Giving Her Credit

Prompt:
Your spouse has left you but forgotten to take his/her credit card. You're not poor so how would you use the card in ways that would really upset your ex?


“He did what?”

“He left me,” Maisie sniffled into the phone. “I came home from work and he was packing a suitcase.”

“But . . . I don’t understand. You and Jonathan . . .” Audrey’s voice lowered. “Was it another woman?”

“No, I could have understood if it was another woman—”

“Another man?”

“No! He said—he said he’d been feeling restless for the past year. He thinks we rushed into marriage and should have done more living or something before we settled down.”

“Rushed into it? You’ve been married for ten years!”

“Well not any longer,” Maisie said, through a fresh wave of tears. “He said he needs time on his own to think things through.”

“Time to have a good time, if you ask me,” Audrey said, angry for her friend’s sake.

“You really think so?”

“I was always all about Jonathan. He never deserved someone as sweet and caring as you, Maisie. And he never gave you enough credit for all you did for him, for just being you.”

Shocked, Maisie was speechless for a moment. “But . . . I thought you liked Jonathan.”

Audrey sighed over the phone. “I put up with him for your sake. You’re my friend, Maisie, and you cared about him.”

“I did,” Maisie sniffled. “I do. Audrey, what am I supposed to do now?”

“If it was me, I’d be getting my mad on and making a list of ways to put the screws to him.”

“Oh, I don’t think I could do that.”

“I know, Maisie,” Audrey said with another sigh. “And that’s part of your problem.”

Audrey offered to come over to keep her company, but Maisie wanted time to herself to wallow in self pity. She couldn’t very well do that with Audrey, especially not considering Audrey’s opinion of Jonathan.

But she didn’t wallow for as long as she thought she would. She wandered through the empty house, thinking of Jonathan and their life together.

They’d met in college and were married before they graduated. Maisie had planned on continuing with post-graduate school but Jonathan got a job offer in a distant city and it was put on the back-burner. Then he decided they needed a house and once again her education was put on hold.

Now that she really thought about it, pretty much everything she wanted that didn’t dovetail with Jonathan’s plans got put off or shunted aside. Like kids. Every time she brought up the idea of kids, he had a different excuse as to why the time wasn’t right.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized Audrey was right. It was all about Jonathan, all the time. Maisie was definitely starting to get her mad on.

Jonathan told her he’d be back at some point to pick up the rest of his things, and would she be a dear and pack his clothes in boxes for him? She packed so neatly for him whenever he had to go on a business trip. She’d pack for him all right, she’d pack real good.

Grabbing several trash bags from the kitchen, she stalked up to the bedroom. Stuffing his expensive suits into the garbage bags, along with shirts, shoes, and ties, gave her a certain grim satisfaction. Especially when she dumped all his remaining bath products – shampoo, aftershave, cologne, skin cream – in the bags with them.

Maisie glanced around the bedroom to make sure she hadn’t missed anything and spotted something on the floor near Jonathan’s night stand. It was his gold card. It must have fallen when he took the phone charger.

A smile blossomed on Maisie’s face. What better way to put the screws to him than to run up his credit bill? And better yet, she could buy stuff he’d never approve of.

Still smiling, Maisie left the bedroom to start making her list.

Astrology Part Five - Leo

Quick facts for Leo:
You were born between July 23 and August 22
Your sign is the Lion
Your planet is the Sun
Your element is Fire
Your metal is gold
Your birthstone is the sardonyx and ruby
Your flower is gladiolus
Your color is orange
Your body part is the heart and spine
Your Tarot card is Strength

Strengths:
Creative, passionate, generous, warm-hearted, cheerful, humorous

Weaknesses:
Arrogant, stubborn, self-centered, lazy, inflexible

Likes:
Theater, taking holidays, being admired, expensive things, bright colors, fun with friends

Dislikes:
Being ignored, facing difficult reality, not being treated like a king or queen

Your best matches are those born under the sign of Sagittarius or Aries and to a lesser degree those born to Gemini and Libra.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The lion is the natural symbol of kings and rulers, so it’s no wonder that Leos are self-confident, and obvious leaders. They make good friends or lovers, putting their heart into every relationship. They’re generous and loyal, self-confident and attractive, and have the ability of uniting different groups of people to lead them towards a shared cause.

Leos have a great deal of respect for those in authority or power, and are often interested in politics. They’re almost impossible to bully. They like to be in charge, often ruffling a few feathers to get there, and they’re good at delegating to others. Their ambition and drive will have them seeing any project they undertake through to completion.

As a Fire sign, Leo is warm-hearted and in love with life. They’re outgoing, dramatic, creative, and self-confident. While they can be generous, it’s usually only to boost their own reputation. They’re brave in an emergency, easily taking the initiative to resolve complicated situations. When there are no emergencies or problems to solve, they tend to be very casual and take their own superiority for granted.

