Write A Story With Me – part 72

Write a Story with Me is a group endeavor just for the fun of it.  A different writer adds a new 250 words each week.  It is the ultimate Flash Fiction Challenge!

For those who may need to catch up on this collaborative story, head on over to Jennifer M. Eaton’s blog to read previous chapters to this fanciful tale. She is keeping the archives since it was her idea to start this story in the first place. She wanted to do something different for her blog anniversary, so she wrote the first part and asked others to continue the story. I have written 4 segments, already – you can read them here, here, here, and here. Today’s bit is the fifth. I’m pretty sure Jennifer has lined up others to continue after this, the 72nd ‘chapter’. Personally, I can’t wait to read what someone will write to conclude my part! 🙂

I’ll give you a brief summary before reading my 250 word bit. I’ll highlight the key players to help you keep track. Hope it’s not too confusing. If it is, you can always go read the other installments on Jennifer’s blog and come back.

It all began when Marci picked a leaf from the sacred Gleaming Tree and gave it to her fairy friend, Jenelle. Her sister, Bethany, saw the exchange and overheard the conversation and, because of her jealousy, planned to expose her sister’s traitorous act. Their father, Yoran, is a member of The Establishment’s Planetary Raiders, on a mission to locate the fairy stronghold and wipe them out. When his eldest daughter, Sian, spoke out against The Establishment, she was taken to be ‘re-educated’ and the family was warned never to speak of her, again. However, she re-appears as an Establishment officer, who convinced her superiors that her conditioning was successful, although the reader knows she still has loyalties to the fairies. When this all began, Marci’s mom, Natalia, was heavy with child, but has since had a son, which we discover is supposed to be the Saviour of both fae & humans.

Jenelle’s brother, Janosc, is head of the fae army and Jenelle is being groomed to be queen. The former queen, Morath, who had been missing for a long time, returns to help with the conflict and protect Natalia’s new-born son. A war has been brewing between the fae folk and humans, a matter of real estate, that culminated into a conflict a few chapters ago. Just before the fighting began, Yoran was brought to the fae court and told a horrible truth, that Natalia was a fairy in disguise, so all his children are half-fae. Morath removes the Establishment monitoring device in Yoran’s head and now he risks exposure. After the battle, when Yoran returns to his ship, an Establishment officer questions his commander’s dedication to their cause, at which point Yoran has the officer arrested for treason. No one questions Yoran’s authority like that without consequences!

And that’s where we’re at:

“These are serious charges that you’re bringing against Officer Dawes, Protector Sumner.” 

Yoran stood before the High Council, sitting on their tall benches and peering down at him with suspicion. His stomach was in knots. 

“I tolerate no insubordination on my ship,” he replied. “Dawes had the audacity to suggest I was consorting with the enemy. I could not let him undermine my authority.”

“Do you think Officer Dawes was consorting with the enemy?” one of the councilwoman asked.

Yoran knew he had to tread carefully. “No, Madam Castille, but I treat my ship as a dictatorship. Anyone who threatens the chain of command is committing treason, as far as I am concerned.” 

The five members of the council huddled together, whispering and glancing at Yoran, occasionally. He clasped his hands tighter behind his back, concerned that he would soon be the focus of treason charges. Finally, they straightened and leaned back in their seats, blank-faced. Yoran could not tell whether the news would be good for him or not. 

The President spoke. “It is our opinion that, while Officer Dawes was wrong to question the chain of command, you have charged the young man unjustly. He will be reprimanded and retrained to be more respectful in future. We want you to know, we have no intention of undermining your authority by lessening the charges you have pressed against him. We simply believe that the death penalty does not apply, here. As for you . . .” 

Yoran’s face paled.

Nothing like leaving things on a cliff-hanger, is there? (hee hee hee!) Drop by Jennifer’s blog next Monday to see what happens next! 🙂

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Another of my installments for ‘Write A Story With Me’

Hi, Everyone! 

I got so busy editing a friend’s manuscript, I completely forgot about ‘Write A Story With Me‘ over at Jennifer M Eaton’s site. (Bad me!) My installment came out, yesterday. If you’d like to check it out, click on the link above (the blue ‘Write A Story With Me’). Jennifer has links to all the previous episodes for those who would like to start back at the beginning or catch up on segments you may have missed.

For those who are new to this blog, let me explain what’s going on. ‘Write A Story With Me’ is the brainchild of Jennifer M. Eaton. She is a talented writer and an awesome mom among many other things. On her blog, she talks about writing. She gives excellent book reviews, along with some cute ones by her middle son. She has the most unique author interviews on the web, I think, with the help of The Little Blue Lady from Mars. She recently had stories published in two anthologies. If you’d like to read my interview of her character, click here. If you’d like to read my review of her story, Last Winter Red from the Make Believe anthology, click here.

