Walk With Me

It’s suggested to know someone you should walk a mile in their shoes.

Imagine the feel of those cowboy boots as you tug on the straps and immerse your feet and thoughts in the life and stride that created that worn leather. Feel how confident you are as you strut across a crowded room. Notice how everyone hears the powerful, echoing sound of the unyielding leather soles as they meet the wood floor beneath your feet. You can almost hear the haunting whistle from the theme song “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.

Now a code blue alert beckons your attention as you run down the hallway. You hear the sound of your rubber-soled shoes squelch against the polished tile floor. You arrive first to the room and thank your comfortable leather uppers for allowing you to move without concern for yourself as you concentrate on helping a patient during this crisis.

Who are these people? What do they do for a living? What happens in their life? How would it be to walk in their shoes for just a little while?

The fictional stories presented here give you a glimpse of another’s walk through life. So, come on, slip on those shoes and…walk with me.

Click here to view the short stories.

Gone Writing...and a Little Twitterpated

Each November, hundreds of thousands of writers come together online to share in a similar goal, to write as many words as possible in one month. The goal is to write 50,000 words toward a novel, without doing any editing. That’s 1,667 words per day. It seems improbable, you say? Well, I don’t know. We shall see, because I’ve decided to join in the fun and frivolity! You may think me out of my mind, a little warped, or simply twitterpated. Well, you and the Owl in Bambi may be right. You might say that I was walking along, minding my own business, looking neither to my left, nor to my right, when all of a sudden I ran smack into NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. I let out a hoot! And a holler! Said, Sign me up!

Now, before you all say I’ve lost my marbles. Let me tell you. I’m off to a good start. I’ve already written 942 words and yes, old habits are hard to break. I’ve already edited it once and had to remind myself several times to concentrate on the story. Don’t worry about the editing, that can come later.

This is going to be quite the journey. I hope I don’t end up going weak in the knees. I’m sure my head will be in a whirl before this is over, and as long as I don’t lose my head, I should be just fine.I hope to be walking on air as I reach and hopefully surpass the goal by November 30th. I just hope my quill is light as a feather as the words tumble out of my brain and onto paper.

They say becoming twitterpated could happen to anybody. Well I’m here to tell you, I’m willing to take the chance. I’ve prepared the snacks, stocked up on tea and hung up my Gone Writing sign. I hope to pop in every once in a while to give you an update, but just in case, there’s plenty to read in my archives, and you can always visit my other blogs to see what I’ve been doing there. Your words of encouragement are more than welcome. Thank you for being here and talk with you soon!

My blogs: Enjoy The View, Walk With Me, On My Mind and Ravenous Reader

Related articles

• Gone Writing...and a Little Twitterpated
• NaNoWriMo is eating my brain and my time ... and it's only day one
• It's NaNoWriMo time!
• [My trials in worldbuilding, cartography and conlanging ] NaNoWriMo
• My NaNoWriMo

More Matter

I’ve just posted the second installment in a series of stories about Mel, David and their friends as they mark off items from their bucket list. I couldn’t help myself. The moment I saw the You Matter video from the TED Talks, my mind kept playing a fictional story in my head. Please click here to read It’s Time To Say…You Matter. I hope you enjoy it.

And, as always, if you like it, please leave a comment. Thank you.

The First Time I Left Home

Have you ever felt that taking a vacation is like running away?

It’s been years since I’ve taken a real vacation. The chance to get away and relax. Do nothing. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to do just that. I didn’t plan it. It just sort of happened. Things lined up just right and before I knew it, my husband turned to me and said, “Why don’t you go see your Mom?”

“I can’t just leave like that,” I said with a searching look.

“Why not?” he contradicted.

“I can’t just leave you here alone.”

“This week is going to be a long week. I’m going to be working most of the time anyway,” he chuckles. “Just do It. Call your Mom and ask her if it’s okay that you come.”

“What about my writing?”

“You’ve got a laptop. You can write from there. It would be a good break.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

He picked up my cell phone and handed it to me. I dialed her number and popped the question.

“When?” she asked.

“Tomorrow or the next day,” I replied.

I could hear the surprise in her voice as we talked about it. She agreed, of course.

And as I hung up the phone, my husband hugged me. He gave me a kiss and said, “Get packed.”

I smiled and with excitement complied.

The next morning, I kissed my husband as he left for work. I got the last of the things I needed to do finished in a surprisingly short time, placed the bags in the car and turned onto the highway. As I drove I began to recall childhood memories and by the time I arrived at my Mom’s house, I had a complete story. Over the course of the next few days, I wrote what I had envisioned on my drive.

You know, there’s nothing like the feeling of running away…even for just a little while. Click here to find out what happened The First Time I Left Home.