Social With Me

The impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic has officially reached me since my last post. Minimally, I’m getting a fifteen day vacation but it’s panning out like that fifteen days might be extended at least a little longer. I’m not complaining. A long vacation is actually really soulfully and mentally healing. I can focus on other things without worrying about work. Not that I’ve done too much in the last seven days thus far…

Anyways, amidst this time of “social distancing” I thought I would give a quick share of all the ways you can still follow me socially among the big ‘ole internet. Let’s stay social, six feet apart and behind screens!

This blog is my first stop for social. You can find snippets of my work, get in touch with me, and see what’s up in a slightly more formal manner. I try to post once a week. If you have WordPress account you can follow me via the sidebar prompt. If you don’t have a WordPress account you can enter an email address on the sidebar instead and get an email every time I post.

Look to the right sidebar!

Secondly, you can find me on Facebook under my author page. Most of what goes on with Facebook is chatting among writing groups and sharing of these blog posts, with the occasional other post thrown in there. I don’t utilize it as much as I probably should, but Facebook’s algorithms are a pain in the ass.

https://www.facebook.com/DarklingDreams

Like Facebook, you can now also find me on Twitter! I made the account last year and have meant to announce that in a more public way instead of just my sidebar announcing it, but never quite got around to it. With Twitter you can find me sharing weekly flash fiction challenges and other writing related tidbits from fellow authors, editors, and many others, a few more updates than what Facebook gets, and some other chatting. Currently, I’m doing a #StayHome #QuarantineLife adventures update each night because I gotta fill up these hours of the day somehow without the evil day job.

https://www.twitter.com/DaelynMorgana

Lastly, and least interactive of all, you can still find me on Wattpad. Most of my free reads are now unpublished thanks to growing concerns about Wattpad’s security for authors’ rights and their stories. (See my old, old blog post for details.) But a few that I know will never go anywhere beyond where they are now are still available to read. Not that I recommend it. There’s a reason they were left on the “yeah, no, not happening” pile.

https://www.wattpad.com/user/DarkMistress13

So that’s it! Those are the four places you can currently find me on the big ‘ole internet right now. Be sure to give me a follow if you feel so inclined to follow along the life of a sporadic, forgetful, dark fiction author with an evil day job that one day will find a way to make her writing her full time job.

So Much Numbness (Snippet Sunday 5.12.19)

Welcome to Snippet Sunday on Darkling Dreams!

Where writers come together to share a few sentences (8-10) of their current project — whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback, and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the Facebook group that does all three.

Happy Mother’s Day! To all you moms, grandmas, pet moms, figurative moms, all of you! I hope you all have a special day. I can’t believe it’s May 12th already, either. Where has this month been going? Anyways… Camp NaNoWriMo is over until July but I’m still trying to hang around. Hopefully I can build enough of a habit so I stick around continuously again. Only time shall tell here. In the meantime, ready for some more sneak peaks from me?

This week’s excerpt is coming from an oldie but a newbie. My Camp NaNoWriMo project was to work on the revision/rewrite of one of the first short stories I ever wrote. Rivers of Black was written at least six — perhaps seven — years ago and it shows in the original draft. Cringe city, ladies and gentlemen. I shared from the original version of this story ages and ages ago when I first began this blog, but let’s forget all those snippets and start anew on the story! For those of you unfamiliar with the tale, Rivers of Black is a paranormal short story.

(FOREWARNING: This story deals with topics that some may find triggering. If you find depression, self harm, and suicide to be touchy subjects for you please read at your own caution, or don’t continue to read at all.)

Now then, let’s pick up from last week with the next ten lines of the rewritten Rivers of Black… Please allow for errors or creative punctuation; this is a rough draft WiP rewrite thus far. Constructive feedback is appreciated though!

~*~*~*~

It took my happiness. Without me even knowing how or when, the universe took away my spirit. The laughs and smiles were gone, replaced with hollow faces and forced chuckles. No more straight A’s. No more fun family banter. No more adventures with friends. Nothing. I became an empty shell. An empty shell full of dark thoughts and numbness.

So much numbness.

~*~*~*~

It’s a short look into the story this week. I better get my butt in gear working on it again or I’m about to run out of snippets to share.

Like what you read? Have a thought about it? Want to offer constructive feedback? Leave me a comment! And thanks for coming along to read!

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Cover made by @_teenagers on Wattpad

Due to the fact this is a WiP rewrite there will no “if you wish to read more…” statement as of yet, nor does it have a working blurb at the moment. Technically the original version does still reside on Wattpad but because of how cringe worthy it is I’m going to suggest not reading it and instead waiting for the polished version to (hopefully) be published by some literary magazine when I finish it.

