Crash

It happens in an instant, life. One moment you’re sixteen and boys are the most important thing in the world, the next moment it might all be over. Just imagine it. You are driving down the highway, that one song on the radio, windows down in the summer breeze. You sigh, life feels pretty great right now, for the first time in a long time you really can’t complain. This is out of character for you, and you enjoy this newfound feeling of happiness and ease. But, as quick as that feeling comes, so does the truck. You see the truck swerve into your lane, and the world goes into slow motion. It is coming, whether you react or not, that truck is coming for you. Stunned in shock and desperation, you hit the brakes, but it doesn’t matter. The moment felt slow, but in reality it was less than a second. There was nothing you could have done. Time doesn’t return to normal quite yet, and the truck slams into your side of the car. You scream out; no, this can’t be happening, but it is. You careen forward and slam into the steering wheel as the airbag shoots out. You can feel your wrist snap under the pressure of the bag, and you scream out in pain. Another airbag comes from the side and cracks the cartilage in your ear, but the adrenaline has kicked in and you feel nothing. This hit, this should have been the end, but the car hasn’t stopped. Why are you still moving, where are you going? The terror builds up more as these seconds take an hour to play out. The ground beneath the tires gets rough, and you are bumping and jostling all around the seat, bouncing between the deflating airbags. Then suddenly, with a furious crash, the car stops. It doesn’t slow to a stop, doesn’t stop gently, but slams again. This time, the airbags aren’t there to cushion your blow, they’ve fully deflated from the first hit. The pain explodes throughout your entire body as you realize that it’s over. You’re over. And just like that, life happened in an instant.

Summer

Laughter in the breeze,

Summer in her light blue hair,

She was happy here.

Quote of the Day: 09/09/16

“A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.” – Neil Gaiman

Over

The world is over,

There is nothing left for me.

Is anyone there?

One Day

The snows fall in the city.
My heart feels complete when I am here.
I belong here, in this hustle and bustle world of fast careers and late nights.
I never want to leave.
I have finally found a place that I can call my own, a place where I fit in with everyone around me.
One day I will make you my home.
One day we can be together and I can finally be happy.
One day, everything will feel right.

Nothing to Say

I don’t have anything to say.

Some days the writing flows from me like a river into an ocean,

But today, I open my mind and nothing comes out except for dust.

I hate when this happens.

Quote of the Day: 09/07/16

“If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.” – Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Taken

They have taken me

From a beautiful planet

To the edge of space.

Thoughts on Premature Editing

Okay. We have all heard the best advice out there, DO NOT EDIT YOUR MANUSCRIPT UNTIL IT IS FINISHED.

Don’t read back through it. Don’t re-organize the chapters. Don’t let anyone else read it. Don’t add things or remove them. Don’t edit your manuscript until its complete.

Well, I, of course, did not follow this advice and am now regretting it so much! Doing editing chapter by chapter takes too long. If I had spent all of my time writing the first draft instead of editing the few chapters that I do have complete, then I would have twice as much writing completed than I do! I also decided in the middle of my writing to change up my style and length of chapters. I went back through and broke my chapters down into smaller ones, and now I have a disaster on my hands! Some chapters are good, while others are too short. Some chapters flow well together while others now don’t fit.

Basically, in order to keep writing from the last point of my story, I have to edit and fix the chapters now because the story just doesn’t make sense. Once I get this done, I am legit not reading it again until it is done. No ifs, ands, or buts!

In The Clouds

The ship’s sail fluttered in the wind as Becca sat at the back of the boat, steering the brilliant giant through the waves. This was the first time she had been out on the water since it had happened, and she felt squeamish as she sailed farther and farther away from the shore. Looking back towards the sandy beach it all came flooding back, every memory she had been trying to hide from jumped forward and played across her thoughts like an old film. She wanted to stop it, but she couldn’t; it all came slamming back like a wave against the shore.

It had been four months earlier. Becca and her little sister, Bailey, had been sailing with their parents that day. Ever since they were both very young, their parents had been taking them on sailing trips around the world. This particular trip was only a local one, but the two sisters enjoyed it all the same. The forecast for the day had been picture perfect, it promised blue skies and bright sunshine, but it was wrong.

Once the family got far enough out, away from the traffic of other boats, they stopped for some snacks. Their mother had packed them in a small picnic basket, and she picked them out with dainty hands. Today, the sisters were curled up in towels eating strawberries dipped in sugar after a cooling swim. That’s when the first raindrop fell. It landed on Becca’s cheek and slid down her face towards her chin before she wiped it off. She looked up at the sky, and her gaze was met by gray clouds that soon broke open and dropped their water straight towards the salty ocean and their isolated boat. Becca and Bailey huddled together and held each other close as the rain fell in huge drops, while their parents tried to turn the boat around.

It was too late, though. The wind and rain caused massive waves to be sent straight over the sides of the boat, and before they knew it everything changed. Becca and Bailey went flying overboard, crashing into the sea like the rain drops from the sky. The last thing Becca heard were Bailey’s screams of terror before everything went black and all sound became muted.

Now, everything was different. Becca had awakened to the sounds of beeping machines. She glanced around to find herself in a hospital bed. Her mother was in a chair next to her, sound asleep. Becca woke her up, and her mother told her everything through bloodshot eyes and a tear stained voice. Becca had hit her head on the side of the boat, and once they got to shore she had been rushed to the hospital. She had been unconscious for nine days. The rest of her family had fallen off the boat, too. When the rescue guard had come for them only three out of the four were huddled up against a buoy that had been close to their now sunken boat. Bailey was found the next day, washed up on the shore, but she didn’t make it. It broke Becca, her parents, and shattered her world forever.

Now Becca sat on the sailboat as it raced over the gleaming waves and she let the tears fall down her face. How had her life come to this? How had it so easily come apart at the seams? Becca slowed the boat and let everything come out. She let all of her pent up emotions and tears fall down her face freely. She felt like she couldn’t breathe and would never be okay again. After a few minutes, when her breathing had finally slowed down and her tears came to a stop, she glanced up towards the sky. She wished more than anything that Bailey could be here with her, to hold her hand and tell her everything would be alright, but she knew she was gone forever. She knew that she would never see her smiling face again, never see her eyes gleam as they sailed out into the open sea.

As Becca watched the clouds float by, something familiar appeared among them. Becca instantly recognized the warm green eyes that had belonged to her sister. Bailey’s face was outlined in the clouds and she was smiling down on Becca. Becca felt her heart warm, knowing now that her sister would always be watching over her, no matter where she was. For the first time in months Bailey felt like everything might be okay, she no longer felt sunk by the intense emotions that had plagued her all this time. She laid back and just breathed, glad to know her sister was out there somewhere and that she could always find her in the clouds.

Quote of the Day: 09/04/16

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Rubble and Debris

Rubble and debris

Cover the world we once knew.

It’s all over now.