Category Archives: #BlogBattle

#BlogBattle: Ticket – Week 57 – Locked in the Library

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🙂 Tuesday brings us #Blogbattle

I’ve missed a couple of weeks, so good to be back and doing some writing!!

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Ticket

Genre:  Fantasy

Locked in the Library

It was the ticket of a lifetime!! And Harper won it!! Well, it was a ticket of a lifetime for her. The library held a fundraiser/raffle and the winner would be Locked in the Library over Memorial Day Weekend. Being a big supporter of the local library, Harper doesn’t blink when she makes a sizable donation. Especially since this sizable donation will automatically enter her in the random drawing and the chance to be Locked in the Library for not just one night, but two nights!! The winner also has to write about their experience, which will be published in the library’s newsletter, on their blog, and the local newspaper. A courier presents her with the golden ticket that is elegantly tied to a big gold key, with the words ‘Locked in the Library” scrolled in calligraphy along the ornate bow of the key. She thanks the courier and shuts the door. Embracing the key to her chest she does a little dance chanting, I can’t believe I won, I can’t believe I won.

I arrive at the library an hour before closing on Saturday. After the photo op with the Director of the Library, she escorts me down to the break room. The local deli and bakery donated food for the winner that will probably last me a week. The fridge is stocked with soups and different kinds of deli sandwiches, soft drinks and juices. There are all kinds of pastries, donuts, cookies and brownies. I have access to a microwave and the coffee maker, what more could I want? The Director then leaves me in the hands of Bob, the janitor, who will give me the grand tour of the library, and point out the things that I might need to locate while I am here.

Bob calls himself the janitor, but with his lineage, I can tell that he knows more than just the inner workings of the library. After all, it was his great grandfather who was one of the founding benefactors of the library. Bob’s grandfather and father both worked at the library, so it is more than just a job for him, it is a part of him, it is who he is.

As we begin our tour he says to me, “Harper, I thought I was the only crazy fool who would want to stay in this library at night.” Realizing how that came out, he quickly backtracked, “Uh…not that you’re a crazy fool my dear.”

With a laugh, I assure him, “I know what you mean Bob, I think it’s going to be fun, I spend so much time reading, I’ll feel like I am amongst friends here.”

“You know” he leans close to me with a whisper, “I’ve spent the night here myself.  It is fun.”

“No way!! When?” I ask with astonishment.

Bob laughs to himself as he recalls the memory. “Back in the day, there were no security devices or intercom systems, so when it was time to close the library, the librarians would just walk to the middle of each floor and in a voice slightly louder than the customary whisper they would announce that the library was closing. Everyone knew to stop what they were doing, return their books to the shelves or check them out and exit the building. Then the librarians would lock the doors and go home. I was just a teenager at the time, and decided I would hide out in the stacks, where no one would see me. I always told my granddad, after he would tell me stories about the library, that if I ever came up missing, that’s where I’d be.” He said with a smile and a nod.

“Did you get in trouble?”

“Not really, Granddad knew where I was, and I think he let my parents know, told them not to fuss at me about it. They just asked where I was when I returned home, and I told them. With a knowing grin, granddad says to me, it was more than you expected, eh?”

As we finish up on the main floor Bob asks, “So who’s your favorite author and favorite character?”

“I have so many. I really like romance novels.” I say as I can feel my cheeks turn pink. “I’ve never read any of the classics, I know I should, but never have.”

“No worries, I haven’t either, I’m a James Patterson fan myself.” He says with a wink.

“You really want to hear this?” I ask skeptically.

“Please, that’s why I asked.” He gestures with his arm for me to proceed.

“I like the Fool’s Gold series by Susan Mallery. There is like twenty books in the series, which just amazes me, and each one is just as good as the one before. I love the small town she writes about, and the women in these books, their personalities, their success and their friendships are so heartening. My favorite character is Felicia. She’s super smart, her parents leave her to be raised by professors at a University. So she is super intelligent, but she lacks social skills, so you never know what will come out of her mouth, yet she is such a likable character.”

“Sounds like something my wife would enjoy reading. Hey, can you find it for me? I’d like to take it home to her tonight. I’ll be back, I’m going to make sure all the doors are locked.”

When Bob returns he finds me setting up my sleeping bag on one of the couches in the YA section of the library.

“OK. Everything is all locked up tight. You have my cell number and the cell number of the director in case you need it, I guess I’ll be on my way.”

