Well the 24-hour contest winners were posted last week and I must say, I'm a bit disappointed that the winning story didn't even seem to follow the topic at all. The other two stories didn't seem that well written or really on the topic either. It was a fun contest though and I plan on entering the next 24-hour contest in July. For a $5 entry fee, it was worth it, just to do a complete story in 24 hours, write, edit and submit is a serious rush.
For anyone interested in reading the winning stories go to: http://www.writersweekly.com/contest/spring06winners.html
Anyone interested in entering the contest the following link will lead you there. You can sign up right until the day before or even the day of the contest (only take 500 entries though) - check it out and if interested have fun and write away - http://writersweekly.com/misc/contest.php
Good luck, have fun and happy writing - E :)
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Monday, May 22, 2006
Why is this month dragging by?
Well, here it is the 22nd of May and the kids are on half days at school until tomorrow, I've lost my job and am bored. I think this month is the longest for me so far this year. I have submitted to several contests and and just waiting to hear. Hopefully, by this weekend, the 24-hour contest will announce the winners.
There doesn't seem to be much going on right now. Everything seems slow. As soon as baseball/softball season is over, I can get back to my writing and other meetings, which I've missed this month.
Well, maybe next week or so I'll have more news to report but for now, just sitting here bored and wanted something to do - E :)
There doesn't seem to be much going on right now. Everything seems slow. As soon as baseball/softball season is over, I can get back to my writing and other meetings, which I've missed this month.
Well, maybe next week or so I'll have more news to report but for now, just sitting here bored and wanted something to do - E :)
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
OKAY, IT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH - LOL
Since I'm involved in some online classes, I decided I should post my second story (sort of a thought of how I want to do my 50 states stories) for everyone to read - This picks up where Train of Clues left off. Any suggestions or comments are muchly appreciated on this - E :)
SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS:
Now, don't get the wrong idea about Matt, me, Len and Jo, and us doing schoolwork over the summer. This was a fun assignment and I learned a lot. Mr. Brady isn't like other teachers; his assignments are pretty cool.
Mr. Brady gave us a task over the summer and it wasn't easy to find what he was asking for. I actually had to use brain cells I didn't know I had. Go figure! Today's trip, which was Matt's birthday, wasn't really classwork but it was a start to exploring the states. The train trip was actually a scavenger hunt, finding items and clues that led us to Mount Rushmore. It was an awesome experience and I'm sure it will be the talk of the town for the rest of the summer.
For the actual work, we don't get to board a train or a plane nor do we get to travel by car or bus. Nope, this time, we have to use our imaginations and come up with a report for each state that we have to find from all the clues in the packets Mr. Brady sends us.
It was pretty strange walking into the house and finding an envelope addressed to me. Mom made sure I didn't miss it, but I've got to tell you, I don't get mail so this was a bit weird for me. I picked up the envelope and read the label:
SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS:
Now, don't get the wrong idea about Matt, me, Len and Jo, and us doing schoolwork over the summer. This was a fun assignment and I learned a lot. Mr. Brady isn't like other teachers; his assignments are pretty cool.
Mr. Brady gave us a task over the summer and it wasn't easy to find what he was asking for. I actually had to use brain cells I didn't know I had. Go figure! Today's trip, which was Matt's birthday, wasn't really classwork but it was a start to exploring the states. The train trip was actually a scavenger hunt, finding items and clues that led us to Mount Rushmore. It was an awesome experience and I'm sure it will be the talk of the town for the rest of the summer.
For the actual work, we don't get to board a train or a plane nor do we get to travel by car or bus. Nope, this time, we have to use our imaginations and come up with a report for each state that we have to find from all the clues in the packets Mr. Brady sends us.
It was pretty strange walking into the house and finding an envelope addressed to me. Mom made sure I didn't miss it, but I've got to tell you, I don't get mail so this was a bit weird for me. I picked up the envelope and read the label:
- Mr. Guy Landrum
123 West Brook Street
Creighton, SD 57790
Yes siree, it was definitely my name on this package and all I could make out from the return address was that it was from the school. I hadn't failed any classes and wasn't supposed to be in summer school. I hadn't enrolled to be in any school activities for the summer. I wasn't in the marching band. Usually anything from the school addressed directly to a student was bad news. I was tired and really didn't want to open it but Mom insisted.
"That envelope has been driving me crazy all day, while you have been on your fun trip. Go on, open it. Let's see what kind of trouble you are in now," she said
She didn't leave me any choice; I had to tear into the official school material to find out what was inside.
I pulled the folded papers from the envelope and read what I thought would be bad news. It was actually not as bad as I had imagined. The first page was a letter from Mr. Brady.
"Well, come on now, tell me what it says," Mother prodded.
"Okay, it's really nothing bad. I'm not in trouble or anything. Mr. Brady wants us to do some work over the summer to get a jump on the upcoming school year when we have to take his social studies class."
"Okay, so what does it say?"
Dear Guy, Matt, Jolene, and Leonard:
You are about to embark on the adventure of the school year. You will be traveling, in your imaginations, throughout the United States, using the clues I have provided. Each packet will lead you to the state and two landmarks. Some will also include a specific destination or town. You will work as a team over the summer and in the upcoming school year. The winning team each week will be awarded a prize.
You will have to write an essay on your findings and present them to the class when school starts. You will do this for the next ten weeks and once school starts, we will continue the adventure in a different format. Your social studies grade for the year will be based primarily on your work for the fifty states. I hope you enjoy this little game.
Happy Hunting,
Mr. Brady
Social Studies Teacher
Creighton Middle School
I tucked the papers back into the envelope and headed for bed, leaving Mom standing in the hall wanting to know more. I would worry about calling Matt in the morning. This meant more time with Jolene, what a summer this was going to be. Believe it or not, I was excited when I turned in for the night.
After lunch with Grandma the next day, I called Matt but could barely get a word in edgewise.
"Yeah, dude," he said. "How about we meet at the town library about nine o'clock in the morning and the four of us just jump in there and start this project. Who knows, maybe we can knock it out and free up the rest of the week."
"What do you have against sleeping in some?" I asked him.
"Man, I got other things to do in the evenings. I can't waste my whole day waiting for you to get out of bed. So, nine o'clock at the library. See you there. Okay?"
"Yeah, sure, nine o'clock." I grumbled, hanging up the phone.
I was the last to arrive because I had overslept. As I was locking my bike up in the rack, I got the feeling I was being overtaken. I looked up and there stood Jo, Len, Matt and Mary Beth, who always tags along wherever Matt goes. I'm sure Matt's mother had something to do with this though. "Yeah, I'm late. That's nothing new. You all know me by now and you know I'm rarely on time."
"Well, listen, the library closes for lunch at one, so we need to get started and accomplish as much as we can before then," Jo stated in her bossy voice.
"Okay, let's go." I shot back at her.
Mary Beth went over to the mystery section and found a book to read while we were on the computer, sitting far enough away to not be in our way but close enough to hear our discussions. After the librarian logged us on to one of the available computers, we sat down and read the information Mr. Brady had sent us. Here's what it said:
As this is the first state, I will give you all the clues and information you need. Your job is to figure out the state and the two landmarks. In addition, you will also need to find a particular destination from the clues given. The clues are as follows:
State clues:
1) The second oldest city in the nation is located in this state.
2) Five other states share a border with this state.
3) This state is named after a British King.
4) The Girl Scouts were founded in this state in nineteen hundred and twelve.
Wacky facts:
1) Paradise Gardens, an eccentric "art house", built by Howard Finster, defies description, convention and gravity.
2) Oliver Hardy, half of the famous Laurel and Hardy vaudeville act, was born in this state.
Landmarks:
1) Billed as the biggest swamp in North America, this natural wonder can be navigated by canoe or boat tour, or you can get directions for driving at the visitors' center in Folkston.
2) Take a train or ride a skylift to see the largest high-relief sculpture in the world, the Confederate Memorial Carving depicting Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Entertainment and shopping options abound at the 3,200-acre park.
Destination clues:
1) The first gold rush was actually in this town, occurring around eighteen hundred and twenty eight.
2) The original name of this town was Licklog.
3) One of the United States first gold mints was in this town.
4) This town has evidence of inhabitation prior to the Cherokee, believed to have been somewhere around 1000 b.c.
5) This town is holding its third annual literary festival in February, on the weekend closest to President's weekend.
Jo took the initiative, even though Len was more of a computer geek than the rest of us. She typed in some keywords and the search was on. Jo must have used ten or fifteen different combinations to figure out the state, but we finally came up with it.
"Come on, Jo," Len prodded. "I can move faster than this."
"Yeah, but I'm used to doing this. I've done a lot of research."
"So? I'm the computer expert," Len stated.
"Go ahead if you think you can find anything faster. I'm pretty quick and know what I'm doing."
Len pushed Jo out of the seat and starting putting in what he could. He didn't have any luck finding any answers. Jo just umphed him and moved him out of the way so she could continue her Internet search. She Googled Girl Scouts and found out they were started by Juliette Low. The movement had been started based on the guidelines of the Boy Scouts but Juliette Gordon Low started it in America in one of the most famous cities in the state.
Matt not wanting to be outdone put his two cents worth in. "You guys, listen. I say we just find the destination. We already know the state. We can find the landmarks later. Don't you all think so?"
"Well, actually no." Jo answered. "I think we need to find the landmarks before we get to the destination. It would be pretty easy to get to the town with these clues but why not just find everything in order - the state, the landmarks and then the town?"