However! If you wish to read anything else that I have out for free, you can click the tabs above to browse through my available works and then follow the links to my Wattpad account. I love to hear any and all feedback on my work as well. Comments are greatly appreciated, as are the reads. You can also find me on my Facebook author page and now my Twitter page to keep up to date with all that’s going on in my writing.

And if you’re looking for some other great snippets of fellow authors,
hop on over to Facebook and check out Snippet Sunday!

I’m No Princess (Snippet Sunday 5.5.19)

Welcome to Snippet Sunday on Darkling Dreams!

Where writers come together to share a few sentences (8-10) of their current project — whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback, and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the Facebook group that does all three.

Welcome to May, folks! “May the fourth bewitch you!” Okay, so yesterday was technically Star Wars Day and that’s not exactly the Star Wars Day motto. But I’m not a Star Wars fan and that version of the saying just suits me better. Now I just need a new name for the day to use my saying with. Anyways… Camp NaNoWriMo is over but I’m still trying to hang around. Hopefully I can build enough of a habit so I stick around continuously again. Only time shall tell here. In the meantime, ready for some more sneak peaks from me?

This week’s excerpt is coming from an oldie but a newbie. My Camp NaNoWriMo project was to work on the revision/rewrite of one of the first short stories I ever wrote. Rivers of Black was written at least six — perhaps seven — years ago and it shows in the original draft. Cringe city, ladies and gentlemen. I shared from the original version of this story ages and ages ago when I first began this blog, but let’s forget all those snippets and start anew on the story! For those of you unfamiliar with the tale, Rivers of Black is a paranormal short story.

(FOREWARNING: This story deals with topics that some may find triggering. If you find depression, self harm, and suicide to be touchy subjects for you please read at your own caution, or don’t continue to read at all.)

Now then, let’s pick up from last week with the next nine lines of the rewritten Rivers of Black… Please allow for errors or creative punctuation; this is a rough draft WiP rewrite thus far. Constructive feedback is appreciated though!

~*~*~*~

I had a good family that stayed together, I had a dog, I had great friends, I got straight A’s in school. I had been happy. The kind of exhilarating happy you feel after stepping off the most wicked roller coaster in the country. I had everything I could have wanted back then.

So the answer to “why not me” was, in fact, quite simple. My life had been too perfect in the eyes of the universe. Therefore, the sun, moon, and stars collectively decided to ruin something about it. Because, let’s face it, life is only completely perfect in fairy tales.

And I’m no princess.

~*~*~*~

*Sigh* If only life were like the fairy tales of our childhoods how lucky we would be.

Like what you read? Have a thought about it? Leave me a comment! And thanks for coming along to read!

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Cover made by @_teenagers on Wattpad

Due to the fact this is a WiP rewrite there will no “if you wish to read more…” statement as of yet, nor does it have a working blurb at the moment. Technically the original version does still reside on Wattpad but because of how cringe worthy it is I’m going to suggest not reading it and instead waiting for the polished version to (hopefully) be published by some literary magazine when I finish it.

However! If you wish to read anything else that I have out for free, you can click the tabs above to browse through my available works and then follow the links to my Wattpad account. I love to hear any and all feedback on my work as well. Comments are greatly appreciated, as are the reads. You can also find me on my Facebook author page and now my Twitter page to keep up to date with all that’s going on in my writing.

And if you’re looking for some other great snippets of fellow authors,
hop on over to Facebook and check out Snippet Sunday!

“Why Me?” (Snippet Sunday 4.28.19)

Welcome to Snippet Sunday on Darkling Dreams!

Where writers come together to share a few sentences (8-10) of their current project — whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback, and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the Facebook group that does all three.

Okay, I admit, I dropped the ball again. I got a late, late start on the Camp NaNoWriMo train but I am here now! Hopefully in this last week of Camp I will be able to build a habit and stick around continuously since it’s the last weekend of April already. Only time shall tell here. In the meantime, ready for some more sneak peaks from me?

This week’s excerpt is coming from an oldie but a newbie. My Camp NaNoWriMo project was/is to work on the revision/rewrite of one of the first short stories I ever wrote. Rivers of Black was written at least six — perhaps seven — years ago and it shows in the original draft. Cringe city, ladies and gentlemen. I shared from the original version of this story ages and ages ago when I first began this blog, but let’s forget all those snippets and start anew on the story! For those of you unfamiliar with the tale, Rivers of Black is a paranormal short story.

