(Continuing with the note that I am still in the job hunt, so work on the blog will be light until I start my new position. Enjoy today’s Fictioneers.)
“You should get outside to take care of the horses.”
Sally stretched as she turned over in the bed.
“Wild horses could not drag me away from you, honey.”
Eric looked into her eyes and just shook his head.
“I don’t need to be out of bed for 2 more hours. You need to get those domestic horses to the barn before the snow swallows them up.”
Sally cuddled in closer
“Domesticated horses will not drag me away from you. I nearly lost you last year in winter. I am taking all I can get now.”
(Author’s Note: I’m BAAAAAAACK! I’ve been gone for the last month or so in the attempt to complete a TESOL Certification. Therefore, I had to drop the blog while I focused on getting all the tests out of the way. BUT, I am now back. And…here we go. ^_^)
Hazy Shade of Winter
by Miles Rost
On the campus of the University of Oregon, the air was becoming bitterly cold. December was not normally known for cold and snow, but for this year, it blitzed across the western United States with a fury rarely seen in any storm. While the city of Eugene was not known for being full of snow, the entire city was blanketed with nearly a foot and a half of snow.
Walking down one of the main streets of the campus, Mike Carlton was admiring the buildings with their roofs full of snow. It was unusual to see a thick coating on top of Willamette Hall’s strange shaped entrance, or a pile of snow that shut the front of the Volcanology building. Mike smiled as he watched a shovel crew scrape the snow and resulting ice-melt off the amphitheatre.
He crossed the heart of campus and angled to go across the plaza, the long strip of green park that stretched from just below the heart of campus across to the west side of campus. He stepped onto the path that cut across the plaza, looking to pass by the statue of the Pioneer Mother and head towards the library. As he took the first step, he heard the carillon bells from the student union behind him, and smiled.
1 o’clock on the nose, he thought, as he smiled at the quietness.
A quietness that was shattered with a loud *THWOCK* and the sting of cold and pain on the right side of his face.
“BOMBARDAMEN!” he heard from one side of the plaza, lined up with a slew of guys behind hastily erected snow-barriers.
Mike looked in horror at the guys, and looked the other way to see if there was the possibility of escape.
He was faced with 16 sorority girls with snowballs in their hands.
He started running from both sides, hurtling over one erected snow barrier and ran straight towards the Physical Education building. The girls and a few of the boys from the plaza started to chase after him, trying to pelt him with more snow than they could even imagine.
To Mike’s shock and surprise, he heard a loud series of *THWOCK*s from behind him. He took a glance behind him and saw that half of the girls and guys that were following him were felled by a series of pink snowballs, lobbed from the direction of the psychology building. For a second, he sighed in relief.
That is until a pink snowball splat in the road right next to him.
He looked up at Straub Hall, the psychology building, and saw a motley crew of girls and guys on the roof, lobbing at people that seemed relatively unscathed.
“Aw HELL naw!” he said, as he continued running past the Physical Education building. He knew where he needed to go, because there was no way that he’d survive if he kept being outside.
He ran past Hayward Field, the running track used for the Olympic Timetrials, now covered in what looked to be virgin snow. He payed no thought to it, as he ran across Agate Street. Like a comically tragic anime character, he ran up the stairs and smacked straight into the doors of the Knight Law library.
Surely, I can take refuge in here! Lawyers don’t have fun or a sense of humor.
Yet again, he was proven wrong as a series of dark blue snowballs rained down upon him. Deftly dodging them, he realized that there was no hope. He did not want to fight, but he was given no choice.
He ran back to the former football field and launched himself into the untouched snow. He looked around like a madman, looking for containers of any type. Within a few minutes of work, he created a sizeable number of snowballs. As he succumbed to his snowy bloodlust and launched the first of his snowballs at an unsuspecting faculty member, one thought entered his mind.
[Author’s Note: If you’re interested in reading the first two parts of this saga, you can click the link in parentheses for part 1 (I Will Wait For You), and THIS link for Part II (Guardian Angel)
Waiting For A Girl Like You
(aka I Will Wait For You, Part 3.)
by Miles Rost
So, when we last left me, it was about three months after my first meeting with a being I called my “future wife spirit”, who slowly became my “guardian wife spirit”. By now, some people have been wondering a bit about me, like my friend Paul. He was the first person to ask me what was wrong, especially the day when I called in sick to work after my second meeting with her. I gave him a cock and bull story about how I stayed up too late and was unhappy with how things were going. I suspect he knows something. But that’s beside any point right now.