"I have other things to do today, so I'd like to be out of here before lunch if we can," Matt informed us.
"Well personally, I don't care what we do. I think we just need to get this done so I can go home and sleep some more." I added.
"Like you didn't sleep enough as it is. You were the last one here, Guy. Surely a few hours of your time isn't going to kill you." Len shot me a strange look.
Jo kept on searching, trying to ignore us. The computer timer had to be reset while we were looking up the landmarks. The librarian kindly re-signed us on and went back to shelving the new stock of books.
"Okay guys, I think I have come up with one of the landmarks," Jo said.
"Yeah, which one?" I asked.
"Well, part of the clue is that this is a swamp and I'm coming up with only swamp that is mentioned online. I put in the state name plus swamps and came up with this." Jo showed us the link she found.
"Then, I'd say we found one landmark. I always thought that was a made up place," I said.
"Well, now we know it's not a made up place," Matt chimed in.
"Yeah, you know how someone always tries to pull the wool over your eyes and tells you they have some land in this swamp to sell you. I thought it was either a made up swamp or in another state for some reason."
"Okay, one landmark down. Let's move on to the next one so we can find the town and get out of here." Matt said.
Jo typed in some more trying to find the second landmark.
"Jo, look up theme parks in the state and see if that doesn't lead us to the landmark," Len told her.
Jo typed in state theme parks and there it was, the listing of all the theme parks in the state. We moved on to finding the town. The easiest place to find, a town in the state considered to be the first "gold rush" center and housing one of the nation's first mints.
So where did we end up?
Clues leading to the state should lead you to Georgia. The landmarks are a little more difficult unless you are familiar with them but they are The Okefenokee Swamp and Stone Mountain. Our destination town ended up being Dahlonega.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Story update/Good news
Just posting an update - My April Fool's day themed story won second place on the contest - posted on www.armchairinterviews.com - here is the winning story for all you fans of mine (few that I have - lol)
The Proposal
Ribbit. Ribbit.
Stella looked around but couldn't locate the sound. Henry suppressed a chuckle.
Henry had made reservations at the fanciest restaurant in town. Stella sat there all dressed up, about to burst at the seams from what promised to be the best birthday ever. Not her usual joke-filled day. The evening was supposed to be romantic but the frogs were ruining that. Why couldn't Stella have a normal, romantic birthday with the love of her life?
Henry was the most straight-laced person she had known in her life, although a bit gullible and on the receiving end of a prank. Stella was thankful for this because having a birthday on April Fools' Day meant Stella had received every practical joke ever thought of as a gift; none from Henry over the years as his gifts were the most sincere. This year, though, Stella was hoping for a simple, romantic dinner. This was a special birthday for her - her twenty-fifth. Henry had gone through lots of planning to mark a quarter of a century for Stella.
After five years of being together as a couple, Stella just knew this nice, quiet evening would be special.
Ribbit. Ribbit. The frogs kept going, like the Energizer Bunny.
"Aren't you going to order something?" Henry asked.
"I've not much of an appetite. These frogs are driving me crazy. You do hear them, don't you?"
Henry shook his head. Stella looked at him as if he had just slapped her. "Henry, surely you hear them croaking every few minutes during the music. It's like the restaurant has piped in the frogs just for me. Let's go somewhere else."
"No, it's okay. Maybe you are the only one hearing them because it's your birthday."
"Not a chance. I'm going to ask the maitre'd to turn off the music. Surely, there are other people here who hear those silly frogs too."
Stella motioned for the maitre'd. "Please sir, tell me you hear the frogs over the music."
"No, Mademoiselle. I only hear the wonderful music that plays every night," he replied in his French accent, which matched the ambience of the restaurant.
"Will you please just turn off the music then? I'm hearing frogs and I don't like them. It's ruining my night."
"If we turn off the music for you, then all the other patrons will not enjoy the atmosphere and romance we provide."
"Fine. Just give me some frog legs for an appetizer." Maybe that'll shut them up.
Henry held Stella's hand, trying to calm her down. "Stella, hon. Let's calm down about the frogs. Try not to think of them. Remember we're here celebrating your birthday, not the jokes you usually get. Besides, I've something to ask you."
"I'll try to put those frogs out of my mind but they're aggravating. And you know how much I dislike them. But for you, I will try."
Ribbit. Ribbit.
Henry pulled a small box from his pocket. "Stella, we've been together a while now. I want to ask you something important."
Stella gulped.
"Stel, hon. I really love you and think we are meant to be together. Oh, wait. I'm supposed to be down on one knee when I ask you." Henry came around to Stella and kneeled, taking her hand. "Will you marry me?"
Stella nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, yes. I've waited so long for this." Stella opened the engagement ring box only to find a piece of paper rolled up in the slot where the ring should have been. She unrolled it and read what Henry had neatly printed on the front, "NOT". What is this? He asks me to marry him and then says NOT. "Um, Henry, is this some kind of joke?"
"Did you read the back of it?"
Stella turned the paper over and read "April Fools'" and looked very confused. "So does this mean that the proposal was a joke or that just not having the ring is the joke?" Stella was about in tears, feeling rejected. She continued seething silently, turned to Henry and said, "I can't believe you have been involved in any practical jokes today, since you've not participated before."
"Actually, the empty box was the joke. Your mother helped me plan that part. I really do want you to marry me. Here's the ring for real."
Stella gazed at the ring. It was beautiful. Oh, how she wanted to trust Henry right now, but after his little joke, Stella found it hard to believe him. The ring could be fake, too. "So, they say that the less real a ring is the more beautiful it is. True? I'm not sure I should accept this ring now, knowing my mother's in on the jokes tonight. You know she's the queen of jokes around our house. Every year, she bests herself . No one can beat her jokes."
Ribbit. Ribbit.
"The only joke this time was the note in the box. The ring is real and I don't know anything about other jokes. The note joke was to get you a little flabbergasted."
"Just a little? Those damned frogs are still driving me nuts. And then the ring. Yep, flabbergasted is about right."
After dinner, Stella and Henry stared into each other's eyes. The waiters and waitresses started the restaurant's version of "Happy Birthday" from the kitchen. Stella thought the singing was too far away to be geared toward her. She sighed in relief until the cake with the many candles ended up in front of her. Stella's cheeks burned from being the center of attention. As the song ended, she blew out the candles. Several times. The candles wouldn't go out. She must have blown ten times before everyone said "Happy April Fools' Birthday" to her. She laughed and pulled all the candles from the cake, dunking them in her water to put them out.
"So, whose idea was this, yours or my mother's?" Stella glared at Henry.
Ribbit. Ribbit.
"Honestly, Stel, hon. I had nothing to do with the candles. I did, however, inform the maitre'd when I made our reservations that it was your birthday and that I wanted you to have a special cake since you have the worst day for a birthday. Maybe it was the chef's idea to do this."
"Not likely. They don't know me and this smells rotten. Smells of my mom, like when she put some dye in my shampoo. That was a nightmare. Picture day. And I had to go to school with purple hair." Stella shook her long, curly, auburn hair.
Henry smiled. "True. I haven't been a joker but your mother made this so much fun and knowing I was proposing to you, she had to get you somehow. It's been great so far not being the butt of everyone else's practical jokes."
"So, is this it? Everything that is meant to be played on me? I mean, this seems to be the most jokes I've had on me at once. Three by the same person. So anything else I should know about?"
Henry shrugged.
"Well, since the cake and ring are done, I say let's get out of here before anything else happens that would totally embarrass me."
"Okay. Hope you aren't too upset about the jokes we played on you."
"No, I'm not upset. It's expected, especially knowing my mother is involved. These were mild compared to some of the things she's done in the past, like the year we went to dinner and she had the cook add some gummy worms to my hamburger. That was gross and disgusting, having the whole restaurant staring at me and laughing."
The maitre'd whispered to Stella as they reached the door, "By the way, we piped the frogs in just for you. Your mother called and said you loved frogs sooo much. Hope you enjoyed your April Fools' birthday gift from the restaurant."
Stella laughed. Now she knew it was a joke set up just for her. "So how did you keep the other patrons from complaining?"
"We let them know when they were seated to just ignore the frogs during the music since it was a special treat for a special customer."
Stella nodded. Another joke by her mother, knowing how much she detested frogs which was in part due to high school biology class and Johnny Jones. After the group had dissected the frog, Johnny decided to put the frog down Stella's shirt. Yep, another birthday joke. Stella shuddered.
Henry guided Stella out the door, steering her toward the car. Stella stepped back seeing a flash of white coming toward her. "Is that Martina Navratilova? No way. Can't be. Martina here?"
Henry nodded and continued advancing toward the car.
"Evening, Stella." Martina greeted her. "I've been told in order to marry Henry, you have to beat me in a game of tennis."
"What? I don't know how to play tennis. No way can I beat you." Stella turned toward Henry, begging with her eyes to end the madness. Henry wasn't there.
Stella ran to the car, jumping in as fast as she could. "Come on, Henry. Let's get out of here. This day just keeps getting weirder."
Henry cranked the car and drove Stella home. Stella embarked on a new joke with Henry's help.
"Hello, Mother. We're home."
"Great. How was dinner?"
"You probably know dinner was a bust with all the jokes. I can't even believe you got Henry to partake in them. You had me pretty upset tonight."
"Jokes aside, did you have a nice dinner?"