(FOREWARNING: This story deals with topics that some may find triggering. If you find depression, self harm, and suicide to be touchy subjects for you please read at your own caution, or don’t continue to read at all.)

Now then, let’s begin with the beginning. Here’s the first seven lines of the rewritten Rivers of Black… Please allow for errors; this is a rough draft WiP rewrite thus far.

~*~*~*~

I USED TO look up at the stars at night and ask:

“Why me?”

What did I ever do to deserve this pain?

Then one day it hit me, like a brick to the face. The question had never been, “Why me?” The question had always been, “Why not me?” The answer to that question had been much easier to wrap my head around. I may never have believed it back then but I had a pretty good life before the darkness invaded my every waking and non-waking moment.

~*~*~*~

“Why me?” … Isn’t that one of the biggest million dollar questions of all eternity?

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Cover made by @_teenagers on Wattpad

Due to the fact this is a WiP rewrite there will no “if you wish to read more…” statement as of yet, nor does it have a working blurb at the moment. Technically the original version does still reside on Wattpad but because of how cringe worthy it is I’m going to suggest not reading it and instead waiting for the polished version to (hopefully) be published by some literary magazine when I finish it.

However! If you wish to read anything else that I have out for free, you can click the tabs above to browse through my available works and then follow the links to my Wattpad account. I love to hear any and all feedback on my work as well. Comments are greatly appreciated, as are the reads. You can also find me on my Facebook author page and now my Twitter page to keep up to date with all that’s going on in my writing.

And if you’re looking for some other great snippets of fellow authors,
hop on over to Facebook and check out Snippet Sunday!

Writer of the Month: Featured by Wattpad

Welcome to October, Darklings!

It’s my favorite time of the year: Halloween. And no, Halloween is not just a day, it is a season.

It’s been quite awhile since I have posted anything, almost a month and a half truly. Part of that has been due to the fact I feel I have nothing to talk about, and part of that is due to the fact the day job and life has become more time consuming now that I’m working full time. If I thought I had no free time before, I certainly don’t now. I’m trying to make it work with life (trying), but that’s a topic for another day since NaNoWriMo is right around the corner.

I meant to post an update at the beginning of the month, never got around to it, and then spent several days even debating with myself back and forth if it was even worth writing this post, then another few days trying to remember how to even write a blog post.

It’s not that I’ve forgotten how to write a blog post, it’s more like I’m staring at the blank screen with no clue on how to start the post. One of those “Wut r werds?” moments. You know the writer meme, right?

Well anyways, I debated on even bothering with this post because…truthfully, what was the point? If the supposed reason for this post wasn’t bringing me any new views on the site I was featured on, what the hell makes me think it’s going to bring any new views from here?

I know the answer to that is more than likely none, but like a fool I’m going to post it here anyways and torture myself a bit more when I get zeros results. I’m a glutton for punishment.

So here’s the story…

Months ago. Many months ago. Before I began to be wary of some things on Wattpad, I had put an application in to one of their ambassador run profiles, Undiscovered Books, for a chance at being their featured Writer of the Month. I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least put the application in and maybe, just maybe, get a shot at drawing some more attention and readers my way.

I got no response they received the application or viewed it. Other Wattpadders were featured in the passing months. I figured I had just been passed over, like always, and gave up on that hope. Then suddenly two and a half weeks ago on September 26th — while I was at work mind you — I got an unexpected message from their profile telling me they reviewed my application (after I don’t know how long) and would like me to be October’s Writer of the Month.

Now wait. I have said before that I have given up with Wattpad, and that is mostly true. By this point I was debating taking down my stories more than usual, and the only thing I really used Wattpad for anymore was to private message roleplay with some of the friends I had made. It is also a nice place to get prompts sometimes though. So yes, I reached the point that I didn’t much care about Wattpad anymore as a writing front. But, well…

Let’s just say when I saw that message at work I may or may not have squealed in the stock room rather loudly. Who wouldn’t? It’s hard as hell to get noticed on this site. It’s a popularity contest in almost all ways, even if you aren’t really that good in writing, with favorites in fan fiction work instead of anything unique and original. So many users frequent the site that for everyone to have their works read and liked is virtually impossible. I would know, I’ve been trying for four years to gain some kind of following on that site with no success.

So to be accepted to be featured on one of their ambassador profiles is a pretty big deal. Or at least I thought it was.

