Book description: Cord had to work hard to earn her living as a cow puncher, and she was getting along just fine until a wealthy rancher moves into the county and threatens the lives of her and her friends. Cord rises up to meet every challenge, but the death of friends, both old and new, plague her at every turn. And just when everything seems like it is going to go back to being peacefully normal, a secret comes to light, putting Cord and her future family in danger. Will Cord let go of her sorrow filled past and revengeful wishes long enough to save her loved ones and pull her life back out of the bottomless pit it seems to be stuck in?
“But let me tell you this: peace in the heart is much more comforting than blood in the sand.“
As you’ll soon find out finding/ looking for/being in a toilet is one of my recurring dreams, or maybe I’d say is my only “important” recurring dream!
A few nights ago I had one of my usual weird dreams mixed with my typical toilet dreams- like the toilet dreams aren’t weird enough!
So here we go:
I had to get married and it was in some way involved the police.
I don’t remember if I had to marry an officer or if I had an officer friend missing.
Anyway they (either I don’t remember who were “they” or it’s just “they” and that’s that! There is always “they” in a dream!) pinned at the top of my corset a golden pin that was supposed to be the one this officer had on his hat. Also they gave me a blue ribbon to put somewhere else.
Then I was in a private room beside the church, I think, and I realized I had to go to the toilet urgently. My mum was with me and she was trying to persuade me to resist. She said I was well dressed and all but I was bursting.
I noticed than at the far end of the room there was a platform on which some rocking chairs stood in a row. Below each rocking chair there was a bucket full of a darkish liquid.
And I just knew they were toilets.
So I took up my dress and I sat one of them, I started to swing and I did my stuff rocking like a stupid.
After I finished my mum helped me to tight the ribbon around my neck and it changed colour becoming blue white and changing pattern as I moved.
I know, this one was a bit disgusting too!
Here you are…I bet you need the toilet now, am I right?
Well I love pirates and I don’t see why I shouldn’t introduce such a tag and category. I think I’m going to do a new series about my favourite scurvy dogs!
And what a better start could I find than this?
Following you’ll read what I think it is my second flash fiction attempt ever.
I found YA Buccaneers website reading among the blogs I follow. They host a monthly event called Walk the Plank. You can imagine already that the pirate part of me was just yelling “Yarrrr! Go for it!”
So I did and of course a pirate is the main character of this piece.
Now here are the rules copied from the website:
“And this month’s walk the plank theme: Adventure!
All ye buccaneers out there that are up for the task, well, all you need to do is write a short flash fiction story in 200 words or fewer, excluding the title, around this month’s theme of ADVENTURE!
For an extra challenge, begin your story with the words, “I set sail” (these three words will be included in the word count).
And for an even bigger challenge, use the same beginning words and end with the words: “my adventure continues!” (also included in the word count).
For those who want to prove their Flash Fiction prowess, hit all of the above challenges, PLUS, make your story 200 words EXACTLY!
Don’t forget to post your Flash Fiction submission on your blog and then come on back and share a link to your submission in the comments below!”
It cannot be clearer! So here it is my attempt! I hope you like it.
Cheeky Shark Head
“I set sail! That’s final!” Shark Head said.
“Why? You’re just an old stubborn man!”
“Woman, stop moaning!” he said spitting on the shark skin he was polishing “I don’t want to die on dry land!”
“But you could live many years keeping yourself hidden”
“Nonsense!” he said
“So I must be damned! I’ve saved you from the scaffold and that’s how you thank me!?”
“I have to admit it, to be a woman you did a darn good job! Now bring me rum and leave me finish me job!”
By the time the woman came back with the bottle, the old pirate had finished to polish the skin.
“Cheers!” he said and emptied half bottle.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.
“Go to the execution dock and wait!” he said and set off.
He wore the shark skin on his head and after a while he passed right through the harbour close to the execution dock.
He whistled and yelled “You’ll never have me!”
He then turned his back, pushed down his trousers and shook his butt in the soldiers’ faces.
They shot at him but he was far away by then “Yarrr, apparently my adventure continues!”
What I’d need really would be a new shiny powerful body but as we still live in an era where people die for the most stupid illness I can’t hope for a Bicentenary man style make over!!!
But let me tell you briefly what I’m talking about.
Yesterday I was once again at the physiotherapist. My tennis elbow doesn’t improve, my back is getting worse once again and this is just a part of my problem! Next month I’ll turn 34 and my 7years soul is hosted in my 90years old body…balls!
But the thing that really scared me and made me decide to do something was my partner. He never speaks, really, just when his space is invaded, and the majority of the times he doesn’t notice things. He’s not very attentive to the details.
But yesterday, when I came back from the physiotherapist, he talked to me and told me that I cannot keep going like this, and, if I’m stubborn enough to go ahead like this, I’m going to sink deep down.