"I didn't even get to eat dinner. What with those stupid frogs croaking during the time we were in the restaurant and the empty engagement ring box. I guess it's not meant to be for me to have a nice, quiet birthday as long as you're around."
"Stel, hon. You know I love you very much. I'm only trying to bring joy to you, a few smiles along the way."
"Fine. Just so you know, I turned Henry's proposal down. I couldn't accept due to the fact that I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't."
Stella's mom stood there, unable to speak.
"What's the matter, Mom? Cat got your tongue?"
"No, no. That's not right. You aren't saying no to Henry because of me, are you?"
"Not at all. I just didn't think I should marry Henry since I'm not in love with him. I've been seeing the new garbage man lately and feel I should at least give him a chance. So, Henry is out of here for now. Bye-bye. Gone."
"Stella, you've got to be kidding. No way are you throwing away five years as well as a good man. Come on, dear. Let's talk about this and make sure you aren't throwing away something you've wanted for a long time."
"Mom, it's over. There isn't anything to talk about." Stella turned away from Henry who was still standing in the doorway. "Oh, by the way, April Fools'. I got you good. You should've seen your face."
hope you enjoy - E :)
The Proposal
Ribbit. Ribbit.
Stella looked around but couldn't locate the sound. Henry suppressed a chuckle.
Henry had made reservations at the fanciest restaurant in town. Stella sat there all dressed up, about to burst at the seams from what promised to be the best birthday ever. Not her usual joke-filled day. The evening was supposed to be romantic but the frogs were ruining that. Why couldn't Stella have a normal, romantic birthday with the love of her life?
Henry was the most straight-laced person she had known in her life, although a bit gullible and on the receiving end of a prank. Stella was thankful for this because having a birthday on April Fools' Day meant Stella had received every practical joke ever thought of as a gift; none from Henry over the years as his gifts were the most sincere. This year, though, Stella was hoping for a simple, romantic dinner. This was a special birthday for her - her twenty-fifth. Henry had gone through lots of planning to mark a quarter of a century for Stella.
After five years of being together as a couple, Stella just knew this nice, quiet evening would be special.
Ribbit. Ribbit. The frogs kept going, like the Energizer Bunny.
"Aren't you going to order something?" Henry asked.
"I've not much of an appetite. These frogs are driving me crazy. You do hear them, don't you?"
Henry shook his head. Stella looked at him as if he had just slapped her. "Henry, surely you hear them croaking every few minutes during the music. It's like the restaurant has piped in the frogs just for me. Let's go somewhere else."
"No, it's okay. Maybe you are the only one hearing them because it's your birthday."
"Not a chance. I'm going to ask the maitre'd to turn off the music. Surely, there are other people here who hear those silly frogs too."
Stella motioned for the maitre'd. "Please sir, tell me you hear the frogs over the music."
"No, Mademoiselle. I only hear the wonderful music that plays every night," he replied in his French accent, which matched the ambience of the restaurant.
"Will you please just turn off the music then? I'm hearing frogs and I don't like them. It's ruining my night."
"If we turn off the music for you, then all the other patrons will not enjoy the atmosphere and romance we provide."
"Fine. Just give me some frog legs for an appetizer." Maybe that'll shut them up.
Henry held Stella's hand, trying to calm her down. "Stella, hon. Let's calm down about the frogs. Try not to think of them. Remember we're here celebrating your birthday, not the jokes you usually get. Besides, I've something to ask you."
"I'll try to put those frogs out of my mind but they're aggravating. And you know how much I dislike them. But for you, I will try."
Ribbit. Ribbit.
Henry pulled a small box from his pocket. "Stella, we've been together a while now. I want to ask you something important."
Stella gulped.
"Stel, hon. I really love you and think we are meant to be together. Oh, wait. I'm supposed to be down on one knee when I ask you." Henry came around to Stella and kneeled, taking her hand. "Will you marry me?"
Stella nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, yes. I've waited so long for this." Stella opened the engagement ring box only to find a piece of paper rolled up in the slot where the ring should have been. She unrolled it and read what Henry had neatly printed on the front, "NOT". What is this? He asks me to marry him and then says NOT. "Um, Henry, is this some kind of joke?"
"Did you read the back of it?"
Stella turned the paper over and read "April Fools'" and looked very confused. "So does this mean that the proposal was a joke or that just not having the ring is the joke?" Stella was about in tears, feeling rejected. She continued seething silently, turned to Henry and said, "I can't believe you have been involved in any practical jokes today, since you've not participated before."
"Actually, the empty box was the joke. Your mother helped me plan that part. I really do want you to marry me. Here's the ring for real."
Stella gazed at the ring. It was beautiful. Oh, how she wanted to trust Henry right now, but after his little joke, Stella found it hard to believe him. The ring could be fake, too. "So, they say that the less real a ring is the more beautiful it is. True? I'm not sure I should accept this ring now, knowing my mother's in on the jokes tonight. You know she's the queen of jokes around our house. Every year, she bests herself . No one can beat her jokes."
Ribbit. Ribbit.
"The only joke this time was the note in the box. The ring is real and I don't know anything about other jokes. The note joke was to get you a little flabbergasted."
"Just a little? Those damned frogs are still driving me nuts. And then the ring. Yep, flabbergasted is about right."
After dinner, Stella and Henry stared into each other's eyes. The waiters and waitresses started the restaurant's version of "Happy Birthday" from the kitchen. Stella thought the singing was too far away to be geared toward her. She sighed in relief until the cake with the many candles ended up in front of her. Stella's cheeks burned from being the center of attention. As the song ended, she blew out the candles. Several times. The candles wouldn't go out. She must have blown ten times before everyone said "Happy April Fools' Birthday" to her. She laughed and pulled all the candles from the cake, dunking them in her water to put them out.
"So, whose idea was this, yours or my mother's?" Stella glared at Henry.
Ribbit. Ribbit.
"Honestly, Stel, hon. I had nothing to do with the candles. I did, however, inform the maitre'd when I made our reservations that it was your birthday and that I wanted you to have a special cake since you have the worst day for a birthday. Maybe it was the chef's idea to do this."
"Not likely. They don't know me and this smells rotten. Smells of my mom, like when she put some dye in my shampoo. That was a nightmare. Picture day. And I had to go to school with purple hair." Stella shook her long, curly, auburn hair.
Henry smiled. "True. I haven't been a joker but your mother made this so much fun and knowing I was proposing to you, she had to get you somehow. It's been great so far not being the butt of everyone else's practical jokes."
"So, is this it? Everything that is meant to be played on me? I mean, this seems to be the most jokes I've had on me at once. Three by the same person. So anything else I should know about?"
Henry shrugged.
"Well, since the cake and ring are done, I say let's get out of here before anything else happens that would totally embarrass me."
"Okay. Hope you aren't too upset about the jokes we played on you."
"No, I'm not upset. It's expected, especially knowing my mother is involved. These were mild compared to some of the things she's done in the past, like the year we went to dinner and she had the cook add some gummy worms to my hamburger. That was gross and disgusting, having the whole restaurant staring at me and laughing."
The maitre'd whispered to Stella as they reached the door, "By the way, we piped the frogs in just for you. Your mother called and said you loved frogs sooo much. Hope you enjoyed your April Fools' birthday gift from the restaurant."
Stella laughed. Now she knew it was a joke set up just for her. "So how did you keep the other patrons from complaining?"
"We let them know when they were seated to just ignore the frogs during the music since it was a special treat for a special customer."
Stella nodded. Another joke by her mother, knowing how much she detested frogs which was in part due to high school biology class and Johnny Jones. After the group had dissected the frog, Johnny decided to put the frog down Stella's shirt. Yep, another birthday joke. Stella shuddered.
Henry guided Stella out the door, steering her toward the car. Stella stepped back seeing a flash of white coming toward her. "Is that Martina Navratilova? No way. Can't be. Martina here?"
Henry nodded and continued advancing toward the car.
"Evening, Stella." Martina greeted her. "I've been told in order to marry Henry, you have to beat me in a game of tennis."
"What? I don't know how to play tennis. No way can I beat you." Stella turned toward Henry, begging with her eyes to end the madness. Henry wasn't there.
Stella ran to the car, jumping in as fast as she could. "Come on, Henry. Let's get out of here. This day just keeps getting weirder."
Henry cranked the car and drove Stella home. Stella embarked on a new joke with Henry's help.
"Hello, Mother. We're home."
"Great. How was dinner?"
"You probably know dinner was a bust with all the jokes. I can't even believe you got Henry to partake in them. You had me pretty upset tonight."
"Jokes aside, did you have a nice dinner?"
"I didn't even get to eat dinner. What with those stupid frogs croaking during the time we were in the restaurant and the empty engagement ring box. I guess it's not meant to be for me to have a nice, quiet birthday as long as you're around."
"Stel, hon. You know I love you very much. I'm only trying to bring joy to you, a few smiles along the way."
"Fine. Just so you know, I turned Henry's proposal down. I couldn't accept due to the fact that I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't."
Stella's mom stood there, unable to speak.
"What's the matter, Mom? Cat got your tongue?"
"No, no. That's not right. You aren't saying no to Henry because of me, are you?"
"Not at all. I just didn't think I should marry Henry since I'm not in love with him. I've been seeing the new garbage man lately and feel I should at least give him a chance. So, Henry is out of here for now. Bye-bye. Gone."
"Stella, you've got to be kidding. No way are you throwing away five years as well as a good man. Come on, dear. Let's talk about this and make sure you aren't throwing away something you've wanted for a long time."