 This image from Wikimedia Commons makes me think of The Gleaming Tree

Last year, on her blog anniversary, she suggested trying to write a story with all those in the blogging world who were interested. We’ve had 42 installments, so far. We’ve been through the list of authors about three times, now. There have been the occasional bit that doesn’t quite fit, but for the most part, we have a pretty cohesive story, I think. Jennifer started us off by introducing Marci and The Gleaming Tree and a fairy named Jenelle, for whom Marci plucked a leaf from the sacred tree. That act is strictly forbidden and has caused no end of trouble for Marci and her family, as well as the fairy world. It could mean a war between the humans and the fairies. To learn more, please visit Jennifer’s blog.

If you think you have a story idea after reading what’s been written so far, why not join us? Sign up on her site and Jennifer will send you all the story bits leading up to yours. She gives you plenty of time to come up with your part before it ends up on her site. Come on! Join the Party! It’s the ultimate Flash Fiction Challenge to come up with a segment that’s only 250 words long and fits in with the story that’s been written so far, but it is a lot of fun! 🙂

I can’t wait to read what’s going to happen next! 🙂

A few things which may interest you…

Happy Monday!

Today I don’t have a lot to say, but wanted to pass on a few things I found in my blog wandering, this morning. Firstly, for those of you who have been following the ‘Write A Story With Me’ saga, my next ‘episode’ will be coming up next Monday. If you’re behind or just joining in on the fun, head on over to Jennifer M. Eaton‘s site. She has links to all the contributers where you can start reading our fantasy tale and/or catch up on segments you may have missed.

Secondly, while perusing Tim Kane’s site, I came across his post, ‘Authors Are Software Developers’, about how authors can take advantage of the new technology to sell their work. He has a great idea and you can read all about it here.

Tim also had a post about Patricia Piccinini’s unusual sculptures. In my post, Fairy Tales, Monsters and the Genetic Imagination, I wrote about Patricia’s exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery that I visited with a friend and showed you a few of her imaginative sculptures. Tim talked about some of her other sculptures and gave his impressions of her work, which you can read here.

Well, I guess that’s it for now. Have a great day! 🙂

Write A Story With Me

It’s been a while since I mentioned ‘Write A Story With Me‘, but for those of you who are interested, Part 26 (mine) is now up and running on Jennifer Eaton’s site.

There have been several different story lines going on:

– the fairy story with Jenelle and Janosc, queen and brother of the queen, who have gone off in different directions

– Marci’s story where she has picked a leaf from the Gleaming Tree and given it to the fairies, but was seen by her malicious sister, Bethany, who has poisoned Marci, unknowingly causing all kinds of trouble for their father

– the forgotten older sister who has become a soldier and is currently following her father’s ship with the sick Marci inside

– and the pregnant mother who’s going into labour while her entire family is off on a secret mission with their enemy, the fairies, to save Marci and she cannot risk The Establishment finding out. What will she do?

To catch up on everyone else’s bit of the story, head on over to Jennifer’s website, where she has listed all the participants with their stories. Here’s the latest installment, written by me:

Jenelle had heard rumors that ‘the girl who brought us the leaf’ was in trouble. After completing her first round of queenly duties, albeit reluctantly, she now had the chance to slip away and see things for herself. If she could do something to help, she needed to repay her debt.

Heading straight for Marci’s window, she eased the unlocked casement forward just enough to squeeze through into the dark room. It appeared no one was home.

Suddenly, Jenelle heard a moan coming from the parents’ room. She peeked in and saw Natalia on the floor beside her bed, holding her huge belly. Understanding dawned and Jenelle hurried out the window to the home of an elderly woman down the street. Morana was old enough to remember the before-time, old enough to know the fae folk were not the enemy The Establishment believed them to be. She was also a midwife.

“Sorry to disturb you on this blustery night,” Jenelle whispered in Morana’s ear.

The old woman rose, rubbing her arthritic joints. She reached for her glasses on the nightstand and peered at the glowing figure before her.

“What is it, my dear?” Morana asked in creaky voice.

“I need you to help someone in trouble and, please, don’t ask any questions or tell anyone what you’ve done.”

The old woman nodded as Jenelle helped her into her cloak. With a few words, Jenelle wove a spell into the fabric so Morana would not be seen by the night patrol.

Please drop by next week to see what happens next. I can’t wait! 🙂