about that story...

When Magaly put out her invitation for this years Witches in Fiction posts I was intrigued.  I'd read previous years entries and enjoyed them but hadn't felt I was up to the challenge.  This year, I decided to give it a go.  I really loved the theme and felt drawn to participate.

I started thinking about it prior to my trip to Maryland and decided I would make a mixed media piece to share. I put it out of my mind during my trip and when I returned home, I dived in.  I started with a blank canvas (always intimidating) and began adding layers of paint and paper.  I spent my first day back working on this piece.  When I stopped for the day, I wasn't really happy with where it was heading, so decided to let it sit overnight and come back to it with fresh eyes the next morning.  

I worked at it for two and a half days before I accepted that things just weren't coming together.  Well, you know what that means.  Panic!

Yes, I started freaking out and almost backed out.  But...I kept thinking about all the times I've ever committed to something and then backed out at the last minute and I just couldn't do it.

Now we are up to Thursday evening (the day before it is due) and I got nothing.

I spent several hours working on my written submission.  I started letting the words come out (and not trying to make them fit, which is where I run into trouble).  After a while, I felt like I had something I could work with.  I went back over it, tweaking this and that.  Changing a few words and looking for things that would make it seem more cohesive (I think that is the word).  When I finally stopped, I was not happy.  I just didn't think it had the elements it needed.  But...I was exhausted and it was due in just a few hours.  

So I scheduled the time for it to publish, then went to bed.  I was kind of proud of myself for sticking to my commitment, but still worried that it wouldn't "measure up".  (Why do we do that to ourselves?)  

When I woke the next morning, I checked to make sure it had posted (and it hadn't, of course).  I hit the publish button and sent it out into the wide world of the internets.  After that the day was busy and I didn't back to my computer for a while. 

Saturday morning I was going through my blog feed to catch up on the blogs I'd missed while away for over a week.  I landed on Joanna Devoe's Weekly Witch Review and while clicking through her links received such a shock.  She had included my Witches in Fiction post as a link.  She said such wonderful things, I was so amazed.

Have you ever had one of those surreal moments that just takes your breath and stops time?  I swear, this was one of those moments for me.  I kept looking at it and then clicking the link thinking there was some sort of a mistake.  But...well...  

I have to thank you, my readers and visitors here, for all the encouraging and thoughtful comments that I received on that post.  I tried to reply to everyone and hope I didn't miss anyone.  But if I did, please accept my gratitude.  I can't tell you how all those comments lifted my heart.

It's kind of funny actually.  I don't believe in coincidence.  One of the things that I indulge in when I go on these trips, is a wonderful massage by the owner of the facility.  As we are finishing up each of these sessions, she always says, "you should write."  I always reply that I'm just not good at that.

See the thing is, I love to tell stories.  I have spent my life creating stories in my head.  I used to write them down, but a few times friends (or school bullies) found them and made fun of my writing and ideas, and I stopped.  I still create them, I just don't record them anywhere, except for a few that just demanded being recorded.  

So when I saw the reaction to the story I made up for Witches in Fiction.  I was really overwhelmed.  And really happy.  And really encouraged to maybe, start writing all those stories in my head down somewhere.  And that feeling, is all because of YOU!  So, thank you, again for giving me hope.

Okay, I'm feeling like this is scattered and really too long, so I'm going to wrap it up. I have some ideas for upcoming blog posts, so hopefully, I'll be here more often.  

Has anything amazing happened to you lately?  Something that just makes you feel really good?  I'd love to hear about it.

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

Healing from the Otherside - Witches in Fiction 2016

Healing from the Otherside

“It’s all falling apart,” she whispered in my ear. 

I looked around, trying to find her, but all I could see was decay.  The trees were dying, dried up skeletons of their former selves.  There were fruits and vegetables rotting on the vines.  Grass was turning brown, while the ponds and rivers shriveled up as I watched, leaving their residents gasping and searching for refuge.  The heat of the sun seemed to grow more intense with every moment and the wind, which had been blowing gently across my skin, became still as death.

“It shouldn’t be this way,” she said.  Her voice was quiet and a bit shaky.  I stood quite still for a moment, before I realized it had come from behind me.  I turned, very slowly, to see who had been speaking.

She stood a few feet away, looking pale and worn.  Her hair flowed to her knees, the color of a raven’s wing with sparks of auburn floating throughout.  Her eyes were a clear, crystal blue and her skin was smooth and as light as cream.  She was tall and stood strong as if rooted to the earth. 

“What happened here?” I asked.  I took a small step towards her and glanced around again. 

“They’re killing us.”  She whispered it so quietly, so sadly.  She had changed when I looked back at her.  Her hair white and limp, her skin had taken on a grey tinge and wrinkled.  She seemed to float just above the ground and tears flowing from her tired eyes.

“Who?” I asked, although I wasn’t sure why.  I already knew who had done this.  I already knew why.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.  As I slowly breathed out, I opened my eyes and saw a living world.  The world I’d just seen, the woman I’d seen, was gone. 

I walked around a bit, marveling at the soft green grass beneath my feet, the breeze blowing across my skin.  I listened to the bees moving through the flowers and the birds singing in the trees.  Wandering to a tree, I sat underneath and leaned back.  I could feel the rough bark against my back and closed my eyes to listen.

After a few minutes, I felt a shift in the air.  A thrumming began in the tree I leaned against, like the beat of a heart.  When I opened my eyes, the world had shifted back to decay.  

“Grandmother, what can we do?” I asked her.  I reached for her hand, but it just went through to the ground.  

She gently placed her hand over mine, just a hint of space between, and said, “Your world is dying.  Things look normal from the outside, but inside it is rotting away.  When your world dies, ours does, too.  All the hate, the ugly words and uglier thoughts.  Each one creates more of the same, until everyone and everything is rotting inside. “

Her gaze roamed over the land in front of us, “I know you feel it, the pain and fear.  But, my darling girl, you can change this.  You just have to remember the words.  Remember and you heal not only yourself, your world, but mine too.”

I looked into her eyes, so like my own, and saw a hint of hope.  “Remember,” she said as she slowly faded away.

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This is my entry for Magaly's Witches in Fiction 2016.   

thanks for stopping by!

love & blessings

~*~