"Mom, it's over. There isn't anything to talk about." Stella turned away from Henry who was still standing in the doorway. "Oh, by the way, April Fools'. I got you good. You should've seen your face."
hope you enjoy - E :)
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Not quite the end of the month - but what the heck - might as well post something
I was just sitting here reading some other friends' blogs and decided to update you all on where I am with my writing and other things in my life.
Let's see - this month I've only worked on one contest entry and sort of working on a nonfiction entry. I have submitted my April Fools story to www.armchairinterviews.com for the upcoming contest. I thought my story was pretty good with the revisions and all but apparently the writing group (http://bellsouthpwp.net/g/c/gcscww/) wasn't too fond of the story. I write short, fun things that tend to be simple. The group didn't like the repetition in the story but being an April Fools day theme, how can you not have repetition -- but enough said - the story has been revised, ending changed and submitted for the contest. The winners will be informed around April 15th - a chance to win 4 books (first place) or 1 book (first runner up and second runner up) and be published on their website until the next contest --- I have fun and that's what counts
My nonfiction piece is for Creative Nonfiction - the magazine - http://www.creativenonfiction.org/thejournal/whatisnew.htm - it has to do with the medical field and that is my field of expertise being a medical transcriptionist.
The middle of the month had me flying to Jersey for a new job, training in the office and then having my computer transported back home to start working. The job is basically similar to what I was doing before but it uses a different platform and getting used to the New York accents is the tough part. That was a plane trip from hell really - and I won't do that again - I'll drive it or fly big airplanes if I have to go up that way again. I was on an express jet which was probably no bigger than a volkswagen bug and a half on the inside - tight seating and only 50 people on the plane. - not for me ever again.
As soon as my nonfiction is finished and submitted, I'll be starting on my children's stories/series - so be on the lookout for that - and my revisions on my mini-mystery - So for now, it looks as if things are looking up for me and that I'm moving right along - see you all next month - E :)
Let's see - this month I've only worked on one contest entry and sort of working on a nonfiction entry. I have submitted my April Fools story to www.armchairinterviews.com for the upcoming contest. I thought my story was pretty good with the revisions and all but apparently the writing group (http://bellsouthpwp.net/g/c/gcscww/) wasn't too fond of the story. I write short, fun things that tend to be simple. The group didn't like the repetition in the story but being an April Fools day theme, how can you not have repetition -- but enough said - the story has been revised, ending changed and submitted for the contest. The winners will be informed around April 15th - a chance to win 4 books (first place) or 1 book (first runner up and second runner up) and be published on their website until the next contest --- I have fun and that's what counts
My nonfiction piece is for Creative Nonfiction - the magazine - http://www.creativenonfiction.org/thejournal/whatisnew.htm - it has to do with the medical field and that is my field of expertise being a medical transcriptionist.
The middle of the month had me flying to Jersey for a new job, training in the office and then having my computer transported back home to start working. The job is basically similar to what I was doing before but it uses a different platform and getting used to the New York accents is the tough part. That was a plane trip from hell really - and I won't do that again - I'll drive it or fly big airplanes if I have to go up that way again. I was on an express jet which was probably no bigger than a volkswagen bug and a half on the inside - tight seating and only 50 people on the plane. - not for me ever again.
As soon as my nonfiction is finished and submitted, I'll be starting on my children's stories/series - so be on the lookout for that - and my revisions on my mini-mystery - So for now, it looks as if things are looking up for me and that I'm moving right along - see you all next month - E :)
Friday, March 03, 2006
what's that saying - March comes in like a lion, April showers, May flowers?
Yep, sure enough it is March. So since the last posting - here is what has happened in the little corner of the world that is my world:
The weekend of February 17-19, the kids and I helped out at the Dahlonega Literary Festival, very low keyed but overall a good experience. We got to monitor the "Scholastic Book Fair" part of the whole thing, with my daughter dressing up like Clifford the Big Red Dog and enjoying herself. On Saturday evening, we headed over to the Holly Theater for a talk about "Haunted Holly" and it was very interesting to learn the local hauntings of the theater. Poor Amy giving her speech and telling us all about the ghosts there which she had researched for her book "Dahlonega Hauntings" - now I don't know about you all but I'm firm believer in ghosts and other beings and even though not everyone could see him, there was one on stage kind of mocking Amy while she was speaking. Of course, her reply to being told that several persons saw him was "Why can't I see them?" - so you never know when you may come across the next inspiration for a story.
The weekend of February 24-26, I headed down to Columbia, South Carolina, for the South Carolina Book Festival and enjoyed my stay for the weekend. It was totally exhausting Saturday all day but well worth the time and effort as a volunteer. You never know who you will run into at something like that - and yep, I ran into a self-published author, who was an ex-co-worker of mine about 10 years ago. So needless to say, I had contact with a friend.
My whole idea for these 2 weekends is to do some volunteer work with your local book festivals and get your foot in the door with editors, publishers, other authors and you just never know when your big break will come along.
About to submit an April Fool's Day story and once I know if it has placed or anything, I will post here.
Working on a nonfiction story/essay type thing and hopefully in a couple of months, will know about that (okay a few months, not a couple because I have a couple of months before it is ready for submission.)
Any readers want to post any stories or links - please feel free to do so - every bit helps others and you never know - the one thing you have may be the big break for someone else -
Hopefully March will be a good month for everyone and the winter weather will move on (fingers crossed and wishful thinking) - E :)
The weekend of February 17-19, the kids and I helped out at the Dahlonega Literary Festival, very low keyed but overall a good experience. We got to monitor the "Scholastic Book Fair" part of the whole thing, with my daughter dressing up like Clifford the Big Red Dog and enjoying herself. On Saturday evening, we headed over to the Holly Theater for a talk about "Haunted Holly" and it was very interesting to learn the local hauntings of the theater. Poor Amy giving her speech and telling us all about the ghosts there which she had researched for her book "Dahlonega Hauntings" - now I don't know about you all but I'm firm believer in ghosts and other beings and even though not everyone could see him, there was one on stage kind of mocking Amy while she was speaking. Of course, her reply to being told that several persons saw him was "Why can't I see them?" - so you never know when you may come across the next inspiration for a story.
The weekend of February 24-26, I headed down to Columbia, South Carolina, for the South Carolina Book Festival and enjoyed my stay for the weekend. It was totally exhausting Saturday all day but well worth the time and effort as a volunteer. You never know who you will run into at something like that - and yep, I ran into a self-published author, who was an ex-co-worker of mine about 10 years ago. So needless to say, I had contact with a friend.
My whole idea for these 2 weekends is to do some volunteer work with your local book festivals and get your foot in the door with editors, publishers, other authors and you just never know when your big break will come along.
About to submit an April Fool's Day story and once I know if it has placed or anything, I will post here.
Working on a nonfiction story/essay type thing and hopefully in a couple of months, will know about that (okay a few months, not a couple because I have a couple of months before it is ready for submission.)
Any readers want to post any stories or links - please feel free to do so - every bit helps others and you never know - the one thing you have may be the big break for someone else -
Hopefully March will be a good month for everyone and the winter weather will move on (fingers crossed and wishful thinking) - E :)
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Is it for real, 1 month gone already?
2006 - has come in fairly quickly and already it's been a weird month. Here it is the end of the month and everything has moved so quickly.
A quick update - the two contests I entered didn't place but congrats to a friend of mine for placing 2nd runner up (again a shared second place) on the Christmas contest we both entered for the www.armchairinterviews.com site. The Dahlonega literary festival (http://www.literaryfestival.org) judges only picked the top 8 stories due to the rest not meeting their harsh scores (but that's okay) and the South Carolina Book Festival (www.scbookfestival.org) is coming up. I have volunteered to help at both book festivals and am looking forward to meeting more authors and publishers and other writing related persons.
I have entered a short story in the South Carolina Fiction Project (selectees will be notified the 1st of July), so fingers crossed on that. I am rewriting my mystery as a "contemporary young adult fiction" story to be submitted later this year for a Random House (Delacourt) contest. Also a call for submission for Creative Nonfiction, the magazine, in conjunction with Southern Methodist University's Sports in America edition, Anatomy of Baseball, has been done.
Armchair Interviews is running yet another contest (an April Fool's one this time) and I will probably submit for that one as well. There is another call for submission on Creative Nonfiction for medical essays and I will work on that.
Reviews - they are trickling in - reviewed Nicci French's book catch me when I fall and it is posted on Amazon.com (under armchairinterviews as the author) as well on the main site. Have just finished Paul Levine's The Deep Blue Alibi (due to be released today) and will post a review on the Armchair site shortly -
Guess this is as good as it gets right now - more postings later - hopefully good news further down the line - E :)
A quick update - the two contests I entered didn't place but congrats to a friend of mine for placing 2nd runner up (again a shared second place) on the Christmas contest we both entered for the www.armchairinterviews.com site. The Dahlonega literary festival (http://www.literaryfestival.org) judges only picked the top 8 stories due to the rest not meeting their harsh scores (but that's okay) and the South Carolina Book Festival (www.scbookfestival.org) is coming up. I have volunteered to help at both book festivals and am looking forward to meeting more authors and publishers and other writing related persons.
I have entered a short story in the South Carolina Fiction Project (selectees will be notified the 1st of July), so fingers crossed on that. I am rewriting my mystery as a "contemporary young adult fiction" story to be submitted later this year for a Random House (Delacourt) contest. Also a call for submission for Creative Nonfiction, the magazine, in conjunction with Southern Methodist University's Sports in America edition, Anatomy of Baseball, has been done.