I have no energy, I don’t sleep properly, I’m in pain almost all the times and I keep dragging myself trying to do things I decided I want to do. I set a schedule but slowly my body is starting not to keep up.
He believes I need a break, except form my blog because it’s going very well this time and it wouldn’t be wise to interrupt it now.
In his opinion I have to relax, do my post and my activity with Maya, usually a walk, and relax a bit more.
The majority of my symptoms are stress related, and to be honest with you, I have to admit I’m on the edge and it’s more often when I answer to bite rather than to bark!
He then advised I’d stop with reading, writing, grammar, researching and studying until I’ll physically be better. Basically stop to do things that, although I love doing, are causing stress because I want to meet my goals!
How long will it take, I have no clue but a part of me has to admit he’s right.
I mean my brain was rebellious telling him he didn’t take into consideration that I want to be a writer and I have to do sacrifices in order to do so. But he said that he’s not saying to give up, but just to have a break. For a while I should stop doing what I think I must do!
It’s hard though. I feel frustrated and I feel like I’m failing. However, a small part of me felt relieved.
I have no clue if I’ll manage to stop and follow the advice, but still I have to admit that he’s right. My best friends, as well said to me “Well, if he said something, it must be serious then, I didn’t realized it was so bad”
So I think I have to surrender to the idea to be defeated by my own stupid body and try to do my best to recover.
This means that on the blog you’ll find different things.
I’m going to finish the books I’m dragging over with me and I haven’t finished yet. I have “The Dubliners” and “The lord of the rings, the two towers” from last year. I have “A game of thrones” and I have two audiobooks.
Then I’m going to draw and doodle while watching TV so if I can create something nice I can upload here for you. I’m thinking to a small story set in Sonrisa. Same goes with ads or news for a fictional newspaper.
When I go out, or even when I’m in work, I can make notes or small sketches or stories about places and people like a personal small gallery and share it with you!
I’m sorry but even if I promised I’ll be good I cannot stop doing things completely.
I might use all this things later on.
Ah and also I’ll try to vent through Oh my darling tag that I announced already but I’ve never used so far! It’s time now! If I have to relax and to vent at least I’ll start there!
But I promise that I’ll try to do my best to get better.
My mum is coming over in August and I hope to be able to relax a bit more.
The truth is that it’s been three nights in row I had no much sleep, so I’m a bit wrecked.
I woke up at four last night, because it was too hot, and when I managed to close my eyes again Maya decided to wake up and play with the fairies attached to the wall above her bed.
So now I’m here in the living room, writing some silly things on my blog and trying to make them be logic.
I have a few post drafts already done but Peppa Pig and Thomas the train’s songs are getting too distracting, so that’s what I’ll do.
I’m going to put here a couple of videos of my little brother panda’s band, because I feel nostalgic. But I’ll post ballads because I saw the last episode of Spartacus last night and I’m still sad!!!
Sorry folks but this is the best I can do today, no point in waiting the afternoon, I’ll just get more tired and cranky!
BUT most certainly it’s worth the videos, which means that I put some great quality stuff on this page anyway! Let me know what you think about them!
These were taken by the DVD from their concert last year! They’re good aren’t day? For more songs you can find them on this channel.
The last week-end was my week-end off work, but we were too tired to do something as usual so we decided to stay home and try to catch up a bit with our energy loss.
I know, I’m getting old!!!
So yesterday we decided to watch one of the new movies we left behind: Snow White and the Huntsman.
I was of course expecting something different from the Disney fairy-tale that got the monopoly of the sweeter version of this old story. Still it was an awful movie to me!
My partner liked it as he loves trash movies; he was only disturbed by the presence of Kristen Stewart.
I usually don’t like to give opinion or to do reviews, in particular of movies, mainly because I know I’m not a critique.
Sure, I have opinions, but unless something really impressed me in a good or bad way you won’t find a review here.
But here is one of the exceptions, mainly because it was fun to watch it.
Following you’ll find just the comment me and my partner did during the vision. After a while, yes, I wrote them down.
This isn’t a normal review, you’re warned!!!!
At the very beginning I wrote a status on facebook and twitter:
Watching Snow White and the Huntsman…..no really, WTF?!
Excuse my French!
Then there is the scene where she leaves the white horse into the mud
Atreyu and Artax…I’ve seen the same scene, but Atreyu wasn’t so bastard! She left the horse there to die….
After a long span in the dead forest you couldn’t see any dwarf coming.
The dwarfs…at least do we have the dwarfs?
After another while, when we saw eyes into the brambles
I think we don’t have the dwarves… Oh here they are. No, it’s a trooool…
Partner: So is it Snow White and the seven trolls?
Then we saw the woman hidden in the forest.
P: Oh no honey it’s a she dwarf. So it’s the huntsman and the seven she dwarfs.
