Twilight

The Child wandered through the small village. Houses had been ram shacked; some burned down. Debris was all over the street and glass glimmered in the twilight.  Darkness was slowly descending upon what must have been a striving little town.  The Child stopped before a worn down, scaly, painted house with no windows, no doors, and half of its roof caved in.

“Who lived in such a shack?” She said loudly.

“A family of eight,” said a voice behind her.

The Child screamed and turned to face the unknown voice.

“Who are you?”  She asked looking down at the pair of eyes observing her.

“The name’s Coon, my dear Child.”

“I’ve never talked to a raccoon before.” She said and began to laugh. “Never even knew they could talk.”

“It’s Mr. Raccoon for you,” he said, hurt at her laughter,  “And there’re lots of things that you don’t know, Child.”

“Okay, Mr. Raccoon.  Am I dreaming?

“No.”

“Then, what are you doing here?”

“Passing through.”

“Passing through? It’s twilight and too dark to travel.”

“Not for me, Child.  I travel at night.”

“Oh.”

“What are you doing here, Child?”

“I was hoping to find a place to sleep tonight.”

“Won’t find a place here.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t you see the village is deserted?”

“Yes. I was wondering where all the people were.”

“Hiding in the mountains.” 

“Why are they hiding?”

“Why are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding. I’m on my way to meet someone.”

“Well, then, I’ll be seeing you.”

“Don’t go, Mr. Raccoon. Don’t leave me alone.”

“But you’re meeting someone.”

“I am. At least, I hope so, but I don’t know when.”

“In that case, you’re welcome to travel along with me.”

“Okay, but I need to rest.”

“Not tonight, Child.  If you’re going with me, we’ll rest during the day.”

Shalom,

Pat Garcia

Hypothesis: Writers Write

Hello, Everyone! It’s the first Wednesday of the month, and it's time for us to reach out to each other:

Click highlighted IWSG to join

It’s time for another meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group – IWSG started by the amazing Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. Alex stood out and caught my attention during the A to Z Blogging Challenge this year. Checking out his IWSG Website, I’ve found writers who are excellent in their craft and don’t mind sharing their weaknesses and strengths to encourage each other.  I can honestly say this site is a safe haven for any writer whether secure or insecure with writing.

Click the highlighted IWSG if you would like to be a part of this phenomenal group. You won’t regret it.

Our purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak.

The awesome co-hosts for the August 5 posting of the IWSG will be Nancy Gideon, Bob R Milne, Doreen McGettigan, Chrys Fey, Bish Denham, and myself, Pat Garcia!

Having friends as guests from the United States, July started out with extreme pressure for me, which means that I struggled with the fact that I was not writing as much as I desired, which threw me into a boxing fight with myself about ordering my priorities, which caused me to question my own sense of destiny and the path I was taking to get where I want to be.

Hypothesis: Writers write. There is no doubt in my mind about this hypothesis when it is used as a reference for what a writer does, but the variables that determine the 'when’ of a writer’s writing time can clog up any novel or blog article or short story.    

Being at the beck and call of our fictional or  non-fictional characters 24/7 for 365 days in the year brings destruction.  Don’t believe me?  Look at some of those writers who never got pass their first book after it was published. The world waited on a second book, but the first book had imprisoned them and refused to let them move on to write the second one.

So, for three weeks in July, I practiced not writing on my manuscripts and articles, not looking at my emails, not even going to my own Facebook, Twitter, and Wattpad, and not working on my own blogs. Instead, I looked at other writer’s blogs, and I read, I mean really read, what they were writing, rather than just glancing through on the way to another blog posting by another writer.  I let what they wrote sink in and juggle my heart and my brain and wrote comments that I hope generated encouragement and let them feel that I cared about their writing. And you know what?  It did me sooooo much good!

So, what about my hypothesis? It is an inherent belief in my genetic makeup that writers write, however, within me is also the belief that effective writers step back and cheer other writers on.

  

Thus,

considering all the variables of my hypothesis, both positive and negative, I have come to the following conclusion:

If writers write, then, writers must take breaks.

Happy August IWSG Writers! Keep marching. You’re all really fabulous.

Shalom,

Pat Garcia