by Sin | November 7th, 2008
Obviously if you were expecting Hellion today, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. I know it’s no longer Halloween but I wrote this up for Halloween and I’ll be damned if I waste my time on something I’ll never use. So you’ll just have to get over it. I’m giving Hellion a well deserved Friday break and there is no picture today because I’m rather long-winded- Sin.
I couldn’t run any faster than I was pushing my scrawny legs forward. Yet, she kept yelling for me to hurry! Hurry! C’mon, we’re gonna miss it!
I didn’t know what we were gonna miss but it better be better than grandpa’s beer rolls fresh from the oven and melting in your mouth. And there wasn’t nothing better than that.
The ground was covered with leaves of all colors, turning into brown sludge over the dying grass. After a long, wet spring, Indian summer just faded away to dead winter. There was no snow yet, but the wind whipped through my hair and my hot pink stocking cap. My ears burned with the cold. My fingers ached and my toes hurt and we’d ran through the woods for what seemed like eternity. We could be anywhere by now.
I slowed behind her. Her blonde hair was always a mess and her clothes always too small or too big. Sam and I were like two peas in a pod. I just wished I understood her better than I pretended to. Sam was in a different world from mine. Her sister was older. Older than my oldest cousin and could drive. And Sam’s sister’s best friend drove the coolest car I’d ever seen. A camaro. When I grew up, I was going to own one just like it. You could take the roof off and stick it in the trunk and drive around looking at the sky.
“Are you comin’ or what?”
I broke a branch off the oak tree I was standing beside. I looked up toward the sky and looked around the surrounding woods. I started smacking the limbs with the branch I broke off.
“Where are we goin’? It’s gettin’ dark and I’m hungry.”
“Don’t be a cry baby,” Sam worked her way back to me and I held my ground. “Ain’t nothing gonna get you in this woods that we can’t handle.” Sam was tougher than me and meaner than me. Sometimes we hid in her closet when her daddy came home early because it meant he was drunk and feeling mean. Sam would sneak me out the side door so that he couldn’t find me and I’d run through the woods like the wind until I was safe on my grandpa’s land. I’d watch her house from the safety of the trees separating the properties. I’d watch for any sign that she was okay.
“Looks like we’re goin’ towards the graveyard.”
Sam came up beside me and took off her ball cap. She yanked her hair back up in her ponytail holder and shoved her cap back over her eyes. At any given time Sam could have one black eye or two. Depending on what kind of trouble she’d been in. Sam wasn’t a troublemaker. Her daddy just liked to tell her she was until she gave up and started believing it.
I didn’t like her dad. He had crazy eyes, like he was dead inside and wasn’t afraid to take someone with him on his way to hell.
“We are. I heard Lou and Stace talking about some of the older boys were gonna try to raise the dead.” Chills shot down my arms. I’d seen a ghost one time before. Scared the beejeebus out of me when she walked into the kitchen to turn on the faucet. She looked at me before she walked out to the porch and ran down the stairs. I ran to the door to watch her run across the yard and to the garden, but once I got to the screen door, she was gone.
Sam knew I didn’t like the graveyard. Shivers of souls raced over me like a blanket of goosebumps when I went by there. I might not believe all that hocus pocus crap they spout on the TV but I did believe in souls. And they were there in the graveyard waiting for me to come back.
“No. I ain’t going to the graveyard. You know I don’t like that place. Gives me the creeps.”
Sam put her hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side. “Awh, now, don’t be like that. It’s Halloween. We’re too old for that trick or treat crap.”
I didn’t know about her, but I was never too old for candy. Especially those full size candy bars the Joneses handed out. I even had the most perfect costume this year. Mama had bought me the witch’s hat I wanted and painted a broom black. She promised to paint my face green when she got home.
“Don’t tell me you’re gonna chicken out.”
I narrowed my eyes and stalked up to her. I stopped just a hair shy of stepping on her toes and stuck my finger in her chest. “I am not chicken.”
A wide grin spread across Sam’s face. “Yes you are. You’re chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken.” She stepped away from me and stuck her hands under her armpits and started flapping her arms. “Brock, brock, brock- chicken.”