“Oh, here you go, this is the one.” I hand him the paperback.

“Great, thanks. Well…enjoy your stay.” He lifts the book to his forehead and uses it to give me a salute. Then he is gone.

What to do, what to do? As if to answer, my stomach growls. I grab a few magazines on my way down to the break room to look at while I eat.

Once I’m done eating, I get lost in the children’s department. Pulling out all my childhood favorites and reading through them all. By the time I make it back upstairs it is a few minutes past midnight. I can see the flicker of the fireplace in one of the reading alcoves, and my mind must be playing tricks on me, because it looks like a shadow of a person standing there. As I get closer, I realize there is a person standing there!! She is a tall red-head, she has a book in her hand and is fanning through the pages and I hear her whisper “How can this be?” She hears me approach, she turns around, and when I see the book in her hand, I know exactly who it was.

“Felicia?” I say in amazement.

Her eyes wide she questions, “You know me? Who are you…why am I here?”

Trying to answer all her questions, I reply, “Yes, I know you, I have read all about you. My name is Harper, I am taking part in an event at the library called, Locked in the Library, I get to stay here overnight. But…I don’t know how or why you are here….Where did you get that book?” I thought Bob took it home.

“This is my book. Well…the book that is about me. It was just sitting here on this bronze book holder.”

We both look at the book holder, I run my fingers over the engraved words as we both read them in unison. ‘Books are a uniquely portable magic.’

As we both look up at each other, I am too excited to form a coherent thought so I blurt out, “Are you kidding me?” Oh yeah…so much more than I expected!!

© 2016 Carrie Ann

Books are a uniquely portable magic – Steven King

#BlogBattle: Week 53 – Anniversary Celebration

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It’s a special Tuesday for #Blogbattle!!  We are celebrating the one year milestone for this weekly event.  Our wonderful, hard-working host, Rachael Ritchey, has asked that we choose one of our favorite posts from the past year, and post it this week.

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  If you are interested in joining this awesome writing community, as we journey into the second year, you can find how to here.  If you are looking for some fun stories to read, you can read the current week’s stories and vote for you favorites.

Here is my story I chose from Week 31.  This was a little different from my usual Romance stories, and enjoyed stretching my creative muscles with a little action/drama.

The word: Scar

Genre: Romance/Drama

Worth It

The rain is fiercely coming down, pelting my skin like a thousand tiny daggers. The icy water from the river has risen far too quickly and is now rushing around me. I hold on tight to a tree branch. I know if I start shivering, I won’t be able to hold on. The wind has picked up and the temperature has dropped at least 20 degrees. I knew we should have turned back before the storm hit. My fingers are tingling from the cold, “Adam…I don’t know that I can hold on any longer.” I yell above the rushing water and the howling wind. He answers back “Kate….hold on Kate, I’m coming, I’m almost there.” His voice loud but calm. “Hurry!!” I frantically scream. I try to focus on my grip, but my mind races to the worse case scenario, what if he doesn’t make it in time. The river will swallow me up, I won’t have a chance, just then my grip slips, “Adam!!”

I must have yelled his name so loud that it woke me from my sleep, because I bolted straight up in bed, my chest heaving as I try to catch my breath. I brush my hair from my face, and realize it was just a dream. The same dream I always have when I’m stressed out and things seem out of my control in my life.

I look at the clock, it’s 4 a.m. I’m wide-awake now. I head to the kitchen to get some tea, maybe that will calm my racing thoughts. As I fill the kettle with water and place it on the stove, my mind takes me back, I remember that day all too well. Adam and I always took walks along the river near his house. We were just teenagers then, he was older than I was, yet we spent a lot of time together. We always crossed the river at the same spot, so it wasn’t new for us. But that day the storm rolled in too quickly and the rain came down too hard. We were racing to get home, and I slipped on a rock and almost fell into the river before he caught me. In the process of him saving me, he acquired a nasty gash on his left hand that we didn’t see until we were safely catching our breath in his backyard. I reached over and grabbed his hand cradling it carefully in my own, and said, “You hurt yourself. Yikes, that’s going to leave a nasty scar.”

Applying pressure to it with the corner of his shirt balled up in his other hand, he casually replies, “Eh it’s nothing….it was worth it. I’d never let anything happen to you Kate.”