Another three months passed by, and by this time I was pretty much feeling like I was going out of my mind. I went to my pastor again, and told him what happened and that I was not in a cult, like he thought the first time. This time, he actually went out of his way to understand what exactly was going on. And he pretty much told me, in no uncertain terms, to “get in the Bible, get reading, and get prepared. If this is going to happen, you need to be as well versed in things as you can.” Hence the long sessions where I got home from work, turned on my music, and started to read voraciously. Even if I didn’t want to, I read.
I know what you’re thinking: You shouldn’t have to. If you know God’s hand is in this, you should be able to trust your gut and do it. Well, for those who say such a thing, I recite the motto of the Boy Scouts: “Always be prepared.”
So, to count, we’re at 6 months after I first met my guardian wife spirit. After a few months more of preparation and feeling pumped, that’s when things started to go downhill again. I was laid off from my job for being a millstone, and found another position working at a local library. I couldn’t understand why I had to change careers and didn’t really think about things.
One Wednesday afternoon, I was at the end of a 10 hour shift of shelving books and sorting shelves where people misfiled their books after reading them. With about 10 minutes left before I was able to go, I was barely keeping my eyes on my cart or where I was going. I kept walking until I heard an “ow!” come from in front of me. And me, paying no attention whatsoever, just kept trying to move forward.
A few seconds later, I realized that I was pushing my cart into a young lady.
“I am so sorry, ma’am. I really am so sorry,” I said, without even looking at her. I picked up a book that fell in front of her feet, and opened my eyes.
This young lady wore deep dark blue pumps on her feet, which would not be fascinating in itself until I slowly looked upwards.
Her legs were cut pretty well, feminine yet still strong. She wore a blue skirt, which hid her thighs and other things I didn’t need to see at this time, and a green silk blouse. She was curvy, yet was not overly weighty. She definitely was on the high end of the pretty scale at this point, until she peered her head down my way. She looked down at me with bright blue eyes and shoulder length blue hair.
Wow, this one is quite the interesting person, was what went through my mind, among the obvious thoughts that she walked out of an anime or that she did knock me out and that this was merely a dream or a figment of my imagination.
It wasn’t.
“Don’t worry about it. I bump into people all the time,” she said, looking at me with a look that pretty much said, “Iiinteresting”.
“I’m close to being off of my shift, and I’ve been here a while today. So, look, I apologize for what just happened.”
“It’s okay. It’s not everyday someone attempts to run you over with a library cart,” she playfully replied, ending her sentence with a giggle.
That giggle!
For a moment, a sheer fraction of a moment, my thought drifted back to my “guardian wife spirit”, and the last time we met. I remembered how she giggled at my statement about how I thought she was just a figment of my imagination as a result of eating a pizza that I had not eaten since then.
And for that split second, I could have swore I saw her spirit make an appearance and say in a bright voice, “Hi!”
A split second after that, well…let’s just say bodies hit the floor. Namely mine.
I woke up two hours after taking a header into my library cart. I was laying on a couch in the back room, and I slowly awoke from unconsciousness. I felt a bit groggy, and looked around.
“Ugh, where am I?”
“You’re in the back room of the library,” I heard a familiar voice say.
I sat up, and saw her. The blue haired, cool-colored, remarkably beautiful woman that I nearly ran over was sitting at the end of the couch.
“I decided to sit and wait for you to wake up. I feel bad for what happened. So I waited,” she said, with a sweet yet mournful look on her face.
I looked at her, and just smiled.
“I’m sorry for causing more trouble. I…can’t explain it, I guess I may be clumsy.”
She giggled again, which basically confirmed it. This was who my guardian angel was.
“Look, uh…what’s your name?”
“Claudia. Claudia Hamilton.”
That’s quite a beautiful name, I thought to myself.
“Well, Claudia, I feel like I’ve caused you a lot of hassle and trouble. I am off my shift, and should have been home by now. But, would you mind if I bought you some dinner?”
Claudia was a slight bit flustered at this, from what I could tell. So, I decided to tell her the truth if she accepted my dinner date request.
“It would be a thank you for sticking next to me even though you didn’t have to.”
She smiled, and gave a polite bow.
“I accept. I don’t usually accept dinner dates, but I think now it may be a good idea.”
We got out of the library, and I was pretty good to drive. So we both took separate cars and met at a local diner spot near the library. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was close and the food would be good enough for both of us, especially with my head being a magnet for metal.
