Story #3

Veronica made a noise that was a mixture of, “Gaw.” And,  “Nuuuh.” Snatching up the satchel, she made a flying leap out of the wreck. She shimmied down the rope, and fell on top of him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled with all her strength, pulling him on top of her, but it did get his head out of the water. He was really out cold, the water didn’t wake him, and neither did the fall. She sat still, terrified she’d find that his heart had stopped, but her palm over his heart pulsed with a weak throbbing. She breathed a sigh of relief, glancing downstream. She stood, pushing him off of her. He lay on his back, draped over a few rocks that poked out of the water. She took his hands, and pulled with all the strength she had left. When he was upright, she turned around and put his arms over her shoulders. It could have been a kind of piggy-back ride had he been conscious. His feet trailed in the water, but the majority of his huge weight was on top of and being dragged by Veronica. She didn’t know how she got him downstream, but before she knew it, she collapsed on a boulder with his still unconscious form beside her. She was gasping, but he breathed easily. She rolled onto her back,

“How can a human WEIGH that much?!” She laid on the bank for a few minutes, arm crooked over her eyes to shade them from the sun. She was soaking wet, exhausted and dehydrated. She stood shakily and untied a canteen from the saddle.
“Hey there buddy, did ya miss me?” She stroked Shad’s neck as she took a drink of water. He bent his head back, smelling her hand to see if she’d brought anything for him, but upon finding nothing, returned to his long eared state of grumpiness. She slapped him on the shoulder.

“Hope you’ve got your strength up. This guy is a rock.” She moaned. “How on earth am I supposed to get your stupid, mysterious, backside up there?” He didn’t respond. Shad snorted.

“Thanks buddy.”

She walked back onto the boulder where she’d left him, and glared down at him, hands on hips. Standing up on the rock, her feet would be level with the saddle, but it was difficult to get Shad to stand still when trying to tie a load on him. She jumped down and pushed his rump over, if she could do it fast enough, she might be able to get him up there. He stamped his foot impatiently.

“Good. Now--Stay.” He shook his ears.

Veronica wriggled her throbbing toes inside her boots and pushed on the bony elbow digging into her back. She’d gotten him onto the mule, but when she’d drug him by the waist onto Shad’s rump, it overbalanced the beast and he stepped on her foot. She didn’t think they were broken, but they hurt in the pointed toe of her boot. The boy lay sprawled behind the saddle, still unconscious. Every now and then she’d feel him slipping and catch him by the belt. Together, they weighed around four hundred and fifty pounds, and Shad walked slowly. Veronica made straight for the neighbors’ farm, they were the only person short of town with a phone, and everyone made their way there when they needed to make a call. She couldn’t tell if the green eyed boy was hurt or not, but there was a doctor in town, and as long as he was unconscious she very much wanted a doctor to see him. If he’d just wake up, she’d feel better about him, but so far he’d slept through being dropped in a river, being dragged a quarter of a mile down river on the rather bony back of a girl he didn’t know, being thrown on the back of an even bonier mule, and riding with head dangling for two miles. She was beginning to get even more concerned. The farmhouse was in sight now, but she couldn’t see the truck that belonged to the family.

When they rode into the barnyard, a goose loudly announced their presence with much wing flapping as he disappeared around the corner of the barn. She jumped off of Shad and limped over to the porch of the farm house, dangling the reins over the rail. It was a nice little house, it was white, with blue shutters at the windows, and a porch with a two person swing that creaked in the evening breeze. She knocked on the door, and peered in through the window. She could see the phone in the hall. Nobody answered the door. Veronica glanced back at the form of the boy, head dangling, and opened the door. Even though she’d been told to use the phone whenever she needed, she felt guilty entering someone else’s home when they were away. She crept in, leaving the door ajar. Picking up the small hand written phone book, she flipped through the pages, searching for the doctor’s number. She picked up the phone, and began to dial. Just as she put the phone to her ear, the door burst open and she whirled around. The boy clung to the doorframe, his green eyes wide. He shook his head desperately and pointed to the phone.