It was at that moment that everything changed between us, but I was too young to really understand what to do with it, and before I knew it his family moved away and we lost track of each other.

The memory of our friendship and all those carefree days we spent together made me smile. The whistle of the teakettle brings me back to reality. My thoughts begin to berate me. Get a grip Kate. I’m sure he doesn’t even think about that day, or you, at all. Sure he has the scar as a permanent reminder, but I’m sure he has moved on…happily married, with a wife, 2.5 kids, a dog, the house with a white picket fence. Unlike you. Yep…we all have scars, only mine cover the walls of my mind, and canvas my heart.

I shake my head and abruptly stop that train of thought. It has to be the stress from work. My boss assures me this merger is going to go smoothly. I can only hope. I look at the clock again. It’s too early to go into the office. I decide to hit the gym and work off some of this nervous energy. A good work out and some laps in the pool will get me in the right frame of mind.

By 8:00 a.m. I walk into my office with coffee in hand ready to take on the day. All negative thoughts and emotions left drowning in the pool. My assistant Lisa knocks on the door, with files in hand, she reminds me of my meeting at 8:30.

I walk into the conference room, and the VP greets me, and then introduces me to the gentlemen next to him. “Katherine Richmond, this is Adam Madsen.” Adam extends his hand and I firmly shake it, not taking my eyes off him. This can’t be happening. The meeting is about to start, so we take our seats not getting a chance to speak.

It takes every ounce of my strength to focus on the meeting. I just know it’s him. The meeting ends just in time for lunch. I quickly exit the conference room, on my way out I let Lisa know I’m leaving the building for lunch. I have to get away and wrap my brain around this whole situation. When I return from lunch Adam and I will be working closely together until this merger goes through and then daily, once it is done. How am I going to do this? There is no way he recognizes me. I go by Katherine now, my last name has changed, my hair is a different color. OK…I can do this, just focus on business. I cannot bring myself to eat, so I return to the office, ready to work.

Lisa let’s me know that Adam is waiting for me in my office. I walk in and casually say, “Are we ready to work?” With that we dive into the task at hand. He is focused on the details, so it makes it easy to keep things strictly business, and I am determined to keep it that way even though the scar on his left hand seems to want to incite me to do otherwise.

We’ve put in a long day, and then some. We order Chinese Food in for dinner as we wrap up for the day. It isn’t until then that our conversation turns to idle chitchat. I notice no wedding ring, and he confirms with his conversation that he isn’t married. With that bit of information, I cannot help myself, I have to know. As I begin cleaning up the empty food cartons I reach over and run my finger along the scar that runs the width of his left hand. “That’s quite a scar you’ve got there…so…was it worth it?”

He gazes down at my finger caressing his hand for a heartbeat, then looks up, stares deep into my eyes as if searching for the answer, and when he finds it he says, “Kate.”

© 2015 Carrie Ann

#BlogBattle: Hair – Week 52 – Locks of Love

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🙂 Tuesday brings us another #Blogbattle and its One Year Anniversary!!
Woo-Hoo!! Time sure does fly when you’re having fun!!

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

With this weeks word, I just had to take a trip to the Hair Salon to check up on my dear friends favorite characters, Nita and Michael 😉 Happy Reading!!

This week’s word:  Hair

Genre:  Contemporary/Inspirational

Locks of Love

Nita walks into her hair salon carrying a bag of Double Chocolate Chunk Brownies, and two Venti Iced Smoked Butterscotch Lattes. Without a word, she places one of the cups in front of Michael along with the bag of brownies, and turns to hang up her coat. She hears a slight gasp and a rustle of the bag as Michael opens it to reveal its contents.

“Buttercup, you didn’t.” Michael proclaims as he takes a sip of his latte.

“Yep, I sure did.” She replies with a smile.

“Oh, my, gawd, I have died and gone to heaven, this is absolutely delish. What’s the occasion?” He asks with a hint of skepticism.

“Can’t I treat my partner to breakfast?” Nita replies.

Michael just gives her a look, and continues eating his brownie.

“What?” He’s not buying it, she continues. “OoooKaaay…so, I have this friend.”

Michael swallows his brownie with exaggeration, to prevent himself from choking, “That never ends well.” He says flatly.

“I’m serious Michael, just hear me out.”

“OK, OK Cupcake…proceed.”

