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Wrote this back in my Vox days. While I feel guilty sometimes for reusing it, I just don’t feel able to top it. It just feels right. ❤ Happy Holidays my friends. ❤

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Wrote this piece for the NPR 3 Minute Fiction contest back in 2012. The premise was to write a short piece with a limited number of words that could be read aloud within 3 minutes.  Oh, and you had to use the opening sentence of “She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally, decided to walk through the door.”

Sadly it was not chosen, which totally bummed me out because I was (and still am) rather proud of it.

I KNOW YOU’RE OVER THERE GHOST:

She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally, decided to walk through the door.  Pausing, her hand just grazing the cool metal of the doorknob, she looked around her childhood bedroom one last time.  Everything was neatly arranged; a yellow gingham bedspread dulled from dust and sun exposure shrouded the iron day bed, books lined the shelves, minus the Class of ‘88 yearbook she’d placed on the table beside the bed.  Turning her head, she could just see the dust motes stirred up by her visit, jostling each other for prime positions on the porcelain figurines of kittens and unicorns standing sentinel on her desk.  It had been far too long since she’d been home.  Far too long since anyone had scuffed their toes in the thick pile of rusty orange carpet, or “vacuumed it for that matter”, she thought ruefully, eyeing the faint outline of her recent passage.

It wasn’t a large room, filled with furniture and bookshelves, yet it still felt so empty she swore she could hear an echo as she pulled open the creaking door.  Walking into the hallway she turned left entering the next room, her brother’s room.  She’d always been jealous of her brother for this room, larger than hers and boasting a third window to top her two.  Seeing it now she felt no echoing pangs of jealousy, just more of the same hollowness she’d been feeling since she’d first walked through the kitchen door little more than an hour ago.  Before her was a decrepit  four poster bed with gouges along the base and a broken post, listing more than a bit to the right, next to it stood a beaten up dresser with a parade of model cars covered in a thick layer of obscuring dust.

Running her hand over the grungy haphazardly carved letters of her brother’s initials on the dresser, she was swept into a fragmented memory.  They were eleven and ten years old, playing with some friends while their parents played cards downstairs.  The room was dark, except for a faint glow from a street light through the windows.  She, her brother, and friends were laughing near to hysteria playing their favorite game, which consisted of throwing themselves with abandon about the darkened room shouting, “I know you’re over there ghost!”  Shrieking in delight as they crashed into one another, the furniture, walls, and floor.  The game usually ended abruptly with Mom or Dad shouting up the stairs, “You kids stop all that crashing about right now!”

The memory short-lived as the game, she found herself back in the present, sitting hunched over on the lumpy listing mattress, choking on dust and sobs.  Her husband’s voice called up the stairs, “Hon? You ok?”  His tone suggesting that he really did not want an answer.  “Uh, the realtor’s here for the keys and we’ve got to get going if we’re going to make our plane.”

Through a veil of dust and tears, she looked around her brother’s bedroom, at the grimy windows, peeling wallpaper, tattered karate posters, and model cars.  Reaching out, she took one of the models into her shaking hands, wiping at the grime to reveal a faded decal of the Confederate flag against a once bright orange plastic body.  Clutching the car to her chest she whispered to the ghosts she knew were there, “I’m sorry.”  She wanted so badly right then, to close her eyes and fling herself toward them; instead she rose and walked from the room to join her husband and the realtor downstairs.

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Got a bit inspired by the crescent moon peeping through the trees and the Spooky Day #halloween

Been a while since I’ve been able to produce anything I felt was worth sharing so here we go.

SHARING SECRETS:

The Universe knows
my secret
It told me so
tonight
In no uncertain terms
I was put on notice
while walking
through
the midnight wood
I heard
the Universe speak
from behind a mask
of branches
as it slowly winked
one white eye

“You and I both know
what lies behind
and before you”

My heart has never
been a shrinking violet
so I boldly asked
the Universe
in a single breathy
whisper
trembling
from the cold
I’m sure
it was the cold
and nothing more

“What would you do with my secret?”