Famous Leos include: Napoleon I; Alexander the Great; Aldous Huxley, Alfred Hitchcock, Chris Hemsworth, Jason Mamoa, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Antonio Banderas, Bill Clinton, J.K. Rowling, Jennifer Lopez, and Barack Obama.

Down the Slippery Slope - Backwards

Well, the good news is that I managed to disable my track pad again. The bad news is that it really didn’t make much of a difference. I back slid into my old habits of reading too much and gaming too much. *sigh*

While I’m a little disappointed in myself, in my defense I was extra tired and head-achy last week. And I don’t know where my energy disappeared to, but I suspect it was self isolating itself.

But still, I did manage to get my blog posts up on time, and I really should get credit for that, especially the prompt story. I didn’t get it written ahead of time, and I did not budget my time wisely on Thursday and ended up staying up way too late to get the story done. The worst part is I don’t think it was worth it.

I’m not a fan of zombies or zombie stories in the first place, which is probably why I didn’t get it done earlier in the week. That being said, the story itself started to get away from me and I can see making a much longer story out of it in the future.

This is not what these prompts are about. They’re supposed to be just quick little fun exercises to get the creative juices going. But the prompt stories that I could make an actual story out of are starting to pile up. We’re talking a couple of anthologies worth. You know, when I have the time (and energy) to go back and work on them.

Also Thursday night, I attended a socially distant meeting of my poetry group. Six of us met down on the waterfront in the picnic table free picnic shelter. We brought our own beverages, chairs, masks, and poetry. It was actually kind of fun.

We shared our poetry and then chit-chatted until it started getting dark. I found it comforting that of the six of us, three (including me) were having trouble finding inspiration to write. But not only were the other three still writing, one even put together a slim volume of poetry. Kudos to her!

Normally I’d come home from a poetry meeting all fired up with creativity. Not so this time. While it was great to see my fellow poets, my poetic muse still seems to be self-isolating. But hopefully, like the COVID-19, this won’t last forever.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Wordage Report

Editing – 0 hours/pages
Yeah . . . this time I didn’t even look at my editing stuff.

Wandering Wizards – a few words
I did add a few words, but not really enough to matter. And I kicked around the idea of a new title for it – one that makes better sense.

Blog Posts – includes the post for my regular blog, but not the prompt story.
481 (regular blog)+ 716 + 306 = 1,503 words total

Weekly Prompt – 803 words

Total Words – 2,306

New Prompt
This week’s prompt is from Writing Exercises and Prompts
Your spouse has left you but forgotten to take his/her credit card. You're not poor so how would you use the card in ways that would really upset your ex?

Goals From Last Week:
Well, my word counts were about the same, for everything except Wandering Wizards that is. I kind of stalled at the scene I’ve been working on because I started thinking it was dragging out too long, but that’s what edits are for, right?

You’ll notice I added the source for my weekly prompt this week, and I’ll keep doing it. I thought you might want to try generating a prompt or two of your own.

Still no edits, and I still haven’t made a decision on the kanban board. It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but I think it would be a better idea if I was actually getting stuff done.

Goals For This Week:
1. Words on Wandering Wizards. It would be really nice to be able to write ‘The End’ before the summer is over, but I won’t hold my breath.
2. New prompt story – and maybe some new sources for prompts. These are supposed to be quick and easy but they’re getting away from fun exercises and seem more geared to actual stories lately.
3. Decide whether I’m going with the kanban board or the dry erase, or just forget the whole thing.
4. Seriously, if I’m not going to edit I need to take it off my list.

And there’s what I’ll be up to this week. How about you?

Zombie Days

Prompt:
One night, some children find a zombie hunter while searching for a doctor.

“Sissy, time to wake up.” Jeremy poked at the lump under the frayed blanket.

The lump let out a groan, but didn’t stir.

“Sissy?” Jeremy tried pulling at the blanket. It was yanked back out of his hand.

“Go away.”

“But we’re hungry,” Lucy said, drawing out the word into a long, whiny note. She clutched her blankie with both hands.

“Leave me alone!”

Jeremy and Lucy looked at each other. This had never happened before. Sissy always made them breakfast.

“I think she’s sick,” Lucy whispered.

Jeremy looked back towards the lump on the bed that showed no sign of moving and his shoulders sagged. “C’mon Luce. We’ll find our own breakfast.”

Lucy popped her thumb into her mouth and followed as her brother led the way to the dingy room that served as the kitchen, dragging her blanket behind her.

The kitchen didn’t hold much, a small battered table with two mismatched chairs, and a dented refrigerator that wouldn’t have worked even if the electricity was working. Sissy kept what food they had in there to keep it safe from mice.

There wasn’t much in it now, but tucked in the back Jeremy found a box of cereal.