Armchair Interviews is running yet another contest (an April Fool's one this time) and I will probably submit for that one as well. There is another call for submission on Creative Nonfiction for medical essays and I will work on that.
Reviews - they are trickling in - reviewed Nicci French's book catch me when I fall and it is posted on Amazon.com (under armchairinterviews as the author) as well on the main site. Have just finished Paul Levine's The Deep Blue Alibi (due to be released today) and will post a review on the Armchair site shortly -
Guess this is as good as it gets right now - more postings later - hopefully good news further down the line - E :)
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
TIME FLIES WHEN YOU ARE HAVING FUN
Well time flies when you are having fun - so a bit of an update on what has been going on with me.
I have entered 2 more short story contests, finished my novella and am in the process of editing it for another contest (hopefully for publication) and have expanded my original Train story to do all 50 states as a series.
I've done an official review for The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus by Carly Alexander (can be found on www.armchairinterviews.com - under great reviews) and am about to do a few more reviews for the same site. Keep on the lookout for more reviews of stories as I get them (reviews are great because you get to do something you enjoy - read - and share that with others and I get to keep the books)
While editing my novella I will take a short break to write 2 more short stories for contests and hopefully will get published with one or the other of them (maybe both) as well as my second entry get published in the Dahlonega Literary Festival's anthology -- will keep you posted on how these go.
So since it is almost Christmas - hope you all enjoy the season and the holidays and have a blessed new year and come back and see what I'm up to next month - E :)
I have entered 2 more short story contests, finished my novella and am in the process of editing it for another contest (hopefully for publication) and have expanded my original Train story to do all 50 states as a series.
I've done an official review for The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus by Carly Alexander (can be found on www.armchairinterviews.com - under great reviews) and am about to do a few more reviews for the same site. Keep on the lookout for more reviews of stories as I get them (reviews are great because you get to do something you enjoy - read - and share that with others and I get to keep the books)
While editing my novella I will take a short break to write 2 more short stories for contests and hopefully will get published with one or the other of them (maybe both) as well as my second entry get published in the Dahlonega Literary Festival's anthology -- will keep you posted on how these go.
So since it is almost Christmas - hope you all enjoy the season and the holidays and have a blessed new year and come back and see what I'm up to next month - E :)
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Second place on story
Story posted previously will be posted for 6 weeks on www.armchairinterviews.com and http://www.minnesotacrimewave.org/ -- starting next week - I won second place - lol - E :)
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Update and thoughts on the storm
First, my update. I have finished writing my first novella, topping off at about 37,000 words. Now comes the real work, the rewriting, editing, revising, reading, checking, rechecking, rewriting, et cetera. The story is finished - just have to wait a bit to come back to it and read it and start the hard stuff.
Now, Katrina - she was very bad. I think anyway we can help out the storm victims is worthy of us. If your work asks you to donate some of your PTO hours/monies, if you can afford to do so, do it. If you have clothing and other items that you can donate to Goodwill Centers or Salvation Army or even the Red Cross, please do it. If we all pitch in just a little, we can bring this disaster back under control and get back on our feet quicker, which in turn will bring down the gas prices again and we will all feel better about ourselves in the long run.--
I have yet to turn on the news because I really don't want to be depressed because of the victims there. So please - help if you can, any way you can, God bless you all - E :)
Now, Katrina - she was very bad. I think anyway we can help out the storm victims is worthy of us. If your work asks you to donate some of your PTO hours/monies, if you can afford to do so, do it. If you have clothing and other items that you can donate to Goodwill Centers or Salvation Army or even the Red Cross, please do it. If we all pitch in just a little, we can bring this disaster back under control and get back on our feet quicker, which in turn will bring down the gas prices again and we will all feel better about ourselves in the long run.--
I have yet to turn on the news because I really don't want to be depressed because of the victims there. So please - help if you can, any way you can, God bless you all - E :)
Monday, August 29, 2005
Submitted story
My first contest story submitted - will know by September 15 whether or not I placed or won the contest (if it wins, I get 6 weeks publication on 2 websites - plus 4 books)
Hope you all enjoy this - E :)
Train of Clues
by Elysabeth Eldering
(c) copyright 2005
"All aboard!" The conductor called out.
I ran down the steps waving my invitation overhead. "Wait!" I yelled. I'd overslept and had almost missed the party train.
"Hello, Mr. Brady," I heard Jason, one of the kids from our class, say to the conductor as he stepped onto the train. A pebble caught in my tennis shoe and I stumbled but reached the platform without a blowout. "Hope you've had a good summer so far," Jason continued.
I shifted Matt's present. Mrs. Patterson, Matt's mother, stood at the entrance and I assumed she was checking my name on the list as she marked the paper on her clipboard. I looked to see if I could spot Matt but didn't see him; he probably was on train by now. "Hey, Mrs. P.," I said breathlessly. "Any idea where we're heading?"
She looked up from her clipboard, "Why yes, Guy, I know where we're going but can't tell you. It's a mystery, remember?" She smiled at me. "Now, hop on; you're late."
I handed my invitation to the conductor. He looked it over and returned it to me. I stared at the thick, beige colored paper with the train logo stamped all over it. It had come in the mail almost three months ago and I had forgotten about the party until the reminder call came from Mrs. P.
I headed for the area of the train that was the noisiest, which turned out to be the dining car. I entered and checked out the other kids there. "Hey, Matt. Is this something or what?" I asked entering the decorated train car. I waved to some of the other kids and patted Matt on the shoulder, "How'd you rank getting the royal treatment? You'd think it was your birthday or something."
"Yeah, or something," Matt replied nodding his head toward the group of girls sitting at the table across from him.
"Nice."
I checked out the other kids; I counted nine, five girls and four boys, excluding Matt, Matt's sister, and myself. I wondered why Matt had invited Len, Stu, Jason and Jimmy, known as the "Geek Squad", but it was probably because we had known them all our lives. I did have to give Matt one thing though, he had invited four of the cutest girls in seventh grade, including Jolene, the girl of my dreams.
Mrs. Patterson stood at the front of the dining car, "Welcome to the mystery train, everyone. I had a great time planning this little adventure and I hope you guys have just as much fun. Before we get started, I need to divide you into teams. There are twelve of you, so each team will consist of two boys and two girls." I held my breath as she named who would be on each team and let it out rather loudly when she named Jolene as part of my team. I didn't even mind that Mary Beth, Matt's younger sister who just had to be at the party, and Len were grouped with us; all I could see was being with Jolene.
We moved to the three tables representing the teams, Mary Beth and Jolene sitting across from me and Len. I watched the girls as they chatted. They couldn't hide their excitement. I hoped Jolene was as excited about being teammates as I was.
Matt ended up on a team with the twins, Jennifer and Jason, not sure why. Maybe Mrs. Patterson didn't know that wasn't such a good idea as they would end up fighting and practically beating each other up before it was all said and done. Poor Matt, his birthday and he had to be grouped with the twins.
Once everyone had settled down, Mrs. Patterson pulled some sheets from her clipboard. From where I was sitting, they looked like pages from a dictionary, but when we received the papers, I saw it was only one page from a dictionary, the page containing the word "rule", which was highlighted and another sheet taped over the rest of the page. The second sheet had the rules of the game listed and at the bottom of the list was a folded up part which read 'CLUES".
Mrs. Patterson held up a copy of the page and read to us. "This is a copy of the page from the dictionary with the definition of 'rule'. Below the definition, I've typed in the rules for this game." She emphasized the word rules. "They are as follows: Rule number one, teamwork. Each team is expect to work together to solve the puzzle, so no leaving anyone out. Understood?""Yes ma'am," we said together.
"There are four items that each team must find. Each of the items for the team can be found in the train cars allotted to your team. Does everyone understand?"
Jennifer raised her hand.
"Yes, Jennifer?"
"I don't understand. All three teams won't be searching each car for the items?"
Mrs. Patterson shook her head. "No, each team has been assigned one car. All the items can be found in each team's car. You will find the same four items with the same clues. Is that clearer?"
Jennifer nodded her head.
"Everyone?" Heads were nodding everywhere. "Okay. Second rule. The group that finds all four of their items before the end of the train ride wins the game." She looked around. All the kids were chattering away, not paying any attention to Mrs. Patterson.
"Third rule. You must find all the clues to solve the mystery. Each clue will lead to an item and will also be a clue to our final destination. Fourth, all clues will be verified before determining a team a winner. Last, if no team has found all the clues or solved the final destination mystery, then there will be no winner and the trip will come to an end with a reverse journey home. This is about a two hour trip. Any questions?"
"Yes ma'am," I said. "What do we win if we win?" Mary Beth chuckled.
"The prize will be for all members on the team," she said as if she'd answered my question satisfactorily.
I groaned under my breath.
"Any other questions?" She looked out at the group.
No one else seemed to have any questions. I tried to mouth asking Matt a question, but Mrs. Patterson continued. "The first clue is at the bottom of your rule sheet." Now we were getting to the interesting part. "In each set of cars, there's an adult. Mr. Patterson is assigned to car one. Jackie, my sister, is in car two. Mr. Brady, our conductor, will be in car three. They won't offer you any help. They are only there to verify that you've followed the rules." She paused and looked around the room. No one spoke, so she continued. "When you think you've solved the mystery, you should come back here for my verification. You may not read your first clue until you are all at your assigned cars. Each adult will signal when you are in place and at that time, you'll be allowed to open your first clue." She nodded at the adults who in turn headed to the other cars.
