Christmas Eve service
disparaging remarks
about reindeer
haiku 379
this would have been
her 56th birthday –
gray and cold
haiku 378
dense fog –
just hours now before
inauguration
Precarious Balance
He sat upon his horse in a little clearing, alone, as he said he would be. He was waiting for me to come, also alone, as I had promised.
I was hiding in the thick greenery of the forest. I had an arrow aside my ear, drawn tautly in my bow. It would be so easy. A loosening of my fingers and my arrow would speed straight for his heart and that problem would be at an end.
But he just waited patiently, surely knowing I was there.
And he had something draped over his horse, behind him. I greatly feared I knew what he had. I would need him alive for answers, and there would be plenty of time to kill him later.
I moved gently and slackened my bow; the arrow went back into the quiver and I slung the bow over my shoulder as I stepped out into the open to speak with the sheriff of Nottingham.
“Foxwell,” I greeted him.
“Locksley.” Perhaps he was just being polite, but he knew I no longer use that name. Now, I answer to what the peasants of Nottinghamshire call me: Robin Hood.
One year later…
Hello, again.
I never thought I’d let Catsignal go so long without a single post. I love what I’ve done here. I love writing things and sharing them with you. But my chronic fatigue syndrome and migraines have kept me mentally and physically benched. And on that front, it has been a long, bad year.
I have, however, finally written another story. It’s one I had started a couple of years ago and never quite knew where to take it past a certain point. I have solved that problem, and the story – “Precarious Balance” – follows this note.
This by no means signals a return to regular posting. But it does, at least, tell me that I can still do this. I can still create. I can still put one word after another in what some may find an entertaining fashion. Even if I have to work on it piecemeal on the rare days when I am awake enough to concentrate, I can still do this. And that means the world to me.
I hope you enjoy the story. I also hope you don’t give up on Catsignal. I haven’t.
OT: Enough for now
On that previous sad note, I’m downing tools for the rest of 2015. Hope to see you next year.
OT: Punkin
Early October 2013 — November 20, 2015
She was not the sweetest of cats. In fact, she was downright feisty and even argumentative. But she was beautiful and interesting and loved, and two years is too short a life. I had expected she would still be with me when I turned 65. It was not to be.
last trip to the vet
when we walk in
she’s already gone
Quotable 266
As insane and stupid and sociopathic as the characters acted, it was always important that their motivations be understandable.
– Josh Lieb, producer, NewsRadio
haiku 377
cat and I
pass a yawn
back and forth
Quotable 265
Structure is the key to narrative. These are the crucial questions any storyteller must answer: Where does it begin? Where does the beginning start to end and the middle begin? Where does the middle start to end and the end begin?
– Nora Ephron