“Here,” he told Lucy, who’d climbed up on one of the chairs. “We can have this.”

“Not supposed to eat out of the box,” she said around her thumb.

“We’re going to have to this time,” Jeremy told her. “It’ll be okay, it’s just this one time.”

They polished off the cereal and then just sat there looking at each other.

“Do you really think Sissy is sick?” Jeremy asked.

Lucy nodded. “She smells just like that girl did that we found last week. She said that girl was sick. What are we gonna do Jeremy?”

“You’re going to stay here with Sissy and I’m going to go find someone to help.”

“Nuh uh! I’m not staying by myself.”

“You won’t be by yourself, Sissy’ll be here.”

“I’m not staying. I’ll follow you.”

Jeremy knew she’d probably do just that. “Okay, you can come with me. But you’re not allowed to complain about being tired or anything.”

“I won’t,” Lucy promised.

Jeremy was actually glad of his sister’s company. It made him feel braver. He’d never been outside without Sissy. She’d warned them it was too dangerous out here, especially for little kids, that there were a lot of bad people who’d want to hurt them.

But she’d also told him how to tell the good people from the bad. Bad people had sores on them and smelled. And they walked funny. Sometimes they made a moaning sound. Good people may not be clean, but they didn’t have sores. And they walked and talked normal.

Jeremy was starting to get worried when he spotted the man. He had a backpack on and moved quietly through the rubble. He was still making up his mind about the best way to approach him when Lucy knocked over a can.

The man’s head snapped around and he was moving towards them before the can finished rolling down the slope of refuse.

“What are you kids doing out here by yourselves?” he asked.

“We’re looking for a doctor,” Lucy told him. “Are you a doctor?”

“Is one of you sick?” He looked at them sharply.

“Sissy is,” Lucy told him.

“Sissy looks after us,” Jeremy added. The man looked okay, and he didn’t smell like the bad people.

“How long has Sissy been sick?”

“She wouldn’t get up this morning,” Jeremy said. “We had to get our own breakfast.”

“Maybe you should take me to Sissy.”

When they got to the apartment they could hear Sissy moaning – it was a scary sound.

“You kids wait here,” the man said. “I’ll see what I can do to help Sissy.”

Jeremy and Lucy went into the kitchen and sat at the table. For once, Lucy wasn’t being a chatterbox. After a few minutes, the moaning in the other room stopped. The man came to the kitchen door.

“Did you help Sissy?” Lucy asked.

“I’m sorry kids,” the man said gravely. “But Sissy didn’t make it.”

Lucy’s eyes filled with tears. Jeremy felt like crying too, but he was a big boy and big boys didn’t cry. “Who’s going to look after us?” he asked.

The man heaved a sigh. “I guess you’ll have to come with me,” he told them. “I’ll take you to a place where there are other people. You’ll be safe there.”

However, it was a long way to the sanctuary, and the zombie population was growing daily. But with luck they’d make it, and in a few years there’d be two new zombie hunters to add to the roster.

Astrology Part Four - Cancer

Quick facts for Cancer:
You were born between June 22 and July 22
Your sign is the Crab
Your planet is the Moon
Your element is water
Your metal is silver
Your birthstone is the ruby and the pearl
Your flower is water lily
Your color is turquoise
Your body part is the breast
Your Tarot card is The Chariot

Strengths:
Tenacious, highly imaginative, loyal, emotional, sympathetic, persuasive

Weaknesses:
Moody, pessimistic, suspicious, manipulative, insecure

Likes:
Art, home-based hobbies, relaxing near or in water, helping loved ones, a good meal with friends

Dislikes:
Strangers, any criticism of Mom, revealing of personal life

Your best matches are those born under the sign of Pisces and Scorpio, and to a lesser degree those born to Taurus and Virgo.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Cancers care deeply for their families and are often found in the caregiver role. They are very loyal and form close attachments to those they love. They’re able to empathize with the pain and suffering of others and are quick to offer help. But they are just as quick to avoid conflict, and often suffer from mood swings. They can also be somewhat controlling.

Their homes are their sanctuaries, and they’re excellent hosts. Entertaining is one of their favorite pastimes. They are most happy and content when they are surrounded by family in a harmonious home.

Cancers are highly intuitive and sensitive, and often sentimental. Like the crab, they’re shielded by hard external shells and are extremely self-protective. At first glance they can seem cold or distant, but in time their gentle nature and compassion will shine through.

Famous Cancer include: Julius Caesar, Helen Keller, Nelson Mandela, Pearl S. Buck, Louis Armstrong, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Sylvester Stallone, Kristin Bell, Tom Cruise, Will Ferrell, Kathy Bates, and Harrison Ford.

An Apple a Day . . .

If someone wants to start a Go Fund Me campaign to create a Windows-like operating system that does not constantly updates and needs to be upgraded every couple of years, I’d be happy to contribute.