I will admit I took a couple moments of debate with myself if I should even accept the offer to be Writer of the Month after everything, but the tiny part of hope in me couldn’t turn down the opportunity. So I accepted. I sent them my answers for the interview questions, revamped my Wattpad profile a little, even updated story covers and blurbs and a bit of the stories themselves. All the while thinking that for the first time this might actually bring me some new notice. Some new reads or follows or comments or likes. I wanted to look like I take writing seriously, because I do now.

October 1st came and they posted the interview with me, sent a shout out message to their followers to check me out, and what happened?

*Cricket noises*

Okay, so I did have one reader comment on the interview almost right off the bat, and I had two good friends jump straight in to read it, but other than that…

It’s been ten days and all that suppressed hope of results has essentially shattered already.

Not one story has jumped in reads. Not one new follow. Not one new hit to my page. No other comments or votes to the interview. The reads on the interview haven’t even surpassed fifty. Basically nothing resulted from this and that…hurts.

I tried not to hope for anything for this exact reason, but I couldn’t squash all that hope. I know better than expecting much. I would have been happy with just a few people interested in me or my work from the interview. But…nothing? Disappointment is a familiar friend to me.

So if it’s not bringing me any new views on Wattpad, what’s the point of posting about being featured here?

Truthfully, I don’t know. Maybe it’s a buried desire to hope someone here might like to see the interview. Or maybe I’m just grabbing at thin air now. Whatever it be, to those who would like to see the interview of me talking a little bit about myself, my writing, some advice to new writers, and some fun questions, you can find it by clicking here.

I hope you’ll check it out, and a big thank you if you do. Please do be interactive to it either here or on Wattpad, I love communicating with my followers.

(As a side note I should have another post coming out next week. I would like to start posting at least once a week since I can’t keep up with specific days anymore, and no longer do Snippet Sundays or my Shard posts. The OCD in me still wants a specific day for uniformity though, somehow…)

Changes Coming

It has been a month since I have posted anything. I am neither apologizing for that or explaining why I have been absent this time. This year has been a trying roller coaster in many forms, most of which have been downhill drops. Not the fun kind of downhill drop either.

A lot changed for me toward the end of last year. I became a published author and began to follow that dream further. It’s amazing how quickly the high of an accomplishment such as that can die, and it’s also amazing just how quickly it can all go up in smoke. A lot changed last year, but this year even more has changed again, and still must change.

For that reason I am switching things up on this blog now, and I plan to finally redo a lot of the pages as I had wanted to in the beginning of 2017.

Originally, I had created this blog two years ago as an author platform to help get my name out there, to be able to log my journey and look back one day to see how far I’ve come. As I’ve gone along though I’ve realized it’s hardly been what I had hoped it would be, just like Wattpad.

Every author out there envisions this sudden huge following and fan group flocking to their work whenever they join something new like a website/blog, or a writing site, or a Facebook page, but very seldom does that actually seem to happen.

Maybe some people just get lucky, while others continually struggle to build that following — though not for lack of trying. To the people who grow and grow beyond imagination day after day and year after year, gaining a fan base of readers who actually interact with them, kudos to you. I wish I knew your damn secret.

I, however, have not been one of those lucky ones. I have never been a lucky one for anything in life, no matter how hard I work.

Since my lack of luck has hardly gotten me anywhere in two years of WordPress, and four years of Wattpad, I am changing the way I do posts here.

This blog will no longer be a straight diary-like journey of my writing and dream. I will not stop sharing my journey so that I can one day look back on it, but posts will be less about me, and maybe more about writing. As of now the idea in my head is to make one of my posts (either Tuesday or Friday) about what’s going on, and the other something more…informative or helpful. My hope is it will draw in some more readers, and maybe more interaction, but it doesn’t mean there will always be a post. Sometimes I may just not have anything to say anymore.

For now I am also forgoing Sunday Snippets. With the completion of the first draft of Fated to Darkness, as well as not much else in the works, or shareable in my eyes, at the moment, I have decided I am stepping away from it. It wasn’t like I was getting very much support from the group anyways, despite the fact I was a supporter of everyone’s snippet at one point, regardless of the fact they visited my blog or not. Maybe that’s selfish or bitter of me, but I’m tired of not feeling good enough and forgotten. No one’s even noticed I’m gone. Perhaps I will go back to it one day when I feel I have something again to share, or if I feel like trying again to see if anyone cares, but for now I am done with Sunday Snippets.

