Saturday, July 26, 2014

The Dream Wanderer

This is the first two pages of my story The Dream Wanderer. There's some missing pieces of her memories on the first page because I'm not finished with the edits yet, so some feedback and critiquing would be appreciated. :)

  The Dream Wanderer


The Dream Wanderer



She closed her eyes and laid back, the words of the chant dancing before her. Her whispered words rose like the soft wisps of smoke from the candles encircling her head.
Tall, short, stubby, slender-- the candles were all different, just like the Dreams. The one thing that was similar about them all was their color-- a pure, unspoiled white.
The scent of hickory and rose petals burning swirled around the room. She grew dizzier, dizzier, and felt herself slipping from consciousness. First would come the memories, the flashbacks, the voices. And then she could walk right through the gates of the Dreams of others.
 
A woman holds a newborn child in a shabby blanket in a shabby house next to a shabby bed. She leans the baby close to the old crone on the bed, who scrutinizes this strange child with the bright cornflower-blue eyes and white hair. The baby smells rum on her breath, and wails. The old woman opens her mouth slowly.
“You shall be called Veda, for someday you shall have eternal knowledge.” With that, the woman exhales shakily and lies back in her bed. “Go, Harper,” she tells the woman holding the baby.  “Leave me.”
“Yes, Grandmother.”

 
She is riding through the King’s Forest. She regrets stealing Lady Barrow’s horse, but they are after her with the hounds now, pursuing her as if she were a troublesome fox who ate a prized chicken, and there is no turning back.
An arrow slices through the air above her head, shattering her calm. Lord Barrow swears.
“Don’t shoot, you fool!” he bellows. “You might harm the horse! That’s prized stock getting away! Catch her!”
No. They must not catch her. Veda has seen what happens to horse thieves. She is too young for the gallows just yet. She must escape.
That thought surges through her mind as she spurs the horse onward. Perhaps it was that thought roaring through her mind that blinded her to the low-hanging branch. It strikes her forehead harshly and she knows no more.
 
Satan offers her a quill pen.
“And all I have to do is sign?”
“That’s all you have to do,” the man purrs. His voice is smooth-- smooth as the path a boat makes through water. Smooth as oil, coating everything and making it all run just the way he wants it to.
Veda hesitates. The deal he has offered, the way out, is not pleasant. But what choice does she have?
“Your human body is going to die, anyway,” he reasons. His voice his like honey now-- something about its cool, sweet smoothness soothed her. “They’ve caught you and you’re going to hang if you ever wake.”
“I’m... asleep?”
“Your body is in England, resting, hovering near the deeper sleep that knows no more. But your mind-- obviously-- is here.” Veda reaches for the pen, doing her best to return his steady gaze. He is beautiful-- not at all like the priest described him. Dark waves fell over his emerald-like eyes and he had cheekbones that were sharp enough to slice through her heart. He was dressed in robes of fine bright colors, with tiny jewels worked intricately into the embroidery. The strong hands that gripped the pen were perfect.
“Well?” The voice is still hypnotic and soothing, but this time there is an edge to it. An impatience.
Better not annoy this gorgeous man, she thinks.
She takes the pen and sets it to the parchment, dipping it in the peculiar inkpot. To her horror, the ink is red and has a funny smell to it.
“What-- what is this?”
“Blood from the wound on your forehead,” he says calmly. Her hand flies to her face-- sure enough, there is a gash. A little horrified gasp escapes her mouth.
“It will heal without scar when you sign.” says Satan vaguely, sounding far away. The dream was fading, she was waking up! She would hang with the murderers!
“Sign, girl, sign unless you want to die!” he screams.
Hastily, she scribbles her name in the crimson ink. The letters burned like fire on the paper, becoming bright red, then gold, and finally black. A shower of sparks devoured her and all she knew was pain, pain--
And then everything was gone, and she was in her cave. Alone.
There was no door, no window, no way out. She was sealed here until the end of time, she supposed. Her only escape was through the wanderings of her mind, which she was to become master of over the centuries.
Though her belly burned with hunger, there was no food for her to eat. Yet somehow, she survived. Her body never changed; she never grew a day older. And try as she might, the white dress Satan had clothed her with would not come off, would not burn in the fire, would not even get dirty, roll in the dirt of the cave as she might.
Her permanent dwelling had nothing in it, save the Book and the ever-burning hearth. And the candles-- yes, the candles! There were millions of them, all snow-white, lining the shelves and floor in the back of the cave. No matter how many she used, the supply never ran out. All different sizes, shapes, designs. But all completely white.
Just like her hair, just like her dress.