She looked so stupid and I could feel my face getting hot as my temper started to heat up.
“Darn it, Sam. Let’s go so I can get home before Mama gets there and finds me not in the house. If you cost me my chance to get candy, I’ll never forgive you.”
She instantly stopped making chicken noises at me and threw her arm around my shoulders. “I knew I could count on you. Now let’s hurry so we don’t miss anything.”
We ran full tilt through the thick thatch of trees and piles of leaves. We knew our way through these woods even if you’d put a blindfold on us and turned us around a million times. The moon was starting to come out, the sun behind us as we slid down the last hill and ran up to the clearing. We danced over the huge cracks in the ground blackened by coal and across the road to the cemetery. There wasn’t enough light to see the boys or even where they were standing but that didn’t stop Sam from slinking around in the shadows and laying flat on the hill leading up to the gravestones.
I was a little more cautious in my approach of the graveyard. All of the hair on my arms was standing straight up and I had a knot in my throat the size of Texas. Hadn’t been to Texas but I saw it on a map and it was huge.
I stood on the road overlooking the graveyard unable to move forward. I could see the boys towards the back lot. I could see the cherry on the end of a joint they were sharing.
“Psst!” Sam said over her shoulder and waved me over. “Are you comin’?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. My palms were sweating with the effort of trying to budge my feet from the pavement. I had the creepy crawlies. The heebee-jeebees.
Sam half turned on her side and looked at me. She frowned, “C’mon then. We’re gonna miss it.”
My heart was beating way too hard and my skin was crawling. I pushed myself forward and stumbled into the ditch. I crawled up the hill beside Sam and together we danced in the shadows towards the boys. We could hear them snickering and a couple of the boys had their arms slung around the shoulders of girls.
“Sit on the grave stone Sarah,” one of the boys said and the group howled with laughter. “I dare you.”
“No!” Sarah squealed and I watched as the boy pushed her towards the stone and she pushed back and skipped away from him as he reached out to grab her.
The trees rustled with the wind and the kids ahead of us stopped suddenly. Sam leaned around the tree she was hiding behind and I army crawled towards her. The moon didn’t loan enough light to see them, only their shadows and my heart leapt in my throat as one of the kids jumped out and yelled, “Boo!”
Everyone squealed and started to run. The girls held hands as they ran towards us. They slowed down and sat on a stone bench near the more decorative section of the graveyard. Sam waved me over, she was closer to the two girls and I knew exactly what she wanted to do. She was going to spook these girls so bad they’d pee their pants.
I moved towards her and leaned against the tree like a ninja. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
She nodded and I looked towards the back part of the graveyard. I couldn’t see the boys anymore, but I didn’t think they were going to raise the dead either. Everyone knew you didn’t sit in the graveyard at night on Halloween. Wandering spirits just waited for young souls to steal. You didn’t sit and give them time to make you a zombie.
We stayed in the shadows, slinking towards the girls tittering like twits. An owl hooted in the distance and my head whipped around. Bad omen to be in the graveyard on Halloween and hear the owl; goosebumps raced along my skin.
Sam and I got right behind the girls and on a head nod we reached up at the same time and grabbed their shoulders and pulled them backwards. The girls screamed loud enough to wake the dead and Sam and I sprinted off into the night. We could hear the boys yelling and the sound of their footfall behind us only made us more desperate to get into the woods and lose them. We split up and ran headlong into the woods at breakneck speed. I slid down the hill on my butt and ran to the west.
Mama was yelling my name and I cringed each time she yelled. Louder and louder, I was sure you could hear her in the next county. The leaves rustled and spurred me faster and I jumped the holler and splashed through the creek. I was almost to the clearing, just a few more steps…
And that’s when I heard it.
Heavy footsteps. Heavy breathing. Shadows rising in the night. I stared wide eyed as I tried to move forward and it was like I forgotten the way home. Nothing looked familiar. Nothing looked real.