“Tila! Tila! Bora vi care. Tila!” She took a step back, entirely uncertain how to react, when just then the doctor picked up. She began to speak rapidly, with her eyes still on the boy. He straightened, and she saw a look of resignation in his eyes, he turned his head away and held out his hand, palm outward. Her words faltered, and she heard part of the question the doctor was asking, before a blue arc of electricity shot from the phone. Veronica screamed, and fell to the floor, covering her head with her hands. The phone kept shooting sparks for about five seconds, but it seemed infinitely longer. The noise was deafening. When it finally stopped, she felt a hand on her shoulder, she gasped and stood, flailing her arms. She felt strong hands on her arms, pinning them to her sides. She stopped struggling, and found concerned green eyes staring at her. She jerked herself out of his grasp and backed up, she bumped into a wall, and a china plate went crashing to the wood floor. She looked at in dismay, then her eyes jerked back to the boy. Her chest was heaving with fear. How had he done that? He took a cautious step towards her, brows furrowed. A million questions made a blizzard in Veronica’s head. He said something to her in his language, and she felt like screaming.

“I can’t understand you, why can’t you see that?!” When he saw her pressing herself into the wall, he stopped walking towards her. Looking into his eyes, he was just as confused as she was. But then, why shouldn’t he be? Pass out in a wreck, wake up on some yard on the back of an animal you don’t know? She’d be confused to. They stayed like that for about a minute, before he tried speaking again. She shook her head at him,

I don’t understand. He nodded, thought for a moment, and began signing to her. Where am I? How did I get here? Who are you? She didn’t know how to answer. But did her best to tell him. She began signing back. I tried to call for help, i didn’t know if you were hurt. At this his eyes widened and he shook his head viciously. Don’t. She cocked her head, furrowing her brow, but couldn’t think of a way to sign the question. She shrugged, relaxing a little from the wall. She signed to him,

I want to take you home. Back to my farm. Will you come? He looked hesitant, and didn’t answer. He looked at the floor, thinking. She signed to him,

Where else will you go? He thought, and then nodded.

I’ll come.

…..

Because I'm funny

Story #2

So, *coughs* I do NOT guarantee that any of this is accurate. I honestly shouldn't write sci-fi, I don't know anything about science. But hey. It's for fun.

Veronica gasped as the grip on her arm melted. Her knees trembled as she sawed at the strap, willing it to snap. At last, she felt it give and nearly fell forward. She caught herself on the arm of the chair, and stopped to get her breath back. She stared down at the boy in front of her. He couldn’t be very much older than she, he looked to be about eighteen. He had short clipped black hair, and a cut on his temple had dried blood around and under it. It appeared to have bled quite some time, it ran all the way back behind his ear and down his neck, his unusual black shirt was stiff with it. He had pale skin, and a spray of freckles over his nose, even unconscious, he looked intense and ready. She cut through the last belt, and he was free. She stopped to think, but her thoughts wouldn’t stay in order. How could an ordinary ride have turned into something so strange and drastic? How was she going to lower an unconscious grown male fifteen feet without rope, into a river? She looked around her, searching for something to help her. Behind the chair and the controls, there was a door, that when she put weight on it, slid open. She entered what appeared to be sleeping quarters. There was a bunk on one side, a mirror with a sink on the other, it was like nothing she’d seen before. The farmhouse had running water, but nothing like this, and where did it come from? She glanced around the tiny room once more, the only thing she found was a satchel sitting on the bed. She snatched it up and fumbled with the clasp. The whole wreck smelled strange, but not unpleasant. She couldn’t quite place what the scent was, but it was everywhere, from the moment she’d stepped onboard. Veronica dumped the contents of the satchel onto the bed and stared down, it was nothing useful, and she felt guilty about going through the boy’s things, but the strap of the satchel might help in getting him down. She was about to turn away, but hesitated a moment, then put the things back in the bag. If she was going to take him, she might as well take some of his things too. Even though she had no idea what they were or what they did, they just looked like hunks of shiny metal to her. Some of them had engravings like that on the outside of the pod. She pulled the blankets off the bunk, and hurried back into the cockpit. She walked to where the door had been, and looked down at the water. It wasn’t deep at all, just a creek, if either one of them fell, they’d hit their head hard. She took a deep breath, and walked back the boy. She felt his arm experimentally, testing his weight and making sure it wasn’t broken. It felt fine, but he was exactly like the metal she’d found. Extremely heavy for his size. She tried lifting him into a fireman’s carry, but couldn’t even lift him out of the chair. She took a step back, her finely arched eyebrows scrunched with thought. She took a wrap around him with the blanket, just seeing how it would work. It was hugely bulky and didn’t leave enough material to grip or tie things to on either side. She took it back and held it in her hands. She looked down at her clothing. She might have to cut her jeans off at the knee or higher to get all the material she needed. She began to plan. She’d need to make a kind of harness around his chest and legs with something, probably the blanket. The severed safety straps might come in handy for that, but since they were already firmly attached to the chair that was bolted to the floor, she decided to use them for part of the main rope. She took out her knife and attempted to poke a hole in the blanket. It wasn’t wool, or any kind of material she’d felt before, it was extremely strong, just like the seat straps. It took a lot of poking and pressure to get the tip of her knife through, which was a good sign. It might take her awhile, but if she could get it cut into strips, it would work well for rope. She sat down cross legged on the hard floor and got to work, she discovered that if she could get the seam torn, the rest would tear fairly easily. It took her about half an hour, but she got the whole thing torn into strips. It was swelteringly hot in the pod, the sun had shifted to shine directly down the canyon, and it was like a greenhouse. With the blanket in her lap, which was as warm as it was hard to cut, she was drenched with sweat. Her mouth was parched, and she wondered how Shad was doing. Veronica thought and mumbled to herself as she worked. How long had the pod been there? It couldn’t have been more than a day, but she was worrying about the boy. How long had it been since he’d had water? Food? What if he was injured in a way she couldn’t see and moving him made it worse? It was such a risk, but she didn’t know what else to do. She could go back to the farm, but it would take her an hour to get back there, and it was ten miles from there to the nearest town, five to a neighbor with a phone. This was her only option. Get him down, get him home. Maybe by then Grandfather would be back and he could help. She couldn’t leave him here, it would be well after nightfall before she could get back with help. Get him down, get to a phone. She began tying the stips into a single long strip. She looked up and around, and found exactly what she was hoping for. There was a handle to assist you in getting into the pod about the doorway, it would be perfect to use as a fulcrum for lowering him down. With all of the strips of blanket tied securely together, it made a length of rope about twenty feet long. She approached him again, praying he’d stay unconscious throughout the whole thing, it would be terrible if he woke up right as she was lowering him and began to flail. Taking a deep breath, she reached under his back and passed the end of the rope around him. She didn’t know what she was doing, she just knew she needed it to support his huge weight and not let either end of him tip towards the rocks. She experimented a little bit, and eventually found something she guessed would work. It wasn’t too far, but she knew he’d wake up with marks from the narrow rope. She felt his forehead, he was burning hot with a fever, and completely soaked in sweat. He was breathing quickly and unevenly, and tossing. A few times she heard him mutter the strange words he’d said before he passed out.