"Everyone ready?" She smiled. We all nodded back. "Then happy clue finding." She waved her hands and we shot off in the direction of the numbered cars.
"How cool is this?" I heard Laurie say as her team headed off to the third car. I had to agree with her. It was a pretty cool idea -- riding a train, solving a mystery, being on a team with the cutest girl in the seventh grade.
"I think Mrs. Patterson's done an awesome job with this -- a birthday party on a train. Matt's a lucky boy. Wonder what gave her the idea," I heard Jennifer say as my team headed for the second car.
I turned toward Mary Beth. "Yeah, what gave your mom the idea for this?"
"Mom just wanted Matt's thirteenth birthday to be special. He's always wanted to go on a train and I love a good mystery, always have so a good combination, don't you think?"
I nodded my agreement. Matt had always been fascinated with trains and had told me when we were younger that he was going to take a train trip around the world, if he could. Well, at least a trip around the United States by train.
"Good afternoon boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen." The engineer's voice boomed over thePA. "Dinner will be served at six thirty p.m. We at Party Trains, Incorporated hope you enjoy your ride. In a few moment you'll hear the sound of the train whistle. When you do, the train will depart and the game will begin."
The engineer clicked the intercom off and in a few seconds, the whistle sounded and the train chugged slowly away from the platform, building up speed, heading to some unknown place.
I looked at our clue sheet. While we waited the go ahead from Mrs. P, I wondered where we were going. It had to be somewhere two hours from Creighton. Where are we heading? What were we going to do when we get there? Who would be the first to solve the mystery? The thoughts kept going through my mind. I wasn't the only one. The rest of the team members began asking each other the same questions I was thinking.
Mrs. Patterson's voice came on, "Okay teams, let the hunt begin. Open your clues."
I read the first clue, first to myself and then out loud. The clue was:
This item could be the result of a young girl's dream and hard work in class doing en pointe AND some people may even use this item to celebrate the awe of this picturesque wonder of the world.
"Hey guys, how about we concentrate on finding the items first and then work on the clues to our final ending place after we find all the items?" I asked the group. Everyone said this was a capital idea.
We studied the clue. Len and I were probably the least likely to get this but Jo really pulled it through. "Look," she said, "these words, en pointe, are French and we use them in our ballet class. Something like this," and she stood on her tippy toes and moved across the floor. I stared in awe as she gracefully floated across the moving train to the best of her ability without ballet shoes. She definitely had the lines of a dancer, long legs, long body. "It translates as 'on point' which is the toe part. So maybe we need to find something to do with ballet."
We searched about ten minutes and finally found a ballet slipper, a bit nasty with its sweat stains. We marked item number one as a stained, sweaty ballet shoe.
"Mary Beth, yours?" Len jerked the shoe from my hand.
"NO!" She screamed.
"Okay, listen, Len, no horsing around. Give me the shoe back and let's find the next thing." I held out my hand waiting for the slipper but Len had other ideas, prancing around trying to imitate Jo's graceful ballet moves. "Come on, Len. Don't you want to win this game? I know I do, so let's have it now."
Len gave up the ballet shoe reluctantly.
The next clue read:
This small to large item can be placed on the body and can depict a picture of anything and everything AND the picture depicted here is NOT the place we are going but could represent a person's name.
Len mentioned, "I saw an envelope earlier but didn't open it. Thought it was something to throw us off. It was over in the little hard to reach place by Ms. Jackie."
Backtracking to the cubby where the envelope was hidden, Len pulled it out and opened it, and sure enough, it was a small piece of paper with one of those temporary tattoos. This one was of the State of Washington.
"A tattoo, how lovely," Jo quipped. "I don't see how a tattoo is going to get us anywhere."
I pulled out the paper from the envelope and read it to the group, "This item is worn by some actors to look glamorous or to play a role in a movie or can be worn by non-actors to protect their head AND in the days of yore, this item was worn by very distinguished persons, mostly men, who held political positions."
Mary Beth and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. This could have been anything from clothing to hair pieces to jewelry. I think the part that was throwing me off was that distinguished persons wore them. Len and Jo suppressed giggles.
"Okay guys, what's so funny? We need to solve these clues and not joke about things. I really would like to win, although I think Matt has the edge being that he is the birthday boy and that your mother planned all this" I looked straight at Mary Beth, stressing your. "Mary Beth, do you know what direction we are heading?"
"No, smarty pants. And if I did, I wouldn't be allowed to participate." She stuck her tongue out at me. "Mother planned all this while we were in school or not at home. She's been very secretive but I think it has to do with a history lesson. After all, why bring Mr. Brady along if we aren't going to do some history or something?"
"Okay, so maybe you don't know but I'll bet Matt does and their team will win if we don't get a move on it and find the stuff to find the clues. So, come on guys, share the joke, Jo and Len."
Len spoke up, "Actually, it was just something we remembered from class not too long ago. Mr. Brady was telling us that back in the old days, all the men wore those powder wigs, so they all looked alike and there was no way to tell them apart except from the front."
"Oh, that's good then, so we are looking for a wig of some sort," I said. We went right to the little closet in the far corner, tried opening it but it was stuck. Len kicked the bottom of the panel and the door popped open. There inside hanging on the coat hook was the wig. Taped inside the wig was another sheet of paper with another clue on it.
"Ewww, a smelly wig, probably worn by your grandmother, Mary Beth," Len joked around while pinching his nose and holding out the wig.
"Come on, Len, quit teasing Mary Beth. We don't have much time left and we need the items so we can figure out where we are heading." I snatched the wig from Leonard and read the next clue, "Many little girls play with this item but nature or siblings or pets can be cruel creatures at times AND our destination was "a head" of its time."
"Okay girls, you should know about this one since this is something girls play with. What is it?" I looked from Jo to Mary Beth, waiting for the answer.
Jo and Mary Beth answered at the same time, "Dolls."
Mary Beth's voice changed ever so slightly, as if she were about to cry, "Matt has been very cruel with some of my dolls. Even the dogs have had their fair share with them. No wonder Mother was gathering all my broken toys and dolls. She wanted them for this party. See that top over there -- the spinner is crooked and it won't spin any more. That jack-in-the-box -- won't pop up like it should. I'm pretty sure she gathered some of my broken dolls, well -- at least the ones missing their heads. So we are looking for some dolls missing their heads, or a doll missing its head."
"That's good. We now have the last item with a good chance to get this solved before reaching the mystery place. Let's just hope no one else finds these things before we do. Now, chop chop, let's find that stupid doll," I told them. .
We searched high and low and were about to give up when Len sat down on a bench and reached under it, feeling around. He pulled out a Barbie that had been taped to the underside of the bench. How lucky for us, it was a headless doll and could have been a Barbie.
Mary Beth stood staring at the item, "When did that happen? That doll was in perfect condition just a couple of weeks ago." She wasn't really speaking to us because she knew we couldn't answer her. "I was just playing with Hawaiian Barbie and Ken, what not even a month ago. Dang Matt. I'm going to make him pay for that. I've got a ton of other Barbies missing heads, from him and the dog, why did he have to behead her? She was my favorite. He'll pay when we get home."
I quickly wrote the items on the list -- a stained, sweaty ballet shoe, a temporary tattoo of Washington State, a wig, and an unfortunate casualty, the headless doll.
Jo started rereading the clues to try to figure out the destination. "Hey, listen -- what do you think of this? Since each clue has two answers, partly leading to an item and then partly leading to the ending place, how about this -- the ballet slipper could represent dancing and celebrating. I know the Indians are still big into dancing, so do you think the first part would be somewhere close to an Indian reservation? Just a thought, dancing, celebrating, Indians, could be. We are heading to a place none of us have been before."
Mary Beth and Len just nodded. I looked at her like she was crazy. "How can you get the Indians out of that? And what is so special about the Indians? They aren't a wonder of the world, not even close. I think dancing has something to do with it but the Indians don't fit."
"Okay, I'll give you that the Indians aren't a wonder but let's look at the rest of the clues and maybe we can figure this out. Wonder how the other teams are doing. Too bad we can't check on them."
"Only thirty minutes left until we stop at the destination. If you have figured out the clues and the destination, you need to get to me soon," Mrs. Patterson's voice echoed throughout the car.
"Oh boy, time flies. We need to hurry up and figure this out. So what's the next thing? What can we say are the clues to destination?" I looked at the group, trying to get them to focus. "Guys, this isn't funny. You all just heard Mrs. P. We have very little time left."
Jo read the clues out loud, "Dancing or celebrating at this wonder of the world, a picture depicting Washington but could represent a person -- like George Washington, wigs worn by political men of the day, like George Washington and others wore long ago, and the last one really cracks me up, the destination is "a head" of its time."
"Well, Jo, maybe you can figure out this ending place. You seem to know a lot about the items, so come on, where are we going?" Len asked.
"Washington, wig, headless -- no head, ballet. That doesn't fit." Jo thought out loud.
"Yes, dancing heads, or dancing headless dolls, with wigs? I don't think that works," Mary Beth chimed in.
"Yeah, everything seems to be in groups of four. So we are looking at four clues, four items, a place with four ..." I added.
"Didn't Mr. Brady talk about a Native American dance celebration in class last fall? I believe he did. Don't you remember, Len, when he told us about the trip he took last summer? Seems he said the dance was only held in the summer during the time of the Summer Solstice. And guess what, today is the first day of summer, so it must be the Summer Solstice. I think I know where we're going now."