Lastly in regards to my posts, I am undecided if I will continue my Shards on Wednesday’s from P.T. Wyant’s Wednesday Word prompts. A part of me wants to because flash fiction is a good writing excercise and some of them are really fun. The other part of me though is a bit worn out worrying about getting one written and posted when I never know what that day is going to bring thanks to my job. Not to mention, again, they hardly ever garner any kind of feedback or interest, even on Wattpad. Perhaps they will pop up here and there, or maybe I’ll write some whenever I have time and those posts may be sporadic little treats instead — probably not considering I’m a tad OCD, but I am undecided if I will truly continue them or not.

For these reasons, I will be changing how I use Wattpad too, and my author page on Facebook. I have no idea where I am really headed now concerning my dream, this blog, or anything else, but I do hope those of you who follow me will stick around to find out with me.

Heartstone Voids (Wednesday Words 5.10.17)

Welcome to a piece of Wednesday Word’s flash fiction on Darkling Dreams!

A good friend of mine, P.T. Wyant, is doing a blog post every Wednesday called Wednesday Words with a new prompt for a bit of flash fiction writing, just to get in the habit of writing something, anything. (Even if said flash fiction is complete garbage at the time. Garbage is better than nothing though, right?) If you’re looking for some inspiration yourself or just something to aimlessly write, then go check out her blog for this week’s prompt!

With that being said, I am going to share what I came up with for this week’s flash fiction Shard based off a photo prompt. So here is my very rough around the edges minute of inspiration based off her prompt. I’d love to hear what you guys think of it!

(Please excuse any errors you may see, I said it was rough around the edges.)

This tale is also a continuation of Dragonstone from 3.15.17.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Heartstone Voids

Innin’s bellows echoed off the high stone ceilings. The sounds of distress carried through the maze of passages linking Flamer hideouts to their winged mounts’ dwellings, disturbing those that were trying to rest in the mountain. She didn’t pay mind to the responding screeches and yells from them trying to get her to quiet down. She was too agitated to care.

Smoke filled the space around her, flowing freely from her snout with each distressed huff. The sound of raking claws on stone only furthered her agitation as she paced around and around, wings flaring.

He should have been back by now! Foolish rider! Why did he have to go off on his own?!

The sun had nearly set below the horizon and still there was no sign of Fenian. He had left that morning to try to track down the dragonstone and should have been back by now. He should have been back hours ago, or at the very least have gotten within range to reach out and say he needed her now.

Can’t trap a leprechaun while trying to hide a dragon. She snorted. I could have been out of range while he hunted the leech. He didn’t have to go alone!

Another roar of worried frustration shook the cavern, sprinkling dust down over her shimmering emerald scales. The prickling of dread seeping through her veins with each passing moment was making her antsy. The bond was trying to tell her something, she knew it, but she couldn’t figure out what it was trying to say.

Was Fenian in trouble? Had he bit off more than he could chew without her? Or had he just been delayed in finding the leprechaun and was on his way back now?

Her tail flicked against the stone as she rounded and stomped to the mouth of the cave, staring out over the dwindling landscape below. She could see the forests, the lakes, the towns and kingdoms from here; almost as well as she could see them from the skies. With eyes like a hawk she caught the flurry of movement along the mountainside. She snaked her head out further and looked down to find a female elf hurrying up the carved staircase set into the cliffs. One rickety line of wood railing kept them from plunging to their death. Worthless railing if anyone asked her.

The setting sun glistened off the elf’s hair. Red hair, petite… Is that…? Innin flared her nostrils, trying to catch the elf’s scent on the breeze. Alenia!

Innin rushed out of the cave and pushed off the rocks, flinging her wings open to ride the wind currents down to her. The passing of her great shadow caused the elf below to pause and look up, then retreat a few steps backwards when she landed hard on the mountainside, digging her claws into the rock to hold herself. Pebbles and dust rained down onto the stairwell. She left her wings open for balance and turned her head toward Alenia.

:Alenia!: she shouted telepathically, catching the elf off guard by the booming voice in her head. To her credit, dragons didn’t normally mind speak with anyone other than their Flamer or other dragons. :Have you seen Fenian?: she demanded.

The elf shook her head and blinked before focusing on Innin’s words. “I…” She floundered out of breath. “I… No, I haven’t seen Fenian. I was…actually coming here in hopes of finding him. He said we would meet at the tavern tonight for dinner but he never showed and I haven’t heard from him.” Her brow creased worriedly. “Is he…not here?”

Innin reared her head back and shot flames upward over the rock with a guttural growl, scorching them. Her scales rattled when her body quivered.

“Innin!” Alenia exclaimed. “Innin, what’s wrong?! Where is Fenian?”