I spun around, over and over again. Mama wasn’t yelling anymore and the moon wasn’t shining. Oh god, the ghosts found me! I was going to pay for being in the graveyard on Halloween!
Just as my stomach flip flopped, I heard footsteps right behind me. I didn’t look. I just ran. I ran so fast and so hard, branches smacked me in the face and on the arms and legs. The footsteps followed me step by step and finally when I broke the clearing, the light streaming from the house was like a lighthouse. I ran full tilt towards it and didn’t slow until I got to the porch.
“Boo!” Arms reached for me and I struck out blindly. My fingers touched an eyeball and I snatched my hand back.
“Owwh!”
“I could’ve hurt you!” I screeched.
Sam grinned at me, one hand covering her eye like a pirate. “Argh! Me bestie is a scaredy cat!”
I punched her in the arm and marched up the steps to the screen door and yanked it open. “You comin’ in or what? Granpa had dinner on the table.”
She uncovered her eye and pushed me through the door before retreating back down the step. “I gotta get home. Besides I don’t want to be here when your mama chews you up and spits you out.”
“I hear you out there! You better get your butt in here right now!”
I groaned and Sam danced off into the night laughing. Damn Sam and damn Halloween.
Alright, now that I’ve bored you to tears, let’s just have a general Friday melay of subjects. Who was your favorite partner-in-crime as a child and how did you incorporate all the troublemaking mischief into your characters and their PIC’s?
Sigh. No partner in crime, especially as a child. Too busy being the good daughter, the good student, the perfect whatever. Granted, my memories aren’t terrible detailed… I was more Peter Pan and Neverneverland. La, la, la, la, la…
So, only as an adult have I found my inner mischief maker and had a literal blast letting her run wild in my characters. And when my central character finally has a child? That’s who I wish I had been, Jack and Miranda’s dear daughter, Hazel…with her loyal beagle, Bunny.
2nd, I know. It’s hard to let the inner troublemaker out to play when you get older. Just like you, I take all my mischief and put it into my characters.
I would’ve been your partner-in-crime. I was good at being a PIC.
Great story Sin! I wasn’t into much mischief as a kid – I was too busy burying my nose in a book to do anything *g* But my heroine is very mischievous. She’s constantly getting herself into trouble. Big trouble *g*
On an unrelated note, since we’re doing a “a general Friday melay of subjects”, I closed my office door this morning when I got here because there were some meetings going on, and the floorboards right outside my door are creaking like someone is standing there and shifting back and forth from their left foot to right. It’s creeping me out. I can’t decide if I should open the door and check, or just hide in here.
Hal- poke your head out the door and tell them to go away in a really mean voice. I know you’re not mean (and you look like an angel) but girl, if it’s creeping you out stand up to your creepedoutness and put a stop to it.
I can’t believe you weren’t mischievious as a kid. A fellow Missourian not a troublemaker? I’m shattered.
LMAO – I did once get detention for starting a water fight with the boys. I was first kid in the entire school to ever get detention (it was a really really really small school). Does that count?
Yeah, I’m going to have to go out there. Mostly cause I have to pee. All right. *looking around to see where I left my cajones so I can take them with me*
I was going to tell you to grab your brass balls and go to the door, but I opted for lady like instead of myself. LOL
Your school couldn’t have been smaller than mine. Dude, I come from a town of 181. I’m surprised they weren’t still making us learn in the old one room school house.
Are you kidding? I *was* the partner-in-crime.
No, actually as a kid, since I lived in the middle of nowhere, my partners-in-crime were imaginary. When my brother married, one of his stepkids was my age, and she was wilder than me–and we did crazy shit. Crazy farm shit, mind. So we roped a cow once, with Dad’s new rope…then had to tell him about it so he could retreive the rope off the cow when it ran away.
There was the Christmas Tree incident, where I was too old to have a Christmas tree, that’s not what Christmas was about, so I decided to get my own…and Brandy went with me. It was 20 or so below zero. All the branches fell off by the time I dragged the tree back to the house.
We rode all over the place on my pony; and I remember later, Brandy stole my pony and rode it some miles to another house altogether–and we had to go drive and pick up my pony again.