“Jume, kernay, yala.” And a few others. She didn’t know what they meant, her exhausted mind hurt from thinking, and she was severely dehydrated. She’d been here for about an hour now, and it was getting on towards late afternoon. She needed to move more quickly. If they were caught out here after dark with no food and no weapon, with two people to carry on one animal, things would be bad. She looped the end of the rope through the fulcrum, and pulled a little, watching the boy to see how he moved. His head lolled on his chest, but with a lot of force, she’d be able to get him to the edge. He looked like he’d only weigh a hundred and sixty at most, but he was at least three hundred. It didn’t seem right, but her poor brain hurt too much to try to figure it out. She held the rope in one hand and tried picking him up under the armpits, and managed to get him out of the chair, she laid him on his back, head very near the door. She desperately hoped she’d tied all the knots well enough. Veronica gave a mighty heave on the rope, and he was dangling fifteen feet over the river. She braced her feet, and let her breath out slowly. Her heart was beating wildly, and her hands begged her to drop the cursed thing. Her hair got in her face, but she held onto the rope with both hands. She let it out inches at a time, it was going alright so far. He hung face up, his arms and legs dangled, and head rolled back, she needed to be careful not to let him swing and hit the rock wall. She let it out slowly, another foot, he was only about ten feet above now. Inch by inch, he neared the water. Suddenly, her hands slipped, he fell, and went crashing into the water. She was thrown forward, and onto her hands and knees, very nearly out of the pod. She flipped her hair out of her face, and frantically peered over the edge, he lay on the rocks below, with his face underwater.

.....

Song. (It doesn't really have much to do with the story.)

Story

Okay so I'm gonna do this thing, where I try to write a part of this story at LEAST every other day or so. No guarantees that it actually ends up being that way, but I'm gonna do my best. This is a story that my family (Especially my dad) helped me work out the plot for, so here's my best shot. It probably won't be a lot, a page if I'm really feeling into it, a paragraph if I'm not. Hope you enjoy! Or, ya know, have time to read it. I'll take what I can get. 