Jo leaned over and whispered to me what she thought was the destination. I agreed. It made sense when she said it. We whispered our answer to Mary Beth and Len, who wholeheartedly agreed.
"Okay, then let's go see Mrs. P. We have a mystery to win." I lead them up to the front of the car towards Ms. Jackie.
We approached Ms. Jackie and had our answers verified. She allowed us to go through to the dining car. Matt's team was still in the first car finding things, so we knew we had a chance.
When we got there, Laurie's group was discussing the findings with Mrs. Patterson. We must have been so deep in our clue-solving that we didn't even see them come through our car on the way to the dining car. Mrs. Patterson was smiling at Laurie. It was then I knew we hadn't won. I brought the list to Mrs. Patterson. She looked it over saying, "Yes, Guy, this is correct but as you see, Laurie and her team were here first. They arrived not more than two minutes before you did."
We were that close to winning, but it wasn't a total loss. Dinner on the train was great and we arrived at the destination and it truly was awesome. To live only a couple of hours from one of the great wonders of the United States was so cool, and to think no one in the group had ever visited this area.
The grand prize for the winning team was participating in the Sun Dance ceremony with the Sioux Indians. The rest of us still got to watch this awesome, great tribal activity that the Sioux perform every year.
We thanked Mrs. Patterson for the wonderful train trip and allowing us to experience a piece of American History.
Where did we end up?
From the clues, we were in a state that has a wonder of the world; the wigs and tattoos should have lead you to Washington NOT the state but depicting a person as per the clue. The headless doll was a lead in being "a head" before its time. I hope you all guessed that we ended up at Mount Rushmore, which is a wonder in itself.
Amazing Fact: In the fourteen years it took to carve the mountain, using tons of dynamite and chisels and hammers, there were no deaths. This task did result in some injuries but no one died while working on the carving. (This has nothing to do with the story in itself other than giving you some information on the carving of the stone.)
Hope you all enjoy this - E :)
Train of Clues
by Elysabeth Eldering
(c) copyright 2005
"All aboard!" The conductor called out.
I ran down the steps waving my invitation overhead. "Wait!" I yelled. I'd overslept and had almost missed the party train.
"Hello, Mr. Brady," I heard Jason, one of the kids from our class, say to the conductor as he stepped onto the train. A pebble caught in my tennis shoe and I stumbled but reached the platform without a blowout. "Hope you've had a good summer so far," Jason continued.
I shifted Matt's present. Mrs. Patterson, Matt's mother, stood at the entrance and I assumed she was checking my name on the list as she marked the paper on her clipboard. I looked to see if I could spot Matt but didn't see him; he probably was on train by now. "Hey, Mrs. P.," I said breathlessly. "Any idea where we're heading?"
She looked up from her clipboard, "Why yes, Guy, I know where we're going but can't tell you. It's a mystery, remember?" She smiled at me. "Now, hop on; you're late."
I handed my invitation to the conductor. He looked it over and returned it to me. I stared at the thick, beige colored paper with the train logo stamped all over it. It had come in the mail almost three months ago and I had forgotten about the party until the reminder call came from Mrs. P.
I headed for the area of the train that was the noisiest, which turned out to be the dining car. I entered and checked out the other kids there. "Hey, Matt. Is this something or what?" I asked entering the decorated train car. I waved to some of the other kids and patted Matt on the shoulder, "How'd you rank getting the royal treatment? You'd think it was your birthday or something."
"Yeah, or something," Matt replied nodding his head toward the group of girls sitting at the table across from him.
"Nice."
I checked out the other kids; I counted nine, five girls and four boys, excluding Matt, Matt's sister, and myself. I wondered why Matt had invited Len, Stu, Jason and Jimmy, known as the "Geek Squad", but it was probably because we had known them all our lives. I did have to give Matt one thing though, he had invited four of the cutest girls in seventh grade, including Jolene, the girl of my dreams.
Mrs. Patterson stood at the front of the dining car, "Welcome to the mystery train, everyone. I had a great time planning this little adventure and I hope you guys have just as much fun. Before we get started, I need to divide you into teams. There are twelve of you, so each team will consist of two boys and two girls." I held my breath as she named who would be on each team and let it out rather loudly when she named Jolene as part of my team. I didn't even mind that Mary Beth, Matt's younger sister who just had to be at the party, and Len were grouped with us; all I could see was being with Jolene.
We moved to the three tables representing the teams, Mary Beth and Jolene sitting across from me and Len. I watched the girls as they chatted. They couldn't hide their excitement. I hoped Jolene was as excited about being teammates as I was.
Matt ended up on a team with the twins, Jennifer and Jason, not sure why. Maybe Mrs. Patterson didn't know that wasn't such a good idea as they would end up fighting and practically beating each other up before it was all said and done. Poor Matt, his birthday and he had to be grouped with the twins.
Once everyone had settled down, Mrs. Patterson pulled some sheets from her clipboard. From where I was sitting, they looked like pages from a dictionary, but when we received the papers, I saw it was only one page from a dictionary, the page containing the word "rule", which was highlighted and another sheet taped over the rest of the page. The second sheet had the rules of the game listed and at the bottom of the list was a folded up part which read 'CLUES".
Mrs. Patterson held up a copy of the page and read to us. "This is a copy of the page from the dictionary with the definition of 'rule'. Below the definition, I've typed in the rules for this game." She emphasized the word rules. "They are as follows: Rule number one, teamwork. Each team is expect to work together to solve the puzzle, so no leaving anyone out. Understood?""Yes ma'am," we said together.
"There are four items that each team must find. Each of the items for the team can be found in the train cars allotted to your team. Does everyone understand?"
Jennifer raised her hand.
"Yes, Jennifer?"
"I don't understand. All three teams won't be searching each car for the items?"
Mrs. Patterson shook her head. "No, each team has been assigned one car. All the items can be found in each team's car. You will find the same four items with the same clues. Is that clearer?"
Jennifer nodded her head.
"Everyone?" Heads were nodding everywhere. "Okay. Second rule. The group that finds all four of their items before the end of the train ride wins the game." She looked around. All the kids were chattering away, not paying any attention to Mrs. Patterson.
"Third rule. You must find all the clues to solve the mystery. Each clue will lead to an item and will also be a clue to our final destination. Fourth, all clues will be verified before determining a team a winner. Last, if no team has found all the clues or solved the final destination mystery, then there will be no winner and the trip will come to an end with a reverse journey home. This is about a two hour trip. Any questions?"
"Yes ma'am," I said. "What do we win if we win?" Mary Beth chuckled.
"The prize will be for all members on the team," she said as if she'd answered my question satisfactorily.
I groaned under my breath.
"Any other questions?" She looked out at the group.
No one else seemed to have any questions. I tried to mouth asking Matt a question, but Mrs. Patterson continued. "The first clue is at the bottom of your rule sheet." Now we were getting to the interesting part. "In each set of cars, there's an adult. Mr. Patterson is assigned to car one. Jackie, my sister, is in car two. Mr. Brady, our conductor, will be in car three. They won't offer you any help. They are only there to verify that you've followed the rules." She paused and looked around the room. No one spoke, so she continued. "When you think you've solved the mystery, you should come back here for my verification. You may not read your first clue until you are all at your assigned cars. Each adult will signal when you are in place and at that time, you'll be allowed to open your first clue." She nodded at the adults who in turn headed to the other cars.
"Everyone ready?" She smiled. We all nodded back. "Then happy clue finding." She waved her hands and we shot off in the direction of the numbered cars.
"How cool is this?" I heard Laurie say as her team headed off to the third car. I had to agree with her. It was a pretty cool idea -- riding a train, solving a mystery, being on a team with the cutest girl in the seventh grade.
"I think Mrs. Patterson's done an awesome job with this -- a birthday party on a train. Matt's a lucky boy. Wonder what gave her the idea," I heard Jennifer say as my team headed for the second car.
I turned toward Mary Beth. "Yeah, what gave your mom the idea for this?"
"Mom just wanted Matt's thirteenth birthday to be special. He's always wanted to go on a train and I love a good mystery, always have so a good combination, don't you think?"
I nodded my agreement. Matt had always been fascinated with trains and had told me when we were younger that he was going to take a train trip around the world, if he could. Well, at least a trip around the United States by train.
"Good afternoon boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen." The engineer's voice boomed over thePA. "Dinner will be served at six thirty p.m. We at Party Trains, Incorporated hope you enjoy your ride. In a few moment you'll hear the sound of the train whistle. When you do, the train will depart and the game will begin."
The engineer clicked the intercom off and in a few seconds, the whistle sounded and the train chugged slowly away from the platform, building up speed, heading to some unknown place.
I looked at our clue sheet. While we waited the go ahead from Mrs. P, I wondered where we were going. It had to be somewhere two hours from Creighton. Where are we heading? What were we going to do when we get there? Who would be the first to solve the mystery? The thoughts kept going through my mind. I wasn't the only one. The rest of the team members began asking each other the same questions I was thinking.
Mrs. Patterson's voice came on, "Okay teams, let the hunt begin. Open your clues."
I read the first clue, first to myself and then out loud. The clue was:
This item could be the result of a young girl's dream and hard work in class doing en pointe AND some people may even use this item to celebrate the awe of this picturesque wonder of the world.
"Hey guys, how about we concentrate on finding the items first and then work on the clues to our final ending place after we find all the items?" I asked the group. Everyone said this was a capital idea.