Brandy was probably my most prevalent partner in crime, but I wanted to beat the crap out of her as often as I wanted to run around and do wild things with her.
honey, I sat in the same desk and had the same teacher 7th-11th grade. There were 2 people in my graduating class. 13 in the entire high school (7th – 12th) When an elementary teacher had to miss a day, they would send me or one of the other girls downstairs to sub. When I dropped out in 11th grade, it meant the other girl in my class graduated alone. She was the first one ever. So they showed a slide-show of her entire life at the graduation ceremony. Of course, the school is so tiny it’s not accredited, so her diploma meant shit and she had to go take the GED. Hence, why I dropped out. I took the GED my junior year, and wasn’t stupid enough to back *g*
Hellion – you had a pony? You’re stories are cracking me up. I’ll bet you gave your parents heart palpitations.
BTW – the creaking outside my door is still going on, but there’s no one there…hmmmm….
Hal – You are killing me! That’s is one freaking SMALL school. LOL! I thought the one I lived by in AR was small (grad class of 13), but you’ve got that beat. What a hoot?!
Sin – Awesome blog. Man, you are so good it makes me want to smack you sometimes. LOL! But then I realize I like living and I refrain.
I was the youngest of a very large group of kids. That meant I was the one running away from anything that could land me in trouble. And usually the one to tell on everyone else. As you can imagine, I was not popular with the other kids. Then in HS, I was the one who covered for my friends who were doing the crazy shit.
Like the time a friend was with her boyfriend (the one she was FORBIDDEN from seeing) and told her parents she was spending the night at my house. Of course, her mother kept calling to talk to her. And I kept saying things like, “She’s out for a walk” or “She’s going to the bathroom.” Needless to say, they figured it out and I didn’t volunteer to do that again. LOL!
There was a cemetary near my house and I played there all the time. I loved it. It was like walking through history and for some reason I was never scared. Then again, I don’t think I ever went there much after dark. LOL!
Damn, that is a small school. My graduating class (same town as Sin’s) was 29. I think there would have been 30, but one dropped out 4 weeks from graduation because she was pregnant. (Newly pregnant, because I remember thinking, “You’re not even showing…can’t you hack it another month and get your degree? As a single mom, you’re surely going to need it…”)
“She’s out for a walk”? *eye roll* NOTE TO SELF: Never ask Terri to lie for you. She sucks at it.
Oh, I’m a terrible liar. I’m only slightly better at keeping secrets. LOL! The only reason I’m getting better at the secret thing as I get older is because I forget the secret right after I hear it.
Oh, I have to say: I have far more partners in crime now.
There’s Sin…and Holly who I get up to all sorts of trouble with around town. Terri, when I see her; I bet Marnee would be a HOST of trouble if I ever got to actually meet her. Pam is a good partner in crime, on occasion. Susan is my movie partner in crime. Jackie is my St. Louis partner in crime…and there is the guy I’m dating who is very much a partner in crime to the point I’m wondering if our next photo op is going to end up being a police photo. (Discreet is not exactly in our lexicon when we’re around each other. “Oh, are we making out in the library again? Oops. Sorry, we’ll take it to the parking lot…”)
Hal, WTH! 2 people? Couldn’t they have sent you over to the next town?
Hellion- I love how you don’t mention what we do as partners-in-crime. Are you afraid I’ll axe you like Terri?
I’m worried about Hal’s childhood as a Missourian. Apparently she didn’t get the proper Missourian childhood. You must have ponies and cap guns and play in abandoned barns as a child. Run through the woods like an Indian and know your way around without a damned compass. The only thing I’m for sure about your Missourian childhood is that you know how to shoot a gun. Thank god for that. Otherwise I would have to kidnap you, Hal.
Hellion- I had ponies too. Although, my PIC status hovered around the actual troublemaker and the PIC, I always was into something I shouldn’t be.
