Monday, November 28, 2011

Cornfields and Outhouses

 there was a girl named Kali Rae.  She lived in Rome, attended school and enjoyed gardening in her free time.  She lived in a simple but quaint white home with green shutters on the windows that overlooked her abundant well kept garden.  One morning as she sat rocking in the porch swing she heard a very suspicious noise and what sounded like a scream coming from the cornfield way off to her left.  She tilted her head to the side straining her ears to hear... there it was again... She wanted to go see what the disturbance was but she was afraid and refused to risk an attack or face any other unforseen possibilities, so she ran into her house slammed the door and slid the massive rusty  lock over the door to prevent entry and ran to check her other doors and lock the windows. 

She sat curled up on the couch listening for anything, hearing nothing.  Soon she realized it was dark outside and she started to shiver.  She got off the couch walked to the fireplace and started a fire.  She was about to go back to the couch when something silver popped and leaped out of the newly lit flames to sear her foot.  She screamed in pain and reached down to pry a key off of her leather slipper - with a million questions running through her head.  Where did it come from? and What did it mean?,  she asked aloud.  I will be your guide.  You must be brave - you need to find out what you heard today, someone may need help.


"But I am not the one for this mission. I am a girl, and girls don't play the hero - that's only in movies."   Ahh, but that is where you are wrong little one, girls can be a hero the same as a big strong man.  you can do whatever you set your mind to.  And I am here to help you."  Reluctantly she agreed and rushed to the kitchen to pack some food and gather warm clothes for the journey.  The key relented to give her the night to sleep before starting out before sunrise the next morning.  And as she laid her head down on the pillow she thought to herself, "What am I doing?"   
*  *  *  *
The next morning she woke up to a gentle hum, at first it was so comforting that she wanted to just stay there forever, but she had to get up and keep her promise.  She collected her things while stalling for time to collect her courage and walked out the front door, across the grass and into the corn field.

She pulled a knife from her pack and cut her way through the tightly threaded brush, making her way slowly toward the sounds she could hear off in the distance - with the key bumping against her chest hooked to the chain she had found.  All at once the sky turned dark and the clouds began to rumble and circle in a whirling vortex above her head - following her every step of the way.  
She heard a noise off to her left, instantly setting her on her guard, she tensed as a dark figure emerged into her path blocker her advance then they were in a circular clearing with other figures surrounding her and her enemy as they slowly danced in circles waiting for someone to throw a first shot in.  Then as quick as she blinked the figure lunged at her she dropped and blocked the attack flipping her body into the air ~ now she was behind the figure confused it looked back just as she sank her fist into it's face, it vanished into thin air with screams of rage lingering in the air.  

She pushed her feet forward, her legs felt like rubber and her palms were sweating as she wondered what her next challenge would be - not watching where she was going she almost walked right over the cliff into the pool of piranhas with no bridge but a very skinny log stretching over the expanse of the watery death trap.  It was either walk across or turn back, the key refused to let her give up, so she gathered her courage yet again and climbed onto the lock praying her boots wouldn't slip.  She fell half way through her journey across the log, but got up and made it across trying not to hear the piranhas snapping their hungry jaws at her.  Then she stepped off and headed into the corn once more heading toward the sound. 

There... another sound... a man this time stepped out of the corn into her path from the right this time and she was instantly on her guard, but he was no one to be afraid of.  His name was Romulus and he was a friendly water nymph who got pushed out of his water by the man eating fish.  Taking pity on him she relented to let him tag along and he agreed to show her easier ways to get to where she was going.  

She knew she hurt his feelings when she told him that she knew what she was doing and that she was a girl and was human, not a freak.  She didn't know what possessed her to say such a thing but his feelings were hurt and his eyes filled with tears.  Just then they happened onto the source of the journey... in a clearing there stood an old abandoned outhouse, someone was locked inside but the door was jammed and there were dark figures surrounding the area.  

Kali turned in time to see the coward and hurting Romulus scamper into the bushes.  She was on her own.  She earned the sword of self respect and as quick as the figures would jump at her she'd cut them down and earn coins as their forms wisped into the air never to be seen again.  
Having taken care of the figures, it was now getting dark, she ran over to the outhouse to release the old woman inside. She was thanked over and over again and granted 3 wishes.  Her first wish was to gain Romulus' friendship back, she had an undeniable feeling in her stomach saying something about her feelings about him.  The old woman granted her that and so much more. 

When she woke up she was sitting on her couch in front of her fire, in Romulus's arms and her hands gripping the key around her neck... She was back where she belonged and her journey had proved to her that she could do anything she put her mind to, and on top of all the knowledge she had gained she finally earned the love and respect of the man of her dreams.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

How the Grinch Became a Hero to Me :)