“My friend Kat just moved here from the small town she grew up in. She is staying with her cousin for awhile, since there are more opportunities for her here to find a job in marketing. She has never been away from home, and she lived a very sheltered life. She was raised in a very strict church, where she couldn’t wear jeans, couldn’t wear any make-up, and she has never cut her hair.”

With eyes wide, he asks, “How were you two even friends?”

Nita shrugs, “We just were. Even though I didn’t agree, I respected their beliefs, and never tried to change her. Now her beliefs are different, so slowly she has been making some changes with her clothes, and makeup, but the hair is the last to go. She is ready to step out and get a new look. Plus she wants to donate her hair to Locks of Love*. So. This is where you come in, I want you to work your magic on her.”

“Oh Honey Bun, why didn’t you say that in the first place, you know how I do. Question is, why aren’t you doing it?”

Another shrug, “I think you are what she needs to get through this, it’s a big step. Plus I’m still close with her family, I don’t want to be the one to do it I guess.”

“She’s not going to get all hysterical on me is she?” Michael questions with apprehension.

“No, no. Nothing like that. You just know how to make women feel beautiful, and that is what she needs right now.” Mocking him she adds, “You know how you do.”

“I am all that and a bag of chips my Little Frappacino,” Michael says with a single snap of his finger.

“She’ll be in this afternoon, I penciled her in. Her name is Katherine, but I call her Kat.”

“This afternoon? What if I had said no?”

“That’s what the brownies and Iced Smoked Butterscotch Latte were for.” Nita says as she waggles her eyebrows

“You. Little. Minx. Mmmmm….these brownies though.” Michael says as he takes another bite, and his eyes roll to the back of his head while he closes his eyes.

~ ♦ ~

Nita greets Kat with a great big hug. She takes her coat, and then walks her over to Michael’s station.

“Michael this is Kat, Kat, Michael.” Nita makes the introduction as Kat sits down.

Kat quietly responds as she holds out her hand, “Nice to meet you Michael.”

“The pleasure is all mine Kat.” Michael shakes her hand with both of his. “Would you just look at all this gorgeous hair?” Michael exclaims as he combs his fingers through it, looking directly at her in the mirror, with his megawatt smile. “Just think Sunshine, how happy you’ll make one cute little Angel Face when she receives her new hair-do from Locks of Love.”

With that Kat smiles and visibly relaxes in Michael’s chair.

Oh, yeah, he was definitely the right person for the job. Nita walks away with a smile on her face knowing that her long time friend is in good hands.

Michael and Kat discuss what she would like, and he suggests what he knows will look good on her. Before Michael gets started, Nita documents this event with photos. She takes a before picture, and a picture as Michael cuts the portion that will be donated. They agree that Kat will not see the progress until it is complete. Michael keeps her distracted through the whole process keeping her talking and laughing. Kat was genuinely enjoying herself, and Nita was happy to see the Kat she knew all too well.

As Michael is finishing up, Nita walks past him. Doing all she can to contain her excitement, yet wanting him to see her approval, she lays her hand on his upper arm and gives it a squeeze. He looks into her moist eyes, and gives her a knowing wink.

Michael removes the cape, and adds some finishing touches. Nita takes Kat’s hand and asks if she is ready. With an enthusiastic nod, they turn her chair around so that she is facing the mirror. Her eyes open wide, as she raises her hand to her mouth in shock. Not fully recognizing the person looking back at her, yet thinking she is really pretty. Kat moves her head back and forth as her hair sways with the movement. She runs her fingers through her shoulder length hair, in awe at the golden highlights and just how shiny and soft it is.

“Kat, you look gorgeous!!” Nita says as she squeezes her shoulders. “What do you think?”

“I….I…I don’t know what to say.” Kat stutters as her shock gives way to elation.

“I’ve rendered a woman speechless…my work is done here.” Michael says with a dramatic bow.

Laughing, Kat gets up from the chair, reaches out to hug him and says, “Thank you Michael, thank you so much.”

“Awww Kit Kat, you are so very welcome.” He steps back and rests his hands on her shoulders, looks directly in her eyes and says, “Always remember. You, do you Boo. Always do you.” He says with a wink as he smooths his hands over her hair.

© 2016 Carrie Ann

*Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.  You can find more information here.