There were a couple of updates to Windows this week and one them messed with the settings on my lap top. The first one changed the back light colour of my keyboard – instead of multi-colour it went to straight red. I was able to fix it, but then I noticed my cursor was all over the place. And why was that? Because at some point it enabled my touch pad.

One of the first things I do with a new lap top is disable the touch pad. I find it annoying at the best of times but when I’m typing I find it super annoying. I find it unnatural to type with my hands raised, which you have to do to keep from touching the touch pad and sending the cursor to unexpected places.

I tried the usual ways to disable it with no luck. I even Googled it and they didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. And they took away the Paint program, which I found useful, and replaced it with Paint 3D, which I do not. Microsoft, you suck!

It’s just a good thing that I’ve been doing the bulk of my typing on the Neo lately, then uploading to the lap top. Otherwise my productivity would take a serious nosedive this week, and I only just started getting my nose up in the air again.

I might also mention that it changed my snipping tool, which I found handy for making maps for the hubby when he has to drive into Toronto, and it tried to make me switch to Microsoft Edge for my browser. There’s nothing I hate more than being strong armed into something.

When I’m ready for a new lap top, I’ll be taking a serious look at a Mac.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Wordage Report

Editing – 0 hours/pages
To be fair, I did have my editing stuff sitting beside me most of the time, I just didn’t do anything with it.

Wandering Wizards – 1,000 words
Be still my heart!

Blog Posts – includes the post for my regular blog, but not the prompt story.
386 + 787 + 368 = 1,541 words total

Weekly Prompt – 669 words

Total Words – 3,210

New Prompt
One night, some children find a zombie hunter while searching for a doctor.

Goals From Last Week:
My total word counts were higher than they’ve been in a long time, mainly due to the fact I finally got going on Wandering Wizards again. No editing, but did I mention I got some new words done on Wandering Wizards? LOL

I kind of like working with prompts from The Story Shack, the addition of the word count adds a little something to the challenge. Once again I was over by about 20 words, but still, that’s not bad. I think the story worked better with the limit – if I’d kept going I probably would have thrown a Buffy reference in there and that would have pushed it over into cheesy.

No edits, and still no kanban board last week. I actually did get a few stick notes on the kanban board, but stick notes tend to . . . stick out. It kind of bugs me. So I got a dry erase board and a pack of washable markers, thinking that if I go for any kind of board that might work better. But the board I made is black and the dry erase board is white, and the white is really kind of . . . white. This might require a bit more thinking.

Goals For This Week:
1. More words on Wandering Wizards. I’ll keep it at the top of my list and maybe magic things will happen again.
2. New prompt story – different prompt source this week, just to keep it fresh.
3. Decide whether I’m going with the kanban board or the dry erase, or just forget the whole thing.
4. Make time to work on the edits for Visitation Rites.

And there’s what I’ll be up to this week. How about you?

Vampires In Space

Prompt:
Write a 650 word story in the crime genre. It's about a vampire and should include coloring pencils. Also use the sentence 'I can't see you.' Bonus prompt: The story takes place in space.

Vlad stood at the viewport gazing out at the stars streaming past. It was a shame he couldn’t have done this centuries ago. The space station was the perfect environment for a vampire. There was no sunlight to worry about and with hundreds of people coming and going on a daily basis there was an unlimited supply of food. And as an added bonus, even those who believed in vampires would never believe in a vampire in space.

He sighed and turned away from the window. He wasn’t here for the view, he had a job to do and a client waiting for results. Consulting the slip of paper he pulled from his pocket, he glanced at the designations beside each door as he wandered along the curving corridor. A7-12G, that was the one he was looking for.

Casually, Vlad strolled slightly past his target to the next view port. Any moment now . . . Right on cue a klaxon sounded. Vlad faded into a white mist as the emergency crews hurried down the corridor.

When the way was clear again, Vlad solidified and went to the door he’d marked. He’d already determined the occupant was in one of the inner rings at work, the way should be clear to get what he came for.

Back on Earth he could have stayed in his vaporous form and slipped under the door. But here in space the doors were air tight. Deftly he attached the bypass to the keypad and in seconds had the door sliding open.

“Too easy,” he murmured.

Slipping inside he glanced around. “Where would he hide it?” Vlad murmured.

The Spartan quarters didn’t leave many options. He ran his gloved hands lightly over the shelves of the single bookcase, a tasteful faux wood, but found no hidden compartments and the sensor built into his left glove stayed silent.

Pursing his lips he took a second look around, studying the artwork on the walls.

“A wall safe? Seems a little obvious.”

Still, he checked behind the pictures on the walls and sure enough, one of them hid a safe. It took only a matter of seconds to open it, but what he sought was not there.

With a growl of frustration he shut it again.

