tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26260945229097791182024-02-07T19:42:06.388-08:00Chelsea's Coffee TableA collection of poems, stories, & other literary works that I find inspiring or beautiful.Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-6627642144862390772012-09-16T22:13:00.000-07:002012-09-16T22:13:30.962-07:00Powell's<div style="text-align: center;">Last weekend, I was in Portland for my friend's wedding & I spent a couple days in Portland proper. I found the wonderful place that is Powell's City of Books:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2yg-gGnKjqFAaj3TtdeoQOLJJleScjN5jvL6LvhfI8FRCRVi12gE23YP6lU7_X0vSyNTyeRTp3dtuL5qVDRzQFpbS3fGtb_chnYuD6ExI_gH1BPTJKLuLBSLDfA2LIKoumkmJ-_BlQSO/s1600/powells-city-of-books-jparadisi-2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2yg-gGnKjqFAaj3TtdeoQOLJJleScjN5jvL6LvhfI8FRCRVi12gE23YP6lU7_X0vSyNTyeRTp3dtuL5qVDRzQFpbS3fGtb_chnYuD6ExI_gH1BPTJKLuLBSLDfA2LIKoumkmJ-_BlQSO/s320/powells-city-of-books-jparadisi-2010.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I knew the minute I walked in, I was going to get lost & that I was in heaven. If you're a fan of books (at all), you need to go to this store. Cookbooks (my brother), travel books (my mom), sheep books (my dad), fantasy books (me), romance, thriller, technology, documentaries, anything you can think of: they have it. New & used books, so if you're like me & you're kind of poor, you can still afford to buy 6 books (like me).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMhpiJtV22pQBpk5GyP3uvWTOXMqP79bGJJvNJQtlqrV-0RXq1Yo1l-mXe89m0yDQYdyLe-y2BOKdSsmqLyba76JdDykROKkc0WMAyVcyNIQkjX4qevBt4OFIqJgNmq83AVI1RNyjzQpL/s1600/directionsign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMhpiJtV22pQBpk5GyP3uvWTOXMqP79bGJJvNJQtlqrV-0RXq1Yo1l-mXe89m0yDQYdyLe-y2BOKdSsmqLyba76JdDykROKkc0WMAyVcyNIQkjX4qevBt4OFIqJgNmq83AVI1RNyjzQpL/s320/directionsign.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I spent my time in the Gold Room. I found so many books that I want. I could easily spend hundreds of dollars and countless hours in Powell's.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Seriously. Go there.</div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-60315945466782658932012-03-15T16:40:00.002-07:002012-05-11T22:43:01.764-07:00the "Glass" series by Maria V. Snyder<div style="text-align: center;">I found the fantasy/science fiction section at my library & haven't looked back. I discovered one of my new favorite authors: <a href="http://www.mariavsnyder.com/index.php">Maria V. Snyder</a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Her "Study" series, (<i>Poison Study, Magic Study, </i>& <i>Fire Study</i>) are well known and praised highly. They're sitting in my room waiting to be read. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I started with what I call her "Glass" series.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqe-VZmM1edSvkK352roL7ffZnmCdcxIEYdAeAJK6W2owPz6bxdB9z5hCBxY0Zc1RfSMeH2Z278xt3oPX6PXJv5_W2vT-6L5zPoN4GgeU7GSuFzuhlzKh-kbymihTiv_mX9dZ5A8S9a3VG/s1600/images+(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqe-VZmM1edSvkK352roL7ffZnmCdcxIEYdAeAJK6W2owPz6bxdB9z5hCBxY0Zc1RfSMeH2Z278xt3oPX6PXJv5_W2vT-6L5zPoN4GgeU7GSuFzuhlzKh-kbymihTiv_mX9dZ5A8S9a3VG/s1600/images+(3).jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMN78ChYKFM_YxIjSq6Lt6ovgbS2Rmxj8uZ-ja_TIi2aBU1d4KBPBNHqeoqphPTSuWLxAXlDuTYEjCTLJFtEdkxS_EwK-31ZCiXhz0wU9UHvVYTZtzLEfefvTbEeA7DlmJSSPkX9mV5P_g/s1600/images+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMN78ChYKFM_YxIjSq6Lt6ovgbS2Rmxj8uZ-ja_TIi2aBU1d4KBPBNHqeoqphPTSuWLxAXlDuTYEjCTLJFtEdkxS_EwK-31ZCiXhz0wU9UHvVYTZtzLEfefvTbEeA7DlmJSSPkX9mV5P_g/s1600/images+(2).jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5fBVz6o0ZjLTMmu1o-3wtYyeT9tBT3vhXJAk8KWaXAbDSX9C16u0SjiS_-En9gTRh5_KWXV_1e5L4mzg7W7YotGPEIKSw267C1C0D7Wbrcu0r85S1gtpowxK-MyM48r-duOi33kkr12qr/s1600/images+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5fBVz6o0ZjLTMmu1o-3wtYyeT9tBT3vhXJAk8KWaXAbDSX9C16u0SjiS_-En9gTRh5_KWXV_1e5L4mzg7W7YotGPEIKSw267C1C0D7Wbrcu0r85S1gtpowxK-MyM48r-duOi33kkr12qr/s1600/images+(1).jpg" /></a></div><br />
I found the titles intriguing & once I read the first one, I couldn't put it down & couldn't get to library fast enough to get the other two. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Book 1: <i>Storm Glass</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: center;">As the book opens, we're introduced to a girl named Opal Cowen. We understand that she is training to be magician, but her magical abilities only extend to one "magic trick." She is a glass maker with a unique power over glass.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Stormdancer clan is in need of help. Their glass orbs that they use to channel the storm's energy are shattering, killing stormdancers. Opal is sent to create new orbs.</div><div style="text-align: center;">During the opening chapters, we get a hint of something in Opal's past that is quite unpleasant. Throughout the story, we find more details & soon we begin to piece together the story (but I won't spoil it for you). </div><div style="text-align: center;">Opal discovers that there is deep magic at work & she has more powers than she originally thought. The book ends without really ending the story, making the reader eager for the next book. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The first book moves quickly through the story. I like the fast paced writing that somehow gives details on appearances, places etc. without deterring from the plot line. I get bored with pages of description and no action & I never got bored while reading <i>Storm Glass</i>. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The characters are well developed and there isn't too much repetition when it comes to Opal's memories. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Book 2: <i>Sea Glass</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> In the second book of the series, Opal is very confused. She's developing a relationship with Ulrick, a young man who is from her hometown, while also having feelings for Kade, a stormdancer she met in book 1. She's dealing with new powers, new dangers, & mistrust from almost everyone in her life. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Her entire life is turned upside down & she doesn't know who to trust. The Council has become frightened of her and doesn't trust her. Her mentor ignores her & doesn't believe her & even her family seems to be against her. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I can't tell you much more without giving away the wonderful twists & turns in the plot that Maria does...you'll just have to read it. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This book has more repetition than the first. Maria reminds the reader of what happened in the first book over and over again. It's a little frustrating, especially for those who have read the first one in the series. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The writing is still fast-paced & I didn't get bored with this one either. Characters continue to be developed; there are a few new ones that are introduced, & the reader gets a good sense of their character even in the short time they're involved in the story. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Book 3: <i>Spy Glass</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: center;">Opal has lost her powers. She is also immune to magic, so she feels locked out of the magicians world. Her life is slightly more stable, but she is still in almost constant danger. (Kind of story of her life at this point).</div><div style="text-align: center;">She discovers that someone stole some of her blood & that if she can find it, she may be able to get her magic back. She goes on a mission to find her blood & on her way, she picks up a new love, new enemies, new friends, & a new identity. </div><div style="text-align: center;">She finally comes to realization that not everything is always her fault. Her family forgives her, the Council is alright with her, & her mentor quits ignoring her. In other words, it's a fairly happy ending.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The ending is a particularly interesting twist, so I won't tell you how it ends.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Again, there is the repetition that can be a little annoying for those that have read the whole series. Again, the writing is spectacular & it's hard to put down.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The ending actually frustrated me a little bit--but I guess we can't have everything we want. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Throughout the series (especially the second and third books), Opal's love life is very dysfunctional. I guess Maria is trying to explain that Opal is a young woman who doesn't know her own heart, but I got a little frustrated with it. Maybe you won't. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I still really love the series & will probably try to add them to my collection permanently sometime soon.</div><div style="text-align: center;">For now, I'm going to read Ms. Snyder's "Study" series & see how it compares. </div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-20066743489937884872012-01-30T19:57:00.000-08:002012-01-30T19:57:32.931-08:00book review: Starlighter by Bryan Davis<div style="text-align: center;">I've been looking for new authors & new genres to read because I've read most of what is on my bookshelf & I'm always looking for new things. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I came across this book while browsing through a Christian bookstore in Spokane, Washington a few weeks ago:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPK0vynzO1Ul0vMJjHGX-2eitoe-GCMejZWqFb2J75_Qinc0iUwjxNO2RnWBKeRWG9VQz_RwRtxKJ4QW55TGUMZ7dKzlEkcPxb485YagYSSMjx2h9acW2T_xDPyOqv0uMc0HPSPzSJjkJW/s1600/Starlighter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPK0vynzO1Ul0vMJjHGX-2eitoe-GCMejZWqFb2J75_Qinc0iUwjxNO2RnWBKeRWG9VQz_RwRtxKJ4QW55TGUMZ7dKzlEkcPxb485YagYSSMjx2h9acW2T_xDPyOqv0uMc0HPSPzSJjkJW/s320/Starlighter.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I hadn't read any of Bryan Davis' books before, but while doing a little research, I've noticed he has a sturdy following. Dragons of Starlight is not his first series, but it is newest. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Starlighter</i> is the first in the Dragons of Starlight series. It is very fast paced & well written. I started reading it the minute I got in the car after buying it & finished it the next morning--barely putting it down at all.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Jason Masters is a young warrior who doubts the existence of dragons. Tales swirl around of people being kidnapped by these dragons & taken to another world to be slaves, but most people chalk up the missing persons to the giant mountain bears that are known to take people prisoners before devouring them. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">When Jason's older brothers both leave to attempt to discover the dragons world, Jason is left in the position of bodyguard to the governor. He isn't in the position long before mysterious signs lead him to believe that the dragons really do exist. In the true manner of quests, Jason (the hero) gathers around him a group of people willing to brave the danger & help him on his way. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile, in the dragon world, Koren--a young slave--discovers that she has a gift. The dragons haven't seemed to notice her gift, or have they? Mystery surrounds her master. Is he a friend of the slaves or is he a true dragon through & through? Koren has to decipher the meaning behind all of his words. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Once her gift is discovered by the dragons, she is moved to another house to serve another master. It is here that she learns of the existence of Jason & she escapes to try to help him & her friend that is in trouble with the dragons.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Again in the true manner of quests, people band together to help the hero & other main characters achieve their goals. In this case the goal is freedom for the slaves of the dragons. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The books moves quickly, but it is not hard to follow. The stories of Jason & Koren are woven together very skillfully. When the stories finally intercept each other & join together the book is almost at its end. For those of us that hate cliff-hangers, the end of the book will be slightly frustrating. It is the first in the series & while the book finishes the first chapter of the story so to speak, I can't wait to find the next books & continue the story.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">If you're even slightly interested in this book, I highly recommend it. I would also suggest that you check out Bryan Davis' <a href="http://dragonsinourmidst.blogspot.com/">website</a> & his other books as well.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">♥</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chelsea</span></span> </div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-84158259764810823642012-01-29T14:03:00.001-08:002012-01-29T14:03:27.581-08:00Family.<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It comes in two’s, three’s, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Four’s, five’s<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Any number will do really.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In times of peace<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Arguments arise within.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In times of battle<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It presents a united front.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It gathers around<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Dinner tables, living rooms,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Kitchens.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In times of sorrow<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Comfort is given.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In times of joy<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Laughter is shared.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is family.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Family is five.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Print"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I love my five. <o:p></o:p></span></div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-25823571484801780112011-11-29T10:01:00.000-08:002011-11-29T10:01:56.939-08:00"Fiery"<div style="text-align: center;">Yet another poem assignment for my Creative Writing class. I wrote this one last night while at the hospital with a friend.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"I did the dragon's will until you came;</div><div style="text-align: left;">Fiery,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Demonic, </div><div style="text-align: left;">Yet tender.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"You came and loved me like he never could;</div><div style="text-align: left;">Fiery,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Completely,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Perfectly.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"His jealousy spread through every bronze scale;</div><div style="text-align: left;">Fiery,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Vengeful,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Ruining.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"You stood, protecting my fragility;</div><div style="text-align: left;">Fiery, </div><div style="text-align: left;">Yet foolish.</div><div style="text-align: left;">I mourn you.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"I do the dragon's will until the end;</div><div style="text-align: left;">Fiery, </div><div style="text-align: left;">Demonic, </div><div style="text-align: left;">Yet tender."</div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-2882379152290111142011-11-22T02:18:00.000-08:002011-11-22T02:18:08.029-08:00"Glass Dreams" by me :)Life brings scars, tears, heartbreak, and pain. <br />