Both of us went in and we sat down. We made small talk, getting to know each other slowly as we waited for our pancakes and bacon. I found out that she was the traffic controller for a local radio station group who also loved watching anime. She also told me she was a believer, and that she was looking for good fiction to read when we met each other. She was also a big fan of the band Foreigner.
This sparked an idea in my head. Ohhhhhh…if this worked…
I told her to give me a moment, walked over to the jukebox in the corner, and picked what I thought would be an appropriate song for this occasion, done by her favorite band.
As I sat down, the opening strains of what I would hope to think was Claudia’s favorite song started to flow through the diner. That’s right, nothing like Thomas Dolby on keyboards to whet your appetite, or to bust open everything in the world. (For note, you can start the song here)
Now, remember, I said that if she accepted my date request, I’d tell her the truth. And with the opening drums and keys of the song, I basically laid it out for her.
“Claudia, do you believe that God has a plan for us?”
“Of course I do.”
“I am going to tell you something incredibly crazy, that you’re probably going to throw something in my face and walk out of here after I say it.”
Claudia raised one of her eyebrows, and gave a motion with her hands that said, “Proceed.”
“Claudia, I don’t think our meeting was by chance.”
She looked at me, still shocked and with her mouth agape.
“I was visited by a spirit. I didn’t know who she was, or what she was, but she said that she was waiting for me. And when you giggled, it was the same exact giggle she gave.”
Claudia shook her head and started blinking madly.
“So, let me get this straight. You’re telling me that my spirit came to you and told you to wait for me?”
“That’s about the way it is.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I made a promise that once I met you and confirmed it, I would be up front and honest about everything. And no matter how weird, I had to say it.”
Claudia’s eyes shifted to the right, and I could tell she was conflicted about things.
“The only reason I am even believing this right now is because of the dreams I’ve had. 7 months ago and four months ago, to be exact. I was told that I would find my future husband soon, but not in the way that I supposedly came to you.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least she believed me this far.
“So, what should we do about this?” I asked her.
Claudia snerked, and looked at me.
“I think we should eat, get to know each other, trade cell numbers and Facebook names, then part for the night.”
“That sounds good. So, let me start by asking: Why Foreigner? And what is with the blue hair?”
College was always a bit of a bear for some students, especially those who are in relationships. Even more so for those who are waiting for a relationship. It happened at every campus in the known world, and the University of Oregon was no different.
Sherry Makinami was a vivacious student in her sophomore year at UO. She was lucky to be in her Music History program, and also lucky to have a great friend in Scott Schmidt, someone who she met on orientation day in freshman year. She looked towards him as someone who was not only there when the chips were down, but someone who she could easily give a lot of attention to. She wished that she could have more with him than just friendship, but he was already taken by an insanely controlling and jealous girl, Delia Mendez.
It was a cold October day when her chance finally came. She was walking towards the Knight Library, where she worked part-time as an information desk researcher, getting ready for an intense evening and night of studying. She walked towards the doors, when she was wheeled around, a hand firmly grasping her arm. She looked up and into the eyes of Scott, who looked as though his face was red and bleary.
“Sherry, I need to talk to you,” he said, firmly but with a waver in his voice.
Sherry just nodded and went with him to their favorite campus hangout, the popular Rennie’s Landing. Over a couple of Rennie’s burgers, Scott laid it out for her how Delia kicked him to the curb for the leader of the Multicultural Center. He told her how much of a mistake it was, and how he felt like she spoiled him for others.
“Scott, I have something you need to know,” Sherry said, looking into his hazel eyes, “I have waited for a long time to tell you, and I know this may not be the proper time, but I want you to give me a chance.”
Scott looked at her, a little puzzled by her request.
“Delia treated you like a toy. I would never do that. We’ve been friends for nearly a year and a half, and I want more.”
“More?”
“I want you. I love that we’re friends, but I want us to do more. I have been falling for you for a long time, Scott.”
Scott finally was able to put two and two together, and he was quite shocked with her admission.
“I need a little time, but ask me in a week. I need to heal a bit from Delia.”
“Take the time you need. I will be patient and wait for you.”
After a week had passed, Scott answered Sherry with a yes, and they both started dating each other. For the next 4 months, it was an incredible time of fun, getting to know each other further, and even the occasional snogging in the basement music rooms underneath Spiller Hall.
