Hey folks. It’s Miles here! I have decided to give an update to everyone who reads my blog and is a constant watcher of all things “musically fictitious”.
I don’t plan to get long winded about things, but some updates need to be done so that people have the ability to see what all is happening.
Most of you have seen this blog increase from a small little production to something a slight bit larger. The folks from Friday Fictioneers come by whenever there’s a fictioneers post up and running, and others stop by as supporters of the blog. This is incredible, and is the first step to great things.
However, this blog can be and will become more. As most of you know, I have recently turned my Twitter account back on, and you can find me posting there sometimes. Also, I have a Facebook “page” of my own, which anyone can come to and like without worry.
The goal of these things, among others, is to get my blog wired up enough so that I can take it full bore after my time in Korea is finished.
As far as regular updates on the blog, with new material, most of it will be put forth as normal. The biggest problem I have at this time is that my job gets in the way of my writing. One big reason why people did not see an update from me since the last Fictioneers post in February, it was due to the fact that the beginning of the school year happened here in Korea. With the changes in my class schedules and having to plan and re-plan for all the different things that needed to get done, I didn’t get much time to do my writing as my mind was busy with preparing things. Now that I have a lay of the land with my classes for what I assume will be the next 3 months, I should not have to worry.
Here’s what the future is going to hold:
1) Increased posting to at least twice a week by August, including fictioneers. Maybe another group will be joined, depending.
2) More communication through Facebook and Twitter, with more time spent in network with authors, writers, and other folks around the world.
3) Re-issuance of archived/older stories on my Facebook Author’s page. Potentially also done over Twitter as well.
4) Hopefully a more consistent schedule will bring in more consistent readers. And more music.
As it stands, I have very high hopes coming down the pike for this blog and other projects. The biggest issue I am going to be facing in the next few months is time, specifically bouncing between my current job and applying for visas and other stuff. Once I finish my job here in late may, and get set up in Australia in July, I should have a lot more time to spend on really making this great WordPress blog shine.
There will be more Music and Fiction to go around in the next 12 months. Be ready for some action! G’night for now, and here’s one of my favorite Smooth Jazz artists to allow you to think and create. Enjoy Peter White!
(Author’s Note: If you’re interested in reading the previous four stories of Mayumi, please use the tag “Mayumi” to find her stories.)
Mayumi’s Story (Part V)
“The View From Your Window”
by Miles Rost
3 months at her new job, and she hated it. With a passion.
Contracted for a year, she had to ride out the entire ride while she dealt with all the pressures of whining customers, a boss who was indifferent most times, and unable to communicate properly at the monthly performance meetings. The customers were right, she knew, and she did the best she could to take care of them. However, without the communicative support of her boss, she was not going to be happy until she was out of there.
Mayumi survived the rest of the week, though panicking that she could be let go from her contract at any time. This made her stressed out more than usual, as she was counting on the 1-year longevity bonus to help her pay down debt. It was daunting, as well, as her friend at the station moved onto greener pastures. She was the only one left, and had no other friends at work to talk to.
A 4 day vacation was in the offing, and she was happy to get the time off. A substitute for the show was taking over and she was going to have a few days to relax and rest.
Until day 2. When the pains in her belly started.
Sidelined in her apartment, with not much food to eat as she couldn’t go out to get groceries, she sat in her bedroom. At her desk, she had a piece of paper in front of her and a pencil.
“What can ah write? I wanna write but ah have no clue…” she muttered, as she stared intently at the white sheet in front of her. She took a breath and decided to just take a look out her bedroom window. It was there, and it wasn’t four walls of a dark room, so why not?
She opened the curtains, and looked out. Immediately, she was shocked and surprised.
She looked out the window and saw a beautifully cared-for lawn, freshly cut and beautifully manicured. Close to her was a dark area of ground, with small little green shoots poking up like hairs on a forearm. Lining the fence down the side of the lawn was a series of bushes that reminded her of the lilacs that grew around her family’s home back in Hornsby Shire. She smiled as she saw all of the new beauty that was being created from a space that not even 3 months before was a ramshackle home, which she realized did not look so ramshackle anymore.
The peeling paint of the old house had since gone, and was painted with a fresh coat of brickhouse red. The house’s color fit well with the brick-walled apartments 30 feet from the back door. The trim of the house stood out like the white peppermint of a candy-cane.
Whoever owns that house really wanted to make it noticeable, she thought to herself.
Just as she was about to stand, she noticed the back door open up. She saw a young lady, almost the same age as her, though her appearance was quite shocking to Mayumi. A cherubic face framed by cotton-candy pink hair, with a black t-shirt and black shorts, the young collegian looked to be very punk-like, despite the lack of make-up. She was smiling, as she walked down to the earthen part of the lawn.
She put on a pair of gloves, and picked up a water hose that was nearby. She squeezed the green snake-like hose and a stream of water misted out over the sprouting earth. She laughed as she continued to spray the area, gleefully enjoying her time watering the garden.
As Mayumi watched the young lady, she had thoughts of her home and her dad, an ardent greenthumb. She loved watching him while he worked his hands in the garden, and picking berries from the vines that ran across one part of her family’s property.
She closed the semi-transparent curtains in her room, as she turned to write things from her own heart onto the paper.
Music and Fiction 