Too many breaks create a time of darkness. <br />
I seclude myself in a box of glass; <br />
Content to view the world through a window: <br />
Watching humanity try their hand at love, <br />
Enjoying their ignorant freedom <br />
<br />
The day I saw you, I wanted freedom. <br />
I wanted to risk more scars and pain. <br />
I realized I needed your love <br />
To bring light into my homemade darkness; <br />
To shine through my dusty window; <br />
To shatter my home of glass. <br />
<br />
I pressed my face against the glass <br />
Yearning for a mobile freedom, <br />
So I could remove my viewing window. <br />
I cared less about the probable pain; <br />
I needed you to free me from this darkness, <br />
To unshackle me with your love. <br />
<br />
I tried to remember what it felt like to love, <br />
As I watched you through the glass. <br />
I struggled against the overwhelming darkness. <br />
I believed in the possibility of freedom, <br />
Determined to forget my love-incurred pain. <br />
My breath created fog on the window. <br />
<br />
I clung to my dream I saw out the window, <br />
Dusting the cobwebs from my love. <br />
I imagined a life with you without pain <br />
Outside of my world of glass <br />
Filled with the joys of a happy freedom. <br />
I could not imagine any more darkness. <br />
<br />
Never again would I live in darkness, <br />
I knew you would see me through my window <br />
Eagerly awaiting my freedom, <br />
Ready to give you my love. <br />
Never again would I live enclosed in glass; <br />
No more would I cry tears of pain. <br />
<br />
Agonizing—tears falling with pain; creeping back is the darkness. <br />
My world will forever remain glass; I will always have my window <br />
For you gave her your love; eternally crushing my hopes of freedom.Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-65513476693251501262011-11-15T16:57:00.000-08:002011-11-15T16:57:17.098-08:00A Collection of Poems<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">"Dawn"</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">by Arthur Rimbaud</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">I embraced the summer dawn.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Nothing was stirring yet in front of the palaces. The water lay lifeless. Encamped shadows did not leave the woodland road. I stepped forth, arousing breaths alive and warm, and precious stones kept watch, and wings rose up without a sound.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">My first enterprise was, in the path already filled with cool, pale glints, a flower that told me her name.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">I laughed at the blond waterfall which tossed disheveled hair across the pines: on the silvery summit I espied the goddess.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Then, one by one, I lifted her veils. In the lanes waving my arms. On the plain, where I gave the cock notice of her coming. In the city, she fled among the steeples and domes, and, running like a beggar across the marble quays, I pursued her.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">On the upper part of the road, near a grove of laurels, I surrounded her with her massed veils, and sensed somewhat her immeasurable body. Dawn and the child plunged to the bottom of the wood. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">When I awoke, it was noon.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">(the original is in French, so here is a rough translation)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">"Aube"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">J'ai embrassé l'aube</span> <span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">d'été.</span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Rien ne bougeait</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">encore</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">en face</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">du palais</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">L'eau</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">jeter</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">sans vie.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Campé</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">ombres</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">ne quittaient pas la</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">route</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">boisée</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">J'ai</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">s'avança</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">, suscitant</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">respirations</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">vivante et</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">chaleureuse</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">,</span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">et des pierres précieuses</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">veillaient</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">et les ailes</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">se levèrent</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">sans bruit</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">.</span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Ma</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">première entreprise fut</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">dans le chemin</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">déjà rempli de</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">fraîcheur</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">des reflets</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">pâles,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">une fleur</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">qui me</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">dit son nom</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">.</span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">J'ai ri</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">à la cascade</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">blonde</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">échevelée</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">, qui</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">jeté</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">à travers</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">les pins</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">sur le sommet</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">argenté</span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">j'avisai</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">la déesse.</span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Puis</span><span class="" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">un par un,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">j'ai levé</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">les voiles.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Dans les ruelles</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">en agitant les bras</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Sur</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">la plaine, où</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">j'ai donné le</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">préavis</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">coq de</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">sa venue</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Dans la ville</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">elle a fui</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">parmi les</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">clochers et les dômes</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">,</span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">et courant</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">comme un mendiant</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">à travers</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">les quais de marbre</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">, je l'ai</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">poursuivi.</span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Sur</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">la partie supérieure de</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">la route, près</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">d'un bosquet de</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">lauriers,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">je l'ai</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">entourée</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">avec</span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">ses voiles</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">massés</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">et j'ai senti</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">un peu</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">son corps</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">incommensurable.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">L'aube</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">et l'enfant</span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">plongé au fond</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">du bois.</span><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Quand je me réveillai</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">il était midi.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"London"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">by William Blake</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">I wander thro' each charter'd street,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">And mark in every face I meet</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Marks of weakness, marks of woe.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">In every cry of every man, </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">In every Infant's cry of fear,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">In every voice, in every ban,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">How the Chimney-sweeper's cry</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Every blackening Church appalls;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">And the hapless Soldier's sigh</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Runs in blood down Palace walls.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">But most thro' midnight streets I hear</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">How the youthful Harlot's curse</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Blasts the new-born Infant's tear, </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Sonnet 116</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">by William Shakespeare</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Let me not to the marriage of true minds </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Admit impediments. Love is not love</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Which alters when it alteration finds,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Or bends with the remover to remove:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">O no! it is an ever fixed mark</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">That looks on tempests and is never shaken;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">It is the star to every wandering bark,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Within his bending sickle's compass come:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="hps" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, </span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But bears it out even to the edge of doom.</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> If this be error and upon me proved,</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I never writ, nor no man ever loved.</span></div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-8225184819617000332011-11-10T10:08:00.000-08:002011-11-10T10:08:04.087-08:00"Weekdays"<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a poem I wrote :)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mondays, I stare at the sunrise,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sparkling with a colorful grace.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tuesdays, I gaze at the sunset,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Glowing with a radiant beauty.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wednesdays, I hear the chuckling brook,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tripping over hidden pebbles.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thursdays, I listen to the wind,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ruffling the feathers of the trees.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fridays, I smell the baker’s work, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cooking merrily on the stove.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Saturdays, I inhale the scents,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wafting from the flower meadows.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sundays, I sit in my old chair,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thanking God for his lovely world.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Waiting for the next bright morning,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bringing me back to the weekdays.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-4250094900482074852011-10-18T20:06:00.000-07:002011-10-18T20:06:09.766-07:00"Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went to Madrid.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘What should we drink?’ the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘It’s pretty hot,’ the man said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Let’s drink beer.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Dos cervezas,’ the man said into the curtain.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Big ones?’ a woman asked from the doorway.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Yes. Two big ones.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glass on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘They look like white elephants,’ she said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I’ve never seen one,’ the man drank his beer.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘No, you wouldn’t have.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I might have,’ the man said. ‘Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The girl looked at the bead curtain. ‘They’ve painted something on it,’ she said. ‘What does it say?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Anis del Toro. It’s a drink.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Could we try it?