"
3. Rennite is a name meaning "stubborn"
4. Felon’s hair is black and often shadowing her eyes. This stands for shadiness, disloyalty.
5. Rennite’s hair is straight and red. The straight standing for solid principles, not going to bend for anything. The red stands for being extreme, refusing to mend the friendship.
6. Temporania’s hair is curly, bouncing from one direction to another.
7. The girls play Sorry!, a restatement of what’s to come