Lucid Waking

Archive for December, 2006

The Best of the Blog 2006

“Hello and welcome to the unveiling ceremony of Best of the Blog! I’m Calliope, your host for this event. This year, the nominees were taken from votes that you, the reader, chose. First, let’s take a look at our nominees:

• Madren’s Choice
• The Music Box
• Wearing Black
• Genevieve’s Kitchen
• The Man Who Will Never Die
• No one wants to hear…
• The Red and Black Autumn Ball
• My Life
• “I would like to make an exchange.”
• The Gift

“And the winners are:

• Madren’s Choice
• No one wants to hear…
• “I would like to make an exchange.”

“Thank you to all who voted! The links for the winners will permanently go on the Best of the Blog page. If you wish to read them again, please visit. I hope to hear from you all next year and thank you again for taking your time to vote!”

The 2006 Review

I don’t know about you, but I don’t really care what happened during the past year, I would like to focus more on the future. While looking back is a good thing to do once in a while to see how much we’ve grown, it’s also a dangerous return to the past where we might get stuck wondering where the time went to do things we were too afraid to do. And quite honestly, wondering where we went wrong to get us here today. The past is depressing because you have in black and white what happened and what didn’t; simply put, cause and effect. The future has so much in store that while more realistically, bad things may happen, we have an equally good chance of good things happening. In the past if bad things happened, bad things happened, so I want to focus on things that might happen that are good.

NASA has been proudly stating all their accomplishments over the past year, including spotting evidence of water flow on Mars and Enceladus (one of Saturn’s moons). This new discovery started scientists bubbling over the possibility that eventually, we would be colonizing Mars. The triviality and status of saying you live on Mars, I believe, would be enough to get people off of Earth and out elsewhere. Eventually (the way I’d like things to go), the human nature sprites who care about our mother, Earth, will stick around and do all that they can with the technology we’ve obtained to help fix it’s problems and make her healthy again.

That’s quite easy to say coming from someone with daily Internet access and excess food on the table. The fact of the matter is that most people on this planet don’t have the option to pay a huge sum of money to go to Mars. People in Africa are living in less than standard conditions in the middle of a desert and drought. Yet, with help from the United States Mercy Corps millions of dollars are spent for food. Children are staying in school because they are getting fed there and people living in small villages are getting the nutrition they haven’t been getting because of drought. These efforts have been helping keep children in school and help rural families with taxes and bills mostly by setting up programs to give out food. If we all help out in whatever ways we can, eventually this problem should cease to exist.

Personally, things have turned up around my life as well. I’ve become a much better writer and will continue to improve as I keep practicing. I’ve kept my promise from last year and have art submissions piling up in Erato for you to enjoy; I’ve also gotten quite good at drawing and painting. I’ve made several new friends who I can relate to and work with. They’re people who love me as much as I love them. My family has remained healthy and I’ve acquired a new fuzzy sister. And while the beginning of the year remains a hazy memory, I’m sure wonderful events have occurred then, also, to keep me thankful for the advances we made and looking forward to 2007.

(By the way, for a quick pick me up about the news, click here.)

The Best of 2005

Originally published on December 31, 2005 (and the last of the flashback posts)

           According to the US media, 2005 was a good year. Those that made it on the Joe Siegel’s top ten are (from ten to one) Syriana; The Constant Gardener; Cinderella Man; A History of Violence; King Kong, Chronicles of Narnia; Munich; Crash; Good Night, and Good Luck; and Brokeback Mountain. This year seemed a good year because there were so many to see that didn’t seem stupid or bad. The Oscars this year were interesting: Jamie Foxx won for best actor, Hillary Swank for best actress, Morgan Freeman and Cate Blanchett for best supporting actor and actress, respectively, and Million Dollar Baby won best film.
            Things weren’t all bright and cheery for 2005, however. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Hundreds of people gave aid to the victims and several different schools donated to the cause.
           As for me, things have been busy. My friends and I came up with a D&D group, which meets together on Sundays. This Hanukah I received several wonderful gifts. My room was painted lavender and pink this summer. I also discovered Cat Legend and Inverloch this year, which, to me, are the best comics I have discovered yet. Hopefully by 2006, I will be able to show you some art submissions as well.
           Blog wise, I started this blog in September and somehow managed to keep it going. In late November I changed my first blog into a completely new website, Muse.  Here is my very first post I’ve written on Lucid Waking:       