A sudden gust
of laughter
raked the trees
letting the mask slip
but a moment
and the Universe
slowly winked
its marbled eye again

“Oh go on dancing
through your shadows
and peering through
your fogged over dreams
and laughing”

What could I say?
The Universe knows
my secret
I had nothing to offer
nothing with which
to bargain for my secret
to be kept
no coin no worthy jewel
no secrets
greater
than mine own

“Will you tell?”

I whispered
my voice cracking
through the icy
autumnal air

The Universe
laughed
again
and
again
the mask flying violently
from its face
only to return
again
and
again

Making an arrow
of my words
I aimed wishing
to pierce that one
laughing
winking eye
but my shivering voice
struggled against
the rising laughter
falling back
to me as another
taunting
echo

“WILL YOU TELL?”

Will you Tell?
Will you?

Tell?
Tell…

TELL!

While behind me
flaring red and
roaring orange
the searing words
of my secret
shone a beacon
through the night
and before me
the Universe
winked again
with its lone
white
eye

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I thought I was being smart this year, we’re kind of cramped on space, so I said to myself, “Self, our old Christmas Tree is too big, and really it is totally wonky in the balance dept, if you sneeze wrong the dang thing falls over, we need a new, smaller tree!”  So I went out, braving the crowds at our local Kmart, and obtained said tree. 

Now you may be asking yourself, “Self, why is her tree not yet decorated only 2 days away from Christmas?”  Very good question, why don’t we ask an expert?  “But hey!” you say, “It’s nearly Christmas, where you going to find an expert this late in the season?”  Oh we have our own resident expert, don’t we Bella? 

Bella, why ISN’T our tree decorated this year?

“No comment.”

Now here’s the fun part, she isn’t just hanging out in the tree, and as far as I know hasn’t even knocked it over once.  Nooo, Mz. Bella Boo here has to get all creative. 

Right off the bat we started finding the branches in various parts of the house, nowhere near the tree.  But the dang things are nearly as big as Bella, it couldn’t be her could it?

Of course it is.  Sadly I was unable to get pictures to prove it is so, but this morning as I was walking out the door already late for work who do I see walking by dragging a branche 2x her size?  Bella Boo, I swear she even paused and smirked at me! 

I did get some great shots of her playing in and around the tree though.  She decided to pull a Simon’s Cat imprersonation on me tonight, scared the daylights outta me.  And of course, being a good kitteh Mommy I don’t scold or shoo her out, I grab the camera instead. 

Merry Merry everyone, and here’s to a Happy and Safe and Wish Fulfilling New Year.

If you are celebrating this season, may you have a wonderful holiday.  And if you aren’t celebrating, I hope you have a wonderful day.  😉

 

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EDIT:  A PSA for our Kitty Blog loving peeps, http://50kittens.com/ has a kitten pic as  finalist in the Petfinder Photo contest, to benefit Homeward Trails, the rescue organization they work with.  Please stop by and vote for the wee ones here:  http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/contest.faces?siteId=3 The photo is titled, “Rescued Orphans, Day 1”.  VOTE daily until Dec 13th!  😀 

It’s time for another edition of K.C.S.I (Kitteh Crime Scene Investication), starring everyone’s favorite Furensic Investicator, Autumn.

Today’s episode, Where’s My Straw??

Mz. Bella Boo called Autumn at K.C.S.I, she was quite frantic and agitated, as seen here.

“My Straw, my FAVORITE Straw has been, *dun-dun-dun* STOLEN!”

Autumn sighed, “Why do they always call when I’m eating dinner?”  But, she left her delicious kibble and headed over to the scene of the crime.

“Nope, no straw here!  Mz. Bella Boo, were there any suspicious characters in the vicinity the last time you saw your straw?”

“Hmmm, let me think.  Noo, no suspicious characters, just my big brother Lucky, you don’t think HE took it do you?”

“I don’t know, I’ll have to interview him and see what he knows,”  Autumn said.

“So, Mr. Lucky, would you know anything about Mz. Bella Boo’s missing straw?”

“Does this box smell funny to you?  I’m sorry, what was the question again?”

“I don’t know nuttin’ about no missin’ straw!  I wanna talk to my lawyer!”