Moving into the sleeping area, Vlad checked the artwork in there for a second safe and even went through the closet and dresser. Still nothing. The drawers in the night stand caught his eye.

“He wouldn’t be so obvious, would he?”

Vlad’s eyes widened as he opened the drawer. What he sought lay nestled inside. Not trusting it could be that easy, he waved his left hand over the box but detected no sensors, no trip wires, no pressure plates.

With a huff he scooped up what he came for. With preternatural speed, he left the sleeping area and was back in the corridor before the foot traffic resumed.

Vlad made his way to the landing bay where his client was waiting.

“Do you have it?” she asked as he reached the rendezvous point.

“Yes, I have it right here.” Vlad patted his breast pocket. “Where are you? I can’t see you.”

A dim light flickered on, illuminating the young blonde woman. She held out a credit strip. “The agreed upon price.”

Vlad took the strip and passed over the box he’d retrieved. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” she said, opening the package to check its contents.

“I looked in the box, but all that’s inside are colouring pencils. Is that really what you were looking for?”

“They’ve been in my family for years,” she said, pulling one of them out. “They’re made of real wood.”

Suddenly, she lunged forward, burying the pencil in Vlad’s chest. His look of astonishment turned to dust along with the rest of him.

“Wood’s been hard to come by in the last few years, but even the wood of a colouring pencil can is enough to dust a vampire.”

Astrology Part Three - Gemini

Quick facts for Gemini:
You were born between May 21 and June 21
Your sign is the Twins
Your planet is Mercury
Your element is Air
Your metal is mercury
Your birthstone is the pearl
Your flower is the lily of the valley
Your color is bright yellow
Your body part is the arms
Your Tarot card is The Lovers

Strengths:
Gentle, affectionate, curious, adaptable, ability to learn quickly and exchange ideas

Weaknesses:
Nervous, inconsistent, indecisive

Likes:
Music, books, magazines, chats with nearly anyone, short trips around the town

Dislikes:
Being alone, being confined, repetition and routine

Your best matches are those born under the sign of Aquarius and Libra, and to a lesser degree those born under Aries and Leo.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Gemini is often misrepresented as two-faced, however this is rarely true. They’re able to juggle a variety of passions, hobbies, careers, and friends. They’re social butterflies and love to talk to anyone about anything, often using their hands to communicate as well. They love texting and tweeting almost as much as talking face-to-face. It’s a good thing they recover quickly from embarrassing missteps because often they move to fast with their words to take care with them.

They are sociable, communicative and ready for fun, with a tendency to suddenly get serious, thoughtful and restless. Gemini needs excitement, variety, and passion, which makes them inquisitive and always ready to flirt. They often spend time with different lovers until they find just the right one. But once they do they’ll be faithful and always treasure their partner.

A fearless thinker, Gemini is always ready to try something new. Unfortunately, they have short attention spans and are happiest when they can move from one idea to another. They are expressive and quick witted, fascinated with the world around them, feeling there’s not enough time to see and do everything they want. With their changeable mind and fun loving ways, Gemini is never boring.

Famous Gemini include: Queen Victoria, John F. Kennedy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Prince Philip of England, Kayne West, Chris Pratt, Colin Farrell, Marilyn Monroe, Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, Brooke Shields, and Bob Hope.

The Best of Both Worlds

Well, I figured out what was going on with my blog. And it wasn’t something I’d done, it was all Blogger’s fault. They have a new format which they sprang on my blog without any notice. I think they were having a couple of issues with it because there were no options for creating a new post or uploading photos.

Anyway, I fiddled around with it for a while and eventually I found a button that allowed me to return to the “legacy” version. Thank goodness! Now there’s a banner at the top of the composition page of both of my blogs that announces the new format and how we should try it out. Um, not thank you. Been there, done that, didn’t like it.

In other news . . . it’s hot as sin here in Ontario, and despite the thunderstorms lurking around there’s little relief in sight. Okay, so the storm fronts are going to bring the temperatures down out of the insanely hot bracket to the super hot bracket this week, but then they’re going to sky rocket again the following week.

You know, I like summer, but only to look at. I love the bright sun, the green, the flowers, the birds singing . . . but I don’t do well in excessive heat, and humidity? Forget it! If we could have the sun and the green in winter it would be perfect.

I like the cold. I would much rather be too cold than too hot – if you’re cold you can always put a sweater on, but if you’re too hot there’s only so much you can take off before people run screaming. This is why, when we had to replace our furnace in the winter, we spent the extra money to have central air included. It took me a while to embrace it – I hate having the doors and windows shut when there’s a breeze outside – but I’ve learned to love it.