Finally we had the dwarfs!
And finally, finally the very violent dwarves.
They go into a fairy forest.
Fairies? Really? With what other fairy tale Snow White did make a frontal car accident?!
Of course, fairyland…Celtic music. Of course!
And those fairies coming out of the animals? A creepy cute version of Gollum?!
Then there is a fight in this calm fairy realm and one of the dwarfs is wounded to death.
Partner: What? They really managed to kill a dwarf? Really? have you seen that?
Then starts a trail of close up of Snow White.
No really she’s ugly…how she got the part?
(to be honest folks, there are so many gorgeous women out there, she wasn’t that good for the part! Other than not being able to play, she doesn’t change expression from one movie to the other!)
Then we had the scene where she eats the apple!
Uhh uhh the apple…there is the apple too….
Then she’s kissed by William and nothing happens, so after that she’s kissed by the Huntsman and voilà! It’s a big kissing spell of the movie.
What?! The damn hunter? Really? Poor William…
The Queen is waiting for the attack in her castle!
What a nice crown collection!
Well I like this part: Snow White that goes to kick the queen’s butt!
The dwarfs are sent in advance to open the gate passing through the drains.
How’s possible he didn’t notice 6 dwsfs smelling poo?
When Snow White army charges my partner wakes up again:
P: To me the queen should just commit suicide.
F: Why?
P: To avoid giving them the satisfaction.
F:?
P:It’s clear they want the story goes on in a certain way.
After a while
P: No way, it’s impossible Snow Whites wins…it’s just the three of them…
They break into the castle:
P: How’s possible she fights like that now…wasn’t she closed in a cell for years?
Then there is a scene at the end where the queen enters into a fire
F: Why did she enter into the fire?
P: To make it easier?
While the queen was almost dead on the floor:
F: Now Snow White goes away and you have the open ending for Snow Withe 2!
P: No, now the mirror corrupts her and she becomes the new witch…
One of the final scenes stresses the attention on the dwarfs. My partner counts them:
Oh they’re 7…they killed the 8th!
He replays the scene
….oh dear it’s true… I was right…those are genius. This last scene reassesses the entire movie!
Now, as you can see this was a bit unusual, sorry for the eventual spoilers!
Rereading I admit that you must have seen the movie to follow the comments, but you know what? It was too funny so I will leave it this way!
Here you have the 8 dwarfs!
Special thanks to my partner for the help in commenting!
All right, I might admit that I’m a bit obsessed now with this topic. But it’s not even entirely my fault.
As I haven’t slept last night as well I decide to take it easy today but the topic chased me.
Taking it easier for me was keep reading and go a little be further with the archaeology volume I’m reading about Celts.
The chapter I was going through was the one about the structure of their society. And guess what I found out: they not only used to have slaves, but basically all those who weren’t druids, bards or knight weren’t considered much more.
So, considering that archaeology isn’t the funniest of the subjects and considering also that, although I’m trying not to think about the subject, the topic still comes back to me, I thought that I could well write this post.
You read my post about Spartacus and today I’ve just told you what I find out about Celts, but I’m sure to remember that all the ancient cultures had slaves.
Now they were considered barbaric societies and you can tell me that maybe this isn’t a big deal.
Although I’m forced to agree at some extent, what I’m thinking of are other questions: why in all the centuries of slavery only in Roman Empire someone tried to do something? Maybe I don’t know about the other servile rebellions? And this is intriguing me a lot; I’d love to know more. I know my studying waiting list is already long enough to fit this lifetime, but I hope I can come across some historic episode sooner or later to prove me ignorant.
The other consideration is: if it’s true what I’ve just stated, then why does slavery still exist in the present world? And bear in mind that it’s not necessarily the common slave-master issue I’m talking about. Exploited children and forced marriages are a form of slavery technically speaking.
You can read something here, again on Wikipedia. To be honest I didn’t even finish doing so, I’m sorry I was feeling sick.
What’s humanity problem? Why do people feel entitled to put some fellow human under his or her command and treat them like doormat?
These questions are generating a real panicking feeling lately…and I just wanted to share.
Ok, all right, I’ll try to calm down now, so I find a meme. Wouldn’t be nice it was like this? I’m thinking to a parallel reality in ancient Egypt!
Or I might as well use this issue I have with slavery in modern world to write a part of the book I’m planning. What if Spartacus ghost is a good one, for a change, and tries to save the modern slaves. Will the hunters defeat him or let him do?
I’m watching the third and final “Spartacus” season and I’m sadder and sadder as the episodes pass by!
I’m watching it slowly because my partner wants to wait for the Italian version (something that is frustrating me really, but at least if we don’t collapse on the sofa together every evening, then I’m afraid we can become strangers in a few months!), but I know how it is going to end.