We all have Christmas tree stories. (Well, except for Hal and she’s got a great Russia story.) My christmas tree story has more to do with me taking the saw to a tree and then it wouldn’t fall so I climbed it and yanked on it until it fell. Except it didn’t fall the right way, it fell the opposite way and I landed flat on my back in the snow. Or the times we went sledding down in the woods and fell through the ice. Or “hiking” (more like exploring) the woods and getting lost and then just wandering around like lost souls. Or running through the fields in the summer and getting covered head to toe with ticks after we got told to stay out of the pasture. There are lots of things, but mainly I’m going stay low key. Mama reads this. LOL
Ter- I’ve made a mental note to never ever ask you to lie to me. This would not be condusive to my secret spyness.
lie for me. That’s what I meant. Yeesh. Friday is melting my brain.
So I didn’t have a pony, but I did have a horse. And I did run through the woods, climb trees, play in barns, build my own “tree house” – it was a cardboard box in a tree, with little windows cut out, and little curtains I put up….lol. I was very proud of this. I swam in the creek and chased the bull in the neighbor’s yard……see, I had a classic Missouri childhood!
Yeah Terri, I’m not a good lair either. I can’t lie to anyone. You should see me try to play poker. If I have a good hand, and someone stares at me, I just start laughing, so they know. There’s no bluffing involved *g*
Go ahead and let Terri lie to you, Sin, it’s not like we wouldn’t figure it out right away.
I don’t mention our antics because I couldn’t think of any right off the bat. I’m convinced you have one of those Flashy Things that Will Smith had in MIB. I know we’ve been out together, but the only parts I remember is laughing hysterically and cheese dip…and I’m sure there was more than that.
Whoa! I think there was 420 kids in my graduating class. Can’t remember,though I know it was up there.
My partner in crime, I discovered in high school. We didn’t do much other than drag race on the weekends and drink here and there, we even wrecked his car.
Once, I ditched my prom date for him. I had convinced my date to drop me off at the corner so I could sneak back into the house, it was only 10:00, but with my dad being a Hypo, the chicken shit let me walk the two blocks by myself
good thing my bf was there to pick me up. Gosh, my partner in crime was great, until I broke a relationship off with one of his friends and he thought we’d start dating. Didn’t happen and I broke his heart.
Great story Sin.
Renee
I can only lie when it absolutely doesn’t matter. That’s probably the secret to lies: you have to know it doesn’t matter one way or the other. A complete lack of investment in the outcome if they believe you or not.
Usually if you’re lying, you’re desperate to make people to believe you…and it’s a clear indicator that it’s not true. *LOL*
And yep, I have to add: “Playing in the barn” as a big time childhood game. Also “swimming in the pond” and catching frogs. I also played “schoolteacher”–which stopped when it became apparent people were hoping I’d be one.
I’m a child of the ‘burbs so no barns for me. Hell, I didn’t even know what chiggers were until I moved to AR. I played in the neighborhood which meant playing in the neighbor’s tree house (which was awesome!), hanging at the little park at the bottom of the hill, riding my bike, or playing those big group games like kick the can. I bet kids don’t even know what that is today.
Oh, and I’ll be up at Colonial Williamsburg this weekend. I’ll report any and all Jack sightings! LOL!
I can attest to Hal’s non-ability to pull a poker face. She’s very bubbly and expressive. Personally, I think it’s better to be that way than to have a poker face. Makes poker games more fun.
I had a playhouse my daddy built me when I was little. He put a screened door on it and shutters on my windows and lineoum on the floors. I loved that house. I played in there all the time. Well after it was checked by daddy for spiders. LOL
Renee, thank you. It’s a semi-true story. LOL
I love boy PIC’s! I had one too when I was a teenager. We got into all sorts of trouble together. We’ve grown apart after all these years but we still talk every once in a blue moon. I miss the times we had together. And the drinking on his tailgate in front of the bonfire and going mudding and racing. It’s all those things that my DH doesn’t do. City boys. Yeesh.
I think we need to take Ter on an adventure.
What do you have in mind, Sin?
Oh I forgot about the bonfires and tailgates. Of course, I didn’t discover any of that until I met hubs. They were small town kids hanging out at farms.