Veronica felt the rhythmic swaying of her mule underneath her. She heard the roar of a river, and gazed up at the walls of the canyon that encased her. The smell of minerals and dust filled the cool air inside. Above them about thirty five feet, the air was broiling. Even in the shaded and humid canyon, it felt like an oven. Her reddish hair fell in a braid over her shoulder, but under her cowboy style hat her head was sweaty and unbearably hot. She wore jeans, with her sleeveless plaid shirt tucked into them. Her blue eyes scanned the ground in front of her mule's feet carefully. Watching for large rocks to step around, and holes to avoid. Veronica lived on a farm in the desert with her Grandfather. They had a garden, and a small herd of cows, and it was a good life. On this day, her grandfather had taken the old green truck to town, and she was left alone to do the chores. She had eagerly seized the opportunity to go exploring. She fed the cows, weeded the garden, tidied the small farmhouse, then saddled up her dusty old mule, Shadbush. Shad for short. It was about three miles to her destination, and the sun was cruel. She'd filled two canteens before she left, and they clunked heavily on her legs as they hung off the saddle. It was a blessing when she entered the cool canyon. It felt nearly like a tunnel, she'd been wishing to explore it for awhile. It seemed to connect with a few other tunnel-like enclosures, and the sound of the river got louder and more distinct as she went on. Suddenly, as she rounded a corner, there was a river. "Well, not quite a river," Veronica thought."More like a large creek." As she continued on, the ground turned from packed red sandstone with an occasional large stone to a bank of round white stones descending into the water. The mouth of the canyon widened into a kind of beach, and she saw a small living tree growing near the sheer wall. She dismounted, and led Shad over to it. She tied the leather reins and stroked his glum face. He was getting on in years, and definitely had a mind of his own, but she'd had him for ten years and couldn't bear to part with him for a younger mount. She turned, sat on a larger rock, and removed her cowboy boots and peeled off her socks. She rolled her bluejeans up to the knee and tested the water. It was perfect on a day like this. She decided that while she was at it, it couldn't hurt to go upstream a ways. She threw her plaid shirt and hat on the bank, and started off in her black tank top and jeans. Small fish darted around in the shallows, and she reveled in the cool water. It wasn't deep, she walked in the middle of the creek, and it came about to her knees, a little deeper in places. Before long it narrowed a bit, and she came to a turn. She looked over her shoulder to glance at her mule, who stood with head down and ears back, looking grumpy but content to stay where he was put. She turned back and started up again. She did nothing but walk for awhile, leaning over and splashing in the shallows, scaring the fish and turning over rocks to look for crawdads. The beach where she'd started out from was apparently the only one. The rock walls had narrowed and eliminated any space for dry land. If she wanted to get out of the water where she was she'd have to rock climb. She stepped cautiously down into a lower dip in the water, but stepped onto a rock covered in algae and went tumbling into the water. She only went in up to her rib-cage, but she gasped and clambered out again as quickly as she could. She bent with her hands on her knees to catch her breath from the cold water, and as she gazed down, she saw something shiny in the water. She stepped forward and touched it with her foot. It was a piece of metal. She squinted at it, and reached down to pick it up. She slipped again and went splashing in, she scrunched her face up in displeasure and tried to get the water out of her eyes with her hands, but just got her face wetter. She sat still for a moment, waiting for the water to clear. When she could see it again, she reached forward and her hand closed around the metal. Scrambling to her feet, she reached out a hand and steadied herself on the canyon wall. Turning it over in her hand, she examined her find carefully. She felt the sharp jagged edges, it didn't look like it'd been in the water for long. It was strangely heavy, for a piece of metal that small. On one side of it, it had a strange kind of engraving, and glittered green. It reminded her of some abalone she'd seen once. The other side looked normal, but she couldn't tell what kind of metal it was. "That's strange, I can't think of where this could have come from." She thought. Cocking her head, she touched the engraved side of it. It was still cold from being in the water. It couldn't have been more than four inches or so across, and an eight of an inch thick, but it weighed about two pounds. It was odd. She tucked it into the waistband of her pants and continued on upstream. She kept looking at the bottom and it wasn't long before she found another piece, this one a little larger, she picked it up briefly, and then kept on. She found several more, one the size of a car door, what they all had in common was that they were all engraved one side, and they all appeared to be blown off something. The edges were jagged and torn. She was so engrossed in looking for the pieces she hadn't looked up, but the sound of something falling into the water jerked her head up. Her mouth dropped open, and the piece of metal in her hands dropped. In front of her, jammed between the two walls, suspended above the water, was some kind of aircraft. 

.....

