Blog Post #4: Same Four Words, Not So Short Story ;)

Continuation of Blog Post #3

"It is very important that you do not tell anyone!" said the boy. "Why of course! Where would be the fun in telling everyone?" She answered. They continued to talk through out the night. In the morning, when the house had woken up, Mother went to check on the envelope. When she saw that it was no longer there she started to yell. When she and Grandmother had come to see what all the racket was about, Mother had sunk to the floor in despair. "Oh no! She cried "Not again, it can't happen again!" While Grandmother helped Mother upstairs, She hurried to grab the envelope from her room. She stared at her name on the front"Alaina" It was the nicest handwriting she had ever seen. She quickly climbed up to where the envelope was supposed to reside and placed it there, now empty, and climbed back down just before Grandmother walked into the room. "Whats wrong with Mother?" She asked "You're Mother has just had a good scare that's all" Her Grandmother replied, while covertly trying to look at the envelope. When she had caught sight of it she visibly relaxed. "Let's go outside today. We may even catch sight of you're Father, he is supposed to be arriving home soon."

They spent all day outside. Alaina would try to slip into the forest to see if she could find The Boy of the Forest, but every time she would draw near to the edge Grandmother would snap at her "Child! We do not go into the forest" She would then draw back and wait until Grandmother's attention seemed to waver then she would try again, but she would always get caught.

Her Father did not come that day, or the next, or the next. Three whole months went by and he did not return. The whole time Alaina would comfort herself with her new friend, and the wonderful secret they shared. She would talk to him every night, by talking to the sand in her bedside desk. Tell him everything about her life, how her Father was so very late coming home, and how her Mother was growing sicker each day. She would ask him every night what she could do to help him, and every night his answer was the same, "Come and find me. As soon as you can I need you to come into the forest and find me." Of course he understood her predicament with her Father being so late and her Mother so sick and was content to wait and listen to her. But they both knew he could not wait forever.

The next year her Mother and her newborn child died in the winter, and Alaina had given up hope on her Father ever returning. She was completely alone except for Grandmother and The Boy of the Forest, but as she grew, she and Grandmother grew farther and farther apart, and she sunk deeper and deeper into despair. Her one glimmer of hope was her unseen friend in her bedside desk. Her Grandmother began to worry about her and would invite young men and women from town to visit. She was always polite but distant, and quiet, and the others seemed to sense her desire to be ignored and would only include her if her Grandmother was in the room. Alaina would endure these visits only with thoughts of The Boy of the Forest, and after would always lock herself in her room for hours to talk to him.

One day her Grandmother had had enough of all her moodiness and poppycock. "Alaina" she approached her "What in the world is the matter child? I am aware that you have lost both your parents, but that was years ago! You must move on with your life!"

" Grandmother I can't, I just can't" Alaina replied

"Nonsense! You were so full of life and excitement for living when you were young, and that can't all just be gone!" Her Grandmother was getting frustrated now "It's because you talk to your desk at night isn't it? Oh yes I know about that!" she said in response to Alaina's look of shock. "I figured since you were grieving you had made a friend for yourself, but it must stop! You're fifteen for Heaven's sake! Tonight is you're last night in you're room, we are moving tomorrow. I am sorry that I did not tell you earlier."

Alaina stood frozen with shock for a moment. Those words she had never expected to fall from her Grandmother's mouth. She couldn't leave! The Boy of the Forest needed her! And what of her farfetched hope of Father returning? Without a word she ran from the room and into her bedroom. "Oh! Oh, Boy of the Forest!" she said gasping on her tears

"What? What has happened Alaina?" came his voice from her desk.

"Grandmother is making me move! I will have to leave the forest! And what if Father were to return? I just can't do it, but there is no convincing her!"

After a while his voice came again from her desk. " Alright, I think I know what to do." he said "I have hated to ask you this since so much tragedy has befallen you, but I think it is what must be done to end both of our plights. You must come to me Alaina."

"C-Come to you?" she stuttered through tears

"Yes, pack everything you can and meet me at the forest's edge at midnight. It is time we finally see each other face to face don't you think? I am sure you are a beautiful as your voice is. Will you come?"

"Of course! Will I then know your name?" Alaina asked

"Yes, yes. You will then finally know my name." he said "I must go now. Be brave. I will see you at midnight."

I will finish it for real next time promise!! :D

Blog Post #3: Four Words, One Short Story

I am going to write a short story based on these four words: Burglar, forest, envelope, and desk. Here we go!

Her eyes searched the impenetrable black of night. He would come, she knew he would. He was the only thing that she could hope for now. She had lived on the edge of this forest for her whole life. Raised for fifteen years in the same house, at the edge of town, at the edge of the woods. She had never seen him, ever. but because of the incident (as her Grandmother called it, she refused to think of it as an "incident"), she would talk to him every night. He had become her closest friend, and, she hoped, maybe something more. She never knew why the things that happened to her did, only that people were getting scared, including herself.