Renee
As long as I don’t need a bullet proof vest and you don’t make me shoot anything, I’m in.
You always ruin all my fun, Ter.
Renee, I have all kinds of things in mind. Knowing Ter, she won’t go for any of them. So, we have to be sneaky. And I’m real good at being sneaky. How about you?
Oh! Taking Ter on an adventure? Can I come, too?
I guess the most adventuresome thing I’ve had happen to me was getting lost when backpacking with my aunts…but I had a younger cousin with me, so I couldn’t panic. Had to stay cool for his sake… We missed a path fork… Only lasted a few hours… But I, of course, did the right thing. Blew my whistle and stayed put.
And I thought my high school was on the small size…300 in the graduating class. Small for California, I guess!
I’ll shoot something. I’ll shoot something right now. When can we go?
You could always go down Worley, Hellion. Shooting down there is never out of the ordinary.
2nd, honey, we have GOT to get you in on an adeventure! Bless your heart.
We always panicked if we got lost (we never got lost, that we’ll admit) because it’s more fun if someone is sniveling over the fact that you’ll die out in the woods while secretly inside your LYAO.
I don’t know if my horse and buggy could make a fast enough gettaway.
Hellion is going to shoot something? I don’t know much ’bout no guns… Always wanted to learn how to use a crossbow… Something about the loud *thunk* as it hits home sound so…satisfying.
Anyone remember that old tv series about William Tell…Crossbow?
*eyes lighting up* Oooh! A cross-bow!!! That woudl be so much cooler!
OMG. If you’re getting a crossbow then I want a rocket launcher. It’s only fair.
2nd, I can’t recall that show. I wasn’t much on watching TV until lately. Now I’ve gotten lazy. LOL
We can get a crossbow and go out target shooting! I love it!
I’d love to shoot a bow & arrow. I’ve been watching enough Robin Hood I figure I must have learned something by now. LOL! But I only want to shoot trees or targets, no living things, k?
Is this where I say I’ve never gone hiking?
I might have a conniption fit by the end of the day. You’re blowing my mind away Ter. And don’t no one make any cracks about me not having a mind in the first place. I’m living on the edge today. You don’t want me to push you over it, now do you?
Ter, only if survival is on the line, OK?
Crossbow was ahead of its time. I think it was filmed in Australia… He had the coolest crossbow, a double arrow type. And was wicked good with it, of course.
2nd – You’re right, if I get hungry enough, I’ll aim for a rabbit or something. Let’s just hope I don’t shoot myself in the foot instead.
Sin – come back from the edge, girlfriend. You’d have to know my parents. Talk about a passive form of parenting. We never camped, never hiked, never took vacations period. Other than that five hour drive of hell when we went to visit my mom’s sister and her FIVE daughters every year. Talk about bad flashbacks….
I only want the cross bow if I get to wear the leather pants too. And the Van Hesling bustier thing too…I mean, you can’t carry around a cross bow while wearing gym sweats. No one will take you seriously. But everyone takes a person in leather seriously…
Sin – wonderful blog!!
Hal – 2 people?! That’s crazy. My HS was smallish, only 175 or so people, but that’s like metropolitan for you people. LOL!!
I grew up in the sticks though and there weren’t a lot of people to play with out there. There was one other family with kids our age and we all rode our bikes (over a mile) to see each other at least once a week.
Most of the time we were in the woods, climbing trees, etc. There were some barns but they were creepy barns, so we’d freak each other out, daring one another to go in. We’d play in the creeks nearby (said ‘crick’) and fish in the ponds.
It was nice. I had a crush on one of the boys we played with and I found out much much later (late teens) that he liked me too, but he never got up the guts to ask me out. *sigh* He was my brother’s best friend and my brother never told me. How crazy is that?
Marn – Your brother should be beaten. Then again, I guess it all worked out for the best. LOL! My grad class had 105 or close to it. There’s a middle school here (Va Beach) that is 6th, 7th, & 8th grade and there are 1600 students. That’s nuts!!!