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The man called ‘Listen’ through the curtain. The woman came out from the bar.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Four reales.’ ‘We want two Anis del Toro.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘With water?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Do you want it with water?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I don’t know,’ the girl said. ‘Is it good with water?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘It’s all right.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘You want them with water?’ asked the woman.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Yes, with water.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘It tastes like liquorice,’ the girl said and put the glass down.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘That’s the way with everything.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Yes,’ said the girl. ‘Everything tastes of liquorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Oh, cut it out.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘You started it,’ the girl said. ‘I was being amused. I was having a fine time.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Well, let’s try and have a fine time.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘All right. I was trying. I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasn’t that bright?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘That was bright.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I wanted to try this new drink. That’s all we do, isn’t it – look at things and try new drinks?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I guess so.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The girl looked across at the hills.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘They’re lovely hills,’ she said. ‘They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the colouring of their skin through the trees.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Should we have another drink?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘All right.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The warm wind blew the bead curtain against the table.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘The beer’s nice and cool,’ the man said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘It’s lovely,’ the girl said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,’ the man said. ‘It’s not really an operation at all.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The girl did not say anything.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Then what will we do afterwards?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘We’ll be fine afterwards. Just like we were before.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘What makes you think so?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I know we will. Yon don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘So have I,’ said the girl. ‘And afterwards they were all so happy.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Well,’ the man said, ‘if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘And you really want to?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I think it’s the best thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I love you now. You know I love you.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you’ll like it?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I’ll love it. I love it now but I just can’t think about it. You know how I get when I worry.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘If I do it you won’t ever worry?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I won’t worry about that because it’s perfectly simple.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘What do you mean?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I don’t care about me.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Well, I care about you.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Oh, yes. But I don’t care about me. And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I don’t want you to do it if you feel that way.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘And we could have all this,’ she said. ‘And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘What did you say?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I said we could have everything.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘We can have everything.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘No, we can’t.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘We can have the whole world.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘No, we can’t.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘We can go everywhere.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘No, we can’t. It isn’t ours any more.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘It’s ours.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘No, it isn’t. And once they take it away, you never get it back.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘But they haven’t taken it away.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘We’ll wait and see.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Come on back in the shade,’ he said. ‘You mustn’t feel that way.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I don’t feel any way,’ the girl said. ‘I just know things.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want to do -’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Nor that isn’t good for me,’ she said. ‘I know. Could we have another beer?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘All right. But you’ve got to realize – ‘</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I realize,’ the girl said. ‘Can’t we maybe stop talking?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">They sat down at the table and the girl looked across at the hills on the dry side of the valley and the man looked at her and at the table.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘You’ve got to realize,’ he said, ‘ that I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Of course it does. But I don’t want anybody but you. I don’t want anyone else. And I know it’s perfectly simple.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Yes, you know it’s perfectly simple.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘It’s all right for you to say that, but I do know it.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Would you do something for me now?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I’d do anything for you.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He did not say anything but looked at the bags against the wall of the station. There were labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘But I don’t want you to,’ he said, ‘I don’t care anything about it.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I’ll scream,’ the girl siad.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The woman came out through the curtains with two glasses of beer and put them down on the damp felt pads. ‘The train comes in five minutes,’ she said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘What did she say?’ asked the girl.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘That the train is coming in five minutes.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The girl smiled brightly at the woman, to thank her.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I’d better take the bags over to the other side of the station,’ the man said. She smiled at him.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘All right. Then come back and we’ll finish the beer.’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks. He looked up the tracks but could not see the train. Coming back, he walked through the bar-room, where people waiting for the train were drinking. He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain. She was sitting at the table and smiled at him.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘Do you feel better?’ he asked.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">‘I feel fine,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.’</div></span></span>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-56605189488000158632011-10-11T20:20:00.000-07:002011-10-11T20:20:18.297-07:00"Maidens"<div style="text-align: center;">I was searching for something to post today & I found this story that I wrote in middle school. I laughed at my own writing, so feel free to do the same.</div><div style="text-align: center;">p.s. it's kind of long.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">Chapter 1<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“The royal family has perished from poisoning! The advisors have placed a successor on the throne. Coronation tomorrow!” The town crier tried to communicate his news through the tears that seemed to choke him. People buzzed with the news. In a single night the entire royal family consisting of the king and queen as well as their two young children had vanished. The palace doctor declared that they had all been poisoned by arsenic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">A young girl stepped from the shadows of an alley. With one hand she brushed dust from her skirt, while with the other she pushed her black hair back from her face. She disliked the fact that while the kingdom recognized that the royal family had been poisoned, no one seemed intent on discovering those behind the act. The townspeople in the capital were milling around like lost sheep, waiting to be told what to think. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>A woman, seeing the girl, cried out, “Linnet! Did you hear the news? Our entire royal family has died! This is so tragic! Who could have done such a horrible thing?” she started sobbing and pulled her floury apron up to dry her eyes. Before Linnet could respond, the other woman threw her arms around the girl. “What are we going to do?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, Ruth, I heard, I don’t know.” Linnet replied calmly, trying to disengage the woman from her. Ruth’s outbursts had become a daily occurrence. Linnet was a patient girl, but only for so long. “I have to go now, Ruth. I have things to do.” She tried again to free herself, but she realized that no amount of squirming would do the trick. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Finally, Ruth released her. “Keep safe, little one.” The older woman wandered off down the street, trailing the scent of lavender, chamomile, saffron, with hints of the many other herbs that she carried in her shop. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I will, Ruth.” Linnet smiled brightly as she stepped into the streets. She couldn’t wait to see her best friend, Frieda, and tell her what she thought of the whole business. She glided down the street with her graceful walk, calling greetings to the people of the town. When she reached the butcher shop, she waved a greeting to her friend. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet!” called Frieda, and ran to give her a hug. “I’ve missed seeing you. I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had time to visit.” The other girl had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She had her hair pulled back with a white scarf to make working in the butcher shop easier. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I couldn’t wait to see you either, Frieda. Did you hear the crier this morning?” Linnet was not one to waste time. She liked getting down to business quickly. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, isn’t that so sad?” Frieda used the corner of her scarf to wipe away a tear forming in her eye. She sniffed loudly. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“It’s all so frustrating,” said Linnet angrily.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“What do you mean Linnet?” Frieda never understood her fiery friend’s logic at times. She was always ready to charge ahead into things, while Frieda tended to be the more cautious one. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Well, why haven’t the advisors opened an investigation of the crime? I believe murdering the entire royal family is a crime is it not?” Linnet paced in front of her friend, unable to stand still. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes—but I don’t see—”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Why hasn’t there been questionings? Interrogations? Arrests? Who is responsible for this horrid murder? No one seems to know. It’s all very strange.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I suppose so..”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I would love to get inside the palace and conduct my own investigation. Something isn’t right here, Frieda. Royal families don’t just get murdered with no questions asked.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You may be right, but what can you do? You’re just a villager. Villagers aren’t allowed in the actual palace unless they work there, and they’re only allowed into the palace grounds if they have special permission. You know that. So how are you going to get in the palace to prove your theory?” Frieda was always the voice of reason in Linnet’s head. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I don’t know,” Linnet rubbed her forehead in frustration. “but I will.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You know if they catch you, you could be arrested?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I know, but I’m willing to take that risk.” Linnet replied determinedly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">Chapter 2<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Linnet stared up at the foreboding walls of the palace. She sat down on a log nearby to watch people coming in and out of the gates. Suddenly, she saw Caleb, the tailor, heading towards the gates.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Caleb!” she called.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Caleb turned around and saw her. A smile spread across his face. “Linnet, how nice to see you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Linnet smiled. “What are you doing today, Caleb?” she asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I’m fitting some clothes for the new king,” he replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Linnet frowned. “I don’t think there’s something right here with this new king business.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Caleb smiled and moved his hand through the air as if wiping her doubts away. He changed the subject. “Would you like to come with me into the palace grounds? That’s where Eric is now. He helps the palace gardener pick the plums around this time every year. Maybe you could help them?” he suggested.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>A big smile crept over Linnet’s face. Maybe this is the way I can get into the palace. At least the palace grounds. “Yes, I’d like that,” she said out loud.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Inside, the grounds were huge. Eric saw here and waved her over.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Hi, Linnet! What are you doing here?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Your father said maybe I could help pick plums.” The raven haired girl explained a little uncertainly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Most certainly!” boomed a big voice from behind Eric. “You are most welcome to help.” The voice belonged to a round, jolly man that Linnet assumed to be the gardener. “We are always in need of help. In fact if you are available right now, I can put you to work right away.