I might not remember history in general but there are a few things that are impressed in my brain. The third servile rebellion led by Spartacus is one of them! I don’t even remember the first two but is known that Romans played very dirty in this one. As you know I can’t stand unfair things and if this isn’t an unfair thing, what is?
For those of you who didn’t follow the show or don’t remember the history, I can tell you a few bits.
Spartacus was a Thracian warrior captured by Romans and enslaved. He then became a gladiator and eventually managed to run away freeing an incredible number of slaves in southern Italy. For those of you who want to learn more about him, you can read the Wikipedia article here.
Now I’m aware of the fact that Spartacus might have been fictionalized a bit or more than a bit, like it happened with my other big love, William Wallace (who was just a bloodthirsty barbarian collecting enemies’ ears to do necklaces after he won his battles. He was right of course but the way he’s portrayed in the film is much better!), but that doesn’t change history facts and doesn’t change the fact that he did a lot of good actions.
This brings me to the same conclusion, such as the refusal that someone who fought for the freedom needed to be killed. It’s just unacceptable.
Now in the third last episode Crixus died and I was so sad that I almost cried, also because he was killed by that coward of young Tiberius who stabbed him in the back with a spear. Hence the following joke from my partner: “Franny look they’re going to be killed…it’s the history. They can’t win”.
I know, I know.
The second last episode was the one where Crassus ‘son, coward and bastard Tiberius, was killed and to be honest I was glad because he was a very mean person.
In the same episode 500 slaves are freed by the Romans.
I have just one episode left, which will be the one in which Spartacus dies.
To be honest I might follow my partner advice: “Franny, you might well stop here, at least it looks like a happy ending!”
I’ll consider that!
I’ll leave you with an image taken from the show, just because let’s face the truth, the actors playing the story are very good looking…this is the only nice part of it…oh poor slaves….
I woke up this morning with still some images coming from a dream that I think lasted all night long. I feel almost tired for all the movement I’ve made.
I’m glad I jotted down some notes though. Bear in mind that I put down on a phone notepad the few bits I remembered and I‘ll try to be as more faithful as I can. The bothering part when I write down the dream is that I have to rush to put black on white before the images fade away.
It’s very different remembering the dream that I know it’s there from recalling the images from the notes I’ve made.
So stop blabbering.
It was action again. I was fighting monsters with a group of people. I remember we had to hide in a safe house. It was a dream made in dark colours, the sky was always foggy and plumb colour was the major shade around. It looked like a dystopian kind of reality like the new “Total Recall” just to make myself understood.
At some stage we entered in a lab through a huge metallic grate. We find out that there was a machine where putting two people inside you could create a third person or monster with a combined DNA. I wanted to destroy it but the person who was with me said “You know I’m going die soon so it’s better we see how it works. At least a part of me will stay with you!”
Then we were again in the safe house and we entered in a room that actually was my old brother’s room in my parent’s house. My friend D. was just up. He slept on the desk transforming it into a bed.
The past few days have been very, very busy and in work was too hot and definitely too full of brainless people!
Ah yes, and full of too under 18 student…no, I said that on purpose, because for reason still unknown to me or too difficult to fit my small brain we accept students under 18 although they’re not allowed to drink, of course, because it’s illegal here.
The other day I thought I went to work in the wrong place; I thought I entered a crèche by mistake.
But, why telling you everything here when I can do a ranting post about student, as I’ve done in the past blogs for the past 6 years!
Anyway, all this complaining was done with the only purpose of telling you I was very busy in the past few days and I had no time to write down for you the dream I had a few nights ago, more or less the one after the second fairy tale. The good part of this cool dream was that it featured Jensen Ackles as main character! Happy dream!
So here is the dream:
Jensen was rushing into a villa to rescue I don’t remember who, in the vast garden of the villa there were all the traps you can think about plus a deadly number of guards (monsters and not). Jared (yes he was there too for a brief moment) was shot and took hostage by a man all dressed in black. He actually looked really like Matrix agent Smith.
Jared was dragged all over looking for his brother; yes actually they were brothers in my dream as well. And Jensen was hid behind a palm tree.
The “agent Smith” shouted at him telling that he got his brother and he was trapped, and without waiting any further he started to shoot form I don’t remember where hundreds of long nails that went to stick into the palm bark.
And then I woke up.
Now, I know it’s pretty poor tale but I might have waited too long without taking notes, so it’s lucky I still fairly remember it.
The positive side of it is that the scene was strong enough to remember at least a bit. So now I have a scene I can use for my NaNo book, of course changing the characters.
And I think that’s that for today.
I’ll talk to you Thursday if I’m still alive! I’ll have the weekend off this week. I can’t wait!
PS And for the ladies a picture of Jensen, just to make your day!
Dr.Franny and Mrs.Myself 