Weekend in the country
It could be a gift or a gathering-
A word. A weekend. A whisper.
In shades of chocolate, honey, and biscuit
The perfect partner  
Summer day heat wave
Sugar and spice
a chameleon hiding in plain sight,
our island universe
you asked for it
it is ending…

            Here’s today’s post (you didn’t think I was going to go without a post did you?):

            Megan was always a busy bee when it came to parties. Last night she baked eight-dozen cookies. Today she was running around getting shrimp and salsa for the rest of the meal. Chaos was her structure and in the end, it always paid off. She lived for the this-is-so-good-where-did-you-get-this and I-can’t-believe-you-bought-this-I haven’t-had-it-in-years. Tonight was a little different because she had her friends over and their family, but the basic principle was the same. She ran out and got presents for the little ones and then ran out and got presents for their parents. She made bagel dogs for the kids and shrimp for the adults. When she was done, she had too much to carry down into her basement, where they would watch movies until eleven and then watch the ball drop. She anticipated a fun party with tons gossip and playing with the kids. Her only mistake was letting her friends pick the movies.
            Alexandria and her family came fifteen minutes early with more food and three different movies. She looked at the selections and inwardly groaned. Stupid humor that she knew she wouldn’t enjoy. She thanked them, gave them their gifts and told them to start on the food. Their oldest, Todd, took no time in diving into the food, conversing in between bites of quiche. Chrysanthemum was quiet and opened her present in the corner of the room. There was a short moment of panic when she slipped past Megan and walked downstairs, but soon everybody joined her. Megan was right, she hated the movies her guests brought, but at eleven o’clock she stayed and watched the party in New York City. Her guests fell asleep by eleven thirty, so she flipped channels between New York and Navy Pier. Finally twelve o’clock struck and she shut off the television. She smiled at the sleeping family and started cleaning up. At four in the morning, she finally collapsed on her bed and fell into a deep sleep.

And A Happy New Year!

As much as I hate to do this, I’m going to take a short hiatus. I want to give all my readers a fair chance to go over all the posts in Best of the Blog. If I continue writing for the week, it may throw some things off and create stress for people who have yet to vote. If it was me, I would be frustrated if there was a better post later in the week. I also feel that the later posts might not be included in the votes because, well, once you’ve voted, you’re not going to go back to see if there are more posts to vote on, are you? Therefore, I won’t be posting again until December 31. (This also gives me a chance to get my homework done before next week when I can spend my time posting.) So, go over to Best of the Blog and take your time to read and vote. I’ll be back on the 31. 