I have my sun and my green, and I can look at it through the window while I enjoy the cool of the a/c. Truly the best of both worlds.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Wordage Report

Editing – unknown
Here’s the thing. I know I have some notes written down for Bone Moon, but I could not for the life of me remember where. All I remember is there were some changes, and they were really good changes. So I wasted a good 45 minutes looking for these notes before getting so frustrated that I pulled out a different story to work on. So now I’m working on Visitation Rites, which needs to be fleshed out to become a real story

Wandering Wizards – 0 words
*sigh* Maybe this week.

Blog Posts – includes the post for my regular blog, but not the prompt post.
639 + 487 + 320 = 1446 words total

Weekly Prompt – 555 words
I was kind of surprised I was almost dead on with the word count for last week’s prompt story – only five words over. And I think technically you could call it fantasy, although it had some science fiction aspects in it. But I included the prompt sentence ‘I’ll deal with you later,’ and the onion.

Total Words – 2001

New Prompt
Write a 650 word story in the crime genre. It's about a vampire and should include coloring pencils. Also use the sentence 'I can't see you.' Bonus prompt: The story takes place in space.

Goals From Last Week:
I totalled more words on my blog posts than I have in previous weeks, but my prompt story was fewer words than it’s been lately. Of course I stuck to the word limit of the prompt, so that should give me a bonus point. As far as the kanban board goes . . . oops! I forgot all about it.

Again I managed to get all my blog posts up on time, and I’m moving forward with the editing, but once again I got zero words done on Wandering Wizards. I don’t know why I have such a problem when it comes to this book, but it’s getting tiresome.

Goals For This Week:
1. New words on Wandering Wizards. Maybe if I keep putting it at the top of my list I’ll actually do it one of these days.
2. New prompt story – this week’s prompt actually looks like it might be fun.
3. Finish setting up my kanban board so the projects are staring me in the face.
4. Dive into the edits on Visitation Rites.

And there’s what I’ll be up to this week. How about you?

True Believer

Corvis Three was small, as colony planets went, and fairly new having only been established fifty years ago. There was the subsistent farming, of course, and a large mining operation that was the main focus of the settlement. It boasted two spaceports, one for travelers and one for shipping only, and one city which contained the bulk of the population.

It was a minor colony, in the grand scheme of things, but a great deal of time, effort, and money had gone into its creation. So when an asteroid appeared to be on a collision course with it, there was a bit of concern.

There was plenty of time for debate on how to handle the impending disaster. The arguments went on for days, but in the end it was decided that the most fiscally responsible action would be to abandon Corvis Three and let nature take its course.

Once the course of action was decided on, the evacuation was done in a timely and orderly fashion. Cargo ships carried away the equipment deemed too valuable to leave behind, and transport ships collected the disgruntled colonists. All but one.

The archivist refused to leave. As far as importance went the archives was at the bottom of the list. The colony hadn’t been established long enough for there to be any significant historical records. All of its noteworthy information had been digitalized. But the archivist refused to leave his post.

“This is my life’s work,” he told them. “I’ll not leave it behind.”

“The archives have been obsolete for ages,” they told them. “Nobody cares about it anyway.”

“I care,” he said, leveling them a look. “I’m staying and that’s the end of it.”

Sitting on the steps of the archives, he watched the last of the ships leave. When they were no more than a speck in the sky he got up, dusted himself off, and went back inside with a sigh of satisfaction.

“They’re all gone,” he called out. “It’s safe to come out now.”

There was a scuffling noise, then a short, squat figure pushed its way out from behind the file cabinet in the corner. Several slender figures with gossamer wings swooped down from the light fixture. Several diminutive figures sporting red caps sidled out from behind the bookcase.

“You sure that’s the last of ‘em?” the gnome asked.

The archivist gave a shrug. “You would know better than I. You’re the ones that orchestrated this exodus.”

“Aye, and a long and hard campaign it was.”

“We’re safe! We’re free!” the fairies chorused, swooping around the gnome’s head.

“Go away now,” the gnome said irritably. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“They don’t mean any harm,” the archivist said mildly. “They’re just excited.”

“They’re an excitable bunch, ‘tis true,” the gnome agreed. “What will you do now?”

“Me? What do you mean?”

“You’re the only human left here and as such we decided you should be in charge.”

“In charge? Of all of you Fae? I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“Here,” the gnome said, reaching into his pocket. “Have an onion.”

Astrology Part Two – Taurus

Quick facts for Taurus:
You were born between April 21 and May 20
Your sign is the Bull
Your planet is Venus
Your element is Earth
Your metal is Copper
Your birthstone is the emerald
Your flower is lily-of-the-valley or rose
Your color is deep yellow
Your body part is the neck and throat
Your Tarot card is The Hierophant

Strengths:
Reliable, patient, practical, devoted, responsible, stable

Weaknesses:
Stubborn, possessive, uncompromising

Likes:
Gardening, cooking, music, romance, high quality clothes, working with hands

Dislikes:
Sudden changes, complications, insecurity of any kind, synthetic fabrics

Your best matches are those born under the sign of Capricorn or Virgo, and sometimes Pisces or Cancer

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The second sign of the Zodiac, Taurus enjoys the good life - both physical pleasure and material goods. But although like the bull they can be somewhat bull-headed and stubborn, sometimes that stubbornness is simply commitment, their desire to finish a task no matter what. Taurus isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and work hard to earn big rewards. They find it easy to make money and they’ll stay on the same project for years until it’s completed.