A bright spring monday found the couple walking from the dormitories on the east side of campus toward their first class of the day, all the way on the other side of campus. They talked about what was going to happen in class, and just enjoyed each other’s time wrapped around each other. As they passed the campus amphitheatre, Sherry’s maroon colored hair started to feel like it was standing on end. She felt very unnerved by what she felt. She looked across the amphitheatre as they continued to walk, and she found what was causing the problem.
She saw Delia Mendez staring and glaring directly at her. Never blinking, it was as if she was trying to bore holes through Sherry’s head.
She looked at Scott, and moved her head closer to his neck, resting it on his shoulder. Scott looked down at her and wondered why she was a little more close now. He liked it.
Everyday for the next week, the same exact thing played out multiple times all over campus. Even when Sherry wasn’t around Scott, she still felt those eyes boring through her.
She finally couldn’t bear with it, and she finally broke down and told Scott during one of their downtimes.
“I think Delia is stalking us.”
“Why would Delia be stalking us?” Scott wondered aloud, “She dumped me for Tarik Narala, the head of the MCC. I’m not interested in her, I’m only interested in you.”
“I don’t know, I just think that she may not be with Tarik anymore. And she may be trying to force her way between us.”
“If she’s doing all that you’ve said, then it looks like we’ll have to be a bit more guarded.”
Sherry blinked, hesitating to ask what that meant. She usually knew what that was code for: to hide and go to classes separately.
“What that means, Sherry, is that I will have to start looking out along with you.”
“That is not going to happen. She tried to make me her toy. I remember it. She won’t be grabbing me from you.”
She moved in closer to him and rested, relaxed in knowing that he would be with her.
The next morning, they walked together towards their first class, as usual. This time, though, at the same area as the previous weeks, the couple now came face to face with Delia and a few others who made a line across the main path. Sherry and Scott stopped just before the line of people, and looked at Delia.
Delia pointed her dark skinned hands at Scott.
“Give him to me.”
Sherry looked at her, and gently moved in front of him.
“No.”
“Sherry Makinami, I am going to take back my property. There is nothing you can do about it.”
Sherry looked at her, and she steeled her resolve.
Delia chuckled, and returned to a sour looking face.
“You will hand him over, or my guys will take him by force.”
“Is that a threat, Delia?” Scott said, “Because if it is, that means that I feel like my life is in danger.”
“Oh, you know me, Scott. I wouldn’t do that. I just happen to believe that you are still mine, and I am going to take you.”
Sherry looked at her, finally disgusted with everything. She was getting mad, and this was not going to be good if Delia did what Sherry thought she was going to do.
“Over my dead and mangled body, Delia.”
Delia just smirked.
“Granted.”
She put her hand out and gave a swift forward motion. The men in the line next to her proceeded to walk over to Scott and grab him.
Sherry realized that he was now officially in danger, and she had to act. She took off her glasses, and stared directly into Delia’s eyes. She stared for a good long time, moving her hands from her side to her head. Her face started to form into a snarl of concentration, her eyes never leaving contact.
Delia didn’t notice it at first, but she noticed quickly that she was starting to get a small headache. As the seconds went by, the headache got worse and worse. The pain increased tenfold, and her eyes opened wide in a panic. She started to scream out loud from the pressure that was building in her head. It was unbearable, feeling like her head was being torn apart. The last thing she saw was Sherry’s hand moving swiftly down into the ground, and the sidewalk coming up quick to meet her.
As soon as Delia’s face planted into the sidewalk, the men that were getting real close to hurting Scott suddenly let go.
“What the hell are we doing here? We’re missing practice!” They said to each other, mumbling about things and grabbing their stuff to get out of there.
Scott looked at Sherry, who was now kneeling on the ground and in tears. Her face was covered in tears, the water pouring down her face like Multnomah Falls. He walked up behind her, knelt down, and hugged her tight, yet gently.
“I…” she started saying, through sobs, “…I didn’t want to do that. But….they were going to hurt you…”
He held her and quietly shushed her, whispering in her ear to let all of it go.
“I guess I need to tell you about this, Scott…” she said, sniffling, as it was going to be a long story that would easily take a couple of days for her to tell.
He just kept hugging her, and looking at her. He slowly moved around to the front, and looked straight into her eyes.
“I love you no matter what, Sherry. Let us talk about this over at Rennie’s. It’ll be easier for both of us,” he told her.
Somehow, in her heart, Sherry knew that things were not going to be the same between herself and the student populace of the University of Oregon. However, she knew that she had a keeper in Scott, and she would reveal everything to him that day.
Music and Fiction 