The memories are gone-- now she can wander the Dreams. Since she has gained much wisdom in the past centuries, she can help many.
She has helped many famous people become what they could.
She taught Leonardo da Vinci to draw in his dreams. He woke up and painted the Mona Lisa.
She showed Thomas Edison how to build a light bulb in his.
She visited young Teddy Roosevelt and handed him a staff. “Speak softly and carry a big stick, my boy,” she whispered.
And Alexander Graham Bell needed help finding the missing part to his telephone invention. She gave him a little nudge in the right direction.
But her favorite to wander are the dreams of the children-- the young ones who have yet to stop believing. They were like reading a fairytale.
 One young boy, though, was different.

 

Friday, July 25, 2014

Sunshine Award!


I've been nominated for another award! My thanks once again to The Secret Ghost Caller!





 RULES:
i. Thank the person who nominated you.
ii. Answer the questions the person who nominated you asked.
iii. Nominate a few other bloggers.
iv. Write the same amount of questions for the bloggers you nominated.
v. Notify the bloggers you nominated on their blog.
vi. Put the award button on your blog.


1: If you could travel back in time where would you go? America during the roaring '20's.
2:What's the best story you've ever written? That's hard. It's like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. :) My best story ever was probably the one called "The Dream Wanderer", though it's not complete.
3: Who would be you in a movie? I'm not sure. I don't watch that many movies, so I'm not up-to-date on actors.
4: If you could meet anyone dead or alive who would it be? Laura Ingalls Wilder.
5: Would you be a vampire or a werewolf? Werewolf. Vampires were the product of the worst imaginiation ever-- I mean, come on, if sunlight kills them, then how does moonlight not? The moon is just reflecting the sun's light!
6: What's your pet peeve? Bad grammar in writing.
7: Do you believe in ghosts? No. I believe that when people are dead, they either go to heaven or await judgement. Nobody's spirit hangs around on earth.
8: Are you a artsy or on the safe side of creativity? I think I'm on the safe side. I don't do many "artsy" things anymore.
9: Do you like cats or dogs? Cats. Someday I'll be a crazy cat lady.
10: Are you a tomboy or a girly girl? I am definitely NOT a girly girl. So a tomboy. :)


Here are my questions:
1: What is your favorite season?
2: Chocolate or vanilla?
3: What was the first thing you heard when you woke up this morning?
4: What fictional character would you most like to meet?
5: What is your favorite fruit?
6: Have you ever had a garden?
7: Do you prefer night or day?
8: Have you ever written to a pen pal?
9: What is your favorite genre of music?
10: What was the last book you read?

I nominate: Hannah from http://www.hannahmitter.blogspot.com
Sarah Margaret from http://www.trustinginthelorddaybyday.blogspot.com

Also, I don't know how to add an award button to my blog-- can anyone help me out here? I would really appreciate it!

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Blogging Goals



Here are some goals I want to accomplish for my blog:

Get 10 followers by the end of 2014.
Post at least once a week.
Comment more regularly on other peoples' blogs.
Post more of my writing and leave it posted instead of panicking and deleting it.
Learn some basic HTML.
Make a button for my blog.

Goals I have accomplished:
Personalize a blog template.
Get ten comments.
Set up a Bloglovin' account.
Make pages to organize things.
Figure out how to add certain buttons to my sidebar.

What do you think of my goals? Tell me in the comments!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Liebster Award!

Yes, it's six in the morning. Some days I'm a night owl and other days I'm an early bird. Today was a bit of both. Plus, I promised I would post today, and I'm not going to be home until late tonight. So here goes!

I've been nominated for the Liebster Award! Thank you, The Secret Ghost Caller, for nominating me. <3




RULES:
i. Post eleven facts about yourself.
ii. Answer the eleven questions provided by the person who nominated you and then create an eleven-question set for the next group of nominees.
iii. Choose eleven people to nominate and link them in the post.
iv. Let your nominees know they've been tagged - and no tag-backs!
 