Hellion, you can wear whatever you want. I will take you seriously, I promise. Well, the tutu might be hard to look beyond…but I have a steel will!
We had a crick top of our street…think it’s surrounded by developments now… Sad, used to catch frogs there…
Live next to a seasonal crick now…a silent crick. No frogs. Who needs scary movies when you live next to a silent crick?
It did work out for the best. LOL! It was just funny, that’s all. And apparently my brother CAN keep a secret. LOL!!
Wow big school, huh? When I taught, our graduating class of seniors topped 500 kids. It was a big one too….
LOL 2nd! I had lots of cricks too. I actually lifeguarded at Yellow Creek/Crick, which was a man made lake when they damned up a crick.
*humming Memories*
what would be dammed. Though I did despise the damn job. LOL!
This would be where I tell I’ve never learned how to swim?
My God, sailor! Learn ta swim! Or float, at least! (Where do we stash the life rings…? Anyone got those floaty arm band things for Terrio?)
LOL! A pirate with orange arm floaties. That’s such a visual.
That’s it, Ter. When I see you, the first thing I’m going to do is push you off Pinacles hill and cliff dive.
Marn- I would kick my brother’s ass. Even if it did work out for the best. Damn brothers. Always meddling. Brothers are worse than sisters. Or at least little sisters. My brother like guy friends were worse than any family I had. I swear, always in my business and withholding information.
I can’t float either. But I can tread water a little. Those floaties better be XXL. LOL!
Sin – It has to be bad that my first thought was that I don’t have any brothers. I have two! But they are so much younger that when I think of my childhood, I don’t think of them. Heck, I was 17 when one of them was born. LOL!
Terri, I guess taking you river rafting is out of the question, huh? I think your goal for the next year is to learn how to swim. Take a water walking class, you’ll learn real fast.
We’ll have to put our heads together and figure out what kind of trouble we can get Terri into at D.C
Renee
Oh, wish I could put together a budget and join you in DC… I’m going to conjour up a money spell, light some candles and sacrifice some cats…uh…cat shaped cookies. Really.
I think I might have to join you in that circle and make some money sacrifice.
I did hear today that Mervyns is hiring…really! Need enough clerks to help them handle the going out of business sales… So, I’d be guaranteed of being gainfully unemployed again come January… Hmmmm.
I’ll search my books, see if I can find a good money spell… I hate retail.
Amen sister. I worked retail for years. I’d rather work the corner than go back.
We need a quick get rich scheme.
Looks like I missed some fun today! Great blog, Sin!
Your childhood sounds like the EXACT opposite of mine – city girl here. Not one specific PIC – I was too much of a chicken to do anything. I hung with the popular girls once in 8th grade and spent the night knocking over metal garbage can lids in the alleys. Pretty tame stuff. Although we did have a huge neighborhood and played kick the can quite a lot, Ter!!! In fact, I just taught my kids how to play it this past summer.
I would think that my main PIC is the DH! I’ve done most of my crazy, not like me things since I’ve known him.
Loved your story Sin!
You have a real talent for short stories and
I could almost sense a little girl inside trying to express herself.
Have you thought of trying Children’s stories? There is a huge market and lots of adults read them when they think no-one is looking.
Ballet shoes, the railway children….
I think you might be really good in that genre.
As well as the adult stuff of course!
Afraid you may not see much of me this side of Christmas….the rest of the cosmos needs me at the moment. *g*
I always look in at weekends though.
Irish! You have the look of a sweet girl, but I know you’ve got the troublemaker’s heart! DH’s seem to bring out the troublemaker in all of us. It’s that daring gleam they get in their eyes when they say something onery.
Q, this is what happens when you’re a superhero by day and night. I’ve missed you and your wicked smart ways.
I never thought about writing children stories. I have the tendency to go rogue about 15,000 into a story and get a little on the hardcore side of things. I could write short stories but I have a hard time thinking of stories with a moral lesson weaved into them. I mostly was a troublemaker as a kid. I don’t think parents want their kids learning about my wickedness and practicing it on their own. *g*