It was roughly oval shaped, but it was clear it wasn't intact. It had had a tail, that had been ground off, judging by the huge black scrapes on either wall. The windshield was shattered, and there were two stubs of wings on either side. It wasn't large, maybe twenty feet from tail to tip. Veronica stumbled over to a wall, unable to take her eyes from the sight in front of her. Beneath the ship several huge hunks of the metal glittered under the water. Her mind wouldn't think, it flew without stopping at any kind of conclusion. Suddenly one thought burst it's way to the front of the confusion. What if someone's in there. And without hesitation, she scrambled over to the other side and began to scale the wall. It wasn't at all an easy climb, considering it slanted up and out, but it wasn't too far up to the craft and she got up in about 10 minutes. Her heart was beating so fast, all she could do was mutter prayers in her scared mind. Finally, she got to where she could reach an edge, it looked like that was where a door had been, but some kind of explosion had blown it off. She grabbed it with both hands, her feet dangling fifteen feet over the rocks and water below, and threw herself like a walrus up onto her stomach. She gasped for breath, hands trembling, and stood uncertainly. She was terrified she'd feel a jolt, that the pod wasn't secure, but it seemed to be firm. Her braid had come loose, and red hair was like a cloud in her face, she brushed it away almost frantically, and looked up. And there, sitting in the cockpit, was a boy. Sprawled in what appeared to be the captain's chair. He was conscious, and struggling weakly with the belt that strapped him in. When he heard her, his head turned and he stared. He had emerald green eyes, they seemed to shimmer like flames. She froze, and began to tremble. All she could see when she looked in his eyes was a trapped animal. Deathly afraid and ready to fight to the death. But even as she watched, the look of terror melted to defeat, he stretched out a hand, and she leaped forward. Clawing for her knife, she flipped it open and began to saw at the straps, but he gripped her arm. Desperation like fire in his eyes. He choked out the words, 
"Jume, kernay, yala--" Before the emerald eyes rolled back in his head. 

Poem

I’m burning through the pages, of notes I wrote for you,

Everything I put on the paper is making the flames burn blue.

I’m watching the ashes swirl to the stars, along with the pictures I drew.

The heat and the light dry the tears as they stream,

Don’t want to sleep anymore, too afraid that I’ll dream.

The book burns down to helpless soot, and I just stare through the pain.

Mem'ries and tears and the burn on my heart, I’d rather drown in the rain.

It’s just how it works, you don’t know you love them until you say goodbye,

Waving like a gypsy girl to constellations in the sky.

Dancing through the choking grass, I can’t believe my eyes,

You see now I know that everything they told me then was true,

I burn the book of memories and the flames are burning blue.

Standing staring at the fire, nothing can stop me now,

And the sweat of determination, is glistening on my brow.

Hurt me break me bind my heart,

Try to tear me apart.

Every time I break I grow back stronger, harder than before,

Blood pools red but I just stare, like an animal on the floor.

I trusted you with everything, but you can’t hurt me anymore.

When I saw my heart inside your hand, I started breathing hard.

I died inside as you looked me in the eyes,

Clenched your fist around my heart.

Clear the air of smoke and ash, and turn the page again.

Time to write a new beginning, time to forget the pain.

Time to leave the choking grass, and wave the stars goodbye,

Time to just stop and hear the wind, and smell the ocean brine.

I’m burning through the pages, of notes I wrote for you.

Everything I put on the paper is making the flames burn blue.

Sometime soon I'll start the daily drawing challenge thing, but since as of right now, I have no way of consistently photographing things, I'll need to wait. :P ANYWAY. Thanks for reading and stuff, hope you enjoy, and here's something awesome for you to enjoy. 

INDIAN DANCING

I have an art blog!

Haaaai. My name is Autumn! This blog is mostly going to be used for posting art and poems, but if I have some pretty pictures I feel like posting I may post them too. I have four siblings, two parents, (I know, that's shocking) I live on a farm, I like long grass, and sunsets, and hugging my mule even if he doesn't like it, I love swing dancing, and playing piano, and singing, aaaaaaaand cooking, sometimes. Except that it makes your feet hurt and I have a moral objection to that. I like watching pumpkins ripen, and reading romance novels, and I'm also into oceanology. Feel free to ask me some questions in the comment section, and you can like, tell your friends or something if you want. So welcome to the world of a mediocre artist, I hope your enjoy your stay in the Cloister. :) To set this party off, here's a song. (It's a good example of what kind of music I enjoy)

Herego.