11 Things You Didn't Know About Me:
 
1. I do Jazzercise.
2. I have a secret love for bluegrass music.
3. Shameless Disney addict! (nerd alert!)
4. I've never been kissed.
5. I just figured out how to use the strikethrough button and I'm probably going to drive people crazy using it every other sentence!
6. I'm not afraid of falling. I'm afraid of landing.
7. Seven is my favorite number. (OK, if you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably did know that one.)
8. I cannot play ping pong, tennis, baseball, golf, pool, or any other game that involves hitting a ball with a stick or paddle.
9. Right now, I have a black mustache painted on my face by a friend. It won't wash off. I tried.
10. I'm in the middle of reading Dicey's Song.
11. I'm currently running on three hours of sleep, so bear with me here!

Okay, TSGC wrote some awesome questions for me to answer. Let's get started!
Chloee's Questions:

1:What's your favorite food? Red Velvet Cake.
2:If you could see a character from a book who would it be? Emily from Emily of New Moon.
3:What's your favorite movie? Peter Pan. I like both versions, but the one with real-life actors is a little better than the original Disney cartoon, if I dare say.
4:What's your favorite place to visit? I've never been west of the Mississippi or east of the Atlantic, so I haven't traveled much. But I do really enjoy my family's trips to Harrisonburg, VA.
5: What's your most embarrassing moment in your life? Oh, good gravy. Do I really have to share this? One if my most embarrassing moments was when I got stuck in the tire swing bridge during Adventure Advance, a game day at my church involving a set of obstacle courses you go through as fast as you can. For the tire swing bridge, six tires were hung from a chain, and you had to cross from one side to the other without touching the ground or the chain. As luck would have it, my giant foot got stuck in the tire, and it took three grown men to yank it out while I just kind of... dangled there. The most embarrassing part? Someone got it all on tape while I hung there screeching in pain.
6:If you could change your name what would it be? Aurora.
7:What place would you want to live in a book? Narnia.
8:Do you want to be a princess or a villain? A villain.
9:What would you do if you were famous? Well, besides adopting every cat in the world, I'd probably try to help end something like child poverty. I'd just do whatever God calls me to.
10: What's your favorite book? That is a cruel question. Umm... The Mysterious Benedict Society.
11: If you were on a deserted island what's the one thing you would bring? A friend. Though I will probably regret that choice if we resort to cannibalism.
 


Here are my questions!

1. Is there a specific way you eat Oreos?
2. If you could live in any era (say Victorian times, 1930's, 1500's, etc.), what would it be?
3. Why and when did you first start blogging?
4. If you had to eat only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
5. What is something you have too much of that is taking up too much space?
6. What is the longest time you have gone without sleep?
7. Coffee or tea?
8. If your favorite celebrity sat next to you on a plane, what would you do?
9. What is your favorite song? Least favorite?
10. Describe the funniest thing that's happened to you in the past year.
11. Do you prefer cooking or crafting?


 
I nominate:
 
Lydia Therese at http://www.agdollsandbooksseeamericangirl.blogspot.com or http://www.disneyfans4ever2.blogspot.com (you can do it on whichever blog you want, Lydia.)
Another Lydia! Lydia at http://planetlydia.com
deepbluesandseafoamgreens at http://deepbluesandseafoamgreens.wordpress.com
Pony Girl at http://www.ponyscool.blogspot.com
okapigirl at http://www.thewordsfrommyrainbowgelpens.wordpress.com
Rebekah at http://www.mybluecastleintheclouds.blogspot.com
Molly Louise at http://www.mollylouiseblogs.blogspot.com
The Caffeinated Geek at http://www.coffeyarnwords.blogspot.com
June S at http://www.weezasjournal.blogspot.com
Maddie at http://www.maddierme.blogspot.com

 
 
-- Rebecca 
xoxox

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Is She Still Alive?

Yes, I am. :)

July has been insanely busy. First a week of vacation at the beach, then a week of Church Camp, then this week our church has had Vacation Bible School. And next week I may or may not be helping with another church's basketball-themed VBS. We'll see.

On a less hectic note, I have been taking pictures of things around my house in an effort to unwind.




 



 
I will be posting tomorrow, pinky promise!