Taurus is modest and doesn’t seek popularity. They’re sensitive, keen witted, and humble by nature. Their truthfulness makes them good-natured, reliable, and faithful friends. They’re always there for the people they love. The influence of Venus ensures they enjoy being surrounded by beauty and love, comfort and luxury.

As an earth sign, Taurus has the ability to see things from a grounded, practical, and realistic perspective. They tend to be overprotective, conservative, and devoted to both people and ideals. They’re patient, loyal, dependable, and often somewhat conservative. However, they don’t like sudden changes or criticism.

Famous Taurus include: Queen Elizabeth II, William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Sigmund Freud, Kelly Clarkson, Barbara Streisand, Renee Zellweger, Dwayne Johnson, and Audrey Hepburn.

The Post That Almost Wasn’t

If you caught my prompt story on Friday, consider yourself lucky. And I’m not just talking about the length of time it took for me to write that story. When I went to post the story I found the composition window of my blogging platform had changed. I had no clue what was going on, but it was a miracle I managed to get the story up there. And you might also have noticed that the image that went with it was not centered either. That was a whole other issue.

Naturally, at first I thought it was Blogger’s fault. After all, I’d already had Facebook pull a fast one on me by changing their format earlier this week. Fortunately, with Facebook I was able to change it back so it looked the way it used. My blog account . . . not so much.

I thought maybe if I signed out and back in again it might reset itself, only when I tried that it wouldn’t take my password and I had to reset it, which messed with the Google accounts on my other devices. I don’t even remember linking them – maybe it did that on its own?

And not only did it mess up my other devices, it didn’t even help. On a whim I checked my other blog and lo and behold, it looked normal. So now I’m thinking I inadvertently did something to the settings at some point. So that’s going to go on my list for the week – figuring out how to get my blogging account back to normal. Or at least to a format that doesn’t give me hives when I try to use it.

So if you check back during the week and see this space in chaos, you’ll know why.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Wordage Report

Editing – just under 2 hours
The story I picked was The Bone Moon. I would have got more done on it but the time I slotted for editing kept getting usurped for other things.

Wandering Wizards – 0 words
*sigh* Maybe this week.

Blog Posts – includes the post for my regular blog, but not the prompt post.
568 + 475 + 298 = 1341 words total

Weekly Prompt – 826 words
I actually cut this story down from over 900 words. I wasn’t quite sure where I was going with it, hence the kind of abrupt ending. However, it also gave me an idea for a kind of cute, romantic short story, so it was worth the effort I put into it.

Total Words – 2167

New Prompt
Write a 550 word story in the fantasy genre. It's about an archivist and should include an onion. Also use the sentence 'I'll deal with you later.' Bonus prompt: There seems to be no one left on the planet.

Goals From Last Week:
Well, I got all my blog posts done and I got my new prompt story written (eventually). I got a start on editing a story but didn’t get it finished, and once again I got zero words added to Wandering Wizards. Still, I’m pretty happy with last week considering there was some babysitting thrown into the mix too.

Goals For This Week:
I proved I could (sort of) do it once, let’s see if I can do it again.
1. New words on Wandering Wizards. For real this time – just pick a spot and start writing.
2. New prompt story – and hopefully it’ll get written in less time than it took to pick out the prompt.
3. Finish setting up my kanban board so the projects are staring me in the face.
4. Finish editing Bone Moon, maybe even pick out another story to edit.

And that’s what I’ll be up to this week. How about you?

Lost and Found

Prompt: One evening in the forest, a boy, an old widow, and a fortune teller find an old man.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Gertrude hadn’t planned on attending the fair. She and Henry had loved the yearly fair with its vendors and side shows. They would make a whole day of it, filling up on fair food and trying their hand at the games. Henry had been gone for more than ten years now, and when she found the advertising flyer in her mail box she started feeling nostalgic.

One of the few perks of getting older, she decided when she got there, was the hefty senior’s discount on the admission ticket. Once inside the fairgrounds she stopped to look around. It looked almost the same as she remembered. There was the Ferris wheel and the carousel, the cotton candy and hotdog vendors, the target shooting heading up the whole row of games of skill.

It was noisy and crowded, but as Gertrude made her way slowly through the mob she felt her spirits lift. She worked her way to the edge, thinking to circle around as she and Henry used to do, when she was suddenly shoved from behind and fell to the ground.