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Of course, I’m here.” Linnet replied cheerfully.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Thank you. Take these two buckets over to the kitchen door behind those bushes to the right. Tell the soldiers there that you’re working for me and they will let you in.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright,” said Linnet brightly. She picked up the buckets and headed towards the kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Where do you think you’re going?”asked one of the soldiers a bit gruffly, but she could tell he was struggling to maintain the gruffness. She judged him to be about seventeen years old.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I’m taking these plums to the cook from the gardener.” Linnet retorted, looking the soldier straight in the eye. She noticed he had brown eyes to match his hair.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, alright.” The soldier grinned at the determination in her green eyes. He opened the door for her and she walked in. After delivering the plums, she walked out and noticed that one of the soldiers had left.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Where did your friend go?” she asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“To lunch. Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” he asked looking intently at her face. He thought she was about fifteen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No, I don’t believe so, what’s your name?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Mark Williams.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No, we haven’t met, Nice try.” Linnet started to walk off, but Mark called her back. “Yes?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You didn’t tell me your name.” Mark said with a twinkle in his eye.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet.” She replied saucily and walked off.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">Chapter 3<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“See you tomorrow, Linnet!” Eric called as he left.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Bye!”she called back; she turned to the gardener. “I’m goin to take these last two buckets of plums to the kitchen, then I’ll leave.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Thanks for coming young miss,” said the gardener. “do you want to come tomorrow as well?”he inquired eagerly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Linnet thought about this, then replied, “Yes, I’d like to.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Great!” he boomed. “See you tomorrow. Oh, if you get here early just ask the soldier on guard to let you in. Tell him you’re working for me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“But what if he won’t let me in?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“He will if you show him this.” He held out a piece of paper with the king’s golden seal in the center, surrounded by green grass. “It’s a palace grounds pass. You can get into the grounds anytime you want. That’s your payment for helping me with the plums.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Thank you,” breathed Linnet. Now I can get in the palace grounds anytime I want! This is perfect! She smiled to herself as the thoughts flew through her head. She picked up the two remaining plum buckets and headed to the kitchen. Once again the only soldier on duty was the young man she had talked to previously. “Don’t you ever get dinner?” she inquired as she came out of the kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, my friend bring me the leftovers,” he joked. “No, really I go inside the barracks and eat when he comes back.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Do you ever go inside the actual palace?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Sometimes, Captain Thorn assigns me to inside duty every once in a while. Why?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>This soldier goes inside the palace, she thought wildly. Maybe if I form a friendship with him, he could show me the palace someday. That would be a way to get inside. Out loud she lied, “I’ve always been so fascinated with the palace. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then, bye!” She turned to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Bye!” he called.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>The rest of the day Linnet’s thoughts were consumed with the young soldier. I’ve got to start calling him by his name. Mark was it? I think so. Oh, and tomorrow I’ve got to get my own lunch to bring. Eric shared his lunch with me today, but I don’t want him doing that every day. Her thoughts turned to memory lane. She definitely didn’t want to owe anybody anything. That was how she lost her parents. They had lived in Oval, the next village over. They had been so in debt that they hadn’t been able to keep the house. So the old king had imprisoned them until they could pay. That was ten years ago. She had been a small child of four then. She had stayed with a neighbor woman until two years ago; the woman had died of smallpox. Linnet had thought it wise to leave the germ infested village, so she had moved to Mill, the country’s capital. She laughed suddenly. Just remembering how Eric had shared his lunch with her had brought on memories of the past. As she lay down to sleep she sleepily murmured her parent’s names. “Jonathan and Alice Jobel.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Eric! Is your dad home?” Linnet called on the tailor’s home midmorning the next day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, do you want me to get him?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Please.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“What can I do for you Linnet?” asked Caleb pleasantly. “Do you need some sewing done?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No, I would like to ask you a question. Do you think that I could come with you the palace and help with your tailoring for the new king? You know I’m just as good at sewing as Eric or you. Well, maybe not you, but at least as good as Eric. I could help you a lot, and Eric could still do his job helping the gardener.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“If this were any other situation, I would agree immediately. But we are talking about a job involving the king! I will talk to the king about having you help me today. I will let you know tomorrow. In the meantime, why don’t you help the gardener?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Okay, thanks Caleb. I guess I did tell the gardener I would help again today. So I’d better go now.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet, do you want to walk with me? I’m leaving now.” Eric offered.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No thanks, I have to get my lunch for today.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Okay, see you there!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Frieda!” Linnet called as she ran into the butcher shop. “Guess what? I have a palace grounds pass so I can go inside the grounds anytime I want!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“That’s great!” Frieda said. “Now you can search the grounds at least.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, well I talked to Caleb. He’s going to ask the king if I can help him with his sewing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Do you think he’s going to let you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I hope so. Well I’ll see you later. I have to buy my lunch today.”Frieda waved goodbye and ran off.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Are you going somewhere, Linnet?” Jacob the butcher asked as he handed her the meat.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Didn’t you hear Frieda, Jacob?”laughed Livia as she came into the shop. “Linnet’s working in the palace now.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You are?” asked Jacob in with a mock incredulous tone. “Look out, she’s going to become queen someday.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Linnet couldn’t help smiling. “I don’t think so Jacob. Where did Frieda go? I forgot to ask her.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“She went to help Ruth with some spices for her shop. The poor woman is very shaken up about the royal family.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Linnet decided it would be better not to tell anyone except Frieda about her ideas. She didn’t know what the adults would think about it. “Do you know how Richard and Naomi are doing?” she inquired. “I haven’t seen them around for a while, and their tanning shop is closed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“They went on a trip to get more hides,” said a voice behind her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, hello Joanna.” Linnet smiled. “You remind me; I’d better get going to help Eric with the plums.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright, dear, it was nice seeing you,” called Joanna in a soft voice befitting a tailor’s wife. “She’s such a nice girl.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Hello, Linnet!”the gardener’s voice was as booming as ever. “Nice to see you! Do you want to take these buckets in to the kitchen?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, I’ll do that right away.” She set her lunch down and picked up the heavy metal buckets. As she neared the kitchen door, she could hear someone talking to himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I know there’s something wrong. It’s just not right. The advisors are lying I know it. But if I say something to anyone, I’ll be charged with treason. What will I do?” the voice was agitated and nervous.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You could talk to someone who feels the same way,” said Linnet softly as she stepped into full view of the kitchen door.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>The soldier who had been talking to himself was Mark. He stared at her with his mouth open. “You heard me?” he asked bewildered. “I didn’t think anyone was in the palace this early except for the tailors that are working on the king’s new robe for the coronation today at noon.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I’m here early to help the gardener and cook with the plums until noon. Then I’m leaving.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Right. You’re Linnet correct?” he said more composed now. “Please don’t turn me in, I’m only seventeen. I didn’t mean anything by it.” His voice sank again and he looked at her pleadingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Linnet smiled reassuringly. “I know how you feel, Mark, I feel the same way. But I do have to deliver these plums or there will be no plum pudding for after the coronation.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright.” Mark opened the door for her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet, you feel the same way that something is wrong?” Mark asked, a little puzzled as she stepped out into the light after delivering the plums.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes—”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet!” Eric yelled. “Come on, we’ve got two more buckets for you!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Coming!” she turned to Mark. “Meet me outside the palace gates by the tanner’s shop tonight at ten. We’ll talk then.” She scurried away. In a few minutes, she was back. “Door, please.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Mark was still confused. “Linnet, aren’t there people at the tanner’s shop?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No, the tanner and his wife are away on a hunting trip. Don’t wear your uniform alright? People might notice you. Why don’t you disguise yourself as a villager? I can get you an outfit at noon when I go home. At five o’ clock I’m coming back to finish the plums after the ceremony is over. I’ll bring you an outfit then. Oh my! It’s noon, I’d better go! Bye!”she hurried away, leaving them both thinking about the evening’s rendezvous.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><br clear="all" style="page-break-before: always;" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Chapter 4</div><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Not that, not that, most certainly not that,” Linnet sighed as she looked through the trunk the neighbor woman had managed to keep when the soldiers had taken their home. “Will I ever find anything for him?” She had spent almost the whole afternoon cleaning up her small living space, now she barely had any time to search for a disguise for Mark. “Aha!” she pulled an old outfit of her father’s out of the trunk. It had been small on her father, so it should fit Mark.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Maybe I should change too.” She muttered thoughtfully, smoothing down her worn but neat dress. “It might come in handy, even though everyone knows me.” The town clock rang the hour. She jumped, then slammed the lid of the trunk down. Quietly she walked out of the alley she called home.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Halfway there, she realized she hadn’t changed or brought something to change into. Too late now, she thought. Quickly she showed the guard her pass and hurried in.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Hello, young miss,” the gardener eagerly waved to her. “You’re here early. Eric isn’t here yet.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“He isn’t? He usually beat me here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Not this afternoon, but I got out here at a quarter to five, as soon as the ceremony ended and I’ve been picking plums ever since. They need to be picked before they go bad. The ceremony today set us back. You can take these two buckets here to the kitchen, then maybe Eric will be here to help me pick.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>The gardener seemed to notice her bundle for the first time. “What’s that?” he asked curiously.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Linnet thought quickly. “It’s..um..my dinner.” Her heart pounded as she hoped the man would believe her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, I see.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>She breathed a sigh of relief as she took the buckets and bundle to the kitchen. “Mark,” she called softly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I brought you the outfit I promised.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Thank you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Welcome, door please.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“When do we meet?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“When the clock strikes ten.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>*****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> DING</span>! DING! The clock finished striking ten. Mark crept out of the barracks quietly. His meeting tonight depended on his getting out of here quickly and quietly. Suddenly he jerked to a halt. He forgot about the sentry that guarded the barracks to prevent deserters.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Groaning softly to himself, he walked up the sentry and whispered, “John, you can go to bed now. I’m on guard duty now. It’s ten o’ clock.” He held his breath hoping that John would buy his story.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright Mark go ahead.” John turned and stumbled to bed and was soon asleep.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Mark smiled to himself as he slipped out into the night.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>*****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Linnet also heard the clock strike the hour. She got up off her pile of furs and slipped on an old dress of her mother’s. Fondly smoothing it down she smiled with memories. Then shaking her head slowly, she slipped out of the alley into the street. Looking right and left she started walking toward the tanner’s shop. When she arrived, she looked around for Mark. Not seeing him she crouched down next the building to wait.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>*****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Who goes there?” called the gate sentry.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Mark froze in his steps. Several thoughts flew through his head. Run! Hide! Show him my pass! Lie! What do I do? He took a deep breath to calm himself down then called up to the sentry, “Your relief, it’s ten o’ clock.” I hope he buys my story..thought Mark wildly. His heart was beating so loudly, he was sure the man could hear it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Wonderful!” called the man joyfully. “See you tomorrow! And thank you!” he added as he came down and headed toward the barracks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Suddenly Mark remembered he was supposed to be guarding the barracks. He turned and sneaked back to the barracks, just barely beating the sentry. He waited until the sentry fell asleep then left. I’ve wasted enough time trying to get out of here, he said to himself. He finally crept out of the gates at ten thirty.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>*****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Where is Mark? Is he coming at all? Did he set me up? Linnet asked herself over and over. Suddenly she tensed, she could hear someone creeping down the empty street.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet?” called a soft voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Mark.” Linnet stood and greeted him. “What took you so long?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Sorry, I had to get out of there.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“It’s alright. Let’s go.” She turned, but Mark caught her arm.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Go where? I thought we were talking here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Of course not, we’re going to my place. Come on.” She led him to the alley. “Sit, please.” She pointed to a second pile of furs across from her own bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You live in an alley? With furs?” Mark was puzzled.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, the tanner gives me extra furs, when people won’t buy them.” She made no comment about the alley.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Mark moved on. “You said you believed that something is wrong here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, I do. I think that the advisors would be too scared to kill the entire family. At most they would imprison them. Don’t you think so?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, I especially agree with the part about the advisors being too scared. I’ve met them all before and they couldn’t have the courage to kill them all..yet.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“What do you mean yet?” It was Linnet’s turn to be puzzled.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I mean they might have the courage once they had the people behind them. Which they do now..”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, you are right. You said you knew the advisors right?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes—”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“This is perfect! Do you know where their rooms are?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes—”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Listen! If you can get guard duty inside tomorrow, I might be able to meet you inside!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“How?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“My friend Eric’s dad is tailoring for the supposed king. He was going to ask the king if I could help him. Then we could search their rooms together!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“That’d be great, but what if you can’t get inside?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Then you can search them. And we’ll meet here again tomorrow night at ten.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright. Well I should get back. I’m on guard duty.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright, bye!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>*****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Caleb! Can I go?” Linnet was breathless with excitement the next morning as she eagerly questioned Caleb.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No, little one. King Simon does not want anyone else. I am sorry.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Okay, thank you.” She tried to hide her great disappointment. How am I supposed to get in now? Plum season is over so I don’t really have a reason to go into the palace grounds. I know, I can tell the cook I’m there to help him! Her mind dictated her course of action and she marched to the palace.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You there!” called the tower guard. “Halt!” He came down from his post and said almost apologetically, “I’ve got to check you out. It’s a new rule especially since that soldier got arrest early this morning. I forgot to ask, do you have a pass?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, but it’s only to the palace grounds.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, I see. Well you’re alright, you can go in now.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“What did you say about that soldier that got arrested?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, some soldier, I think they said his name was Mark or something, was snooping around in the advisor’s chambers. It seems that he had especially asked for inside duty that morning. They took him to the dungeon about eight o’ clock this morning I think.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh I see, thank you.” Linnet’s voice was calm, but her mind was wild. This is really bad! Mark has been arrested! What do we do? More importantly, what do I do?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">Chapter 5<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>What’ll I do? I can’t just leave him to rot in some cell because of one of my ideas. It’s my fault he was arrested. I could never pretend I don’t know anything about him consciously. What’ll I do? Linnet’s thoughts consumed her. Her heart was pounding so loud she was sure that everyone she passed could hear it. She headed listlessly toward the palace door.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Halt!” a voice jolted to her to a stop. “Do you have a pass for inside?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No I need one. I’m helping the cook today. He knows me. I helped the gardener with the plums.” Linnet explained.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Well, if you need to get into the kitchen, can’t you use the kitchen door?” said the soldier the voice belonged to, a little annoyed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, yes, sorry.” She murmured. She turned and headed toward the kitchen door. “Excuse me, could you let me in, I’m helping the cook today.” She timidly asked the soldier on guard.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I guess,” he yawned.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Hello, cook!” she called half-heartedly. Her mind was still on Mark.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Hello, Linnet! Say are you here to help me today? Because one of my usual girls is sick. Her job isn’t the nicest and it’s not the cleanest of jobs, so one can imagine that she’d be sick, but could you do it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“What is it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Taking the food to the prisoners.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, sure I could do that.” She tried not to sound eager, but she was. Prisoners, that meant Mark and possibly the royal family. She grimaced as she looked into the smelly pail of prisoner’s food. She reminded herself she really didn’t want to be arrested.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“There you go. Just ask the guard outside the door, he’ll show you the way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Thanks, cook.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Where are you goin?” asked the guard gruffly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“To dungeon to take food to the prisoners.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, alright, follow me.” He led her through a maze of corridors and hallways. Finally he stopped outside an old wooden door. “You can go through here and ask the guard in there where to go. I’ll be waiting out here, when you’re done.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, that won’t be necessary, I can find my way back, really I can.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>He hesitated then agreed. “Alright.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Taking a a deep breath she walked through the door. She wasn’t prepared for the smell that greeted her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You there! Are you the one with the food for the prisoners?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright, follow me.” He led her through a hallway, then stopped at a door and unlocked it. “You can put a spoonful of that slop in the pan, then come back out.” He glanced nervously back at the door.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>She tried to put a spoonful into the thin pan without spilling and wasn’t successful.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“That’s alright,” said the prisoner quietly. “I’ll get it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Mark?” Linnet whispered excitedly. “Is that you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Mark, we have to get you out of here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I know.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Maybe you could switch clothing with the guard.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright, how?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Are you almost done?” called the soldier nervously. “There are other prisoners too, you know. No, wait, there’s no more prisoners for you to feed. I mean..oh just come on.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Mark, grab my arms and hold them. I’ll call for help and you slug him.”<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright, come here.” He grabbed her arm and she screamed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Help me! He’s got me!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh great,” the soldier muttered as he walked in. A thud later, a young guard emerged with a girl at his side.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Come on there are other prisoners to feed too.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Coming.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You there.” A gruff voice stopped them. “Where are you going?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Luke! It’s just me and girl that feeds the prisoners.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“She doesn’t feed these. Give me the food girl.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, sir.” Timidly she handed him the bucket.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Get out.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Without a word, she turned and hurried back. Before they were completely out of earshot, the heard Luke’s companion say, “I’m glad that after tomorrow we don’t have to guard this cell anymore. It’s too nerve wracking.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Tell me about it. The advisors said that we should stay down here until Saturday. Then Sunday afternoon the advisors said that they are going to rid the country of these traitors.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, they didn’t have the power to kill them all at first, but now that the people are behind them, their courage has increased.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Mark did you hear that?” Linnet asked fearfully. “They’re going to kill the royal family tomorrow afternoon!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“We have to do something fast!” Mar exclaimed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“SHHH.” Whispered Linnet glancing back the way they had come. “Do you want them to hear you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Sorry, I got excited.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I noticed,” said Linnet with a smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“But, seriously, what are we going to do?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I don’t know. We’ll have to think fast. Listen you can’t be seen outside the palace with the jail guard’s clothes on. You need to change back into your uniform and then get out of here. I know! You could head over to my place. You remember where it is right?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, I think so.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“It’ll be the perfect place to hide out until tonight when I come home. Nobody goes into my alley.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Thanks, but I can’t change into my uniform. I was arrested this morning remember? If they caught you helping me, we could both be thrown back into prison.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Dress as a peasant. Where are those clothes I gave you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Under my bed in the barracks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Are the barracks guarded during the day?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Sometimes, why?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Because I may be able to get in there to get those clothes. I’ll say I’m the girl cleaning the barracks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“That would work.” Mark looked at the bright eyed young girl next to him. She was so smart and brave. He didn’t think he would’ve had the courage to do anything about it, but she did.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Now I have to go tell the cook I’m feeling sick and I have to go home.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No, don’t say that. He’ll send you to the doctors. Why don’t’ you tell him you have something you forgot you had to do today? I’ll wait here for the clothes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright, don’t let your face be seen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I won’t. Good luck.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">Chapter 6<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Good, no guard. Okay, now which one is Mark’s? Puzzled, she looked around at the mess of uniforms, clothes, and weapons littering the floor. Men. She laughed to herself at the mess. I forgot to ask him which one his was. I guess I might as well start cleaning, that way if someone comes in I’ll have a proper excuse. Goodness, where do I start?<span> </span>As she looked around, she saw at least five hundred bunks. Sighing, she began to pick up the nearest uniform. Looking closely at it, she realized there was name sewn on to it. M. J. WILLIAMS. With a start she realized this must be Mark’s. Okay…she thought, this is Mark’s uniform but where’s his bed? It must be around here somewhere…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You there!” a young voice trying to sound important made her jump. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>She was tired of being startled by yelling voices. She turned around to see a young soldier watching her suspiciously. “I’m here to clean the barracks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, do you need any help?” he smiled charmingly, but she was on her guard.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No, well actually yes. Do you know where Mark Williams’ bunk is? This is his uniform, but I can’t find his bunk to know where to put it away.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>He laughed. “Apparently you aren’t looking hard enough. All the bunks have the name of the soldier that occupies it carved into it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Oh, thank you. What are you doing here? Are you the guard?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>He frowned. “No, but I’d like to be. I’m just a common foot soldier. I came to get my sword for drills. Why do you ask?” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Because there is a very angry officer running toward the barracks. I expect he’s looking for you. Does that mean anything to you?” Linnet smiled slightly smugly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes,” he sighed. “That’s my commanding officer, Captain Thorn. He probably is looking for me, I’d better get my sword before he reaches the barracks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Private Jonathan! Get back to the parade grounds immediately. Five lashes for forgetting your sword and another five for being late! Get out there now!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, sir, Captain Thorn, right away.” Jonathan grabbed his sword and ran like the wind back to the parade grounds.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Capt. Thorn looked around the messy barracks. “Five lashes for every soldier tonight for unacceptable barracks.” He muttered to himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Please, sir, don’t give Private Jonathan those five lashes for being late. I made him late, I asked where this goes, and he was trying to help me and get his sword.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“And you might you be?” Capt. Thorn saw her for the first time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I’m the village girl who cleans the barracks, sir.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Then do that and leave my soldiers alone!” He thundered, then wheeled and marched away with his head held high.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Alright then, I hope you fall into a hole with your nose in the air.” Linnet muttered as she looked around for Mark’s bunk.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>She studied the bunks and their names. “S. J. WILCOX, J. G. JUMPER, M. J. WILLIAMS…” she grinned triumphantly. Bending down she found the bundle of peasant clothes. Smiling to herself she headed back towards the kitchen door.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Where is she? Did she run into trouble? Is she okay? Where is she? Mark’s thoughts jumped from question to question as he waited for her return. Any second now she would round that bend carrying the bundle with his clothes in them. Suddenly, he heard a commotion down the corridor.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Come on girl, don’t fuss,” commanded a stern voice. “We won’t hurt you, we’re just goin to put you in a cell to cool off for a while alright?” he smiled as he pulled the girl along with hardly any effort. As he rounded the bend, Mark saw that the girl was Linnet! “This’ll teach you to try and sneak in the front way without a pass.” He threw her into Mark’s arms. “Here, put here in one of the cells, she was trying to sneak in the front way without a pass.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Okay, I’ll do that.” Mark tried to sound like the former guard.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Careful, she’s a feisty one.” The man warned Mark as he walked away.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet! What were you thinking?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I wanted to get down here without being seen by the cook so I went the front way. It almost worked.” She smiled mischievously. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Still…did you get the clothes?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes. Go to my place quickly. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>*****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>How am I supposed to get out of here? Linnet hadn’t thought this far ahead. I’m supposed to be in jail. Wait, nobody knows that except for the soldiers at the entrance and Mark. I guess I’ll go through the kitchen although I hate to…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet! Where’d you spring from?” The cook was puzzled.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I…uh..was…uh cleaning the barracks and I…um…thought I’d get a drink from the well.” It was a lame excuse.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“But I didn’t see you come in.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Well…uh…I did come in, but I’ve got to go now, bye!” She quickly left the confused cook standing in the middle of his kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Whew!” she sighed. “I just got through that one.” She hurried out of the gates without anyone stopping her. A smile crossed her face as she walked home. When she reached her alley she looked around to see if anyone was watching. Seeing nobody she entered the alley.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet, nice place.” Mark said quietly as she hurried in and pulled the dark, heavy curtain closed behind her. “I didn’t see properly the other night. It was too dark.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Thanks, Mark. We have to plan. Do you have a palace pass still?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes—”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Great, we’ll get in that way. We’ll need……”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>*****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You got everything, Mark?” Linnet whispered.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, here they come. SHHH.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Careful, Private Luke. I don’t want my trophies damaged.” King Simon growled.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, sir.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“My most revered King Simon, should we torture them first and then kill them or just kill them the quick way?” asked Lord Godwin.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“This is my moment of my final victory. Of course we’re going to torture them first.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, my king.” Lord Godwin replied. He looked at his brother, Lord Wulf. “My brother, we shall finally be Dukes after this moment.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, my brother we shall,” purred Lord Wulf contentedly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“This will do Private Luke,” the self-proclaimed king ordered, as they stepped into a clearing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, my king.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Give it up, Simon!” ordered a voice from behind the trees. “We have to surrounded!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Another voice answered the first behind Simon, “Yes, we do, Simon. I suggest you give it up. Turn them over to us, and we’ll let you live, but if you don’t’ we’ll truss you up and send you back to be executed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>At this Private Luke let loose an arrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You really think I’m going to give them up without a fight?” Simon yelled angrily. “How dare you not address me as king?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I dare,” growled the first voice and an arrow zipped out from the trees and Luke slipped to the ground with a sigh.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“I will hold you accountable for murdering this fine soldier!” The fake king screamed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You can’t. That was in self-defense. He fired the first shot,” shouted the first voice angrily.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Suddenly a hail of arrows surrounded the would-be king and his lords. They threw themselves on the ground to protect their precious hides. A young soldier stepped from the trees and tied them up. Another figure in an uniform that was too big stepped into the clearing as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Where are they?” asked the second soldier in a gruff voice that was obviously strained.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“In the cart.” Was the curt reply.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“The second soldier ran to the cart and pulled off the cover. The soldier smiled beautifully as the royal family coughed and blinked in the sudden light. “Right this way please, your majesties.” The figure said in a much different voice as the person took of the helmet. Long, wavy, black hair fell down Linnet’s back.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“A girl!” gasped Simon. “A girl outwitted us!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“With some help,” she retorted as Mark took off his helmet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Thank you ever so much!” choked the king.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“You are most welcome your majesty,” Linnet said as she bowed. “But this is only the beginning!” she smiled as she straightened up.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" /> </span> <div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">Chapter 7<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“The royal family has returned!” the watchman cried happily. “Ceremony today!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>People cheered as the royal family was paraded through the town in sedan chairs. When they reached the ceremony platform, the king stood up to give a speech.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Today, I am back. Before I tell you the story, I would like to present to you the heroine and hero of this story, the two people that saved my family and myself from certain death. I present to you, Miss Linnet Richardson and Mr. Mark Williams!” People cheered as they ascended the stairs to the top of the ceremony stand.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“These two young people saved our lives and now I would like to present them with the King and Queen’s medal of courage. These will be presented by my daughter, Princess Rosalind and my son, Prince Robert.” He turned to his children and handed them the medals to present to Linnet and Mark.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>After the medals were placed around their necks, the king asked them if there was something they wanted.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>I would like to be a Captain, but…went through Mark’s mind, while through Linnet’s it was different. I would like my parents to be freed if they’re still alive, which I doubt. I’ve been down in the dungeon and there were only two cells full of prisoners, so….<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No, sir,” they said almost in unison. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Let me know if there is anything, alright? You both deserve it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Yes, your majesty.” This time they were in unison.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"> <span> </span>“I would like to tell you all something.” King Jonathan continued. “I am not the song of the former king.” A gasp arose from the crowd. “I was a peasant who couldn’t pay his taxes, so the king had me thrown in jail along with my wife, leaving our young daughter alone. I was not King Jonathan then, I was Jonathan Jobel..” The king continued on with his story, but Linnet wasn’t listening. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Jobel…he said his former name was Jobel. That was my parent’s name, and mine before I changed it…Why the king is my…. Linnet fainted before she could finish the thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>When she came to, Ruth was bathing her forehead with a cool cloth. Mark and the royal family were standing around her looking concerned. Suddenly what she had thought of before hit her. She sat up suddenly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“King Jonathan, Queen Alice, you said your former name was Jobel and that you were a peasant who couldn’t pay his taxes…did you live here?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“No, we lived in a small village called Oval. Why do you ask?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“When I was four, soldiers came and took away my parents. A neighbor woman took me in until she died two years go. I was thirteen then. After that I moved here and changed my name from Jobel to Richardson.” She finished to find the king and queen staring hard at her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet?” Queen Alice asked disbelievingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Mother.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Linnet!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>Mother and daughter hugged elatedly. “Hey, let me get in here,” laughed Jonathan as he hugged his long lost daughter. Rosalind and Robert stood a little awkwardly to one side until Linnet called them over and hugged them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“It’s good to see you all!” Linnet smiled warmly, then looked over at Mark. “Thank you Mark, for helping me free my parents and siblings.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span>“Well, I wasn’t doing it for you,” he laughed. “I was doing it for the country.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;"><span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-35260049643700044842011-09-27T21:24:00.000-07:002011-09-27T21:24:00.692-07:00Aisle Seven<div style="text-align: center;">The short story I wrote for Creative Writing this week:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"Aisle Seven"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> “Clean up on aisle seven!” a voice boomed over the loudspeakers. I sighed, why was it always aisle seven? Why couldn’t it be aisle nine? Aisle seven meant cleaning up soup or tomato sauce or some other such substance. There were cookies and chips on aisle nine. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Dani, you got that clean up?” my manager called in my direction as she hurried past me. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Sure thing, Mae.” Inwardly, I groaned. I trudged towards the backroom to get a mop and bucket. As I passed aisle seven, I glanced down it to see what the mess was. This time, I groaned out loud. Some idiot had knocked over about ten glass jars of tomato sauce creating a pool of red across the entire width of the aisle. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>As I waited for the bucket to fill up with water, another employee rushed into the backroom. “Dani, are you cleaning up aisle seven?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Yes, I’m waiting for the water to—”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“You had better hurry. People are trying to shop on that aisle and someone slipped and almost fell.” He ran out of the room again, probably to go spread the news of the disaster to other employees. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>I hauled the full bucket to aisle seven, dragging the mop behind me. “Excuse me,” I murmured to one of the shoppers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">She moved out of my way. “Sorry, dear.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“It’s quite alright,” I smiled at her, forcing the happiness to bubble out of my reluctant lips. “I just don’t want to get you wet.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Trying to look pleased about cleaning up tomato slop, I swished the mop back and forth across the linoleum. A strand of brown hair fell out of my pony tail and stuck to my sweaty face. I tried to blow it out of my face, but it failed to move. I decided to forget about it and just finish the job as quickly as possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Footsteps came towards me. I saw a pair of brown knee-high boots standing in front of me. I looked up and barely hid the surprise on my face. “Can I help you, sir?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The man looked like a pirate. He was wearing a baggy white shirt and tight cropped black pants with a red sash tied around his hips. He was deeply tanned and his brown hair was done in dreads. He tipped his tricorn hat to me. “I was actually looking for some beef stew.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I pointed behind me. “At the end of the aisle.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Thank you, madam.” He swaggered by me and dramatically picked up three cans of stew. I shook my head. The things I saw on aisle seven…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I had almost finished mopping up the sauce, when a young girl walked down the aisle. She scanned the shelves, looking for goodness knows what, when she saw the red water in my bucket. “Is that blood?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“No, it’s—”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">She screeched. “I hate blood.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Well, that’s alright because this is not blood, it’s just tomato—”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">She doubled over and vomited on the floor. Twice. I threw my head back and sighed, then looked at her with a plastered smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Can I help you get to the bathroom?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">She shook her head; the green color rising in her cheeks. She turned and ran the other way down the aisle calling for her mother. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I quickly finished mopping the tomato sauce up and hauled the bucket back to the storeroom to empty it. I dumped it out and re-filled it. One of my co-workers was sitting down on break in the corner, reading a book.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Hey, Tony, could you do me a favor and bring a caution sign to aisle seven?” I hoped I looked desperate enough that he would consider taking five minutes of his break to help me.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">He looked up and grinned. “You look stressed, Dani.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I just looked at him. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">He laughed. “Sure, I can bring you a sign.” He got up and picked up a couple wet floor signs. He followed me back to aisle seven. Instead of just dropping them on the floor, he set them up, one on each end of the aisle—carefully side-stepping the vomit. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Thanks, Tony.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“No problem, kid.” He lightly punched my shoulder before going back to the storeroom.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I stoically started cleaning up the girl’s vomit, trying not to inhale too deeply. Just as I was mopping up the last of it, the ground started to shake. People screamed and started running around yelling, “Earthquake!” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Glass jars, cans, packets of seasoning, and other foods tumbled down from the shelves. I darted around, avoiding the falling cans. Several of them fell into the water bucket, splashing the dirty water over the floor. I glared at the bucket, knowing that I would have to clean all this up after the quake stopped. Before I could dwell on this unpleasantness much longer, something hit my head and I fell to the shaking ground. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I woke up to someone gently shaking my shoulder. “Dani? You alright?” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I sat up, groggily. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I shook my head slowly, clearing the fog. “Just hit my head is all I think.” I looked around me at the damage on aisle seven. “I had better start cleaning up.”<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Tony—still standing over me—laughed. “Dani, Dani, only you would want to start cleaning just a few seconds after you wake up from being unconscious.” He helped me to my feet. “I’ll help you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I gave him a lopsided grin. Together, we picked up the many squashed cans and broken glass and stuffed them into a large garbage bag. He re-filled the water bucket and I mopped up the tomato sauce. We had just finished cleaning up, when two girls strolled down the aisle.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“That was like, the scariest thing I’ve ever, like, lived through. I can’t like believe that we like didn’t like die.” One dramatically waved her hands as she spoke. <span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The other looked around at the wet floor and half empty shelves. “This aisle is like the messiest one.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I looked at Tony. “What is it with aisle seven? I think it has a curse on it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">He laughed. The two girls looked at him and immediately began whispering to each other. I rolled my eyes. I mean, yes, Tony was attractive, but really? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The first girl walked up to Tony. “You’re like the cutest grocery worker I’ve ever like seen. Do you want to like go get dinner sometime?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">He stared at her. Before he could respond the other girl came up. “You’re stupid if you think he would want to go out with you. I mean really, look at you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">They started arguing about who was prettier and more suited to dating a complete stranger like Tony. The fight quickly progressed from heated words to shouting until the second girl punched her friend in the nose. Blood started pouring out of her nose. More shouting ensued and the fight came to more blows. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Girls, girls,” Tony stepped in and separated them while I stared in amazement at the brawling teenagers. “Really, I’m not worth it. Besides, I’m taken.” He reached over and pulled me to him. I smiled at them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">They burst into tears and limped down the aisle towards the front doors. Tony and I exchanged an incredulous look. We started to carry the mop and bucket back to the storeroom. A woman wearing an elaborate wedding dress appeared at the end of the aisle.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Oh, wait!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">We turned around and I couldn’t help it—my eyes widened a bit when I saw her garb. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“I need your help, please.” She held out her hands to us in supplication. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“How can we help you, ma’am?” Tony asked courteously. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">She clasped her hands together in front of her chest. “My wedding is tomorrow and I am afraid that I will slip and fall while walking down the aisle. I was hoping that you could help me practice walking down the aisle.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I opened my mouth to emit some excuse why I did not have the time, but Tony beat me to it. “We would be happy to help, ma’am.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Oh, thank you, thank you! Will you be my father?” she turned to me. “And will you be the minister at the end of the aisle?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Sure,” I stretched my mouth into a smile and then once her back was turned, I glared at Tony for getting us into this predicament.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">He leaned over and whispered, “Hey, this beats cleaning.” I had to agree with him there.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I stood at the far end of aisle seven with the mop in my hand. Tony offered his arm to her at the other end. She draped her veil over her face and took his arm; her hand trembling. Tony patted her hand reassuringly. I coughed, trying not to laugh. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">She started to glide down the aisle, clinging to Tony’s arm for support. The solemn look on his face almost made me burst into laughter. I coughed again, nearly choking. Tony glared at me, trying to silence me, but it only made me want to laugh more. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">They made it to me without any mishaps. She smiled brilliantly and threw back her veil. “I did it!” she turned to Tony and grasped his hands. “Thank you for your help. You are the most compassionate and kindest person I have ever met in my life. I shall have to tell my fiancée that we will only shop here for our groceries.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Tony smiled back at her. “I am happy to be of service, ma’am.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">She turned and glided back down the aisle, humming as she went. The minute she was out of sight, I started laughing. Tony joined me. He wiped the tears from his face. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“I saw a pirate here earlier.” I said, giggling. This brought on a fresh bout of laughter from Tony. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“We can’t forget the brawling girls,” Tony added. I almost choked on my gum as I doubled over with laughter. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Eventually, I sighed as the laughter died down. “Well, aisle seven has managed to avoid disaster for five minutes; do you think it’s safe for us to leave?” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">He nodded. “I would assume it’s safe. When do you get off?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Five thirty.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">He offered me his arm. “I get off at six, would you like to go out for dinner?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I smiled at him, but a crash from behind me interrupted me. I turned around to see a little kid pulling cans and jars off the shelves. I made a face, and then snorted.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“I’d love to—but I think I’ll still be cleaning up aisle seven.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“So, then, I’ll pick you up at eight.” He winked at me as he handed me the bucket before walking back to the storeroom.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I shook my head in mock anger and turned to the job at hand: cleaning up on aisle seven.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-17434676793141890922011-09-19T16:48:00.000-07:002011-09-19T16:48:42.343-07:00Changed Routines<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is a story I wrote for my Creative Writing class a couple weeks ago. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Every Saturday morning, Grace Rowan stood at the corner of State and Grand; awaiting the 7:55 bus that would take her east towards the park. She dressed neatly, yet comfortably for the hour long drive. She always sat in the fifth row back in the outside seat on the right side. There were rarely other people on the bus—it was too early on a Saturday for most people to be awake. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">One stop later, at the corner of State and Kensing, another regular passenger boarded the bus. He was tall, with dark brown hair and piercing green eyes. Grace always looked out the window as he boarded, pretending not to notice him. He sat on the outside seat, five rows back on the left side. He greeted her with a brief nod every morning; she returned it out of common courtesy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Silently, Grace and the man rode the bus to the park. They stood up at the same time, but he always let Grace go first. Grace got off the bus and walked north to her favorite hiking trail. The man walked behind her at an acceptable distance after getting a drink at the water fountain by the bus stop. Grace hiked up the Bent Twig trail; the man took the Eastern Cave trail. They met in the middle at the picnic grounds where the trails crossed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Grace always carried her backpack packed with a picnic lunch, a couple of notebooks, and a book or two. The man had a backpack with lunch and a single book inside. They ate lunch at tables separated by a shadow. Grace finished first. She re-packed her bag and headed up the Bent Twig trail. Both trails ended at the falls. Grace sat on the right side of the falls; she could see the man sitting against a rock on the left. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">At half past three, both would get up, dust the leaves off, and walk back to the bus stop. They would catch the 4:00 bus heading west and sit five rows back on the outside seat on the left and right sides of the bus. The man would get off at State and Kensing; Grace would debark at State and Grand and walk the short half a block to her home.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Every Saturday, the same routine repeated itself. Every Saturday for three years, Grace stood at the corner of State and Grand at 7:55; awaiting the bus going east towards the park. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">One Saturday, no one got on the bus at the corner of State and Kensing. Grace faintly wondered where he was. The ride to the park was different without the man’s strong presence across the aisle. She walked north, expecting to hear the man’s footsteps behind her. The park felt quiet without him following her. She ate lunch at the picnic area; the only person. When she reached the falls, she glanced across the divide but saw nothing but trees and birds. Grace walked back to the bus stop, so lost in thought that she almost missed the 4:00 bus. As she walked in the front door, she felt as though her Saturday routine had been changed; but nothing had. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The next week, Grace boarded the 7:55 bus heading east, preparing for another strange Saturday. When the bus stopped at the corner of State and Kensing, the tall stranger boarded and nodded at Grace as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. Grace nodded back out of habit. They arrived at the park and the man stopped at the drinking fountain before following Grace down the north path. They took their separate paths and met at the picnic grounds for lunch. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Grace couldn’t focus on her book. She closed it and opened another. When she had gone through all four books in her bag with no luck, she angrily threw them back in her pack. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“My best friend got married last Saturday,” the man commented, just loud enough for her to hear. “I was in the wedding.” He didn’t take his eyes off the pages of his book.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Grace jumped. “Oh,” she managed to say.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The silent lunch continued. Grace wondered why she had never talked to the man she’d shared her Saturdays with for three years before. “My name is Grace,” she said softly, keeping her eyes focused on her lunch.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">He looked up and smiled. “I’m Jim.” He gestured to the empty seat across his table. “Would you like to join me for lunch?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Grace nodded shyly and gathered her belongings to join Jim at his table. They started talking about their shared love of nature and ended up spending longer at lunch. When they finally got up to continue their hike towards the falls, Jim asked Grace if he could accompany her on the Bent Twig trail. She nodded and they continued their conversation up the trail until they reached the falls. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">They both sat down with their backs against a large rock and lapsed into a comfortable silence. At half past three, they both stood and headed back down the path towards the bus stop. They boarded the bus and sat in their usual seats. When the bus stopped at State and Kensing, Jim stood up. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Thank you for the conversation, Grace,” he smiled at her and got off the bus. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Grace rode the bus to her stop and walked to her house thinking about Jim. She realized that over the years, he had become an important part of her life—a key ingredient to her routines and her way of thinking. She savored every minute of their conversation from the park, going over it again and again, memorizing every word. She was looking forward to next Saturday even more than usual. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Grace got on the bus cheerfully that Saturday morning, excited about the chance to talk to Jim again. She had carefully packed a picnic lunch that she could share and her favorite books so she could talk to him about them. She craned her neck out the window on the right side of the bus when it pulled up to Jim’s stop. He didn’t get on. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Grace slumped back into her seat, confused. Where was he? Another wedding to attend? Her Saturday felt ruined. When the bus stopped next, she got off. The driver looked surprised. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Getting off already?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Yes, I changed my mind about going to the park today,” Grace quickly answered him. She walked home, unable to concentrate on anything. It frustrated her that Jim had become such an essential part of her life without her knowing it. She wanted to get to know the man who sat next to her on the bus every week. She determined that the next time she saw him; she would make an effort to ask him about himself. She reminded herself to be open to life and to not retreat into her shell of comfort.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The next morning, Grace shuffled outside in her fuzzy slippers and robe to get the Sunday paper. Yawning, she tucked it under her arm and walked back inside to grab a mug of steaming coffee. She plopped down in her kitchen chair, sloshing the hot liquid in her cup. She opened the paper and casually flipped through it, sipping her coffee. She skimmed through the ads as she always did, looking for a secretarial job or a free kitten. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Instead, she found an ad in the personals: “Wanted: a woman who likes to go to the city park every Saturday morning. Must like nature and writing and have the name Grace. For more information contact Jim Thorne at 716-879-0428.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Grace smiled as she read it and smiled as she picked up her phone to call. <o:p></o:p></span></div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-37082147541666898482011-09-02T16:00:00.000-07:002011-09-02T16:00:58.154-07:00Starbucks<div style="text-align: center;">Starbucks is America's favorite coffee place. Almost everyone gets their weekly, sometimes daily, coffee fix by ordering a specialty drink with a description that takes five minutes to relate. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"I'll have a skinny, non-fat, cinnamon dolce latte with no whipped cream, half and half cream, and just a sprinkling of sugar. Shaken."</div><div style="text-align: center;">(my aunt actually ordered something along these lines once. I stood there in awe as she listed off the different qualities her drink should possess.) </div><div style="text-align: center;">or </div><div style="text-align: center;">"I'll take a vanilla bean frappuccino with caramel, extra caramel and whipped cream with caramel drizzled over the top."</div><div style="text-align: center;">(my friend orders this, and I'll admit it's very delicious.)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">It makes me laugh.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I have to confess: I usually order a veinte iced coffee with milk, sweetened. Nothing super special, but it's a little more complicated than just ordering something off the menu. My other favorite is a caramel frappuccino, but I haven't gotten one in a while.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I usually go to Starbucks when I need to get away from campus to do some much-needed studying, or in today's case, do some much needed writing. Besides, coffee makes everything better.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">What do you order at Starbucks?</div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-47087538484525395412011-08-28T14:28:00.000-07:002011-08-28T14:28:05.220-07:00"Slammerkin"<div style="text-align: center;">I read "Slammerkin" by Emma Donoghue right after I read the "Sealed Letter" (or skimmed through most of it).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nFLiJnCu5E0t6yUQZVjLTRNOGJBfPeTEMOq9ieu21vdrQDEEMi1Mdu97OHJe5GzdBynmv9lxxW21-bUR5vFR6VE6-8nJI0TQNbNRRgYXK3eCE0PYV8HdUOSXMzRRFekySJ4y9Cxqz-FT/s1600/slammerkin-199x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nFLiJnCu5E0t6yUQZVjLTRNOGJBfPeTEMOq9ieu21vdrQDEEMi1Mdu97OHJe5GzdBynmv9lxxW21-bUR5vFR6VE6-8nJI0TQNbNRRgYXK3eCE0PYV8HdUOSXMzRRFekySJ4y9Cxqz-FT/s1600/slammerkin-199x300.jpg" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The main character, Mary, is a plain young girl living in the slums of London. Her family is very poor and she longs for bright, colorful things like she sees in the streets. One night, she asks a peddler to buy a ribbon, but the price is too much. She begs him for it; he rapes her and gives her a ribbon. When she gets home, she starts to tell her family what happened, but something prevents her. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">A few months later, her mother receives a note saying: "Your daughter is a hore. Just look at her." Her mother flattens Mary's dress against her stomach, sees the baby bump, and freaks out. She throws Mary out of the house to fend for herself. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Mary is 14. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">A prostitute, or "miss" as they're call in the book, finds Mary laying in the gutter after she's been accosted by several more men. Doll Higgins becomes Mary's good friend. She takes her to a place in London where Mary gets "the baby business" taken care of. She'll never be pregnant again. Because Mary is on her own, now, and Doll found her, Mary becomes a Miss, just like Doll. She likes the freedom and money that comes with the job, although she dislikes the job itself. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">About a year later, Mary gets sick and goes to a hospital for the winter. Doll tells her they let people in to take care of them and it's very easy living. When Mary leaves in the Spring, she goes back to find Doll frozen to death in the alley outside their apartment. She feels sick and scrapes together all the money she can find, packs her bags, and heads to a town in Welsh country where her mother grew up. She ends up as a maid/apprentice to a seamstress in town--an old friend of her mother's. Mary lies to her and tells her that her mother died with the final wish of Mary living with her old friend. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Mary hates being a maid. After a few complications, she finds a job as a Miss at a stable in town. She works nights as a Miss, and days as a maid. As this life continues, something snaps inside Mary. One day, she tries on a beautiful dress that her mistress has just finished making because she thinks she deserves it more than the customer. Her mistress finds her wearing the dress and tells her to take it off. Mary gets mad and kills her mistress. She is then put on trial and hanged, ending her life at 16 years of age.<br />
<br />
Throughout the book, Emma Donoghue points out that Mary's view of the world is very materialistic. She carefully hoards her stash of "expensive" clothing--which she finds out really isn't that valuable after working for her seamstress mistress. "Clothes are the greatest lie ever told" writes Emma.<br />
<br />
Her writing is much improved from <i>The Sealed Letter</i> although you may have to suffer through a few "gross" passages where Mary's tragedies are described in great detail. It's a dark book, but well written in general.</div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-33540502747638994662011-08-13T15:25:00.000-07:002011-08-13T17:03:41.298-07:00New Books!<div style="text-align: center;">Hey y'all. Just dropping by to share a few titles. These are the books that either I'm reading right now, or they're next on my reading list, or I read them this past week. Plus a new CD that I got.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"The Devil Wears Prada" </div><div style="text-align: center;">by Lauren Weisberger</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm reading it right now--I'm about halfway through it. Review to come soon!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"Violin"</div><div style="text-align: center;">by Anne Rice</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Next on my reading list. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"Lord John and the Private Matter"</div><div style="text-align: center;">by Diana Gabaldon</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I read this last week. I'll be doing a review on it sometime in the next couple of days.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches, & Proposals"</div><div style="text-align: center;">by Moira Allen</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm in the middle of reading it. It has some really good tips. Review soon.<br />
<br />
"Slammerkin"<br />
by Emma Donoghue<br />
<br />
I finished this a while ago and forgot to write a review. So I'll do that.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">aaaaand my new CD: "Eclecticity". It's the solo CD from one of the band members in Everywhere West. (the band that played in Cody, Wyoming. click <a href="http://www.chelseasrandomcraziness.com/2011/08/its-little-things-in-lifeyellowstone.html">here</a> for more info on them.) I highly suggest you check them out. Ryan Martin is the guy I have a CD of. He's an amazing instrumentalist.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Happy reading and listening!</div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2626094522909779118.post-67558032304286167322011-08-07T15:11:00.000-07:002011-08-07T15:11:53.022-07:00"The Sealed Letter"<div style="text-align: center;">I've been trying to read some new authors recently, and while I was at the library last week, I picked up a couple of Emma Donoghue's books. I started with <i>The Sealed Letter</i>. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Sealed Letter</i> centers on the Codrington divorce in 1864. Set in England, it's based on a true story, although some of the facts have been filled in by the imagination of the author. I can't summarize it any better than the inside leaf of the book does:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"Miss Emily "Fido" Faithfull is a "woman of business" and a spinster pioneer in the British women's movement, independent of mind but naively trusting of heart. Distracted from her cause by the sudden return of her once dear friend, the unhappily wed Helen Codrington, Fido is swept up in the intimate details of Helen's failing marriage to a stuffy admiral and her obsessive affair with a young army officer. What begins as a loyal effort to help a friend explodes into a courtroom drama that rivals the Clinton affair--complete with stained clothing, accusations of adultery, counterclaims of rape, and a mysterious sealed letter that could destroy more than one life."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Sound exciting? I thought so until I started reading. It started out interesting enough, with the story of Emily and Helen becoming acquainted once again and with Emily's discovery of Helen's affair. Emily tries to dissuade Helen from her army officer and Helen pretends to go along with it for a while, all the time continuing the affair. Emily finally agrees to help Helen, albeit reluctantly. One night, Helen sends a telegram to her husband claiming to be having dinner with Emily and her parents. When her husband responds with a message about their daughter being ill, and Helen doesn't show up for three hours, he becomes suspicious. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I'll be honest. That's as far as I got. Emma Donoghue wrote <i>The Sealed Letter</i> in present tense with an omniscient narrator. In other words, the author knows what everyone is thinking and constantly switches back and forth between characters. It was quite confusing and after a while, I found it too boring to labor through the constant POV switches. So, I skipped ahead to the end. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Captain Codrington, Helen's husband, ends up with custody of the children, and Helen ends up on the streets. (her lover has gone back to Scotland and gotten married, leaving her alone.) Helen comes to Emily to ask for money and takes everything Emily has readily available. Emily's reputation has been ruined by the sealed letter that Capt. Codrington produced as proof that Helen and Emily were "involved." Capt. Codrington sends Emily the sealed letter, telling her to open it if she wishes. She ends up opening it, right as the book ends. It's only a blank page. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">(By scanning through the middle, you read that the Captain's lawyers urged him to find something else they could pin on his wife. So, he creates a sealed letter from 7 years ago to use as proof. It's never opened during the trial, but is enough evidence for the Captain to win.)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">All things considered, it's a halfway decent book, although I wouldn't read it again simply because of the style of writing (present tense, omniscient narrator). However, the characters are well written, and the setting seems to be historically accurate. If you don't mind the style of writing, I would recommend it. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Chelsea Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16042209954946280327noreply@blogger.com0