Because I Promised Kylie I'd Write A Short About Purple Mold...

Iyanna screamed. One long, loud note of desperation and horror rang out in the quiet of the small hut.

Westin ran in to the outhouse, where Iyanna stood, tears leaking from her eyes and both hands pressed hard against her open mouth. She was shaking. Her brother grasped her hard on her shoulders. "Yan! What's wrong? Answer me!"

Iyanna wanted to scream again, to tell him that the end had come, that he was hurting her, but she could never judge her brother. He was as afraid as was she... desperately afraid. She melted, sobbing, into his arms.

He stroked her hair, held her tight until the shaking subsided. "What's wrong?"

She sat up, looked him in the eye, and said, "Look around you, West. Look what's happening." She felt a tremor start in her hands again as he observed, with a look of pure terror, the walls of the room.

Reddish violet mold had crept up the walls in just a matter of hours. It gave the room a dark, dank hue and an unpleasant odor.

But that was not the reason for their fear. This mold was more than just a structural problem. Everyone in Voresct knew the significance of the violet mold. It's rarity made it instantly recognizable. No one knew quite where it came from, only that it was a gift from the God who had created their land. Simply put, the violet mold warned of conflict, of war, and mostly, of death.

War had not come to Voresct in sixty-nine years. Recently, it had threatened only the very outer borders. But this? This sign that open war and quick death were coming to Iyanna's farm? Something had to be wrong.

Iyanna sat, staring at the voracious mold that threatened their lives, long after Westin left. At thirteen years old, Iyanna hardly knew what to make of it all. She was too young to die. She hadn't done anything worthwhile yet. The mold could not speak of her death. Her three younger sisters? She shuddered. Not them. So tiny, so innocent. She would not allow it. Her mother? Too weak and careworn to be of any notice.

Her heart leaped. Westin? No. No. Her hands started to shake again. She bit her tongue and willed herself to stop tremoring. Sweet Westin, her adored, adorable big brother, was the air she breathed. He meant everything to her. She wasn't sure she could make it with him dead. No, she was quite sure she couldn't.

Tendrils of musty odor slipped into her hair. She clasped both hands together, hard. Please God, she said, If there is a God, save my brother's life. Don't let this omen come to pass. Spare us. Spare us.

( The purple mold is from Kylie. I promised her I'd write a short that involved purple mold that warned of attacks. This was the result. It's totally strange, but maybe you'll enjoy seeing a piece of my brainstorm-stories. If not, stick around and I'll post something more serious in a day or two. - C.
An added note: If you want to read Part II of The Purple Mold Trilogy [no, I did not come up with the name- that was Kylie] go ahead and visit her blog at www.reflections412.wordpress.com. -C.)

I am such a klutz

I am SUCH a klutz.... less than twelve hours till Christmas and I told my mother by accident what one of her gifts was. Oh. My. Goodness. I. Am. Such. A. Klutz.

Anyway,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Your sister in Christ,

C.

Totally Excited

You guys are probably all aware that I've been working on a lot of publishing opportunities and contests recently. I'm still waiting to hear back on most of those, but today I heard back on one that I thought God had closed the door on.

You may have heard me mention the online writer's group I'm part of (it's AMAZING!) The girl who runs it just got her book published. It's called Devos 2 Go, by Lydia Rule and the link for it is here.

She asked those of us on her writing group to write up some short devos/vignettes for her book. I just barely got mine in on deadline. Her editor got back to me and told me either he or Lydia would be in touch with me if either of my pieces were selected. I never heard back, so I assumed I hadn't made the cut.

Lydia sent me a copy of her book and I received it today. Signed on the inside was: Catey - Thanks for writing for my book! Enjoy! God bless, Lydia Y. Rule (See pages 105 and 110 : ) )

And there I was! Both of my devos are in there! I had NO IDEA!!! I'm really excited- this is, after all, my first print publication.

If you want to check out her book (it's really cool) you can at the link above.

Merry Christmas,

C.

Something Unusual

I'm going to publish something unusual today. It's a poem.

I am so small
Hidden away from the great eye in the blue
In this wild of nothingness
So alone
I am No One,
Nothing. And no one is here.
Doesn’t anybody care?
Here I am, caught
In this grey, leering fog
Of myself.
I’m caught in this web of deceit and pain.
Where am I?
Who am I?
My heart beats, heat and cold jerk me from reality to illusion,
I’m alive. But what
Does that mean?
Someone is coming to rescue me from this
I hope.
I know someone will come
I pray.
Rescue me
From this empty.

Where, O Where...

Here I am!!! But I'm not going to bore you with a post here.

Instead, visit www.kidsoffaithonline.net and see what I've been up to there with the other writers...

Okay, but I will bore you with this bit of news:

(First, you should read this post )

So my less-than-affectionately-nicknamed orthodontist (The Devil in Disguise) broke to me that I now have another six weeks to go on my braces... 23 months and counting.... and my friend is going to get his off before me and gloat and laugh pitilessly at my tears as I lie in wait... forever waiting...

-Catey

Insert a long sigh here....

Okay, I'm done with tags for a while:

Faithful Follower:

1. I'm super super super super super excited about the Jan/Feb issue of KOF!!!
.2. Let's see... You remind me of the movie Chronicles of Narnia... probably because you love it so much...
.3. I'm going to wrestle you in banana cream pudding. How's that sound?
4. 5'9" is so tall! It's simply not fair!
5. I think it had something to do with your lovely denim skirt that I am totally envious of. : )
6. The dove - a quiet reminder of the peace of God and his ways.
7. What is your favorite subject in school?
.8. Your transparency- the fact that you are willing to share your heart.
9. Oopssss.... I just realized that I put the same thing twice, so I'm going to make up something totally random here... What book character you remind me of!!!! Okay, so you remind me of Samwise in The Lord of the Rings.

Judi:

1. You are amazing at yelling at people over the email!!!
2. Hmm, this is really really hard for me. You remind me of the movie/book Emma (Jane Austen).
3. Lime!!!!
4. Hrrrr (that is my growling noise) I can't think today!!! How about something about apple jello (which sounds nasty to me)
5. That you are totally fun!
6. Flamingo. I have no idea why - that was just the animal that came to mind.
.7. There are actually two: First, how old are you? Second, do you like pink?
8. I love your writing and the fact that you push me to post *embarrassed grin*
.9. Book character: You actually remind me of one of my characters, Mark James.

OKAY!!! THAT IS IT FOR THE TAGS!!!!!!!!!!!! Everybody better give me a break for a while.

On a more pleasant note, I had some of the most exhilarating moments of my life this Friday. I went to a speech and debate Round Robin and timed. : ) What a blast....

Goodness Gracious, I'm Tagged AGAIN!!!`

No, REALLY! I DID get tagged again, by Judi, this time, who has been frantically working on NaNoWriMo. It's a different sort of tag as before - this time YOU decide if you're tagged : ) I'll post the instructions and the game and you can tell me if you want to play.

If you leave me a comment on this post, in the next post I do, I'll write the following things about you:

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle you in.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.(if possible. If not, I'll say something that only makes sense to me.)
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
8. I'll tell you my favorite thing about you.
9. I'll tell you my favorite thing about you.
10. If you play, please post this on your own blog (if you have one : )

On a different note, I have about a bazillion pages of Chemistry to read tonight (Moles... moooooles!) because tomorrow is our homeschool group's Christmas party and I'm running childrens' games!