The Gift

            Aveline was never one for gifts or Christmas, so it took her by surprise when one day the doorbell rang and lying neatly wrapped on the doorstep was a present. She picked it up and shook it gently, but there was no sound to give away what it hid inside. The only label on the present said it was for her, but gave no clue as to the giver. She placed it next to the door and left it there.
            When she came into the house again after shopping for last minute groceries, the present was unwrapped and lying on the kitchen table. She put the packages on the counters around the room and cautiously approached the box. Opening the lid, she peered inside at a sleeping kitten. Its black and white fur seemed to shimmer as it’s tiny chest moved up and down with each breath. She reached in to pull it out and its small blue eyes opened to grumpy little slits. Its mouth opened in protest, but nothing came out. Aveline put it on the table and looked at it cautiously. The kitten stared back before jumping off the table and trotting off to the couch to sleep. She sighed and cleared off the kitchen counters. She decided to give it a week, before sending it off to her cousins in France. She couldn’t figure out what to get them anyway and they were cat lovers.
            It wasn’t until Christmas Eve that she decided to keep the kitten. She had a box all set for its delivery and was about to dial the phone to her cousins’ hotel room to inform them of their gift, when she saw the kitten sit in front of the two large, glass doors to her patio. A small girl was standing there, glowing. Her brown hair was pulled back to reveal pointed raw ears. She smiled at the kitten and bent down to touch her gloved hand to the glass where the kitten’s nose was. The kitten rubbed up against the glass purring and the girl laughed as she stroked the glass as if she could feel the fur. The phone beeped loudly that it was off the hook, startling the kitten so that it looked at her with huge blue eyes before darting off. Aveline hastily returned the phone to the cradle and looked outside at the girl, who had disappeared. She ran outside, but couldn’t find anything to prove that she had had a visitor.
            The cold was biting, but Aveline remained outside anyway, staring up at the sky. The twinkling white stars revealed nothing of what had just happened. She felt the kitten rub against her legs and she realized that this was her gift from someone who cared and truly knew the spirit of Christmas. It was then that she realized she was truly and utterly alone with millions of other people who would never see that Christmas was not about giving or getting but about joy. Serious and raw joy that one could only get by giving, not one’s money, but one’s self. She picked up the small ball of fur and brought it inside, closing the glass door behind her.

Paint the Sky with Stars

Originally published on May 21, 2006

Paint the sky with stars
Like the night will never end
With colors from a butterfly
On the wind as it descends

Paint the moon in iridescent greens
The sky with royal blues
Pull the colors from your heart
And use the beautiful hues

Normal Life on Christmas Day

Originally published on December 25, 2005

            Snow. It always baffled her why they would call it falling snow; it always seemed to drift to her. It was barely sticking, but even so, cars stood in four multi-colored lines honking and crawling down the street. She stuffed her pink hands in her fleece pockets and kept her head down.
            “Maggie?” a woman rolled down her window and yelled to her from her car.
            Maggie turned to face the woman and waved. The light turned green and the car in back of the second woman’s car inched forward and honked. The second woman made a phone with her hand and mouthed call me before she sped off. Maggie smiled and sighed. What the heck will I do with my sister-in-law? she thought.
           She arrived at the grocery store and walked in. It was a small Jewish store, so it was open on Christmas, this year only until five. The sixteen-year-old girl at the counter beamed at her as she went around the store picking out eggs, meat, and matzo meal.
           “Did you find everything you needed?” she asked in a strange New York accent.
           “Yes, thank you.”
           The girl rung everything up and Maggie went home.