The "incident" started when she was only 7 years old. She had been living with her Mother, Father, and Grandmother. Her Mother was heavy with child and could not do much, and her father was always away, so it was left to her and Grandmother. She enjoyed her time with Grandmother, they would make dolls and play with them, she would run around outside while Grandmother watched, and at night they would curl up together and Grandmother would tell her stories of faraway places and magical things. She loved Grandmother's stories most of all. She would lie in bed awake thinking of dragons, princes, magic curses and true love that could break all curses.

One day while she was running around out side, a letter came to their home. No one knew who it was from, but it had her name on it and nothing else. None of the servants had seen it before, and the post didn't come 'til tomorrow. Ah! Finally, it was her chance for mystery and adventure! but as young as she was she did not understand that the adults feared the envelope, for it would be the beginning of something they had hoped would never happen. The envelope and its unknown contents were taken away and she was not allowed to open it. Much later that night, she snuck down to where she knew they had hidden it. Once she had found it, she let the excitement control her imagination. It could be an invitation to a ball! Or a cry for help from a city under siege! Or a threat from a powerful magician! The possibilities were endless, and so she tore open the envelope and poured its contents into her hand. It was sand. Sand? Why in the would would someone send her sand? And what was she supposed to do with it? She put it in her desk drawer and went to bed thoroughly disappointed.

As she slept, she heard a voice in her dreams. The voice was one of a boy, a voice she had never heard before. "Hello?" said the voice "Hello? Are you there?" She sat up with a gasp. Was someone in her room? "Hi," she answered "who are you?" "Aha! Finally! I was beginning to think that you had thrown the sand away." said the voice. She now noticed that the voice was coming from her desk drawer where she had put the sand. "I am the boy of the forest" the voice said with bravado.

"Is that your name?" she asked

"Of course not!" he said "You asked who I was not my name silly!"

"Well then what is your name?" she asked him

" I can't tell you!" he said back

"Why not?"

"Because I am under a spell! I need your help! I am trapped in the forest, never to come out. I have been watching you and how you love adventure and I hoped that you would help me." He was pleading now. "Of course I'll help you!" she said brimming with excitement "Just tell me what I must do!"

Sorry this turned out longer than I thought. I'll finish it next week.

Blog Post #2: A Poison Tree

500 word post.

I read a poem today in theatre that caught my attention. It was called A Poison Tree by William Blake. This poem was about revenge, and the way he portrayed it really caught my attention. The poem went like this

I was angry with my friend

I told my wrath, my wrath did end

I was angry with my foe

I told it not, my wrath did grow

I water'd it in fears

Night and morning with my tears

and sunned it with smiles

and with soft deceitful wiles

And it grew both day and night

'Till it bore and apple bright

And my foe beheld it shine

And he knew that it was mine

And into my garden stole

When the night had veiled the pole

In the mourning, glad, I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree

I was intrigued because of the first stanza. He said that he was mad at his friend and he told his friend what happened and it was all good. But when he didn't tell his foe that he was angry with him, I mean who wants to tell their foe that they made you mad? It just gives them the satisfaction. but by not telling him he let it fester and grow inside of him. I think that revenge can be very dangerous. It usually hurts you more than the person you're trying to get revenge against.

I have some of experience with revenge, living with 2 sisters and all. We insult, hurt and are all out monsters to each other all the time. When one sister does one thing to another she usually feels that it is her responsibility to get her back in the worst way possible. This is all fine when done in the light of laugher, but under the clouds of contention it can get very ugly, very fast. My sister has kicked a hole in my wall to get me back for something I can't even remember! Revenge can be dangerous, and it makes for a not happy house. And it doesn't cause problems just at my house, at school girls will go without talking to each other for weeks to get back at the other. I hate being trapped in the middle of these fights, especially when we could be having so much fun otherwise!

It surprised me though how William Blake did not seem at all concerned by his killing of his foe. I know that it is only metaphorically, but it seems that you should at least have a little remorse for what you have done. I don't know, it might just be me, but I know that I usually feel foolish after I lash out at someone. I usually don't realize how petty it was until it's too late. I guess that if the insult was steep enough that you could get revenge and have no remorse and feel accomplished. there are a lot of stories about getting revenge, but most of the time they realize that the problem is within themselves not the perpetrator.

Revenge is a tricky business that I try my hardest to stay out of. Don't get me wrong, I still want and have gotten plenty of it, but life seems to have less drama the less I let things bother me. If you don't let things bother you, you will be happier and you will make the people around you happier too. I'm kind of up on my soap box now, but I think we could solve a lot of problems by being more understanding of others mistakes and our mistakes. It's a hard thing to not try to get revenge but it will count for something in the long run.

Blog Post #1

Hello World!