True Beauty, page 2

As soon as she stepped off the bus, Bridget, the girl with Down’s syndrome from next door was waiting for her. “Yoo-hoo, Erikah!” She called as she leaned over the fence and waved. “Welcome home!” Erikah waved quickly as she dashed to the door. “Hi, dear.” Her mother greeted her. Spike, their German Shepherd ran to her and began wagging his tail happily. “He’s been waiting all day for you to get home. Why don’t you take him for a walk?” Erikah clipped Spike’s worn leash to his collar and peeked out the window. She wanted to be sure Bridget was gone before she went back outside.

When she finished walking her dog, her dad was just hanging up the phone. “That was your Aunt Kay, Erikah. Your cousin Daina’s school is having an exchange student program, and they thought you’d be perfect.” “But I’ve never even met them.” Erikah said. “You have; you were just too young to remember.” He said. “They live in a different country, so they can’t visit often.” “This is a wonderful educational opportunity.” Her mother said. “And I think you’ll have a lot of fun spending time with your relatives.” Erikah sighed. It looked like she had no other choice. “I’ll go pack my suitcase.” She muttered.

Soon, Erikah was flying through the sky in an airplane, on her way to some little place no one had ever heard of with her aunt and cousin. “So, what’s your school like?” Daina asked her. “Well, it’s just a typical school, I guess. Unruly boys, bullies, geeks, popular girls…” Daina nodded. “It’s the same way at my school pretty much. By the way, I met your neighbor, Bridget when we came to pick you up. She seems like a very nice girl.” Erikah fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. “You disagree?” Daina asked puzzledly. “She’s nice and all, it’s just that… well…” “Well what?” Daina persisted. Erikah sighed. “Oh, never mind.”

Spring-Time Loveliness

Here are some pictures I took a few years back at the peak of flower season! Spring is just around the corner, folks!!! :D

True Beauty, page 1

Sorry I haven't been blogging much in the past few months... I've had to use a different computer, and that makes things all "scrambled". (As I like to say.) But anyway, the other day I realized I hadn't put my new short story here yet, and while it's not very good at all, at least it's something, I guess. I don't even know if anyone reads my blogs, LOL; but anyways, here it is! ;)

13-year-old Erikah grabbed her pink backpack and raced out the door as the school bus screeched to a halt in front of her house. She moved to the back of the bus and tried to block out all the noise so she could study her spelling words one last time. “I buy all my clothes from designer boutiques.” One of the cheerleaders said smugly. “Where did you buy your outfit, Erikah?” Surprised, Erikah looked up from her spelling paper. She didn’t want them to know she shopped at thrift stores. “I don’t remember.” She replied. Cheerleader Girl flipped her movie-star blonde hair with her manicured hand and began texting away on her cell phone. “Probably some lame local place.” She said as she rolled her sapphire eyes. Erikah slid down further into her seat and ran her fingers through her plain brown hair. “Why didn’t God make me rich and beautiful like them?” She thought.

During science class when everyone was choosing a lab partner, all the popular kids scrambled for each other, leaving her with Carl Smitty… the geekiest kid in the whole school. Erikah sighed as she made her way over to his table. “Big surprise...” She mumbled to herself. “Aaaaalright students, today we will be studying bacterial growth.” Their teacher, Mr. Clarkson said. “Oh, cool!” One of the boys shouted. “Thank you for your enthusiasm, Jason; now please be seated.” Mr. Clarkson said firmly. “This is fascinating.” Carl said as he looked up from his microscope. The class immediately broke out into an eruption of laughter. Some prankster had put something black on the eyepiece of the microscope, leaving a dark ring around his eye. “Hey Smitty, did somebody punch you in the face again?” A boy named Mike yelled. “Order! There will be order in this classroom!” Their teacher bellowed. “Carl, go and wash that off and come right back.” Carl’s face glowed red with embarrassment as he trudged out of the room.

Nearly all the kids spent the whole bus ride home making fun of Carl and some of the other less popular people at school. Erikah didn’t find it the least bit funny, but she laughed along with them anyway.

Last Winter

Here are the pictures I took at our house after the ice storm last winter. Cuz I can't think of anything else to post right now LOL.

Little Something While Ya Wait

Sorry I haven't been posting lately... I am still in the midst of a situation that leaves little time for my imagination to think up anything blog-worthy. But I will leave you with this thought for the time being...

Proverbs 25:9 says, "Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself; and discover not a secret to another." If we have a problem with someone, God tells us that we should talk to them about it instead of gossiping to our friends. This is something that is easily forgotten, especially by me.

It's Ready!

My new social network website is up and running now, so be sure and check it out! http://mytomodachizone.ning.com/

Guess What!

I am in the process of creating my own social network website! It has a forum, and a blog, and chat (private and group), and events, and groups, and everything! It's not ready yet, but I'll let you know when it is. :)