The Red and Black Autumn Ball

Originally published on April 25, 2006

            The Red and Black Autumn Ball was one of the larger, but more hushed events of Tatiana Court. Although a strictly informal event, the ball seemed to be a presentation of who could get the best and most lavish outfit and, of course, who arrived with whom. The only prize was to be talked about for at least a year and to have one’s name whispered in the gossip was Megan’s cup of tea. She was always one for lavish entrances and this year was most certainly not going to be an exception. She arrived late as planned, careful to come before the dancing had begun, so as to have a maximum audience. This year she was a little later than usual, but it didn’t deter her spirits. She stepped into the ballroom alone wearing a sleeveless red gown with beads spreading in a sunburst from her left hip. It went out in a train behind her just slightly and she wrapped a red feather boa around her arms. Her red gloves gracefully flicked the ends of the boa back behind her as she stepped farther into the room. She wore a dark red lipstick and had pink eye shadow accentuate her blue eyes. Her black hair was pulled into an upsweep atop her head, with a few wisps curling down the sides of her face. The lights seemed to radiate off of her as she confidently walked over to the buffet table. She picked up a glass of champagne and held the stem daintily between two fingers in her red gloves, the glass resting lightly on her curled fingertips. She received the response she was looking for as a few couples glanced over at her as they spun by. Others pretended not to be staring every now and then at her, but she caught their glances and smiled over her glass of champagne. 
            The night continued on as she had planned. A few people approached her and chatted for a couple minutes before tapering off to see others or dance. Although she had had no intentions of dancing, she found herself starting to sway to the music. I’ve had way to much to drink, she thought. She placed the half-drunken glass down and walked towards the patio. A few couples were outside enjoying the moon and she ignored them, walking down the steps to the garden. They had the fountain on and it’s moon reflected drops fell into the pool below. She walked up to the basin and took a deep breath of the mist. The crisp cool air came in sharp through her nasal passages and scraped her lungs, but it didn’t bother her. She glanced at young girl across the way sitting on the edge of the fountain; her back was towards Megan and she was talking to a young man. She could see the boy’s face and he didn’t look pleased. He said something to the girl that Megan couldn’t hear over the water splashing before giving the girl something and walked away, disappearing behind the hedge. Megan tried to follow him, but he was lost among the other people. She walked toward the girl who was still sitting on the edge of the fountain. She had copper hair that reflected the light of the moon into the water. She was wearing a white bodice with a red overskirt embroidered with roses. She had a red ribbon holding her hair and a red ribbon around her waist as a sash. Her freckled cheeks were stained with tears and she continued to look down at the ground even as Megan approached. She sat down next to the girl and stared at the sky patiently. She wasn’t sure what she expected to happen, but she was surprised when the girl turned and placed her arms around her, burying her face in the feathers of the boa. Megan held the girl quietly and thought about how young she looked. She could feel the girl’s hand closed around something, but she didn’t think about it for long. The girl quietly sat up and smiled a little.
            “Thank you,” she said. Her voice was melodic and sweet. She reminded Megan of the butterflies she used to raise as a little girl. She would take home caterpillars and give them lettuce and water until they were grown. Then she would draw pictures in her sketchbook of the butterflies and release them as soon as their wings were dry. She was sad to see the girl stand up, but she only went a little ways before facing Megan again.
            “I’m sorry. I’m sure that was very rude of me. I don’t even know who you are—“
            “I’m Megan,” Megan said, smiling.
           The girl turned away and sobbed a little. “My god,” she whispered to herself, “just like Edward. I’m going to live this again.”
           Megan stood up and put her boa around the girl’s shoulders. “Is that who that was?”
            The girl looked at her, slightly puzzled.
            “Was that Edward?”
            The girl was surprised and then a little angry. She pulled the boa closer to her and looked down. “Yes, that was Edward.” She walked over to the fountain and sat down again. Megan turned to face her.
            “I suppose you could say Edward and I were childhood sweethearts. We met when he, well, saved my life. It was really a silly thing; I wasn’t looking and ran right in front of a cart. He managed to stop the cart driver and get me out of the middle of the road. I was so shaken I forgot to ask for his name, so he just told me. I really didn’t care then, I was so glad I was alive. I suppose that’s the only reason our parents allowed us to be together. His father was a merchant and owned most of the seafaring ships that traveled to the colonies. We used to play on the edge of the docks together. My mother didn’t approve and his father was a little wary, but they thought as long as we were children…there may have been a chance of us growing out of it. I suppose one day we figured out that our parents were not happy at our friendship, so we used to meet in secret at an old fish warehouse. We could easily hide inside if we needed to and it sat on the edge of the sea. Time went by, and soon it was time for both of us to be wed. We were young and naïve and promised each other we would elope soon, vowing the other that there would never be anyone else. The events to follow are complicated to say the least, but there was a bit of trouble with the duke wishing my hand in marriage and my faithfulness. He won’t believe me whatever I say, but I know he’s getting these lies from the woman his family wanted him to marry and he refused. His family has disowned him and he is making me feel unfaithful when I know I…”she stopped and took a deep breath. “My god,” she said crying again, “it’s a messy story.”
            Megan sat down next to the girl patiently. She waited for a couple of minutes while the girl calmed down. She placed something small into Megan’s hand and stood up. 
            “When we promised each other never to marry, he gave me a locket. It was my seventeenth birthday. Keep it, I don’t think I can bear to look at it again.” The girl walked away calmly and joined the crowd inside. She smiled at a few other people, shaking their hands and telling a few friends what had happened. 
            Megan sat up looking at the stars, feeling the smooth locket in her hands. She looked at its gold surface and opened it up. Inside there was a picture of a boat sailing into the sunset, the orange sky shining slightly through its sails. On the other side, engraved in a circle of forget-me-nots was her name: Odette. Megan got up and walked back inside combing the crowd for the young man she had seen earlier. She found him laughing and joking with another couple. A second girl, presumably his previously betrothed, clung to his arm and daintily smiled perpetually alongside.
            “Excuse me for interrupting,” she said smiling at both the couples. The other couple excused themselves and moved on to the dance floor. “If I could talk to you, Edward, alone for a minute.”
The man looked surprised but he nodded and told the girl he would meet her at the buffet. She gave Megan a dirty look before walking off.
“I believe this is yours,” she said handing him the locket. “I wouldn’t believe everything you hear,” she added, walking away. “Love has a way to create enemies.”
            He stared after her silently as she walked to the buffet table to get another glass of champagne. She watched him run up to Odette and pull her outside again. She glanced at the second girl, who was now flirting with another young man who approached her. Soon Edward and Odette came back in again to the room, smiling. Odette waved to Megan before disappearing onto the dance floor. Megan put down her empty champagne glass.