“Alright, I’ll talk, see, I was laying there minding my own business…”

“When along comes my sis, with her fancy scmancy straw….”

“and She’s playing with it, right in front of me, having a grand old time!  And does she ask me if I want to play too?  NO!”

“So when her back was turned, I just stretched out my paw and tucked it under my belleh.”

*STERN LOOK*

*sad forlorn look*

“Alright!  Alright!  I’m sorry, here, I’ll give it back!  Just stop looking at me like that!!”

“My Straw! YAY!”

“Sorry sis.”

Another case solved, by K.C.S.I. star investicator Autumn, who happily returned to her kibble.

Meanwhile, Lucky was jailed, but got off  five minutes later for cute behavior.

And Mz. Bella Boo?

Well, without her brother to torment, playing with her straw just wasn’t as much fun anymore.

“What’s that over there?”

“Oooh, Shiney!”

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I know exactly how you feel Summer, hosting a birthday party for six Thirteen-year old girls IS exhausting!

Thank goodness they’re all gone and all we have to do now is clean-u…*looks at mess*….

*collapses on couch with Summer*

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Mom emailed me earlier this week saying she had a friend who wanted to give her a puppy, wanting to know what I thought.  I was sick Monday and Tuesday so didn’t see the email until this morning.  When I wrote her back asking for more info, she told me she’d already picked him up last night.  She said he is a Yorkie, about a pound or so, two months old, and I’m guessing is a teacup version as she said he’s not expected to be much more than 3 or 4 pounds total when he’s fully grown.

Normally I’m not a big (heh) fan of pocket pooches, but dang he’s cute!

That’s my Mom’s hand he’s chomping there.  🙂

Also, I’ve still got two openings for peeps that want to play along in Paw It Forward.  Please email me if you’re interested, either in getting a kitty or puppy care package or a donation to your favorite furry charity.  🙂 metztree @ hotmail.

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Sunday was a busy day.  I was trying to get some major cleaing done in our bedroom, but Miss Curiosity, Bella felt that this activity needed her constant supervison.  After about the third time of her knocking over  a box of tacks it became clear that it was time for drastic measures.  I had come across a tub of catnip in my cleaning, so I tossed some into an empty shoebox.  The effect was instantaneous, Bella became so engrossed in the catnip, and I was free to clean…well one out of two wasn’t so bad.  Bella was engrossed in the catnip, and I was engrossed in how freaking adorable she was.

Check out how much she’s grown!!  This was back in August.

This was just the other day. 🙂

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Ok, I found this here: http://outsidetheinterzone.blogspot.com/ who got it from here:
http://www.soberinanightclub.com/2010/11/like-basket-of-drinkable-kittens.html

Seriously, A BASKET OF DRINKABLE KITTENS???  While I suppose it could have been worded a wee bit better, I still get the gist of it, that it is supposed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy like snuggling with a basket of kittens by the fire.

With so much stress going on in our household lately, I really do need to have a day where there is nothing but warm fuzzies like this.

Speaking of Warm And Fuzzy, I still need two more peeps for Paw It Forward.  So I’m expanding our offer a bit, if you do not have a pet but have a fave charity you would like me to send a donation in your name to, please feel free to join in.  🙂

Let me know via email metztree @ hotmail

And Mz. Sheba is still holding out her proverbial thumb hoping to hitch a ride into your heart and home.  Same as above, please email me with any inquiries.  🙂

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So, I know it’ s only been a couple of days since I posted and it was on the weekend but I’m a nervous nellie worrying I won’t get any takers for my go at Paw It Forward.  https://metzdarling.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/paw-it-forward/

I wanted to add that if anyone is concerned about privacy/sharing of address personal info and such you are more than welcome to still play along.  Just let me know you’d like to play in the comments of either post, tell me what your furvorite furry charity is  & I’ll send a donation in your (or you and your pet’s) name(s).

In other news, still no nibbles on darling Sheba, please don’t be furrgetting her.  (yes you may bop me on the head for the bad puns). 😉

https://metzdarling.wordpress.com/2010/10/30/a-little-help-from-our-friends/