Part 2

------- see my previous post for the beginning and explanation of this story-------------

"Rosie! Look who I found!" Her father smiled as he held up a fuzzy brown bundle.
"Sophie!" Rose bounded up to her father, hugging his legs.
"Next time you visit the new pups you must remember to close the gate," her father said solemnly.
"I will Papa! I'm sorry!"
"I know you are Flower," he said. "Now, this little pup looks a bit hungry, would you like to help her feel better?"
"Yes, please Papa!" Rose grinned and ran to get some food for the prodigal pup, Sophie chasing her heels.

"Here you go Soph," she said, placing the bowl on the ground for the puppy, who fell to devouring her dinner with gusto. "And take me with you the next time you decide to go exploring Silliness!" Rose ached for the adventures that took her away from the castle and her brothers.

Willfred, her second eldest sibling had been particularly merciless after he'd found out she'd left the pup's gate open. He'd even conspired with Percy, the eldest into taunting her by making puppy yelps around the castle grounds. She'd frantically ran around the palace for hours that morning, searching for the pup that sounded so close. It wasn't until her youngest brother Seymour found the others at it and whispered the news to her after the midday meal that she found out the truth.

Sophie finished her dining and Rose lead her back to the kennels and safely closed the gate to the puppy's pen. The older hounds were well trained hunters and didn't even bark as she and the pup pranced through their territory, but instead panted at her with alert and insidious looking smiles that turned her stomach. Sophie was the runt of the litter, but Rose had been adamant that she was not to be put down, despite her poor health as a newborn. Rose had tended to her with constant attentions and Sophie seemed to be quite healthy after all her diligence, though much smaller than her brothers and sisters. "I'll be back after dinner Soph! Don't annoy your siblings too much while I'm gone!" Sophie licked Rose's fingers through the slits in the gate in understanding and Rose dashed back to her rooms to prepare for dinner.

Her nursemaid, Adelaide, had prepared a washing basin and laid her dress out on the bed. "Oh child! Your hair is in a state!" She exclaimed as Rose burst into the room. "I'm sorry Adie! I was searching for Sophie all over the place and it took me and Papa ever so long!" Rose tried to stand still as Adie began to help her remove her day dress. "You spend so much time with that puppy instead of your lessons! Whatever a young Princess has to do with the dogs, I'll never understand. Now listen, your mother has a guest visiting from Gromaz, General Cento V'Sluz. I'm sure you'll be on your best behavior and not bring shame upon your family." Adelaide made the statement sound like a demanding question, which caused Rose to blush. "Yes, Adelaide. I shall try my best." Rose winced as Adie found a snag in her chaotic tresses. "My word girl!" the nurse exclaimed. "I guess we'll have to skip your braids for tonight. It's all I can do to collect your curls in these ribbons, but it'll have to do!"

Rose was quiet and thoughtful through dinner, as were her brothers, the elder brothers looking none the worse for leading her on a goose chase through the castle and generally being up to no good. General V'Sluz was an expressive man, and had interesting stories of the old war in the West. Her brothers seemed eager for more stories of the conflict, which, according to the General, was easilly and mercilessly quelled. Rose, and her father of course were far more interested in his stories of the exotic places he'd visited, but the Queen mother's eyes sparkled with interest and laughter while she seemed to hang on the General's every word. Rose judged him to be a man of precision and wit, though there was something about him that made her shoulders tingle. He was lithe and muscular, and when he smiled he showed perfectly straight pearly teeth, but she decided his eyes kept a cold distance from his seemingly warm smiles. Rose felt a moment of surprise realizing that while he talked of his adventures, those cold eyes were staring at her! Her heart pounded in her chest and she felt like she was back in the kennels with the hunting hounds. Sophie will never be like those dogs. I will love her and keep her from all that makes them ruthless like that. Like him. Rose smiled back at the General as he continued to regale the royal family of his adventures, and though the corners of her mouth were tilted up, her eyes didn't crinkle either.

--------------To Be Continued--------------

The beginnings of a YA fic book based on a dream I had awhile back

Rose leaned out over the parapet and swallowed back the fear that leapt into her throat. The moon shone down on the dark waters below, churned by the invisible fingertips of wind. She shivered and pulled her cloak tighter in a futile attempt to escape the cold. Muffled voices and fire light drifted down from the guard's tower. Fear crept back into her throat, pricking her shoulder blades and scalp with it's chill. She had to go now before they spotted her!

Rose climbed onto the crenelated ramparts, took a deep breath and jumped into the icy depths. The water embraced her in a death grip and she struggled to reach the surface. Her ears popped and filled with water, yet, through the distortion she heard the guards above shouting as they tried to discover the source of the splash. Her body started to seize with cold and fear.

"Don't stop!" she told herself. Fighting the water, with adrenaline pumping through her veins, Rose swam to the reeds on the far shore. Her clothes clung to her and she fervently wished she'd had the time or foresight to secure a dry change of clothes somewhere on this side of the shore, but she couldn't focus on that now. Now she must run.