“I would like to make an exchange.”

Originally published on April 02, 2006

            He sat down on the pew facing forward with his clasped hands resting on the back of the pew in front of him. The sun streamed through the stain-glass windows projecting multi-colored images of bible stories in the room. The lights inside were off, so the room was filled with vibrant ghostly colors of red, blue and green.
            “Excuse, me, God,” he said looking up, “I’d like to make an exchange. Hey now, the damage isn’t entirely my fault. It’s just that the harder I try to fix it, someone else will come and make it worse than before. I think we need a new one, something that won’t be so hard to mess up. Don’t get me wrong, I love the design and all the colors, but it’s everything else about it. I don’t see why you had to include humans at all. Yes, that would mean I’d be gone, too. But I don’t really care. I’ve seen the kind of details that have been coming and I know what will happen to this if you do fix it. You’ll throw it away and give us a new one, destroy it just like that. But see, I don’t think you should. I think you should start another master race of humans who love the environment and put them on another earth. I never said it wouldn’t be work; I just think you should make more of these, you know, back up. Oh, and while your at it, it might be a good idea to come up with something to get rid of all this damage. The clichéd dues ex machina. I don’t know, might be more work than it seems.” He paused for a minute and looked down at his hands. “I’m sorry you won’t accept it now, but think about it, ok? Just because it’s damaged, doesn’t mean you can’t fix it and sell it to someone else. But, thanks for hearing me out.”
            He got up from the pews and walked out to the parking lot. Thunder rumbled, and he looked up just as it started to hail.