“You should watch where you’re going granny,” the teen that knocked her down said.

“You should mind your elders,” she snapped back.

“Get stuffed, granny,” he laughed, and ran off to join his friends.

“Here, let me help you,” said a voice beside her as she struggled to get up.

Strong young hands helped her to her feet and then handed her the cane she’d only recently started using. If Gertrude had been quick thinking she could have used that cane to trip one of those hooligans.

“Thank you, young man.”

“You’re welcome ma’am. If you’re okay, I should get going.”

“Aren’t you a mite young to be wandering the fair by yourself?” Gertrude asked, peering closer at him.

“I’m not alone,” he told her. “I’m here with my grandpa.”

“Maybe I could escort you back to him,” Gertrude suggested. “I’d like to tell him what a fine grandson he’s got.”

“Oh! Thank you ma’am, but it’s not necessary.”

“Nonsense. I’m sure he’ll be tickled pink.”

The boy sighed. “The fact is ma’am, I’m not too sure where my grandpa is. We kind of got separated.”

“What’s your name boy?”

“It’s Joseph, ma’am.”

“I’m Gertrude, Joseph. Seeing as we’re both on our own right now, why don’t I help you look for your grandpa?”

They searched for the better part of an hour and Gertrude could see that Joseph was starting to get discouraged. Then a familiar sign caught her eye. It was a drawing of a large hand facing palm outward with an all-seeing eye in the center. The fortune teller was always one of her favourite stops at the fair.

“I have an idea young Joseph,” she said leading the way.

To the boy’s credit, though he looked a little puzzled at where they were headed he didn’t ask any questions. The fortune teller, however, seemed unsurprised at the odd couple who approached her.

“What will it be?” she asked in her heavily accented voice. “Your future? Your love life?”

“We were hoping you could help us find a missing person,” Gertrude began.

“This is not usual for me,” the fortune teller said, intrigued. She spread her hands wide. “I can but try.”

First she asked them several questions and consulted the Tarot cards, then she peered intently into a crystal ball. “I see . . . the one you seek is close by. I see . . . trees. Many trees. Come. I can show you the way.”

Gertrude and Joseph looked at each other in surprise as the fortune teller put a “Back in 15 Minutes” sign on the table and left her stall. She led them to the woods directly behind the row her stall was on and they had to hurry to keep up. Several yards into the woods she suddenly stopped.

“Here,” she said. “He is close to here.”

“Grandpa?” Joseph called. “Are you here?”

“Listen!” Gertrude said. She moved a short way off the path and found the old man sitting on the ground, one hand to his head.

“Grandpa!” Joseph exclaimed, rushing over to him.

“Easy now, Joseph,” Gertrude told him. “It looks like your grandpa’s been hurt.”

“It was my own fault,” the old man said. “Some teenager lured me out here, told me someone was hurt. Next thing I know there was a bunch of them surrounding me. One of them grabbed my cane and hit me with it.”

“Probably the same bunch that knocked me down,” Gertrude said grimly. “You’ve got a cut on your head – let’s get that seen to and then we can report them.”

“I can see the future unfold,” the fortune teller said. “Justice will be done.”

Astrology Part One - Aries

Quick facts for Aries:
You were born between March 21 and April 20.
Your sign is the Ram
Your planet is Mars
Your element is Fire
Your metal is Iron
Your birthstone is the diamond
Your flower is honeysuckle
Your color is deep red
Your body part is the head
Your Tarot Card: The Emperor

Strengths:
Courageous, determined, confident, enthusiastic, optimistic, honest, passionate

Weaknesses:
Impatient, moody, short-tempered, impulsive, aggressive

Likes:
Comfortable clothes, taking on leadership roles, physical challenges, individual sports

Dislikes:
Inactivity, delays, work that does not use one's talents

Your best matches are those born under the sign of Sagittarius or Leo, and sometimes Aquarius or Gemini.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Being the first sign of the zodiac, it’s no surprise that Aries loves to be number one. Aries rules the head and often literally walks head first, leaning forward for speed and focus. They tend to be brave, bold, and ambitious. They’ll dive headfirst into a challenge and like to throw their weight around.

They like to be the first in everything - from work to social gatherings. They make good leaders and managers and have excellent organizational skills, but they don’t usually like working for other people. Often they don’t finish what they start, preferring to leave it to others.

The ram symbolizes energy, initiative, and aggression; Aries can be blunt and to the point, often ramming their ideas down other people’s throats. As well, they’re known for their tempers, which can be explosive, although an outburst will likely fizzle out as quickly as it starts.

Famous Aries include: Adolph Hitler, Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Charlie Chaplin, Sigmund Freud, Niccolo Machiavelli, Elton John, Mathew Broderick, Robert Downey Jr., Heath Ledger, and Quentin Tarantino.