:I don’t know!: she snapped, fangs clicking together as she cut off the flames. Smoke poured from her snout with each heavy breath. :He said he went hunting to find the leprechaun that stole the dragonstone, and he didn’t want me to come because a dragon is easily spotted. He left this morning. He should have been back by now! But I have not heard or seen heads or tails of him since. Something is wrong.:

“Have…you tried reaching him with the heartstone?” she asked timidly. “Have you felt anything through the bond?”

:It is blank! An abyssal void! I cannot feel or sense anything even when I should, I can’t even sense HIM!:

Alenia flinched at the senseless fury and worry in her tone, giving her head a shake. “Did Fenian say where he was going?”

Another billow of smoke wafted from her nostrils, curling her head toward the elf with blazing eyes of fire. :He mentioned the Enchanted Forest, that was all.:

“Then let’s go and look for him.”

:It’s almost dark!:

“I know…” she replied, trying to sound soothing. It was kind of hard to be soothing toward an enraged dragon though. “But we can still look. If he did run into trouble then we can’t wait till next sunrise. You go on and fly ahead, I will race back and get a horse and a few scouts to help, then I will meet you out there.”

Innin stared at her, trying in vain to calm her racing heart and all the unspeakable thoughts darting through her head. Leprechauns were not a friendly bunch, and their people had never gotten along with those thieves and murderers. She feared for what could be happening to Fenian if he had run into trouble with them. She whipped her tail back and forth.

:No. Send a hawk with a message for scouts to meet us there. I can’t waste any more time. You’re flying with me.:

Alenia’s eyes widened and some of the color drained from her face. “Wha-?”

She broke off in a squeal when Innin wrapped her tail around her waist and raised her wings. She pushed off the mountainside and beat hard to raise higher in the air. Only once she was level in the sky and hovering did she wind her tail to her back to set Alenia down between two of her dark green spikes. The elf clung to the spike in a bear hug for dear life.

“Innin,” she squeaked. “I don’t like the idea of-”

:Oh just hold on and you won’t fall off. I’ll catch you in my claw if you do.: She heard Alenia gulp, then she shot forward in the sky, taking off for the Enchanted Forest. :Now hang tight, I have a rider to find and flay to a crisp after saving.:

“But I haven’t sent a hawk!” she exclaimed, voice nearly lost on the wind.

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Now you can find this flash fiction work and others on my profile on Wattpad! Click here for my profile and go dive into a sea of Shards of Imagination!

A Life Too Short (Wednesday Words 5.3.17)

Welcome to a piece of Wednesday Word’s flash fiction on Darkling Dreams!

A good friend of mine, P.T. Wyant, is doing a blog post every Wednesday called Wednesday Words with a new prompt for a bit of flash fiction writing, just to get in the habit of writing something, anything. (Even if said flash fiction is complete garbage at the time. Garbage is better than nothing though, right?) If you’re looking for some inspiration yourself or just something to aimlessly write, then go check out her blog for this week’s prompt!

With that being said, I am going to share what I came up with for this week’s flash fiction Shard based off a three word combination prompt. So here is my very rough around the edges minute of inspiration based off her prompt. I’d love to hear what you guys think of it!

(Please excuse any errors you may see, I said it was rough around the edges.)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A Life Too Short

In Loving Memory of a Dear Classmate

One of my classmates died yesterday. Unexpectedly; just like every other tragedy that occurs. The sun is shining and birds are singing on this picture perfect day outside, but the beauty is lost on so many today. To us it is overcast by shadow and storm clouds of a different kind. Our worlds have come to a standstill, but life around us hasn’t slowed or stopped to mourn with us.

It keeps on turning, blissfully ignorant to the pain in our hearts.

The clock continues to tick away the agonizing seconds, minutes, hours, transforming them into days and weeks. They say time heals wounds of the heart, but that isn’t always true. Sometimes time only makes the pain worse. It makes days likes this, perfect days, become mockery to our suffering.

Doesn’t the world care?

Of course it doesn’t. At least not all of it. The world as a large whole is unaffected by this tragedy, just like so many others that happen every day, but so many individual lives around me are now grieving and trying to process a loss that is incomprehensible.

How do you deal with the unexpected tragedy of a life so bright, and so full of heart, snatched from a world that was better off with her in it?

The answer is I don’t know.

Maybe you sit and stare blankly at a wall, unable to feel, unable to cry just yet because it still feels surreal. Part of you believes the phone next to you is going to light up and start ringing with a call from your friend, daughter, cousin, sister… But it doesn’t.

