To those that serve...

Thank you. I have lots of friends and family who have served or are currently serving. I must specially thank my grandpa David Holter, Scott's grandpa Al Clark, my great Opa, my uncle Andy Montoya, Scott's uncle Joe Whaley our dear friends Verity Rogers, Nena Philips,  Spencer Charczuk, Josh Holbrook, Adam Kreuger, Chip Lowe, Bruce LeVasseur, and most recently Nakita Martinefski and my sweet baby brother Christian Montoya. (If I missed anyone I am deeply, deeply sorry.) It means the world to me to be able to rub elbows with some incredibly brave men and women. Your sacrifices have paid for our freedom. 

Another special thank you to my followers. I only have 4 more days of writing left for my year of writing challenge and I am very blessed to have so much support Happy Tuesday all!

9 November 2014

The Road Block

Jake was having an incredibly long day. His car didn't want to start so he was late for work. Once he got to work he realized that three of his clients dropped his construction company. He had left his wallet at home and couldn't buy lunch and to top it off he had to stay late at work since he was late coming in. When it was finally time to go home he was especially relieved. His drive home was fairly routine, he got on the highway, he got off the highway then he turned onto the back road to his house. After a few miles he noticed orange cones in the road and a car on the side of the road. He slowed down to a stop trying to figure out what was going on. He noticed a man standing near the cones and rolled down his window.

“Hey man, are you okay? Do you need some help?” asked Jake to the hooded figure in the dark.

The man said nothing. He picked up his pace and reached into his pocket. This did not sit well with Jake so he rolled up his window and took off. After he was a significant distance from the impromptu road block he decided to phone the police. He had a bad feeling in his stomach and didn't want anyone getting hurt.

“9-1-1 what's your emergency?”

“You know I am not sure. I was driving home and came upon a road block. There was a car parked next to it and a man appraoched me. He reached into his pocket as he quickly approached my car so I left without helping him. I am worried he was going to rob me or something. Can you please send someone out to investigate this?”

“Sir I need you tell me exactly where this happened?”

“Um... it was the frontage road off of the highway. About 2 miles down the road.”

“I need you to lock your doors until the police get to your home. Please stay on the phone with me. the police will explain everything. We are sending a unit out to you and to the site of the incident.”

Jake was shocked. He knew something wasn't right about the situation but he didn't think the 9-1-1 operator would be so alarmed. When the police arrived they explained to Jake that the man he encountered was a wanted murderer. He had killed an officer and three other people who had stopped to help him at these road blocks. Thanks to Jake calling so quickly they were able to find him and take the man into custody before someone else could roll up to the death trap. Once the police left Jake couldn't help but be breathless at the fact that he could have been victim number five of a very deranged man.

10 November 2014

25 Days of Silence: Part 2

They say silence is golden. William had never heard that and he certainly did not believe that now. The first weekend of not being able to speak was not so bad. He didn't have to work so he didn't have to talk to anyone. He stayed home and thought and thought and thought about what he was going to do. How would he get a car to take him to work? How would he tell the doorman what he wanted for dinner? How would he tell his employees what to do? How would he tell the intern how he liked his coffee, or tell her how to dress in his office? How would anything get done? How would he even explain this. After spending the whole weekend trying to think of a plan he was starting to get sick of hearing himself and was beginning to speculate that Amelia was correct.

He knew he had two days down but the hard parts had not happened yet. His first day back at work was a complete disaster. He could not tell people they were wrong, he could not tell them what he did that day, he could not tell anyone what he liked throughout the day. He hated it. After a long first week he began to notice people around him seemed happy. He had never noticed that before. He also noticed that people around him had so many problems! He heard every bit of drama that everyone he worked with had. Mary's husband was having an affair. Tom's neighbor constantly threw loud parties. Anna found pot in her daughter's car. They seemed to speak longer and loner with him the more they realized he could not answer. Soon his driver was telling him about his family and his drama. It was a never ending. William could not believe people spoke so much and they spoke of nothing but themselves.

After many days went by, William began to notice that he did not miss talking so much. He was finding peace in his life. He heard sweet birds that chirped in the park near his home. He heard laughter from people walking on the sidewalk below his window. He heard jazz music coming from an apartment nearby. He was able to get to know people around him better. He learned that his intern really loved history, his boss donated money every month to a charity and the receptionist loved lavender because it reminder her of he mother who passed when she was young. He did not realize people could be so deep. He was beginning to see just how shallow he had been in life. He worked with most of these people for years but he barely knew their names.

William was beginning to get used to the silence when he heard a knock at his door. He opened it and was surprised to see Amelia there. Had it already been 25 days? He asked himself. He was actually starting to enjoy himself and the new things he was learning about the world.

“Hello William! So lovely to see you,” she smiled at him. He smiled back and she knew that he was truly happy to see her, “You look genuinely happy my old friend. Now let's get you your charming voice back,” Amelia leaned into Williams ear, placed her soft hand on his throat and whispered some magical saying to him, “Now, how does it feel to have your voice back?”

William thought to himself for a bit without speaking. How did it feel? Annoying? Frustrating? Infuriating? Mind boggling? “Liberating,” he said in one full breath. It felt good to speak but his words now held more weight than they ever have before. He looked taken aback and this made Amelia smile even wider. She knew the 25 days of silence had suited them well.

“I am glad you have earned your words back,”

“Honestly, me too. You made me see the world,” he remarked. He paused for a moment to reflect on his thoughts then said, “People say so many things and most of it is just garbage. I can't believe I did not see how much I was isolating myself by speaking of nothing but garbage! I got to know some really great people. Thank you for showing me how to care about someone other than myself.”

“Good. I will keep my eye on you William. If I see you falling back into your old ways I will be back to remind you of what you can lose,” chuckled Amelia. She kissed him on the cheek and left him to his new found enjoyed silence. Yes, silence was absolutely golden as the spoken word can often ruin the sounds that we want to hear.