Betelgeuse VII: Finale

           When both of them were tired, they decided on shifts for the night. Cindy watched the sun go down and the clear-lit moon rise up, lighting the sand to blue crystals. She relaxed and allowed her eyes to droop just slightly. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, the man she had met was being dragged ever so slightly behind her. She turned around quickly and grabbed his ankle in one movement. The black shape behind her pulled him faster, and she scramble to keep up with his moving figure. He had awaken by then and was trying to put his feet down to run, but couldn’t because she was holding on. In the darkness, she felt his hand grab her shoulder and she let go of his ankle and grabbed his outstretched arm. Their hands linked and she felt safe again; she became conscious of her heartbeat and tried to slow it down. Minutes went by when she spotted another single spot light on a box. They stopped in front of it and another pair of hands pushed her into the circle of light alone. She opened the box carefully and peered inside. Surprisingly, there was no rolled parchment, but a small pistol that she had seen before in movies set in the nineteen forties. She reached to pick it up, but stopped and withdrew her hand. Remember he likes theatrics. Fine, she thought, I’ll give him theatrics. She kicked over the box and stepped back to the edge of the light. Silence followed the crash of the box falling and the skid of the pistol across the floor. Then there was a click of a pulley being let down before a final click where it stopped behind her. Maxwell 700 got off the elevator and stepped beside her. For a few moments they stood staring at each other before he walked over and picked up the pistol. Aiming it at her he click off the safety.
           “At your word,” he said firmly.
           She took a deep breath. “It’s roulette,” she said moving closer to the small barrel. “Shoot.”
           The gun went off and silence followed; both stood motionless for the unknown amount of time to follow. Then she took a step forward and the lights came up on a warehouse filled with wires. The single door at the end of the long room shuttered and clicked as someone struggled with the door. Quickly, she ran to the 700 and wrenched the gun out of his hand. He stayed statue still with his hand still hovering over an imaginary trigger.
           “Cindy, what the hell?” Aaron yelled. He coughed suddenly and fell on the floor. Cindy ran over to him, but stayed quiet. She felt a tug at her stomach as invisible hands tried to pull it and the rest of her digestive tract out her mouth. She lurched forward. Cold hands pulled her backwards and slipped a gas mask over her face. Through foggy lenses, she saw people collapse, a few managing to scream as the motionless robots stood perfectly still through the haze. She turned around to see who had joined her and met Margarita’s glassy eyes.
           “I’m half robot,” she said, pulling Cindy up. “I’m only half fading.” She smiled and gave Cindy a little push. “The door is straight ahead if you follow the left wall. Get the hell out of here before he wakes his robots up.”
           Without second warning, Cindy ran. She ran up the stairs past the point of her lungs bursting and her legs burning with pain. She ran until she reached the top of the stairs and her outstretched hand met resistance. Pushing with all of her weight, she reached the bathroom stall where she had first met Trish. She had knocked over the toilet in her haste and it lay cracked on the tile floor. Cindy replaced the trap door and just for good measure, put the pieces of the toilet over the door. Only then did she stop to breath and take of the mask. She dropped the mask on the toilet debris and stepped out of the stall. A girl with fire engine red hair was looking at herself in the mirror and putting on matching red lipstick.
           “How long will you be gone?” she asked, but Cindy ignored her and walked out of the bathroom back into the terminal. The river of people was still continuing its separate ways, ignoring the black holes of doorways in the walls. She heard a crash behind her of smashed porcelain and with a final rush of adrenaline, entered the stream of people.
           She followed a small group who broke off from the stream to a terminal returning back to Earth. Hesitating about whether or not she should sneak on, she bought a ticket at the booth and waited at the terminal. The intercom buzzed on and announced boarding just as a medium height boy with rustled black hair came running up to her. Everything except his face looked like Aaron. She turned away and hurried onto the airbus. She heard the boy being stopped by the guards at the door for not having a ticket before the door closed and eliminated the sound. The threesome argued for a bit before the engines kicked in and she flew away.
           A few months later a package arrived in the mail. In it was a box of flowers and an obituary: “Aaron Cane, age 17 was found dead in the middle of the Betelgeuse VII terminal on August 24. He was apparently asphyxiated. May his body and soul rest in peace.” She found no name attached to the letter, but she put the flowers in a vase and the newspaper clipping on her bulletin board. Then, she locked her office door and took a shuttle down to Betelgeuse VII. Taking a deep breath of the air, she just sat down in the middle of the terminal where she had imagined him being found. She meditated for hours that first day before getting up, her face streaked with tears, and getting on a shuttle back to Earth.
           Eventually the flowers wilted and the obituary faded, but she would still visit the Betelgeuse VII terminal every month and sit in the spot where she imagined he was found. She didn’t know why something in her needed to go back for closure, but she would satisfy it anyway. Every month she would stand back up after an hour had passed and buy another ticket back to her office on Earth. Although she never really knew him and couldn’t figure out why she would get so depressed on August 24, she would half imagine a medium height boy with ruffled black hair nonchalantly walking on the bus and sitting next to her.
           “I’ve got a problem,” he would say pulling out a videotape, “my friend’s gone missing.”
           She smiled. I think we could all say that, she thought and watched the Betelgeuse VII terminal out her window slowly getting farther away.