No matter how much you will it to not be real it unfortunately is.

Or perhaps the reality slams into you so fast and so hard that you want to find some place secluded where you can scream at the world at the top of your lungs for this injustice. The middle of the woods, a garden shed, sitting in your car, anywhere available where you can let it out. Where you can curl up and cry until you have no tears left, and scream until your lungs give out.

I don’t know how you grieve, how you may cope. Everyone is different. Maybe one day time will scar the wound we now bear, but that day is not today. For when our hearts freeze like an unexpected snowstorm in May, I do know one thing for sure…

The world lost a beautiful soul yesterday. A kind, caring, selfless individual who always smiled and always welcomed everyone around her with open arms. She could light up the room with her presence. I had never met another person so devoted to their family, with such a bright future and a good head on their shoulders. A young woman who touched and changed so many lives with her own. The memories and photos left on her wall speak of a life that was worth every moment of it, and it is a shame it was cut so short at just twenty-two years.

I guess it’s true when they say the good ones are always taken first.

I saw a quote a friend of hers shared yesterday: “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

How lucky we were indeed.

Tonight I choose not to mourn anymore, but to celebrate the bright life she lived instead. Tonight I light a candle in her honor. She may be gone but she will never be forgotten for the joy she spread and the lives she forever changed. The world may not have stopped to mourn with us, but know we would have stopped the world for you.

Rest easy now, and fly high, angel.

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Now you can find this flash fiction work and others on my profile on Wattpad! Click here for my profile and go dive into a sea of Shards of Imagination!

Tea Party (Wednesday Words 4.26.17)

Welcome to a piece of Wednesday Word’s flash fiction on Darkling Dreams!

A good friend of mine, P.T. Wyant, is doing a blog post every Wednesday called Wednesday Words with a new prompt for a bit of flash fiction writing, just to get in the habit of writing something, anything. (Even if said flash fiction is complete garbage at the time. Garbage is better than nothing though, right?) If you’re looking for some inspiration yourself or just something to aimlessly write, then go check out her blog for this week’s prompt!

With that being said, I am going to share what I came up with for this week’s flash fiction Shard based off a three word combination prompt. So here is my very rough around the edges minute of inspiration based off her prompt. I’d love to hear what you guys think of it!

(Please excuse any errors you may see, I said it was rough around the edges.)

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Tea Party

Darcy skipped over to the garden patch and reached in to pluck the garden gnome from his post next to the tulips. Then she skipped to her left and plucked the green and brown ceramic turtle from his home by the decorative rocks. Tucking them under her arms she hummed her way back to the plastic table and chairs set up in the center of the backyard.

She set them each on their respective chairs then took her own seat with a giggle, picking up the kid-friendly teapot to pour an imaginary cup for each of them. “So how has the week been for the two of you?” she asked.

The reply they gave was only heard in her head with the power of her imagination, but she smiled all the same to the turtle.

“Oh that’s great, Hooper! It was a big rainstorm we had the other day. I knew you’d like that.” Darcy then frowned and looked to the gnome. “What’s the matter, Grumpy? You didn’t have a good week?”

The gnome stared with a fixed disgruntled expression and Darcy’s face fell.

“Rocco did it again?” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Grumpy. You know he can’t help it. He’s just a puppy. At least the rain washed it all off though, didn’t it? You got a nice bath!” She beamed for a second, then frowned slightly once more. “Oh… I’m sorry. Rocco doesn’t mean it.”

Silence fell between the trio as Darcy sipped at her imaginary tea. The squawk of a crow grabbed her attention after a moment and she looked up to see one streak across the yard overhead, landing in a nearby tree. It preened its wings and a black feather floated to the ground.

Darcy got out of her chair and scurried toward the feather, bending to pick it up before holding it up to the crow in the tree, head tilted all the way back. “Excuse me, Mr. Crow!” she called, “I think you dropped this.”

The bird cocked its head at her, staring with beady eyes for a second. It squawked and flapped its wings.

She frowned in confusion. “Oh? You don’t…need it? But it’s yours. Why don’t you need it Mr. Crow? Doesn’t it help you fly?”

Mr. Crow hopped along the branch with wings out, rustling the leaves as it continued to stare down at her.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

A series of caws left its beak this time before it pushed off and glided into the sky, flying away over her house and out of sight. She watched the crow leave before waving goodbye to it with a smile, starting to skip back to her tea party as she tucked the feather into her hair.

“Goodbye, Mr. Crow, and thank you for the gift!”