    
     Ordinary World, Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call : In the very beginning, he could tell that he was different.  Now he lives in a cave, alone at the top of a mountain covered in snow.  His heart is 3 sizes to small.  He has turned his back on the world he used to know and has run out of patience sitting at the top of the mountain watching the Who's be happy and merry.  This year he has finally had enough - first it's the nosy teenagers who are brave enough to touch his door and get scared faceless when his "watch dog" comes snarling out of the door.  That is when he decides he needs a little social interaction-instead of sitting home trying to find ways to entertain himself, he dresses up and goes down to Whoville to raise some trouble.  This is where he hits his adventure.  While he is in the post office mixing up everyone's mail, Cindy Lou Who is  sent into the sorting room where she hears Max sneeze and Grinch Gesundheit him, she screams and falls into the mail sort smasher, just before she gets stamped by the huge stamp thing, he pulls her out saving her life.  She thanks him, and he refuses to be seen as a nice, soft person so he wraps her up in paper and leaves.
    Meeting With The Mentor: Cindy Lou decides that there is a soft side to this Mr. Grinch that everyone is so afraid of.  (After all - if he didn't have a spark of good, he would have let her get squished by the sorting machine).  She begins interviewing anyone and everyone who would know anything big or small about him, she wanted every shred of information she could get.  She interviews the ladies who took car of him as a small child, his elementary crush the Beautiful Martha May, and Augustus Maywho, the mayor and Grinch's least favorite person in Whoville.


 Crossing the Threshold, Tests Allies Enemies, Approach: Cindy learns a lot and decides to nominate him for the annual Holiday Cheer Meister award.  She is received with shock from the whole town, but eventually gets them to agree. She goes up to his cave to invite him down to accept his award.  She slowly talks him into coming down to town, by showing him that no matter how scary he made himself seem - he didn't scare her. Not one little bit.
     Ordeal: The Grinch - after much deliberation with himself-decides to drop down in town and accept his award.  He makes a grand entrance is attacked by old ladies with a light-up i love x-mas sweater and fruit cake, old men with homemade fudge and a Chair of Cheer he is exhausted.  He is presented with a gift from the mayor, it is a shaver- these bring back bad memories and snap him back into reality.  He watches his enemy propose to his love, then he wreaks havoc on the town, burns down the tree in city square and escapes back to Mt. Crumpit.
  
     Reward: He plots a way to get even with the town and comes up with a marvelous plan... HE WILL STEAL CHRISTMAS!  He makes a sleigh and a vaccum to make gathering things up easier. He waits for Santa to leave then goes down and takes everything Santa gave the town.  He escapes with his reindeer Max, pulling the sleigh up to the highest peak, and he rewards himself with all the gifts and food from the icebox's he raided and to watch the town melt-down when they realize there is no Christmas.
     The Road Back: The town finally listens to Cindy Lou and they realize that it isn't all about gifts and lights, it is about being with the people you love.  So he gets angry when he sees that they are still happy and singing, and that he went to all that trouble and failed at stopping Christmas, but as he sits there, he thinks and the sun rises and his heart begins to grow, because he is "toasty" inside. The sled begins sliding over the cliff and he looks up to find that Cindy is on top of the sleigh that is about to go off the cliff.  He picks it up and sets it back to go back down and fix Christmas.
     Resurrection: He and Cindy drive the sleigh back down the mountain into town and he apologizes for messing up Christmas, and that everything is in the sleigh, and is accounted for.
 
    Return With Elixir:  Martha May tells the Mayor Augustus - Grinch's enemy that she cannot marry him because her heart belongs to the Grinch.  He invites everyone to his cave for the Christmas feast and everything is all better!


Masks:

  • Hero" to serve and sacrifice": Cindy Lou and in the end, Grinch.
  • Mentor"to guide": Lou Who, Grinch's Mothers, Martha May.
  • Threshold Guardian"to test": The people of Whoville, Grinch tests Cindy.
  • Herald"to warn and challenge":Cindy, Grinch, Augustus Maywho.
  • Shapeshifter"to question and deceive": Grinch, Mayor Augustus.
  • Shadow"to destroy": Mayor, Grinch.
  • Trickster"to disrupt": GRINCH.


   

Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Hero's Quest

The Decision:  Business or Happiness?   
This is a little story about a girl named Satine.  She thinks she has life a perfect as it can get - for the time being.  Her view on love: simple.  She can't fall in love.  It is impossible, and Christian can't understand how she can't fall in love.  His view on things?  All you need is love.  One day Satine is proposed an offer that she simply can't refuse, but here is the thing... if she takes the offer, she will risk everything that has sparked between her and Christian.


Will it be worth it?


Would SHE get hurt in the process?


How will it end?  Will she get Christian AND what she wants, which is to be a star?

Monday, November 7, 2011

Blurbs...Blurbs...BLURBS!!!

Took what I am listening to because i think that every song has a story if the singer isn't a total time-wasting idiot.
Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
       Freddy just killed a man, and he is caught in a landslide, with no escape from reality... he has to face what he has done - and all the consequences.  He has to explain all of this to his mother, telling her that life has just begun and now it will all be for nothing because of his actions... in desperation he is pleading to be released but they will not let him go, so he must say goodbye to everybody and face the truth.



Life Is Beautiful by Vega 4
      Johnny McDaid is standing where he is, hoping that the girl he loves will come flying back into his arms like she did when they were young.  He stands puzzling over when the hurting will kick in, 'cuz his heart just beats and breaks, he will be there to hold her when she is hurting, but she isn't there so he just stands and lets the moments pass him by.



I Want to Break Free by Queen
      Freddy and his friends are sick of being mainstream and just another face in the crowd, so they envision themselves breaking free out of the boundaries of normal life.  They are the different ones in the crowd of hundreds, they have personality and they shake what their mama gave 'em.  But will that get them into trouble in the future? You never know.