Rose ran, muscles weak and drunken with the chill, tripping over her soaking skirts. Gradually she attained an amount of steadiness, focused only on placing one foot in front of the other. The air tore at her lungs until she thought they'd explode. If she could just make it a little further.. A clamorous howling came drifting through the trees. The hounds! They must've realized I've gone! No! Not yet! Rose held back the sobs that threatened her resolve. I have to make it to the caves! She ran as if her life depended on it, which it really did. She ran through the trees she had often ridden through with her brothers on their way to Queenston. She ran up the deer trail along the edge of the hill they'd explored as children. The sounds of the hunting party were getting nearer.

At last she saw it! The crooked tree standing almost alone amongst the ferns in the nook of the hill, seeming to point to an entrance of the caves she'd discovered so long ago. Though she'd come here often seeking solace, she would've never dreamed she'd come here for protection.  Her fingers traced the cold dank walls as they had so many times before, but this time she traveled much quicker with the sounds of hounds and men growing ever louder in the stillness of the night. Ah! Here it is! A small hallway opened on her left, and she crouched down low as she hurried down into it. As she scurried through the low pass, she slid her boot along the right of the wall, trying to feel for the passage she'd found in her wanderings before. This time she had no lantern with her, but she knew what she wanted to find. When the wall opened up next to her boot, she carefully sat down, tucked her skirts around her legs, and slid into the small opening.

It was hard work getting through such a small space, but she managed to use her hands and elbows to help push her through the chute, until it suddenly turned down and she found herself sliding, letting gravity take over. It opened up into a small cavern, about the size of her smallest wardrobe. Along with the chute she used to slide into the room, there was another small chute she knew that lead her to another passage through the mountain. After feeling around the small cavern to make sure she was in the right place, she wrapped her wet cloak around her for warmth and sat quietly, listening. She thought she could faintly hear heavy breath echoing off the walls. Now there was the sound of padded feet and nails clicking on the stone and a scuffling getting closer, coming through the chute she'd just squeezed through. Then a large furry bundle dropped to the floor and there was panting. "Sophie?" She realized it was the first words she'd spoken all night and her eyes filled with tears again as Sophie leaned her head against Rose's belly. Rose wrapped her arms around her precious dog and she collapsed in weary exhaustion as she mourned for her father.

Well hell...

I guess it's about high time I write something on this bloggy thingy, since it's been about two years since last time. It must be something about autumn that drives me to write, create, etc... Maybe I'll make this be a biannual occurrence. Then I don't have to feel guilty for not writing more often.

Things that are new, in no particular order: (by new, clearly I mean things that weren't as much around/in my life 2 years ago)

• Hermy, my Hermann's tortoise. I received him from a Montessori student after he lived in my Montessori classroom for about a year. So he's been around for awhile. He's at least 7 years old anyhow. What's new is that now he mostly lives in our apartment since I'm only at school 3 mornings a week. He gets to come to school with me and be patted, fed, and otherwise tormented by the children fairly often though. Jeff and I love him a lot. He may be cold blooded, but he's friendly and follows us around when we let him out to peruse our place. 

This is what Hermy would look like if he was this tiny.

• Middle Eastern Dancing. I started doing this a bit in 2010, but really got into it in 2011. Last year I helped to plan a big fundraiser with Ten Thousand Villages for artisans in areas of natural disasters to help support themselves. We served hummus, pitas, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh (that I made!), couscous, and mint tea. We did 3 sets of dance (about 15-20 minutes each) Folkloric Egyptian, Turkish "Canti" Romany, and Egyptian Oriental. PLUS we had a silent auction that everyone collected donations on and I put together. A LOT of work, but great fun! What was very special was that I got to put so much effort into making a difference, rather than just donating $$! We raised over $2000! *Note, we're totally doing this again this year, Nov. 17th at Goshen Theater! I can't wait! There's something that just fills me with joy when I'm dancing. Even if I'm just learning new choreography or practicing! I love the idea that I'm connecting with cultures from across the world, and just the dance itself makes me giddy!

Troupe Svatura dancing "Rompi Rompi" in Ft. Wayne at Ozgen's Gala

• Jeff is in grad school. This is really awesome because he gets to study something he enjoy. Even though it's a lot of work, in about 2 years, he'll get to start doing something that he wants to do that really makes a positive impact on the world around us. This, along with his job as a pharmacy tech makes for a kind of chaotic schedule at times, but I'm really thankful for this opportunity for us.

 

We were able to "get away from it all" camping with friends in Michigan this summer!

•  Dominion. We've been playing this game with friends whenever we have some time and friends that are free! We like it a lot. We're also playing Carcassonne, Settlers of Catan, SmallWorld, and poker on occasion. 

• Both my grandpa's passed away, as well as my uncle. Grandpa K in Oct. of 2011, and Grandpa M. and Uncle L. in Feb. Plus we found that my dad has a horrible degenerative disease. Not cool. I'm still experiencing grief from the loss of their presence here on this earth, but I am content to know that I will see them again soon, that all their pain is gone, and that they are safe in the love of Jesus. Dad seems to be dealing fairly well, but I am still concerned for his well being. 

Anyway, I should wrap this up for now, lest this post become ridiculously long. Ooh! I'm also thinking about turning some of my dream stories into young adult fiction. (Seriously, my dreams are epic...this could totally work)