#BlogBattle: Pure – Week 50 – Pure Love

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🙂 It’s Tuesday again, time for #Blogbattle

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Pure

Genre:  Contemporary

Pure Love

Ever since she was a little girl, my daughter Evie longed for a puppy of her own. Being a dog-lover myself, and knowing how it was to grow up with a dog, I also wanted this for my daughter. My husband was not a dog-lover, but wanting to make his baby girl happy, he agreed that one-day we would get a dog. But as the days passed, there was always something to prevent us from getting that dog. Mainly, the cost of having a dog and the fact that we rented our home instead of owning it. But how do you explain to a spunky little girl that it would be difficult to keep the dog fed and cared for, when we were struggling to make ends meet and keep our family fed. So we pacified her with many life-like stuffed animals. With every holiday, or every glimpse of an adorable puppy, made my daughter exclaim, “I wish I had a puppy.”

As she got older, we were able to explain to her our situation while renting a home, and how some landlords did not allow pets. She seemed to understand and accept that as a good reason. But her dad promised her, when we got our own home, we would get a dog.

As the years ticked by, and with the dawn of social media and smart phones, Evie’s love for puppies grew. Every day as I signed into my Facebook account, I was usually greeted with a picture or even a video of some adorable puppy. It was our thing. Even as a teenager, she longed for that fluffy, cuddly goodness. Just the picture of one sent her into squeals of delight…well momentarily…she was after all a teenager.

Several difficult years have passed, along with the unexpected passing of my husband. We were left with nothing. Therefore, the kids and I had to move in with my mom. Through our grief, I knew if we had a puppy, it would help with the stress and sadness, but my mom was adamant against having any type of pet in her house. We especially couldn’t afford it now.

It was difficult at first, but we were able to get through. Even in her grief, my daughter was there with me, helping with her younger brother, and concentrating on her studies. She kept her grades up all through high school, even earning scholarships to continue her education. She decided to attend a local college, at least for the first couple of years.

Now that I own my own home, I knew it was time to fulfill that promise my husband made to our daughter so long ago. I am so proud of the young woman she has become that I just want to make her happy. Even though she is a young woman now, with her own life and her future ahead of her, she still lives here at home. I witness all too often the stress that college brings. I pray that she will be just as excited about this gift, as she would have been had she gotten it years ago.

I was able to find a purebred Golden Retriever, just like she always wanted. I also purchased everything that is needed for our new pup.

When she comes home from class, she walks in the door, and drops her backpack in the hall, and begins to furiously text on her phone. “How was class honey?”

“Ugh!! Don’t ask.” She grunts, not even looking up from her phone or losing any texting momentum.

“Hey Sweetie, you got a minute?”

Her fingers stop, and she slips the phone in her back pocket, “Sure mom, what’s up?”

“Let’s go into the living room, have a seat on the couch.”

“Uh-oh, this can’t be good.”

“Oh I’m sorry honey, there’s nothing wrong, honest. I have a surprise for you. I am so proud of the hard work that you have put into your studies, and….well…just sit there, I’ll be right back.” I stutter, too excited myself, I run into the other room to get the puppy.

Before I come out, I yell down the hall, “Close your eyes honey.”

He’s a squirmy little fellow, but I hold on to him until I am standing in the doorway to the living room. I bend down, and release him out of my arms, as I tell her to open her eyes. He lops right over to her, she falls to her knees on the floor and scoops him up, as tears stream down her face.

“Oh. My. Gosh. Mom. Are you freaking kidding me? A puppy? Look at ‘em….he’s so adorable…he’s ours?” She says all through tears as she wrestles with the little golden fur ball.

“Yes, he’s yours honey.” I say trying to hold back my own tears, but not doing a very good job of it. This expression of pure joy on my daughter’s face is priceless. Not to mention the pure love emanating from this adorable, little fluff ball, as he squirms, and licks at her tears; tail wagging with abandon.

I sit down on the floor next to her, wrap my arms around her and the pup and hug them both. “Your dad promised you we’d get a dog, so I wanted to keep his promise to you. He’d be so proud of you sweetheart. I just wish he were here to see that gorgeous smile on your face. I love you honey.”

“Thanks mom, I love you too. I want to think that he is here with us, you know?”

Just then the pup runs towards the kitchen and stops before he hits the kitchen floor, and starts barking. Just as quickly as he took off, he returns to us with his tail wagging and his tongue hanging out, with a smile of his own on his face.

© 2016 Carrie Ann