We studied the clue. Len and I were probably the least likely to get this but Jo really pulled it through. "Look," she said, "these words, en pointe, are French and we use them in our ballet class. Something like this," and she stood on her tippy toes and moved across the floor. I stared in awe as she gracefully floated across the moving train to the best of her ability without ballet shoes. She definitely had the lines of a dancer, long legs, long body. "It translates as 'on point' which is the toe part. So maybe we need to find something to do with ballet."
We searched about ten minutes and finally found a ballet slipper, a bit nasty with its sweat stains. We marked item number one as a stained, sweaty ballet shoe.
"Mary Beth, yours?" Len jerked the shoe from my hand.
"NO!" She screamed.
"Okay, listen, Len, no horsing around. Give me the shoe back and let's find the next thing." I held out my hand waiting for the slipper but Len had other ideas, prancing around trying to imitate Jo's graceful ballet moves. "Come on, Len. Don't you want to win this game? I know I do, so let's have it now."
Len gave up the ballet shoe reluctantly.
The next clue read:
This small to large item can be placed on the body and can depict a picture of anything and everything AND the picture depicted here is NOT the place we are going but could represent a person's name.
Len mentioned, "I saw an envelope earlier but didn't open it. Thought it was something to throw us off. It was over in the little hard to reach place by Ms. Jackie."
Backtracking to the cubby where the envelope was hidden, Len pulled it out and opened it, and sure enough, it was a small piece of paper with one of those temporary tattoos. This one was of the State of Washington.
"A tattoo, how lovely," Jo quipped. "I don't see how a tattoo is going to get us anywhere."
I pulled out the paper from the envelope and read it to the group, "This item is worn by some actors to look glamorous or to play a role in a movie or can be worn by non-actors to protect their head AND in the days of yore, this item was worn by very distinguished persons, mostly men, who held political positions."
Mary Beth and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. This could have been anything from clothing to hair pieces to jewelry. I think the part that was throwing me off was that distinguished persons wore them. Len and Jo suppressed giggles.
"Okay guys, what's so funny? We need to solve these clues and not joke about things. I really would like to win, although I think Matt has the edge being that he is the birthday boy and that your mother planned all this" I looked straight at Mary Beth, stressing your. "Mary Beth, do you know what direction we are heading?"
"No, smarty pants. And if I did, I wouldn't be allowed to participate." She stuck her tongue out at me. "Mother planned all this while we were in school or not at home. She's been very secretive but I think it has to do with a history lesson. After all, why bring Mr. Brady along if we aren't going to do some history or something?"
"Okay, so maybe you don't know but I'll bet Matt does and their team will win if we don't get a move on it and find the stuff to find the clues. So, come on guys, share the joke, Jo and Len."
Len spoke up, "Actually, it was just something we remembered from class not too long ago. Mr. Brady was telling us that back in the old days, all the men wore those powder wigs, so they all looked alike and there was no way to tell them apart except from the front."
"Oh, that's good then, so we are looking for a wig of some sort," I said. We went right to the little closet in the far corner, tried opening it but it was stuck. Len kicked the bottom of the panel and the door popped open. There inside hanging on the coat hook was the wig. Taped inside the wig was another sheet of paper with another clue on it.
"Ewww, a smelly wig, probably worn by your grandmother, Mary Beth," Len joked around while pinching his nose and holding out the wig.
"Come on, Len, quit teasing Mary Beth. We don't have much time left and we need the items so we can figure out where we are heading." I snatched the wig from Leonard and read the next clue, "Many little girls play with this item but nature or siblings or pets can be cruel creatures at times AND our destination was "a head" of its time."
"Okay girls, you should know about this one since this is something girls play with. What is it?" I looked from Jo to Mary Beth, waiting for the answer.
Jo and Mary Beth answered at the same time, "Dolls."
Mary Beth's voice changed ever so slightly, as if she were about to cry, "Matt has been very cruel with some of my dolls. Even the dogs have had their fair share with them. No wonder Mother was gathering all my broken toys and dolls. She wanted them for this party. See that top over there -- the spinner is crooked and it won't spin any more. That jack-in-the-box -- won't pop up like it should. I'm pretty sure she gathered some of my broken dolls, well -- at least the ones missing their heads. So we are looking for some dolls missing their heads, or a doll missing its head."
"That's good. We now have the last item with a good chance to get this solved before reaching the mystery place. Let's just hope no one else finds these things before we do. Now, chop chop, let's find that stupid doll," I told them. .
We searched high and low and were about to give up when Len sat down on a bench and reached under it, feeling around. He pulled out a Barbie that had been taped to the underside of the bench. How lucky for us, it was a headless doll and could have been a Barbie.
Mary Beth stood staring at the item, "When did that happen? That doll was in perfect condition just a couple of weeks ago." She wasn't really speaking to us because she knew we couldn't answer her. "I was just playing with Hawaiian Barbie and Ken, what not even a month ago. Dang Matt. I'm going to make him pay for that. I've got a ton of other Barbies missing heads, from him and the dog, why did he have to behead her? She was my favorite. He'll pay when we get home."
I quickly wrote the items on the list -- a stained, sweaty ballet shoe, a temporary tattoo of Washington State, a wig, and an unfortunate casualty, the headless doll.
Jo started rereading the clues to try to figure out the destination. "Hey, listen -- what do you think of this? Since each clue has two answers, partly leading to an item and then partly leading to the ending place, how about this -- the ballet slipper could represent dancing and celebrating. I know the Indians are still big into dancing, so do you think the first part would be somewhere close to an Indian reservation? Just a thought, dancing, celebrating, Indians, could be. We are heading to a place none of us have been before."
Mary Beth and Len just nodded. I looked at her like she was crazy. "How can you get the Indians out of that? And what is so special about the Indians? They aren't a wonder of the world, not even close. I think dancing has something to do with it but the Indians don't fit."
"Okay, I'll give you that the Indians aren't a wonder but let's look at the rest of the clues and maybe we can figure this out. Wonder how the other teams are doing. Too bad we can't check on them."
"Only thirty minutes left until we stop at the destination. If you have figured out the clues and the destination, you need to get to me soon," Mrs. Patterson's voice echoed throughout the car.
"Oh boy, time flies. We need to hurry up and figure this out. So what's the next thing? What can we say are the clues to destination?" I looked at the group, trying to get them to focus. "Guys, this isn't funny. You all just heard Mrs. P. We have very little time left."
Jo read the clues out loud, "Dancing or celebrating at this wonder of the world, a picture depicting Washington but could represent a person -- like George Washington, wigs worn by political men of the day, like George Washington and others wore long ago, and the last one really cracks me up, the destination is "a head" of its time."
"Well, Jo, maybe you can figure out this ending place. You seem to know a lot about the items, so come on, where are we going?" Len asked.
"Washington, wig, headless -- no head, ballet. That doesn't fit." Jo thought out loud.
"Yes, dancing heads, or dancing headless dolls, with wigs? I don't think that works," Mary Beth chimed in.
"Yeah, everything seems to be in groups of four. So we are looking at four clues, four items, a place with four ..." I added.
"Didn't Mr. Brady talk about a Native American dance celebration in class last fall? I believe he did. Don't you remember, Len, when he told us about the trip he took last summer? Seems he said the dance was only held in the summer during the time of the Summer Solstice. And guess what, today is the first day of summer, so it must be the Summer Solstice. I think I know where we're going now."
Jo leaned over and whispered to me what she thought was the destination. I agreed. It made sense when she said it. We whispered our answer to Mary Beth and Len, who wholeheartedly agreed.
"Okay, then let's go see Mrs. P. We have a mystery to win." I lead them up to the front of the car towards Ms. Jackie.
We approached Ms. Jackie and had our answers verified. She allowed us to go through to the dining car. Matt's team was still in the first car finding things, so we knew we had a chance.
When we got there, Laurie's group was discussing the findings with Mrs. Patterson. We must have been so deep in our clue-solving that we didn't even see them come through our car on the way to the dining car. Mrs. Patterson was smiling at Laurie. It was then I knew we hadn't won. I brought the list to Mrs. Patterson. She looked it over saying, "Yes, Guy, this is correct but as you see, Laurie and her team were here first. They arrived not more than two minutes before you did."
We were that close to winning, but it wasn't a total loss. Dinner on the train was great and we arrived at the destination and it truly was awesome. To live only a couple of hours from one of the great wonders of the United States was so cool, and to think no one in the group had ever visited this area.
The grand prize for the winning team was participating in the Sun Dance ceremony with the Sioux Indians. The rest of us still got to watch this awesome, great tribal activity that the Sioux perform every year.
We thanked Mrs. Patterson for the wonderful train trip and allowing us to experience a piece of American History.
Where did we end up?
From the clues, we were in a state that has a wonder of the world; the wigs and tattoos should have lead you to Washington NOT the state but depicting a person as per the clue. The headless doll was a lead in being "a head" before its time. I hope you all guessed that we ended up at Mount Rushmore, which is a wonder in itself.
Amazing Fact: In the fourteen years it took to carve the mountain, using tons of dynamite and chisels and hammers, there were no deaths. This task did result in some injuries but no one died while working on the carving. (This has nothing to do with the story in itself other than giving you some information on the carving of the stone.)
Monday, August 15, 2005
Welcome
Greetings. I hope you like my page and hope you will provide some feedback on my stories (as they are posted) and my site in general. E :)
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