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Now you can find this flash fiction work and others on my profile on Wattpad! Click here for my profile and go dive into a sea of Shards of Imagination!

Windows of Life (Wednesday Words 4.19.17)

Welcome to a piece of Wednesday Word’s flash fiction on Darkling Dreams!

A good friend of mine, P.T. Wyant, is doing a blog post every Wednesday called Wednesday Words with a new prompt for a bit of flash fiction writing, just to get in the habit of writing something, anything. (Even if said flash fiction is complete garbage at the time. Garbage is better than nothing though, right?) If you’re looking for some inspiration yourself or just something to aimlessly write, then go check out her blog for this week’s prompt!

With that being said, I am going to share what I came up with for this week’s flash fiction Shard based off an occurence prompt. So here is my very rough around the edges minute of inspiration based off her prompt. I’d love to hear what you guys think of it!

(Please excuse any errors you may see, I said it was rough around the edges.)

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Windows of Life

“Mom! I’m home,” I called through the house as I shut the front door. I didn’t exactly expect an answer so when no voice greeted me back I wasn’t surprised.

Setting my book bag down by the door I wandered through the downstairs, looking for my mother. The floor was quiet though, dark with drawn drapes. I threw a couple of them open, fading light playing off the floating dust particles in the room. In the kitchen I frowned to find there weren’t any new dishes in the sink and the bowl of cereal I had left out on the table when I skipped out that morning for school was hardly touched.

I sighed as I took the bowl of dry frosted flakes and threw the rest out to the animals out back, then put the bowl in the sink and started for the stairs. “Mom?” I called again.

My foot hesitated on the first stair, hand gripping the railing as I took a deep breath. I always feared what I would come home too. Would I find my mother actually functioning by eating or reading or watching TV on the rare days she was doing better? Or would I find her laying in bed upstairs once more, barely having moved the whole day?

Or, worse yet, would I find her dead?

I let out the shaky breath I was holding and ascended the staircase. My eyes glanced over the box of books in the upper hallway, frowning. My mother had refused to leave the encyclopedias on the shelf in her room after my father died. She claimed it reminded her too much of him, too much of how he came alive when he was teaching a class at the university. One day, in a fit of hysterical crying, she had thrown every book off the shelves in their bedroom, and since then they had laid dormant in a box in the hallway.

My mother never wanted to see them again, but that didn’t mean I wanted to part with the set. It was almost all I had left of him now after she broke or packed up every other reminder. She claimed it was too painful to leave it sitting out, but to me it was like she was trying to forget dad ever existed.

I picked up the box of books and moved them into my bedroom, hiding them under the bed. Out of sight, but never out of mind. Maybe later I could read the inscriptions of quotes he wrote on the inside cover of every book he ever owned. Maybe later I could let myself feel the pain again.

A deep breath dropped my shoulders and I started down the hall before I could think too much on the subject. It was easier to deal with my mother if my mind was devoid of every emotional thought.

“Mom?” I asked softly as I stopped at her door and rapped on the wood. A tiny murmur greeted me this time and relief flooded my veins.

Today was not the day I would find her dead.

Pushing open the door I walked in, peering through the gloom to find her huddled up under the covers, staring blankly at the wall. I hated that look on her face. It was like she had become a shell of a person. I wanted to hide from the world and grieve too, but I couldn’t, because if I did then there would be no one left to take care of her, and no one to maintain this house or whatever life they had left here. I hated that she got to be the grieving, deadened one and not me. I was the child, she was supposed to be the strength for both of us. She was supposed to comfort me.

“Have you eaten anything today, mom?” I asked, shoving aside the resentful thoughts.

She didn’t answer, only slid her glassy gaze toward me before looking back to the wall with a sigh. I frowned.

“I guess that’s a no… Have you been out of bed yet?” She shrugged and a pinch of anger bloomed in my chest. “Mom… You can’t keep-” I bit my tongue before I could finish that sentence, knowing it would only fall on deaf ears, then let out a breath. “Never mind. I’m going to go make dinner and come get you when it’s ready, then you’re going to take a shower while I’m doing my homework. You didn’t take one yesterday.”

My mother gave a weary incoherent mumble and turned over in bed, facing away from me. I stared at her for a second before turning away to go start a load of laundry and cook dinner with a heavy heart.

I hadn’t just lost my father on the night of that fire, I lost my mother too.

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Now you can find this flash fiction work and others on my profile on Wattpad! Click here for my profile and go dive into a sea of Shards of Imagination!