A follow up to my first story.

I have been thinking a lot lately as to what I am going to do once my personal challenge is over. If you need a refresher let me fill you in. I am writing one story a day, everyday, for one whole year. I started this personal challenge on 15 November 2013 (if you don't like the way I write my dates just get over it because it flows much better to do day month year format) and it has been the most amazing thing I could have done for myself. I feel I have really grown as a writer and I know my friends have noticed my storytelling ways break through in our conversations. I remember one time my cousin Nikki and I were having a conversation about the movie The Purge: Anarchy and she was saying that she wished Anarchy had come out before the original The Purge because Anarchy described more of the story and The Purge detailed one family. I told her that I loved the original one being first because it introduces you to this idea that there is a purge going on and shows you how awful it is then the second one can really open up the story and expand on what is going on across the country. Her words back to me were "Yup, you are definitely a writer!" That was a shining moment for me. A time when someone recognized my talent. I was so proud to be recognized as a writer!

By the end of this year long journey for me I will have written more short stories than Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. My quality of writing may not be up to par with these writers that I look up to but I take pride in knowing I did more in my short 26 years so far than they did in their lives. Now i just have to figure out what to do next. That seems to be a constant problem for a writer and typically it is a good problem to have. It means you are moving forward and not stuck in the moment. I have toyed with the idea of making this blog one big book. I have seen so many other sites do the same and I want to be a part of that movement. My blog has been read in many countries around the world from Brazil to Malaysia to Germany and Russia. I have South African, Australian, Japanese and Italian followers. I can't even express to you the humbleness of knowing that I am reaching people around the world. My ultimate goal in life is to have one work published, whether it be this blog into a book or the series I am working on currently (I am very busy with a lot of unpaid work, such is the life of a writer) I just want to call myself a published author and not just a writer. After this year is up I will continue writing stories but now I can write more elaborately on a topic or even take a few days to think about a topic before I write it. Whatever I do from that day on I know will be great because I have truly found my calling in life! 

I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday and I will see you all on Sunday. Please enjoy The Butterfly story. It is a follow up to my very first story The Caterpillar. Both stories are so very dear to my heart.

18 June 2014

The Butterfly

Caterpillar had loved his adventures around the world and spent the whole year traveling around meeting new creatures and seeing new lands. By the next spring he was ready to come home and be back with his friends the bees. As glorious as the world had been, his heart ached for the comfort of his home. He even slightly missed the chill but at least now he could fly away from it! His wings were still awkward and uncomfortable so he felt like home and his friends would be a good place to fix that. He flew back to his big, leafy tree and waited to surprise the bees and oh how happily surprised they were!

“Caterpillar! You are back!” announced one bee.

“You are even more handsome than when you left!” gushed another bee.

“Where did you go? What did you see?” they all asked at once.

“Oh my friends the places I saw and the things I learned! They call me a butterfly now but I prefer my caterpillar name. As pleasant as these wings are I still am finding it difficult to be comfortable in them. I learned to make friends with beetles and ants on the ground so I never lost touch with who I was in the beginning,” explained the caterpillar, “ I flew so many places I don't even know where to begin. I flew all over the great mountains and I was just in awe that there was such beauty! Mountains kissed the clouds. Moose played in lakes in the most remote parts of the mountains! Next I flew to the ocean! Oh the ocean! It smelled like salt and the air was so moist. Dolphins played near people boating and seals lounged on rocky coasts. The baby seals loved chasing after me!

I loved sitting in palm trees watching people from all over the world play on the sandy beaches. They wold frolic and pick up shells. They wrote their names in the sand and watched the waves erase their work. I got to fly in the sky with kites that children flew! It was like having an expert dance partner in the sky. I flew to the fish mongers in Japan and watched people in China work in smoggy cities while others worked rice fields. All of Europe was lovely. I flew from castle to castle in Germany then sat atop the Eiffel Tower while lovers kissed and soaked in the amazing view. I flew to Ireland and saw more green land than you could ever imagine! Everything was green! The hills just rolled and rolled with green like someone had painted all the land!

I then flew back over the ocean with the help of some ships. I would take breaks with people cruising over the ocean. They had wild parties with pools on top of the ships to play in! Other ships had containers to take to America from all over the world. I stopped in New York and saw buildings that soared high in the sky like the mountains. People were busy working in the tall buildings and on the ground people rushed around. They seemed busier than you bees! They were more like the ants who don't like to be bothered. It was about this time I missed home. I had to see all of you again!” the caterpillar fluffed his wings smiled at his friends.

All the bees buzzed around him in delight of his adventures. Many of them had traveled far and wide for pollen but never as far as caterpillar had! The caterpillar, not wanting to interrupt the bees and their work, decided to fly with the bees to the flower fields. The bees were awestruck at how incredible the caterpillar looked amongst the flowers.

“Your blue and green iridescent wings make the red and purple flowers look like a heavenly rainbow caterpillar!” they gasped.

Life could not be better for caterpillar. He sat in the shade of a leaf and watched the busy bees buzz around and work. He smiled as they filled themselves up with yellow pollen and laughed when a dog came by and sneezed at all the activity. The sky was crystal blue, the breeze was refreshing and the sun warmed their souls as the sounds of bees darted around caterpillar. Caterpillar may not have been fully comfortable in his new winged body but being home certainly helped.

19 June 2014

A Lyrical Love Story

I tell you all the time, heaven is a place on earth with you. Tell me all the things you wanna do. I want to know your plans, and how involved in them I am. When I look into your eyes it's like watching the night sky or a beautiful sunrise. You can be my one if you wanna go. You can be my Juliet then and we can drift asleep in a lover's pose but never go away. No poison here we're safe. I have the sketchy past, yet I have shed my wings cold turkey now hanging by a heart-string. Dangle over her, above the pulsing bar. She tries to catch my eye, her gaze is deafening. The book of love is long and boring, and written very long ago. It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes, and things we're all too young to know. That may be all I need. In darkness she is all I see. Come and rest your bones with me, driving slow on Sunday morning and I never want to leave. Yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm and your cheeks so soft. There is nothing for me but to love you and the way you look tonight.

Songs in this last story are: Video Games by Lana Del Rey, I Want To Know Your Plans by Say Anything, I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz, Juliet by Royal Wood, So Good by Say Anything, The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel, Sunday Morning by Maroon 5 and The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra.