Writing Challenge - Breaking The Boundaries But Not The Rules

Sara paced up and down the hallway, her long skirts rustling along the stone floor. Her father was in the throne room, asking the King for a boon that could change her life. As the daughter of a Count, her main goal in life was to marry and produce children. But Sara had a dream that she hoped would come true.

As a titled lady, she had received many instructions in things a lady and a future wife would need to know. As a child, she received singing lessons. These lessons were the highlight of her day, until ladies singing in court went out of vogue and the lessons stopped in favor of sewing frilly patterns on handkerchiefs.

I would sing when I was alone, but it wasn't the same as being able to raise my voice in court itself. I had several suitors but I couldn't decide on one. My father finally noticed that I was distant and moody, and sat me down to discuss what was going on. I told him about my feelings about singing and how it was the only thing that made my heart light. But I didn't want to break the rules of the court by pushing the issue.

My father was silent for a moment and then told me he would have to do some thinking. I thought that was the end of it. I was very surprised when my father came to me yesterday and said that he was going to have an audience with the King about the singing issue. My heart leaped and I slept very little. Now I was forced to pace outside as I waited to hear what the King's answer was.

The great doors opened and a page beckoned me to him. As I approached, the page said, "The King would like to see you."

My hands trembled as I followed the page back into the throne room. The King and my father were smiling as the talked. My father glanced up and saw me approaching and gestured for me to come to his side.

"Sara, I have good news," my father said, looking down at me, "The King has agreed that singing in court would be a nice change. You can start performed as soon as you become engaged."

I nodded feeling a little mixed about this, but at least I would get what I wanted without breaking any of the rules.

*************

For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Diane challenged me with "Breaking the boundaries but not the rules" and I challenged The Lime with "Crazy is how you perceive it"

RIP Davy Jones

A piece of my childhood passed away today. Davy Jones died today from a heart attack and was only 66 years old.

When I was younger, The Monkees TV show started playing in syndication. My sister, Kelly, and my cousin, Sarah, and I would watch the shows as often as we could.

We all had our favorites. Davy Jones was my sister's favorite while I preferred Micky Dolenz. I think my cousin liked Michael Nesmith. My cousin would usually spend a month of her summer break at our house and it was during one of these times one of the amusing stories from my childhood happened.

Kelly and Sarah decided to go to the TV and kiss their favorite Monkee. I opted not to. Well, they managed to make the TV fall and it broke. They got grounded from watching TV for a week or two because of that.

The Monkees did a big tour after the show took off again and my parents got us tickets. It was one of the first concerts I ever went to and it was awesome to see the Monkees (minus Michael Nesmith) live. Ironically Weird Al was the opening act, but I had no idea who he was at the time. It wasn't until later that I started listening to his music.

So RIP Davy Jones - it's a very sad day for all Monkees fans out there.

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Sleeping On Her Own!

Emily has never been a great sleeper and she never liked sleeping on her own. For her first year, she slept in a crib in our room. I was nervous about co-sleeping with a newborn but I wanted her nearby since she was waking up every couple hours to nurse.

We tried to get her into her own room after she was one, but it turned out to be a battle. When she did sleep in her room, I'd have to wait until she was completely asleep before I could make my exit. I would be waiting for hours and if I misjudged it, she would start crying and I'd have to start from the beginning.

I should mention at this point, that we weren't fans of the Cry It Out method. I tried it a few times but it proved to not work at all for Emily. I swear I spent the first couple years of her life in a haze because I was getting so little sleep.

I don't remember why we started co-sleeping, but for a while, Emily would sleep but she wanted to sleep with me. I would sleep on a blow up bed in her room, in order to get her used to sleeping in her room. Plus I didn't want my poor husband to have to sleep on the couch.

Finally the blow up bed died because we have cats with claws and we were using it everyday. Emily and I moved into Todd & I's bedroom briefly as I began to reason with her (as much as you can reason with a three year old). I stopped waiting for her to fall asleep before going out of the room. She got upset the first couple of times, but I explained that I was just going to be in the living room if she needed me. She quickly got used to the new routine.

Then I started taking up how she would be a big girl if she slept in her own room, then decided on a day to try out having her sleep in her own bed. Todd wasn't convinced that it would work, since we had tried and failed several time in the past.

But this time was different. We did the exact same bedtime routine except we were doing it in her room. I got her tucked into her bed and gave her hugs and kisses. She requested I sit in the chair that is in her room for five minutes. I did so, then got up and gave her more hugs and kisses. I told her I was going to be either in the living room or in mommy and daddy's room. She briefly said she wanted to go to mommy and daddy's room, but I gently said no.

I went out to the living room and then to bed a few hours later. I didn't hear a peep and neither did Todd when he got home from work. She was so excited when she woke up in the morning that she had slept in her own bed because that made her a big girl.

It's been a while since Emily started sleeping in her own room. It's been so nice to have her in her own room and not have to worry about bedtime drama. Now, she does wake up sometimes and comes out because of nightmares. But usually once I calm her down, she'll go back to sleep in her bed as long as me or Todd (if he's home) sits in the chair for five minutes.

I'm not sure what I would have done different as far as her sleeping. I don't think there is much I could have done when she was very small. If we were to have another baby, I'd probably push for a king sized bed so we could co-sleep. But since Emily is our only, it's a moot point.

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Luck and Claw Machines

My husband is a winner - as in he wins a lot of stuff. He's won a snowboard, a watch and even an xBox 360 that came with two games along with t-shirts, hats and coupons for Mountain Dew. But the thing he is best at winning is toys out of claw machines.

When we first moved to NC, we would go to the nearest Walmart a couple times a week. Nearly every time we went, we would stop by the claw machines they had in the front of the store. And nearly every time, Todd would manage to get a stuffed animal out.

We haven't done it much lately, but Emily asked today and we had some change in our pockets. It took Todd two tries but he managed to get Emily an minion from Despicable Me, dressed as a bunny for Easter. She was very excited when her daddy actually won her a stuffy.

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Writing Challenge - You Can't Run Away From Trouble

My horse trembled behind me as I pushed it to the absolute brink of exhaustion. He took another step and his legs collapsed underneath him, taking me down with him.

I rolled off, groaning in pain. I scrambled to my feet and hurried over to my horse's saddlebag. I pulled out a small package and stuck it into a pocket in my skirts. I also grabbed my bag of supplies. I ran my hand over my horse's head as I murmured, "I'm sorry, Princess."

My pace was nearly a run as I left Princess behind. I willed myself to slow down to a fast walk, just in case I came across another traveler on the road. I kept my head down and just kept walking as my mind went over and over the events of the last couple of days.

The village I had lived in all my life was very poor. We were serfs to Count Doofen, who was a cruel master. We grew crops in the fields but we didn't get to keep hardly any of the food.

Even though I was thin and sickly, I was cursed with a beautiful face. The Count recently did a ride through of our village and I had the misfortune of catching his eye. He brought me to his castle and did unspeakable things to me. I endured it because I felt I had no other choice.

It wasn't long before I was with child. The Count longed for a son and I knew if my child was one, I would become his wife. I prayed for a son because I knew it would make both of our lives so much better.

But when the midwife told me I had borne a healthy baby girl, I wept and could not be consoled. I was allowed to keep my daughter for several years but it was recently she was taken from me to live in my old village.

I tried to console myself that at least my parents would look after her, but I felt so much pain that my child was forced to live the same merger existence that I had to deal with. I just tried to keep living until a few days ago.

News reached the castle that a plague had been spreading through the countryside like a wildfire. My entire village perished, including my daughter who had just turned ten years old. Outside, I pretended to grieve and move on. But inside, I was aflame. I had to get away from the count, from this life. I was fueled on by the fact that I was newly pregnant.

I made a plan by beginning to gather supplies. On the night I made my escape, I stole a valuable necklace in the thoughts of selling it once I got far enough away. Even though Princess, my favorite horse, and I had made a clean getaway, I felt like there was a host of people behind me.

As I walked, I began to feel a flush rising up my neck. My steps slowed and I found that my whole body was starting to feel very heavy. I ended up having to stop and sit with a tree at my back. My eyes began to feel heavy and finally I fell asleep.

I died peacefully on the side of that road, from the same plague that had killed my daughter. I couldn't run away from the trouble I was in or from my life. But death was something of an escape for me.

***************

For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Tara Roberts challenged me with "You can't run away from trouble. There ain't no place that far. - James Baskett" and I challenged The Lime with "All She Needed Was A Good Beating"

Ash Wednesday

I'm Lutheran so we observe Lent. Today was Ash Wednesday so Emily and I went to our church's child friendly service at 5:30.

The service was nice as the kid's choir and the kid's bell choir played some songs. The homily by Pastor Mark was nice, though Emily was a wiggle worm during it.

At my church, we do ashes on the forehead as the Pastor or the Vicar say a blessing over you. We went to Vicar Ingrid's side and she give Emily then me our ash cross on our forehead. Emily was really geek to get her's. The picture doesn't show it well, but she is showing off her cross.

After church we had to go to Walmart to get the ingredients for Monster Spray to help with Emily's nightmare problem. I got a new spray bottle and some Febreeze. We mixed the Febreeze with water and she was very excited to spray it around her room.

Emily said that she felt better after her room had been Monster Spray-ed. But we'll see if it works to keep the nightmares away.

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Plagued by Nightmares

I've always suffered from vivid dreams and scary nightmares as far back as I can remember. Many nights I wake up all freaked out but since I'm an adult, I can calm myself down because I know it's just a dream.

My poor Emily seems to have inherited these dreams and nightmares from me. She started having nightmares when she was very small and would wake up very upset. But it wasn't a constant thing so we just dealt with the nightmares as they came.

But the past three nights, she has woken up totally scared by nightmares. The first night she was so scared she was trembling in my arms, the second night she woke up twice with nightmares and last night, she told me she was dreaming about monsters.

We've done what we can to cut out anything that might be 'scary'. There was a new one hour Bubble Guppies that we DVRed this weekend that featured a witch that wanted to turn everyone into frogs. Emily loved it, since she likes the 'scary, scary' stuff, but we told her that she can't watch it for a few days because of the nightmares.

I got some advice from an online mom's group I'm in and I'm going to make her 'monster' spray for tonight. We are also going to try and make a dreamcatcher this weekend on the advice of my best friend, Dolli.

But I'm not sure what else I can do. I had a pretty bad nightmare last night (thank you so much, Steampunk book I'm currently reading :P) and it made me feel worse for my teeny child. I hope they ease up for her soon.

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